The Dungeon

by June Leung

  “What?”

  “You heard my last message?”

  “I said don’t find me.”

  “I swear it is an emergency.” He scowled, clenching a tight fist. The King hadn’t left him with an easy task. On the other end of the call, there was a very faint noise of chatting. As expected, the two were together.

  “What? You also pissed him off?” she asked.

  “No. But please come back. We need the two of you back.”

  “Of course you won’t, you are his pet after all. And is that a command?”

  He pinched the bridge of his nose, holding back a heavy sigh. “He would tell you what’s happening. Trust me, it is not made up.”

  “I don’t care.”

  “Hey! Give it some thought, please. You know we would at least lose our magic if the King died.”

  “Then let him. He doesn’t want me around.”

  “That’s not the case. Think about it.”

  “Poor you had to beg both sides. You stay happy being his pet.” The call cut before Benjamin could squeeze in another word. He sighed as he stared at the screen, it now lit up after the call ended. It flashed their number again. He leaned back on the desk with his brows knitted. Maybe Helen was right. If they were mad at the King, why was he the one making the call?

  Well, he knew the reason. There was no way they wanted to talk to the King after what happened. Being called the King’s pet was never easy either. He wanted too much to bite back, but it wouldn’t help. He was just trying to keep everyone together on the team, no matter how he really didn’t see every one of them eye-to-eye.

  It seemed the Elements had a much easier time. Helen was Lia’s best friend, and the other boy didn’t seem to be one that would cause trouble. William and Eric had been friends for a long time. Maybe they had a much easier time with everyone not in a constant fight.

  At least he tried. He would leave another message later if they didn’t say anything. He couldn’t blame them for leaving the city, though, after what the King did to them was… a bit too much even for him. He touched his neck, where the King grabbed him when he thought he felt something for Lia. He shivered and stared back to the whiteboard; better prepare for the worst.

  The flapping of wings startled him. He straightened and headed to the window. The crow was here. It stood on the windowsill, flapping its wings at the window as if it was knocking on a door. He opened the window for it and it jumped on his wrist.

  “Little guy, what did you find?” He walked to the kitchen and opened a jar of fresh chicken breast, giving the crow a piece. It gobbled down the meat. “What’s that smell on you? I told you to have a look around the city, not to search the trash.”

  The crow cawed, flapping its wings as if it was telling him something. “It’s OK, I will have a look.” Its words he didn’t understand, but its memory, he could see. He let the crow jump off his hand onto the kitchen counter, resting his hand on its head.

  As he focused, the surroundings slowly faded, revealing the darkness of the night in his mind, and soon became what the crow saw.

  It was late afternoon, he was in the middle of the air. He took the crow’s eyes and saw what it had seen. Luckily, he didn’t fear the height. The city and the buildings looked flat from high above. The late afternoon sun on his feathers felt good, warm and cozy enough for a nap. Nearing Sunrise Bay, people were running. The crow was curious. He stopped on a beach umbrella, looking down at people running away from the sea.

  There were two strange wolf-like creatures, both piles of mud and branches. The branches seemed to be stuck there when the mud solidified, there were still leaves on some of the branches. Despite the thing having four legs and running like a wolf, the mud wouldn’t break and fall. They chased people away from the beach. When a few police arrived, the monsters buried themselves into the sand and disappeared.

  The crow stared as the policemen evacuated every other human. A crow wasn’t on their list. He waited until it was dark. There was no light on the beach. He shivered at the cooler wind from the sea, flapping his wings at times.

  He was about to leave when a man on the phone showed up, his voice muffled by the waves. He flew closer, but still couldn’t hear clearly. The man seemed to be searching for something on the beach with his head low.

  Two other men trespassed the band the police had put up and made their way to the man. The two men got closer, and the one on the phone spun around and screamed.

  The crow gasped, holding his wings tight, in the night, they wouldn’t see him.

  The man sent a few sloppy fire bolts, but none landed. There was something in the two men’s hands that gave a glint in the darkness. They stabbed the man and he fell dead on the sand. After they made sure no one saw them and one of the men kicked the body to make sure he was dead, they left.

  The crow shivered, it seemed humans were a lot meaner to their own kind than other creatures. After the two left, the crow was ready to leave and report back to Benjamin when the sand near the man moved. The two monsters emerged, sniffing at the dead body. They soon bit on the man, leaving his clothes ragged and blood seeping from a chewed-off arm. The monsters looked around and left.

  The crow waited until the monsters were far away, before flying to the man’s body. There was a weak scent of magic on him that was already fading. He hopped around, trying to spot the phone the man dropped, but there was nothing. Either the sand buried it or the other men took it.

  From a distance, there was the sound of a car and bright white headlights. Three people got out of the car, heading his way, one woman and two men. The crow left, but the woman saw him.

  Benjamin blinked as the memory of the crow faded from his eyes. It made sense for the Elements to be there, but there were only three, which was concerning. “Hey, was there another woman with brown hair instead of blonde?”

  The crow shook its head. Benjamin lifted his brows and nodded. “Wait… you step on my kitchen counter after you stepped on a dead body? Come on!”

