Chapter 26 (UPDATED)

Caleb hauled the man back toward the stone buildings. The glowing orb that led back into the Dungeon let off roughly the same amount of light as a low campfire, casting cool blue shadows along the walls. A warm breeze blew in the air, a nice contrast to their last few nights of battling the cold.

Tyler leaned against the doorway of one of the homes, silently watching. His pile of gadgets and scraps were stacked a few feet behind him.

The two nodded at each other as Caleb handed the man’s spear off to Tyler. Caleb brought the man to one of the empty buildings and pushed him inside. “Stay here,” he said. Then he placed one hand on the outer wall and willed the stone to shift.

“What the shit?” The man stumbled backward and fell onto his ass, his eyes wide. There was a grinding sound like a car driving over gravel. Rough rods of stone grew out of the wall, barring the doorway like a cell.

Caleb removed his hand and looked at the man through the bars. “I’ll give you one last chance,” Caleb said. “Are you alone?”

The man looked at Caleb’s hands, then his eyes. He licked his lips and swallowed nervously.

Judging by his reaction, he hasn’t seen anyone with a Truth. And judging by his strength, the rest of his group likely isn’t that high level. They probably pose no threat, but I can’t know that for sure. The fact that he feels the need to lie to me also doesn’t help.

Though, that might just be self preservation. The world’s a scary place now. He probably thinks that if he tells me he is with a group, or where they are, I could go and rob or kill them.

Caleb grit his teeth. Damn it. Why couldn’t things just be simple?

“You gonna hurt us?” the man finally asked. He was breathing heavily, pupils dilated, but he held Caleb’s eyes with a steady gaze.

Caleb’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t want to. So stop lying to me.”

“You came from the Dungeon, didn’t you?”

“I did,” Caleb said. He failed to see where this was going.

The man’s eyes hardened and he clicked his tongue. “We’ve heard a few rumors about people like you. Come out far stronger than you were going in. Gonna take my head so you can see how much Aether I give you? Huh? Bloodthirsty savage.”

The pieces started to click into place.

The world had indeed become a more dangerous place. But it wasn’t the dungeons, or the monsters that made it so. No, it was the people. When given the chance, most would trade their humanity for dominance. They would put others down just so they could lift themselves up. Just like Lucas had wanted to do.

In a world like that, there was no guarantee that the strong would stay noble or kind. Power was everything. Nothing else mattered. If he wanted to keep his freedom, he needed to become the strongest.

They were both silent for several seconds. A few birds chirped in the distance.

“I’m not like that,” Caleb finally said.

“And I should believe you because?”

“Because you don’t have a choice,” Caleb said plainly. “You either stop lying to me and cooperate, or you force me to be what you think I am. I’m not a bloodthirsty savage, but I’d sooner be one than let someone else think they can take advantage of me.”

They held each other’s eyes for a heartbeat.

“Alright,” said the man. “Alright, I believe you. I’m not alone. There’s one other scout with me. But that’s it. I promise. Don’t hurt him. Please.”

“I’ll be back with your friend.”

***

It didn’t take Caleb long to find the man’s friend. He actually wasn’t even the one to find him.

Chloe was.

Not thirty seconds after Caleb had started looking, he heard a cry of pain, followed by yelling and a string of curses. He ran toward the noise and found Chloe standing over a boy kneeling on the ground, holding one hand over a bloody nose. The blood seeped out between his fingers and dripped all bubbly onto the grass.

“Found your friend’s buddy,” Chloe beamed in the moonlight, sticking the butt of her spear onto the ground. “Maybe we can set up some playdates for them.”

She’d upgraded her rudimentary boggart spear from the Dungeon and purchased a nicely made wooden one with a steel tip from the Aether Shop. Now that Caleb thought about it, it was the same spear that the man had. Which meant the man had access to the Aether Shop. Had he completed a Dungeon? No. The man was impossibly weak for that. There must be some other way of founding a Faction and gaining access to the shop, or his faction wasn’t quite so weak as he made it out to seem.

“Please don’t kill me,” the boy said, his void nasally as blood bubbled from his nostrils.

Ah, shit. That’s a goddamn kid.

He was wiry and thin, with wild eyes and scraggly, dirty blond hair, and a missing front tooth. Probably around sixteen years old. He looked downright petrified.

“I’m not gonna kill you,” Caleb said, walking over and helping the boy to his feet.

He shook his head and shot Chloe a frown. It was getting more and more obvious that these people posed no threat. They were just scared and trying to survive.

“What’s your name, kid?” He could have just checked with the System, but it felt more human to ask.

“Peter,” he said through his busted nose.

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“Peter. I’m Caleb.” He tried to put on his friendliest face. It wasn’t very effective. “My friend here is Chloe. She’s sorry for busting up your nose.” Though she didn’t look it.

Chloe frowned. “Uh, yeah… sorry.”

Caleb walked Peter back to their little settlement and put him in the same stone building as the other scout. The kid looked just as stunned to see Caleb control the stone with his Aether. His jaw was practically on the floor.

Despite neither of them being any threat, Caleb still kept them locked up for now. They had to decide what the next steps were.