The knight nodded, and several members of his group roared off after the cultists. Some of them were heavily armored with massive weapons. Others wore bright, colorful robes and seemed to carry no weapons at all. Charlie had no doubt in his mind they would easily catch up to the cultists. He giggled at how quickly Merlin had turned on the cult.

He didn’t mind Merlin’s lie.

The cultist weren’t good people.

They were the reason Hilda’s mom couldn’t get a cure for her sickness.

He was glad Merlin didn’t help them.

Merlin had talked their way out of a hopeless situation. He hadn’t saved his friends by being strong. He’d done it with words. It was something Charlie would remember. Sometimes you could solve problems by being smart. It didn’t always come down to who was strongest.

The adventurer eyed the carts full of sycamara root. “And those carts… they left them behind?” the adventurer asked.

“No, those are all mine. All of them.” Merlin’s eyes twinkled. “Actually… they did take two of my carts. If you wouldn’t mind returning those to me when you capture them, that would be great. If you can help me recover them, I’ll let you have half… no, a quarter of what you bring back,” Merlin said.

The adventurer looked dumbstruck. “Very… generous of you. We’ll do what we can.”

“This guy’s really pushing his luck,” Orb said. Charlie nodded.

Orb had been right to hide himself in Merlin’s hood beside Charlie. Merlin, having a baby in the hood of his cloak, had earned him a second glance, but if the adventurers saw a dungeon core…it probably wouldn’t go over very well.

“How did you guys hear about the cult? They’ve been here for months?” Merlin asked.

The adventurer turned to look over his shoulder. A young blonde man with a bow sitting on his shoulder ran his hands through the dirt. He seemed to be searching the camp. “Calvin there. Some of the local villagers hired him to investigate a missing search party. When he arrived, he learned the cult was active here, so he returned to the guild to get some help. The cult’s been causing all sorts of trouble lately, so it wasn’t hard to get enough guild members together to go after them.”

“Trouble? Like what?” Merlin asked, shooting a glance at Charlie.

“All sorts of things… just last week they —” he paused, turning to look upward as a large raven flew from the sky and landed on his shoulder. He listened intently, as if he could make sense of the birds squawking. “They’ve found the cult. We need to keep moving and reinforce them. Calvin, you escort this man back to town, check on the villagers, and explain your absence. We should let them know we’re pursuing the cultist, and it wouldn’t do for them to think a member of our guild ran off with payment for a job.”

Calvin stood, letting loose grains of dirt fall from his fingertips. He held a hand out to Merlin, who eyed his dirty hand hesitantly. He relented, shaking Calvin’s hand with a tinge of disgust.

Merlin and Calvin tracked down the horses of the two cultists they’d dispatched earlier. Od and his men had left without them. Charlie hurried Merlin on. He wanted to hurry back to make sure Hilda and the others were okay. Calvin eyed Charlie hanging loosely in Merlin’s hood.

“I know we’re in a hurry, but it doesn’t seem safe to ride with the baby like that,” Calvin said.

Merlin waved him off. “He’s secured with magic. It’s fine. Hyah!” Merlin’s horse took off, and they hurried toward town. He turned to give one last, longing glance at the sycamara root he’d left behind. A few of the adventurers had agreed to bring it into town for him after they caught the cultist. Charlie insisted they couldn’t wait any longer, so Merlin had been forced to make the arrangement. Charlie shrieked in excitement as the horse galloped into town.

When they arrived, Charlie pulled himself up so he could see better over Merlin’s shoulder. The two cultists lay unconscious outside of Hilda’s home. One was face down in the dirt, a bloody bite mark on his right butt cheek visible through torn pants. A large bump had grown on the top of his head and a dented metal frying pan lay in the mud next to him. The other leaned unconscious against the house.

A twig stuck out of his nose.

There were mouse droppings in his lap.

Merlin and Orb turned to look at one another after taking in the scene. Charlie smiled. “They kicked butt!” He cheered.

Merlin grimaced. “Well, I wouldn’t say kicked…those were bite marks after all.”

Calvin dismounted and tore rope from his horse’s saddle-pack. He quickly started working to secure the cultist so they wouldn’t escape when they woke up. He looked at Merlin and nodded toward the house.

