The creature was roughly twice the size of Charlie. Dark brown fur covered its body and saliva poured freely from its jaw. It had short, pointed ears and a long snout. It’s black, beady eyes fixated on Charlie.

“Charlie… run!” Orb shot forward, zooming directly toward the creature. He hit the furry beasts on the tip of its snout. A violent paw swatted at him, sending Orb rolling into the grass several feet away. He rocked himself back and forth quickly before shooting back into action.

The creature was focused on Charlie, who now crawled as fast as he could back to the front door. Mousifer ran alongside him, turning to hurry Charlie every time he pulled too far ahead. Orb hurried after their pursuer.

The creature was much faster than orb and quickly caught up to them. Mousifer squeaked a warning at Charlie before realizing there was no time. The tiny mouse ran past Charlie and bared its teeth at the much larger creature. The creature leaned down and swallowed Mousifer whole. Mousifer’s tail protruded from the creature’s jaw, flailing wildly. It disappeared as the creature slurped Mousifer deeper.

Charlie turned just in time to catch his friend being eaten and started to cry.

Orb took a wide approach and circled around the creature with the time Mousifer bought him. At high speed, he turned in the air and shot himself directly at the creature’s stomach. It retched, and Mousifer went flying into the nearby tree. He hit it with a thud and slowly slid down it. Unconscious.

The creature, now infuriated, turned its attention to Orb. Orb hovered away slowly, unsure of what to do now that he was its primary target. “Charlie, get inside. Now.”

“No! Not leaving you!” Charlie protested.

“Charlie! Go! I’ll distract it. Even if it eats me, I can just teleport, remember?”

“What about Mousifer?”

“I’ll get him! Just go!” Orb yelled.

Charlie seemed unsure, but set off in a crawl for the front door.

The creature darted forward with alarming speed. Orb tried to dodge but was too slow. It pressed him into the dirt with its paw. Orb had a thought. What if he tried to tame the creature?

It pressed him further into the dirt.

SENTIEN—

A pain shot through him. What? His magic wasn’t working for some reason. “Fine. I’ll just have to teleport and get out of here.”

Conditional skill unavailable.

Conditional? What the heck?

His vision blurred. Something wasn’t right.

Even though the spell didn’t work, it still used up a lot of his magic. This was bad.

The creature now pressed both paws down on him, crushing him under its weight. Waves of pain increased in size and force with each moment. Pieces of Orb slowly flaked off, a long crack developed along his exterior.

I’m dying.

The words repeated over and over in his mind. He’d made it all of a couple of weeks before getting in over his head. But at least Charlie would get away. His sight blurred again, and his perception faded. There wasn’t any point in—

The pressure lifted all at once. Orb regained his sight.

There Charlie was, crawling next to him, a hand outstretched. He rolled over to see Charlie had somehow pushed the creature off of him. The creature sat up and growled, before running for Charlie head on. Charlie gasped. Orb tried to rouse himself but didn’t have the energy. The creature tackled Charlie to the ground. They rolled several feet away.

The creature lifted its head, stretched its mouth wide, and sank his teeth into the little baby boy.

Blood splatter filled the air.

“Oh my god. Charlie…” Orb said.

The creature screamed in pain and turned away from Charlie. Blood poured from its jaw. It stumbled past Orb and disappeared into the grass. Orb rolled slowly to Charlie’s limp body. He was…

“Charlie… you’re safe?” Orb looked around, noticing pieces of white scattered all around Charlie.

Teeth. They were the creature’s teeth.

Charlie shook his head, dazed by the encounter. He looked around and found Mousifer laying limply at the bottom of the tree. He hurriedly crawled over to him. “Charlie, you were just attacked! Calm down!” Orb called out. Charlie ignored him.

Charlie picked Mousifer up. He rolled over to sit, cradling the little mouse in his arms. The mouse was unconscious, but still breathing. Orb hovered above the grass line and followed after the wounded creature. What happened? How had it attacked Charlie but ended up the injured one instead?

It didn’t make any sense. Orb hovered along the path of trampled grass until he found it. The creature whined quietly, curled up into itself.

A box appeared.

CREATURE ANALYSIS COMPLETE.

