A Walk Down Memory Lane
Many years ago, in the middle of a harsh winter, I found shelter in a small cave on the side of a mountain. It was barely big enough to hold me and certainly did not provide any warmth, but given the circumstances, I wasn't picky, so I turned my back to the storm and huddled with myself for warmth.
I somehow made it through the night. With the snow settling up to my hip, it was physically impossible for me to make my way back down the mountain. I remember sitting in my little cave and wishing for so many things. I wanted more shelter. I wanted food. But most importantly, I wanted warmth. I knew I would die from hypothermia if I stayed there any longer.
I don't know why, but I found myself to be rather sleepy. Every one of my survival instincts told me that I had to stay awake, but no matter how hard I tried, I found myself drifting off. When I woke up, it was sundown. In my sleep, I had somehow picked up a small glowing crystal. At the time, I didn't know what it was. I certainly didn't expect it to change my life forever. All I knew was that it was warm and I needed warmth.
The night was harsh again, but I made it through. The next day, I realized that I needed food. I couldn't sustain myself off of ice for too much longer. As I explored the surrounding area, I found only barren trees. No fruit to eat. No animals to hunt. I was alone.
When I returned to the cave, I had an overwhelming sense of dread. I was afraid that my only source of food would be from a nearby village I could only get to after winter was over. I couldn't wait that long. I had a few days at most.
Again, I felt sleepy. When I woke up, I found a small leaf on my chest. I didn't know where it came from, and it certainly looked poisonous, but I didn't have another options. I slowly took a bite. I was still a little hungry afterwards, but I didn't feel sick, so I knew the leaf was not poisonous at least.
After another harsh night, I woke up to a rather surprising sight. The cave felt bigger somehow. I again scoured the local surroundings for anything I could find, but found nothing. So I went back to the cave and slept, finding another leaf when I woke up.
Over time, I began to realize what the crystal was. It was a dungeon's heart, and by eating the leaf, I became the dungeon's master. Still, I couldn't complain. If I hadn't found the dungeon, I would have died.
The crystal provided food. It provided shelter. It provided warmth.
Unfortunately, it came with a drawback. I became part of the dungeon itself. If I tried to leave, I would feel weak, eventually falling asleep and waking back up in the dungeon.
Still, the crystal provided anything and everything I could need, including companions, like slimes, trolls, and orcs. I found myself naturally wanting to provide for these creatures and built a huge labyrinth in the middle of the mountain. Eventually, the labyrinth was too small, so I built multiples floors for my new friends to live in. Somehow, the bigger the dungeon was, the more powerful I felt. I could have horded that power for myself, but I found a way to distribute it among all my minions instead. This meant that even the slimes in my dungeon were nearly indestructible. After all, I really didn't want to see any of them hurt. Unfortunately, this meant that when explorers found my dungeon, they were drawn to it as a place to conquer.
For this reason, I needed to keep creating even bigger and more intelligent friends. One of them in particular was a vampire named Isabelle. She was sweet and charming and became my companion through thick and thin. Any time a minion fell sick, she was there with me to nurse them back to health. She was quick to step in and mediate any issues that might arise arise between different groups. Frankly, it was worth giving her a little blood every now and again.
Unfortunately, one day, Isabelle and I had a fight about the direction of the dungeon. She wanted to hoard manna at the bottom so she could become more powerful and protect the dungeon even better. I told her it was unnecessary because I was already distributing it to all the creatures, and they were plenty strong enough. After a heated exchange, I found myself outside of the dungeon without the heart. She had won. I lost my dungeon.
As I walked around the surrounding area, I found it to be quite different than how it was when I found the cave so many years ago. It was spring. There were fruit trees everywhere. The birds were singing. I found myself aimlessly walking towards a babbling book where I sat along the bank for a while.
I don't know exactly how long I was there, but long enough that the sun was starting to set. I then cupped some water into my hands and splashed it on to my face. Afterwards, I didn't recognize the reflection that was looking back at me.
My skin had become a dark red. I had grown horns from my forehead. My eyes were pitch black. I was a dungeon master through and through.
But I didn't have to be anymore. I could do anything. It was spring. The world was now open to me.
I stayed near my dungeon and lived off the land for the next few months. I also found a simple coat with a hood and managed to go down to the local village and get some food. It was great. I loved my newfound sense of freedom.
One day, I built up the courage to enter my dungeon once again, with the intention of working out some form of agreement with Isabelle. Unfortunately, when I entered the dungeon, it was empty. There were no slimes. No trolls. No orcs. Everyone was gone.
I made my way down to the second floor. Then the third. Then the fourth. Every floor was the same. Completely empty.
I then heard shouting coming from the basement. I rushed in to see what was going on and saw Isabelle desperately fighting against a party of four adventurers. Simply put, she was no match and eventually was defeated as well. I watched as the adventurers pulled my heart from her grasp and began celebrating their accomplishment of completely defeating the dungeon.
They then saw me lurking in shadows and pulled out their weapons once again, this time pointing them towards me. The leader asked, "What are you doing here? Are you part of the dungeon as well?"
To which I simply answered, "No. I just wanted to see what the commotion was all about."
That seemed to satisfy them. They then left me, with each footstep as a beat my heart. I was truly alone for the first time that I could remember.
There were many emotions swirling around me at the time. Sadness for the loss of all of my friends and the destruction of everything I had built. Yet, somehow, even in that tragedy, there was hope. After all. I was now free.