Only about half of the Scalers that were injured during the boar attack were able to keep moving. The friendly Scaler rounded them up and left the others to rest. One of them was the Scaler Charlie had accidentally hit with his pillar attack. The impact had broken right through the skin. A large portion of the creature’s skull was now visible through its forehead.
This was the only Scaler Charlie could differentiate from the other Scalers, except for the first one he’d befriended.
So, he named it.
“I’ll call you Bonehead!” he said, content that he’d picked the perfect name. He’d worried the Scaler would hold the injury against him. Instead, it seemed delighted with its name. It yelled.
“Arh! Arh! Arh!”
The friendly Scaler seemed displeased that it hadn’t received its own name yet. It turned away from him and stared at the wall in protest. But Charlie was still thinking. Sometimes names come quickly, and sometimes they take time. He wanted to get this one right. Bonehead’s name had pretty much picked itself.
The friendly Scaler, bonehead, and two others now trailed behind them. Charlie turned back to look at the injured Scalers they had to leave behind. There were an assortment of broken limbs and crumpled bodies. Now, they were resting.
Tomas noticed him peeking over Lyra’s shoulder. “Scalers are resilient. They can survive pretty much any wound as long as it doesn’t kill them instantly, and they escape whatever caused it. These will be fine. There’s a reason they excel in dungeon environments.”
Charlie frowned. He would have to take the snatcher's word for it. They didn’t have time to wait. It wouldn’t be long before they caught up to Brel and the other guards. Soon, they’d take Kyo back and complete the first part of their mission.
Then they’d clear the dungeon itself.
Tomas put a hand to his face. He closed his eyes as he walked. “We’ll catch up to them soon. It seems something has delayed their progress.”
“Arh!” the friendly Scaler cried.
Tomas looked over at it.
“We sent some of our friends ahead to slow them down,” Charlie said, still proud of himself for coming up with the idea. He just hoped the Scalers were okay. Brel and the others were strong. But it was the only way to buy them time. There had been no other choice.
Tomas looked surprised but nodded.
Lyra sighed. “We should use this time to learn what we can. Can you tell us about the core guardian?” she asked.
Tomas shook his head. “I cannot. Even though the dungeon does not hold the same influence over me that it does the others, there is still information I cannot divulge. But I’ll tell you what I can.”
Charlie pointed a finger to his cheek and looked up at the ceiling. He had a question. “Why is that, Tomas? Why aren’t you like the others? You mentioned a gift or something.”
Tomas nodded. “My memories are hazy. But when that thing changed me, I woke up. I fought back. Despite this, I still became a snatcher. But I kept some portion of my awareness. I’m not the same as I was. But pieces of me remain. Scattered fragments. Memories. I am not completely free, but I have more freedom than any other snatcher.”
“If you have freedom, why do you take children?” Charlie asked.
Tomas blinked at that. “I’ve never done that. The dungeon uses me for other purposes. But I am no mere collector. Though my altered state makes me unusual, the dungeon has since learned to use me for things it cannot use other snatchers for.”
Charlie hesitated, biting his lip. He didn’t want to accuse Tomas of lying, but he had been approaching him in Sirra. “What were you doing outside the cafe in Sirra?” he asked.
Lyra seemed surprised at that. She didn’t know the two had crossed paths before.
“Lyra already knows this, but have you heard about the Circle of Sange, Charlie? Well, some call it the circle, while others, mostly traders and such, call it the dead zone of Aysela. An isolated area of the kingdom where Sange and the four surrounding towns only trade with each other. It’s completely self-sufficient. Are you familiar? Or is this news to you?” Tomas asked him.
“I think I’ve heard something about that before. Merlin told me that while he was in prison, some crazy old man told him to avoid the circle. He didn’t know what that meant at the time, though. I guess we should’ve researched it some more. So, the circle is just Sange, Sirra, and the other three towns?” Charlie asked, looking up at Tomas with widened, curious eyes.
Lyra made a face. Admittedly, Charlie had never mentioned the man he traveled with had jail time under his belt. This would make convincing her and all the other children to travel with them a little harder. Oh well. She let it go and added her thoughts to what Tomas had said. “And one of the towns relocated to be closer to Sange and complete the circle. That’s where Luc was from!”
Tomas nodded. “Yes. The circle, and the town that was moved, it all exist for a reason.” Tomas stopped walking and knelt. Lyra and the Scalers stopped as well. They turned to inspect him drawing in the dirt.
Tomas drew a small town, and then drew a circle around it and marked four new towns. Charlie realized it was a crude drawing of the dead zone. Tomas pointed at Sange in the circle’s center. Then he drew several lines from the center of Sange to the edges of the circle. He looked up at them.
“See this? This circle represents the influence of Sange’s dungeon. All dungeons have them. A sphere of influence. Dungeon cores have incredible control over the dungeon itself. But what most people don’t know is that they also have some influence on the world immediately outside of the dungeon as well. That’s why sometimes beast from inside dungeons can wander beyond the dungeon’s threshold.”
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Lyra shook her head. “That’s impossible. I mean…sure a dungeon having influence immediately outside isn’t crazy. But you’re talking about entire towns. The dead zone is a sizeable chunk of the kingdom. How can a dungeon have that much influence? That’s insane!”
Charlie gasped. “Wait, that’s why you were in Sirra!” he said.
Tomas nodded. “The dungeon’s influence in Sirra was growing weaker by the day. So, I was sent to investigate. That’s when I learned another dungeon had appeared nearby. Its own influence pushed back and our hold over Sirra was weakened. The people must have realized it. Trade lessened, and they stopped following some of the rules. They allowed outsiders to stay in Sirra, rather than sending them to Sange like they were supposed to. There were even rumors of increased cultist activity in the area. So, the dungeon sent me to take action. But before I could, you did.”
