“How did they find us?” Merlin asked. He was prone on the ground, covering the back of his head with his hands. He looked over at them on the couch. Talmot still sat in the center of the room, bound by rope. He seemed surprisingly calm. It was unsettling, like he thought he’d already been rescued. Vetica was still wrapped tight around Charlie to make sure he wasn’t hit by stray magic or glass shards. She risked a glance back toward the window. She was probably thinking the same thing Charlie was. Why hadn’t the hex knights entered the room yet?
“Did you see anyone outside the door?” Vetica whispered to Merlin.
He shook his head. “No. The street was empty. That’s when I realized the wagon and Marvin had been taken. Do you think they’re alright?” he asked.
“For right now, we have to focus on ourselves and Charlie.” A thought occurred to her. Vetica frantically patted her waist and realized she’d left her knife on the far side of the room. She’d dropped it near the bed.
Charlie saw Bleedy peek out from inside the cracked bathroom door. A blue light reflected off his head. Orb must be floating nearby as well.
A gruff, grating voice called out from the other side of the window. “Talmot, you alright? What’s the situation?”
Talmot perked up. “Redrick? They’re disarmed! Hurry!” Talmot said.
Vetica cursed. She scrambled upright and grabbed a sharp piece of glass from the ground. She was dashing straight toward Talmot. “Take Charlie and run, Merlin!” she called out.
Merlin hurried to his feet and ran toward Charlie.
Vetica never reached Talmot. Before she could secure the hostage, a large man burst through the wall in between the two windows. It was unnecessary considering he could’ve gone through the windows, but that just made it more intimidating. He’d broken through the wall as if it was made of parchment. The red-haired knight flew feet first toward Vetica. His feet collided with her slender frame, and she rocketed backward. Vetica slammed into the opposite wall. She groaned.
“Vetica!” Charlie called out. Merlin finally reached Charlie and scooped him up. He made a move toward the door, but at the moment, something knocked against it from the outside. Merlin swallowed. They were surrounded already. It was too late to run.
“No…” Merlin said, realizing the gravity of the situation. Charlie looked between his friends. What should he do? What was the right move here? Should he let Merlin try to talk their way out of this? No, they were probably beyond that. They’d taken one of the knights’ hostage. It was unlikely they’d be willing to negotiate now. Especially when this Redrick fellow had already stopped Vetica from reaching Talmot.
Redrick drew a large sword on his back and pointed it toward Merlin and Charlie. “Alright, no more games. No more resistance. Surrender.”
Merlin took a step back. “Your friend here already told us the knights wouldn’t accept our surrender.”
Redrick sighed and looked over his shoulder at Talmot. Talmot couldn’t look him in the eye. “I’m sorry, Redrick. If I was stronger, you wouldn’t have had to come save me. I’m sorry.”
Redrick laughed. “It’s my job to save you! Don’t apologize. The ones who should apologize are the ones who have led me on a wild baby chase across the kingdom. Speaking of,” he said, turning back toward Merlin and Charlie. “You really should surrender before I get even angrier. Brandt might not accept your surrender, but I’m not Brandt. I’m curious about what the hell is going on. So, you’ll at least live long enough to answer my questions.” He smirked at them.
Merlin chanced a look at Charlie. “What do we do?” he asked.
Charlie looked over at Vetica. She hadn’t moved since Redrick had kicked her. Bleedy, Mousifer, and Orb were still stuck in the bathroom. Even if they could run, they couldn’t make sure all of their friends got out okay. Charlie could transfer them to the dungeon, but that would only delay the inevitable. Plus, he knew now that doing that would create an entrance to his dungeon somewhere nearby. He’d had a lot of time since his first meeting with Koi Levi to think about what that meant. If he entered the dungeon in the middle of a city, the entrance would probably be pretty easy to find. Once the knights were inside the dungeon, he might not be able to get rid of them before they destroyed it. Before they destroyed him. Also, the scalers were still in hibernation and would make for easy targets.
