Walk through the desert.

"This isn't what I expected today. Though I don't know what I did expect. We usually end up having to fight some kind of monster, because life can't be easy, can it?" You sigh as you wipe sand from your eyes. It isn't easy to walk as the sand gets softer and deeper, like hot snow.

"This is the life of an adventurer," Niki responds. "And hurry up. A little girl could be crying out for help."

"You're right. Where are these caves though?"

"I've played around them a couple times, so I know exactly what she's talking about. I don't blame her for wanting to go exploring. Though even I wouldn't want a little kid coming out here, even for the sake of adventure."

You look to Niki. Sweat drips down her glistening skin under the radiating heat of the sun. She suddenly brings her arm up to your chest and stops you in your tracks. She squints her eyes and looks ahead, and you do the same. There's a large figure looming in the wavy, hot air, down the sand dune up ahead. You can barely make out what it is, though that won't be a problem for long. It's coming this way.

"I wasn't joking," she says. "A giant scorpion."

It has a body like brass, and stands at about the size of a large dog. Though it's the tail that really amplifies its mass. At the end of the tail is a horrifying stinger as sharp as a spear, and its claws look like they could break bone. It reminds you of the crabs you fought way back, though this is much worse. It's not easy to get proper footing out here either, and you're sweating hot.

"Do they have a weakness?" you ask.

"Yeah. When you kill them they die." She takes off and hurries towards the scorpion.

"That's not funny!"

You watch as she swings her mace into the side of its face, and it reels out in pain from the massive impact. But then its tail swings back, and with a massive thrust, it slams right into Niki's wooden buckler shield. It sticks in, which hangs it straight from her arm. Though she grabs the mace with two hands, and slams it vertically down onto its head.

While it's dizzy, you hurry up behind. You draw your sword, and thrust it deep into the side of the beast. It flails wildly. After another crushing hit from Niki and two more quick stabs from your magic blade, it collapses to the sand.

You take a deep breath. Niki walks over and retrieves her shield.

"Damn. We need to find her fast," you say.

"We do. Come on. The caves are just up ahead."

The two of you hurry along. Down the next dune of sand are hills of red stone. You can see an opening nearby, though it's difficult to tell if she even came this way. Any footprints are dusted away as quickly as they come. You're glad Niki seems to know her way around out here, because if you were to get lost, you'd be dead for sure in this heat.

It feels nice to be on solid ground. You step onto the rock and peer into the pitch black cave descending gradually deeper. Niki withdraws a torch from her backpack, lights it with some flint, and holds the light ahead.

"Hello?" she calls out. "Anyone here?"

Her voice echoes, but that's the only response.

"We're here to save you! Your sister sent us!" you call out next.

Still nothing but an echo.

Then you hear it. The sound is quiet and distant, but both you and Niki swear you heard the high-pitched voice of a little girl. It's hard to tell through the reverb of the cave, but there's certainly something. It wasn't an echo anyway. Niki immediately begins to sprint into the cave, so you have little choice but to hurry after her. You try not to slip on the rocks as you make your way deeper and deeper.

"Hello?" Niki calls out again. "We're coming!"

"You gotta be careful too, Niki!" you shout.

Deeper and deeper you go. As reckless as Niki as being, every moment does count. You wouldn't be able to live with yourself if you lost a child just because you didn't move quickly enough. You focus your mind on the task at hand--save the little girl. You can't afford to slip. You can't afford to be too late.

Then, your heart sinks.

The ground beneath you and Niki slowly crumbles apart. There's nothing you can do--nothing to grab onto, no magic for flight. Niki looks back to you with a face of terror, but turns, grapples you as tightly as she can with her entire body, and the last thing you see before everything goes black is a hooded figure standing up in the darkness above with a smirk across its face.