A dozen children of varying ages circled him, dirty faces stared at the newcomer crawling on the floor below. Charlie returned their gaze with large, curious eyes. He’d never seen so many children before. He hadn’t seen any children since leaving Hilda’s village. And now there were… a lot.

“He’s just a little baby.”

“We should bring him to Kyo.”

“I think his name is Charlie.”

“You’re just making that up!”

“Nu huh! It’s on his shirt.”

The oldest of the children, the girl who’d spoken with the guards before they left, stepped into the circle, and knelt in front of Charlie. Her eyes were brown, as was her hair, which was tied into a neat ponytail behind her head. The children all grew quiet. The pony-tailed girl inspected him, leaning in close.

He looked around for Orb, unsure of how to handle the situation. He didn’t resist, however, when she picked him up and cradled him in her arms. She noticed the name inscribed on the front of his onesie. She nodded to the boy who’d read the name earlier. “Yup, Luc’s right. His name is Charlie.” She looked around and then walked through the crowding children and over to a table not far from them. She sat there, and the kids all hurried after her, squatting, sitting, leaning, and settling into more comfortable positions in front of her. They waited for her to speak.

She didn’t. She sat there, staring at Charlie. Her eyes rested on him, but her mind seemed to be elsewhere. She wasn’t admiring Charlie’s cute baby face. She was thinking about something.

Her clothes were more comfortable than Charlie imagined. His head grazed against the fabric of her sleeve. It was soft and warm to the touch.

“Does this mean the plan's off, Lyra?” Luc asked, the same boy that had first noticed his name. He had ruffled blonde hair and a dirty face. One of his middle front teeth seemed to be missing as well.

So, her name was Lyra. Charlie liked that name.

“No. We aren’t giving up. The plan is still on,” she said.

“But what about—”

“Let’s discuss it at council,” she said. Luc nodded, going quiet. “As for everyone else, back to chores.” A few of the other children groaned at that. Lyra singled out a few of them. “Florence, I want you to take a shift on door duty. The guards shouldn’t return again anytime soon, but we need to make sure we’re careful.” She turned back toward Luc. “We’re going to take them for initiation.”

Luc shook his head. “What? But Lyra, you said it was too dangerous to go deeper into the dungeon now. We didn’t even take Kyo when he got here.”

Lyra grimaced. “I know. But we shouldn’t have three uninitiated here. It’s too big of a risk. Get everything ready for me, okay? Everyone else, get to it.”

Kids scattered in every direction. Luc kicked over a nearby table and started digging into the ground with a small, makeshift shovel. He looked up and started swatting at the air with the shovel until, finally, he hit something with a loud clang.

“You alright, Luc?” someone called out.

“Yeah!” he called back. “Saw a big bug flying around. I got it though!”

Florence, the timid, freckled girl that had been assigned to door duty, hurried down the hallway the guards had brought Charlie in through. The other children did all sorts of things. Some of them tended to a small garden along the room’s walls. It looked completely different from the garden Mary kept at home. This one had mushrooms, and lots of those weed things that Mary always cut down when it sprung up. Apparently, the kids here liked them more than she did.

Other kids hand-washed clothes in run-down buckets filled with water. It was amazing. Everyone was helping with something. Except for Sophia, who had huddled into a corner as soon as the guards departed.

Lyra noticed her too. She checked to make sure Charlie was still nuzzled safely in her arms, and then walked over to the girl. “Are you okay?” she asked.

Sophia didn’t look up.

“At least tell me your name,” Lyra said. She held Charlie up so the girl could see him better. “Look, he’s a baby, and he told me his name. It’s Charlie.”

The girl looked surprised at that. “Charlie…” She looked at her hand and then caught herself. “He told you?”

“Kind of,” Charlie thought.

“No.” Lyra smiled. “It’s on his outfit.” She pointed to his name so Sophia could see.

“Oh,” she said. Her lips pursed before she spoke again. “My name’s Sophia,” she said, resting her head back on her knees.

Charlie shrieked in excitement. So this was the girl he was looking for! A feeling of guilt filled him. Merlin had wanted to save her and run. Charlie had made them wait. Even though Charlie had been right, and there were more children, now Merlin was lost because of him changing the plan.