So, if he couldn’t run, and he couldn’t transfer his allies away, what option was there?
Redrick’s nostrils flared. “Alright, I gave you a chance to come the easy way. Now I’ll take your heads instead.” He drew his blade.
Vetica! Vetica had gone for Talmot because having a hostage changed things. It gave them leverage.
“Wolf!” Charlie called out telepathically. Redrick’s blade came swinging toward them.
“Transfer Dungeon Manipulation!”
A small shield shot out of the portal in his hands and blocked the sword. But the impact was too much for him. The shield held and kept the blade from cleaving them in two. But the force of the blow knocked Merlin off his feet. It took everything the conman had not to drop Charlie in the process.
The shield crumbled to dust as they landed.
Bleedy poked back out of the bathroom. He’d already put in his dentures and started to transform in the time Charlie had bought with his shield. Redrick noticed him, too. But Bleedy was fast, and right now, speed was all he needed. He’d started running even before the transformation had completed. His fur was still changing colors, his form was still expanding. But the power and speed boost were near instant. He closed the gap before Redrick could react.
Talmot kicked his feet back, trying to back away from the furry demon that had suddenly appeared. The confident demeanor that had arrived when his friend showed up quickly dissipated when the snarling, rabid, wolf-like creature rushed him. The chair fell and slammed against the floor of the house. Bleedy opened his jaw wide and brought it around Talmot’s throat.
He stopped mere inches away from ending Talmot’s life.
Everyone in the room froze.
Redrick gasped. “What the hell…” he said, slowly lowering his sword. He took a step toward Talmot and Bleedy, but Bleedy snarled and closed his teeth a little more.
“Merlin, negotiate!” Charlie urged.
Merlin still sat on the ground where he fell. He turned to look at Charlie, his mouth hanging open. He nodded.
“Don’t move or our friend will finish what he’s started. The knight is our hostage. You’re going to let us leave Arcadeya, and then we’ll release him when we’re free. Alright?” Merlin said, slowly rising to his feet.
Vetica finally roused from her disoriented state. “What…happened?” she said, slowly leaning forward.
Redrick looked toward Merlin, and then back to Talmot and the creature threatening him. He groaned and his head fell back. “Ugh, I told Brandt I would handle it on my own. I really butchered that one. Oh, well.” Redrick sheathed the sword on his back. “Problem is, Brandt isn’t the type to really take chances. So, I have a feeling you’re gonna feel really stupid any moment now.”
Vetica stood. She pressed a hand against the wall and leaned on it. “I haven’t been hit that hard in a while. I’m gonna stab you so many times,” she said, shaking her head.
Redrick turned to look at her. “Huh? You’re still alive?”
A figure stepped through the hole Redrick had made earlier. A woman with short black hair. She had a small scar across the bridge of her nose and noticeably long eyelashes. The woman wore the black armor of hex knights. She rolled her neck, pausing when she noticed Bleedy moments away from chomping down on Talmot. “Really guys? You couldn’t handle two adults, a baby, and a…gross hairy…what exactly is that?”
“Do—don’t move!” Merlin crawled out. But he didn’t sound very authoritative that time.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
She yawned and covered her mouth. “You know the difference between me and Redrick? I’m not really all that attached to Talmot.” She lifted a leg and held it above Bleedy’s head. “So, if you’re feeling hungry, little guy, I say go for it.”
“Stop!” Redrick called out.
“Bleedy!” Merlin and Charlie said.
The woman brought her metallic boot down. Bleedy scampered to the side and away from the hex knight.
She’d called their bluff.
The woman noticed the knife Vetica had dropped and reached out for it as she kneeled. She cut the rope around Talmot’s wrist and helped him stand.
“Th…thank you,” Talmot said. “But how did you know it wouldn’t bite me?” he asked.
