I would wish your hair would fall out.

I would wish you could no longr eat whatever you wanted.

I would wish for you to run into every wall corner you came by.

I would wish for you to always stub your pinkie toe.

I would wish for your umbrella to always leak during a rainfall.

I would wish for your cellphone to always be on low battery.

I would wish for your car to always sputter.

I wish I could, I wish I would, but sadly

Dark Magicians wouldn't waste their time.

His head was down, his cheek resting on his arm as his pencil scratched across the paper. The cafeteria noise melted away to a dull whisper as he concentrated on his design.

His food sat ignored near his elbow, his shaggy black hair nearly dipping into his mashed potatoes.

A shadow fell on his paper, in the shape of a humanoid head. He jerked up, but it was already too late. A large lean hand was snagging a corner of his paper and snatching it out from under him.

“Hey!” He wanted to reach for the paper, to reclaim it, but he was afraid they would rip it. ‘Just crumble it, please don’t rip it.’

The student looked at the hand drawn picture, his two friends looking over his shoulder.

“Can’t get a human girlfriend so you going with goats now?” One laughed not bothering to keep his voice down.

The artist’s face flared with color as the students that heard the comment turned to look at him.

“How is that goat p*ssy?” The other boy asked, making a crude baying sound, much like that of a jackass.

“Shut up.” The student holding his picture turned his head, studying the design.

The artist could see it so well, it was a goat girl, with long curling ears going down her shoulders, with soft white hair flowing down her back, her swept to one side. She had a modest humanoid body, but her lower legs were that of a sheep. She was standing in a field with a basket of flowers scattering around her.

“I don’t know why you are laughing XYX, I’ve seen your browser history. You are a huge hentai tentacle fan.”

His friend gawked in embarrassment, “That wasn’t...I wasn’t looking it up…..it kinda popped up….it was ad…..”

His other friend snickered until it was his turn. “You are no better YxY, you like lolitas and tomboys.”

“So what, what about you. I’m sure not even goats are something you are into.” YxY went to jerked to paper out of his hand but he gave it back to the artist, who quickly put it away in his notebook.

His two friends left, snickers and catcalls following them out of the cafeteria. The artist was in a happy glow; his work had been complimented by someone he never suspected. He had even stood up to his own friends for his art, it almost made the artist’s head spin.

“Hey,”

The artist looked up, confused to see the student still standing over him. “I really like your art Jack, don’t let them idiots get to you.”

He started to walk away, but for some reason Jack found himself speaking up, “What are you into Jamie?”

The star of the soccer team looked over his shoulder and smiled secretly, “Artists.”

Jack felt a blush crawl up his neck, not sure what he had meant. He didn’t have long to dwell on it, the dismissal bell rang and the cafeteria was suddenly a cacophony of noise as students finished their lunch break.

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

For a full look at my little illustration you can go here

<a href="https://www.deviantart.com/lamiaeblackstone/art/A-Happy-Glow-754672718">Happy Glow Picture</a>

The image was created on Paint. That’s right default paint, it’s nothing grand, but it is mine. So be nice to her.

Water boiled gently on the stove top, the aroma of Jasmine rice filling the kitchen. Rain lightly hit the kitchen window, dull sunlight glimmering on the floor.

The woman at the sink rinsed a dinner plate, the water swirling the suds down the drain. She placed the wet plate on the drying mat, leaning back to look at the timer on the stove.

She dried her hands, pouring Olive Oil in a skillet to heat. She retrieved the marinating beef strips from the fridge, shaking excess sauce before laying the strips to sizzle. She covered the rice to allow it to steam, glancing up at the digital clock on the microwave.

A clash of thunder made her jolt, followed by a flash of lightning. She scowled at the storm outside the window before returning to the drying mat to dry the plates and silverware.

The beef stopped sizzling as she was setting the table, placing ice-filled glasses next to the now dry plates.

She flipped the strips, the sizzling renewing with gusto. She glanced at the clock again. Any minute now they would be coming through the front door in a swirl chaotic noise and motion.

She chuckled lightly at the thought, her heart and soul filling with heavenly light.

The buzzer on the stove went off; she removed the pot of rice to an unused eye, leaving the lid on. She checked the strips, just a little more and they would be done.

She heard the crunch of tires, then three doors closing following by the sound of pounding feet.

The front door flew open, her two kids rushed through the door laughing and talking loudly, the dog between them barking and jumping in excitement. Her husband followed behind them, their bookbags on his shoulders.

A wide smile split her face, “Dinner will be ready shortly, go clean up.” The kids took off for the bathroom, the dog skidding after them.

Her husband smiled at her, hanging the bags on the hooks by the doors before coming to wrap her in a hug.

