* * * William * * *

  William couldn't fall asleep. The bed was too big, too soft, and too empty. He'd gotten used to sleeping in hammocks, in single beds, or on the ground with many others, growing up. After he and Zeenie left the camp, they'd been sleeping on the ground or up in trees, both much harder than this bed. He was a bit surprised when - in the middle of Kody leading him to this room, Zeenie asked for a separate room from his. It was understandable, since there was only one bed, and they'd never slept in the same bed before… not even with Violet, his actual sister, but still, Zeenie and him have always been in at least the same space. He felt lonely. Maybe it was the place; the large, empty spaces, the silence, or the cold, endless white void that was outside every window. He quite literally was in another world from the one he'd gotten used to. It felt both too sterile and alien.

  For a bit he got lost in thought, trying to wrap his mind around how this house worked. If there were any sense to it, then he would be lying on, more likely inside the dining table. But he wasn't. He was in a room, too large and empty for his liking, in a nonsense maze of a house behind a door that couldn't have possibly opened into it. It was overwhelming.

  He'd tired himself out thinking, and was now on the verge of falling asleep, but not quite just yet. He could feel the familiar pressure of sleep, the dreamlike limbo of weightlessness, and he was already half dreaming. The room seemed to breathe with him, echoing his every heartbeat. At long last, he'd shut his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

  His dreams were weird and nonsensical. The impossible geometry of the house had more of an impact than he'd anticipated. In his dream, he was walking in an infinite, twisting hallway, with doors lining all four walls. As he stepped on one of them, it rotated, making him face the wall. He heard a knock from the next door on the floor. He turned and opened it. The floor inside was fixed to the door, turning at a right angle from where he was standing. He stepped inside and for a split second felt gravity shifting. Something in the now vertical infinite hallway fell, only missing him by a split second.

  The room he now stood in was awfully familiar. The roof cut off its ceiling at a sharp angle. In the shorter end was a small bed, on the bed a small boy, looking at the opposite wall. It was him, the young William. He knew where this dream was going. He'd seen it many times.

  He opened the door again, and found the hallway the right way around, with no twisting this time. He stepped out into it, shutting the door behind him.

  He walked on, until he could smell smoke in the air. He stopped, and looked around. As if on cue, knocking started coming from all of the doors, followed by screams of despair and noises of violence.

  Panic started overcoming him. Breathing became hard. The choking, burning stench made each breath hurt. The air turned into jelly around him, and he struggled to move at all. Then one of the doors started visibly smoking, the light of flames shining around it. He knew he had to get there and open it, but each step felt like moving through mud while wearing lead boots.

  After a few seconds that felt like a century, he reached the door and turned the knob. The dreamscape shifted, and he was looking down at himself, his young self, balled up in a hole in the ground, clutching a small, bluish white egg.

  * * * William * * *

  He woke in cold sweat. The room felt even bigger and emptier in the dark. He took a moment to steady his breathing. He got up and looked at the window. A finely polished metal sheet covered it, serving both as shade and mirror.

  He quietly opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. Flashes of his dream came rushing back to him as he saw the doors on either side. He went over to where Zeenie was sleeping, and peeked inside. She was sleeping peacefully in her bed. He didn't want to wake her, so he closed the door and headed for the dining area.

  He sat down at the dining table, and buried his face in his hands. For a few minutes, he did nothing, just concentrated on his breathing. Slowly in, holding it, then out. After a while he managed to calm down.

  As he sat there, he looked at the shrine. New candles. The shelf it sat on had been dusted off. Kody had looked very upset even just mentioning Lexie. What could've happened to her?

  "Will?" Zeenie stood in the hallway opening

  "Sorry, didn't mean to wake you."

  "I wasn't sleeping." she sat down across the table. William didn't reply.

  "You were having that nightmare again."

  Still no reply.

  "Do you want to talk about it?"

  "This place… Lexie… it was a bit much."

  "I like it."

  "It's so… empty"

  "Yeah…"

  "Not even the forest is in here. Dead silence."

  "Give it some time, soon Orthus will come."

  "Zeenie," William said, "I don't know how to tell you this, I'm not sure Orthus exists at all."

