Smoke rose from the burning chicken behind me as I walked towards the raised platform on which the king and his two Avian companions were staring down at me. I felt no small amount of satisfaction upon seeing that Razorbeak’s smug look had been wiped off of his face while his companion looked concerned.

Keith lurched to his feet, his golden crown threatening to fly off of his head from the violent motion, and pointed his scepter at me. “Guards! Kill that Halfling!” he screamed, his voice easily heard over the din of the crowd. “Don’t let the prisoner escape!”

I slammed my shield against my chest, enlarging it, before looking around. The guards around the walls of the arena floor wore shining metal armor. They had crossbows in their hands and a few were pointing at me, but none of them looked ready to fire. It was now that I noticed they had no aura. King Carr's was red all the way through, and the crowd was filled with various shades of red and orange, but the guards stood there like empty puppets.

A shiver ran through my spine, causing me to shake for a moment. No aura meant they had no free will. That’s what Razorbeak meant when he said they had control of this dungeon. Keith might have been too powerful to control directly given his position, but the guards being under his control meant that he and his crew could essentially do whatever they wanted without scrutiny.

I had no idea where the Avian mage had learned how to wrestle this level of control from the dungeon, giving him access to both time and people, but it was worrying.

“Why are you just standing there!?” Keith yelled again. “Execute that Halfling!”

I watched the mage carefully as I resumed walking towards them. He began to fill the air with another magic circle before Razorbeak grabbed his attention. From this distance I couldn’t hear what was said, but it didn’t matter.

In a flash of speed that was almost too fast for me to catch, the pirate captain spun around. He placed the barrel of his blunderbuss against Keith’s heart, the weapon glowing green with the telltale sign of a martial art, and pulled the trigger. The king slumped to the ground as the sound of the gunshot bounced around the arena loud and clear.

All around the guards fell as if their strings had been cut, though it had happened a second after Keith’s demise as the mage did something with his hands. No doubt some spell or another. Perhaps controlling them in a fight would have been too taxing on his magical power. The people, however, all began screaming and running towards the exits. Their king dead, and their protectors slain, all seemingly at the same time. I would have run, too.

And so I did, though not away from the danger. I started running towards the king’s platform, already seeing a way to climb up, before Razorbeak jerked his head towards the exit and began leaving through the only door that side of the arena. The mage looked back at me for a moment, did what I could only guess was a sneer, and followed after his captain.

This time, I slid to a halt. Going after them would likely leave me trapped again, though it would undoubtedly be more deadly than this was. The Temporal Dire Chicken could have killed a regular adventurer or even most other dungeon inspectors. They weren’t counting on me.

I took a breath and turned around, heading back towards my entrance. It would take a while, but I could burst through the wall they set up to stop me from returning to the group. Right now there was safety in numbers and warning Ferrisdae about what was going on was the prudent choice. As far as I knew, they were still underground and that meant they could be entombed there rather easily.

My quick walk turned into a jog, and then a run. The more I thought about it, the more rushed I was. I had to get back down there imme-

A blast of dust and debris came out of the arena gate moments before I was about to enter it. I crouched behind my shield, feet sliding through the sand, in order to protect myself. My sword was still ignited, and I rose into a defensive position as I waited to see what new threat was gracing me with its presence now.

“Oh, there’s some sun here!” I heard a big, dumb Human’s voice say. I collapsed my shield and turned off my sword’s fire enchantment as I shook my head. Cojisto emerged from the dust cloud moments later, waving his hand in front of his face as if it would somehow clear the air for him. He stopped and locked eyes with me before grinning. “Found Badger!”

“You’re late,” I told him, placing a hand on my hip. “I already took out the giant chicken.”

Cojisto’s grin fell as he looked from me to the giant bird corpse behind me. The flames had gone out - feathers weren't very good at staying lit - but it still smoked. “I wanted to wrestle that!” he exclaimed, snapping his fingers as he kicked the sand. “You couldn’t have waited, like, another minute or so?”

“Things happen fast, Cojisto,” I told him absently as I looked behind him. Moose came out of the dust after the Human. He snorted as he looked at me, and my body was enveloped by a warm glow as the remnants of my injuries warmly stitched themselves back together. “Thanks, Moose. Is Ferrisdae behind you?”

“I’m here,” Ferrisdae replied. She walked out of the dust cloud with her mouth and nose covered by her cloak. Behind her was the Avian that we had captured. Her beak was closed tight due to a cloth wrapped around it and her arms were tied together with rope that my junior was holding on to. Ferrisdae glanced around the arena, her eyes widening and lingering on the giant chicken, before shaking her head. “Looks like we missed it. Shortclaw here told us that the plan was to get us to fight the bird, but you went and took all the fun.”

