Kashak

The last of the snatchers crumpled under his fist. He’d won. But the pain in his arm was growing by the second. Some of the other children had rejoined the fight once he freed them, but it had mattered little. This new power of his, whatever it was, had made taking on the snatchers easy.

One by one, he’d closed those crimson eyes until none remained.

He faced away from the other children now, toward the tunnel’s exit. He inspected the discoloration around his hand. Already it was spreading up to his wrist and beyond. A deep shade of red.

Someone tugged at the back of his shirt. He growled and turned, ready to smash a fist against an unseen opponent. He forced himself to pause just as quick as he’d reacted.

It was Josephine.

He’d been on the verge of attacking the girl who inspired him to fight.

She flinched, staring up at him with wide, worried eyes. “It’s okay, it’s just me!” she said.

He nodded. “I’m sorry. I’m worked up from fighting.” He tucked his newly stained hand into a pocket.

Desmond approached, a broken spear in his hand. “That was incredible. I’ve never seen you fight like that,” he said.

Kashak nodded. He inspected the other children. Florence was going around making sure everyone was alright. But as far as he could tell, no one was injured. The snatchers had been trying to capture them, not hurt them. It was a good thing too. Things could’ve gotten really bad otherwise. It wouldn’t be long before the dungeon noticed and sent reinforcements. He noticed Josephine and Desmond staring at his arm.

He looked down. The red tint was almost to his elbow, and the urge to fight was growing. It was like a rage was building inside him. He needed to get away from the other children.

Quickly.

He turned and ran. “Desmond, Florence, get the other kids out of here. I have to go. I’m sorry.”

Kashak had to get away from them before whatever power was brewing inside became too much for him.

“Kashak! Wait for us!” Josephine cried out.

He clenched his eyes shut, turning his head to the side. He knew he would regret not saying goodbye.

But the alternative could be far, far worse.

His legs pumped. He was stronger, faster, and had more endurance than before. Even before he gained this power, his physical prowess had been beyond that of most adults. Now, he wasn’t sure what he was capable of.

He reached the end of the tunnel and skidded to a stop, turning his body away to hide his arm.

A group of people waited outside the tunnel’s entrance. It looked like he’d caught them only moments away from entering.

They were just as confused as he was.

In the distance, fire spread throughout the city. A group of Varroc’s men lay either dead or incapacitated behind the strangers. What was going on?

A tall, brown man spoke. “Uh, hello. I’m Geron. Are you okay?” he asked, leaning forward to inspect Kashak.

Kashak was hesitant to trust strangers. But there was something about this man that put him at ease. “Who are you? Are you with Varroc?”

Geron shook his head. “We’re adventurers. We came to help. Are you alone?”

Kashak didn’t answer. He dreaded how they might respond to his next question. “With what guild?”

Geron turned to look at a red-haired man with a large katana on his side. The other members of their party exchanged looks as well. They hadn’t expected a child to be so hostile.

“We’re with Gemini. Perhaps you’ve heard of us?” Geron asked.

Kashak let out a sigh of relief. Good, it wasn’t them. He pointed backward down the tunnel. “There is a group of children in there. They could use your help. We fought off a group of snatchers, but they need to get out of town as soon as possible,” he said.

Gemini was a large guild. One of the best. He’d heard of them before he’d been captured. Back then, they had just broken into the top ten. Now, he didn’t have a clue where they stood. But his gut told him he could trust these people. That was rare for him.

He brushed past them and ran. The direction didn’t matter. Run far enough in any direction and he’d hit a wall. He just needed to find a way out of the city as soon as possible. To get away from innocents.

If he didn’t, he was frightened of what this growing bloodlust would make him do. If he was lucky, he’d run into some of Varroc’s men on the way out of town.

Geron called out after him. “Hey, wait a minute? Where are you going?” He paused when Kashak didn’t answer. “Have you seen a baby named Charlie?”

Kashak didn’t look back. A quick glance revealed the crimson color had spread to his shoulder.

