Kashak

According to the markings Tomas had left behind all those years ago, the children should be getting close now. Soon, they would be free of this dungeon, but that only put Kashak more on edge. His eyes scanned the path ahead, looking for any sign of movement.

The younger children had slowly broken out of the strict two-by-two buddy system they’d put into place before. Now, they were grouped up, talking amongst themselves, and goofing off. Kashak thought of reprimanding them for it, but he knew it was the only thing keeping them from freaking out.

It was better to let them be.

On the walls and ceilings, their Scaler escorts crawled along, keeping pace with them. Most of the hunters with spears were positioned at the back to watch their flank. Kashak wanted to be able to react no matter where an attack might come from.

But so far, they hadn’t run into any danger.

To his right, he noticed Josephine had her drawing out. She was showing Florence the recent additions for the fifth or sixth time. Florence was a good sport about it. “I can’t wait to show papa! I’m going to introduce him to all of you! Papa will love you all so much!” Josephine said, spreading her arms wide to show just how much.

Florence laughed. “I can’t wait to meet your papa, either!”

She noticed Kashak looking at her and started to smile. But just as suddenly, Florence turned away from him. She was self-conscious about the burn on her face. Kashak hated that. He hated he couldn’t comfort her. But he’d never been good at that kind of thing.

Behind her, he noticed the girl who’d arrived with Charlie. Sophia was quiet as usual. He’d promised Charlie he would keep an eye on her, so every once in a while, Kashak made a point to check on her.

On Kashak’s left, Luc and Desmond were talking. Luc noticed him and included him as well. “Hey guys, do you think Lyra and Charlie are okay?”

“They’re both really strong. I know they’ll be alright,” Desmond said. Kashak nodded in agreement.

Kashak looked down. His thoughts were running rampant in his mind. He just couldn’t relax. Not until they escaped. Not until Sange and this dungeon were long behind them. But even then, there would be new problems to face.

So many of these children only knew life in the dungeons. He was one of the older children when he came here, but he was still a kid. How could he lead all of them in the outside world? He’d always left leadership to Lyra.

At least until he disagreed with her.

But now it was on him, and it felt like too much. He should’ve paid more attention to how she did it. Maybe he could’ve learned from her. He shook his head. It was a useless thought. All he could do was move forward and try his best.

“Look, Kashak! It’s the exit!” someone called out.

Kashak’s head shot up. The other children were getting excited. Finally, here it was.

He’d almost believed they’d never see it. But there was the end of the tunnel. There was light coming from outside. The sun? He hadn’t seen it in a while, but the light didn’t look quite right. He wasn’t sure.

What mattered was that Tomas was right. All this time, there had been a way out, and now they were here.

“Now we just have to escape and go to Karze! We’ll tell the king what’s going on here and he’ll send a big army to come and save everyone! Just like the Hex King would’ve!” Luc said. He clenched both of his fist.

Kashak looked at him, grinning. Luc’s excitement was contagious. He hoped it would be that simple, that Luc was right.

But he watched as Luc’s expression turned from excited to horrified. Kashak’s head shot to face toward the entrance again, and he saw exactly what had killed the mood.

The other children noticed too.

The entrance to the dungeon was suddenly full of silhouettes making their way toward them. It didn’t take Kashak long to recognize them.

A mass of blood-red eyes and emerald-green cloaks.

Snatchers.

One of them walked in front of all the others as if he was their leader. His hair was longer than the others. It was shoulder length, straight and void black.

It was a snatcher that Kashak recognized. One he hoped he would never see again.

Kashak shook his head. “No…” It was the same one from all those years ago.

The snatcher that had brought him here. The snatcher that had…

He felt a little hand grab his own and looked down to see Josephine looking back up at him. She stepped behind him, peeking out at the Snatchers approaching. He gently squeezed her hand back to offer her what comfort he could. In his other hand, his spear tightened. He beckoned at Florence, who took over comforting Josephine and he readied himself. The other hunters did so as well.

Above them, the lizards let out a stream of hisses and barks.

But despite all of this, the snatchers moved forward, almost as if…

Kashak’s brows furrowed. It was like the snatchers weren’t interested in them at all.