It was the second time Merlin had gotten into trouble because of him.

Lyra smiled at Charlie’s reaction. “I think he likes your name.”

“Orb, did you hear that?” Charlie asked. He paused, realizing he hadn’t heard from Orb in a while. “Orb?” he called out again.

“Kind of busy.”

“Doing what?” Charlie blinked.

“Don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Almost ready, Lyra!” Luc called out in the distance.

Lyra looked up, nodding. “Listen, Sophia, I’m going to need you to come with me for something in a few minutes. Would that be okay?”

Sophia hesitated. Lyra was patient, waiting with a gentle smile.

Sophia nodded.

“Good, I’ll have someone come get you when it’s time to go.”

Someone giggled in the background. Lyra turned at the noise and hurried in its direction. Charlie recognized a familiar sight that he hadn’t seen in a while.

Not since he’d left Troa.

A crudely constructed cradle hidden in a tiny dungeon alcove. The contraption comprised a pile of thick blankets stacked atop a large rock that protruded from the ground. All around the rock, planks of wood had been driven into the ground to create walls. Extra blankets had been shoved and wedged into any loose spots to keep the bassinet’s inhabitants from falling where the rock wasn’t perfectly flat.

It looked surprisingly comfortable.

A young girl sat beside the bassinet. A prison guard, Charlie realized.

“I’m not going in there!” Charlie thought.

Lyra ignored his mental protest and sat him inside anyway.

“I’m not staying in here!” Charlie corrected himself.

Lyra stroked his cheek gently, and left him there, stepping aside to talk to the prison guard.

Something quickly distracted him from his newfound captivity.

The source of the giggle he’d heard not long ago.

He sat there, staring at his counterpart. Another baby sat on the opposite side of the makeshift bed. The baby had dark hair and brown skin and tilted its head at him.

Lyra noticed, laughing at their reaction to one another. “Charlie, meet Kyo. Kyo, Charlie.”

Charlie looked at Kyo’s hands and saw a dungeon core sized dirty ball sitting inside them. “Orb? Is that you?”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Oh great! You came to rescue me. Beat up this baby so we can blow this joint!”

“How did you even end up here?” Charlie asked.

“Some maniac with a shovel whacked me out of the air! Some other kid saw me lying on the floor and dropped me in here for the baby to play with. It was really deorbanizing if I’m being honest.”

Kyo stared at Charlie, and then started crawling up to him, Orb still in hand. Charlie waited, unsure of how to react. When Kyo got close, he giggled and held Orb out, dropping him in front of Charlie.

“Is he trying to let me play with his toy?” Charlie wondered.

“I know you did not just refer to me as this kid’s toy!”

“You know what I mean.”

Charlie turned at the sound of hurried footsteps. Luc jumped the last few steps and struck a pose. “Lyra! We’re ready. We can leave whenever! I dug super fast!”

Lyra turned and smiled at him. “Good job, Luc. Let’s get going then.”

Lyra gracefully ended Charlie’s short prison stint. She cradled him in her arms. Luc liberated Kyo, who managed to grab onto Orb again before he was lifted into the air. Charlie had forgotten him.

“I’ll never forgive this transgression, Charlie,” Orb said.

A few moments later, a small group of children waited before a tunnel in the room opposite the one they had entered from earlier. This tunnel led deeper into the dungeon. The group was composed of Lyra, Luc, Sophia, Charlie, Kyo, and a handful of other children. Luc had given Kyo to one of the other kids, but Lyra still carried Charlie. Luc and the others, whose names Charlie didn’t know, carried short spears with the familiar black rock affixed to the end of them. Charlie recognized it as the same black rock the older lady had dropped earlier.

He wondered how these kids had got some of it.

They walked down the mundane tunnel for less than a minute before they reached the same kind of door the guards had entered earlier. Lyra walked right up to it. She didn’t knock. Instead, she asked a question.

“May we come in?”

The door opened as soon as she finished speaking, and the children crossed through.

This side of the tunnel was much more eccentric than the other side. As they walked, Charlie noticed all sorts of odd things embedded in the walls. Strange clock faces that moved, ticking and ticking, almost in unison with the steps of the children. There were more doorways, without doorknobs, and with little window panels that revealed they didn’t actually lead anywhere.