Merlin knocked on the door, and to his surprise, it opened right up. Hilda’s grandmother shot up out of her seat. “What the? Tommy? Is that you? I thought you died!” She squinted. “Hilda! Get in here! It’s the tomato man!”

Hilda walked out of her mother’s room, rubbing her eyes. It seemed like she’d been crying. Mousifer sat on her shoulder.

“Mousifer!” Charlie exclaimed. Mousifer squeaked joyously. He waved his little paws at Charlie.

Hilda managed a smile, looking at Merlin. “You survived!”

“Trust me, I’m just as surprised as you are,” Merlin said. Hilda grabbed his hand and pulled him into the other room. Hilda’s mom was still lying down in bed, but her face was starting to look normal again. The color had returned to her lips, and the purple splotches on her face were fading. She wore a gentle, peaceful smile. Bleedy was curled up in the bed next to her.

Hilda turned to look up at Merlin. “The doctor said she’ll make it! He left to round up some men in case more cultists came. But he gave her the sycamara root and her fever broke not long after. He said it will still be a few days before she wakes up, but she’ll be okay.” She smiled, fighting back happy tears.

“What happened to the men outside?” Merlin asked, looking over his shoulder at the still open front door.

“We kicked their butts.” Hilda grinned.

Mousifer punched the air like a boxer on her shoulder, pretending to dodge the return punches of an imaginary opponent.

***

Charlie sat atop Merlin’s cart, watching Marvin the horse graze. Orb rolled around behind him, out of sight. Bleedy and Mousifer lounged around, relaxing on the wagon. Several villagers had gathered in the town’s center to talk about the news. Some hoped the adventurers would be able to find their missing loved ones, others took the cult’s involvement as a sign it was unlikely they were still alive.

For some, it was hope. For others, closure.

“So, what’s next for you, Charlie?” Merlin asked, leaning against the wagon.

“We have to keep moving. We need to make it to Arcadeya. That researcher can help me and Orb learn more about our situation, and how to control our powers. At least, that’s what Richard said.”

Merlin nodded thoughtfully. “You know…maybe you don’t need to.”

Charlie scratched his head. “What do you mean?”

“Well, we could sell all this sycamara root. We’d be rich. We could buy a big house in the countryside or something. Somewhere that the knights would never find you. You and that rude ball and these two little guys…” Merlin scratched Bleedy under the chin with one hand, and cupped Mousifer in the other, lifting him to his shoulder. “Well, you could all come and live there! When things settled down, you could send word to Richard… and Mabel?”

“Mary!” Charlie corrected.

“Right, Mary! Regardless, everything would be better that way.”

Charlie had to admit, it seemed like fun to live in a big house with all of his friends. But it wasn’t realistic. Richard had warned them the knights wouldn’t give up their hunt easily. They had to make it to Arcadeya. It wouldn’t be safe to settle down just yet. “Hmm, no. We have to keep moving. I promised Richard. Besides, traveling is fun!”

“Traveling is dangerous,” Orb corrected.

“Right, dangerous! It’s dangerous, and also fun!” Charlie smiled. Arcadeya would be safe. Richard had sent him there for a reason. More importantly, Charlie could learn more about his powers, and how they worked. The researcher was the key. If he wanted to keep his friends safe, if he wanted to protect Orb…this was the only way. The only way to understand his place in the world.

Merlin frowned. “I see…”

“What if you came with us instead?” Charlie asked.

“Squeak!” Mousifer said from Merlin’s shoulder.

“Well…” Orb said, perking up. “I suppose it wouldn’t be the worst idea to have an adult with us. People freak out when they see a baby riding a wild animal for no reason.”

Merlin looked between them. “Come with you? Well…I have to arrange transport for the sycamara plants. I’m sure the adventurers would be more than happy for the work, but I’ll likely need to head straight to the capital to offload all this…”

Charlie looked down. “Oh. Okay. I understand.”

He wanted Merlin to come with them. He liked Merlin. But Merlin had other plans. Maybe they could invite Merlin to visit him in Arcadeya after he finished his business trip. Maybe by then he would have all this dungeon stuff figured out.