The snatchers moved slowly toward them. Closer and closer. Expressionless as they were, they still should have taken action by now. Surely they wouldn’t walk right into the children’s spears.

Kashak turned to the children. “Get against the walls! I don’t think they’re interested in us!” he said.

Florence shook her head. “Kashak, if you’re wrong…”

“Trust me! Hurry!” he said, directing the children to gather on either side of the dungeon’s hallway. He did so as well, pressing himself against it as much as he could and holding his breath as the Snatchers reached them.

The green-cloaked men didn’t stop for even a moment. They simply kept walking as if they didn’t even know the children were there. The Scalers seemed just as confused as the children were. But this was good. He turned and looked down the hallway. The exit was right there. They just had to wait until the Snatchers were done passing.

His heart pounded in his chest. “Just keep walking,” he thought to himself, mentally urging the snatchers onward.

They were so close. If Kashak took even a single step he would brush into the cloaks rippling past with every step the snatchers took.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Florence scooted closer to him.

“Kashak,” she whispered.

He turned to look at her.

For the first time since the incident, she looked him in the eyes. “If we just let them go, won’t they go after Kyra and Charlie? They already have the core guardian to fight, but even they can’t take on all of these snatchers, too.”

Kashak was stunned. What was she suggesting? “We can’t fight snatchers. They’re too powerful, Florence. There’s nothing we can do.”

The last of the snatchers passed. The way was clear now. Josephine walked from the other side of Florence. She’d overheard their exchange. “Kashak, will they be okay?” she asked, grabbing onto his hand again.

At that moment, he remembered all those years ago.

“Who are they, father?” Kashak had asked, looking at the weird men in green cloaks.

His father had smiled at him. “Don’t worry, Kashak, they’re just travelers.”

And then…a short while later, Kashak was being dragged away from the corpses of his family lying in the dirt.

Now he looked down at Josephine and was reminded of himself. He turned back to look after the snatchers and then looked at the dungeon’s exit again.

So close.

“Kashak?” Josephine asked again. He looked at her, and then up at all the other children staring at him.

Looking to him for a decision.

“If we fight, we could lose everything…” he said, thinking aloud.

“But if we don’t fight, our friends will be in even more danger,” Florence said.

Kashak looked at her, and then noticed the picture rolled up in Josephine’s pocket.

She’d drawn Charlie and Lyra in that picture.

She wanted to introduce them to her papa.

He gently pulled his hand away from Josephine and then patted her on the head. “Keep moving, get out of Sange. I’ll go slow them down,” he said. But the other children blocked his path before he could pass. He shook his head. “What are you doing?”

“You think we’re going to let you fight alone? This fight is all of ours,” Luc said.

Kashak shook his head. “No. Take the younger children and go. It’s too dangerous to bring them.”

Josephine shook her head. “No! We wanna help too! Remember what Lyra said? Snatchers capture children, not hurt them. So, we can help without getting hurt!”

Kashak started to protest, but this time it was Luc that spoke up. “Kashak, all of us grew up in the dungeon. Lyra’s always been there for us. And Charlie’s the only reason we escaped the Scalers. This isn’t just your call. Whoever wants to fight can fight. Whoever wants to run can run. But we can’t make this decision for them.”

Kashak’s head fell. Would Lyra allow this? Shouldn’t he put a stop to it?

But if they waited much longer, they might lose their chance. The snatchers might get too far ahead. “Fine. Then let’s go.”

Several children nodded. The hunters lifted their spears, and the smaller children jumped up in excitement.

It was settled. They would fight. The children hurried after the Snatchers.

Kashak and the other hunters charged at the forefront. The Scalers ran alongside them as well as on the walls and ceilings. As one, they clashed into the back of the snatchers. Spears and claws taking out the back rows quickly.

Whatever trance the Snatchers were in was severed immediately. They turned and leapt into action as well.

Josephine was right, they weren’t trying to kill or harm the children. But they did want to capture them.

