Dungeons and Demons

by Kayla Krantz

  There was no distinction in any of the paths they chose, and Jack started to wonder if maybe they were going in the wrong direction or if maybe they were doing laps that somehow avoided the tunnel the Nucklelavee inhabited. His only bit of comfort was that they hadn’t stumbled across the big silver door yet, the one that marked the start.

  He let himself believe that they were making progress. Even if it wasn’t great progress. They rounded a corner then and were faced with a giant red button. It was embedded into the floor, the path continuing on past it. There was no writing on or around the button, and they converged around it, staring at it with goosebumps running across their skin.

  “Do we press it?” Shawn asked the question they all thought.

  Jack swallowed, looking at the glass walls around them. It was too easy to imagine the button opening up one of the walls and drowning them all.

  “I don’t know,” Milo said, looking around as if he had similar thoughts.

  “I think we should keep going,” Jack suggested.

  The familiar sound of hooves beating against the floor drifted through the tunnels, and Jack’s eyes went wide. Whatever head start they had was gone now. The Nucklelavee was on its way.

  “I think we should press it,” Shawn said at last, glancing over his shoulder.

  “Are you crazy?” Jack asked.

  Shawn’s mouth opened and closed as he struggled for his next sentence. “I don’t know why, but I think it has something to do with the Nucklelavee, not the tunnels.”

  “What if you’re wrong?” Milo asked, white eyebrows drawn together in concern.

  Jack frowned. He didn’t want to think about that. Didn’t want to think about what could happen if Shawn was wrong. So he didn’t. He closed his eyes, listening as Shawn stamped his foot onto the button with a clang that radiated around them. They all held their breath, waiting to see what would come next. Jack stared up at the ceiling, hoping the worst wouldn’t happen though part of him expected it to anyway.

  It didn’t. Behind them, a silver steel door rose from the floor to the ceiling, blocking off the path they had just traveled through. Jack’s eyebrows raised, and he tried to determine if this was a good thing or not. It would certainly keep the Nucklelavee away from them, but they wouldn’t be able to backtrack, to go through the tunnels again if they had taken a wrong turn at some point.

  We must be on the right path, he thought, remembering the double doors that had separated the drudes’ room from Belphegor’s.

  “Full speed ahead,” Shawn said with a sigh, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

  Jack took the lead as they continued onward. He didn’t know how much longer it would be until they ran into the Leviathan, but he could imagine that it would be soon. Just as the thought crossed his mind, the floor beneath them dipped, the tunnels shifting to lead them downward instead of just forward.

  “I don’t know how good I feel about going more under the ocean,” Shawn said.

  “I don’t feel good about it at all,” Milo scoffed.

  Jack kept his thoughts to himself, but he was in full agreement. When the floor beneath them flattened out, ankle-deep water waited, and Jack halted. “How can this be?”

  Shawn and Milo looked down at their feet, both of them looking just as confused as him. Shawn picked up one foot at a time as if he thought the scene would change between steps.

  “I don’t know,” Shawn said at last.

  Milo walked a few steps forward, and Jack and Shawn followed behind. The longer they traveled, the deeper the water became. Where Milo stood, it sloshed up to his knees, and Jack looked up. There was a dome overhead. The black ocean water far above his head was so much like an abyss that he could see nothing in it. As if Rhys had heard his thought, the path ahead of them lit up, revealing the corridor that the water extended to.

  “This is a battle room,” Jack breathed.

  “I don’t see anything,” Shawn said.

  Jack held his breath. Just as Shawn’s words faded into silence, the water parted, and a monster leapt from it, sharp teeth sinking into Milo’s arm. He screamed, squirts of his blood flying into the air all around him as he struggled. The creature, vice-like grip in Milo’s pale skin, grew larger and larger, the teeth digging deeper and deeper, until at last Milo’s entire arm was gone. The creature swallowed it, and Shawn and Jack hurried forward, trying to grab their friend. They weren’t fast enough. The creature lunged again, dragging Milo from sight.

