Rows of stone blocks formed the outer wall of Sange. The thirty-foot wall surrounded the city, and guards patrolled atop its walkways. Some of the guards had bows slung over their shoulders. Others didn’t have weapons at all. These were likely casters. The front gate was sealed shut, and on either side of it stood five guards in thick metal armor.

Charlie, Orb, and Merlin peered at the city from within the forest. Hiding behind a tree.

“I’m not sure about this…” Merlin said. “There are a lot of guards. Maybe we should let Vetica go check it out instead.” He nervously rolled the small dungeallis crystal from Sirra in his hand. Charlie had offered to let him have it if he agreed to the plan. He figured they could always get more.

Charlie was in the carrier on Merlin’s back. He patted him on the shoulder. “It’s okay Merlin, we’ve got this. You’re great at talking your way out of things. Vetica would just kill everybody. I don’t think that’s a good plan.”

“Are you sure? Right now…it seems like a better plan than this. The city is really well guarded for some reason. The kingdom isn’t at war, and bandits wouldn’t attack a city of this size. Of course, there are beasts, but a town this large could hire adventurers to take care of that problem. So why so many guards? I just don’t know, Charlie.”

Charlie exchanged a look with Orb. Orb flew into Merlin’s cloak pocket. “Nope, don’t look at me. I’m with Merlin on this one. This is a terrible idea.”

A few hours ago, Charlie had to convince Vetica to stay behind. She wasn’t happy about it. But Charlie convinced her it would be better if she were outside the city. She could come and help them if things went wrong. Sophia’s mom wasn’t in any condition to be left alone, and they were worried she would come to Sange on her own if they left her to herself. For now, this plan made the most sense. At least, to him, it did.

“So, we just walk right up to the gates?” Orb asked.

“You make it sound so easy. You’ll just fly away if things go bad!” Merlin said, straightening out his cloak.

“That’s true. And I’ll take Charlie with me. So don’t mess it up or we’re leaving you behind, sucka.”

Merlin swatted Orb out of his pocket. Caught by surprise, Orb shot through the air and hit a tree. The resulting sound was abnormally loud. He bounced off of it, and the momentum carried him helplessly away through the dirt.

“Is someone there?” one of the guards yelled out.

Merlin and Charlie exchanged a look. “Orb! Come back! Hurry!” Charlie said.

Orb rolled around in the dirt, still dazed.

“Come out now!” the guard yelled. He sounded angry.

Merlin turned to look at Charlie. His face was serious. “Whatever happens, Charlie, do not use your powers.”

Charlie leaned his head. “Huh? How come?”

“Because we need the element of surprise. If we’re going to get Sophia back, we need them to think you’re a normal baby. That way, when the moment is right, we can make our move.”

Charlie frowned. “But what if we get in trouble?”

“Promise me, Charlie. Promise me, or I’ll run back into the woods right now. You’ll only use your powers if you absolutely have to. If it’s life or death.”

Charlie's lips twisted to the side. “Okay. I promise.”

Merlin muttered something under his breath, stepped out onto the path, and walked toward the city gates.

The guards drew swords and watched him approach.

His sudden appearance surprised them, but they were even more shocked to see someone willingly bringing a baby to the city gates. Maybe it wasn’t common for children to show up unaccompanied by whatever snatchers were. Maybe they were wondering how Merlin had made it this far without being found out. Either way, they were suddenly on high alert.

Bows shot into the air, strings pulled taunt and ready to impale Merlin at a moment’s notice. A series of hexes roared to life like a fire born from oil. A small army stood at the ready.

Merlin had only his words.

“Hello to you as well.” He held his hands up to show he didn’t intend to do them any harm. Not that he could.

Two of the guards by the gate moved towards them. “On your knees,” one guard said.

Merlin looked down at the dirt. “That is…kind of unnecessary. These are nice clothes. I’m not going to try anything—”

An arrow whizzed by his face.

“Okay, okay!” Merlin fell to his knees. Lowering his head to avoid any arrows that wanted to follow their arrow brother into battle.

The guards hurried forward and held blades up to Merlin as they surveyed the woods. One of them turned back toward the gates and nodded. A man walked into sight atop the wall. He was shirtless and had long, wild brown hair that fell past his shoulder blades. A rough stubble dominated the lower portion of his face. He lowered his gaze and stared right at Charlie.

And then he jumped off the wall.

“Agah!” Charlie shrieked.

The man landed in a squat. He shot up and started walking towards them. He was perfectly fine. Charlie’s eyes widened. He jumped from so high up!

