When Varroc entered the room, the atmosphere changed. A moment ago, the room had been in a state of inexorable chaos. In the next, it all came to the most sudden of stops. Charlie swallowed.

It felt like things were about to go bad.

Varroc was shirtless, the same as he had been when Charlie and Merlin first entered the city. Behind him were four soldiers waiting for orders. Charlie only recognized one of them. It was Brel. The man from the wagon that had brought Charlie and Sophia to the daycare.

Varroc surveyed the room. “Now let’s see here.” Varroc looked around, staring at the children one by one. His eyes locked in on the kid he’d come for. “Ah, there you are,” Varroc said. “Time to go, kiddo. It’s dinnertime.”

Without turning back, he motioned to Brel. Brel hurried forward. Children scrambled out of his way as he walked.

Directly toward the cradle in the back of the room.

Directly toward Kyo.

Lyra shook her head. “You can’t take anyone! I won’t let you.”

“Tch. That’s your problem, girly. You let all these kids looking up to you go to your head. But this isn’t your dungeon. You’re in my town.”

“We both know it isn’t yours,” Lyra said.

Charlie wondered what she meant by that.

Varroc waved a hand as if he could brush her words away. “Regardless, one of you was lucky enough to get handpicked for a bit of exploration. It’s an honor! Not many people get to see that deep in the dungeon. Don’t be too upset. It’s not like you have a choice, anyway.”

Something clanged to Charlie’s right. He turned to look. Luc was picking up a spear that had fallen. He tested its weight in his hand. He nodded, satisfied with it, and then turned to face Varroc.

“Luc! Stop!” Lyra called out.

Varroc pointed at her. One of the guards drew his sword and aimed it directly towards Lyra. “You stay outta this. Me and ole Luc will figure this out. Just the two of us.” Varroc turned to face the small blonde boy. “So, you wanna be a hero? Come on then. I’m gonna warn ya, though. If you do this, I’m gonna hurt you, and I’m not gonna feel bad about it.”

Luc gritted his teeth. His missing tooth gap was on full display. He yelled at the top of his lungs and charged, hoisting his spear into the air to drive it into Varroc.

Varroc reached out to snatch the spear before it impaled him.

Luc feigned an attack, and his spear pivoted quickly.

If he had been attacking any normal soldier, that attack would’ve worked.

But Varroc was far from a normal. He sidestepped the move at the last second and ripped the spear’s shaft from Luc’s hand.

He brought a leg around and kicked the boy hard on his side.

Luc spiraled through the air, landing several feet away.

Several children gasped.

“Luc!” Lyra called out. The guard still held his blade to her, keeping her from going to his side.

Varroc sighed, and turned to look at Brel, who’d rejoined the soldiers now. His gigantic hand was wrapped around Kyo’s waist. He held the small baby boy like an object instead of a baby. Instead of a person.

Charlie’s grip on the still unconscious Orb tightened in one hand. In the other, he squeezed the dirt of the dungeon floor. What should he do? He could attack, but he was worried about the other children. There were too many of them. If he wasn’t careful, he could hit one, or the guards could take someone hostage. Merlin had warned him to keep his power a secret as long as possible. To only use it in a life-or-death situation. But was this that? Should he make a move?

Luc groaned. He pushed off against the ground, trying to get back on his feet. Varroc took two large steps and knelt beside the boy. He delivered a swift chop to Luc’s upper back. It knocked the wind out of him. His eyes grew wide, and a pained expression crossed his face.

Charlie had to do something.

“Kashak! Help him!” Florence cried out. She wasn’t the only one looking toward the tall, tan boy. But he didn’t return their gaze. He stared off to the side, ignoring them.

He only had eyes for the ground.

Kashak wasn’t going to fight. So, Charlie should.

He raised a hand and aimed it at Varroc.

“Stop!” Lyra called out. Charlie paused, turning to see she was looking in his direction. The soldier guarding her looked confused.

Varroc, however, didn’t catch this. He was still focused on Luc. “You tried to play hero, even though I warned you. You’re young. But you’re already the kind of person I absolutely hate. You don’t know when to quit. You think you’re special? That you’re going to be somebody one day? Is that it?”

Luc’s body wouldn’t move. But he turned his head as much as he could. He sneered at Varroc. “One day, I’m going to be just like the Hex King. I’ll beat up men like you. I’ll be the greatest adventurer ever!”

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Varroc sighed, and his head fell back. He stared at the ceiling. “And here I was, taking it easy on you. Someone like you could’ve grown up to work in the mines. Would’ve been better than this place. Now? Who knows, kid? It’s hard to work in a place like that as a cripple.”

This actually caught Luc off guard. “What?”

Lyra and Charlie realized at the same time.

Lyra called out. Charlie shrieked.

And Varroc pulled Luc’s arm behind his back and snapped it.

Luc’s scream was filled with an agony unlike anything Charlie had ever heard before.

Varroc stood, dusting his hands off each other. “Well, that’s taken care of.” He took note of Kyo firmly hanging from Brel’s hands. “And we’ve got the kid. Great! That just leaves one more thing. Destroy it.”

Brel smirked. The other soldiers looked at him for clarification. The man holding a sword to Lyra spoke. “Destroy…what, sir?”

Varroc raised a brow. “What do you mean destroy what? Destroy it all. They broke the rules. They built weapons. They’ve been stockpiling food. That’s just not how we do things. So, we’re starting from scratch. Destroy it all. No food. No water. No furniture. And we sure as hell aren’t letting them keep those weapons. Raze it to the ground, boys!”