Or maybe he would never see Merlin again.

The idea made him sad.

He liked Merlin.

“Mr. Merlin!” a man called out from afar. His short, stubby legs did their best to keep up with the quick pace he’d somehow fallen into. Charlie tilted his head. This was one of the shortest men he’d ever seen. One of the oldest, too. He was familiar... Charlie tried to remember where he knew him from. A large gray mustache took up most of his face. He wore an old flat cap over his head.

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“Scissor,” Bleedy said.

Orb peeked out from behind Charlie. “Oh man, you’re right! That is the man who ate his hair. Wait a second. You said that pretty judgmentally for someone who ate all that weird stuff out of Merlin’s cart!”

“He what?!” Merlin asked.

“Mr. Merlin!” The man said again. He sucked in several deep breaths before regaining his composure. “I’m the mayor of this small town. Please accept my late welcome to the Town of Garden! I’m Mayor Ron! I wasn’t able to introduce myself the other day, but I heard a lot about your show! Mr. Calvin informed me you’re the one to thank for driving off the cultist! The town is in your debt! I wanted to thank you personally. And after yesterday, helping so many of the villagers with their ailments, we truly can’t thank you enough!”

Merlin’s face flushed red. “Ah, well… it was nothing, actually.”

“You can say that again,” Orb said. Charlie scooted back, bumping Orb, and sending him rolling off the cart’s edge. “Charlie! You Orbist little baby!” Orb called out from below.

Charlie giggled. He crawled over to the cart’s edge and saw where Orb had fallen.

Right into a pile of fresh manure. Courtesy of Marvin the horse.

Charlie’s laughter was uncontrollable now. Merlin and the Mayor turned to see him. The mayor gasped; worried Charlie might fall. Merlin scrambled over, throwing himself onto the cart and taking hold of Charlie. He lifted him up and carefully turned over, hopping back off the cart.

The mayor let out a sigh of relief.

Charlie looked up from Merlin’s arm, puzzled. “What? I was okay. I wasn’t gonna fall.”

“I know that… but think about how it looks to normal people!” he whispered. Merlin looked up, forcing an awkward smile for the mayor. “Sorry about that. You were saying?”

The mayor shook his head thoughtfully. “No problem…well, actually…” He rubbed his hands together, an uncomfortable silence stretching over the conversation. “The thing is, I was hoping you might be willing to sell us some of the sycamara root. You see…it used to be a big part of our economy. The last few months have been hard on us, and it would help the village get back on our feet if we could just secure enough to start up production again. The medicines and special recipes we use it for are vital to our trade with other villages. We don’t have much, but whatever you would be willing to part with for… this amount.” The mayor handed over a small pouch. Merlin shifted Charlie in his arms so he could take it. “Whatever you could spare would be invaluable to us. I could also offer a small percentage of profits.”

Merlin looked taken aback. He looked at the pouch of coins, and back to the mayor. “Are things really that bad?”

The mayor shifted uncomfortably. “Until a few weeks ago, we had a benefactor. A nobleman who was helping us stay afloat. But we lost contact with him and since then I’ve been using the town reserves to keep everyone afloat. Most of the villagers don’t know,” the mayor explained. He sighed. “I understand this is a lot to ask. Please, take your time. I’ll wait just over there.” The mayor beckoned to a bench in front of a shop not far from there.

Merlin struggled to open the pouch one handed. Charlie held his hands out for it, and Merlin obliged him. Charlie got the pouch open and looked inside. A handful of silver pieces. “Is it a lot?” he asked, looking up at Merlin. “Enough for a house?”

Merlin frowned. He turned to Charlie. “No. Not enough for a house.” He looked up and surveyed the town. Charlie, curious, looked around as well.

A young girl, around Hilda’s age, ran through the street, waving a stick in the air. A brown dog with ears that flailed in the wind with every step followed her closely. Charlie could see the outline of a ribcage under its fur. To his right, an old lady worked tirelessly. She wiped the glass window of her storefront with a dirty rag. Back and forth. Charlie couldn’t read the faded sign that hung just beside the door. He was grateful Merlin read it aloud. “World famous sycamara wraps,” he said. His voice faltered.

