Charlie

The four of them, Charlie, Merlin, Vetica, and Orb, all leaned in around the book. Charlie had last seen it on the floor of Lusafeen’s cabin. So why was it here now?

It was a thick book, and its cover was a deep, void black. There were no markings or words on the outside. But he recognized it.

“It’s Lusafeen’s grimoire! The source of her power! A text of ancient arts, black magic, and witchcraft! This unholy abomination must be burned! Purged! Wiped from the face of the world!” Orb said, trying his best to sound like a medieval knight.

Merlin raised a brow at him. “Orb, what the heck are you talking about? What’s a grimoire?” he asked.

Orb deflated a bit. He sank a few inches out of the air. “A spell book. You’re a fake wizard and you don’t know about spell books?”

Merlin and Vetica exchanged a look. Vetica sighed. “This is from one of those anime things you keep making references about, isn’t it? I really wish you’d stop that. None of us know what you’re talking about.”

Orb spun to Charlie. “But…”

Charlie shrugged. He reached out with a little baby hand and opened the book. He squinted. “Nope. Still can’t read! Merlin?”

Merlin reached over and grabbed the book. Something rolled out from under it.

The little green dungeon core sounded just like a marble as it skated along the wooden floor of Merlin’s wagon. Charlie reached and grabbed it before it could roll right off the wagon. But that wasn’t the only thing hidden under Lusafeen’s grimoire.

There was also the piece of dungeallis crystal he’d found in the dungeon outside Sirra.

He tilted his head. Where had all this come from?

Update

Current Status

Class: Dungeon Core Baby

Passive: Rock Skin. The walls of the body are reinforced to maintain dungeon integrity.

Auto Ability

Palmar Grasp: An enhanced version of the reflex commonly seen in babies. Significantly increases the user’s grip strength.

Abilities

Transfer - Allows the user and allies to shift in and out of the dungeon.

Devourer - Allows the user to force others into the dungeon.

Dungeon Manipulation - Control over dungeon interior.

Tantrum - Provides the user with extreme power, at the cost of rapid expenditure of dungeon integrity. (Conditional ability) (Ultimate ability)

New Abilities unlocked

Vault Transfer - Modified form of the Transfer ability. Allows the user to shift certain objects in and out of the dungeon.

????????????????? - Skill conditions not met.

Notice

The dungeon has automatically designated a room as “The Vault”. This has prompted the user to learn Vault Transfer.

Charlie shook his head. “Orb! I got new powers again!”

Orb hovered to his side. “Yeah! I heard it too! I guess Parent gave me access to that as well. Too bad he isn’t here. He could explain what that room designation stuff was all about!”

Vetica stared at the green dungeon core in Charlie’s hand. Merlin was fixated on the dungeallis crystal sitting on the floor of the wagon.

“Is that dungeallis crystal?”

“Is that another dungeon core?”

They voiced their thoughts at the same time. Charlie nodded. He held the core up. “This is the dungeon core from Troa! I kind of forgot that was still in the dungeon when we left. That’s the crystal I was telling you about, Merlin!”

“Charlie…do you realize how valuable this is? I didn’t realize you meant freaking dungeallis crystal when you talked about that dungeon! You said it was full of this stuff?” Merlin swallowed.

Charlie nodded. “It was! But I destroyed most of it. Wait—” Charlie cried out, trying to stop Merlin from picking it up.

Too late.

But to Charlie’s surprise, the crystal didn’t turn to dust when Merlin touched it. That was weird. What was the difference between now and last time? This new ability was strange, but what was stranger was the fact that it had seemingly activated on its own. What had caused that? This was giving him a headache.

Orb hovered over to Merlin. “If that book isn’t full of spells, what exactly does it say?”

It was all Merlin could do to tear his eyes away from the dungeallis crystal in his hand. He held it tight in one hand, and with the other, he adjusted the book against his lap and opened it. He squinted, skimming through the pages for anything interesting.

“It looks like…notes? It seems she was studying something.” He flipped some more. Charlie crawled over. Even though he couldn’t read, he still wanted to feel involved. Maybe there were pictures or something too.

Merlin paused. “Uhm, and the two of you haven’t seen this since you left Troa?” he asked.

Charlie shook his head. “No, why?”

Orb hovered close to the book. “Is that…”

Vetica hurried over and peeked at the book as well. Charlie climbed up on Merlin’s lap. His mouth fell open. It turns out he was right after all. There were pictures. But this one was a bit unsettling.

This book had clearly been filled with notes before their confrontation with Lusafeen.

So why was a sketch of someone Charlie knew very well inside it?

A sketch of a certain half-raccoon, half-beaver hybrid.

Why would Lusafeen have drawn Bleedy?

When would she have seen him?

***

“Peekaboo!” Merlin said. He threw his hands to either side, revealing his face. Charlie giggled so hard he fell on his back.

