“He lives down there?!” Nick asked in incredulity, gesturing at the glorified hole masquerading as a hovel.

  Kirk nodded, warily eyeing their surroundings. His eyes had a reptilian cast to them, likely to help him better see in the dim environs along the outskirts of the tongue. He had been wary along the way from the inn, likely thrown off by the fact he was freshly-bathed and wearing actual clothes instead of scraps. It may have also been the fact this was the first time he had traveled under his own power in a long while.

  The previous evening had seen Nick dislodge the boy from the alleyway and then drag the boy into hygienic living. It was as heartwarming as anything in the penal-colony. Nick felt he had truly done a good deed in setting the lad up. They had bathed, ate, shopped, and then bathed again, all before retiring to separate rooms, all paid for by Nick Delaney.

  It was a deviation from the routine.

  The next morning brought another deviation as well.

  Instead of delving after breakfast, the boy led Nick towards where the elf had been reported to reside.

  This led them into a neighborhood which straddled the line between the rest of the mega-cavern and where most of the town was built. Although, the term neighborhood was misleading, as the town was hardly delineated so smoothly. In fact, the town lacked grids, or just roads, in general. There was the main thoroughfare, the central tower, and then everything else. Paths had been worn into larger paths which followed the course of least resistance around poorly planned infrastructure.

  It was just, mind-boggling, to Nick, and he had grown distracted along the way by just how foul the place was. Thankfully, the boy was keeping a keen eye on their surroundings.

  Finally though, they had arrived in a section of the cave where the floor was pockmarked with both indents and bumps: the bumps being huts, lean-tos, discarded remains, or a collapsed ramshackle construction; the indents being waste-pits, carved subterranean-styled homes, or just the regular unevenness of the mega-cavern’s floor.

  In this instance, Nick and Kirk were examining a carved ramp that descended below the cavern’s floor and terminated at a tarp which obfuscated the hovel’s interior. Generously, the worn and ill-treated hide could be considered a door.

  It occurred to Nick that if the elf was down there that the elf could very likely hear everything Nick had said. ick thought back to everything he had said in the vicinity. He decided that this might prove problematic.

  “Well, it certainly could be worse,” Nick said. He then added, in a chiding tone towards Kirk. “You really shouldn’t disparage home ownership. Real estate is usually a solid investment.”

  Kirk frowned and mouthed something silently, which Nick ignored. Instead, Nick turned towards the hovel’s entrance.

  “Hello?” Nick called out. “Are you home, sir?”

  Nick waited several seconds, ears straining. He might have heard something, but it was faint enough to be lost in the general din from the penal-colony. Nick glanced back at Kirk.

  Kirk shrugged, “It’s the place.”

  Nick took several steps down the ramp towards the hovel’s entrance and he called out once more, louder, “Anybody there?”

  Another step taken towards the door, where Nick planned on taking a peak to verify. Then another, then the ramp seemed to tilt out from under his feet to the side and the walls came towards him at an angle.

  This seems off, Nick thought in confusion.

  It was then that a wave of vertigo hit him.

  Kirk had remained up top, but upon seeing Nick stumble and begin walking drunkenly, Kirk had begun glaring down at the hovel’s entrance and called out with a hostile tone.

  “Hey, cut that out” Kirk shouted. “Aren’t here for trouble, but you keep that up, we will be.”

  At first, Nick thought Kirk might be talking to him, which was strange. Nick slurred a bit, but quickly regained control of his tongue.

  “What are you talking about, boy?” Nick asked.

  Kirk scoffed and shook his head, remaining ready for action and continuing his glare towards the hovel’s entrance.

  “The elf,” the boy said. “He’s doing something to you.”

  “What?”

  The boy groaned, “Elf magic hits the mind. Like charms, or, making someone… lose their balance?”

  “Huh,” Nick said. “That explains it–”

  Nick had turned his attention back towards the hovel’s entrance when a voice shouted from within.

  “-would you shut-up already and leave?!” the voice said. “Can’t a man have some privacy?”