Racooneever. Hybrid Race.

As in… half raccoon, half beaver? It doesn’t really look like either. Wait, since when can I run a creature analysis? And why does it seem like my magic came back so quickly?

The creature was weakened now. Orb wondered…

SENTIENCE.

The creature jumped to its feet and looked around fervently. Its eyes fixated on Orb.

“Blue.”

Orb shook violently. “You can talk?”

“Blue.”

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Orb turned. Charlie approached. “Orb! Be careful!” Charlie said.

“Baby.”

Charlie turned to look at Orb, astounded.

“Apparently, we have a new minion,” Orb informed him.

The Racooneever flashed a gummy smile. All of its teeth were gone. Blood mixed in with its ever-leaking saliva.

***

“This may work in our favor,” Orb said.

“Blue. Baby. Devil.” The creature didn’t seem able to use sentences. So far it had responded only in the nicknames it assigned them. Charlie decided his name would be Bleedy, for obvious reasons.

“Two minions!” Charlie giggled. Mousifer squeaked. Bleedy let out a happy growl.

“Charlie, do you think that you can ride Bleedy? I can hover, but your crawling is really slow. If he can support you, we’ll be able to get around much faster.”

Charlie looked unsure. “Ride?” he said, eyeing Bleedy over. Bleedy walked up to Charlie and nudged him with his snout. He bowed down so Charlie could climb aboard. “Are you sure it’s safe, Orb?”

“It’ll be fine,” Orb said.

Mousifer glared at him. “Squeak.”

“Okay, yes, I lied to you about your mission being safe, but I wouldn’t do that to Charlie. He’s far more valuable.”

Mousifer squeak gasped and held a hand over his heart in offense. Charlie nodded. “That was a mean thing to say. But okay, I guess I can try.” Charlie struggled to pull himself onto Bleedy’s back. Mousifer pushed from behind, making hardly a difference. Charlie managed to get aboard and then looked around for a handhold. But there was only fur. Fur bunched in his hand, and he grabbed it instinctively.

Charlie’s eyes glowed, their bright blue illuminating slightly. It was only for a second, but Orb noticed.

“What just happened?” Orb asked.

Charlie shook his head. “What do you mean? You told me to ride Bleedy.”

“No… I meant—” Before Orb could finish his sentence, Bleedy took off. He ran from the yard and onto the dirt path into town. Charlie clung tightly, holding onto Bleedy’s fur for his life. Mousifer and Orb exchanged a look before hurrying after them.

By the time they made it into the town’s center, it was morning. Already the market was bustling, and a circle of street merchants were advertising their goods.

Bleedy maneuvered skillfully from one booth to the next, crawling under them and around the feet of merchants who were too focused on customers to notice them. Occasionally, he stopped to snatch up scraps of food that had fallen on the ground. Charlie giggled every time. Orb had the feeling this wasn’t Bleedy’s first time moving through town in search of food. Orb and Mousifer now rested on Bleedy as well. Mousifer’s tiny paws gripping several hairs together to prevent falling off. Orb simply rested his weight on Bleedy’s head.

They paused as a merchant reached under his booth. Bleedy sank away, and they held their breaths, hoping he wouldn’t realize they were there. His hands found what he was looking for, a butcher knife stored away in an open drawer under the booth.

Charlie’s eye widened at the blade.

“Aye I’ve got meat. I foun—er, caught it this morning. It would make for a great steak,” the butcher said.

“It looks good! What is it?” A man asked.

“Some kind of gopher meat! You’ll love it! Only a few silver pieces and it’s yours.”

“This guy is selling roadkill!” Orb thought spoke.

Charlie’s eyes widened. “I hope Richard and Mary don’t shop here.”

Orb rotated on Bleedy’s head to look at Charlie. “I’m sure they don’t. But even if they did, you only eat baby formula, anyway.”

Charlie nodded in agreement. “That’s true.”

The butcher finished his sale, and Bleedy found a moment to move to the next booth.

The butcher called out. “Get your gopher meat! Fresh Gopher meat! And baby formula too!”

“Orb, did he just say…”

“Don’t worry Charlie, I’m sure that’s not where they buy your formula.”