  When the water settled, there was no sign of their friend beyond a wisp of crimson among the blue.

  17.

  BESIDE JACK, SHAWN screamed. If Jack hadn’t been shell-shocked by what had happened, he might’ve done the same. Instead, his eyes were on the water, on the spot where Milo had vanished. After his ability to get out of everything so far, he expected to see his white hair break the surface at any moment.

  The second dragged out to a minute, and Milo was still nowhere in sight. Jack regained feeling in himself then, and he scanned the surface, seeking out the Leviathan. Risk or not, he would propel himself into the water and drag his friend back to safety.

  “Oooh,” Rhys tormented. “Three strikes, and you’re out! Seems Milo is our first loser. Not the bet I would’ve placed.”

  “No,” Shawn murmured, staring up at the ceiling with glassy eyes as if he couldn’t fully process the situation unfolding around him.

  Jack wasn’t about to accept it. Not lying down. He traveled knee-deep in the water, wading until it was mid-thigh.

  “Risking yourself, Jack? That doesn’t seem like you though I think that would’ve made Milo proud. You do know why it was the Leviathan that he fell to, right?”

  “He’s not dead!” Shawn cried, and suddenly, he was at Jack’s side as if he were prepared to jump into the water as well.

  “Milo’s biggest sin was envy,” Rhys said, drawing out the last word.

  “That’s impossible. He wasn’t jealous of things. He wasn’t materialistic like that.”

  “Not envy for items, envy for people,” Rhys said and then paused.

  “He’s talking crap to distract us,” Jack said and waded deeper into the water convinced that if he drowned out Rhys for long enough, he would see Milo again.

  “I’m afraid I’m not,” Rhys said. “Did he tell you what the main feature of his nightmares was when he was under the drude’s spell?”

  “He didn’t need to,” Shawn said.

  “Milo was deeply jealous of the friendship that you and Jack share,” Rhys said. “He always thought you two didn’t care about him as much as you cared for one another. He felt as if he was the additional friend, the unneeded friend, and he would’ve done whatever it takes to get in your good graces.”

  A pause as Shawn and Jack absorbed the information.

  “Even die for you.”

  Jack gritted his teeth, searching the room for something he could use. All he could see were the edges of the tunnels, and the black water beyond. It didn’t seem as if there was anything to help them this time like there had been with the Nucklelavee.

  “It’s not true!” Jack roared again and launched himself into the water.

  He struck out, paddle after paddle until he couldn’t feel the floor beneath his feet anymore. He didn’t know how deep this place went, but he was suddenly aware of the mistake that he had made. Milo wasn’t here. All the denying in the world couldn’t bring him back.

  Now Jack was in danger.

  Shawn watched him with wide, horrified eyes as if he expected to see a repeat of what had just happened. Slowly, Jack started to swim back, and the reality of the situation crashed around him. Before he made it, Shawn waded out a few more feet, helping to pull his friend back to shallow water before the sea monster could claim him.

  Jack trudged out and stood there, dripping water as he looked up at the ceiling. “He was our friend. He wanted to be your friend. Don’t do this.”

  “I can’t undo what’s already
been done,” Rhys said.

  Jack bowed his head, the first of his tears blending in with the rest of the water that dripped from him. The movement gave him access to the water, and that was when he noticed the rumple of the surface, a tiny flurry of bubbles as the Leviathan moved steadily closer.

  Rhys was trying to distract them. Jack’s mind was a whirlwind with the realization, and he couldn’t focus on any one thing. His mind flashed various images like an old movie reel—Milo, the bloody water, the Nucklelavee, the Leviathan.

  “Yes, you can!” Shawn howled, turning his back toward the deeper parts of the water as he stared up at the ceiling. “You control all of this. All these worlds and creatures. You’ve kept Milo alive through everything else, you can do it through this!”

  “Don’t listen to him!” Jack roared. “He’s distracting you!”

  Shawn’s attention went to the water instantly, then to Jack who was holding his arms out at strange angles in an attempt to make himself look bigger.