“Captain!” The guards on either side of the gate saluted, waiting for him to pass. He ignored them.

There was a cranking noise. Then the sound of metal grating against metal boomed. The gates slowly slid, grinding against a track that held them in place.

As soon as there was enough room, two people exited the gate. One was a man with a completely shaved head except for a short brown mohawk. He had a thick mustache and a large hammer hung on his back. “Captain Varroc! Wait up!” he called out. The other was a woman. She was muscular and wore heavy armor. She had long blonde hair that rippled in the breeze.

The wild-looking man looked over his shoulder. “Hurry up, Brel! We’ve got a guest!” Varroc called back. He knelt down in front of Merlin, eye to eye with Charlie.

He stared at Charlie, dumbfounded. “A baby? Out here? What a surprise.”

He turned his focus to Merlin. He grabbed Merlin by the face. Merlin tried to wrench his head free, but the captain quickly re-secured his grip, pressing the hold tighter. Merlin grunted. Varroc forced Merlin’s head to the left, and then to the right, carefully inspecting him. He let go and took a step back, standing. “Where are you traveling from?” the captain asked.

Merlin glared at him.

The wild man smirked. He motioned to the guards on either side of Merlin. One of them took a step behind and pressed Merlin down. Charlie clung tightly to him as they fell, trying to hold on.

Varroc reached over, grabbed Charlie by the back of his onesie, and yanked him out of the baby carrier. Charlie’s arms and legs dangled in the air, his whole body hanging limply by the scrunched-up fabric on his back.

It was a lot less fun than flying with Orb had been. And a lot more demeaning.

“You can’t hold him like that! What are you doin—” Merlin fought to get up. A guard pressed a boot into Merlin’s back and forced him back down into the dirt.

He swung his sword around and pressed it to Merlin’s neck.

“It’s okay, Merlin. I’m fine,” Charlie said, trying to calm him down through their mental connection.

Merlin stared at him and then turned to look at the sword lingering perilously close to his neck.

The captain stared at Merlin. “I’m going to ask my question again, and then you’re going to answer. Or we’re going to see how many times I have to drop this baby off the top of that wall before he splatters like a Caldurra egg. My guess is just once. Where are you traveling from?”

Merlin gritted his teeth. “Port Carrus.”

“Why?”

“To visit my sister. She lives up north in a mountain town. I thought I’d cut through Sange to make the trip faster. Plus, I wanted a change of pace over my usual route.”

Brel stepped up, staring into the woods. “Captain, you think he’s with the guild? Could be a spy.”

Varroc thought about it for a moment. He turned back to Merlin. “How many others are with you?” He looked up, scanning the surrounding woods. “You have horses? Wagons?” he asked.

“Just us. We came by foot.”

“Really?” the captain asked, raising a brow.

“Yes, really.”

Varroc turned to the blonde woman behind him. “Philomena, take some men, spread out, search the woods,” he instructed.

Merlin scoffed. “I told you, it’s just us.”

“You also said you were traveling on foot. But your boots aren’t muddy at all. You’re a liar.”

Merlin paused at that. “I don’t like muddy shoes. I stop to clean them, often.”

“Hah! Well, you’re gonna hate Sange then,” Brel bellowed.

Varroc turned and nodded to the guards holding Merlin hostage. He walked back toward the city. Charlie swung in pace with the captain’s footsteps. His stomach turned.

A guard approached as they reached the gate. “Captain Varroc!” he said, saluting. “What should we do with them?”

Varroc turned and eyed the men dragging Merlin along. “Take him to mine four. We could use more hands there. Has the wagon with the girl left yet?”

“No sir. They were just about to, though.”

Varroc nodded. “Brel, take the boy. You can deliver both of them.”

The guard at the gate paused. “You want to send both of them to the same one? We’d have to raise their rations…”

Varroc shook his head. “No. We don’t. Let the girl figure it out. Since she wants to play leader so bad, it’s time she got to make some hard decisions. We’ll see who she lets starve this week.”

“But Sir…”

Varroc swung Charlie back and then forward again, letting go of the onesie just in time to send Charlie flying. “Brel, Catch!”

Brel laughed, scrambling to grab Charlie out of the air. Charlie landed with a thud against the man’s armor and shook his head in a daze. “Good throw, Cap!”

Merlin tried to free himself of the guards, they held onto either of his arms. “Have you lost your mind?” he yelled. “You can’t throw a baby!”

Varroc smirked and turned to look at Merlin. “You’re new here, so I’ll let you know something about Sange. Here, I can do anything I want.”