“Merlin! Why didn’t you tell me you could go invisible? That is so cool!” Charlie said.

Merlin took in a breath and covered his face again. Charlie gasped, looking around. “Where did you go?”

Orb floated past, offering a mental sigh. “I’m surrounded by idiots.”

Merlin opened his hands again. “Peekaboo!” he said, swatting Orb away and out of the front of the wagon. Vetica dodged, her head shooting to the right as Orb sailed past where the back of her head was a moment ago.

“Watch it,” she said, without turning back.

Merlin flinched. Charlie giggled harder. He was happy to goof off with Merlin. The wagon had felt especially lonely these last few days. He missed Mousifer and Bleedy. He especially hated being away from them after the whole incident in Sirra had already separated everyone before. And now they were busy mapping out the dungeon so they could all fix it up, eventually. He wondered if that was the reason for the new ability. If maybe Parent and the others had done something.

He gnawed on a few fingers and turned to look as Orb floated inside the wagon again. Charlie blinked. Orb’s color didn’t seem the same as usual. It wasn’t a matter of brightness. Orb altered that all the time. It was more like the color itself was a lighter shade. Charlie wondered why, and he started to ask.

But Merlin disappeared again, distracting him. “Merlin!” Charlie said, as easily distracted as ever.

But this time, when Merlin pulled his hands away to reveal himself, Charlie didn’t hear his magic peekaboo spell.

He heard a woman scream.

Vetica pulled back on the reins. Marvin the horse came to a stop, looking around nervously.

Vetica stood, looking into the forest toward the scream.

“What was that?” Merlin asked, peeking his head out from under the wagon’s canopy.

Charlie crawled after him. Orb stuck close to his side.

“Not sure. There could be Hex Beast out here, or bandits. We should keep moving,” Vetica said.

Charlie looked at her, his eyes going wide. “No! We have to help!”

Vetica frowned. “It’s dangerous, Charlie. I came along to keep you safe. We shouldn’t run into danger.”

He held his hands up toward her, and Vetica obliged him, picking him up. He looked at her, employing an ancient technique that Bleedy had taught him. A method the racooneever family line had perfected over the millennia, to trick humans into offering them tributes.

Orb was familiar with the technique as well.

On the internet, they called it puppy dog eyes.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Vetica puffed out a lip. “It’s not fair when you do that! Fine. But we have to be careful.”

“Okay!” Charlie said. They dismounted, but Charlie had a thought. “Wait!” Vetica looked down at him. He pointed at the objects that had been teleported from the dungeon earlier. Merlin had placed them all into a bag for safekeeping. The book, the crystal, and the dungeon core. Merlin understood what Charlie wanted and handed him the bag.

Vault Transfer!

Charlie didn’t think it was a good idea to leave them behind with the wagon. They would be safer in the dungeon for now.

With that finished, they set off in the direction of the screaming, hurrying along.

“I wonder every day how the baby came to be in charge of the decision making,” Merlin said mid-jog.

Orb hovered up to Merlin’s face. “Well, maybe if you made better decisions, Charlie wouldn’t have to take initiative.”

“Oh, so you agree we should run into danger? That doesn’t really sound like you, Orb.” Vetica grinned.

Orb bounced in a shrug. “We hired an assassin bodyguard for a reason. I’m sure you can handle whatever it is.”

“Hired?” Vetica asked. Orb ignored her.

Charlie scanned the area ahead, watching from Vetica’s arms. Even though she was holding him, she moved gracefully. He couldn’t even hear her footsteps as she hustled through the forest. On the other hand, Merlin was a cascade of broken branches, rustling leaves, and quiet obscenities. Charlie giggled before remembering the seriousness of the situation.

They broke into a clearing and saw a woman in a torn blue dress, leaning against a tree. She wore a terrified expression on her face. A hand out before her to ward off the enormous beast that stood over her.

The creature walked on four legs and had a large, pudgy, brown body. Thick tusks protruded from either side of its snout, and it had a strange white pattern that adorned its sides.

“What is that?” Merlin asked, aghast.

Vetica scanned it, turning to place Charlie in the carrier on Merlin’s back. “Some kind of Beast. A boar maybe?” She drew her dagger. The creature was in the lady’s face now. It sniffed her. She turned away from it, pressing her body as far into the tree as she could. Her eyes clenched shut, like she could hide from it behind her eyelids. The creature liked what it smelled. It squealed in delight, and its feet pounded into the ground over and over.

“Vetica…” Merlin said, looking between the scene unfolding before them, and the assassin with dagger drawn.

She held a hand up to silence him. “I’m going to sneak up on it. If we make too much noise, it will—”

There wasn’t enough time. They had to save her.

Charlie shrieked.

The boar was faster than it seemed. It jumped and wheeled around. It didn’t even wait long enough to figure out who was behind it.