Lyra’s eyes shot open. She looked between the two of them. Her eyes settled down on Charlie. “You did? You’ve already cleared a dungeon?” she asked.
Charlie smiled sheepishly. “Kind of! It wasn’t very much fun.” He turned back to Tomas. “But if you were there to clear the dungeon, why were you coming after me?” he asked.
Tomas took his hand and swiped across the drawing in the dirt. He stood and looked at him. “I was hunting the dungeon that was disrupting Sange’s influence. My senses told me you were worth investigating.”
“Oh! That makes sense. That’s because I’m—”
“No. Don’t tell me. It’s better I don’t know. The dungeon doesn’t care enough to pry into my thoughts regularly, but if it thinks doing so will grant it an advantage, it may. So, keep information about your abilities and powers to yourself. I just wanted to answer your question.”
Charlie nodded. He didn’t enjoy treating Tomas like he was some kind of enemy. But he thought it was better to follow his advice. “So now that the dungeon in Sirra is destroyed, the dungeon here has a stronger influence there again?” he asked.
Tomas nodded. “It is. So, in a way, you’ve made the thing you wish to destroy even stronger. To tell the truth, though, it was mostly using this increased sphere of influence for reconnaissance. The dungeon constantly evaluates threats. With regular patrols of boars, snatchers, and the soldiers under Varroc, it’s almost impossible for someone to reach Sange without the dungeon finding out. Which is why it was strange you and that man were able to reach Sange’s gates without being detected. That’s something I still don’t understand.”
Varroc and the guards had been surprised that Merlin had strolled right up to their gates. He’d always thought it was because Merlin had a baby with them. But maybe this was the real reason why. Maybe they were surprised that anyone could make it to their front gate without being detected. It made sense now why they were on high alert. Why Varroc sent soldiers to search the forest. They didn’t have any idea how Charlie and Merlin had managed to sneak up on them.
But Charlie did.
In the Sirra dungeon, Parent had told him he was able to use Dungeon Manipulation without transferring material to the dungeon because he had caught the dungeon off guard. It had only worked once. After that, the dungeon noticed him. If that was true, it meant that his dungeon wasn’t quite the same as others. Sure, Tomas had sensed something off about him in Sirra. But he hadn’t known why. He’d been going to investigate when Geron ran off with Charlie first.
That meant this sphere of influence thing, whatever it was, couldn’t detect Charlie’s dungeon until he exposed it himself. That was good to know.
But something bothered him that he still couldn’t explain. One boar had seen them in the forest. Sure, Vetica had killed it. But had that really stopped the dungeon from learning about their presence? If it used the beast for patrols, did they have to come back and report what they saw? Or did they serve as an extra pair of eyes and ears for the dungeon?
He started to ask Tomas, but the Scalers scouting ahead slowed and doubled back. They called out quietly to their leader, the friendly Scaler.
“Arh. Arh. Arh.”
The friendly Scaler nodded its head. “Arca,” it said. The other Scalers, bonehead included, took to the ceiling, and slowly stalked forward.
“What’s going on?” Charlie asked, looking down at the friendly Scaler.
“Arh.”
Tomas put his hand to his head again. “Brel and the others are just up ahead. Prepare yourselves. Brel is strong, and I will not be allowed to intervene on your behalf. This fight is yours and yours alone.”
Charlie nodded. He’d already come prepared for that. The truth was, he’d been looking forward to saving Kyo. But there was something else he wanted too.
He wanted to beat up Brel.
Brel had scared Sofia. He'd destroyed the daycare and all the children’s belongings. Brel had grabbed Kyo and stolen him away when Charlie was powerless.
But Charlie wasn’t powerless anymore, and he was going to show Brel exactly why he shouldn’t have ever taken one of Charlie’s friends.
“Let’s go!” he said.
Lyra nodded. But Charlie hadn’t been talking to her. He’d been talking to the friendly Scaler.
The Scaler jumped on and then back off a wall, flying through the air. It contorted its head and reached over to bite the front of Charlie’s onesie.
Lyra tried to tighten her grip, but the move caught her off guard. The Scaler yanked Charlie away, then twisted midair and landed on the wall opposite from the one it had jumped off. Charlie swung freely from its mouth.
The Scaler jumped back down on the ground and hurried after the others.
“Charlie, wait!” Lyra whispered. She was smart enough to realize being too loud could alert Brel and the others to their presence.
Charlie knew he shouldn’t leave her behind. This was as much her fight as it was his. But in that moment, all he could focus on was the memory of Kyo crying and reaching out for him.
He was just sorry it took this long to find him.
The friendly Scaler quickly caught up to the others, who fell in line.
“Do it!” Charlie said in the Scaler's mind. The Scaler flung its head up and released Charlie mid-air. He fell back down and landed on the Scaler’s head. He held his hands out for balance, and to his surprise, settled in comfortably.
They’d pulled it off. There he was, charging at the head of his small pack of Scaler allies. He looked over and saw bonehead keeping an eye on him in case he fell. Charlie smiled. “I’m coming for you, Kyo!” he projected outward, searching for the baby’s mind.
He knew Kyo probably wouldn’t understand. He knew the conditions hadn’t been met.
But in the back of his mind, Charlie remembered that sense of connection he’d felt.
He focused on it and repeated his words.
“I’m coming for you, Kyo!”
Charlie squinted into the darkness for any sign of Brel and the others.
The sound of a baby crying out echoed throughout the hallway.
Kyo.