  It flapped its wings to escape, but Benjamin caught it, reaching for the tap. “You better clean up, chill!” The crow struggled for a while longer until it was certain he was only going to wet its legs. Benjamin took a sponge, adding some soap, and rubbed its feet. “I know you little bird doesn’t care where you stepped, but when you are here, pay some attention.” It cawed, hopefully in understanding.

  After he dried the legs with a paper towel, he set the crow to the side of the sink. It jumped over the sink with a towel in its beak. Benjamin stared at it as it set the towel on the counter on the other side. “You mean I should wipe where you stood, huh? I would be, but thanks.” He cleaned up the place and also his hands before he headed for the window. “Thanks a lot for letting me know. Is it time for you to go home or have fun elsewhere?”

  There was no sound of its wings, he turned around. The crow stood on the jar of chicken breast, pecking at the cap. Benjamin smirked as he headed back. “Fine. You are hungry, huh?” He opened the jar and gave the crow another piece before it happily stood on his shoulder.

  After he walked closer to the opened window in the living room, it flew away, doing a few turns in the air before disappearing into the darkness of the night. Benjamin let out a breath and closed the window.

  Back inside his room, he stared at the whiteboard and added in the dead man. Who were the two men that killed him? Or rather, did this even have anything to do with Evelyn? The man could be just a random person.

  The crow had good eyes, but he didn’t know all the people in the scene. Maybe it was worth it to find out who the three were. He was about to mark on the white board when his phone rang.

  It was Helen. She rarely called him, hopefully, it wasn’t something urgent.

  “Hello, Helen?”

  “Hi. Have you heard anything about a monster just now?”

  He knew, but he couldn’t tell her how, so may as well pretend to not know. It was his luck that his friend saw it at all. “You expect me
to be a spy master? What’s that about? Zitannas always has monsters.”

  “Well, you aren’t wrong. But I think this is different. The monster killed a man.”

  “So? Monsters always do that.” He frowned, this wasn’t the first day Helen was with the team, not even her first year, why the shock?

  “If you stop interrupting, you will know quicker. Anyways, the victim had the same tattoo as those in The Orbit.” Helen’s voice was shaky, she seemed to be scared.

  “You said what? The same tattoo? Are you sure?” Ben asked. The crow hadn’t noticed it. If it didn’t pay attention, there was a chance it wouldn’t show in the memory.

  “Well, it was on the half-bitten arm, so I only saw part of it. But I swear it was the same head of a snake and the butt of the sword. What do you think about it? Or am I thinking too much?” Helen swallowed audibly.

  For Helen, the man was killed by the monsters, which he couldn’t blame her. Who would kill someone in the gang? He and the King hadn’t arranged that; it seemed Evelyn would want more people to kill Lia, not less. Was it for a conflict between Evelyn and the gang? Or was that just a coincidence and a third party did it? If that man was in the gang, there was a chance he had some enemies somewhere. “Tell me more?”

  “When we were there, the monsters attacked us. Hm… I guess it was just the thing monsters did. I was that close to it chewing my legs off.”

  His heart skipped a beat. Her voice was shaky, a bit too much to his liking. He didn’t need to see to know she was scared. “You are OK, right?”

  “Yes, I ran away quick enough. Now that I think of it, maybe it is safer to be around you dark magicians,” she chuckled.

  “Come on. Don’t you think our power is really endless. I don’t think the King could help you grow another leg even if he was there.” He let out a sigh of relief. While William was no match for the King, at least he could be helpful enough against monsters Zitannas generated.

  “I will secure my leg for him to put back,” she laughed.

  “For now, I think it is just a coincidence that the monsters killed him. That man was unlucky to be there.”

  “I see. Hopefully I’m just overthinking it.” She let out a soft sigh.

  “You are back in your apartment?”

  “Of course. No way I would call you if I was in the clan. It wouldn’t end well.”

  “You are now scared of monsters?” he asked.

  “Not really. I don’t think they are that smart to take a lift.”

  “Was Lia there too?”

  There was a long silence on the other end of the call. He was going to ask if Helen was still there when she answered. “No. William asked her to, but she refused to come. William let it slide as the time was running low.”

  “Because of the King?”

  “I had no idea. She didn’t even tell me.” She let out a heavy sigh. “Somehow I think I should kick Adrian. Lia is… a bit too miserable in her state.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “None of us can do a thing, I guess. Best of luck with working under him.” Helen let out a wry chuckle.

  “You stay safe. Don’t get caught by William.”

  “Will do. Bye.”

  He bid her a goodbye and ended the call. His eyes narrowed as he considered what was happening. The man’s death better have nothing to do with him being one of the gang , otherwise, it would fall to the wayside even quicker than he could imagine. There were still guesses, but none of them were pleasant to even think about. With the two of the team out of the city, the cards would be stacked against them.

  Chapter 12

  Helen

  A few days later, inside the arena, Helen shot another leaf blade toward a virtual werewolf. She gasped, turning around against another monster. The strange mud and branches monster seemed to ring a bell for everyone. They had been training harder for a while after the meteorite monsters, but without some external push, sometimes it was easier to slide back to how things used to be.