“You could have killed it with a single Shooting Star.” I scowled, thinking that it was a completely unnecessary time waster. Ferrisdae averted her gaze, looking down at the sand, and I sighed. “That was supposed to be indicative of how weak it was, not chastising you for being late or being uncomfortable casting magic. I need you sharp, alright?”

Ferrisdae released a short breath before a mask of determination covered her face. She looked me in the eyes and nodded decisively. “Yes, sir. What happened here?”

“The mage, whom I’m guessing is Razorbeak’s first mate,” I paused, looking at the Avian Ferrisdae had called Shortclaw. “Is that the first mate?”

The Avian looked away from me, some defiance in her gaze, until Moose plodded towards her. He gently tapped her on the top of her head with an antler before she began to nod.

“His name is Swiftfeather,” Ferrisdae confirmed. The Dungeon Master had told me that, but I wanted to make sure. “He’s proficient in some form of magics that Shortclaw doesn’t know enough to tell us about.”

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“Of course,” I said dryly. “Well, whatever it is, he’s proficient in dungeon magic. He managed to take over the flow of time and shunt the world forward so that the Temporal Dire Chicken-“

“So cool,” Cojisto interrupted. I gave him a glare, he still looked sad that he didn’t get to fight it.

“Shunt the world forward so that the Temporal Dire Chicken would attempt to eat me. Keith Carr became king of this world, but he’s dead thanks to Razorbeak. Swiftfeather was controlling the guards like puppets, and he also put up that wall you three punched through to get here. Razorbeak says he’s in control of the dungeon now.”

Ferrisdae furrowed her brow. “How could he have that kind of control over the dungeon? Isn’t that the Dungeon Master’s whole thing? Why would Swiftfeather be able to do it?”

“Unclear. It might be because this dungeon operates in a different way than anything we’ve seen before. Might be because of the boost that the Dungeon Master gave him. Might have learned a few tricks outside of the dungeon and is finally putting them to use.”

Moose croaked, and Cojisto translated. “There’s tricks the DoD don’t know about?”

“Contrary to popular belief,” I said, not bothering to hide the disapproval at the question from my voice. “The Department of Dungeons isn’t some monolithic presence that has all the answers. We’re learning new things every day. We didn’t know about the Dungeon Master and all he can do, for example, and they were sitting underneath a dungeon-less city-state for centuries.”

“When Badger and I met for my first mission, which wasn’t long before we met you two, it was to oversee a new dungeon that came about because a rat ate a wizard’s spell book,” Ferrisdae offered. “We figured it was because there was dungeon magic written inside. That’s about the best guess we’ve got, though.”

“Huh, this dungeon magic stuff is still a mystery after everything that’s been researched?” Cojisto asked, scratching his head and removing dust from his hair.

“Magic is very enigmatic,” Ferrisdae replied. “There’s still a lot that doesn’t make sense. Like why it works, why some people need to study while others can do it inherently, and dungeon magic is fairly rare in that the circumstances often need to be just right for one to pop up.”

“Yes, but that’s a whole lecture that we don’t have time for,” I said as I reached into my dimensional pocket. “Razorbeak and Swiftfeather are escaping as we speak, likely to regroup with the crew, and we need to rein them in.”

“Alright, so let’s get going!” Cojisto yelled, throwing a fist in the air.

“No, we’re staying here and making them come back to us,” I said, dampening Cojisto’s enthusiasm. My attention turned to Ferrisdae. “Think you can spare some magical power? Not casting spells, but a ritual.”

The Elf walked towards me and nodded. “I… should,” she said before being more stern with herself. “Yes. Yes, I can.”

“Good, because if Swiftfeather’s a tier two like the Dungeon Master claimed, then you’ve got your work cut out for you.” Removing my hand from my dimensional pocket, I pulled out a large piece of thick paper. It had been folded into a square, and I set it down on the ground. It opened the moment it fell, revealing a pre-drawn ritual circle.

Moose and Cojisto joined us as Ferrisdae and I knelt beside it. She handed him Shortclaw’s rope, which he took without fuss, and turned her attention to the circle. “So I just need to push magic into it, right?” Ferrisdae asked, though I could hear the nervous tension in her voice.

“That’s it,” I confirmed. She still didn’t feel comfortable tapping into her magic wellspring, and I knew that, but this was the fastest, most practical, and safest way to do this. “Hands on the Reduce and Dungeon runes. Do you know what this does?”