“Affordable baby formula! I’m the only vendor for fifty miles with the stuff! Come one, come all!”

“Well, Charlie, a wise orb once said, it’s better not to think about it.”

Charlie vomited on Bleedy’s side. Bleedy groaned in disgust. A merchant peeked under her stall to see what the noise was. Her eyes met Bleedy’s, and they both screamed.

“Bleedy, run!” Orb yelled. Bleedy scrambled out from under the booth and ran for the path out of the market.

“Someone help! That creature stole a baby! Stop it!” the merchant called out.

Merchants and customers alike turned to look at the commotion. This wasn’t good.

“What now?” Charlie asked.

“We have to find the witch’s house!” Orb shouted.

Bleedy dodged skillfully, diving out of the way of civilians who tried to grab him.

A large man with a plump stomach and an apron blocked their path and got ready to grab Bleedy, but he pivoted at the last second and jumped up on a nearby wall. He ran along it for a step or two, until gravity started to pull, and then pressed off, skirting past their would-be captor. Orb turned to look behind them at the crowd of people watching them flee and the pursuers, who were now quickly falling behind.

They’d escaped.

“Richard and Mary are gonna know we left now.” Charlie frowned.

They reached the end of the buildings and made their way out of town. After they’d run for a while, Charlie pointed at something.

Orb followed his gesture and saw a house on top of a hill on the outskirts of town. It was a dark cabin made of black wood. Trees unlike any they’d seen in the nearby forest. There were strange runes etched into the walls and a tall metal fence that stretched around the property.

“That’s a witch’s house if I’ve ever seen one,” Orb said. “Go on, Bleedy!”

It wasn’t long before Bleedy had hopped the fence and arrived at the front door. Mousifer crawled atop Orb, ready to use their combination technique to unlock the door. But to their surprise, Bleedy interrupted. “Baby,” he said. Charlie, somehow understanding, dismounted. He slid off of Bleedy’s side and sat on the ground.

Bleedy scurried up to the door and wrapped his paws around the doorhandles. After he fumbled with it for a moment, it turned slowly, and the door opened. It seemed the scavenger hybrid wasn’t totally unfamiliar with doors. Orb shot forward into the door and pushed. It opened inward, and the group went inside.

The room was lined with shelves and cabinets. The severed skulls of monsters, dragon claws, and an assortment of herbs were just a few of the odd belongings around the room. To their left was a small bed in the corner of the room. A large, very red, and very plush carpet was next to it. The center of the carpet had a deep indent, as if something heavy regularly sat in its center. On a desk pushed against the far wall from the front door sat a large black book. It was open.

Orb hovered close but couldn’t make sense of the illegible words on the pages. Mousifer was sniffing at a basket of odd-looking fruit. Bleedy shut the door behind them and then started looking for a way onto a table below a mounted wolf's head.

Charlie picked his nose.

Orb flew behind the book and pushed it so that it fell on the floor. Charlie curiously crawled over to it. “What is this?” Charlie asked.

“I think it’s a grimoire. But I’m not sure how it works.”

“Why’d you knock it over?”

“This is what we came here for, Charlie. Since you’re a dungeon, you should be able to use magic. If what I’ve learned from TV is correct, and TV is always correct, this will be full of the witch’s spells. Now, all you have to do is read this and we’ll be good to go. You’ll be a little dungeon witch baby in no time!”

Charlie’s head tilted. “But… I don’t know how to read.”

“What?!” Orb said. “But that means this is useless! Wait… maybe try, I don’t know… touch it. Maybe you’ll absorb some of its power.”

Charlie reached out and touched the pages. His eyes shot wide open, and he started flapping his hands wildly in the air.

“Is it working, Charlie? What’s going on?” Orb asked.

Charlie stopped flailing and laughed, falling on his back. “Just kidding. I don’t feel anything.”

Orb shot him a telepathic grunt and hovered back into the air. “I knew it was too obvious. But there has to be something here.” He turned to look back at the desk.

The door to the cabin shot open.

Orb wheeled around and saw her. The Witch.

“Well, what do we have here? It seems we’ve got guests, Dremmon,” Lusafeen said to the large panther-like creature beside her.