“We are home baby.”

She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the most handsome students she had ever seen.

He sat across the aisle from her, he was chatting with two other male students, his black long-sleeve shirt pushed up to his elbow. He grinned at something the guy in front of him said and her heart fluttered like a trapped butterfly.

She raised her phone, peeking down as he focused on the screen. She waited eagerly, her thumb hovering over the button. He ran his hand through his wavy brown hair, a laugh on his face that made his eyes crinkle at the corner.

Her thumb quickly tapped the button, capturing the moment forever. Unfortunately, she forget her flash was on.

The flash illuminated them, causing him to flinch from the sudden bright light. Her face was a look of horror as all three of them turned to look at her.

His eyes caught hers, then drifted down to the phone clutched in her hands.

Understanding donned and he grinned knowingly. His two friends started to chuckle, jostling him as they winked and whistled at her.

She looked away, her face on fire. To her dismay, a few other students were looking at them, curious to the flash and the commotion in the back of the classroom.

The bell chose that moment to ring. She gathered her books and shoved them in her book bag, she was the first one out the door eager to get away from them.

She was already planning how to switch classes, no that wasn’t good enough, she was going to have to switch schools entirely. She didn’t want the risk of running in to him or his friends.

“Hey!” Someone grabbed her elbow suddenly, halting her power walk. She turned, ready to blast someone, but the words died as she starred up at him.

“You really walk fast, I had to barrell over a few people to catch you.” He joked, sliding his hand down to clasp her wrist to keep her from getting away.

She was speechless, not understanding why he had chased her down. Then it hit her.

“Oh, I wasn’t…..not my flash, I mean it was my flash, but I was not taking apic….it was a text…?”

A gleeful grin spread over his face, “So you were taking a picture of me.”

Her face flared with renewed embarrassment, “What!? No...yes…. My stupid flash.” She wished the floor would just open up and swallow her or she would suddenly learn how to turn invisible.

He chuckled warmly at her fumbling, spotting her phone in the hand he still held.

He took her phone, ignoring her attempts to get it back. He double tapped the center button, recognizing the same phone as his. The camera popped up, he turned the flash off first before smoothly moving beside her, his arm stretched out, the front facing camera capturing them.

Her face felt bright red as he grinned and snapped the picture.

While she hid her face behind her hands, wishing she would blow away into tiny pieces. He went into her phone, surprised it wasn’t locked, and added himself to her contact list, sending himself the picture.

“Hey,”

She peeked at him from between her fingers, her eyes wide as he held her phone back other to her. She accepted the phone, unable to meet his eyes.

“Next time you want a picture, let me know so I can give you my good side.” He wished she would look back up at him, but she kept her face averted.

He walked past her, flipping his own phone out of his back pocket. He opened the multimedia message. Grinning at the picture, she was really adorable when she was embarrassed.

The dust bunnies jumped as I opened the door. I cried out in dismay, leaping forward with my butterfly net.

Smack! Smack!

They were too fast for me, dodging and sliding into the crevices of the basement. Their tiny dusty paw prints scattering across the cement floor.

I stomped in frustration, pouting at the corners of the square room.

“I will catch one of you eventually.” I told them seriously, imaging their tiny black eyes staring at me from the safety of their hidey-holes.

I huffed and turned to exit the basement, determined to come back and try again when they have settled back down.

I stopped short, staring down at a tiny dust bunny standing in the doorway.

It was a funny looking creature. The body was small and round made of gray and black lint. A thick string of lint making a sturdy tail that curled around it’s body. The eyes were like black buttons that stared at me calmly from the floor. Forgotten pieces of paper rounded into ears.

I tightened my grip on my net, my eyes never leaving the dust bunny.

“Here little bunny-bunny, don’t move okay?” I took a single step forward, to close the distance between us. The bunny stayed still, the lost candy nose twitching.

I swung the net. The mesh fluttering in the wind as the plastic hoop came down with a loud Smack!

I smiled in triumph, looking for the dust bunny in the mesh net.

My smiled slipped as I realized the bust bunny managed to get away from me again.

I lifted the net, the hoop hanging from the broken stem. “Fine, you win this round dust bunnies, but I will be back!”

I marched from the basement, slamming the door on my way out. Stomping outside and throwing the broken net in the trash can.

Looking back at the abandoned house, I could have sworn they were staring at me, thousands of motely eyes watching me walk back down the road to my own house.

“I can see it in your eyes.”

Cherise’s head jerked up, her eyes meeting Mr. Synn’s as he crouched on the other side of her desk.

You can see my love for you? Can you see how much I want to be in your arms?

She cleared her throat, and wiped her eyes, “What can you see in my eyes?”