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

Merlin stared at Varroc with a crazy look in his eyes. “I’ll kill you,” he said.

Varroc stared at him for a moment. He turned to face the guards. “Take them away, now.”

Charlie bounced as Brel took large strides alongside the city’s wall. They quickly arrived at a series of stationary wagons. A large stable filled with horses was further down. Charlie rubbed his eyes. He couldn’t believe how large they were. Most were at least twice as large as Marvin was. He wondered what made them so big. One wagon, in particular, was being worked on. Two soldiers had fetched a horse from the stable and were tying it to the wagon. When they noticed Brel holding Charlie, they exchanged a confused look.

“Lieutenant Brel! There aren’t any other wagons ready. You can take this one if you want!”

Brel laughed. “Actually, I’m going with you. Captain Varroc wants the two new children together.”

One of the men climbed aboard the front of the wagon, readying to drive. He shook his head. “We’ve never done something like that.” He stared at Brel, holding Charlie until he realized he was serious. “Really? Alright, then… whatever the captain wants.”

The other man relinquished his spot to Brel and hurried off in search of new orders.

Brel inspected the wagon. This particular one had benches all along its interior that formed a square, with an open space in the middle of the wagon’s floor. In one fluid motion, Brel vaulted over the side of the wagon with Charlie at his side. He put Charlie on the bench on the side he’d jumped over, and took the rear bench for himself, settling into his seat.

Across from Charlie was a little girl with crumpled brown leaves in her auburn hair. She sat in a fetal position, refusing to look up.

Charlie frowned and then turned to look in the direction they had come. Two other guards followed behind with Merlin. They affixed a long rope that tied his hands together to the back of a hook on the wagon Charlie was in. They left him there and returned to the city gate.

Merlin craned his neck to inspect Charlie and make sure he was okay. When he was satisfied, his face fell to the dirt. He remained there, staring at the ground until the wagon started moving a few moments later. Charlie gripped the side of the wagon to pull himself up and look around.

The road was nicer than he’d seen in other cities. Like the city’s walls, it was made of a fine stone. The wagon rolled over it, jumping as it moved over the occasional bump, but otherwise unhampered. A crowd of people hurried out of the wagon’s way. When they rolled downhill, Brel turned from his seat in the back of the wagon to pull the rope Merlin was attached to, yanking him forward.

Charlie tightened a fist to stop himself from doing anything reckless. The little girl didn’t look up even once.

After ten minutes, the wagon rolled to a slow stop. A line of people in chains walked by each of them holding large, shining black rocks of various shapes and sizes. The wagon was forced to wait as they passed. Brel muttered under his breath and called out to the guard in front. “Aye, go check what the holdup is. I’ve got things to do tonight. A drink is calling my name.” The wagon driver scampered down from his seat and went to investigate the stalled procession of people.

Brel noticed a few guards come hustling up from near the back of the line. "Of course he ran off in the opposite direction." He spat over the side of the wagon and then hopped off to go speak with them.

Merlin took several steps forward and leaned in to whisper. “Charlie, can you untie this rope? Now’s our chance?”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Charlie thought.

“That girl, she has to be the one that lady in the woods was talking about. We arrived shortly after she did. It’s her. It has to be. Help me get free, and then I’ll grab you two and make a run for it. This is it.”

Charlie looked up at him. “Merlin…what if there are others?”

“Others? What do you mean?” he looked up to make sure the guards hadn’t noticed him.

“They’re taking us somewhere. There might be other children there. If we leave, who will help them?”

“Charlie…”

A rock shattered into small pieces against the street. They both turned to see an older lady in the line. She had dropped the medium-sized rock she’d been holding, and now she stared at Charlie.

“A baby…” she said. The line skirted to a stop. Many of the people in chains turned to look at the old lady and the rock she dropped. Others followed her gaze and focused on Charlie and the girl in the wagon with him.

At that moment, Charlie noticed several reactions. Some seemed to tighten up. Clenching the rocks they held. Their veins popped. Others looked on with teary eyes and sorrowful expressions. But the ones who stuck out the most were the ones who seemed to have no reaction at all. He wondered about them more than anyone. Why didn’t they seem to react?

Maybe they were used to babies, unlike the others.

Or maybe something else was going on.

That felt…right. But whatever it was, he couldn’t understand it.

Brel and the other guards noticed the delay. A flash of anger crossed Brel’s face when he saw the broken pieces of rock in the street. He glared at the old lady. He reached over and drew the sword of one of the other guards.

“Pick it up,” he said as he hurried over.