Charlie

“You’re sure this is the right way?” Lyra asked.

“Positive. The other kids should be just down this hallway! It opened up for me and Sophia earlier!” Luc responded.

Now that they had concluded matters at the dungeon center, they were hurrying back to regroup with the other children. Charlie was eager to get outside the dungeon. He needed to make sure Merlin and Vetica were okay. He was worried about his friends.

They were making good progress, even with Luc dragging the mayor behind him. Charlie wished this path had been available to them before. They might have been able to put a stop to things sooner.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Hey Lyra, I was thinking. That crystal thing was supposed to keep us safe from the dungeon, but didn’t Kyo get taken right after?” Luc said.

Lyra looked up at him, surprised. The realization bothered her, too.

The mayor offered an answer. “The crystals weren’t there to hide your presence from the dungeon. They were there to look for children with high magic potential. When children made deals, we told them to tell the others to touch the crystals to avoid being chosen. It was a way to explain why there suddenly wasn’t any children being taken away. Of course, we didn’t tell them the real reason behind it.”

Charlie tilted his head. But if that was true, did that mean that Kyo had high magic potential?

Luc reached a leg back and kicked the mayor. “You think you’re so smart, don’t you? You’re going to rot in a prison for the rest of your life.”

The mayor had nothing to say about that.

Sophia stared at the evil man. Her face alternating between anger and something else. Shame maybe? It was like she couldn’t decide how she was supposed to feel. On one hand, this was the man responsible for her father’s death. On the other, her father had told her not to let his passing consume her. It was obvious she was still having a hard time with it all.

“Hey!” Charlie said to everyone, hoping to offer a distraction. “I need a name for my friend here,” he said. He patted the friendly Scaler on the back.

Luc looked over his shoulder. “Anytime you need a name, just add an a.”

Charlie looked up and thought about it. Just add one letter? Well, he was the friendly Scaler. No, technically, he was the King of friendly Scalers. All of them were friendly now.

So, if Charlie added an a…

“Okay! I’ve got it!” he said, a big smile on his face.

Everyone turned to look at him. The friendly Scaler was shaking with excitement. Bonehead offered a congratulatory tail pat to his king.

“King Scalea!” Charlie said.

Luc pursed his lips. “Actually, if you add an a to Scaler, you would get Scal—”

Lyra elbowed Luc.

He scoffed, turning to look at her before catching on. “Ah. You’re right, Charlie, that is a good name!” Luc said.

Charlie beamed back at him. He leaned over the side of the friendly Scaler’s head to see how he liked it.

The lizard lifted its head so high, Charlie almost fell off, but Bonehead quickly reached out with his tail to steady Charlie.

“Arca!” the friendly Scaler yelled. The roar shook the hallway, and tiny pieces of rock fell from the ceiling.

Kyo giggled at the creature. It seemed the name had his approval as well.

King Scalea it was.

Charlie peeked over at Sophia and noticed her covering her mouth to hide a soft smile. It had worked. He’d distracted her at least a little. That was a good enough for now.

They kept walking and finally, Luc spoke up. “That’s it! We take a right up here and we’ll be close to the end of the dungeon,” Luc said. “The exit to the tunnel isn’t far now. This is where me and Sophia split up from the others!”

Lyra held a hand up. “Do you hear that?” she asked.

Lyra and Luc exchanged a look. “Voices? It’s gotta be everyone else!” Luc said.

They hurried forward to the corner, and then peeked around it.

“Who is that?” Luc whispered.

“Don’t know, but the other children are with them,” Lyra whispered back.

King Scalea crept past them so Charlie could see as well. His eyes shot wide open when he saw who they were talking about. Geron and the others were all here! But what were they doing in a dungeon?

It hit him then. He knew exactly why they’d come here. They knew about the Snatchers. They’d considered themselves responsible for Charlie after taking care of him in Sirra. Of course, they wouldn’t just move on when he disappeared in the middle of the night. They’d thought he’d been kidnapped.