It just charged.

“Run run run!” Merlin shouted, bolting in the other direction. Charlie bounced up and down in his baby carrier with every step. The carrier had little straps that kept Charlie secured in place. But he didn’t take a chance. He reached up and grabbed onto Merlin’s cloak as they moved.

“What’s going on?” Charlie asked. He tried to turn and look behind them but couldn’t see anything. Merlin held a hand out to brush a small tree limb out of the way so it wouldn’t hit Charlie’s face. He looked over his shoulder.

He heard the quick stomping hooves. Every moment, they got closer. Merlin realized it, too. “Charlie! Use magic or something!” he said.

“Turn around so I can see!” Charlie said.

Merlin grimaced. He skidded to a stop and turned around so Charlie could see the creature.

The boar squealed with renewed excitement at the stupidity of its prey. Charlie peered over Merlin’s shoulder and held up a hand.

Transfer!

A dungeon wall appeared between them and the boar at the last second. Two tusks penetrated through and shot right towards them. Merlin fell backward onto the ground. Hard. The impact was so hard that even Charlie had to shake his head. His wall had worked. The boar struggled furiously, trying to free its impaled tusk from the wall.

Orb landed in front of Charlie to look him over for injuries. Charlie gave him a little pat to show he was okay. Merlin sputtered. A dust-like substance fell from above into Charlie’s hair. He looked up to see the Dungeon wall dissipating.

“Uh oh,” Charlie said.

Merlin scrambled backward. “Charlie, keep that wall up!” he said.

“I can’t!” he said. Charlie hadn’t focused on maintaining the wall. He’d just transferred a portion of the dungeon to them. He didn’t have an active connection to it. Charlie hadn’t expected a fight here. The creature had caught him off guard.

The wall gave way completely and disappeared. The boar shook its head wildly, and then, realizing it was free, eyed them again. Merlin shot to his feet, scrambling backward.

“Charlie!” Orb said, panicking.

“Peeboo!” Charlie thought spoke to Merlin.

“What is a pea boo…wait do you mean peekaboo?”

“Yes, peeboo! Go invisible, Merlin!” Charlie urged him onward.

“Charlie that won’t—”

“Do it!”

Merlin got so flustered he actually listened to what Charlie said. He covered his face. Charlie covered his too.

Both of them peeked through their fingers. The boar tilted its head, staring at them.

“I can’t believe it…I think it’s working!” Merlin exclaimed.

“Peeboo!” Charlie thought!

The boar squealed.

“Oh no,” Merlin said.

The beast charged at them. It squealed a mighty victory squeal a moment before it reached them. Merlin took a step back, but he was too slow. Charlie realized he needed to use another attack.

“Transf—”

“Blue Hex Blade!”

Vetica leapt from a tree branch above them. She moved so fast that Charlie barely processed it.

Another squeal. This one, a pained one. A hole erupted in the boar’s side where Vetica stabbed it. The creature staggered and then fell on its side.

Vetica stood over the beast, her dagger still a glowing shade of blue. A pool of crimson mixed in with the dirt, creating some strange concoction of bloody mud. Vetica wiped her dagger clean on the creature’s fur and then sheathed it. She eyed Merlin with contempt. “Why did you run away? I had to catch up to you to kill it.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I should sit still and let the boar maul us so that you could kill it!” Merlin retorted.

“It wasn’t going to maul you. And what the heck was that? Did you seriously try to play peekaboo with a beast?”

Merlin scoffed, turning a bright shade of red. “It was Charlie’s idea!”

Charlie shook his head. “Nu huh!”

Merlin’s head spun to look back at him in the baby carrier. “You little…”

Charlie gasped. “Guys! We need to go check on that lady! She might be hurt.”

They backtracked along the trampled path the boar left in its wake until they returned to the screaming woman. She was quiet now. An odd, tearful look in her eyes. She looked up as they entered the clearing.

She seemed surprised to see them. “You’re alive?” she said.

Merlin and Vetica exchanged a look. Merlin took the initiative to speak. “Hello, are you alright? That… thing is dead now. We heard you scream and came to check it out. Why are you in the woods alone? It’s dangerous out here.”

She didn’t speak for a few moments. She stared at a bracelet tied to her wrist. “I was running.”

Charlie tilted his head. “It must’ve run her off the road and followed her out here,” he said.

Merlin looked down and nodded. The woman couldn’t hear Charlie, but she clarified.

“I wasn’t alone. I was with my daughter, Sophia. But they took her.”

“I think she’s in shock,” Vetica said, eyeing the woman. Something caught her attention, and she studied the ground. Whatever Vetica saw led her to the edge of the clearing.

Merlin shook his head at the wandering assassin and took a step closer to the woman. He kneeled next to her. “Who took your daughter? One of the Beasts?” he asked her.