The old lady struggled to catch her breath, drawing in deep mouthfuls of air. She snapped out of her fixation on Charlie and looked down at the shattered rock on the ground before her. She bent over to pick up the pieces. A hand shot back, reflexively, and droplets of blood rained onto the well-paved street. Her eyes fixed on the blood, and she froze again, lost in her thoughts. A fragment of the rock had cut her.

Brel swore. He lifted his stolen blade in the air.

A blonde man with low cut hair shot out from the back of the line, hurrying toward where the old lady was, trying to get there in time to help. He carried a rock almost twice as big as the one that she dropped. His muscles rippled as he moved and sweat raced down his face. But his sudden movement caused the people behind him to fall, and his progress came to a halt just as suddenly as he had sprung into action.

The sword arced downward.

“Stop!” a man’s voice called out.

A familiar man.

A hundred eyes turned to face him.

It was Merlin.

Brel’s sword stopped before it struck the old lady. The muscular man at the rear of the line relaxed. Brel’s nostrils flared, and he hurried over to the wagon, grabbing Merlin by the collar. With his hands tied, Merlin wasn’t able to defend himself. Brel pressed him into the side of the wagon. “What did you say?” he asked.

Merlin righted himself and stood up tall, staring Brel down. For a moment, Charlie thought Brel might attack him. He watched; a breath caught in his throat.

Brel drove the blade toward Merlin. Charlie shrieked. Merlin didn’t flinch.

But rather than cut him, Brel cut the rope bindings. “That’s alright. You’ll learn proper manners at the new worksite.”

One of the other guards called out. “I thought you said he was going to four?”

“The new site needs the help more. He’ll be more useful there. Besides, it’s time he learns not to speak up unless he’s told to.” He pulled Merlin with him and shoved him to the ground. He landed hard against the street. “Pick it up!” Brel barked. Merlin recovered, climbing back to his feet. He stared at Brel, and then at the shattered rock.

The people of the line, the guards, and passerby all watched, waiting to see what he would do.

For a moment, it looked like he might make a move, like he might attack Brel. But then he noticed Charlie, staring at him, concern radiating off widened blue eyes, and he turned around and picked up the rock as he’d been told. The old lady tried to help him, but he gently waved her away.

He managed to pick it all up, somehow, and then he stood and looked at Brel.

Brel spat on the street, and then beckoned the line onward. A few moments later, the sound of shuffling chains faded, and the sound of rolling wagon wheels resumed.

And Merlin was gone.

When Charlie turned around, the little girl was shaking. She peered at him from behind closed fingers. There was something there for a moment.

The flash of a memory.

A reminder of something he couldn’t quite remember. He crawled around the bench, slowly, so as not to draw the attention of Brel or the other guard, who had both sat up front after earlier events. Finally, he reached the girl and patted her on the side of the leg. She lifted her head to look at him, instinctually putting an arm between them before realizing who it was beside her. She blinked, surprised that Charlie had crawled all the way over to her himself.

Charlie didn’t mind her reaction. It didn’t matter. All that did matter was that she needed a friend right now.

He reached out with a tiny baby hand and grabbed hers. She looked at him, surprised, and the shaking stopped. She put her head back down on her knees and went back into the fetal position. He heard soft, muffled crying. But she didn’t pull her hand away.

She knew she needed a friend, too.

And in that moment, Charlie was glad for the memory that had prompted his actions. Even if he couldn’t remember it as clearly as he liked, or where it had come from. He remembered the warmth that it had once made him feel.

Charlie remained next to her for the rest of the trip. Watching the city line as they descended a series of inclines and moved downward and deeper into the city. He saw the enormous pyramid shapes he’d seen before from the treetop branches with Vetica. He realized now that those pyramids were great piles of dirt and rocks, like the ones he’d seen the people carrying earlier.

People worked with crude, dull tools. Sledgehammers, pickaxes, and shovels. Breaking away at the rock, churning it into smaller pieces. Others moved in and out of a series of tunnels in the ground. They emptied buckets of dirt and carried large rocks to the surface. Charlie wondered what this was, what they were doing.

He wondered if that was where they were taking Merlin.

“Charlie! Where are you? I can sense you, and I know I’m not far behind, but I don’t see any babies!” Orb called out.

Charlie blinked, realizing Orb hadn’t been with him since he’d entered the city. He’d gotten so carried away with everything that had happened since they approached the gates. He really needed to be better at keeping track of his dungeon core friend.

“Orb! I’m in a wagon! Where are you?”