  “We have to get it to bite itself,” Jack said in the way of an explanation. “It’s our only hope of getting out of here.”

  “How are we going to do that?” Shawn asked.

  “Like this!” Jack said and hurried forward just as the Leviathan made a move for Shawn.

  Jack, standing in the middle of the two, took the creature by surprise, and it moved mid-launch to turn its attention to him, the long tail spiraling as it tried without much success to keep itself on its original path. Jack peered at Shawn over the creature’s back, and Shawn dipped his head, determination in his eyes.

  The monster lunged for Jack, and Jack dove into the water getting out of the way. Back and forth, Shawn and Jack called the creature’s attention, causing it to move one way then the other. Its long snake-like body curled and unfurled, its snapping teeth occasionally tearing away a few chunks of its own skin.

  Jack was starting to tire and based on the sheen of sweat over Shawn’s forehead, he was too. The Leviathan wasn’t backing down though. Sending out a silent prayer that he was sure would be blocked by Rhys, Jack lunged forward and grabbed the beast’s tail, holding it up just as the creature swiveled to bite him.

  With a crunch, its rows and rows of teeth sunk into its own skin with a sickening pop. Jack let go immediately, backing away as the water around it turned red. He expected the creature to let go as soon as it realized its mistake, but it didn’t. It bit again, harder and harder. Chunks of flesh came away down to the bone, and the creature kept eating. Jack used the moment of the creature’s distraction to hurry back to Shawn’s side.

  “Its hunger is a Leviathan’s biggest weakness,” Jack said breathlessly. He was quoting something, he was sure of that, though where it had come from, he couldn’t be sure.

  “Good job, boys,” Rhys’ voice floated through the dome.

  The creature retched to punctuate his sentence, throwing up pieces of its own tail into the water all around it. Among the pieces were ones more familiar—an arm and a torn flannel shirt. Shawn started to cry, and Jack gagged, holding his hand over his mouth as he watched the half-mauled creature sink beneath the waves.

  A pop, and they were back at the oasis.

  Shawn and Jack stared at one another, tears bubbling in their eyes with the last image of the third dungeon still burning in their heads. Jack didn’t want to believe what he had seen. He surveyed the place, expecting Milo to be here and the entire end of the dungeon to be nothing more than a cruel prop put in place by Rhys. When he realized his albino friend was nowhere in sight, he balled his hands into fists, holding them to his temples as he stared up at the sky.

  “Why! Why’d you take him?” he demanded. “We’re playing the game. We’re doing what you want. Isn’t that enough?”

  Rhys laughed, and at first, Jack thought that was all he was going to do. It would’ve been the appropriate response since Rhys hadn’t been too keen to answer any of their questions. Then he said, “Don’t you see? We’re not just playing a game here. I’m challenging you, shaping you into better people. If you can’t learn to overcome the sins that eat away at you the most, the ones that are trying to decide who you are, then you don’t deserve to live. I thought Milo understood that from his experience on the other side, but his sins were etched in deep.”

  “You have no right,” Shawn yowled, tears streaming his freckled cheeks.

  Rhys voice was calm, almost soothing as he said, “I have only done God’s will.”

  “What God would ask for something like this?” Jack demanded. “Surely not the one with the fluffy white clouds and rainbow waterfalls. This is the work of a demon. Of Satan.”

  Rhys laughed again. “And what if I told you that you weren’t wrong?”

  18.

  PENELOPE DIDN’T TAKE her eyes off the phone. She stared at it so long that she could’ve drawn it from memory if she really wanted to. Any moment she expected it to ring. Ethan would call and apologize. He had to. He’d been the one to start this stupid fight, and it was for that reason that he would be the one to end it. For as much as she wanted to talk to him, she wouldn’t cave.

  Sighing, she glanced up at the clock overhead. In the dead silence of the house, the steady tick, tick, tick, was the only sound. Besides her breathing of course. She was still angry though not as much as she’d been earlier in the day. She could hardly believe how much time had passed with her in her cocoon of thoughts.