  "He does!" Zeenie exclaimed, "I've seen-"

  "What, a second room with a bed in it? So Kody has four beds, not three. We're going away tomorrow anyway, and if he's not here by then-"

  "I want to meet him." Zeenie said with a determination he'd never seen in her. "Tomorrow, if he doesn't arrive by the time we're done getting that stupid key, you can go wherever you like, visit your elves, but I'm staying." She stood up and stormed inside her room, shutting the door.

  What was she on about? She'd never acted like this before. All it took was for someone to clock her as a dragon, and she'd believe anything. He knew she'd be in danger alone out here.

  Not wanting to risk another confrontation, he headed back to his room silently, and went back to sleep.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  * * * Kody * * *

  Kody woke early. He'd been expecting Orthus to have arrived by now. The familiar presence was still missing. How far exactly had he flown?

  He relayed his question to the dragon, and the answer came soon enough. He'd arrive that day, sometime around noon. Kody told him where to go, another hour or so.

  He walked out into the living room, and found both his guests had already awoken. Zeenie was sitting on a sofa with her back to the hearth, feet up on the table. William was in the kitchen, making breakfast. Fresh scorch marks on the ceiling indicated some trouble getting used to the elemental-powered stove with eventual success, a bowl of minced mushrooms and potatoes brewing into a nice stew. The spice cabinet above was wide open, several jars moved from where he'd last left them. Salt, garlic, ginger, and some others. It smelled really nice.

  "Need any help?" he asked the ranger

  "Yeah, can you get me some sweet paprika? I couldn't find it."

  "Here" Kody handed the jar over after some searching. William took a large heap of it with a tablespoon and stirred it into the stew. A bit much compared to what Kody was used to, but surely a ranger knew how to make a nice meal. William nodded, gesturing for him to sit with Zeenie.

  As Kody sat down, Zeenie removed her feet from the table.

  "Sorry" she said

  "No problem." He sat down and put his feet up too. She smiled and put them back up. "This table used to belong to my family."

  "Used to? Are they…"

  "Dead? No." he said "I just took it from one of their vaults."

  Zeenie looked at him quizzically. He sat down properly, and stared absentmindedly at the table, and the intricate patterns cut into the wood.

  "Even though I'm an assassin, I get to enter some places in the Empire most are not privy to.

  "Are y-, are they nobles?" Zeenie asked, puzzled.

  "Yes." Kody sighed "The great noble house of the Johnsons. Built on deceit and betrayal. It was part of my absolution to go in and take some of their stuff."

  That was, strictly speaking, true. He had not told a lie. What he omitted however, and what was now weighing on him uncomfortably, was when and how he took it. It wasn't the time to reveal that. He needed them to trust him, and that base would be a hard nut to crack.

  "Hey!" William called, "Food's ready."

  The stew was delicious. Kody made a mental note to use more paprika next time he cooked.

  William and Zeenie sat across the table from him, but something was amiss; an unspoken tension was between them. Had they had a fight last night?

  That was something for later though. Now he had to take the leap, and hope they'd catch him.

  “Are you ready for the heist?” he asked them. They looked at each other, then back at him.

  “Yes.” William said

  “In that case, let’s head out.”

  * * * Zeenie * * *

  Zeenie was ready way before the others. All she had to put on were a pair of leather vambraces and her hooded cloak. Her shoes were little more than sandals and the pants were designed for children. Her small frame didn’t really fit anything else.

  William was second. He wore his usual apparel of light leather armor, bow and quiver, his shimmering cloak, and the rest of his belongings tied up into a tight roll hanging from his waist. He looked at her with expectation. Was he hoping she'd changed her mind? That she'd just announced her departure as an outburst? As soon as Orthus arrived she'd be saying goodbye to William. She'd finally have the opportunity she'd been waiting for her whole life - to learn from another dragon.

  Kody was last. He wasn't in the comparatively casual outfit she'd seen him in earlier. It was a full black leather suit, seemingly made of individual straps overlaid on top of each other with exacting precision. Small daggers, throwing knives, darts, and various other tools and weapons lined his entire torso, and most of his limbs. The man must've doubled in weight from all of them. He too carried a bundle of - surprisingly expensive-looking - cloth, for what reason, Zeenie couldn't tell. She smiled at him, and he smiled back.

