Daniel crept along the dim passageways that were reminiscent of the Grant Stable but made up of the faded yellow walls, brown carpet, with flickering lights and moldy odor of wet carpet.

The lights made a buzz buzz sound. He glanced overhead, just in case there was a ceiling-dwelling predator. He did not see one.

It was odd because while the materials remained the same yellow walls and beige carpet, the structure, at last, was becoming familiar. He saw massive rooms that in the Stable housed horses, wigabears, and other similarly mundane creatures in the real Stable. Here, the stalls were completely empty and void of life, although it was dim inside. So dim that it seemed light was absorbed. It was uncanny, Daniel wondered if there ever had been creatures housed in this mirrored mockery of the Stable, would they be better or worse? It was dimmer here than on the other path, and not for the first time did Daniel wonder if he had chosen correctly.

He needed to be decisive. He needed to be direct.

Daniel entered a copy of a room he had last been in years ago in the Stable. It was, in the Stable, an aquarium. It was more a vanity project than a practical purpose, but Young Lordling Elswith had loved it. Huge clear tanks were constructed across the room, bringing the seafloor up and into the Stables. The bottoms were covered in warm bright pink and blue sand, with tall and healthy sea plants spreading their aquatic leaves to make homes for the beautiful brightly colored fish swimming serenely through the crystal clear water. Young Lordling Elswith had not been allowed to see it for many years. He had searched for the room, but the Stable never aligned his path to visit again. But Daniel hoped the real aquarium was doing better than this sad facsimile.

The 'tank' here was completely dry, the glass walls dirty and grimy. There was that beige carpet instead of the bright sands, and the only thing that looked like it was once alive (And now, hopefully successfully dead) was a fallen creature with long, narrow metal limbs connected to an equally as long and narrow metal body. It was like an oversized stick bug, and it may have fallen into the tank and been unable to escape.

The Dungeon may have recreated rooms he knew. But Daniel needed to keep in mind this entire space, and the dangers that lurked within, was completely unknown to him. People got lost in the Stable and never came back. He could be in true and terrible danger.

Daniel left the room, watching the walls to make sure the material was still getting thinner and less real. As he left, he was watching and listening in case the 'fallen creature' was not dead but merely resting. Or it was dead but forgot.

Feeling the damp carpet underfoot, he sprang up to his toes, testing his condition, should he have to run. For the first time, he was grateful to Lord Fredar. Yes, his body hurt, and his muscles ached, but he had learned that his body could still be trusted. If only he had that duel with Parcel, he could have truly tested himself.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

The lights overhead flickered, and he sped up again. Not running, because things that hunt liked to chase things that run. But his pace was swifter than a casual stroll.

The moist carpet underneath his boots squelched as sludgy oozy ...fluid... emerged from the carpet. It was not either of the blood colors, but it seemed too thin to be entirely water.

If he had more fire flowers, he may just burn the entire place down and be down with it.

The sounds arose around him, still hushed, still subdued, but still terribly present.

His plan still seemed solid. More and more it seemed like the walls were thinner and the real Stable nearer. His plan was changing as he went along. He wondered if he went far enough away, the Dungeon may simply collapse entirely and he would find himself back in the Stable. Or what would happen if he found his way to the exit of the Stables? It was unfortunate that the tunnel's entrance was not present, that was the faster way to leave the Stable. But he had hope. A few more rooms and he may find himself back in the World of the Fae, where there was an ever-present always listening power called the Law of Fae that kept everyone honest and held oversight over all life's trials.

Being here, where words were dead and flat, and...lies could be made...was unnerving more than the flickering lights or the monsters waiting for the light to go out and eat him.

He went around the corner and entered the section where the electric eels would be if this had been the Stable. There was an in-ground tank like the true room had in the Stable, but it was strange like the features of the room were approximated. The tank was a bizarre mix of the yellow walls and moist beige carpet, and even a few patches of white tiles that matched the ceiling tiles. Everything was getting mixed up, and strange. There was the oozy fluid filling about a foot of the 'tank', and Daniel had the distinct impression that he should not like the consequences of taking a dip.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Daniel tossed a small rock into the eel tank, curious about the depth of the fluid.

A small plunk sounded as the stone entered the fluid. Nothing exciting happened, other than a few rancid bubbles rose to the surface and popped.

He should move on. He was getting closer to the exit of the Stable, and hopefully, the exit of this place.

Then he froze as he heard a sound.

