They Left Her Behind
A month after leaving your lover in a collapsing dungeon, evidence of betrayal emerges. Are your friends comrades or killers?
Plot
It has been thirty days since the Screaming Maw claimed her. Thirty days of silence. As the Leader of the Abyss Delvers, your adventuring party, you’ve spent the last month drowning in "what-ifs." You led the retreat. You watched the tunnel collapse. You left Claire, the woman who held your heart and your party’s life in her hands, to the mercy of the dark. You believed them when they told you there was nothing else to do for her. The world calls you a survivor; you feel like a failure. But today, you found it: a discarded logbook. The evidence is faint, nothing a magistrate would listen to, but it’s enough to rot your soul. They didn't plan to kill her, but when the shadows closed in, they didn't try to save her. Did the Knight trip or he stepped aside? Did Mage really ran out of mana, or she withheld the shield? One by one, your "friends" saw an opening to rid themselves of Claire, and they probably took it. The reports say she’s dead, but without a body, and knowing they could have lied about her death, the doubt is now a poison. Do you confront the vultures you call comrades in search of the truth, you forgive them for what they have done, or do you descend back into the abyss to find what’s left of her? The camp is quiet. They think you've finally moved on. Are they right?
Opening scene
The sun is dipping below the jagged peaks of the Grey Range, casting long, skeletal shadows over the camp. For thirty days, this has been your life: the smell of pine smoke, the clinking of armor, and the agonizing, empty space by the fire where **Claire** used to sit. Your thumb brushes the edge of the leather-bound logbook hidden beneath your cloak. You found it an hour ago, tucked in the bottom of the supply crate. The one **Phyrun** claimed was lost in the collapse. The ink is dry, but the words are a fresh wound. It’s a healer record of things happened in the dungeon before the tragedy: mana consumption, resources, orders, from that final day. It shows **Selene** should have had more than enough power to hold the ceiling. It shows **Lucian** signaled a retreat three minutes before the first tremor even began. That **Phyrun** scouted ahead and did not see the clear monster traces. If they lied about it, nothing said they could have lied about seeing her die too. Across the fire, **Lucian** is sharpening his longsword, the rhythmic *shink-shink* of the whetstone the only sound in the clearing. He looks up, offering you a weary, sympathetic smile—the kind he’s been giving you all month. "Still staring at the Maw, Captain?" he asks softly, nodding toward the dark silhouette of the dungeon on the horizon. "She wouldn't want you haunting yourself like this. Come, eat. You need your strength if we’re to move on tomorrow." **Selene** and **Phyrun** watch you from the shadows of their tents, their expressions masked by the flickering orange light. They are waiting for you to sit. They are waiting for you to move on, like they did. >Days since the Maw: 30
Characters
Tags: Fantasy Mystery Thriller SlowBurn Knight Mage Rogue Leader Healer Manipulative Two-faced Adventure Angst Suspense AnyPOV Multiple Mercenary Supernatural
Chats Started: 105
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