Tom woke up early the next morning refreshed and ready for a day of fun. Or at least a day that would be rewarding. Okay so maybe dragging your butt to work early in the morning after a hard day only for another hard day wouldn't be the most Fun thing ever but that was life.

Going about making some toast and swampcat eggs tom put on a clean set of work clothes. Grabbing the perfectly roasted bread and eggs out of his clay oven on the porch outside his home he paused. Appreciating not only his handiwork with the oven he made but also the perfectly square shaped charcoal bricks burning brightly in the bottom.

Tom's life wasn't glamorous but figuring out how to shape sawdust into charcoal bricks instead of just chunks of charcoal had been a fascinating process of trial and error after he had forgotten to close the top of one of his kilns during a rainstorm.

Heading down the path of greenery to where his boat had been docked he uncovered the sawdust and began shoveling it onto land where he would again shovel it into his wide double wheeled wheelbarrow. The light saw dust was deceptive in its ability to tire out anyone attempting to work with it.

The apprentices of the shipyard could attest to this fact. That is if they dared to travel miles into a swamp where animal cries and stories from their entire life had warned them away.

As Tom was taking a load of sawdust past his compound to where he kept all his kilns he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"I think we can help each other"

Tom shrieked in a definitely manly and not high pitched tone. Grabbing a handful of sawdust against the stranger who made it past his spiked pits, snares and stink bouys.

"How did you get here!" yelled.

"You said we should work more cooperatively so I'm here." The low voice said, the firgure hooded and cloaked crouched not ten feat off the path in the bushes.

"And by your pathes, tricky as they were to learn. You got the best hermit setup I've seen in the whole swamp" continued the hooded man, a tone of amusement in his voice.

What could he want with me, this must be my pilfering ghost thought tom.

"Why now, why didn't you ever show yourself before" Tom asked his mind racing. He had finally met the ghost and dissapointingly he was just another bayou dweller.

Wait there were others, wait he wasn't a hermit. Tom had a goal. This swamp was an ends to a means and a far better living situation that anyone not of noble birth in the city. As Tom's mind continued to run down rabbit trails in his mind the figure spoke again.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"I need your help and I think you need my help as well" the figure said shifting from foot to foot and looking over his shoulder.

"What do you mea"

"The bayou isn't safe and we need a hu-person to come with me, you to come with me" the figure sped on with his words. Promptly turning and marching along the cleverly hidden trails Tom had set up on the Island.

Slowly being left alone and knowing almost nothing he didn't know before at a lost for words Tom after a moment followed.

"Wait what?"

Chasing down the man who had reached the edge of the island where the water was clear from a spring under the water that fed it. The man hooded and all dove into the crystal water barely a splash as his long cloaked streamed behind him.

Amazing as the whole encounter had been Tom still had no idea what this man looked like other than he was wide shouldered left deep footprints and not terribly tall or short. Basically the description of every laborer in town.

The man continued to swim down and dissapeared, startled and both like but unlike most people when presented with an unfamiliar situation he did what the person who seemed to know what was going on told him to do. This unlikely act being to dive off of his junly Island into a dangerous bayou and swim underwater with a man he had never seen.

Following suit he swam under and saw the mans cloak just under a rocks indent not ten feet below the water. Paddling over he came up under the rock to see it opened up to a wide and somehow brightly lit passage.

At this point his air ran out and in his panic he swam straight up. Luckily or unluckily as time would have it Tom came up to air and not a rocky and wet demise.

Gasping for air he looked around stone walls still blurry from water in his eyes gave off a teal colored glow. Almost as bright as day he could still see sunlight at the bottom edge of the pool of water he now treaded.

The man standing on an edge of stone stood dripping wet and still covered by clothing motioned him to come as he once again turned down a stone passageway.

Swimming over to the edge and climbing out his hand and knees were cushioned by soft most alond the rough stone. Heavy from wet clothing Tom headed down the passageway slowly transitioning from rough stone to more smooth of a hallway.

The hall opened up to a room with a square block of gray stone. It sat in the middle of the room almost chest high completely lacking any of the illumination the vein of color in the walls possessed.

As he paused still heavy of breath he was suddenly moving forward. Both hands out he caught himself on the stone block the almost perfect square edges cutting his hands.

As he was about to whirl about to confront this man for what was now in hindsight a very bad idea he was froze by the sound"

"Energy Restriction In Place"

"Would you like to asimilate"

Whatever this was it didn't sound good panicking Tom said "no" almost quietly

"Would you like to release to atmosphere"

Before Tom could respond or even think the figure shouted "yes" but to no response from the voice

"Say yes" the man said picking up tom by his arms.

At this point Tom had all his alarms going off in his head this man picked him up like he was a child and with a grip of iron his arms were already starting to seriously hurt.

"I don't want to hurt you but I will say yes" the man said again.

With fear for his life Tom said "Yes"

"Releasing"