Charlie

Charlie bounced in Merlin’s hood as they traveled through the forest.

“I miss the carrier Samantha made!” Charlie said, his head bobbling with every step.

“Don’t worry. We still have it. I’m wearing it under my shirt because it was too dangerous to wear in the mines and I didn’t want to lose it. It probably needs a good wash, though. Heck, we all do.” Merlin shook his head. “More importantly, how did you pull that off? That Geron guy was about to cave my face in, then you brought a giant lizard out of nowhere!”

King Scalea, Bonehead, and the other two Scalers were running nearby. They’d spread out to monitor their surroundings as they moved through the forest. It was like Charlie had his own bodyguards.

“When my dungeon integrity got high enough from absorbing boars, I thought I should send King Scalea into the dungeon to check it out. I wasn’t able to use Transfer fully earlier in the dungeon. I just wanted to see if it would work,” Charlie said.

“I know that much, but normally we just kind of pop back out. You brought that one back in a way even I couldn’t notice, and it was under my cloak. That had to take some serious talent. Also, we didn’t talk about this early. When did you start eating dead monsters?”

Charlie shrugged. “I’ve never tried to control where people come out because I never thought about it. But I’m not eating anything! The dungeon is just absorbing them.”

Merlin paused and looked over his shoulder. “Charlie, you are the dungeon.”

Charlie blinked. That was a good point. He hated when Merlin made those.

He was glad he was able to resolve the fight earlier. But Charlie’s thoughts kept lingering on it. What if Geron and Merlin had actually fought? What if Geron had learned the truth about him? Would he look at Charlie the same way the knights did? Would he consider Charlie an abomination? That scared him. How many people would be afraid of him just because of who he was? Charlie wondered if that would be something he had to worry about for the rest of his life.

It was a scary thought.

“Arca!” King Scalea called out at the top of his lungs.

Merlin flinched. “Why does he keep doing that? It’s spooky. I feel like they’re going to eat me. We’re already traveling with an assassin that I’m still not sure won’t stab me in my sleep. I’m not sure how I feel about giant lizards…”

Charlie wondered too. King Scalea was the only one who made the arca noise, and he only did it when he was giving orders. Maybe he was telling the others to stay on guard or something.

There was a boom, and Merlin spun around to face the direction it had come from. They caught the tail end of a bolt of lightning landing somewhere in Sange. “What was that?” Merlin asked.

“Probably Samantha!” Charlie said.

Merlin swallowed. “I’m so glad we got out of there when we did. I just hope Vetica catches up with Marvin soon. I’m sure the little guy has been so frightened without me.”

“Arh!” Bonehead called out.

Charlie giggled.

“What did he say?” Merlin asked.

“He said you looked pretty cool facing off against Geron. They were going to help, but you seemed like you had it covered. He wanted me to give you a thumbs up. Since they don’t have thumbs.”

Merlin blinked and looked over his shoulder at Charlie. “He said all that?”

Charlie frowned. He hadn’t expected Merlin to actually believe him. Charlie was only just learning to understand them. It wasn’t like with Bleedy and Mousifer, where he just knew what they meant. The scalers were different for some reason. He was still working on it. “No. But they do seem to like you. I think they were impressed.” Bonehead and the others had watched the “fight” from the rooftops. After they’d left the city, each of them had nuzzled their heads against Merlin’s leg before scurrying off.

“I thought spending some time apart would be good for you, but you’re still turning into a little conman. White lies are like a gateway drug to running cons. You better be careful!”

Charlie looked up in thought. “Well, I don’t have many role models. It was con-baby, or assassin. I don’t want to be an assassin.”

“Fair. I want 10% of everything you make, though.”

“Nope!”

Merlin let his head fall playfully. “So mean! Not even a counteroffer?”

Charlie giggled. It was nice being with his friend again. He couldn’t wait for Vetica to rejoin them, and then he was going to find out what was going on with Mousifer and Bleedy. He was going to learn what had made Orb sick, and they’d all go back on the road with their new scaler friends, too. It was exciting to have four new lizard companions. He bet they were going to have a lot of fun.

“Arh!” one of them cried out. The Scalers leapt toward them simultaneously and took up defensive positions between them and the forest behind them.

“What is it?” Merlin asked, turning around to look for what had alarmed them.

Charlie looked around as well. Had someone followed them? Or was it a hex beast? He was still recovering from the fight with the Sen. If they had to fight now; they were in trouble.

A man stepped out from the woods. He was wearing long green robes that skirted the forest floor and blonde hair clung to his scalp. A scar crossed his face from cheek to cheek.

It was Tomas.

“Charlie. I need to speak with you,” the snatcher said.

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Merlin held a hand up, and a void hex manifested. “Stay back!” he cried out.

Charlie patted Merlin on the shoulder. “It’s okay! He’s a friend. That’s Tomas. He helped us in the dungeon.”

Merlin turned slightly to look at Charlie. “Tomas?” he asked, as if he recognized the name. Charlie remembered how Merlin and Crussus had reacted when they heard Josephine mention Tomas earlier. Merlin relaxed, and the hex faded. The scalers relaxed as well, seeing that Charlie didn’t consider the man a threat.

Charlie looked back toward Tomas. “I’m glad you’re okay! How did you find us?”

Tomas smiled. “The dungeon is fading, but a sphere of influence does not go away so quickly. It will slowly shrink over the next few days. My master bestowed much of his power to me. Power that has only grown with his demise. I am able to access the sphere of influence he shared with the dungeon core. I’ve been keeping track of everything going on. There are many forces moving around Sange now. Hex Knights, two of the top guilds, and even cultists. But if you continue on this path, I do not expect that you will encounter resistance.”