Every once in a while, the children encountered a small set of stairs. Each of the mini stairs had three steps up, leading to a flat portion in the middle, and then three steps down. Creating a pointless exercise for them at irregular intervals.

Lamps protruded out of the wall, flicking on, and then off again at random. The lamps ensured there was always enough light, but that the light was never coming from the same source. Almost every step was illuminated by a different lamp. Clocks, and doors, and pointless staircases, and lamps. Charlie struggled to understand what was going on.

Why was the dungeon like this? This dungeon was so different from the other one he’d been inside with Geron, Axel, and the others. It was so different from his own dungeon. It was like he was having a weird dream.

Sophia walked in the middle of the group. Her arms were folded against her chest. She was shaking. Luc noticed too. “First time in a dungeon? Don’t worry! Most of us grew up here. We know what we’re doing!” He lifted his spear up in the air to show it off. Sophia didn’t look at him.

“Luc, why don’t you tell Sophia about the Hex King?” Lyra suggested. Charlie stared up at her. It was clearly Lyra’s way of getting Sophia’s mind off things. But who was the Hex King?

Luc’s eyes lit up. “Okay! Have you heard of him before, Sophia?” he asked excitedly. She glanced at him but didn’t say anything. Luc passed his spear off to one of the other children. Apparently, you needed two hands to talk about the Hex King. “A long time ago, like hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Humanity was almost wiped out! Super strong Hex Beasts roamed the earth, and all the kingdoms of the world were destroyed. But one man rose up to fight back!” Luc paused. “Do you know about hexes?” he asked her.

Sophia looked at him. She still wouldn’t talk, but she was clearly interested. Charlie leaned forward in Lyra’s arm. He had heard none of this before.

“It’s okay if you don't. So, there are seven base hexes, right? And then there are advanced hexes and unique hexes and all different kinds. But most people can only use one kind of hex. Get this though, that man who rose up? He could use all of them. That’s why they called him the Hex King! He was a real hero. All the other people banded together under him and…” Luc punched the air with his arms. “Defeated all the beasts! Just like that! Isn’t that so cool?”

Lyra laughed. She’d noticed Charlie listening to Luc’s story. “Can you tell how much Luc looks up to the Hex King?” she asked, tickling him with a finger. Charlie giggled. Lyra turned to Sophia. “Some say that’s how the Kingdom of Aysela got started. That the Hex King was our first king.”

“And I’m going to be just as strong as he was one day! When we get out of this stupid dungeon! I’ll be a super strong hero too! They’ll tell stories about me.” Luc punched the air some more. “Oh!” he said, turning to Sophia. “When I make my own guild, you could join it if you want!”

“What the—” Orb said, flying by. Charlie turned to see Kyo had flung him away. Kyo held a hand out and one of the kids picked the dirty dungeon core up to hand back.

Kyo threw him again. “Charlie! Use that dungeon manipulation ability on him! Or throw a pillar at him! Or summon Bleedy to eat him! I’m being tortured! Protect me!”

Charlie ignored him and looked over at Sophia. Luc’s story did seem to help a bit. He held out a hand toward her. She noticed and looked up at him, and for the first time, Charlie saw her smile.

They eventually came to a stop at a door that was actually a door. Doorknob and all. They’d passed a few open doors at this point, but Lyra and the others had ignored them. Lyra didn’t ask to come inside this time, instead she took a key from her pocket, pressed it into a keyhole in the door, and unlocked it. With that done, she opened the door and beckoned everyone inside.

The children crowded into the small, empty room. Empty except for the strange green crystal on a podium in the room’s center. A thick ooze ran down the crystal’s sides, emanating from cracks that lined it all over.

Luc grinned really big, staring at Sophia. “This is the best part. Trust me. You get to touch it.”

Sophia looked horrified. “What? Touch that?” she asked. Charlie was surprised she’d spoken at all.

Luc nodded. He raised a hand to demonstrate, but Lyra stopped him. “We only touch it once, Luc. That’s the rule.”

“Aww man. But I haven’t touched it in forever! It’s so much fun!”