  "Alright." - Kody said, "Everyone ready?"

  They both nodded.

  "Where's the shortcut?" William asked. Kody didn't reply. Instead he walked to the front door, flicked a secret switch not unlike the one he used to get into the house earlier, and opened it.

  On the other side of the door wasn't the outside they had come from. Instead, a long hallway lined with stone and shelves on either side stretched in front of them. The assassin stood back, and gestured for them to go inside. William hesitated so Zeenie took the initiative.

  The hallway was noticeably colder than the living room. The stone around her wasn't radiating that mild heat. It was also noisier. A low, constant droning sound echoed throughout the structure. How big was this place?

  "Two rights, then a left." Kody's voice sounded behind them, "There will be another door at the end."

  "What is this place?" William asked

  "It's the storage." Kody explained, "I found it when exploring hidden dimensions looking for stable ones to place the rooms in."

  Zeenie passed a bronze statue of a dragon. It looked as if half made of crystals, and she felt a strange pull towards it. She hadn't noticed, but she had zoned out and was now staring directly at the head of the statue, looking into its eyes. A gentle pressure on her shoulder snapped her out of it.

  "Zeenie, you okay?" William asked

  "Yeah, just… got distracted."

  "That statue does that sometimes." Kody said, "It was already here when I found the storage."

  "What kind of place is this anyway?" William reiterated

  "I'm not sure, to be honest. My guess is that it's either the end product of a lot of collectors finding and adding to it over the ages, or a sort of weird, natural lost-and-found for powerful stuff that goes missing."

  Zeenie didn't like the latter option one bit. It made her feel like walking into the stomach of some monster. If it was one, was it sleeping? Was it dead? Hibernating perhaps? She didn't want to think about it, but couldn't stop herself.

  Luckily for her, they had reached the other door. It was similar in design to the house, but more crude, less refined. Kody went ahead, opened it, and led them out into the basement of a tavern.

  They were in an abandoned hallway, not far from the actively used parts of the place. The noise of people talking, shouting over eachother filled the air. Zeenie found it surprising how suddenly the near total silence was replaced with this lively cacophony.

  Kody led them through the basement, and up a set of stone stairs. Around them, people looked. Humans, aquilans, a lone ferodinian towering over the rest, occupying a full booth by himself, his four eyes studying them. The humans were mostly mages, she could feel it. Some rangers were present, a few assassins, both nodding to their respective colleagues, shooting glares at eachother, eating and drinking away as they walked past.

  As they reached the top of the stairs, a jolly deep, motherly voice called out to them.

  "Mr. Johnson! Welcome back!"

  "Hey Betty!" Kody said, and walked over to her. She was tending the bar, cleaning glasses and mugs, a few plates of fresh food waiting behind her to be served. "I told you, you don't need to be formal with me anymore. Call me Kody!"

  "Ah, you know me mr. Johnson," Betty replied, "I'm old fashioned."

  "Whatever." Kody sighed, "How's business?"

  "Boomin' as ya see." she gestured, "Word got out I've been hostin' all kinda' creatures in 'ere, so The Empire showed up."

  "And you sent them away?" Kody raised an eyebrow

  "Nah! T'was your pals. And then his." she added, nodding at William, "Place is full of' em!"

  "I've seen."

  "What are ya' up to now, laddie?"

  "Going on a heist with my friends here."

  "Serves those bastards right!"

  "Gotta go now Betty, thanks for the chat."

  "Yer welcome!"

  They exited the tavern. Kody looked around before gesturing for them to follow. A pair of empire soldiers stood across the street, not really looking, as they were harassing a lone ranger. William was about to head over when Zeenie pulled him back. ' Not now. Not here. ' she told him mentally.

  The town was tense. On every other corner stood an empire soldier, a ranger, or an assassin pretending not to be doing anything. It was a powder-keg, and any small altercation could be enough to ignite it.

  "This is what an Empire base does to the neighborhood." Kody noted

  "I didn't think it would be this bad." William said "And they apparently locked down the gate hub as well."

  "I've seen a few of these." Kody said, "They build a base, lock down the area, drive out mages, kidnap their children, then march in the army."

  "Shouldn't we try and be less… conspicuous?"

  "No. I've got an idea."