“I didn’t,” she shrugged, putting her hands behind her head. “Alright, you gonna finish up here or what, Redrick? I’m not doing all the work.”
“You really suck, Dalys,” Richard said. “I would’ve killed you if Talmot died, you know that, right?”
“I’m sure you think that big guy. In reality, I’d be giving a report to Brandt explaining how two of his top knights were brutally slaughtered by a baby and a fur ball.”
Redrick grunted.
“Charlie, they’re distracted. Let’s move now,” Merlin whispered. Bleedy had retreated next to Vetica. The two of them looked ready to fight as well. This was their only hope. Charlie focused on his powers. There was no telling how many knights were outside, but for right now, they’d focus on these three. They couldn’t just give up.
“Now!” Charlie called out to his friend’s minds. A signal to his allies that was silent to their enemies. They moved as one. Bleedy made his way toward Redrick’s feet. Vetica shot forward to go after Dalys. Charlie aimed his hand toward Redrick’s chest, and Merlin sent forth a group of hexes that manifested in front of the faces of each of the three knights.
For a moment, Charlie felt hopeful that they could pull it off. That they could bring these knights down and find a way out of a hopeless situation. For just a moment, he believed they could do it.
Reality hit him and his friends so much harder than he expected.
Talmot threw up his own hex. Four scarlet hexes of searching. Each one was about half the distance between Charlie and each of his friends and the knights. Charlie didn’t understand why Talmot would do something like that until Redrick drew his sword and swung toward them. The Scarlet hex was visible even through Merlin’s blinding hazel hex. It was a marker. A way to identify their locations even though the others couldn’t see. Redrick’s sword moved toward Merlin and Charlie. The pillar Charlie was about to summon changed as it shot out of his portal and became a shield. But the last-minute change made it weak.
The blade cut through this time.
Charlie’s eyes widened. He couldn’t protect Merlin!
“Noble Little One!” He heard Koi Levi’s voice in his head. Tendrils swarmed from the same portal and threw themselves out in front of the blade relentlessly. Redrick pulled back at first, then renewed his swings. He hacked mercilessly through them, taking out entire bundles of the tendrils with each swing of his blade.
Bleedy latched onto Redrick’s leg, but his teeth weren’t powerful enough to pierce through the metal.
Vetica reached Dalys and tried to stab her with a piece of glass, but the knight used some kind of hex that Charlie didn’t recognize. Vetica doubled over in pain and fell to the ground.
Merlin was forced back, slowly but surely until his back slammed into the wall.
Sweat rolled down Charlie’s face. Should he do it? Should he risk using tantrum again? It was still so recently that he’d put his body through a foundational collapse in Sange.
Dalys wrapped Vetica’s hair around her fist and lifted her blade to Vetica’s throat. Redrick reached back to bring his blade forward and deliver a decisive blow.
He didn’t have a choice. He gave in to the anger.
“Tantr—”
The center of the cabin sank into the earth. Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and turned to look. A hole. A slowly expanding hole formed in the center of the home.
“Wh—what’s going on?” Talmot asked.
Dalys shook her head. “Redrick! Stop the kid already!”
Redrick turned back toward Merlin and Charlie and froze. It was obvious that neither of them knew what was going on either. “It’s not him…” Redrick whispered. He turned to face the hole, taking a step away from Merlin and Charlie so his back wasn’t directly facing them. Redrick kicked his leg and Bleedy went flying. Bleedy flipped in the air and landed gracefully on the couch. Dalys let go of Vetica and grouped up with Talmot. Each of the knights took a cautious step to peer inside.
“Charlie, what is this?” Merlin asked.
Charlie shook his head. “This isn’t me…”
The hole started moving toward the door. Redrick and Merlin each stepped to the side so as not to be consumed by it.
“What the hell is happening?” Dalys demanded.
The hole shifted and expanded, climbing up the wall, and then angling itself back toward the earth. Before they knew it, the mouth of a cave had formed.
“What should we do?” Talmot asked.
