Charlie had suspected it. But he’d told himself it was impossible. Tomas was supposed to be a kid. But clearly, even Lyra thought this was him. So, how did a child become an adult so quickly? How had four months made such a difference?

None of this made any sense.

For now, he had to focus on the fact one of the other snatchers was about to use an attack on him and Lyra. If it had finished off the boar at that distance, then it would wreak havoc on his dungeon integrity. It might even kill Lyra and his Scaler friend.

He had to stop it.

The snatcher to Tomas’ right sent the fireball out again, but just as quickly as it left his hand, Tomas reacted. He physically grabbed the green fireball and snuffed it out with a single, quick movement. Charlie couldn’t believe his eyes. What kind of power was that? How was something like that even possible?

If Tomas could stop an attack that had already been released, he was strong.

The other snatcher didn’t react. It was like he had no expression on his face. He simply looked at Tomas. As did the other. Tomas held a hand up. Each of the other snatchers nodded, and their hands fell to their sides. They stared blankly ahead, as if Charlie and the others weren’t even there.

Tomas turned to acknowledge Lyra. “That is not a name I have heard in a while. Nor is your face one I have seen for some time. Hello, Lyra.”

Charlie risked a quick look at Lyra. “Snatchers can talk?” he asked.

“Yes. We can. Or at least, I can,” Tomas answered.

Charlie’s eyes grew wide. He hadn’t technically projected that thought just to Lyra. He didn’t think he needed to. Besides Lusafeen, this was the first time he had been able to talk to someone so quickly without meeting the conditions. Lyra and Kashak had somehow started hearing him as well. But it had taken time.

So how could Tomas hear him now?

Lyra forced herself to her feet. She stumbled forward, trying to reach out and touch Tomas. He took a step back, and the other snatchers did the same.

“Don’t come any closer. I am masking your presence from the others. If you break that veil, I will not be able to protect you.”

Lyra shook her head. “It’s really you? But how…why are you so old, Tomas? What did they do to you?” Another thought crossed her mind. “What have you done? You’re a snatcher now? You collect children?”

“I was given the gift that all those who enter the center of the dungeon receive. At least, one of the gifts. I was lucky. These two were not. Shortly, they will stop listening to me. They will try to attack or capture you. I think the core is still deciding how to respond. Until then, we only have a few moments. I assume your goal is to retrieve the baby they have taken?”

Charlie wondered what was different about Tomas. The other snatchers appeared to be emotionless shells of people. But Tomas was talking with them. He seemed to have some kind of control over the others. He was clearly a snatcher. But there was something different about him, too.

Charlie looked up at Lyra. It was difficult to see her face from his position on the ground, but he could see well enough. She simply nodded. “We’re going to save Kyo, and then we’re going to save you, Tomas. We’ll clear the dungeon!” She balled her hands into fists and stared right at Tomas. The conviction on her face was clear.

Now more than ever.

Tomas blinked at that. He shook his head. “Save me? I’m not in need of saving. If you wish to retrieve the boy, I won’t stop you. But let your dreams of clearing this dungeon go. The only thing you’ll find in its center is death. Unless it takes a liking to you. Then your fate will be far worse. What’s going on here is beyond your control, Lyra.”

Lyra deflated. “But that was what you wanted. I was doing this because of what you told me.”

She shook her head. “You said we had to fight…”

Seeing the distress on her face caused Charlie to clench a baby fist.

Before he’d even known who Tomas really was, he’d picked up on how much he’d meant to the other children. At the council meeting, in conversations in passing, even in the picture Josephine had drawn, it was all too clear how much he meant to them.

Tomas was to Lyra what Lyra was to all the other children. Someone she looked up to.

Someone she trusted.

Here he was, telling her to give up. Telling her she couldn’t finish what she’d come here to do.

It made Charlie so angry.

Tomas stared at Lyra. He saw what his words did to her, and yet he didn’t apologize. He didn’t seem to feel any kind of remorse at all.

Behind him, Charlie heard Lyra sniffle. He turned back and saw her wiping her face, trying desperately to erase tears running down her cheeks. It left him surprised. He’d seen her doubt herself before, after the Scaler attack. When the other children were abducted. But not like this. Charlie couldn’t blame her for feeling this way. The person she looked up to most in the world had just torn her down.

That made Charlie even angrier. How dare Tomas treat her like that?

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“Tomas! You’re hurting Lyra’s feelings,” Charlie said, projecting his thoughts only to the snatcher.

Tomas looked down at him. “What about it? I’m just telling the truth. She’s incapable of doing this. She’s too weak. It’s beyond her.”

Lyra fell to her knees.

Each word was a knife to Lyra’s heart.

That was the breaking point for Charlie.

The friendly Scaler sensed he was about to do something reckless and barked at him. “Arh!”

Too late.

“Dungeon Manipulation!”

A pillar rose up just behind Charlie and shoved him into the air at high speed toward Tomas. He reached back with a baby hand and swung it around.

Slap!