  Shawn, her adopted brother, had left sometime earlier in the evening. How many hours had it been? Two? Three? She wasn’t sure. Frowning, she looked back at the phone. Her anger moved to the back of her mind, replaced by a new, slightly alarming thought. Her brother should’ve called by now. He was always good about checking in...especially when Penelope was putting her neck on the line for him to hang with his friends.

  If their Moms ever found out she’d let him go, do whatever he wanted, they’d kill them both. With a sigh, Penelope looked for the scrap of paper that Shawn had jotted the phone number down on. It was a payphone out by the woods where he and his friends had decided to go to play one of their nerd games. Calling a public phone wasn’t ideal, but it was the best way she had of trying to reach her brother.

  The phone rang and rang with no answer, and that anger came back again. Were all men just inconsiderate losers? Groaning, she dialed the number one more time, but got no response. When he’d said he was going out to the woods, she hadn’t been pleased. Now she was downright sick. Clutching the phone tight, she plopped down on the couch, and stared at the black face of the television screen.

  The Moms would be home in an hour, maybe two, and Shawn was MIA. Penelope was starting to worry. What should she do? What could she do? If she went out to the woods, she might risk not being home when the Moms got back. If they couldn’t get in touch with either of their children, they’d go ballistic.

  Penelope slammed the phone on its receiver and raked her hand through her hair. More likely than not, Shawn was just so immersed in that stupid roleplaying game of his that he hadn’t heard the phone.

  “Yeah, that’s it,” she told the empty living room.

  He would call as soon as he could.

  Or at least Penelope hoped he would.

  19.

  SHAWN PLOPPED DOWN to the ground with a heavy heart. It hardly mattered that he was safe now because his mind was still stuck on the danger, the horrors the last twenty minutes had presented him. All he could see was the fear on Milo’s face during those final moments. His thin pale face stretched into a silent scream played in a loop over and over. Shawn couldn’t process what it meant—that Milo was dead.

  I have only done God’s will. Rhys’ words bounced around the inside of his head, and all he could do was laugh.

  Three dungeons down out of the seven that they had been tasked with, and yet, Shawn didn’t feel like celebrating. He wanted to throw up. The oasis that usually brought him a sense of peace did nothing for him because he was still in his head. In the memory of the firs
t time they’d seen it with Milo right by their side. He’d taken the best of the situation and filled their canteens with the unnaturally clear water from the oasis and restocked his healing supplies with the leaves he’d plucked from the nearby plants.

  Footsteps as Jack approached pulled Shawn from his memories. His burly friend had a hint of sorrow in his eyes that made Shawn sure Jack was having the same thoughts as him.

  Did it really count as a victory if only two of them made it out?

  Shawn tilted his head back, his glasses moving awkwardly along his long nose, as he stared up at the sky overhead. It was light blue, the clouds extravagant cotton balls. It looked very much like an ordinary day. A beautiful day. Shawn never would’ve guessed they were trapped in a game by a classmate turned demon.

  Shawn had just a moment where he wished Rhys would show himself in the flesh so he could stare him in the eyes and ask why he’d done what he had to Milo. Then he shivered at the memory of what Rhys had admitted to. He wasn’t human. What did Shawn possibly think he could do against him? So far, he and Jack had only survived because they’d had Milo. Milo had been their fighter, their healer, their everything, and once again, defeat formed a rock in Shawn’s stomach. He didn’t want to get up off the grass. Didn’t want to step foot into one more dungeon. Doing so would only cement the fact that Milo was gone.

  “I believe you are Satan,” Shawn said at last. He wasn’t even sure if Rhys was listening, but he needed to let it out just the same. “Only something truly evil would do this to people for their own entertainment. You say you’re helping us, but I don’t think that’s the driving force behind this.” Otherwise Milo would still be alive.

  It didn’t matter that Shawn had not spoken that last part out loud, Rhys heard him anyway. “I could’ve just let the banshee take him,” Rhys said, voice cold as always. “But I didn’t. I let him play. I gave him a chance to overcome his own internal demons, but he couldn’t do that. No humans really can.”