He smiled at her, propping his chin on the back of his hands, “How tired you are. You have bruising under your eyes.” He reached out and ran his thumb under her eye.

Her eyes widened in shock, her mouth gaped open wordlessly.

“Did I keep you up too late last night?” he tilted his head to the side, his glasses tinted from the light.

An employee walked by and raised her eyebrow at the double meaning, Cherise blushed bright red. “Mr. Synn, please.”

A slow smile curved his lips as he realized why she was blushing, “Why Ms. Fairburn, are you thinking of something naughty?”

Her blush deepened, the color spreading down her neck and up her hairline. “No of course not...I mean that would be inappropriate, not that I do that, I’m a single woman, I mean…” With a groan of despair her head hit the table her hands covering her burning face.

Mr. Synn stood to his feet laughing, delighted that he was able to get her to blush so bad. “Don’t worry Ms. Fairburn, I am only teasing you.”

He passed by her, patting her shoulder affectionately. Cherise’s spine tingled, his warm fingers burning through her light shirt and tank top to imprint in her skin.

“I do want you to know…”

Her head snapped up and she spun in her chair to face him, her face slowly cooling down.

He leaned against his door jam, his arms crossed over his chest, “I really do appreciate you staying late last night, I also enjoyed our dinner together.”

Cherise stopped breathing, the world narrowing down until it was just them. Mr. Synn smiled again, his smiles were coming more frequently and each one was as precious as the last.

Did this mean she had a chance? Was he telling her that he enjoyed her company and wanted more? Did she dare to hope?

“I enjoyed myself as well Mr. Synn. If you ever need help again just let me know and I will be there for you.” Her voice was breathless, hopeful, pitiful.

She cleared her throat, throwing on her professional mask.

Mr. Synn looked thoughtful as he gazed down at her, his melted chocolate eyes dreamy in the sunlight streaming through the bay windows.

“I will keep that in mind Ms. Fairburn.” He turned, closing the door to his office with a quiet click.

Cherise exhaled, her heart palpating in her chest. If he got any more sexier she was going to die. She turned back around only to partially scream in shock.

Her best friend, Harmony, was standing behind the computer with her arms on her hips, a false scowling smile. “Well look at you Ms. Prim and Proper, flirting with your boss in broad daylight!”

“Oh Harm please keep your voice down!” Cherise begged, leaping up and dragging her friend away from the desk to a more secluded part of the office.

“So spill the beans gurl, what was Mr. Synn like in bed?” Harmony’s stiletto heels clicked noisily as Cherise continued to drag her.

“We didn’t sleep together!” Cherise snapped, ignoring the stab of disappointment. She stopped dragging Harmony and stood there, her hands held tight against her legs.

“Harm is was wonderful!” Cherise wailed throwing her arms around her friend’s neck.

Harmony chuckled, patting Cherise’s back in comfort. “I know girl, it’s written all over your face.”

“Today we will be sharing our imaginary friends with each other.” The teacher clapped her hands together, looking at her young student’s faces.

A few of them groaned and a slim hand shot up, “Mrs. McDonald, what if we don’t have an imaginary friend.”

“That’s okay Megan, you can get up and describe one of your best friends.” Mrs. McDonald told her, a fake happy smile on her face. Her cheeks were really starting to hurt from all the smiling.

“I’ll give everyone ten minutes,” she held up her hands to show all ten fingers, “to think about what they would like to say about their friend. During this time you can draw your friend so we can all see them too. Okay?”

She went to her desk and set a colorful artsy timer that would ring in ten minutes. The children, between the ages of five and six years, quickly took paper and color pencils from their desks and started to draw.

Mrs. McDonald took this moment to sit down and check her Facebook account. She looked up when she heard a few murmurs, a scoff on her face as she realized some of the children were talking to their ’imaginary friends.”

The only reason she had given this assignment was to let parents know who still believed in imaginary friends and who, like Megan, had realized that real friends are more valuable.

She shook her head and caught one of the girls looking at her. She returned the look, her fake smile barely forming before the girl looked back down at her paper.

Mrs. McDonald rolled her eyes and continued to scroll through her feeds, commenting and liking when a post caught her attention.

Too soon the timer was buzzing and the children were frantic to finish their drawings.

“Okay children, who would like to go first?” Mrs. McDonald laid her phone on the table and looked at the hesitant faces.

“Robbie, why don’t you go first?”

A shy redheaded boy stood from his seat and shuffled forward, his drawing clenched in his hands. He faced the class and held his picture chest high, his pale cheeks making his freckles stand out.

“My image-in-hairy friend is a puppy.” Robbie’s drawing of a purple and red dog shook in his hands as he held it up a little higher.