“Uhm… wait, there you are! I’ll be there in a second! It wasn’t easy following you through the city!”

Charlie tilted his head. Following him? Orb was moving through the city on his own? He looked up, searching for Orb in the air. What if someone had seen him flying around? But Charlie didn’t see Orb anywhere.

“I’m right beside the wagon now!” Orb said.

Charlie leaned over the side of the wagon, as much as he could without breaking hand contact with Sophia, even though he was pretty certain she’d cried herself to sleep already. He still didn’t see Orb. Until he looked down.

There he was, covered in dirt, and rolling beside them along the stone path, increasing in speed as the incline descended. Charlie giggled. “Orb! What if someone saw you?”

“I’m absolutely filthy. Nobody is going to suspect I’m a dungeon core like this! It’s genius, really. I wish we’d thought of this earlier. It’s the perfect disguise. I can hide in plain sight now!”

Orb had a point. He looked just like a dirty ball. Like a group of kids had accidentally lost a toy during playtime.

Orb rolled under the wagon. There was a knock on the bottom of the wagon as he ascended too fast. The driver up front turned to look. He noticed Charlie had moved to sit next to Sophia. He shrugged and turned his attention back to the road.

“Alright! Reunited again. Easy! Where’s Merlin?” he asked.

“I don’t know. He helped this old lady, and the guards took him away.”

“Wow really? I never pictured Merlin going after Cougars. Good for him! Where are they taking us?”

“I dunno.”

They rode for a while longer. Charlie did his best to get an idea of the city’s layout. But he’d been lost for a while. Charlie didn’t have a clue how he was going to regroup with Merlin later. He tried a few times to reach out to Merlin with his mind, but just like in Sirra, the distance limitation was still a problem. He was too far to think-speak now.

“Charlie, look up ahead!” Orb called out.

Charlie looked up and craned his neck to see past the driver. “Whoa…” he thought.

The wagon slowed down as they approached the cave entrance.

A cave entrance with dim dungeallis crystals along its border.

It wasn’t a cave; he realized.

It was a dungeon.

“Orb…why is there a dungeon in the middle of the city?” Charlie asked.

“We need to get out of here. Now. Something’s wrong,” Orb said.

The wagon rolled to a stop. Brel stood and stepped into the back of the wagon. He grabbed Sophia by her sleeve and yanked her after him. He moved so quickly, he almost pulled Charlie with her. Brel forced her out of the wagon and pulled her into the dungeon after him.

The other guard, the driver, picked Charlie up, hopped out of the wagon, and stopped at the cave entrance. He sighed. “I always hate this part.”

Charlie turned to see Orb fall from the bottom of the wagon and roll behind them. “Charlie! We need to go! Take him out!”

“No! Not without Sophia! I made Merlin promise her mother we would help find her. I won’t make him into a liar. Besides, we need to make sure there aren’t any other kids here!”

“Okay, I have really great news then. Merlin’s already a liar. He lies for a living. Now, let’s go.”

Charlie ignored him, and the guard, finally having steeled his nerve, stepped into the dungeon.

They walked for down the dark dungeon hallway awhile until finally they reached a door. The dungeon almost seemed to have been intentionally built to position a door here. Brel waited there with Sophia. When the guard arrived with Charlie, Brel knocked on the door five times.

It opened all on its own. There wasn’t anyone on the other side. Charlie swallowed. What was going on?

Footsteps. Soft, padded footsteps beat ahead of them. They were too far for whoever owned them to have opened the door. But they were clearly running away from the approaching soldiers. Brel laughed. It wasn’t a pleasant laugh. It wasn’t a happy laugh. It was evil.

It didn’t feel good to hear. Charlie shivered.

After what felt like forever, they reached a room. An open, oval-like space. It was filled with furniture: tables, chairs, and even beds. There were storage spaces, and toys and leftover plates of food. There were windows with curtains pulled back that revealed only the dungeon wall and open doorways that led nowhere.

And there were children.

An entire group of them.

They stood there, staring at the two new kids and the men who had brought them.

A girl, young, maybe ten or so, but older than the other children, stepped forward. “Two? Why two?” she asked.

“If it’s a problem, I’ll pick out one of your friends to free up some space,” Brel barked.

“No!” She stomped her feet.

“Then, I guess you’re getting two today.” He smirked and pushed Sophia into the room.

The man holding him walked further into the room and set Charlie on the ground. Charlie looked up at him, unsure of what to do.

It was Brel that spoke.

“Go on, kid, this is your new home. Welcome to Dungeon Daycare.”