Charlie looked up at him and then thought about Hilda and her family. This village had depended on the money they made from harvesting sycamara root. They’d built an entire city around it.

The cult had come and put a stop to that. They’d done bad things to the people who’d gone to gather it. They’d done bad things to the people who went into the forest in search of their missing loved ones. Indirectly, they’d almost caused Hilda to lose her mother. Charlie felt an anger inside of him. It was a soft-spoken, barely there kind of anger.

But it grew.

It resounded, reverberated against the walls of his being.

How could people be so mean?

How could Merlin think he was a bad person when people like this existed?

“Charlie, what would a good person do?” Merlin asked him.

And just like that, the anger Charlie felt was gone. Replaced by a question. A question he could tell was really important. He didn’t know why, or how, he knew. He just knew it was the kind of question that needed to be answered.

Charlie’s baby brows furrowed. “All a good person can do is be good,” Charlie said, satisfied with himself.

“That’s not very specific.”

“I’m a baby.” Charlie shrugged.

Merlin laughed. It wasn’t a soft laugh. It was hearty. It was full of something Charlie couldn’t quite place.

“Give me a moment, Charlie. I’m going to speak with the mayor. Afterwards, I’ll help you buy some supplies for the road,” Merlin said, setting him back down on the wagon.

Merlin walked over and sat on the bench beside the mayor. He gave the coin pouch back to the mayor. The small man deflated.

A somehow clean, but still very pungent Orb floated up beside Charlie. “What’s he doing?” Orb asked.

“Dunno.”

“I bet he’s all like ‘sorry, mayor dude, but I’m about to make serious cash by selling all this magical plant stuff. Take your little pouch of coins and get outta here!’”

“Merlin doesn’t even sound like that.” Charlie felt deflated.

“But he should, he really should.” Orb didn’t clarify further. “Cheer up, bud! You helped save Hilda’s mom. You kicked serious butt today. You should be happy!”

Charlie forced a smile. But he didn’t feel happy. “Orb? Can we go?”

Orb spun. “Now? You don’t want to say goodbye to Merlin? What about the supplies?”

Charlie rubbed his eyes. “I just…I just want to go.” He fought back tears.

He wondered if he’d keep having to leave friends behind.

First Richard and Mary.

Now Merlin.

He hated that. Just because he was different from everyone else, just because he had these weird, stupid powers, he kept having to leave people he liked behind.

It wasn’t fair.

He didn’t want to say goodbye to Merlin, because he wished he didn’t have to at all.

“Baby,” Bleedy said, trying to make him feel better. Charlie crawled over and climbed on top of him. Mousifer crawled up with him, snuggling close to try and comfort him as well.

By the time Merlin returned, they were gone.

***

It only took them a little while to leave town. The mood was down. Charlie wasn’t his usual self, and no one else seemed to know how to react. He looked up at the horizon. The sun would probably set soon, but he wanted to get as far away from the town as he could before making camp. He wanted to forget it all.

It was the only way he could think of not to cry anymore.

“Well, hopefully we’ll be at Arcadeya before we know it!” Orb said.

Charlie nodded. He didn’t say anything.

“Are you going to pout the entire way? If so, I’m going to have to find a new baby best friend,” Orb teased. “What? Nothing? No reaction? Not even a little jealous?”

“Squeak!”

“Fine. I’ll leave him alone.” Orb flew over and landed on Bleedy’s head. He sat there looking outward like a pirate on the bow of his ship.

He was promptly sent sailing into the air when Bleedy’s head suddenly shot up. He thumped against the dirt and skidded a few feet away. “Hey!” Orb yelled.

Bleedy sniffed deeply, inhaling some strange new scent on the wind. He turned to the left, and then the right, trying to pinpoint it.

And then he turned to look over his shoulder.

“Hm? What is it?” Charlie asked. He turned to look behind them as well.

They hadn’t made it very far yet, and though they’d left town, it was still in sight.

As was the horse-drawn wagon rapidly approaching. A man stood on the front of it. He held the reins in one hand, and in the other, he waved frantically. “Hey!” he yelled.

