Charlie acted instinctively. His body moved and his power activated before his mind had fully processed what was happening. A large stone fist erupted from the ground in front of them and stretched its fingers wide. It caught the falling debris in its palm and dug its fingers into the ceiling. Charlie grimaced as the strain of the ceiling above grew heavier. He remembered his lessons. He sealed the hand in place and released it.

It held.

Merlin was the first to leave the sauna room. He tightened the towel around his waist to make sure it wouldn’t fall as he peeked up at the large hand that supported the ceiling. “Well, that’s one way to prevent a cave-in. There was this time in Sange where—”

Orb buzzed into the back of Merlin’s head. “This is not the time to reminisce on your days of hard labor. We’ve gotta get out of here!”

Merlin opened his mouth to fuss at Orb, but then he realized the dungeon core had a good point. “Right. What do we do then?” he asked.

Canano looked down the tunnel where Themis and Geby had run. “We should follow Themis. He may need our help. His arm didn’t look good, and nothing like this has ever happened before.”

Charlie shook his head. He looked up from the furry man’s arms. “No! We have to go get Bleedy first! I’m not leaving him behind!”

Canano whined. “Hmm, alright. You and Merlin go on and help Themis while I get Bleedy. I may not be as strong as the average coyuta, but I’m faster than all of you. I’ll find your friend and catch up to you. Promise,” Canano said.

Charlie nodded. “Okay but be careful and howl if you need anything!”

Canano froze for a moment before cracking a smile full of sharp teeth. “I’ll do just that.” He handed Charlie off to Merlin and took a step before pausing. He reached back and pulled Lusafeen’s journal from a bag slung around his shoulder. “Take this and make sure Themis gets a chance to read it. It’s important.”

Merlin secured Charlie in one arm and took the journal with the other. “Alright. Oh, and Canano, do me a favor, will you?”

The coyuta lifted a brow towards him. Admittedly, this was a strange time to be asking for favors. “What is it?”

“I, uh, sort of left my clothes in the guest room. If you could grab my robe, that would be great.” Merlin rubbed the back of his head.

Canano nodded and turned to run toward the bedroom where Bleedy was resting. He fell to all fours and hurried onward, running like a hunting wolf. Charlie’s eyes went wide at the sight. Canano really was fast.

More rocks fell from the ceiling. Tiny rocks. But more cracks were forming, and it was obvious that it was only a matter of time before cave-ins happened. That was the motivation Merlin needed to run. Orb and Boop zipped after them, dodging falling pebbles as they flew. Mousifer stared up at the ceiling, pointing out cracks as they formed. Charlie created hand after hand, doing his best to keep the tunnel from collapsing. Merlin was moving fast enough to stay ahead of the crumbling, but Charlie knew Canano and Bleedy would come this way. And then, of course, there was Vetica. He still didn’t know where she was, but of all of his friends, he believed she was the most capable of keeping herself safe. He just hoped he was right about that.

“Where do you think Themis went?” Merlin asked between breaths. “The lab?”

Charlie nodded. “Yeah! I bet he’s there!”

Merlin nodded, running as fast as he could.

It wasn’t long before they reached the tunnel leading to the lab. Merlin skidded around the corner. A trail of earthen hands holding up the tunnel behind them in their wake. Charlie could already feel the resulting strain on his own dungeon.

He squinted and realized Themis and Geby were just up ahead. Themis was tinkering with something at his desk. Geby was swatting her tail as if it would stop debris from trickling down above them. Small rocks and dirt fell like rain and created temporary clouds of dust in the air that dissipated with every powerful whoosh of Geby’s tail.

“Themis!” Merlin cried out.

The researcher looked up in surprise before realizing the others had caught up with them. Geby made a happy ferry noise and swayed her head at their arrival.

“Please tell me you can fix this. I don’t want to die wearing a towel,” Merlin said, looking down at the towel wrapped around his waist and shaking his head.

Themis was studying one of the dormant dungeon cores on his wrist. He prodded at it with a sharp instrument and waited for a reaction. “I’m trying. I’m not sure what’s happening. The cores are draining rapidly, and I can’t stop it. This has never happened before. To make it all worse, Zephyr isn’t answering me. I can’t sense him at all.”

Charlie looked around. He hadn’t seen Zephyr since everyone had been in Canano’s study the previous night. Now that he thought about it, that was the last time he’d seen Vetica, too. “Do you think Zephyr is okay? If he’s missing, could that be the reason that the cores aren’t working? Didn’t you say that you need Zephyr to control them?” Charlie asked.

Themis grunted and threw the tool in his hand across the room and against one of the dungeon’s walls. “I do. But if the problem was Zephyr, I wouldn’t still have access to the two remaining cores. It has to be something else. I just don’t know what.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Well, like you said, you still have two. That’s a good thing, right? Can’t you stop all this?” Merlin asked, motioning toward the crumbling dungeon all around them.

“I’ve tried. The dungeon itself is stable. My strongest cores are the ones I’ve tied the shift and seal commands to. Both of them are still active. But no matter what I try, the dungeon still seems intent on falling apart. I’ve been able to slow it, but nothing I’ve done has been successful in stopping it. I just don’t understand what’s going on!” Themis brushed his hands across his desk in frustration, sending tools and books toppling toward the floor. “Damn it, Zephyr! Why aren’t you answering?” Themis shouted.