Dalys tilted her head. “I’m so confused right now.”
Redrick swallowed and took a step toward the cave.
A thumping noise reverberated around the room. Redrick leaned in. “I can’t see inside. It’s like there’s some kind of…force field or something.”
Charlie blinked. Was it a portal? No, that didn’t make sense. But it was clearly connected to a dungeon. What was going on?
Talmot nodded his head to the beat of the thumping. “Hey, Redrick, doesn’t this remind you of a—”
Redrick’s eyes shot open. “A caldurra!” he shouted. He took a step back and turned to run toward the battered rear wall of the house. At that same moment, a huge red and orange creature with small spikes on its head came crashing through the cave’s entrance. It barreled after Redrick, and head butted his back. The knight was ejected from the house even faster than he had come kicking into it.
Dalys and Talmot stood there, openmouthed.
“What do we do?” Talmot said, shaking his head.
Dalys didn’t answer. She skirted past the caldurra and hurried back into the street.
Talmot turned to look and see why she hadn’t answered and realized she had run. “Oh. Oh!” He hurried after her. Just in time to avoid the horde of monsters that shot out after the caldurra. Some monsters were similar, but many of were different species. Charlie didn’t recognize any of them. He saw claws, wings, tentacles, and beaks. There were cute ones, and weird ones, and horrifying ones. But all of them pressed forward and unleashed themselves on the streets of Arcadeya.
Merlin pressed himself against the wall. “What’s going on?” he shouted over the stampede.
Charlie shook his head. “It’s a dungeon…”
After a moment, the horde had passed, and the sounds of fighting could be heard in the streets. The screams and shrieks of beasts and the clanging of metal as the hex knights fought back. Merlin hurried over and found Vetica was safe where Dalys had left her. She had an angry look on her face. “I’ll kill her. Unique hexes are cheating. I hate casters like that.”
Merlin helped her to her feet. Bleedy joined them.
Mousifer and Orb came charging out of the bathroom. Orb was riding on Mousifer’s back. There was a small stick tied around Orb that poked outward. “Charge!” Orb called out.
Mousifer did charge. But he skidded to a stop when they realized the knights were gone. He looked sad.
Orb mentally sighed. “Man! I told you we didn’t have time for this, but you insisted we try the whole jousting thing. Now we just look like idiots!”
“Squeak…” Mousifer’s head hung low.
Charlie giggled. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“Alright, it looks like everyone is fine, so let’s get going,” a man said from behind them.
They all spun to look at the man in long, red, and purple robes that had stepped out of the dungeon. A hood was pulled tight over his face to obscure it.
Vetica and Merlin exchanged a look. Charlie rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.
“Uh, who are you?” Merlin asked.
The man sighed. “Me? I’m the man who was on the verge of a breakthrough. I thought I could leave you alone for a few minutes, but no. You’re hopeless. So, I had to leave what I was doing in my lab, to come and save you from a bunch of other hopeless idiots who can’t understand my genius. I have to get back before my experiment blows up and takes half of Arcadeya with it. This entrance is closing in twelve seconds. If you aren’t through by then, you’re on your own. Got it? Good.” With that, the man turned and disappeared through the black veil in front of the dungeon’s entrance.
“Uh, what was that all about?” Merlin asked.
Vetica shook her head. “I think she knocked me out. I’ve never been knocked out. This is such a weird dream.”
Charlie couldn’t count yet, but he knew twelve seconds wasn’t actually all that long. “Merlin! Let’s go!” he cried out.
“You’re sure?”
“Eight, nine…” the man called from beyond the portal.
“Hurry! Let’s go!” Charlie called out. They hurried through the portal, all of them. One second they were in the remnants of the home they’d rented in Arcadeya, and the next, they were in a strange dungeon, following an even stranger man.
He waited for them in the dungeon’s hallway with his arms spread wide and a grin on his face.
“Welcome to my lab! You’re going to love it.”