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Goblin Dungeon
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ALL WAS STILL AND SILENT in the dungeon after Jake sauntered to his freedom. Then the creeping, shuffling sounds of footsteps heralded the approach of the carrion eaters. Gray-skinned and silver-eyed, the gremlins moved to the fallen Unseelie warrior. Pale and unmoving, he lay in a pool of blood. Skulking closer, one of the creatures reached out and prodded the warrior’s exposed face with its toe. Gray eyes with gold flecks sprang open and they fled, shrieking in fear.
Dacrith had been lying in wait as his body had healed the damage Jake had done to him. When the half-blood had plunged both swords into his chest in his black frenzy, he’d thought he was going to die. Even in his killing haze, his brother in arms had retained enough control to miss his heart. The arrival of the gremlins meant the Unseelie Court were no longer watching him and that it was safe for him to move.
Pushing himself to his feet, he began shedding his armor. He dropped the pieces in his blood so it would look as though the carrion eaters had pulled them off his body to eat him. It wasn’t unheard of for them to consume their meals completely, bones and all. Considering he’d been the most feared and hated warrior in the prison, it would be poetic justice for him to be devoured utterly by the creatures he’d hunted so avidly.
Dropping his gloves onto the staged death site, Dacrith unfolded the message Jake had shoved into his hand and read it again. His brow furrowed as he contemplated whether to trust whomever had penned it. Judging by the style of writing, it had been an Unseelie courtier.
A pained whimper had him whipping his head around and reaching for the sword he’d left with his armor. Hexam lifted one of his badly burned heads. His scorched tail thumped the ground once before going still again. An emotion that Dacrith had never felt in all his long existence rose. He pitied the beast for the state he was in. Without the Cerberus’ aid, the demon would have killed them all.
Crossing to the animal, Dacrith knelt down and gingerly petted his middle head. He could see the animal was healing, but it was going to take him a while to recover from the blast of demonic fire. “I think we have a way out of here, boy,” he murmured. “But I can’t take you with me when you’re this size. I need to be able to carry you easily.”
Proving he could understand him, Hexam began to shrink until he was tiny enough to fit into the warrior’s palm. Dacrith had never fully trusted Jake Everett. He’d watched his every move after they’d teamed up together. He’d noted the half-blood staring at small cracks in the wall every now and then and had wondered why he was so interested in them. Thanks to the note, he was pretty sure he knew the answer to that puzzle now.
Backtracking down a couple of hallways, he came to one of the cracks that Jake had found so fascinating. A cluster of yellow fungi glowed dimly from the crevice, casting weak light a few feet in each direction. Knowing he had to move fast before anyone from the Unseelie Court decided to check on his corpse, Dacrith took the green vial out of his pocket and removed the lid.
He didn’t have Jake’s ability to sense magic with his power suppressed by the goblin spells. For all he knew, the potion could be a deadly poison. After being stuck here for what felt like several millennia, he wasn’t sure he’d actually care if he were to die. The only thing that had kept him sane this long was his thirst for revenge.
Hexam stirred on his palm and he bent to place the beast next to the crack. “Hold on a moment,” Dacrith said as he straightened up. “If this potion works, we’re about to escape from this dismal place.”
Before he could change his mind, he tipped his head back and poured the potion into his mouth. He swallowed and burning pain immediately wracked him from head to toe. He fell to his knees, doubling over from the agony that felt like it was tearing him apart on the inside.
The first inkling he had that the spell had worked was when he felt the sense that he was falling. Opening his eyes, he had to blink away tears of pain as the walls seemed to be growing rapidly. Vertigo seized hold of him, almost making him vomit. The pain began to recede as the walls slowed their rapid growth. Then the agony faded and the dungeon stabilized around him.
Turning his head, he saw Hexam lying on the ground near the crack. The fungi that had seemed so small were now monstrous in size. Their weak glow had become a welcoming beacon, drawing him towards the crack in the wall. Uncertain how long the shrinking potion would last, Dacrith stood and hurried over to the hound. He still had his fae strength and hauled the beast over his shoulder. Hexam let out three yelps of pain, but he didn’t struggle. He knew the warrior was trying to help him.
Entering the crack that now seemed as large as a cavern, Dacrith strode deeper into the opening. The glow from the fungi faded and his eyes quickly adjusted to the utterly lightless depths of the crevice. He was beginning to feel as if the note had been a prank, but that doubt faded when he took his next step. Halting in shock, he prodded at something he’d lost long ago and never thought he would regain ever again. He could feel his magic.
Grinning fiercely in triumph, Dacrith teleported himself and his sole remaining ally from the goblin dungeon to freedom. He had nowhere to call his home in the Unseelie realm, so he’d taken them to one of the many forests. It was eerily still and quiet. Now that his senses had been restored, he could feel the birds, insects and animals, but few of the usual fae creatures were present.
Placing Hexam on the ground, he lurched when the enchantment suddenly wore off. Agony returned as he rapidly grew back to his normal size. Hexam also made himself grow until he was his usual size again. The hound was healing, but needed someone to take care of him until he was well enough to fend for himself.
Staring down at the beast, Dacrith heaved a sigh when the Cerberus wagged his tail in entreaty. “Don’t look at me like that,” he said with a scowl as three sets of orange eyes locked on his face. “I never wanted a pet, but it looks like I’m stuck with you. For now at least.”
Hexam’s tail wagged faster before he became too exhausted to show his happiness and it fell still.
Dacrith wanted nothing more than to hunt down the being who had imprisoned him, but first he would have to find a lair for his strange companion. Then he would be free to exact his long-awaited vengeance.