Lyra hurried over and scooped Charlie off the ground.

The children scattered, running away from the destructive soldiers.

Brel kicked over a table, sending food flying. He stomped on a pile of fruit and mushrooms over and over until he left behind only a puddle of mush. Kyo cried in his hands. The other soldiers worked too. They stabbed their blades through sleeping bags and flung chairs against the dungeon’s walls. They collected the spears and piled them in the front of the room. One of the soldiers lit them on fire. The smoke rose up to the dungeon’s ceiling and dissipated. As if there was some sort of ventilation system built in.

One of the other soldiers kicked over buckets of water. All except one. He lowered his trousers and took a piss in that one. He laughed with his buddies about it. They thought it was hilarious.

Charlie wanted to hurt them. Lyra cradled him protectively in her arms. “Don’t worry. It’ll be over soon,” she whispered. He looked up at her. But she didn’t return the gaze. She was watching the other children. Making sure they were alright. He turned to look at Luc, still sprawled out. One of the other girls, Florence, had made her way over to check on him. She covered him with her body to keep any debris from hitting him.

He saw Sophia too, huddled with other children in the room’s corner, staying away from the rampage of the guards.

This wasn’t right. Why didn’t Lyra want him to fight back? He could’ve saved Luc. He could get Kyo back right now.

Couldn’t he? He realized, again, he wasn’t so sure. He had the unconscious Orb to think about. Of course, there was also Mousifer and Bleedy somewhere inside his dungeon. He didn’t know just how strong Varroc and Brel were. What if he needed more power than he could afford to spend? What if his dungeon collapsed and killed his friends? He wasn’t positive Parent could keep them safe.

It made him pause.

The guards eventually ran out of things to break. Varroc nodded, satisfied with their work. “Brel, you’re in charge. Stick to the route but deliver the boy as fast as you can. This one came straight from the top.”

Brel nodded. “Urgent huh, someone important must be coming! That’s exciting.”

“Doesn’t matter who it is. Just get it done and report back,” Varroc barked. He turned and looked at Lyra and held a hand up, pointing a finger toward her. “See ya girly. You can have more food in a couple of days. Good luck till then.” He grinned and left.

Brel and the others waited on Varroc to depart, then turned to head toward the opposite tunnel door. The one leading deeper into the dungeon.

Charlie struggled to sit up in Lyra’s arm to look. Kyo was staring directly at him. He was bawling at the top of his lungs, reaching out toward Charlie.

And in that moment, Charlie felt something innately. A connection born between himself and another.

He didn’t know what that meant. Or what it would mean.

But he knew he had to save him.

“Transfer! Dungeon Manipulation!”

Nothing happened. His powers ignored him. He shook his head. “What?” he thought to himself.

Charlie watched helplessly as Brel, and the other three soldiers took Kyo deeper into the dungeon.

And then they were gone.

***

Lyra stumbled around the remnants of the daycare. Most of the other kids were crying. A few were quiet, sitting off in a corner, or hiding under the remains of a broken table. They had a lost, defeated look in their eyes. Charlie couldn’t blame them.

They’d just lost everything.

Lyra went to check on Luc. He sat leaned against the dungeon’s wall. Florence still tended to him. She’d fashioned a splint of sorts out of a broken chair leg and a torn shirt. “How is he?” Lyra asked.

Florence shook her head.

Luc forced himself to look up at her. “Don’t listen to her. I’m fine. What now?” he asked.

Lyra grimaced. “We need to have a meeting. The whole council. Can you walk?” she asked.

Luc forced a smile. “Of course I can! My arms broken, not my leg.” He tried to stand, but his legs gave way. He motioned for Florence, and she helped him up. They hobbled away toward the tunnel that led deeper into the dungeon. Charlie tilted his head at that. “Where were they going?”

He looked up, but Lyra had turned her attention elsewhere.

Kashak was standing over the remains of the spears. Another boy stood beside him. Charlie didn’t know this boy’s name but recognized him as one of the children who had been on the hunt with Kashak. They both stared at their former weapons. The wooden shafts were charred and broken. Charlie didn’t think they were salvageable, but he knew little about weapons in general. Kashak noticed Lyra staring and turned toward her. Lyra approached. “We’re going to have a council meeting now. We need to make a plan.”

Kashak didn’t say anything. He just nodded. He tapped the other boy on the shoulder, and they walked in the same direction Luc and Florence had gone.

Lyra trailed behind them. She hadn’t made another attempt to communicate with Charlie since earlier. Since everything with Varroc.

He’d hoped she’d forgotten.

He knew she hadn’t.

He turned his attention to the dirty blue dungeon core he still held onto. “Orb? Are you up yet? You’re never asleep this long.”

Orb was quiet. Charlie held Orb up and shook him furiously, trying to shake him away. “Wake up Orb!”

Still nothing.

“Parent?” he tried, knowing it wouldn’t work. Parent had said he would still have limited access to the interface but wouldn’t be able to ask it specific questions. But he should still be able to get some information, right? “Interface?” he thought.

He felt something that time. “Interface? Uhm, why can’t I use my powers?”

“Status requested. One moment. Dungeon integrity is currently 58%. Abilities currently unavailable. Dungeon Core unavailable. Would you like to allocate resources to the creation of a temporary core?”