As the sun seeped over the valley like a blood red eye squinting over the horizon, heat blazed through the streets of Thieves Town. In the distance, the golden dome trembled and distorted itself from the temperature and the villagers of the town sweltered, stunned from the blaze and a demonic influence. The four heroes were the only people to move along the streets, hoping to reach their destination.

“Now are you sure they won’t recognize us?” Van asked as she lead Cyrus shackled in handcuffs.

“Fortunately you guys are easy to modify,” Antonio said with a laugh. “Last time they saw you, you were a male knight and now you’re a sassy, swashbuckling female pirate. As for Archibald, his most memorable features, his face and his broken arm are covered up.”

“Hey, I resent that,” Archibald shouted, trying not to trip on his robe. “I think my wit is my most memorable feature.”

“Ah yes, of course, Majester,” Antonio said, “But save that wit for our meeting with the Don. I’m sure you have many things to ask him.”

Cyrus sweated in his trailing princely robe, he began to miss his peasant clothes even if they deprived him of his royal flair. Fortunately for him, they had arrived at the dome, for what he hoped would be the very last time.

Archibald moved to knock on the door when Antonio held him off. “Hold it, unless you’re a professional voice impersonator, you probably shouldn’t speak to the guard.”

“Ah, you’re right,” Archibald said, a wry expression behind his mask. “Besides I’m sure this Magnus the X-ecutioner character never talks. He’s as silent as the caped mannequin he was based off of.”

Antonio raised his hand. “Do not doubt me, or my fashion sense, Majester. I will get us into this dome.”

He quickly tapped on the door two times and turned around with a self satisfied expression. “A true gentlemen only knocks twice. Once to signify his existence and the second to assert it.”

Cyrus looked to Van who was still sweating profusely in spite of her light and airy outfit. She had a confident smile on her face, letting Antonio know she put her faith in him. The golden door’s slit opened and the man with the beady eyes glared through it. “Yes? I hope you know that solicitors aren’t welcome no matter how good they look.”

“Thanks for the compliment, mi hombre. But my cohorts and myself come bearing a rare and precious gift, the Prince of the Royal Coates family.”

The guard’s eyes bulged. “How is it possible a band of teenagers and a walking robe-rack managed to get a hold of him. Where did you find him?”

Antonio pulled out a wanted poster from his back pocket. It had a large, fat caricature of Cyrus on it with a notice from the Don demanding the prince be brought to him dead or alive. “I seized this off the streets and if I do recall, it said that the prince was traipsing the land. Me and my band of rogues found him doing just that. And being a boy of unnatural girth he couldn’t run far when we gave him chase. Was just a day’s work of wrangling a pig.”

Cyrus grimaced hard and even Van’s confident smile grew uneasy from the cruelty of Antonio’s words. But the guard gave a boisterous laugh. “Come right on in,” he said. “Men like you who jab hard at that royal abomination are more than welcome in the Don’s presence.”

Antonio bowed. “Thanks, mi amigo. We accept your invitation.”

“Just listen to me,” the guard snapped all of a sudden “Follow me, and don’t go down any corridor without my OK. You are going somewhere very few people go. The Don rarely lets anyone other than his trusted circle in his presence.”

“Understood,” Antonio and Van said nodding and the behemoth golden door slide aside.

No light escaped from the pitch dark entrance where the portly, bald guard stood in a thieves bandanna, and a gray bulky tunic. Clutching a large metal rod, he grunted as everyone proceeded towards him, following him into the darkness.

Cyrus blew a sigh of relief as he felt coolness wash over his body. Inside the enormous dome, the air was cold and dank, a big relief for a sweaty, girthy boy like Cyrus. The golden door closed behind them leaving them entirely engulfed in darkness until the guard struck his metal rod against the floor and sparks lit the center of it. As they walked through the twisting passageways, Cyrus could now see the walls and they made him feel uneasy. The limestone walls were marked with hieroglyphics of thin wiry shadowy figures with singular eyes, and occasionally, Cyrus could have sworn they moved, darting and scattering from the only source of light. Many arched entrance ways passed as they walked further and further and sometimes in the darkness, Cyrus could see the same eyes from the hieroglyphic flash in the emptiness.

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“Van, Van,” Cyrus cried before Van covered his mouth.

“Ay, why don’t you shut your mouth,” Vanessa said, trying to get into the role of the pirate. “Rania’s my name, and soon you’ll be pleading it to me when I break yer legs.”

Cyrus was flabbergasted but when Antonio and the guard laughed, he could tell she was playing along. The guard began to laugh harder and harder; his cruel laugh reminding Cyrus of a donkey with a sore throat. But as the guard turned around, something out of the dark emerged and he found himself smacked in the face by a floating, glowing bandage trail of pure white bandages.

He gave off a muffled scream as the bandage began to wrap itself around his body. He threw his arms up high struggling to rip the bandages off of him but as he pulled at them, the bandages hugged his body tighter and he let out a sickly moan.