“Only once.” Lyra turned to Sophia. “You don’t have to touch it long. I know it looks gross, but I promise it’s for your own protection.”

Sophia stared at it. She reluctantly tore her gaze away and focused on Lyra. “What will it do?”

“It’s got the scent of the dungeon! We touch it so the dungeon can’t sense us here! That way, you don’t get chosen!”

“Chosen?” Sophia asked.

Luc nodded. “It’s when the guards come. When two guards come, it’s no big deal. But if they send five, it’s really bad. They always—”

“That’s enough, Luc. It doesn’t matter. Touching this keeps us safe,” Lyra said. Luc made a zipping motion over this mouth and put the imaginary key inside his ear. He made a show of the key getting stuck and pretended to drive it in by wedging a finger deep in his ear and turning it.

Charlie and Kyo giggled at this. Luc smiled, taking a bow.

Sophia swallowed. She stepped forward and touched the crystal. A soft hum resonated in the room, and the kid’s faces lit up in excitement. Lyra smiled, patting Sophia on the shoulder. “Good job. That’s all you had to do.”

She turned to the young boy holding Kyo and called him forward. “Take his hand and guide it to the crystal,” she said.

The boy did so and gently guided Kyo’s hand toward the crystal. Kyo laughed. He found it endlessly amusing for some reason.

The hum grew louder and louder in Charlie’s ears, but no one else seemed to notice. It was like the crystal was calling him. He was close enough to reach out. Lyra was overseeing the boy with Kyo, so she’d gotten close enough. Just as Kyo’s hand made contact with the crystal, Charlie gave into the impulse and touched the crystal too.

“No! One at a time!” Luc cried out.

The crystal hummed loudly, and the room shook violently. The door they’d entered through slammed shut. The crystal bled even more of the liquid than before, and then the room grew dark.

"Aww, you broke it!" Luc groaned.

Just like that, the room brightened up again. A bright light grew inside the crystal, growing brighter and brighter, until it was blinding.

And then, everything returned to normal.

The crystal returned to its usual state, and the door to the room opened again. The hum returned to its quiet, peaceful melody.

But Charlie had noticed something no one else had. He had noticed a presence. They weren’t alone in this dungeon. Something was with them.

Something powerful.

Captain Varroc

Steaming hot water flowed over him, rinsing his hair free of blood and dirt. The blood wasn’t his. The dirt probably was, though. Spend a week with dirt in your hair and you’ve certainly got a claim to it. This was the life. They didn’t even have showers like this back in the guild. And a personal one at that? This little home of his was getting nicer by the day.

He closed his eyes and let the water blast his face. He reached out, blindly, and scrambled with his fingers until he grabbed the towel he’d hung just outside the shower. It hugged his face as soon as he stepped away from the water and out of the tub. He left the water running. The steam would feel nice, and the sound of running water always helped him relax. Varroc dabbed away at his face, clearing the water from it, and then slung the towel over his shoulder. He’d let the rest air dry. Rest of the day should be free after all. He’d told no one to bother him.

A soft knock on the door. He turned to look at it. Surely no one was stupid enough…

Another knock, slightly louder this time.

Varroc sighed, staring at the knife he kept beside the door. He hadn’t needed to kill one of his own men in nearly a week. He’d thought he’d beat the record, but it’s not his fault if men don’t value their own lives. And incompetence? Well, incompetence was a good indicator of that.

He pulled the door open. A young soldier stared at him, caught off guard by his naked state. “Sir, I…sorry to bother you, there was—”

Varroc stabbed the man four times in the chest before he could get another word out. The soldier crumpled to the ground. Varroc shook his head, turning to close the door.

“Creature,” the man whispered.

Varroc turned at that. He knelt beside the man. “What?”

“The creature…picked a…new one.”

Varroc whistled. “Really? You should’ve said so. Better get to work then.” He stepped back inside, grabbed the pile of clothes he’d left on the living room floor as soon as he’d gotten home, and then stepped back out. He pulled the door shut behind him and went to head into town.

A thought struck him. He turned back, still naked, with a towel slung over his shoulder, and dirty clothes bundled up in an arm to kneel over the body.

With his free hand, he ripped the dying soldier's coin-purse from his belt.