Charlie

After the battle, the children didn’t waste any time rescuing the others. The hunters were covered in scratches and bite marks. Droplets of blood and sweat fell from them like raindrops. They were exhausted.

But they knew the abducted children were terrified, and they wouldn’t let them go another moment without rescue. The hunters hurried past the damaged jungle gym and went to work.

The Scalers left them alone now, most of them scurried away up the walls and ceilings. The ones who remained on the ground gave the children plenty of room to pass. They were completely uninterested in the children now that their leader was defeated. Instead, their focus was on the Scaler who had helped bring down the boss lizard.

The friendly Scaler.

Charlie decided he would give it a name. But he had to think about it. For now, he turned his attention to the children. Lyra still held him, and she hurried over to direct the rescue efforts. The hunters were having a hard time freeing the kidnapped children from the sticky plant netting. Their spears wouldn’t cut through the strange material, and whenever they tried to rip away at it with their hands, they got stuck themselves.

“Arh!” the friendly Scaler yelled, and a flurry of movement caused the hunters to pause. Charlie watched as a mass of the lizards hurried forward. Lyra flicked her hand, a swirling water hex manifesting in front of it. But Charlie held a hand out to calm her down.

She blinked at him. “But—”

“Watch,” Charlie said, pointing at the Scalers.

They scurried up to the netting and started tearing at it with their claws and teeth. The children tried to pull away when the Scalers got close to them, but the netting was stuck fast to their skin. The Scalers weren’t attacking, though.

They were setting them free.

Other Scalers joined them, quickly scurrying down the wall to tackle the net from above. A few of them were spitters, small trickles of acid poured from their mouths, burning through the netting where there weren’t any children around. Other Scalers ran a hand under the acid trickle and started rubbing it on the netting with more precision. It was amazing how well the creatures worked together. They were just as coordinated as when they were fighting. They were a very intelligent species. At least it seemed that way.

One by one, the children were set free. Some ran from the netting and into the protection of the hunters. Others ran toward Lyra, their leader.

Josephine was one of them. As soon as she was free, she ran as fast as she could with tiny legs and threw herself into Lyra’s torso in an embrace. Lyra was surprised. She made sure Charlie was still secure after the impact. Then she returned the gesture with her free hand. She wrapped a hand around Josephine’s head.

“It’s okay, you’re safe now,” Lyra cooed.

Josephine sniffled. She cried quietly, her tears getting Lyra’s shirt wet.

Lyra just smiled.

Charlie looked up when he saw the other girl approaching. Sophia didn’t seem as apprehensive about the Scalers. She seemed to realize they didn’t pose a threat anymore. She approached and stood awkwardly a few steps from Lyra and Charlie. Even after everything she had been through, she was still the same quiet girl.

Charlie held his hands outstretched before him toward the girl.

Lyra seemed surprised. “You want Sophia to hold you?”

Sophia’s eyes went wide at Lyra’s words. But Charlie kept reaching.

Josephine stopped crying. She looked up at them with puffy eyes.

Lyra held Charlie out, but Sophia seemed unsure. “It’s okay. You can hold him. You won’t hurt him or anything. He’s not as delicate as most babies.” She smiled.

Sophia reluctantly accepted and took Charlie into her arms. She looked down at him and he giggled. It caught her off guard, and she let out a soft laugh. Looking at her now, Charlie realized that despite her shyness, Sophia had a certain way of carrying herself. She always walked with her head held high, and she had really good posture. She’d been in the dungeon for over a day now, maybe longer. But she didn’t seem as dirty as the other children. Her auburn hair didn’t appear as tangled. Had she been grooming herself? That was interesting.

All the other children were free now. With their jobs complete, the Scalers retreated away again. Giving the children space. Their change in attitude had been so sudden. Was it really like Lyra had said? Did they really consider the friendly Scaler their new leader? Or was it something else? Charlie didn’t have any way of knowing.