“Why is your imaginary friend a puppy?” Mrs. McDonald asked, fretting interest.

“Mama is eel-are-check to dogs.”

“Allergic.” She corrected, “Do you know what that means?”

Robbie nodded his head, “She sneezes a lot when near dogs.”

“Does your imaginary puppy have a name?”

“Oscar the barker.”

“Does he bark a lot?”

Robbie’s eyes widened, “How did you know?”

Mrs. McDonald almost rolled her eyes, “What does he like to do?”

Robbie turned back to the class, “He liked to run outside and play frisbee, and he likes to roll around in the dirt, and he chases squirrel.”

Mrs. McDonald nodded and sent Robbie back to his seat. “Megan why don’t you go next.”

Megan’s friend turned out to be her stuffed animal Mashia who was a teddy bear that wore a pink princess dress and a tiara. She liked to have tea parties, play dress-up, and go shopping.

A headache was starting to develop behind her right eye, and she could feel a twitch starting at the corner of her mouth. “Ally, why don’t you go next.”

A little quiet girl stood from her desk and walked calmly to the front of the class.

“My imaginary friend is a shadow called Jet.”

She held up a picture of a shadowy black creature with fangs and claws. Mrs. McDonald shuddered as chills ran down her spine.

“Don’t be scared, he is a nice shadow, he just looks mean to protect me from my parents when they get loud.”

She lowered the drawing and turned it to look at it, as if unsure if she drew it.

“He also likes to play pretend, and he likes to watch movies with me. Sometimes he even plays pranks on my parents.”

She turned her head to the side as if listening to something, “Oh that’s right, he doesn’t like the light too much, so he stays in my shadow when I go outside.”

Another chill ran down Mrs. McDonald’s spine and she stood, “Thank you Ally, umm...is your imaginary friend here now?”

Ally looked down to located her shadow, but it was faint from the lack of sunlight. She then strained her eyes to gaze into the darkest corner of the room before shaking her head, “No he isn’t here right now, but I can feel him with me.”

Some of the other children looked disturbed, glancing nervously around the room for a monster. “That’s all the time we have, why don’t we take a recess for a little bit?”

Shouts of joy filled the classroom as scraped back and the children went to find their recess toys in their cubbies.

“Ally, I want to see you for a moment…..”

The dungeon was silent, only the sound of the Sorceress footfall echoing around the empty room. She shivered as a floating spec of light floated too close to her face, the cold light searing her skin until she used her level twenty-five staff to maneuver it away from her face, the light drifting past her to swirl down in to the dark abyss below the long bridge she was walking on.

She dared to look over the edge of the bridge down in the unknown, bracing herself with her staff so she wouldn’t fall. The darkness lurking below was a swirl of black ink that her level seven Clairvoyance couldn’t pierce.

She turned away from the frightening sight and continued on the bridge. Supposedly in this dungeon, hidden in the last room was a mysterious creature that would drop an epic object if defeated in the hour of midnight. She pulled up her main menu and read the time, it was only 11:50 pm. If she didn’t judge the time perfectly she would end up killing the creature too fast and miss the epic reward.

She closed the menu, just in time to run into a large pillar to the right of the door. She grunted and stepped back, looking at the pillar accusingly, than looking around to make sure no one had seen her. The coast looked clear.

The Sorceress chuckled to herself, it was just like her to stumble into an inanimate object while browsing the menu; she always forgot to stop before opening it. Lucky she didn’t fall right off the edge of the bridge. That thought send shudders down her spine.

If she had fallen down in swirling blackness all the loot she had acquired during the dungeon dive would have been taken along with her hard earned level up on her Omni-Wood Staff.

She tapped the bottom of her staff on the threshold for good luck and stepped through to the last chamber. It was a circular room with large humanoid statues holding glowing blue torches in their cupped hands. Across from her was another doorway, with ancient text scrawled across the top.

She took out a small translator, a palm size rectangular piece of glass with various etchings and different color glass circles. Moving the red glass circle to the letters on the top half of the glass rectangle, the green circle would find the corresponding letter on the bottom to translate it. It took five minutes to translate the words; longer than she would have wanted it to.

It was a cryptic message as always, she sighed as she took out a notebook and wrote down what it translated too, along with a rough sketch of what the original letters looked like.

“Avoid the twisted gaze; disembark into the dark; beware the one that weeps, kill the one that growls, run from the _____.” The last of the message was too hard to read, it looked like it had been scratched off

She would look it up later, according to her source at the tavern, a lot of people have beat the mysterious beast and traveled the tunnels below. One of them must have of seen the doorway and figured out the clue.