His hand smacked Tomas on the face. Then the two tumbled to the ground. Charlie rolled a few feet before coming to a stop. Tomas simply fell on his back. Even though Charlie was just a baby, he still had the rock skin passive. He might not have knocked Tomas out, but the attack certainly wouldn’t have felt good. He righted himself, rising into a crawl and turning back to face Tomas.

The snatcher remained on his back.

The others weren’t so laid back after the attack. Each of them lifted a hand.

One towards Lyra.

One towards Charlie.

The friendly Scaler scurried over to protect Lyra with its body. Its eyes widened as it looked over at Charlie, realizing it couldn’t protect them both.

A large green fireball formed, each on track to strike one of them down. Charlie grimaced. He needed to protect Lyra and the Scaler. No matter what.

But Tomas reacted more quickly. He lifted his head, both of his own hands flaring up.

“Burst!” he roared.

Charlie's, and Lyra’s eyes grew wide in unison.

The bodies of the two snatchers fell to their knees, and then crumpled on the floor.

Their heads were missing.

“You killed them…” Lyra said, shaking her head. Her eyes were still red and watery.

Tomas stood. “They were already dead.” He turned to glare at Charlie, still crawling behind him. A red, Charlie sized handprint was on Tomas’ face.

If Charlie wasn’t so angry with this adult-child-butthead combination of a man, he would’ve laughed.

Tomas sighed. “Why did you attack me? Do you really wish to fight?”

Charlie shook his head. “I want you to apologize to Lyra right now!”

Lyra looked over at Charlie, a shocked look on her face. “Charlie…”

Tomas stared at him. “Apologize for what?”

“For pretending like you don’t care about her! You aren’t like the other snatchers. You stopped them from attacking when we first ran into you. Just now, you protected us again! You wouldn’t have done that if you didn’t care. So, stop pretending and start treating Lyra like a friend. Because she’s missed you a lot and fought really hard to be here. And don’t say that she’s weak or that she can’t do what she says she will. Lyra is really strong! She’s been looking after all those kids since you left! So shut up and stop being a meanie and say you’re sorry!” Charlie huffed.

He was overwhelmed by it all. It was so confusing. He cared about Lyra; he did. But why was this bothering him so much? Why was he so upset? There was something more going on, but he couldn’t figure it out.

Tomas blinked. He turned to look back at the dead snatchers on the ground, and then up at Lyra. He frowned. Tomas turned his hands over so that his palms faced his head. He looked into them. Staring at those hands. The hands of a man.

He looked back over his shoulder at Charlie. “There’s no going back. I can never go back. Too much has changed. I’m not who I was…”

“Look at her,” Charlie said, pointing his hand toward Lyra. She sobbed quietly into her hands. “You may not look the same, but to Lyra, you’re still Tomas. So, act like it. She’s missed you.”

There it was. The real reason Charlie was so upset by it all. He’d been missing his friends, too. Merlin. Vetica. Mousifer, Bleedy and Parent.

Orb.

Since coming to this world, he’d made a whole lot of friends. But when he came to Sange, he was separated from so many of them. He hadn’t realized how much it was bothering him until now. Until he saw how much Lyra was hurting, too. He shouldn’t have hit Tomas. But Tomas was being a dummy.

His long-lost friend was right in front of him and instead of enjoying it, he had made her cry. It was silly. If Charlie got to see Merlin right now, Charlie wouldn’t make him cry!

Tomas sighed. “Maybe you’re right.” He turned and knelt in front of Charlie. “But this is too dangerous. I can’t encourage her to continue down this path. It will only lead to more suffering. But in this form, I also can’t protect her. The core may not hold the same influence over me as it does the other snatchers, but I’m still unable to defy it. If I give her my blessing, I would only seal her fate.”

Charlie shook his head. “I don’t think Lyra wants you to fight with her. She just wants to know her friend is still in here,” Charlie said, reaching up and pointing at the snatcher’s head. He tilted his head. Maybe he should’ve pointed at his heart. Charlie wasn’t very good at this stuff yet.

The snatcher’s eyes widened, and then he turned to face Lyra. He approached her and knelt on the ground before her. “I’m sorry, Lyra. A lot has happened.”

She looked up at him, tears running down her cheeks.

And then she ran toward him and threw her arms around him.

Tomas blinked in surprise before returning the gesture. She cried into his shoulder. “I was scared we’d never see you again.”

His head sank. He said nothing, he just wrapped his arms tighter.

After Lyra calmed down, the three of them stood in the center of the dungeon’s hallway. The friendly Scaler, realizing things had relaxed, set off down the hall to retrieve the other Scalers that had been injured during the boar fight.

Tomas sighed, leaning against the wall.

Lyra stood in the center of the hallway, holding Charlie.

“I still believe you should turn back. After you save the boy, Kyo. Return and regroup with the others. Get as far away from Sange as you can before it’s too late.”

Charlie tilted his head at this. “What do you mean before it’s too late?” he asked.

Tomas looked him directly in the eye. “The leaders of Sange think they can control this dungeon. But they are wrong, and it will be the death of everyone in this town.”

Tomas looked away. He stared at the ground.

“And the end will come soon.”