  She smashed through a few more monsters and her session finally ended. Part of her mind was still on the dead man they found on the beach. While it seemed to be random that one of the gang’s men was killed there, she still didn’t feel very comfortable about it. Maybe the body looked a bit too scary for her to shake it out of her memory. Despite Benjamin assuring her it should be fine, she didn’t feel like that was the case. Yet she didn’t have a reason to convince him, nor herself, other than it being a hunch.

  The glass shield lowered and there came Patrick’s voice. He seemed to be arguing with William. Helen headed up to the spectators’ stand to get her water bottle and eavesdrop at the same time.

  “Lia is skipping her training again?” Patrick scowled with his eyes narrowed.

  William rubbed his temple and sighed. “I told you she finished her training early.”

  “You know that’s not the case. Don’t think I am that dumb, OK? Our training has been back-to-back since the first day I got here.”

  “Well, you know the meteorite monster kind of shook things up a little, especially when it comes to Lia.”

  “How long ago was that? She is just looking for an excuse to do nothing. She didn’t even come with us the other night.”

  William rolled his eyes and folded his arms, his frown deepening. “I told you she wasn’t feeling well.”

  “Maybe that’s just another excuse.” Patrick huffed, plunging down on the seat.

  Helen took a sip of water, flicking her eyes between the two of them. “But if she really wasn’t feeling well, it would be risky not only for her, but also for us. We took care of the monsters with no problem anyway.”

  Patrick grunted, shaking his head. “I am expecting everyone to at least carry their own weight. Lia wasn’t like that before the meteorite monsters. It wasn’t the first time she saw someone die. I just don’t understand how big of a deal that was. It is time to move on from whatever that is stopping her.”

  William sighed. “I told you she’s been training. Not to the extent she was before, I admit, but it seems to be the right training volume for her. You know her—when we need her to help, she’ll be there.”

  “Whatever. You are the boss anyway.” Patrick shrugged and stood, taking his phone and his bottle from the bench. “If there’s nothing left to be done, I am leaving.”

  William nodded and Patrick walked away without bidding them a goodbye. Helen swallowed as Patrick left, let out a breath when he was out of the arena and the door was closed behind him. “Did Lia actually have her training earlier than us?”

  “She did. A light one, though. She still didn’t seem to be her best self. But she refused to tell me what’s happening.”

  “Where is she now?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe back in her room. Maybe you should talk to her. There has to be a reason for her feeling down.”

  “Any guesses?” she asked, not knowing how much William knew about the dark magic. He had been looking into it, but said nothing about any findings.

  “There has to be something other than the meteorite monsters and all the events happening around it. Not to mention we still haven’t cracked the code of who went after her and stabbed her. Maybe that’s what she’s worried about.”

  Helen blinked. If he hadn’t mentioned it, she would have almost forgotten. Since beating the gang in The Orbit, for her, it seemed the only problem on hand was to stop William from finding out Lia’s power. William probably still didn’t know about the gang and how Adrian already smashed it. “I think so. If they could send three against her, maybe there could be more people waiting to hunt her.”

  “I just wasn’t expecting she would refuse to tag along with cases,” he sighed, rubbing his knitted brows.

  “What did you talk about that night? If you can tell me, of course.”

  William stared at her for a moment longer before he said, “Nothing much. I asked whether she wanted to go with us, but she refused. When I asked for the reason, she said she didn�
�t feel right. I brought up how she was fine earlier in training. And… well, maybe you already know, she broke out crying.”

  “What?” Helen’s heart skipped a beat; she had absolutely no idea about that. That night, she had checked that Lia was fine staying in the clan for another night before she headed back to her apartment. Lia didn’t look like she’d been crying, nor did she tell Helen anything.

  “She didn’t tell you? Well, like I just said, she cried. I didn’t have time to comfort her for long when there were monsters out there. I hope she is feeling better now.” William frowned and sank his hands into his pocket.

  “I guess I’ll check in with her.”

  “Yes, please. I think she’ll tell you more than she will tell me.”

  “Are you implying she is hiding things from you?”

  “No. The two of you are friends. She probably wouldn’t regard me as one.” There was a wry smile on his face, but he wasn’t wrong. William was more of a mentor and even their boss. She bid him a goodbye and left, messaging Lia.

  Turned out Lia was in the guest room. Helen pushed the door in to find her sitting on the bed with the lights off and the blinds lowered. “Hey, Lia. Is everything OK?”

  She combed her hair with her hand, patting the empty space on her side. “OK or not is relative.”

  Helen took a seat, giving Lia’s shoulder a squeeze. “Then how is it currently?”

  “Not the best. Not that bad, either.” Lia shrugged, her lips pursed into a thin line. There was a tension inside her that Helen couldn’t put a finger on.

  “William told me you cried that night when he asked you to join us for the fight.”

  “He told you, huh? I don’t even know why I was crying. It was a bit too scary to think about another monster. Somehow… it feels like something A would do to force me out of the clan.”

  Helen’s heart skipped a beat; it seemed Adrian’s plan on not telling Lia about the other dark magician going after her life was a smart move. That man actually knew what would be on Lia’s mind. “You think he created the monsters?”