Kashak approached. He leaned against a new spear. Someone must have given them theirs. “Lyra, we need to talk about everything,” he said. The Boss Scaler had hit him hard after the last fight. Charlie could tell Kashak wasn’t at one hundred percent. It surprised him Kashak could still stand. The tall boy had taken the brunt of that blow from the Boss Scaler’s tail, and he didn’t have the rock skin passive like Charlie did. Kashak was resilient. But why was he so strong and durable? That attack could’ve killed an adult. But Kashak was already back on his feet.

Lyra nodded. “I know. Let’s get back to the safe room and regroup. We can talk there,” she said.

The Scalers left them alone, and the hunters helped the younger children who had been abducted out of the large domelike room. But just as they crossed the threshold, a noise caught their attention.

“Arh!” the friendly Scaler said. It must have jumped right after, because it landed softly in the middle of the group of children, right in front of Sophia, who still held Charlie.

It looked up at Charlie. “Arh!” It pointed its head at the little baby boy, and then back into the Scaler nest. “Arh!” it said again.

Charlie frowned. “I can’t stay to play. I have to rescue my friend. Some mean adults took him, and we have to get him back.” He projected the thoughts to the Scaler’s mind. He knew it could understand some things. But would this make sense?

The Scaler tilted its head. It paused for several moments before offering a soft response. “Arh.”

It flexed its legs and jumped straight upward, twisting in the air as it rose. It landed on the ceiling, swallowed, and then opened its mouth wide. “Ar...” It stretched its neck wider. “Arca!” it barked.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

It wasn’t quite as loud as the previous boss Scaler’s, but it was a start.

Apparently, the other Scalers thought so as well.

Sophia turned, as did all the other children, to watch the swarming mass of Scalers follow them out into the hallway. Sophia’s eyes went wide.

The friendly Scaler seemed pleased with itself. It looked back down at Charlie. “Arh!” it said.

Charlie swallowed. “All of them are coming with us?” he asked.

The friendly Scaler’s head bobbled. “Arhhhhhh.”

Lyra and Kashak exchanged a look. “I don’t know about this, Charlie,” Lyra said.

Charlie thought about it. Earlier they had been sworn enemies, and now, all of a sudden, the other Scalers had switched sides. Just like that. Well, okay.

But it was probably better to start this new alliance off a bit smaller. “You can bring a few of your friends. I think if too many come, it will scare the other kids,” Charlie said, wagging a little baby finger.

The friendly Scaler waved its head. It looked around, its head pausing every time it moved to stare in a new direction. “Arca!” it said. The horde of Scalers dispersed. Around thirty remained.

Charlie gave the friendly Scaler a thumbs up.

“Arhhh!” it said.

“Arh! Arh! Arh!” the other Scalers cried back.

Lyra sighed.

***

They reached the daycare and waited for Desmond and the other hunters to remove the table barricade and open the door for them. The smaller children that had been left behind had no shortage of energy after being cooped up in that room for the last several hours. Many of them bounced on the mattress floor, jumping on it over and over.

Others were playing a game, balancing on the very edge of the square couch that surrounded the room. They would fall off and onto the soft mattress floor and then giggle and jump back up again. Luc sat with Florence and a few of the other injured children. They had carved out a no play zone so no one would trip and fall over one of the already hurting children.

Lyra ushered the other small children inside to join them. Sophia followed, with Charlie still in her arms, but Lyra called her back.

“We need Charlie for a moment,” she said. Sophia seemed reluctant to hand him over, but she trusted Lyra. She passed Charlie over and then, after pausing briefly, followed the other children inside the room.

Kashak waited outside with her as well. “We should figure out our next steps,” he said.

Lyra sighed. “The smaller children need rest. Especially the ones that were taken earlier by the—” she paused, turning to look at the thirty Scalers standing a few yards away watching them. The friendly Scaler tilted its head at her. “We need to let them sleep,” she said.

Kashak shook his head. “We don’t know how much time has passed now. The guards could find out any moment that we’ve escaped into the dungeon. If they don’t already know.”

“Getting the children out of the city is going to be just as hard as moving through the dungeon. We are going to need everyone well rested. Even after we escape, we’ll need to cover a lot of ground once we leave Sange, and quickly. The children need to rest before that comes. Let’s sleep, and talk more about it when everyone is rested,” she said.

Kashak sighed. “What about Kyo? He may not have time for us to rest. Brel could reach the center of the dungeon if we take a break now.”