“Uh guard,” Antonio said muttering. “Are you having trouble with some vicious gauze wrap?”

The guard slowly turned around and his eyes, once a dull brown were now bright yellow and his teeth were sharp and jagged. He let out a snarl and swung his now yellowing and sharp nails at Antonio, slashing him and sending him flying into the wall.

“Antonio,” Vanessa screamed and ran forward with her sword. She crouched down and held his hand. “You ok?”

“Yep, now that you’re here,” he said with a smile.

“Just sit there and I’ll take care of this.” She leveled her sword at the mummified man who eyed her up and groaned.

“What just happened to him?” Cyrus yelled to Archibald.

“Seems there’s some dark beasts in here,” Archibald said from behind his veil. “And that my princely friend, is a Bandmage. A magical creature that turns people into mummies when it wraps around them!”

“What can we do?” Cyrus shouted, “Can we cut the bandages off of him?”

“If I do recall from the Demon’s Almanac,” Archibald said “You have to cut all the bandages down the middle or else they grow back.”

“Will do,” Vanessa said and dodged a swing from the lumbering man.

She brought her sword down, slicing through several strips of the possessed fabrics but not all of them. They quickly reformed on the mummified man’s body and he sliced Van’s midriff with his sharpened fingernails. “Ahhh!” She screamed, wincing in pain.

Reacting quickly, she brought the sword up and ran it right through the man’s stomach. He let out a sickly moan as he clutched his stomach and fell backwards.

“Or, I guess you could do that,” Archibald said with a deadpan voice.

Cyrus and Archibald ran over to Van who crouched on the floor, holding her stomach in pain. Archibald crouched with her and she winced as he ran her fingers across her slashed stomach. “Sorry, I killed our guide” she said with one eye shut. “Ohh, it stiings.”

“Just be happy it’s superficial,” Archibald said. “Though you’re probably gonna have a nice scar across your stomach for a while.”

“Oh great,” Van moaned. “That’s just great. I knew I should have worn my armor, what was I thinking?”

“More like someone else wasn’t thinking,” Archibald snickered as Vanessa growled.

“Antonio,” she cried. “I can’t believe you’d tell me to wear this! It’s a total hazard.”

“A little ding on that body of yours won’t change my opinion of you or it,” Antonio said but he quickly realized his mistake, when Van screamed right back at him.

“Antonio, this is serious. I can’t believe you, having me dress up all pretty for you when it was a danger to me. Screw you.”

Cyrus couldn’t contain his smile. Finally Van realized Antonio was a sleaze. He should have realized that eventually Antonio would stab himself with the careless way he brandished his sharp tongue. But just as Cyrus was savoring his victory, Antonio let out a gasp and Archibald and Van turned their heads towards him again, Van sporting a look of annoyance. “Ugh, that really smarts,” Antonio said “I got slashed and smashed over here. I’m ok though…ugh.”

Antonio winced when he tried to move and Cyrus watched as Van’s face changed from cross to concerned with only a mild amount of distrust. “Archibald can you just make sure he didn’t break anything?” Van said, her voice still annoyed and feigning disinterest.

Archibald casually walked to Antonio to investigate his wounds. His tunic was torn and he had similar slashes but they were much lighter. “Can you lift your arms?” Archibald asked

“I think I can…” Antonio said, but he winced again when he lifted his left arm. “Ow!”

“I ain’t no doctor,” Archibald responded “but you might have a fractured your left arm from smacking the wall so hard. Can you move the right one perfectly?”

“Yeah, that’s fine…just my left arm.”

Archibald reached his good arm out and pulled Antonio to his feet. “I’m sorry to trouble you so much,” Antonio muttered “Let’s focus on getting out of here. I’ll pull through.”

“How are we going to do that?” Cyrus asked shivering. “Our guide is kinda dead.”

“Again, I’m sorry,” Van said shaking her head. “It was a natural reaction. I just hope more of these monsters don’t come. I’m fine with them, just not Everbloods.”

“You fear Everbloods?” Antonio asked, but when footsteps started tapping down the hallway, everyone was dead silent.

“Who or what is that…?” Van asked quietly.

In the fading flame of the torch rod, they could see a shadow creeping along the floor. It was a monstrous shadow with several segments piled on top of each other. Each segment had a spikes around it like sharp pointy teeth and at the very top were demonic horns. Unpleasant grunting accompanied it as it slowly shuffled down the hallway. Van drew her sword, and Antonio drew his rapier out of his holster, clutching it with his right hand. Archibald drew back ready to unleash a spell that could combat the fiend. Only Cyrus in his handcuffs hid behind them being under the guise of being a prisoner. The beast loomed closer in the shadows, and soon, it would show itself under the torch light. The four heroes braced themselves; they were alone in a shadowy catacomb full of evil that thrived in pure darkness.