Charlie frowned. “What about Vetica? Do you know where she is?”

Themis sighed. “She went to the surface. I don’t know why. She wouldn’t say. Zephyr escorted her to an elevator far enough away that there was no chance the knights would find it. He returned this morning and went to work with Parent. I haven’t heard from him since. The way back is still open for her.”

Charlie blinked. He wasn’t used to keeping up with Parent physically, so he hadn’t even realized Parent wasn’t in the bedroom when he woke up this morning. Usually, Parent was just a voice inside his head. But with the rings he was currently inhabiting, he could move around as freely as Orb or Boop could. He was still adjusting, but for now, at least all of his friends were accounted for. If Vetica was on the surface, then she was safer than they were here. Parent was with Zephyr and Canano was getting Bleedy.

“You let her go off on her own? What if the knights find her? Hell, what if she finds the knights? She could do something reckless!” Merlin said.

“Of course, I did. She’s a guest, not a prisoner. She was well aware of the risk. If she wasn’t capable of protecting herself, she would’ve died a long time before you two came along. Right now, we need to focus on ourselves. Charlie, can you try to reach out to Parent? See if you can find anything out about Zephyr.” Themis finally noticed the book in Merlin’s hands. “Is that Lusafeen’s notes? Canano sent it with you?”

Charlie nodded. “Yeah! He said we needed to get it to you. He said to make sure you read it. I’ll talk to Parent while you look at that!” he said.

Merlin passed the book to Themis. The researcher wasted no time and started flipping to several pages Canano had marked. Themis squinted and then leaned over and scavenged through the mess he’d made next to his desk. He found a piece of spare paper and grabbed a pen off the ground as well. He started furiously taking notes.

Charlie turned his attention to Parent. “Hey Parent, are you with Zephyr?” he asked.

He waited for a response, but none came. He tilted his head at that. “Parent?” A sinking feeling started creeping inside him. “Parents not answering…” he said.

Themis whipped his head toward Charlie. “What? That doesn’t make any sense. What could they possibly be—” He went quiet. “Oh.”

Merlin leaned back and groaned. “I know that oh. That’s the ‘we’re all going to die,’ oh. I have to say, I’m not a fan. So, what is it? What’s going to kill us today?”

Themis turned to look at the caldurra who’d moved to lie against the wall where the elevator once was. “Geby.”

Merlin took a step back. “Geby? Geby’s going to kill us?!” he asked.

Themis rolled his eyes. “No. Give us a moment. Geby, do you sense anything strange?”

Geby stood, and she swiveled her head for a moment. Her tail shot straight up into the air, and she went completely still. After a moment, she turned back toward Themis and slammed her tail into the ground.

“What’s that mean?” Merlin asked.

Themis seemed just as confused by the messaging. “She wants to fight. Fight what, Geby?”

“Charlie—” Parent’s voice suddenly erupted in his mind. It sounded like a part of his message was lost. Like only his name had gotten through.

“Parent? Are you there? Can you say that one more time?” Charlie asked. He made sure the others in the room could hear him, too.

Themis turned his focus from Geby to Charlie. “He’s speaking? What’s he saying?”

“Charlie! Zephyr’s... trouble. Themis needs to… dormant.” Again, the message was broken up. Charlie relayed the parts of the message he had heard to Themis.

“Dormant? He used that word? Dormant?” Themis jumped to his feet.

Charlie nodded. “Yeah, what’s it mean?”

Themis froze. “Oh god.” He rolled up his sleep and looked at the cores again. “How could I be so stupid? If the cores aren’t active, then their passive functions aren’t either. I assumed because of Zephyr the functions would remain in place and they were just inaccessible to me. But if that isn’t the case, then that creature will awaken. No, it’s already has. That must be what’s causing all of this.”

Merlin’s head fell. “Just do it. Get to the awful reveal already. I can take it.”

Boop copied Merlin, floating next to him and then sinking in the air several inches.

“It’s a skele—”

A jarring noise got their attention. It sounded like rocks grinding together. They all turned to look toward the wall where the former elevator shaft had been. The noise was coming from the other side. Geby’s body was laying directly in front of it. She turned her head to look, studying the wall.

Merlin quirked a brow. “What’s that?”

“Is that one of your other creatures?” Charlie asked.

Themis stared at the wall with wide eyes. “No. There shouldn’t be anything on the other side of that wall. Just rock for miles. I don’t understand. Geby, get over here, quickly.” Themis took a step back.

Geby ignored him and cocked her tail to the side as if she planned to tear the wall down herself.

She never got the chance to.

It exploded open. The blast sent Geby skidding sideways. Her side dug into the ground, and she wriggled her legs, trying to right herself. Merlin hurried out of the way as Geby skated past, taking out desks and research equipment as she went. Charlie clung to Merlin tight and Mousifer clung to him. Orb floated higher to safety. Boop didn’t move at all. Geby flew right into him and took him with her. Stray pieces of the rock wall flew shot throughout the room. Merlin ducked in time. But one rock hit Themis in the face and knocked the researcher onto the floor.

Charlie reached a hand toward Themis as if it would help. But his eyes were quickly drawn away toward the movement he saw in his peripheral vision.

His heart sank.

Sir Brandt stood there, surrounded by knights. The woman from the fight in Arcadeya was there, too. Dalys.

The leader of the hex knights smiled. There was a crazed look in his eyes. “Looks like we finally found him.”