Merlin’s hand was still outstretched in an attempt to shield Charlie from any leftover debris of the blast. Whatever had caused the impact that had shattered the wall and sent Geby flying was powerful. Now its source was before them, and it was likely one of the knights.
Geby didn’t move. Orb and Boop took cover behind the remnants of a desk. It was probably wise not to let the knights spot them right now.
Sir Brandt stepped into the room, followed by Dalys and the other knights. All of them wore the dark black armor that hex knights usually wore. The armor that Brandt and Dalys wore had gold trim on it. According to Vetica, it meant they ranked higher than the others. Charlie already knew Brandt was their leader. But Dalys must be stronger than usual as well. Even setting her special armor aside, the fact that she had gotten the upper hand against Vetica in their fight before proved just how powerful she was. This was bad. There were dozens of other knights behind them as well.
“This is a nightmare, the knights are trained specifically to take out dungeons, Charlie. We need to escape,” Merlin whispered.
Dalys eyed Geby warily and then turned her attention to Merlin. Her jaw dropped, and she turned bright red. She looked away from him just as fast. “Um, why is that man naked?” she asked.
Merlin looked around. “What man?” His eyes widened, and he looked down. He gasped. “Where’s my towel?” He used his free hand to cover himself as his head swiveled. Charlie looked behind them and saw the white towel against the wall.
“There it is!” Charlie pointed. “The blast must have knocked it loose!”
Merlin hurried over and picked the towel up with his free hand. He awkwardly held it in front of himself. Since he needed two hands to secure his towel. Charlie grabbed onto Merlin’s hair with both hands to pull himself up so Merlin could fix it.
Merlin’s head yanked to the side. “Ow!” he said, quickly wrapping the towel around himself again. “Okay, let go, let go!” he said quickly, holding Charlie up again.
Charlie laughed.
Across the room, Themis groaned and rose to his feet. “That was unpleasant.” He looked up and his gaze hardened when he saw the knights standing there in the opening to the room. “Ah, Brandt, so you’ve finally arrived.”
Brandt seemed genuinely surprised. “Themis? What the hell are you doing here? Wait…” He looked around at the splintered desks, shattered glass, and crushed instruments in the room. “This is a lab. You never stopped your research. This isn’t the boys’ dungeon, is it? You created a vessel, didn’t you?”
Merlin looked between the two men. He whispered to Charlie. “How did he figure all that out so quickly? That’s insane.”
Themis smirked. “We’re a lot alike, Brandt. Each of us is working to protect Aysela in our own way. Each of us has a goal that we’ll stop at nothing to achieve. Of course, I continued my research. As for a vessel…not in the way you think. Let’s talk this out. The boy isn’t a threat.”
Brandt sneered. “First Richard, and now you. What is Aysela becoming? Men who once served the kingdom have turned their backs on it. All to protect a boy who will bring about ruin. If you haven’t completely locked yourself away down here, then you know the cult is active again. They’re trying to resurrect Cendra. I don’t care if the boy is good or bad. If Cendra awakens, he’ll take that power for himself. That will be the end of everything.”
Themis took a step forward and tightened his fist. “Brandt! Listen to me. I know more about dungeons than anyone. This boy is special. Cendra will not overtake him. You must trust me as the hero from another world did.”
Brandt’s eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”
“How do you think I was able to create this place? To continue my research in secret? This was his will. He gave me the resources I needed. He wanted me to continue my work. The hero believed it could one day protect Aysela. I know you still serve him. I know the knight’s true loyalty lies with a man who returned to his world. So have faith in him. Have faith in the project he took a chance on,” Themis said.
Dalys eyed him. “Yeah, that was before my time, so honestly, I’m kind of lost. What are we doing here, Brandt? You don’t usually talk so much.”
Brandt shot her a look. “You’re right. I don’t. I don’t know if what you’re saying is true, Themis. But I know you aren’t the only one who he entrusted with protecting Aysela. He may have taken a chance on you, but I can’t. I won’t trust anyone but myself to ensure Cendra does not rise again, and that the cult is truly crushed once and for all. But before I can focus on that, I need to deal with this.” He turned to look at Charlie and Merlin. “Hand the boy over, wizard. If you don’t resist, I’ll allow you to live out your days in a prison cell instead of putting you in the ground.”
Merlin swallowed. “If you want, Charlie, you’re going to have to go through Themis.”