The Sorceress stepped further into the room, it was time to trigger the beast and take her reward. The air swirled uncomfortably around her, causing a shiver to course down her body. She clutched her staff close to her, not wanting to show any fear, even though she felt the normal fear every time she faced an unknown adversary.

The torches flared high on the wall, the blue color busting into a crackling red as something from the deep shadows slide out. She took a step back as the beast slinked out of the darkness. It was an animal type of creature with an eerie human face mutated on the body of a long panther.

The beast looked to be made from the same darkness under the bridge to get here. It was a dark creature, and the only way to truly damage it was light abilities.

She quickly pulled up the Quick Menu and switched the damage of her staff to Light, the top of her staff glowed white as it became Light damage. The beast seemed to snicker at her as it stalked closer, opening its human mouth to show rows of sharp teeth that went all the way down the throat.

She swallowed nervously, holding the staff in front of her as her magic channeled and she sent a basic attack at the beast. The white ball of light soared to the beast’s location, but the thing dodged at the last minute, skidding to the side and throwing a counterattack.

The black inky ball bounced off her guard, her armor sizzled as a drop of the inky blackness hit the armor; her life bar took a minor hit, revealing that the creature had true damage and chip damage. If he went on an attack spree she would have to finish him quickly before he chipped her life down.

She widened her stance and held her hand out in front of her, the rune tattoos on her arms glowing with power as she said an incantation and a large blast of white light pulsed from the palm of her hand and hit the beast.

It screamed, the torches flaring up higher while the beast quickly fired back; she managed to dodge or block half of them, but some of them manage to hit, taking a quarter of her life. She was panting as she started to rotate her staff above her head and slammed it in the ground, creating a shockwave of electric magic across the floor.

The beast didn’t guard in time, light ran through the blackness of its body, acting like electricity as it chipped away at the thing’s life bar. The beast shook it off, but bleed damage dropped him to half-life.

She grinned in preemptive victory as she whittled away at the things life bar picking up his programmed routine. The beast would dodge and counterattack quickly, but a timed flip away would leave her safe and give her enough time to fire a blast back at him.

Before long his life bar was on red and flashing dangerously, but the Sorceress only had a little Mana left, she could use it all on a final attack, a Mana eating AOE that would destroy it, or reserve her Mana and chip it down with basic attacks and let her Mana regenerate.

The beast suddenly moved out of character and she tensed, holding her staff up in a guard position as the beast started to run at her full speed.

The thing was fast, he was like a black streak heading towards her. She had a split moment to decide how to react; she could guard and take the chip damage or flip over him and fire a shot while in the air.

Just as the beast was in attacking distance she flipped over him, twisting in midair to fire a basic attack at his back, only to realize that he was no longer there.

She landed roughly, looking widely around for the beast. She started to back up, scanning the area for any sign of him. The shadows behind the torches flickered and she barely managed to guard as the beast sprang out from the shadows, the giant paw lashing out at her with razor sharp claws.

She grunted with the hit as it bounced off her guard, lowering her life bar by five percent. She stumbled back and used the staff to keep her balance. She shot at the shadows but her magic harmlessly frizzed out. He wasn’t there anymore, he was using the shadows to attack her.

She turned and noticed that the whole edge of the room was covered in shadows, the beast could be anywhere. He could be at her back, which wasn’t guarded. She spun around and threw up her guard immediately, but there was no attack.

She lowered her staff and backed up, wishing she had something she could turn her back to. She needed to clear the shadows, then the beast would have nowhere to hide and she could finish it off with her highest damaging attack.

An AOE Luminous Orb might cast enough light to banish the darkness, only problem was that it would take fifty percent of the Mana, and she wouldn’t have any left for an attack. She needed to get her Mana back up to a hundred percent before she did anything.

She flicked up her Quick Potions, but to her dismay she forgot to link a Mana potion. She closed the menu with a frustrated sigh, suddenly feeling a wind on her right side and turned just in time to see a large paw coming at her face. She screamed and tried to throw up her guard, but she was too slow.

She took the full hit, and it spun her around and knocked her across the room, she skidded to a halt against the opposite wall.

Her life bar dipping below yellow, and she stood using the staff as support. Her favorite Crystal chest armor was cracked down the middle, and the matching boots were missing a chunk of armor from the shins; a leather gauntlet was missing completely.

She heard a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snicker and she grinded her teeth in annoyance. She had taken too long to look at the Quick Potions, now she was not so sure she was going to win the battle.

“Laugh all you want beast, I will not leave here without my reward.” The defiant Sorceress yelled out, her voice echoing around the room, the shadows dancing as if mocking her war cry.

“Fine, I’ll risk it.” She mumbled to herself drawing on the last of her Mana to form a light in the palm of her outstretched hand. Her hair lifted with the power of it and when it was fully powered she tossed it high as she could into the air watching as it spread light throughout the room.