She shook her head. Over and over. Until finally she looked up and her eyes locked on Charlie’s. Like she was noticing him for the first time. Her eyes went wide. “A baby?” she said. She reached out for him, but Merlin leaned back out of reach.

Her face darkened. “Why did you bring a baby here? They’ll take him too. They’ll take him like they did Sophia.”

“Who will? Who are you talking about?” Merlin asked.

Charlie swallowed. He knew what she was about to say.

“The snatchers. They’ll find him. And they’ll take him away. They took Sophia. We ran. But they took her, and then that beast…” she looked over Merlin’s shoulder in the direction it had chased them.

“I found tracks. She’s telling the truth,” Vetica said, rejoining them.

“This gets stranger and stranger,” Orb said.

Vetica ignored him, looking at the lady. “Your daughter, where are they taking her?” Vetica asked.

The lady looked up at her. “They’re taking her where they take all the children. They’re taking her to Sange.”

Charlie looked up at Merlin, and then at Vetica. “We should follow the trail,” he said.

Vetica’s eyes flitted to the side as she thought about it. Merlin groaned. “We don’t know anything about these snatchers. And this lady…” He paused, looking up at the woman lying on the tree. She stared absently into the woods. “We can’t leave her alone,” Merlin finished.

“I’ll go. You and Charlie stay with her,” Vetica said.

Charlie shook his head. “No! I’m going with you! Merlin can stay with her until we get back.”

Vetica stared at him before nodding.

Merlin scoffed. “Oh yeah, let’s leave the guy with no magic powers behind to play guard in a forest full of dangerous monster boars. Great plan!”

“Thank you. We’ll be back soon!” Charlie said. Vetica smiled.

“Fine. Here, hold Charlie while I take the carrier off.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll hold on to her back, just give me a lift,” Charlie said.

Merlin looked at Vetica for approval and then held Charlie up. Charlie grabbed onto one of the belts along her back and settled into position. He pulled himself up to lean over her shoulder like he often did with Merlin before they had the carrier.

“We’ll be back shortly. Get her to the wagon for now,” Vetica said.

Merlin nodded and turned to focus on the dazed woman.

Charlie tried his best to spot the tracks they were following. Vetica walked quickly through the forest, stopping at seemingly random intervals to check a particularly suspicious patch of dirt, or a leaf that was so normal it must’ve been suspicious. He wished he could say he knew what she was looking at, that he could’ve followed the trail too. But that would be a lie. Charlie was completely lost.

“Think she’s really following something, or is she just going for a stroll?” Orb asked.

Charlie shrugged. “I believe her. But I think we should figure out how to track for ourselves just in case she’s not around sometime.”

“Sounds good! You learn to track, and I’ll keep doing what I do best.”

“What’s that?”

“Being handsome, why are we stopping this time? Did a twig look at her funny?”

Vetica crouched, studied the earth, and then her head shot up at a sound in the distance. A loud creaking.

“What was that?” Charlie asked.

She shook her head. “I don’t know. But we’re close.” She hurried along, and Charlie did his best to fight off a wave of dizziness as she moved deftly through the woods. Sidestepping branches and dancing along the cluttered forest floor. She moved like she had memorized every rock, stick, and flower that littered the forest. Like she could avoid them with her eyes closed.

They arrived at the edge of the forest, and the trees started to clear. There were less of the trees to obscure them, and more open land to give them away. Vetica stopped moving forward in favor of another direction.

She started to climb.

Orb hovered beside her. “Uh, what are you doing?” he asked her.

“We’ll be spotted if we keep moving. I’m going to climb up and see if I can see what’s ahead.”

“You have an unsecured baby on your back… in case you forgot.”

Charlie giggled. “It’s okay, this isn’t any different from when I held onto you when we fought that Core Guardian, Orb.”

Orb rolled himself. “Oh, you mean the time when you jumped off of me and towards a giant monster? Yeah, I remember. It’s a great idea to take you high into the air again. You’ve really proven you won’t do anything crazy that might get you killed.”

Charlie blew a raspberry at him.

Vetica climbed, grabbing onto branch after branch. When she couldn’t reach the next one, she stabbed her dagger into the tree to create a makeshift handhold. After a while, they were high enough to see where the noise had come from. She squatted on one branch, gripping another just above her head to keep her balance.

Charlie had thought Sirra was a massive town. But Sange was three or four times as big. Its walls were made of stone instead of wood. He squinted, taking in the rows and rows of buildings. There were enormous pyramid like things off in the distance and the people moving around looked like little Mousifer’s going about their day.

This was the city where they had taken the lady's daughter.

Sophia was in there somewhere. And in that moment, Charlie knew he was going to get Sophia back.

He wanted to learn why these snatchers were taking children.

He wanted to stop them.

They were going to Sange.