Charlie frowned. He hoped they hadn’t gotten themselves into too much danger coming here. He was sad for another reason, too. Charlie was going to have to leave them again. He couldn’t stay with them. He couldn’t reveal his true nature to them. The ramifications of that truth hit hard.

“You guys have to go on without me,” Charlie said.

The others turned to look at him. “What? Charlie, what are you talking about?” Lyra asked. She turned back to look at Geron and the others. “Wait, do you know them?”

Charlie nodded. “Yeah. They’re good people, you don’t have to worry about that. But I can’t let them see me here, so you guys have to go on ahead. I know they’ll make sure all of you are safe from here on out.”

Everyone looked sad.

Lyra’s head fell. “I understand.” She knelt down in front of King Scalea and reached out to pat Charlie on the head. “Thank you for everything you did for us. Without you…” Lyra’s eyes watered. “Without you, we never could’ve made it this far. You saved us, all of us.”

Charlie fought back tears of his own. He had to be strong. He’d always known this was coming. Even if he had fantasized about taking all the children with him, he knew in the end it would be too dangerous. He had to say goodbye for now.

“I’ll miss you Lyra. I’ll miss all of you.” Charlie’s lip quivered.

Kyo held a hand out and reached out for Charlie. He shrieked in excitement. Charlie reached out and grabbed Kyo’s hand, too. He wasn’t sure what to do from there. So, he awkwardly shook it.

Kyo found it endlessly amusing. He giggled and recoiled, hiding his face against Lyra’s shoulder playfully before peeking at Charlie again.

Charlie smiled. He looked up at Luc.

Luc had dumped the mayor on the floor for a moment. He covered his face with his new, adult-sized hands. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not crying. Heroes don’t cry.” He uncovered his face and vigorously wiped his sleeve against it. “Alright.” Luc composed himself. He reached down and held out a fist. “Next time we meet, we’ll both be heroes, okay? I mean, you’re already kind of a hero, but we’ll take it to the next level. How’s that sound?” he asked.

Charlie shook his head. “Deal!” They bumped fist. That was something he could get behind. “You’re already kind of a hero too, Luc. I was only able to fight so hard because you showed me the way,” Charlie said.

Luc stared at him, a serious look on his face. His lip puffed out. “Okay, maybe heroes cry a little.” His voice cracked. He went back to wiping his face.

Charlie smiled and looked up at Sophia. “Stick with me, okay? Your mom is waiting for you outside of town.”

Sophia perked up at that. “Really?” she asked.

Charlie nodded. “She’s the one who sent us to find you! Me and my friends. You’ll meet them soon.”

Lyra and Luc gathered themselves. Luc picked the mayor up, and Lyra inspected Kyo. It was time too—

The mayor broke free of Luc’s grasp and crawled forward toward Charlie. He reached out to grab Charlie when Bonehead jumped in the way. Luc stomped down on the mayor’s back to hold him still.

The mayor grimaced, but his attention remained on Charlie. “Are you really human?” he asked Charlie.

Charlie tilted his head. “Um, yeah.”

“How could children undo everything I’ve worked for? How could mere children…I don’t understand. If you could accomplish such a thing now, I can only imagine your future. Tell me, if Aysela is ever in danger, will you protect it? Will you use your powers to keep this kingdom safe?” the mayor asked, squirming under Luc’s boot.

Charlie didn’t understand the mayor’s question. “Of course, I would.”

Wasn’t that obvious?

The mayor relaxed. He nodded and stopped resisting. Luc picked the old man up by the back of his shirt. It reminded Charlie of the way he’d been carried into Sange when he first arrived. Luc and Lyra nodded at each other. It was time. They turned to wave at Charlie, Sophia, and the Scalers before rounding the corner.

With that, Charlie had said goodbye to the two of them and Kyo. He was already looking forward to seeing them again in the future. He would give the others time to clear out, and then Charlie would go and find Merlin and Vetica.

It was finally time to reunite with his friends.