Orb rotated to stare up at Merlin. “You coward! It would’ve been so much cooler if you said he had to go through you. But you just had to—”
Merlin turned and ran toward the hallway. “Shut up and follow me! We’re leaving!” he called out.
A wave of white energy cut through the air in front of Merlin. He stopped just in time. Charlie felt the heat and destructive power behind the blast. He looked up and saw Brandt had drawn his blade and swung it in an instant. That attack was from his sword.
Themis grimaced. “Let’s calm down! We can still talk this through.”
Brandt said something that Charlie ignored. He needed to focus on finding a way out of this situation.
Charlie looked around the room. Merlin was right. They needed to escape. But they couldn’t just run. From the spot where Merlin had frozen, Charlie had a better view of Geby. He couldn’t see her face, but her tail wasn’t far from them. He projected his thoughts toward her. “Geby, if you’re okay and you think you can move, can you move your tail just a tiny bit?” He held his breath, waiting. He needed to know if she could move before he took any action. The only way Charlie was committing to running was if he could get all of his friends out okay. He wouldn’t leave anyone behind.
Geby’s tail flinched. It was the faintest motion. It was almost imperceptible, but Charlie was sure she’d moved it. “Okay, here’s the plan.” He relayed his thoughts to all of his friends. His inability to speak might be a detriment in a lot of situations, but being able to speak inside his friends’ minds was a powerful asset in situations like these.
Themis carried on conversation as Charlie shared his idea. It was impressive how well Themis kept up with Brandt while listening to Charlie at the same time.
“How did you manage to get down here, anyway?” Themis asked, stalling for time. “According to my intelligence, you still had two guardians to defeat. So, what happened? How did you pull this off?”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Debris fell from the ceiling. Brandt snarled. “Where is it?” he called out.
A scarlet hex manifested somewhere in the crowd of knights standing behind Brandt. A knight hurried forward and whispered something to Brandt. He nodded and then gave Dalys a look. “It’s exhausted its use. Destroy it.”
Dalys nodded and drew a sword from her waist. It was a long blade, but much thinner than what Brandt or Redrick carried. The knight with the scarlet hex hurried forward and pointed at a spot on the ground. Dalys stabbed the spot and something in the earth shattered. When she pulled her blade out, a dark blue dungeon core was impaled on its tip. Flecks of the core peeled off and floated through the air before disappearing. Cracks ran along its side like spiderwebs.
She’d destroyed a dungeon core right before their eyes.
Themis shook his head. “I see. You used my own research against me.”
Merlin looked over. “What do you mean? Was that one of yours?”
Brandt raised an eyebrow at that. Merlin cursed under his breath, realizing he’d shared information Brandt didn’t already have.
Themis ignored the mistake and tried to move past it. “A rogue core. I discovered them back when I was still working with my former research partner. Most dungeon cores form around their own dungeon, but some powerful cores burrow into others instead and try to seize control of them. Cores from a different time that have remained dormant for centuries. They only wake when they come into contact with an active dungeon. I theorized that releasing a rogue core into a dungeon could allow one to locate that dungeon’s core more easily. The kingdom can’t have more than a few rogue cores at its disposal. You must really want the boy dead if you used one on this.”
Brandt grabbed the remnants of the dungeon core from Dalys’ blade and inspected it. “Just this one. A token well spent. It burrowed into the ground and created a new path for us. We just had to follow. I sent another team to take the path you laid out. To make you think you had more time than you did.” Brandt crushed the dungeon core with his bare hand, and the pieces shimmered as they fell toward the ground and disappeared.
“Oh, I do not like that,” Orb said.
Charlie frowned. “I’m sorry, Orb. Did you know him?”
“We don’t all know each other!” Orb shot back.
Brandt stared up at the ceiling. Small pieces of debris still fell. He seemed surprised at that. Brandt and Dalys exchanged a look. “We destroyed the core. Why isn’t the dungeon stabilizing?” Dalys asked.
Themis laughed. “Your dungeon core may have allowed you to burrow through without me detecting it. But it’s not the reason my dungeon is falling apart. That core of yours broke something. Something that is going to cost all of us dearly.”
A large cracked formed along the ceiling.
The knights behind Brandt looked nervous. Merlin tensed. Charlie could tell he was ready to run. Was the ceiling about to collapse? Should they make their move now? He looked over at Themis, who held a hand behind his back. He wagged a finger toward Charlie.
He wanted to wait, but for what?
“Themis, what’s going on?” Brandt asked, readying the sword in his hand so he could react.
