Stay Behind

Jake was level five now, so he probably knew what was best at this point. So Suzy took her friend's word and stayed in the back of the fight. Three did seem to be quite a lot for him, though, and he was struggling to keep his eyes on them at all times. A few of them got some hits in and one of them threw daggers at him until one finally stuck.

The orc roared out in pain as it flung one of the men at the dagger throwing one. It reminded her of the Green Giant from the Vindicaters comics whenever the more unstable science guy got angry and raged out.

It didn't take long for one of them to finally go down, but before the other two could get halfway there, Jake sank to his knees. His eyes looked hazy and he looked almost delirious.

"Ha! I see the poison is finally working," said the dagger throwing bandit.

Suzy started to freak out as the two bandits started to move closer to deliver a killing blow to Jake. She couldn't just watch her friend die in the game, especially knowing that he would feel all of it.

So she tried to do what she should've been able to do in this species' form. Use her voice to entrance the bandits.

She focused on her own voice as she began to hum a low tune. It was a lullaby that she had heard in another indie game that she couldn't recall, but it was soothing enough for her to remember the melody.

The bandits looked like they were about to laugh at her when suddenly, she could see the notes floating through the air and towards them. The notes wrapped around them and slowly pulled them closer to her. They didn't fight it or even struggle. They looked almost as if they had been zombified by her music.

And that was when Jake's axe ran through the both of them, killing them instantly. Stealth attacks were obviously still in a thing in this game.

Suzy stopped singing just in time to feel a gust of wind rush from the ground beneath her and upwards towards the sky. A light shone down from her and in bright, golden letters, the words "Level Up" floated above her. She smiled proudly at herself before looking back over at Jake to put it in his face.

The thing was, he was back on his knees and staring over at her like he was dazed.

Panicking, Suzy ran over to him and started to examine the poison's entry wound. The dagger was still embedded in his skin and she knew that she had to get it out of him. Without asking, she yanked it out, only to hear him roar from the pain again.

"Goddammit, Suzy! Couldn't you give me some fucking warning!" He growled at her as he tried to stay upright. The poison was so strong on him, there was no telling what it would have done to her own body. And that frightened her.

"I'm sorry but I couldn't just leave a poisoned dagger in your waist!" She barked back at him, but automatically felt bad as she saw just how out of it he was. He looked almost like he was about to pass out. "Oh my god... Jake... What do I need to do?!"

She began looking around for something to help him, but he merely shook his head. "There's a healer down the road, but... I'm too heavy for you and I won't make it there in time. It's too dangerous for you to go alone so..."

His face began to turn a shade of pink.

"What," Suzy asked, now feeling a little skeptical.

"You'll need to suck the poison out of my wound." Jake looked away from her after he said this, obviously hiding his own awkwardness from this.

Suzy looked at the wound and then towards the forest. She had wings. She could fly, if she learned how to in a matter of minutes.