“A vengeance you say?” I start to talk, just to break the ice, trying to warm up my fear-frozen ass.

“Yes.” The words come calmly out of him.

“A vengeance is mine, and I’ll repay it, says the lord. Have you not heard of that?”

“No. And you ain’t my lord.”

“That is true. I’m not a lord. So, tell me, have I wronged you somehow? And how?”

“I will tell you, Dungeon. Over your dead monstrous body. When I plug the last precious stone out of your dead heart.”

So, he knows how to kill me. Damn!

“Why not tell me now? Maybe… it’s all just a big misunderstanding. I mean, ever since I came here, people have been trying to kill me. All the freaking time. It’s tiresome. Can you guys give brother a break, at least for a day?”

The man says nothing, but his eyes do. Plenty.

I nervously move my feet but do not dare to come even half a step closer.

“You cannot kill me. You must know that. There are more ways that I can kill you than there are leaves on that tree down there. But… I do not want to. So, tell me. How have I wronged you? At least give me a chance to… answer it.”

“Oh, I killed worse things than you.”

“I have no doubt you did. You’re like the scariest guy I’ve ever met. Really. I mean… Babba Yagga has nothing on you. But, come on, don’t make me beg. What have I done?”

“Why should I do anything you ask?”

“Because… what if I take you, put you in a cell down next to my wolves, and… torture you. I bet you could tell me plenty then.”

But he was not eager to get inside. He just stood there, looking at me. Fucker.

“You’re already torturing me,” he says slowly. Talks slowly as if he has the whole eternity in front of him. So much confidence in this guy as if he met death and killed it. “That voice of yours. It’s worse than a creak of an old door. Worst than a wheel on an old woman’s cart. Hurts my ears. I’m coming for you. Just wanted to-”

“Do you take me for a liar?”

“I don’t take you for anything.”

“Yes, yes you do. You think you’re so smart, yet… you assume so much. Do you know what you do when you 'assume'? You make an ass out of me… and you. So, tell me! What have I done?”

Then it hits me before he even opens his eyes. His eyebrows, cut in one place. His eyes. The hair. The chin if it was not broken. He looks just like the young sword master.

“Oh, I see.”

“Yeah. You do?”

“It was not my fault. I tried to stop him.”

“Do not care if you did.”

"He was just so eager... to kill me. I had to stop him."

“He was a good little lad. The only good thing I had in this world. Since his mother died, and since goblins killed my daughter…”

“He was not listening to me at all. I did not want to hurt him. But I could not let him take me down. I have a wife and two children of my own, you know.”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

He blinks. But only once, and then his stare is back to Killer’s Level Max.

“You’re a liar,” he announces it.

“No, I'm not. But you... you're a stupid ass,” I insult him back. “If I wanted to lie, I’d say, yeah, I’ve never seen your boy. I could say, yeah, don’t know what you are talking about. Or… I could have said, yeah, I saw, him, he went that way, up the mountains. The middle goat path. Not more than two weeks ago. But no, I say the truth and you go saying shit. Because you can't think.”

He squints his eyes, trying to measure me better, and makes some growling noise in his throat that hardly escapes his closed mouth. And then he says, “You’re mumbling. Are you nervous?”

“Screw you, Scarface. I try to be nice and talk to people and all you want to do is kill. No wonder none of you live to see an old age.”

He looks at me, his facial expression changing as if he is judging something, I do not know what.

“You’re a strange one,” he finally says. “I’ll give you that.”

“I did not want that to happen. But he was swinging his sword so well, there was no way I could stop him. And I mean, I even had big plans for him! The way he killed those goblins. He showed a lot of talent. And I could use such a talent.”

“What goblins are you talking about?”

“There were like a dozen of them. Came from up north. Your kid killed them all.”

“So it is true,” the man muttered to himself. “They are back,” he added and then growled, scarier than my wolves.

“Wait, what if I can bring him back?” I ask, remembering he is still in frozen ice.

He looks at me, studying me, not saying anything for a long second.

"What if I try to bring him back?"

“Why would you do that?”

“I do not know. Because I feel bad about what has happened! Maybe I’m not a bad guy here!”

“How can you do that?”

“Well, I am not sure. I am new at this job. But… what if I try?”

I see his mouth open, see hope shine on his face suddenly.

“I would be in your debt forever. I'll do anything. Just ask... Just bring him back. And I’ll do whatever you command of me.”

That makes me think. This guy is selling his body and soul to the devil. Hum.

Well, I could always use a man like that. But could I trust him? He could slit Oollie’s throat the first time we close our eyes. Is it worth the gamble? Maybe. Maybe I need to get to know this guy a bit better first. But I will never get there if I have to fight him. Maybe... he does not mind selling his soul to the devil since he thinks he can kill it. I don't know...

“Well… I said, I can try. I have never done this before. So, the only thing I am promising is that I will try. And you… you already promised me, right?”

“If my son lives, I will keep my word. I will be in your debt forever.”

I like that. I could so see the need for a man with so many scars on his face. He truly scares me more than most monsters I've seen.

Still, I have to warn him. “Don’t say ‘forever’ buddy. From the experience I have, something tells me it’s a way longer than you think.”

He looks at me a bit confused, probably not for the last time.

“Come in. But… Leave all the weapons by the entrance. No weapons inside.”

“I will,” he says, suddenly being very obedient.

He takes a long sword off his back, and a bunch of knives from his belt. More blades out of his boots and his sleeve. I look at the pile

“And I’m supposed to think there is no more of them?” I ask, just checking.

He growls and takes two more behind his back.

I lead him through the Dungeon and pick a burning torch so we can see clearly.

“See… I’m not lying. I’m not a liar. Those are the goblins he killed. They are decomposing there. I already got ten Energy units out of them."

“And my son?” he said, his voice suddenly quivering.

“Oh, don’t worry. I have him still on ice. No decomposing. I think. I have not checked on him since yesterday.”

“Please.”

“All right, Let’s run. It’s down this way.”

He touches the ice, and drops to his knees in front of it.

“Get up!” I ask him, and he turns to me, looking ready to murder me with his bare hands. “You need to hold him!” I say, and fire up the temperature in the ice. It waters down, and in seconds, his body is ice-free.

“We need to take him to the Core!”

The man grabs still frozen son by the shoulders.

I pick the legs, and they are ice cold. As we move him, I give him heat, feeling his body warming up, and loosening up a bit.

“He’s not breathing,” his father says.

“Of course, he is not. He has been frozen for many hours now. Let’s see if I can bring him back. I’m not sure how it will work. But… let’s give it our best shot.”

“Whatever witchery you have to use to make that happen, do it! And I’ll be in your debt…”

“I know. We already agreed to that. Let’s just hurry.”

We move him to the Soul Transference Box and the machine automatically detects him, and two black snake-like wires come out of the machine, one going inside the man’s chest, the other in the back of his neck.

But then, I receive the message I feared.

[Warning: Unable to proceed with the transference and induce a soul.]

"And why the hell not??"

[The targeted body oxygen delivery system is not functional.]

"What?"

[The targeted body is not breathing.]

“Shit, so what do I do now?”