She heard a hiss and turned to her right to see the beast cowering in the light, it was doing miniscule damage to it, the light searing the flesh off it.

She grinned at the beast, her victory once again in sight as she leveled her staff at it and fired rapidly, the staff acting like a gun as hard True Light was shot at the beast.

It screamed as the magic pierced its flesh, leaving gaping smoking holes in the darkness. She didn’t want to finish the beast like this though, it had been a good battle. She switched tactics and started to run at the beast, much like it had done to her.

It seemed confused, as if it had never had an opponent rush it down. The Sorceress jumped in the air, her staff held tight in her hands as it flared brightly, a blade overshadowing the tip as she came down on the beast, cleaning cleaving the beast in half.

With a final scream and a pause, it burst into black mist that faded away leaving nothing behind but the scorch mark of the ultra-attack. The triumphant Sorceress stepped back, watching as the rest of her Mana drained and her life bar slowly start to re-fill.

She grinned as her reward screen popped up and it started to ping with all the items she had earned.

She received 500 GMs for defeating a dungeon boss along with 1,000 EXP for defeating him with an opposite element. She received a level four token to redeem for a new weapon-garbage; two health potions that would heal for thirty percent-garbage; and she received a Dark necklace with an unknown power level-not too bad. However, none of it seemed that special, hopefully the necklace had hidden attributes.

She took it all and went to look at the necklace, it was nothing special, a round onyx pearl held with a claw on a leather cord. She equipped it anyway and it appeared around her neck, the same swirling darkness as the dungeon.

She turned to leave, wanting to go back to town and sell the token for some GMs before the shops closed for the night. She jolted when she noticed that she wasn’t alone in the room. A small male was standing in the doorway, unarmed.

“Sorry, you just missed it. It should respawn soon if you want to stick around or come back tomorrow.” She told him as she drew closer, he didn’t comment as he watched her walk to him.

She started to recognized him the closer she got to him; he was the level ten she had helped beat a group of level thirteen Dungeon Goons. He had been surrounded and low life when she stumbled upon him, she had mostly weakened them enough so he could finish them off the get the rewards, as a thank you he traded her an onyx ring and she had given him a level nine health potion she happened to have on her.

“Hey, you leveled up, that’s great.” She said when she noticed he was a level eleven. He had equipped different armor, he had been wearing low-level leather, now he was wearing mid-level metal armor that glistened with ice attributes.

“Nice armor, did you get that from defeating the Goons?” She really didn’t care, but his silence was starting to freak her out. She knew that some players enjoyed killing other players that had just finished a boss fight, they would loot the corpse and get everything in their inventory.

Was that what he was doing? Waiting for her to pass by him so he could stab her in the back and take her inventory. The thought made her sick to her stomach and she checked her status, there was a seventy percent chance of defeating him because she was six levels higher than him.

“I was looking for you.” He said finally, suddenly animated again as he walked toward her, holding his hand up in a universal sign of peace. The Sorceress mimicked the gesture, but she kept her staff out, just in case it was a ruse to get her to lower her weapon so he could attack.

“Well you found me, what did you want?” She asked as he stopped in front of her, he was really short, She had to look down at him, it was strange to see a child avatar on the game; most people went for the overly sexual adults and anthropomorphic avatars.

He cocked his head up at her, his face so serious, with a raw looking wound at his chin, he had tribal tattoos over his face, clearly Elfin artwork, but he wasn’t an Elf, he was Human. “I want my Onyx ring back please.” He said pulling up his inventory and sending her a trade request.

She rejected the invitation, noting that his lips tightened in annoyance as he received the rejection. “I didn’t mean to give it to you, I meant to just trade you GM. I can pay the value of it if you want.” He bartered, sending her another request, the ping loud in her ear.

She rejected it again, “Why do you want it so bad?” she asked, sensing a way to make more GM, she had her eyes set on a vibrant blue staff with lightening attributes, it was a very expensive staff.

“Name your price then, I’m not short on GM.” He wasn’t naïve, he knew that he messed up asking for it back, it was clearly important to him. The Sorceress really didn’t want the ring, it was a lower level than her and it wasn’t even that pretty. She pulled up the inventory and inspected it, a holographic version of it appearing in the palm of her opened hand.

He crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his foot impatiently as she carefully read the description. It was a Dark Attribute ring with no defense, no magic gain, and no effects. It was just a plain ring with a dull silver band with an onyx rock surrounded by small silver skulls.

The Sorceress sighed, its face value was only 200 GMs, with no effects or clear purpose it was a wasted bargain to ask for more money. She sent him an invite to trade and it was quickly accepted. She placed the ring in the trading square and hit TRADE.