“Cultists?” Charlie asked. That was news to him.

Tomas nodded. “Yes. I believe they are working alongside Coelacanth but I’m not sure. I haven’t been able to track either of them in a while. It seems they have someone capable of masking their presence. It no longer matters. As I said, if you continue along this path, you will remain unchallenged.”

Merlin seemed off. “What exactly was it that you needed to speak with Charlie about, then?”

Tomas walked toward them, his feet crunching on falling leaves. The scalers parted to allow him through. He reached out a hand toward them. Charlie and Merlin exchanged a confused look.

“Your hand, Charlie,” Tomas said.

Charlie reached out, his tiny arm leaning over Merlin’s shoulder. Tomas reached up and wrapped one hand around Charlie’s fist. The other he placed on Merlin’s opposite shoulder.

“One day we will see each other again, Charlie,” Tomas said.

“We will? Good!” Charlie smiled.

“When you are strong and near the end of your journey. I’ll be waiting for you when you don’t know where else to go. Come and find me.”

Charlie tilted his head. Near the end of his journey? What did Tomas mean by that? “How will I find you?”

“When the conditions are right, you will know where to look,” Tomas said, then he turned around and walked away.

“You followed us into the woods just to do that? To say goodbye and see you later?” Merlin asked.

Tomas didn’t look back.

Merlin looked down, like he was contemplating something. Then he called out again. “Did he find you?”

Tomas nodded without turning around. “He did.”

“He cares about you. A lot. Everything he did here was for you. He was fighting for you, Tomas,” Merlin said.

Tomas stopped walking and looked at Merlin over his shoulder. His gaze fell. A moment passed and then he nodded and kept walking.

Tomas disappeared into the forest.

“That was…bizarre. I feel like he didn’t really say anything,” Merlin said. “I’m glad Crussus got to see him again, though.” When Charlie didn’t respond, Merlin turned to look at him. “Are you okay?”

Charlie frowned. “Yeah, I just feel really sad all of a sudden and I don’t know why.” He played with the fabric of Merlin’s hood to distract himself.

Merlin sighed. “It’s normal to be sad when you say goodbye to a friend. It happens to everyone.”

“I know, but this just feels like something different. It’s like I’m sad about something I can’t remember. I don’t like it.”

“I’m sorry. Sometimes we need time to sort through our feelings. Sometimes feelings don’t even make sense. Once we’re away from this place and things settle down, I bet you’ll have an easier time sorting through it all. And of course, you can talk to ole Merlin anytime you want. I won’t even charge you.”

Charlie giggled. “I’ll charge you instead!”

Merlin scoffed. “I’ll have you know I’m quite the listener. In fact, some have even deemed me worthy of nicknames, such as the therapist thief, the counseling conman, and my personal favorite, the pilfering psychiatrist!” With each nickname, Merlin made a wild pose. He stretched his legs and held his arms out at various angles. He looked and sounded ridiculous.

Charlie found it hilarious. He giggled even harder.

Merlin almost never called himself a conman. Even when Orb picked on him for it, Merlin would fervently deny it. He was trying to make Charlie feel better, and it was working.

“Thank you, Merlin,” he said, after he’d managed to stop laughing.

Merlin smiled. “That’s what friends are for.” He paused and looked up. “Uh, what are the lizard things doing?”

Charlie looked up. Bonehead and the two unnamed Scalers were staring off into the forest, their bodies swaying. King Scalea held his head high and stood in their center. His jaw opened, and he stretched it as wide as he could.

“Arca!” he roared, louder than Charlie had ever heard. Both Merlin and Charlie covered their ears.

“What’s happening?” Merlin shouted.

Charlie threw his hands up. He didn’t have a clue.

A pebble on the ground a few feet away started to move. It bounced up and down slowly, and then faster. The earth was shaking. It was almost gentle at first, but the feeling increased as time went on.

King Scalea roared again. “Arca!”

“Charlie, should we run?” Merlin asked. His eyes were already searching for a path through the woods.

To be honest, Charlie wasn’t totally opposed. But what about the Scalers? He didn’t want to leave them behind.

“King Scalea!” he asked, projecting the thought toward his lizard friend.

The scaler king turned to look at them. King Scalea had a glint in his eyes and its serrated teeth were on display.

It almost looked like a smile.

Merlin shuddered. “Alright, that was creepy.”

They both looked up as Scalers started to pile into the clearing.

Ten. Twenty. Thirty.

Hundreds.

The clearing filled up quickly. Charlie could see them through the tree line, flooding past them and filling the forests around them. Before they knew it, they were in the center of a scaler horde.

Merlin looked around with a wide-open mouth. “Oh, they’re going to eat us. They’re definitely going to eat us! Poop yourself quick, Charlie! I’ll wave you around and we’ll drive them away with the smell!”

“No! You do it and I’ll wave you around,” Charlie said, turning his head away in protest.

“You can’t even lift me!”

“I’ve been working out!” Charlie flexed his arm to show off no muscle whatsoever. He frowned. “It’s a work in progress.”

“Arh! Arh! Arh!” the scalers roared in unison. King Scalea approached and wrapped around Merlin’s legs with his body and shortened tail.

“Arca!” it bellowed.

The other scalers grew quiet.

“Uhm, what’s going on? Did he just claim us as a meal? Was that like first dibs or something?” Merlin asked.

Notice

A Bond has been formed.

The Scaler King has willingly designated you as its master.

Please place a Dungeon Entrance to complete Migration.