Lorelei liked birds. Of course she had never seen one, but she decided she liked them anyway. Mother always described them so beautifully—little creatures covered in feathers that flew in the air. Lorelei didn't really know what flying was, but Mother said it was like swimming in the air, and that sounded wonderful to her.

Sometimes, Lorelei would sit and imagine what birds looked like. Whenever she asked Mother why there were no birds in the Dungeon, her mother would give her different answers that were sometimes hard to understand. Mother said that birds needed to fly in the sky, which confused Lorelei even more because she had never seen the sky. A few times, she asked if she could leave and go see the birds, and Mother always said she could when she was older. So, Lorelei was happy to wait.

Lorelei stretched her little paws and reached out to grasp the air. Her ears perked up and swiveled around, listening. After a moment, she got up and padded down the stone tunnels, her tail flicking back and forth with curiosity.

Lorelei loved her mother. She was smart and kind and always answered all of Lorelei's questions. Yes, Lorelei’s mother just had to be the best mother in the whole world!

As she walked, the sound of metal striking stone echoed through the tunnels ahead. When Lorelei came to an intersection, she paused, her ears swiveling to find the source of the noise. After a few moments, she happily trotted down one of the passageways.

After turning a few more corners, she found the source of the noise. Sitting back on her haunches, she stared at three miners swinging their picks into the wall. Their movements were strong and quick, just like how she imagined birds flapping their wings, but sadly, they weren’t flying.

“Hello!” she called out, sending her thoughts toward the miners. Lorelei giggled as they jumped a little and looked around. After a few seconds, one of them spotted her and grinned.

“Ah, it’s you, kid. Sorry, you startled us for a moment.”

Lorelei blinked, trying to remember if being startled was a bad thing. After a moment, she decided to apologize just in case.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to. I was just excited to see you again!”

The man chuckled, and his long red beard swayed back and forth. Lorelei watched it sway, wondering what it would be like to have a beard of her own. Probably not too fun—if her beard were as long as his, she would always be tripping over it!

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“It’s fine, kid. Don’t worry about it. Here, I brought you something.”

Reaching into a pouch at his side, he pulled out something. With a small flick he tossed it to Lorelei. It landed a few inches away from her. She walked over, sniffing it a few times before poking it with her paw. It smelled okay, so she took a little bite.

A wave of sweetness filled her mouth as she munched on the treat.

“I’m not sure if you should be giving that to her, Derg. I don’t know if cats can eat that much sugar,” one of the other miners said.

“She’s dungeon-born; she’s not like a normal cat. She’ll be fine. You worry too much, Grang.” Derg crossed his heavily muscled arms.

“You’re probably right, but if anything happened to her, do you know what the dungeon would do to us?”

Lorelei ignored their conversation. All her attention was on the delicious treat she was enjoying. She always looked forward to Derg and the other miners visiting because they always brought her goodies.

Lorelei’s eyes sparkled with delight as she took another bite. The sweet flavor danced on her tongue, and she couldn’t help but smile. “Thank you, Derg! It’s the best!” she thought, feeling all warm inside.

As she munched happily, she watched the miners get back to work. They swung their picks with strong arms, hitting the stone with loud thuds. To her, it looked like a dance, a dance she didn’t quite understand. Why did they hit the walls? she wondered, tilting her head. She had asked Derg about it before, but it still puzzled her. Something about trying to find special rocks in the wall. It seemed silly when the rocks around them were perfectly fine.

She glanced down and noticed some stone fragments that had fallen to the ground. She poked at one with her paw, watching it wobble. She liked this rock; she didn’t see what made any other rocks better than this one, but she figured it was just a dwarf thing.

“You wouldn’t happen to know where we could find many gemstones, would you?” Derg asked after a few minutes of digging.

“Nope!” she thought back. “Mother says that would be cheating.” It’s not like Lorelei could actually tell where any special rocks were hidden. Mother explained it was like a game. She took time and care to hide special rocks in the walls for the miners to find. Lorelei didn’t really understand why Mother liked having the miners in the caves, but it helped her somehow. And, of course, she got treats!

“Too bad,” Derg sighed and leaned on his pick. “Has the dungeon, um, I mean your mother told you if the next floor is ready?”

Lorelei listened for a moment, waiting for her mother’s response. She felt a warm nuzzle as her mother’s mind brushed against hers.

“Sorry, not yet. Mother says it should be done in a few days,” Lorelei thought back.

“That’s good! The first two floors are almost overflowing with new recruits. That new floor will really help us expand!”

Lorelei’s fur stood on end as a pulse of energy flowed through the walls of the dungeon, blue light shining and lit up the corridors as it passed. Lorelei froze as her mother’s mind touched hers, frantically giving her instructions. She felt confused and didn’t understand what was happening.

“Mother says you need to leave. Something just entered the dungeon, and she can’t protect you.” Louis relayed the message to the miners, who all looked puzzled before their expressions turned to concern.

“Wait, what does she mean? What’s going on?” Grang asked.

“I don’t know; she just said that…” Lorelei’s reply was cut off as the sound of screams echoed from the higher floors of the dungeon.

The miners froze. One of them even dropped his pick as the sounds grew louder and closer, sending a wave of fear rushing down the hall of the dungeon. As the sound passed through the group, it left a heavy feeling, like something was watching them, as if a hungry beast was stalking its prey. Terrified, Lorelei reached out to her mother, trying to ask what was happening, but for the first time in her life, her mother didn’t reply.