His side of the box light up with the sum of 2,000,000 GMs. “Wait that is too much…” But he had already hit trade, the money added up in her inventory raising the grand total of her GMs to 3,000,000.

He pulled the ring out of his inventory and slipped it on his index finger, then turned to walk away. The Sorceress grabbed his shoulder and send him another trade invite that was quickly denied.

“That is too much money for that ring, it doesn’t even have any special attributes or defense; it’s useless.” She argued spinning him around to face her. His expression didn’t change, in fact he looked bored, the little brat.

He shrugged her hand off his shoulder and turned back to walk down the bridge, “I told you, I have plenty of GM, think of it as a thank you for helping me earlier.” He said as he strolled down the bridge, not caring when the lights brushed his body, causing burns to appear on his skin, his life bar didn’t even take a hit.

She reached out cautiously and touched one of the lights, jerking her hand back with a cry as it stung her skin and her life bar lowered two percent.

He wasn’t taking damage from them, how was that possible? He was a lower level than her, so his defense wasn’t higher.

“What class are you?” She asked suddenly, running up to walk beside him, her staff held above the ground so she didn’t trip over it….again.

He didn’t spare her a glance as he continued to walk swiftly away from the chamber, “I’m a Human male warrior. You would know that if you looked at my character summary.” The Sorceress’ teeth clicked in annoyance; he was becoming a cheeky little bastard.

“How come the Sprites aren’t hurting you?” She asked swishing her staff in front of her as the annoying things floated too close to her. They seemed to be drawn to the damn boy.

He looked up at her with a pitied look and she was tempted to hit him over the head with her staff, bet that would hurt him.

“Do you know anything? Sprites are drawn to Onyx and repulsed by Ivory. If you wear both they don’t do damage to you because the Onyx acts as an attraction and the Ivory is like a bug zapper, they take damage while you don’t.”

He looked at her with a cocked eyebrow and pointedly looked at the necklace she had just gotten. She looked down at him to try and find what his Ivory item was, but she didn’t see it. As if feeling her scrutiny he lifted the back of his shirt and she saw the ivory infused tattoo running down his back.

She couldn’t make out the design, nor did she want to. They walked in silence after that, the Sorceress using her staff as a bug off and him walking calmly down the bridge, his hands shoved into the pockets of his cloak.

She wanted to ask him what he was doing in the dungeon, but she figured it was an obvious answer. He had clearly been waiting to do the Mystery Beast, only she beat him to it. She felt bad about that, it was a hard dungeon to get through, it was littered with Goons and Ghosts, not to mention the level thirty skeletons that were hidden away in the corridors.

They entered the main entrance to the dungeon and the Sorceress paused as she looked at the exit. It was a simmering blue ball, a teleporter which would send them outside where they could either take a Variole, a one person motorbike, back to the closest town or teleport somewhere else.

He paused before he touched the teleport and looked back at her, as if trying to decide something. “What is your name?” He asked suddenly, ignoring the screen name above her avatar.

She was taken back; she never shared her real name with gamers, not because she was afraid they would track her down, but because in the gaming world she wasn’t she and liked it that way.

“I would prefer if you just called me by my gamer name.” The Sorceress said coldly, his eyes widening at her cold tone, but then it warmed into a smile that made him look boyishly cute. “All right, but I don’t know how to pronounce it, so I’ll just call you Elfie.”

She opened her mouth to object to the name, but he had touched the ball and had vanished. Her inbox pinged suddenly and she tapped the icon and saw the friend invite from him. His screen name was Dark Nobuyuki, he was a level eleven human warrior, just like he said he was.

The Sorceress accepted the request, even though she never expected to see him again. She touched the blue ball and was whisked away to the valley where the entrance to the dungeon was located. It was growing dark, twilight was falling across the valley, casting the landscape in a soft blue.

Title: Phantom Labyrinth

Genre: Fantasy

Word Count: 3,623

Author: Leona Farmer

Synopsis: When players of the online game Phantom Labyrinth start to forget they are in a video game it is a race against time to find what has happened to the players before they permanently become NPC (Non Playable Characters) and vanish.

Target Audience: young adults and gamers.

The Hook/ Good Fit: Similar to .//Hack, Log Horizon, and SAO. People like to read about players being trapped in games, or games coming to life. But what if the player becomes a part of the game and doesn't even realize they were once a player themselves?

Bio: I have been writing for years my main genre would be fantasy romance. However I also write horror and erotica. I mostly write in third person, but first person is doable, second person is considered a stress reliever.

 Education: Associate in Science Business, academic high school diploma, experience with contests and teen writings. Nothing fancy.