As Kashak’s spear flashed, he caught glimpses of kids being grabbed or dragged into the snatcher horde. He cursed. They couldn’t let them get too far away. Several Scalers jumped to the ceiling and dove ahead into the snatcher group. They ripped at the cloaked men and pulled back to keep them from escaping into the dungeon.

That was good. The Scalers were more effective allies than he anticipated.

But not all the snatchers had turned back. Some of them now hurried down the hallways. He squinted. They weren’t sticking together, so where were they going? Sure, some of them were heading deeper into the dungeon, but others were heading elsewhere.

It hit him as he ran his spear through a snatcher’s face.

The daycares. They’re going after the other children. “Luc!” he called out. “Where are you?”

He heard Luc respond from somewhere behind him. Kashak motioned to Desmond, who took his place in the fighting, and Kashak fell back to speak with Luc.

“I need you to go ahead. Warn Lyra and Charlie about what’s going on. We won’t be able to hold them off forever. So, we need to warn them. If they destroy the core guardian, the snatchers will probably be defeated as well. So, we’ll buy you time. But for now, we have to get you past them. You know the way, and you’re the fastest, even with your injury.”

Luc looked at the other children, fighting. “But what about you guys?” he said, dismayed.

“Don’t worry about us. You just get to Lyra, alright? This is your moment. Your arm is hurt, but you can still run. Go be a hero, Luc.”

Luc’s eyes watered at that. “You don’t think I’m too broken?” he said.

Kashak smiled. “No, I don’t.”

Luc wiped his eyes with his good arm. “Alright! I’ll do it!”

Kashak nodded. He stood and yelled. “Clear a path! We’re sending Luc to warn Lyra!”

Desmond looked over his shoulders. “That’s going to be difficult, Kashak!”

“I know. But we have to break through. On me!” he cried out, and then he charged into the crowd.

Luc

Kashak barreled through the snatchers. Immediately, several of them seized his arms and pulled him in multiple directions. One of them managed to pull his spear away and disarm him. The other hunters hurried to his aid and cut down the snatchers. Deprived of his spear, Kashak swung his fist.

Slowly but surely, the hunters pressed the snatchers back, using the hilts of their spears. The smaller children kicked and punched and grabbed onto the snatchers to slow them down. But the snatchers fought back, furiously trying to pull the children into their midst.

They were succeeding more often than not.

In clearing a path for Luc, the others were putting themselves at risk. Luc had to make this count.

He ran.

Some snatchers tried to grab onto him as he passed, but the Scalers sensed what the children were trying to accomplish. They leapt down to intercept the snatchers and helped clear his path. Luc felt someone grab onto his good hand, but he didn’t dare look back. They weren’t trying to hold him back.

They were running with him.

He broke free of the horde, and a single snatcher waited for them. Luc gritted his teeth and barreled into it with his shoulder. The snatcher grabbed a hold of him. But someone kicked it in the face several times until it let go. Luc spun to see who it was exactly that was following him.

“Sophia?” he asked, surprised.

“I’m coming too,” she said.

“But…” he looked back and realized several other snatchers had noticed them making a break for it. There wasn’t any time to argue. He nodded, and they ran.

They were pretty sure they’d lost the snatchers tailing them and stopped to take a break. Both of them were out of breath. Luc looked up and noticed a marking. They just had to follow these back and reach the main path, then they’d head deeper into the dungeon. He just hoped they made it in time.

But Sophia got his attention. “Luc, that path wasn’t there before…was it?” she asked.

Luc looked at her and then followed her pointing. His eyes shot open. She was right. This path was new. It looked as if the dungeon had recently opened it or something. Hand fulls of dirt fell from the ceiling at irregular intervals. He hurried over and peered down the pathway. It was a straight shot. There were no turns, doors, or decorations. Just a lone hallway that seemed to point directly into the depths of the dungeon.

“What is it?” Sophia asked, peeking inside.

Luc swallowed. “The way to the center.” He took a step inside, then turned back and held his hand out for Sophia. She took it, and the two of them broke into a jog.

Behind them, the pathway sealed itself shut.

They didn’t stop.

Their friends were waiting at the end of this path.

Lyra and Charlie were waiting.