Charlie rubbed his eyes. “Merlin? Merlin!”

Bleedy came to a stop. It didn’t take long for Merlin and Marvin to catch up to them.

“Merlin, what are you doing?” Charlie asked.

Merlin dropped the reins and hopped down from the wagon. “I’m surprised at you, Charlie! You left without me!”

“You said—”

“Old habits die hard, Charlie. But someone told me recently that you can start being good anytime. I thought I should see that through. So, if you still want my help making it to Arcadeya, I’m in.”

“But what about the sycamara? And your big house? I thought you had to go sell everything?”

Merlin sighed. “Actually, I—”

“Merlin!” a little girl’s voice called out. Merlin, Charlie, and the others turned to look at Hilda running up the road behind them. Further along the path, all the villagers lined up around the exit of town. Hilda’s grandmother, Mayor Ron, and even Calvin. When Merlin turned toward them, they let out a chorus of cheers and goodbyes.

A sendoff worthy of a hero.

Merlin flushed. He turned a bright shade of red. “Ah. So, he didn’t keep his mouth shut at all…”

Hilda caught up to them. “Merlin! The mayor told us what you did, you donated all the sycamara from the forest! He said you wouldn’t even take the coin he offered!”

“Really?” Charlie asked.

Merlin sighed. “Hilda, what are you doing out here? Is everything okay?”

Hilda didn’t say a word. She hesitated, and then threw herself onto him, wrapping her arms around him. “Thank you, Merlin. For helping the village. For helping mom. And…I wanted to say I’m sorry!” she said.

Merlin was taken aback. “Sorry? For what?”

She looked up at him. “I thought a lot of bad things about you when your potion didn’t work. I thought you’d lied.”

Merlin grimaced. He looked over his shoulder at Charlie.

Charlie threw him a big baby thumbs up.

Merlin turned back to Hilda. “I did lie, Hilda. I don’t deserve thanks for anything I did,” he said. Hilda let go of him and took a step back.

Merlin winced, readying himself to be berated by an angry, orange-haired little girl.

“I knew,” she said.

Merlin blinked. “What? You did?”

“Uh huh. I knew. I didn’t believe you on stage. But I wanted to. I wanted to believe mom would get better. For a few hours, I really did feel better. I felt happy. And then, when things got worse, you helped me save her. You were there to help her when it mattered. Now I get to feel happy forever because I’ve got my mom back,” she said pointedly.

Merlin stammered. “Hilda, I…”

“I want you to come back one day, when mom fully recovers. So she can meet the hero who saved us.” She beamed at him.

“Hero?” Merlin said. He shook his head, collecting himself. “Fine! But only if you promise to get your grandma to make some of that tomato stew she was bragging about earlier!”

Merlin didn’t seem good at serious moments, but Charlie could tell Hilda’s words had gotten to him. She’d called him a hero. Charlie smiled. He thought so, too.

“Okay! I promise.”

Merlin ruffled her hair. “I have to go, but we’ll see each other again one day. Take care of your mother!”

Hilda nodded, hugging him one last time before running back to the others. Merlin’s breath seemed to catch in his throat. He waved after her, and at villagers, and then climbed back atop his wagon. Bleedy scurried up after him, with Charlie and Mousifer on his back. Orb hovered behind them.

Orb floated up to Merlin, only a few inches from his face, and offered a greeting. “Great! Welcome to the team.” He rotated to face Charlie and the others. “It’s official. We finally got Charlie a babysitter. A real one! Mousifer, you’re demoted back to team mascot.”

“Ball!”

“No, Bleedy, you were never the mascot. You’re the trusty steed. I’m the playboy. Charlie’s the baby.”

Merlin made a shocked face. He slowly leaned toward Orb and sniffed the air. His hand shot up, covering his nose. “Oh my god! What’s that smell? Do dungeon cores poop? Did you poop yourself, Orb?”

Orb buzzed around Merlin’s head, screaming obscenities at him. Marvin whinnied, swatting his tail.

And Charlie smiled, because this time, he didn’t have to leave behind a friend.