Gilda was stuck. She couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, and the crushing force of the spider sitting on top of her was starting to strain her bones. A jerk shoved her face into the stony floor.

“Get up you stupid spider.” Shon’s voice was muffled but just hearing her son gave her a mixture of hope and despair. She felt for her daggers. She had to do something, she wouldn’t just give up and leave Shon alone. She found the hilt of one but it was stuck in place. She remembered the poison needles in her hair, and carefully extracted one and poked it into the beast’s belly. It did not react. She reached for another.

The spider stood up and Gilda gasped for air. Thorin came to her and offered her a hand, Gilda took it. With a pull, she was on her feet again. Everything hurt, but she couldn’t see Shon. “What happened?”

“Shon attacked, it spat more acid, he needed it to move so he climbed the thing and stabbed it in one of its many eyeballs.”

Gilda looked at the spider running around in circles and sure enough, holding on for dear life was her son. She tried to move but something was wrong with her body. Her leg would not support her and her chest was burning. “Could you bring me my backpack, I need a healing potion.”

“Thorin frowned. “I can bring it to you, but I drank the last one. My flesh was dissolving and I was in pain, and I didn’t know you’d need one too,” Thorin said.

“Don’t worry. I do not blame you,” Gilda replied. She would just have to find a way to fight without moving. She pulled out two throwing knives and took a calming breath. If the monster came close, she’d be ready.

Thorin started singing again and the spider climbed up the wall of the cave and started walking upside down on the ceiling. Shon’s legs dangled down, but he stayed attached to the spider. Gilda needed to get closer. She needed to walk but that would only be possible with assistance. “Thorin, I’m going to put an arm on your shoulder and use you to help me walk. That means you’ll be closer to the danger, but I can’t do anything from here. I need you.”

Thorin nodded and Gilda directed him to her left side. He put his arm around her waist and she leaned on his shoulder as she limped closer to the action. Once they were about six feet away, Gilda told him to stop. The spider was still crawling around on the ceiling. She took her throwing knife and aimed at one of its many remaining eyes and threw. It flew through the cavern and hit its target. The spider jumped to the floor and ran towards them. It threw out a web of string that hit Gilda and stuck her to the ground. Her arm was still free and she grabbed another knife and threw it. It hit another eye but this time, perhaps because they were closer, it went through the eyeball and dug several inches into the spider’s head.

The spider paused and Shon used that moment of immobility to stab the spider in the back of its head. His sword sank deep down into the creature and a moment later it fell down and curled up, dead.

The system window popped up with congratulations and rewards but Gilda couldn’t focus on that now. The spider’s web was around her legs and her body was shaking. She plopped to the floor, looked at her son who was waving at her happily, and let herself cry.

“What’s wrong? What hurts?” Shon asked as soon as he returned.

What didn’t hurt? “Mostly my leg and ribs, but I’m going to be fine. These are mostly happy tears,” She said. Her eyes wouldn’t stop leaking fluid. “Could you go retrieve my new dagger? It was stuck in the spider’s belly?” It was not going to be an easy task, but she really liked that dagger and its ability.

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“Of course, Mom. Just let me cut you free first,” Shon said. He used his sword to cut the string and once she was no longer attached to the ground he ran back to the spider’s corpse and started tipping it over. He couldn’t do it on his own, so he asked Thorin for help. As they were pushing to tip over the giant corpse it vanished. The spider was no longer there, but her dagger remained behind. Shon picked it up and brought it back to her.

The spider’s silk clinging to her body also disappeared, but her injuries remained. She took the dagger from her son and pulled him into a soft hug. She didn’t have the strength to squeeze him as hard as she would have liked to.

“Oh, there’s the portal. We can go home,” Shon said. He pulled away from her and walked towards a green portal.

Gilda had never seen a green portal before. It was usually blue, but today the entrance had been red. Which probably had something to do with the monsters flowing out of it. Gilda glanced around the cavern and saw several more portals. There was a blue one, a yellow one, and even another red one. Which one would take them home?

“Shon wait,” Gilda said, but not soon enough. Her son slipped through the green portal and was gone. Even the portal he entered was gone. He was gone.

“Shon,” she screamed. “Shon come back.”

There were still three more portals, would Shon be waiting on the other side? The yellow portal flickered, it grew brighter and then vanished. In its wake, she saw the outline of a man. Shon was back. Gilda hopped to her son and hugged his back. His broad shoulders were too tall and wide and he didn’t smell right. Whoever this was, it was not her boy.

“Hello,” A deep voice said, “I’d be able to give you a proper greeting if you’d release me.”

Gilda didn’t want to believe what all of her senses were telling her. She wanted this man to be her son, but he was not. Reluctantly, she let go. The man turned around. He had dark skin and black hair. A handsome face that had aged well. He wasn’t Shon. “Where’s my son?” Gilda asked. Had they swapped places?

“My son disappeared and less than a minute later you arrived. Did you see my son, his name is Shon, and he’s got reddish blond hair, green eyes, and slightly pointed ears?”

“Sorry, ma’am, I just concurred a dungeon and when I pushed my injured and unconscious friend through the blue portal, there were several and I decided to trust the color I was most familiar with, anyway when I put my friend through the portal it went away. I was forced to choose a random color and when I stepped through it I was here. Speaking of here, where exactly am I?” The man asked.

“Another dungeon,” Thorin said, “We also just finished a dungeon. If going through a portal on your own uses up the portal, then perhaps we should go through it together while holding hands. My name is Thorin, and the woman in front of you is Gilda.”

“But what if Shon isn’t on the other side of the portal?” Gilda asked. “What if different colored portals go to different places? Should I really take the blue one, or should I take my chances on a different one? What should I do?”

Gilda was overwhelmed. If they did lead to different locations, then the problem was that there were no more green portals. Was there no way for her to find her son?

“You should stick with us Gilda, let’s try the blue portal together and see what we find on the other side,” Thorin said.

“What’s your name?” Gilda asked the stranger.

“Edvardus, but you can call me Edvard if you like.”

“Well, Edvardus, no matter where we end up, you’re staying with me until I find my son. He probably went to the place you came from so I’m holding onto you and you’re not leaving me. Is that understood?”

“Of course. I have no idea exactly where I am and I’d be happy to stay with you while I figure out what’s going on. I cannot promise to stay with you forever, but I’ll stay with you for now. If my daughter disappeared, I too would do anything within my power to get her back. As a father, I understand how hard this must be for you.”

Gilda grabbed Edvardus by his sturdy arm and held on with all her might, then she held out her other arm for Thorin. Once all of them were physically linked to each other they made their way to the blue portal and entered it together.

Bright light hit her face. Gilda flinched and slowly squinted her eyes. She saw the familiar old oak tree and meadow where they’d entered the dungeon. The dead bodies were gone and birds sang from the trees. It was a beautiful and peaceful scene. It was her worst nightmare.

She, Thorin, and Edvardus were the only ones there. Her son was nowhere in sight. Where was Shon and how was she supposed to find him?