Lyra didn’t have an answer for that. She looked away, biting her lip.

Charlie had a thought. “Hey!”

Lyra, Kashak, and the friendly Scaler all turned to look at him.

“Can your friends help us find someone? This big meanie, named Brel, took one of the other kids into the dungeon. Could you send some friends to try to take our friend back? Or at least slow them down,” Charlie asked.

The friendly Scaler looked at him. It didn’t respond.

Lyra sighed. “Well, it was a good idea. But I guess—”

“Arca!” it screamed suddenly. Twelve Scalers hurried off, scampering past them, and disappearing the hall.

Kashak looked surprised. “Wait, it can actually understand him?”

Lyra shrugged. Charlie gave him a big thumbs up and then turned back to the friendly Scaler. “Thank you!”

It jumped a few feet in the air several times in a row.

“Alright, now are you okay with a break, Kashak?” Lyra asked. He looked at Charlie, and back down the hall where the Scalers had vanished. He nodded.

The three of them joined the others in the room. Lyra allowed Charlie to bring the friendly Scaler inside, but said the others had to wait outside. Some stood guard outside the door, others curled up to nap. Charlie felt bad they couldn’t enjoy the comfy room with them.

Kashak helped Desmond and a few of the other hunters replace the door barricade, stacking tables to make sure the door wouldn’t open. A lot of the playing kids had already settled down, talking with the kids who had been taken. Luc went around telling the others it was time to get some sleep.

Lyra saw Sophia sitting on a corner of the couch and sat on the mattress flooring nearby. She leaned her head against one of the many cushions on the couch, setting Charlie down in her lap. Charlie looked over and waved at Sophia.

“Lyra! Look! I added to my drawing!” Josephine said, hurrying over to them with some kind of parchment in hand. She handed it to Lyra. Lyra held it open in front so Charlie could see.

Charlie looked at it.

It was nice, though some of it was still wet. The lines were a bright red and smelled sweet, like she had drawn it using some kind of crushed berry. It looked like Josephine had painted it with her fingers. She was really talented. She must have had a lot of practice.

Charlie could even make out a lot of the people here.

There was Kashak, with his long hair, who towered above the others. Luc held a spear in his hand and smiled really big. Lyra, with her hair in a ponytail behind her head, wagged a finger at Luc for waving a spear around. Charlie giggled. There, in front, were two little babies crawling. He knew Kyo was one of them, but the other one was new.

He gasped, realizing he was the other baby.

“I think Charlie likes it,” Lyra said, smiling.

Josephine giggled, her smile growing huge on her face.

Charlie looked over at all the other children he didn’t recognize. One in particular stuck out to them. This boy was drawn with a lot of detail, just like Lyra, Luc, and Kashak had been. So clearly he was important to Josephine as well. He pointed at the boy with a long red mark across his face, from cheek to cheek.

He felt Lyra tense up.

Josephine moved next to Lyra to see where he was pointing. “Oh! You never got to meet him, did you? That’s a drawing of Tomas! He was here before you got here! He was like a big brother to everyone! Even Kashak looked up to him! Can you believe that?” She frowned, realizing Charlie couldn’t understand her.

He stared at the red mark on the boy’s face. Josephine looked at Lyra, but the older girl said nothing. She turned back to Charlie. “He looks just like this! He was a little shorter than Kashak, but really strong. Oh, and he had a big scar on his face! That’s what that mark is. It was so cool! Luc wanted to make a scar on his own face, just like the one Tomas has. But Lyra wouldn’t let him.”

Lyra finally looked over. “Okay, Josephine. Thank you for sharing, but Charlie needs his rest now. Why don’t you go show the others?” she said.

Josephine looked surprised but shrugged. “Okay! I’ll see you later, Lyra!” she said. “Bye Charlie!” She took her drawing back and hurried off.

Charlie swallowed.

He’d seen a scar just like that before, on the face of a man in Sirra. A man who stood outside the cafe the night that Merlin was arrested because a lady thought he’d hit Charlie.

The day that Geron and the cafe owner had helped him escape.

He’d seen that same scar on the face of a snatcher.