“Of course I know what this does,” Ferrisdae said in a tone that was nearly hostile. “Sorry, sorry, I-“

“I get it,” I told her honestly. “Walk the two adventurers through it for me. It might help keep your mind off of it.”

Ferrisdae nodded, and Cojisto put a hand on her shoulder. Just as I was about to chastise him, Moose lowered his head so that his snout was resting on her other shoulder, his antler just behind her. She smiled softly, leaning her head against Moose while patting Cojisto's hand for a moment before releasing a breath and turning her attention to the ritual circle.

“Thank you Cojisto, Moose,” she said. Moose pulled back immediately, but Cojisto’s hand lingered for a second longer. My attention turned towards the paper.

It took a few seconds after Ferrisdae’s hands touched the runes for anything to happen, but a rich purple energy started flowing through the lines of the ritual circle. Slowly at first, but gaining speed and power as time passed. “This is a Dungeon Reduction Ritual,” Ferrisdae explained softly as she stared at her hands. “It forces a dungeon to close in on itself until only an amount of space the ritualist allows is left.”

“We want the arena here to be our space,” I told her.

“Got it, sir,” she replied with a nod. “It’s meant to be for dungeons that are incredibly large, like this one, where the boss has a lot of space to flee or are hard to find.”

“And those who are outside of the dungeon after it’s been made smaller cease to exist?” Cojisto asked.

“Depends on how you do it,” she answered. “Generally, no. The dungeon will open back up after some time has passed and those who disappeared would reappear as if nothing happened. You can overload the ritual, however, which can destroy the minions and even the boss if you’re not careful. The dungeon has to recover naturally after that, which is a very lengthy process. Some owners simply decide to start over at that point.”

“We don’t care if it gets overloaded as long as we get Razorbeak and his crew,” I added. “If he ignores all the warning signs and gets caught out, then our job is basically done. Swiftfeather can fight it, but if Ferrisdae can overpower whatever he’s using to control the dungeon then he’ll be on the back foot, unable to concentrate because he has to flee to safety.”

“Wow, that sounds complicated,” Cojisto said with a nod.

“Just to you, Cojisto,” I sighed.

“Be nice to Cojisto, he’s been a big help,” Ferrisdae chided. I scoffed and she winced, her body beginning to tremble. “I’m okay, I’m okay. Just not… used to it. Swiftfeather’s begun fighting back.”

“Do you need any help?” Cojisto asked. “I have a little bit of magic because of the flow thing. Moose is magical. Can we help?”

“Don’t try to aid the ritual,” I warned. “That might kill us in the process.”

“I’m okay, really,” she reiterated. “He’s not as strong as I am. Did he… Did he draw his magic circles in the air?”

“Yes,” I confirmed.

Ferrisdae nodded. “Okay, that’s a weaker form of magic than us. Swiftfeather doesn’t have a ritual on Hajidi Paper like we do, which means he has to anchor it using his own body, if he's a Wizard, or magic source, if he's most other types of spellcasters,” she explained. “He’s going to have to give up much- I’ve got it!”

“He gave up?” I asked quickly. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, absolutely. Everything was going great, then it stopped almost completely as he tried to push back, and now we’re back on track.”

“I think he might have already been drained,” I said, eyes flitting towards the fallen guards. “But he also might just be saving his strength for a fight. Moose and Cojisto, grab the chicken and drag it closer so that Ferrisdae can use it as cover. She can't move until the ritual is complete.”

“Roger that, Badger,” Cojisto said before running off to do as commanded. Moose nodded and followed after him.

“Ferrisdae, once you’ve reduced the dungeon to within the arena walls, just inside the sand pit so we can force them out, let it go and join our fight,” I continued. “If you feel well enough to cast magic, do that, if not, use your bow.”

Ferrisdae winced. “It’ll be better if-“

“Yes, it will be faster if you use magic,” I agreed. “But as your senior, I’m telling you to do what’s most comfortable for you. The only people on their side worth being worried about are Razorbeak and Swiftfeather. Moose is an adequate healer, Cojisto is Cojisto, and I’ve already taken down a bird many sizes bigger than them. We’re good.”

Ferrisdae chuckled. I could see some of the tension leaving her shoulders as she nodded. “Okay, Badger. Thank you.”

I ignited my fire blade as I stood, careful not to get the paper, and enlarged my shield. “Don’t thank me yet, we still have to make it through this,” I said. “We get some leave after a subjugation, so make sure you get your head right then. Sound good?”

“Yes, that sounds good. Thank you for caring.”

"Whatever makes you feel better, kid," I scoffed before I began walking off, but my heart wasn't in it. Based on her light laughter, I knew she could tell.