Personality: I hear chipper, along with a downer, and too hyper. Personally i think my personality needs to pick a side. I work well with others, well organized, slight procrastinator, polite with all smiles.

Writing Style: Third person that switches between active and passive voice along with present and past tense. Usually long stories.

Writer’s block is the worse. It is the point in an artist’s work of art that everything comes grinding to a halt.

When Writer’s block hits me it is always when I feel the need to write, I want to write, I want to continue my stories and my sad attempts at art, but it is like a jam between my brain and my fingers.

My brain is filled with scenarios and witty banter to make a reader giggle, but trying to recreate that is lack luster and pale comparted to the images in my mind.

When Writer’s block hits me I mope around the house, I refuse to talk to anyway, I just sit at my desk and stare off into space, these wasted ideas swirling in my head.

Reading just fuels my inability to create, games lack their usual fun, and music is nothing but noise slamming repeatedly against my ear drums. Food is a tasteless mass in my mouth and liquids is plain uninspiring water.

Writer’s block is a lot like depression.

My ‘depression’ lasts for days, even weeks. I want to do nothing but sleep it off like a bad sickness.

Then one day my writer’s block is gone, lifted. My smile brightens, the bounce is back in my step, my monotone is gone.

My fingers fly across my keyboard, my computer trying to keep up with the words. I am lost in my own world, surrounded by my characters, music singing in my ears, fueling my furious fingers.

After the storm is a beautiful rainbow. After Writer’s block is a refreshed story spun from gratification and hope that the writer’s block has “block” all the bad ideas from your art.

I knew I was dreaming because everything seemed surreal. The colors seemed to bleed into each other; everything was out of focus, except the men closing in on me. With warped faces and horns they leered at me, their claws hands reaching for me. Fear stabbed me sharply in the chest and I ran. I felt my legs moving, I felt my lungs working to supple air, but I was not going anywhere. The men were almost upon me, their fanged mouths opened to eat me.

Suddenly a darker, larger shadow fell over them and they were killed, their heads lopped off to bounce and roll on the ground, sharp blades sticking out of their chests. The darker shadow grinned, sharp white fangs glowing in the growing darkness. I screamed, but nothing came out.

The ominous shadow leaned down and Jester’s face came into view, his eyes glowing neon white as he raised his wicked twisted daggers to kill me. I lifted my hands to shield my face as he plunged them down.

I woke with a jolt, gasping for air. Something moved to my right, a quick flash of something and I flinched away with an alarmed shout only to realize it was Jester.

He was upside down on a smaller branch above me, his hands linked behind his head as he curled back up the branch, his bare chest hitting his knees.

I gaped at the horrible scars that covered his back. The most notable scar was a wide, deep jagged scar starting under his left shoulder blade and going diagonal across his back curving up just above his waistline.

His other scars paled in comparison to that one, but they were still there, thin shallow scars and wide slashing scars crisscrossing his back and sometimes his arms.

“Have a nightmare Kitten?” He asked curling down, his tight abs bunching then relaxing as he hung upside down to regard me with his cool brown eye, the right eye closed tight against the sun. His chest held just as many scars as his back. One over his right pec looked like someone had tried to carve out a piece of his flesh. A scar hovering just above his navel looked like a crescent moon, a twisted jagged crescent moon that turned his navel into an oval.

“Just a little.” I moved up the tree to lean against the trunk, curling my legs against my chest. I didn’t want to remember it, the fact I was alive was amazing. If it hadn’t been for this man I would have been violated and killed. I looked out at the sea of leaves to my left and shuddered when I caught sight of his daggers hanging from a branch.

He resumed his workout the branch’s leaves shaking as he moved. “I’m not surprised; it’s not every day someone like you gets to be in a riot, escape rape and murder, then survive a whole day in the wild.” My mouth twisted in a grimace as I laid my cheek against my knee and watched him.

He twisted and curled touching his elbow to his opposite knee. His back muscles bunching and stretching, the scar pulling into an ugly snarl. He stayed in that position for a few seconds before slowly curling back down. He went up again, twisting the other way, his elbow touching his knee before he went down again. His hair dragged the branches, swishing across the bark. The strands shimmering like diamonds in the sunlight dappling through the leaves.

He was beautiful to look at it, despite the scars. I shook my head to get the thought out of my head; I was just feeling grateful that he saved me. He was a murderer, a criminal. I saw and heard him killing numerous people. I tilted my head to the side as I realized he had done that to protect me. My head tilted the other way as I argued with myself that he was protecting himself I just happened to be there, he was only keeping me safe to collect money.

I am so sorry, please don't hate me, but they will be shorter, which means...more parts.... sorry