Charlie

“Marvin! I bet you missed me, didn’t you?” Merlin stroked the horse’s neck.

Marvin turned his head away from Merlin and snorted.

“Don’t be like that! I didn’t mean to be gone that long!” Merlin said. “I won’t leave again for a while. How about that?”

Marvin ignored him.

They’d left the clearing and followed Vetica through the woods to where she’d left Marvin and the wagon. The sun was high in the sky now and its rays felt nice on Charlie’s skin. Despite that, all he wanted to do was rest. None of them had gotten to sleep last night, and now they needed to get as far away from Sange as possible.

The people and children of Sange were safe. They’d done all they could, and now they needed to continue their journey. Arcadeya wasn’t far now. A few more days of traveling and Charlie would get the answers he sought.

At least, he hoped he would.

Merlin and Charlie got settled in the back of the wagon. Merlin dumped the pieces of kierstone into a pile on the wagon floor. He’d stuffed his pockets after the scalers left. He said it was too valuable to leave behind. They left Vetica to drive, since Marvin was in the middle of his anti-Merlin protest.

As the wagon rolled along one of the many roads leading away from Sange, they spent time exchanging what had happened to each of them. They had been through a lot in the last few days, and they needed to catch each other up. Merlin regaled them with an almost certainly embellished version of the events leading up to the uprising. Vetica talked about how she hunted down patrols, spent time with Gemini, saw the king, and finally how Geron had attacked her.

Charlie enjoyed hearing how Merlin had worked with Crussus to grow the resistance. He was also relieved that the knight Fiona had survived. Charlie knew the Hex Knights were hunting him, but Fiona had wanted to help Lyra and Charlie escape the dungeon. He didn’t think she was a bad person. Charlie was also happy Geron and Vetica didn’t hurt each other, but he felt bad that Geron had destroyed her dagger.

He wasn’t sure if it was because he had just been through that much, or if he wasn’t very good at summarizing things, but Charlie ended up spending the most time telling them everything that had happened inside the dungeon.

The other children, the snatchers, the scalers, and even the fight against the core guardian. Merlin and Vetica were particularly interested in the last part. Neither of them had ever heard of a Nae Glera. Now Charlie would be one of the last people to see one alive. It made him sad to think about. He made sure to talk up the scalers as well, since both of his friends seemed iffy on the fact Charlie was carrying around hundreds of them inside his dungeon now.

“So, your Transfer ability didn’t work before? You were able to bring out the two injured scalers, but not Mousifer and Bleedy?” Merlin asked when Charlie had finished speaking.

Charlie frowned. “Yeah. The interface said something about them not being available to target. Then the Transfer failed. It wasn’t very clear, so I don’t know why it happened.”

“An interface is supposed to make things simpler, not more confusing.” Merlin groaned. “I know why Bleedy and Mousifer are in the dungeon. But I don’t get what made Orb sick in the first place. As much as it pains me to admit it, I had felt a little better knowing the two of you were together. I’m sorry you had to go through all of that on your own, Charlie.”

Vetica turned to look back at them, a sad expression on her face.

“It’s okay! We’re together now.” Charlie smiled. He didn’t want to let them know how hard it had been. How scared he had been at times. Both of them had enough guilt about the situation already. It had been his idea to go into Sange to save Sophia.

He didn’t regret it one bit.

“You said that you had a vision of Mousifer, and he was standing in front of a white wall, right? Have you ever seen some place like that inside your dungeon?” Vetica asked, changing the subject. She wasn’t good at emotional stuff either.

Charlie looked up in thought. “Hm, I don’t think so. No, definitely not. Just a bunch of rock: rock walls, rock ceilings, broken rocks…”

“Rock. Got it,” Merlin said. “What if they somehow aren’t in your dungeon at all? Maybe they find a way out and ran into some trouble or something? It would explain the strange background, at least.”

Charlie thought about it. Was that possible? The tendrils had burst free of his hand a few times on their own, but as far as he knew, that was the only time where he wasn’t fully in control of the dungeon. Unless Parent had done something. This was why getting to Arcadeya was so important. They didn’t have enough information about the dungeon, and until they did, they’d just be relying on guesses.

His hand tingled. Charlie lifted it up and turned it so he could inspect his palm.

Merlin scrambled backwards. “You aren’t about to sprout tentacles again, are you?”

Vetica pulled back on Marvin’s reins and the wagon slowed to a stop. She turned around to look as well.

“I don’t think so. It feels different.” Whenever the tendrils came, it was like he had an itch in his hand. This felt more like a building pressure in his palm.

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Emergency action. The interface designated Parent has authorized the automatic use of an ability. Activation of the Transfer ability is imminent. Please stand by.

“Okay, maybe I lied. The tendrils might be coming.”

Merlin clambered over toward the back of the wagon. His leg caught on a piece of kierstone, and he went tumbling over the edge. He shot back up and peeked inside to see what was going on. A stray leaf had found its way into his hair.

Vetica rolled her eyes.

Charlie realized he probably shouldn’t aim his hand toward his face. He quickly pointed it away from him and toward the wagon’s floor. He was just in time.