A portion of the wall bulged outward. The bulge stretched wider and longer, and then moved through the wall. It was almost like watching a creature swim through water. Charlie’s eyes widened.
“Dalys!” Brandt shouted. She ran forward and slammed her blade into the wall, penetrating it. Her blade broke through the wall itself, but several inches in it met something it couldn’t pierce. The blade broke in half, forcing Dalys to step back. Through the hole she created everyone in the room could see it. A long tail made of bone slithered by for several moments until it slithered out of sight.
“You asked me what creature I was talking about earlier, Merlin. It was a useful subject for my research. We believed understanding its true nature would lead us closer to uncovering the secrets of vessels. What you just saw was a Skeletane Wyrm, and it’s probably going to kill us all.”
Brandt swore. “You can’t be serious. Here? Under Arcadeya? You brought that creature here?”
Themis stared Brandt in the eyes. “It wasn’t a threat until you released the rogue core and severed parts of my connection to the dungeon. This is our sin, Brandt. This is a product of our decisions. I wonder which of us will pay for it more dearly. You, when all of your subordinates die. Or me, as I foolishly commit to protecting my life’s work? I guess we’ll find out.” Themis turned to look at Charlie and nodded.
Brandt noticed. He realized they were up to something. “Get them!” he shouted, raising his blade to swing again. The knights hurried past him on either side.
Dalys lunged for Themis. He ignored her, holding a hand toward the ceiling. “Shift!” he cried out. The crack in the ceiling tore open, leaving a massive hole behind.
Charlie was horrified when he realized what Themis was doing. “Geby now!” Charlie cried out. Geby rolled over surprisingly fast and slammed her tail into the ground. The impact forced the charging knights backwards and onto their backs. Charlie was right behind her with his own attack. He seized control of the dungeon around him and sent forth a wave of earth to cover the fallen men. It hardened as soon as it sunk into place. It wouldn’t be easy to free themselves. He just hoped it would buy them enough time.
“Run!” Charlie yelled to his friends. Merlin wasted no time. He took off, skirting past Geby and running toward the tunnel leading out of the lab. Mousifer squeaked on Charlie’s shoulder and waved his paws, cheering them on. Orb and Boop flew after them. Themis stared up at the ceiling. Geby lumbered over and bit the back of the man’s robes. Pulling him with her head. Charlie stared over Merlin’s shoulder. Brandt brought his blade down and a blast of energy shot forward again.
Charlie’s eyes shot open. He went to raise a defensive wall to cover their retreat as they finally made it inside the tunnel.
But it turned out he didn’t need to. In that very moment, Themis’ gamble paid off.
The creature had accepted the invitation. An open door into a room full of victims. The skeletane wyrm was a larger, scarier version of the stone serpents Themis had thrown at Charlie during their training. Its head looked like the skull of a dragon, its body was completely bone and shaped like that of a serpent. It was easily the largest beast that Charlie had ever encountered. Section after section of its long snakelike body poured into the room.
It absorbed the brunt of Brandt’s attack, and then it reared its head to look at the leader of the hex knights. Its head shot toward him, and its jaws snapped.
“Shift!” Themis threw up a wall separating the lab from the tunnel.
Whatever was happening in that room was no longer any concern of theirs. Now they had to escape.
“Where to?” Merlin cried out. “Is there another elevator or something? We need to find the others and get to Marvin and the wagon! Which way?” he asked.
Themis didn’t answer. Charlie turned to look over Merlin’s shoulder and realized the researcher wasn’t moving.
“Squeak!” Mousifer cried.
Merlin skidded to a stop and turned back. His shoulders sank. “Oh great, our dungeon tour guide is unconscious. I don’t suppose he left any emergency exit plans in the hallway somewhere?”
Geby tilted her head toward him. Themis hung limply from her mouth as she did so.
“Right. Didn’t think so.”
“Canano and Bleedy should catch up to us soon. Canano has to know the way out!” Charlie said.
“Good idea, Charlie,” Orb said. “There’s just one problem.”
“What’s that?” Charlie asked.
Geby suddenly realized it, too. She swung her tail under her own body, but the person clinging to her underside rolled away in time and jumped backwards.
“We’ve got a stowaway,” Orb finished.
Geby dropped Themis and turned to face the woman holding a broken sword. Merlin hurried to stand by Geby’s side and see what was going on.
Dalys rolled her neck and then blew a strand of black hair from her face. “Thought you could get away from me that easily?”