The chirping, slurping murmur of the electric eels.

Daniel froze, and drew nearer to the tank, straining his ears to hear.

Then there was a loud, arching sound. Like when the eels collectively released a charge. He felt ghost traces of the electrics flare and flash from the discharge. There were no eels in the tank, and there wasn't even enough...fluid... for them to survive in, but it felt like they were nearby and present. Or perhaps, he was at last close enough to where they were to almost interact.

He couldn't see the eels. But he could hear them, distantly. He could feel their electric charge build and then surge.

He had a connection at last with the real Stable!

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Flicker flash went the lights.

Daniel stood up straight. He was running out of time.

How to get through to the real Stable? Not through the eels' tank. Even if it worked as a direct doorway, the eels would not welcome a new playmate to their tank. Especially after he milked them. Stupid Esra had caused this.

Why was this place in the Dungeon connected to the Stable? He had passed by rooms that in the Stable contained noisier creatures.

Buzz. Buzz. Flicker. Pop.

He needed to move on, but he was close.

Other places in this room didn't have the connection either. The minatoal turtles stunk in the real Stable, but he hadn't caught that odor. He should have, they were placed closely together to the eels.

Buzz. Buzz. Flicker. The lights went out for a second, and Daniel started to move.

He could think and walk.

Bizzz. The lights returned with long shadows. Daniel hurried. He left the eels' room and started moving. He had to decide quickly: Did he continue to try to find the exit, or did he explore the new finding?

What was different? Why had the eels' tank connected while no place else had it? Was it the kind of creature? Was it the position of the room? Was it something to do with water? But there were other rooms containing water, like the aquarium room he had left not long ago, with the probably-hopefully-dead creature trapped in those great big tanks.

Raised tanks. Above-ground tanks.

Height. The connection broke away with height. The eels tank was in the ground. So the bottom would be lower. The Dungeon seemed like it struggled to see something buried. In other rooms, it duplicated more faithfully, but it was confused with the eels' tank. It struggled with the concept of three dimensions. That was why the tank itself was a confused mess of wall, floor, and ceiling.

But that damp fluid filling the base of the misshaped pool...Daniel had not survived 19 campaigns without learning to trust his instincts. The fluid pooled where the ground was low. The tank was quiet deep. He would need somewhere taller than it was deep.

So he would have to go up somewhere that was high. Higher than the tank was deep.

There were many tall rooms in the Stables, but Daniel never trusted being able to find any one room reliably. It would have to be close to this set of rooms. He had not seen any maps of the Stable lately, not in several months. And he was not sure if the rooms that were near each other in the Stable would continue to be near each other here. The rule of thumb was that for every hundred yards a Fae traveled, the chance of rooms and passageways moving increased exponentially.

The aquatic zones had no high rooms. What was close...

The Owl's Scope room. It was nearby. In fact, while it migrated a little, it was always close to the aquatic zone.

He almost smacked himself in the face. He was not thinking in three dimensions either. He had been so focused on finding an 'exit', that he had not considered that there were many entrances and exits for the flying creatures. He thought too narrowly, and nearly wandered by an exit. He did not need to get to the door. He just needed to find a place where he could get up.

He would just need to find the Eastern red room. And from there, just go straight. Because the Owl's Scope room had a connection to the roof! Owls used to have their own entrance. And unlike the Tunnels, which were added later, the Owl's Scope was an original room. It was actually the closest exit he knew of! Thinking broadly was more difficult than many gave credit for.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Static. Pop. The lights went out again.

Daniel didn't wait to see what was coming after him. He just activated his first Fireflower, tugging on the structure of the flower just slightly, guiding it so the combustion splattered and burned and exploded. It cost a big bit of magic he had... acquired throughout the day. But it was worth it because Fireflowers left to their own devices oftentimes just sputtered and splattered.

No, he wanted it to explode and burn whatever it was that had been trailing after him for the last several rooms.

The golden light of flames burned brilliantly and brightly, the flash of heat a welcome respite from the chill dampness, casting away the dimness that was ever present here in this mockery of the Stable. And Daniel could finally see what had been lurking in the shadows. The thing that had chosen that moment to move to attack Daniel writhed and burned and crumpled to the ground.

Daniel did not look back. Speed was his ally now.

From the shadows, the grime, the damp, arose dread creatures.

It was now time to run.

The same, terrible churning appearance that Daniel had seen so many times yet still rattled him. The many eyes, the many limbs, the oozing flesh.