Transfer.

A tiny, baby-hand-sized portal appeared. A small black mouse flew out and landed on the wooden planks of the wagon. It rolled headfirst a couple of times before coming to a stop in the center of the wagon.

“Mousifer?” Charlie called out.

The mouse’s eyes were closed, and it remained exactly where it had landed.

Vetica and Merlin exchanged a look.

“I thought you said the ability didn’t work.” Merlin looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“It didn’t. Parent did this, somehow. The interface called it an emergency action. But why now?” Charlie had a pit in his stomach. Something weird was going on.

He crawled toward Mousifer and leaned in. The little guy looked okay, but why had Parent sent him here all of a sudden? Charlie leaned in to touch him.

“Charlie!” Merlin whispered. Only his eyes and the top of his head were visible. He peeked from outside the cart like he was worried the tendrils would be close behind the tiny mouse. “Are you sure it’s safe? What if something is wrong with him?” he asked.

“It’s Mousifer!” Charlie said, as if that was reason enough. He looked toward Vetica. She offered an encouraging nod. Charlie put his hand on Mousifer’s back and softly stroked his fur.

“SQUEA!”

Charlie pulled his hand away and leaned back.

Mousifer jumped up. His head swiveled in every direction; his eyes darted to take in his surroundings.

“He seems agitated,” Vetica commented. Merlin nodded.

“Mousifer? Are you okay?” Charlie asked.

The mouse turned to look at him and tilted its head. Mousifer’s eyes grew wide and then he squeaked again.

Charlie smiled and reached out to scoop Mousifer into his hand. “Yes, it’s me. What’s going on?”

“Squeak!”

It took him a moment to process what Mousifer meant. It had been a long time since they’d last spoke. “Danger?” Charlie twisted his lips to the side. He gasped. “Bleedy and Orb? They’re in danger?” he asked.

Mousifer nodded fervently. He pointed down at Charlie’s palm. Charlie realized what his furry little friend meant.

Mousifer wanted them to go into his dungeon.

“Oh no. Don’t tell me…” Merlin palmed his face and sighed.

Vetica frowned. “What’s going on Charlie? The two of us don’t speak mouse.”

“I don’t know the details. But it seems like the others need our help.” Charlie paused and turned back to Mousifer. “But isn’t the dungeon collapsed? Is it even possible for us to go?” The scalers had been able to fit, but he just assumed it was because they were able to squeeze into tight spaces or something. He’d tried to transfer to the dungeon in the past after it had collapsed, but it never worked. Even though he wanted to, he had to wonder if it was even possible.

Mousifer rose and stood on just his hind legs. He pointed at Charlie and then held his paws far apart before clapping them together. “Squeak!” Then Mousifer pointed to another space in the wagon. This time, he spread his paws out and brought them back together again. But he didn’t clap. He left a small space in between them. “Squea.”

Charlie tilted his head. Charlie’s dungeon had collapsed, but there was still space. If he was understanding correctly. But why had Mousifer pointed to a new space first?

“Are you saying there’s another space in my dungeon? One that I don’t control? Or are you saying that they’re in a totally different dungeon?”

“Squeak.”

“What did he say?” Merlin asked.

Charlie frowned. “Basically, he said yes.”

“To which one?” Vetica asked.

Charlie turned toward her. “Both. I’m confused too.” He looked at his palm. If Orb and Bleedy were in danger, he didn’t have time to worry about whether or not it was possible. He had to at least try. They were his friends, and he missed them. Mousifer was back, and even if he’d come bringing worrying news, Charlie was happy to see him again. Charlie lifted Mousifer and rested him on his shoulder. Then he looked at Merlin and Vetica. “We have to go inside the dungeon,” he said.

Vetica didn’t say a word. She stood from the driver’s bench on the front of the wagon and joined Charlie in its center. She started working to open Merlin’s secret compartment.

“Hey! What are you doing?” he asked her, hopping back inside it himself.

“Don’t you have knives in here?” she asked.

“Knives?” He scoffed. “Yes, knives for buttering bread and cutting fruit. Not knives for butchering things!”

Vetica shot him a look. “We’re going into a potentially dangerous situation. Do you really want me unarmed?”

Merlin’s finger froze mid-air for a moment before he could wag it toward her. He realized she had a good point. “To the left, under the box of wigs.”

She raised a brow.

“Don’t look at me like that. You’re about to wave a butter knife around like a weapon. There really isn’t any room for judgment. Besides, I have a luscious head of hair. Those are there just for disguises in case I am falsely accused of a crime and need to escape some town in a hurry.”

Vetica’s eyes narrowed. “Falsely?”

Merlin waved a hand. “Do you really think you have any right to point fingers, miss assassin?”

Charlie smiled. At least they were in good spirits. He looked at each of them, and then down at Mousifer, who rubbed his hands together anxiously. Their friends were in danger, and it was time to go save them.

Charlie focused on his friends and then concentrated on the ability.

“Transfer!”

One moment, they were sitting together in Merlin’s wagon. The next they were on the floor of the dungeon.

It was time to find out what was really going on.