Beasts had short attention spans. One swift move, and they’d be caught off guard. He threw one of his daggers at the beast, an attack aimed to draw its ire. As its eyes followed the dagger, training to melt it out of the air, he jumped into the air to slice him in half from above. No matter which direction the monster aimed, he’d sustain a fatal blow.

Or so he thought.

Nemesis was as cunning as he was dangerous. With a slight movement of his body, the thrown blade entered his shoulder, allowing him to look upwards and blast Drakkon with fires that’d send him straight to the underworld.

Unable to dodge in the air, he took the full brunt of the blast, collapsing on the ground. The sweltering heat, he had no defenses against it. That one hit, that one fatal mistake, spelled his demise.

The last thoughts that flooded his mind were regrets. Once again, he failed his mission. Not even to a Ranger, not even to that foolish Jason. To a monster.

His body was in the process of shutting down. Darkness ebbed from his wounds. His body cooked itself alive, organs melting underneath his skin. A thick bile rose up his throat, likely the remains of his stomach looking for an exit.

The gods… they cared not. They returned to their feast, content with the threat being eliminated. He hated them. He hated them with every fiber of his being! The greatest mistake god ever made was granting free will to the masses. It’s what allowed evil to lurk in the darkness.

Alas, he had no time left to regret. No time to hate. His body took in one last strained breath, prepared to float down the River Styx. In another life, he’d have another chance. Another chance at accomplishing the ultimate mission the Rangers were too scared to take on.

”Get up Tommy,” said the voice in his head.

He hated that voice too, come to think of it.

”You can go the distance.”

His one pleasure in perishing at this moment would be never again hearing the whispers of what he could have been if he remained a coward.

”I said, GET UP!”

Suddenly, a surge of energy rushed through his body. The goop that constituted as his body regenerated. All of his fatal injuries healed in an instant. The princess within him kept him alive. At that moment, he remembered one vital law of this universe.

A princess can never be killed. Only replaced.

- LetterSequence Round 1