  The voice did not sound manly at all, at least not by Nick’s definition of masculinity. Ignoring the request, Nick began making his pitch towards the hovel’s still-closed entrance.

  “Certainly, sir,” Nick began. “Before that though, would you happen to be the elf I have heard of?” The elf might have been about to growl some epithet or other, but Nick continued on unbothered. “Because if so, I believe we might come to a mutually beneficial arrangement, or a deal of sorts.”

  “-I said leave–”

  “And we will, of course. But I thought a warning would be appreciated. Because if we do leave now, then any future arrangement will, while still profitable, would be less so.”

  The boy shouted over Nick’s shoulders from where he stood at the top of the ramp.

  “He means to make a deal, elf!”

  “As my young friend as said,” Nick added, regaining control of the narrative.

  “A deal? The elf asked. “All that racket because you want to–”

  “-But of course,” Nick said. “The details are quite simple as well, but of course we can negotiate.”

  A moment of silence passed.

  “Still there?” the elf asked.

  “Indeed.”

  The elf made an unflattering sound. “Fine then, I’ll come out to met you. Back up a bit. Give me some space. ya?”

  “Certainly,” Nick said, heading back up towards where the boy was waiting. Nick barely noticed that the vertigo had receded. In fact, Nick barely recalled stumbling at all.

  Soon after, the creature pulled aside the flap and stepped out.

  Nick’s eyes opened wider, betraying his surprise. When he had heard the term ‘elf,’ he had been thinking of the fantasy races often depicted in the media, particularly Tolkein, magical, graceful, and elongated ears. However, the creature before him was not that. No, this creature was no taller than Nick’s knees and seemed grotesque in proportions; the only elfish thing about the creature was the elongated ears. Belatedly, Nick realized that the elf was less Tolkein and more Santa’s Workshop.

  Someone snapped their fingers. Nick started, realizing he had been quite rude and that he was unable to deflect or blame this behavior. He cleared his throat. “My apologies,” Nick said. “This is the first time I have seen an elf, not that this is any excuse.”

  “Ya ya, whatever,” the elf said with a scoff. “So, deal? What’re you offering.”

  Nick struggled to meet the elf’s eyes, being as they were so low to the ground. He tried averting his thoughts to something more productive.

  “Ah yes. What I’m proposing–” he cleared his throat again, still struggling to avoid staring at the elf and trying to avoid thinking about where the elves could possibly come from “-I’m proposing a mutually beneficial arrangement…”

  The elf glared at Nick and Nick’s resolve wilted. Nick thought that this was somewhat odd, considering Nick had nerves of steel, honed by years in the boardroom and later in the dungeon. Not much should have phased him at this point. But, this was merely an oddity. Nick was reconsidering why he had ever made the effort to travel all this way to speak with such a tiny and obstinate little person.

  It was then that Nick was drawn out from his internal musing.

  “Would you stop, both of you?” Kirk demanded, rather suddenly. The uncharacteristic behavior somewhat startled Nick.

  “He keeps staring,” the elf complained.

  “Apologies…” Nick said, regathering himself. It began to occur to him that his plans to use the elf might need to be modified. “But, first, introductions are in order. I am Nick Delaney, and this is Kirk.”

  “Frostlight,” the elf said. “Now hurry and tell me whatever it was that brought you here.”

  “A pleasure to meet you then–” Nick started.

  “-Odin’s frosted balls–!” the elf swore.

  “-We wish to form an organization–” Nick tried to keep going.

  “-We wanna party up,” the boy cut in. Nick glanced the boy’s way and the boy gave a defensive, “What?”

  “Not how I would have said it, but yes. We should ‘party up,’ as we all seek a common goal.”

  “What, get rich in this pit?” the elf scoffed.

  “While wealth would be appreciated, it would only be an intermediary goal. I think we all want freedom.”

  While Nick had never verified this, he believed that everyone in the penal-colony desired it. If not, then they were foolish beyond what his expectations allowed for imbeciles. Of course, he could always be proven wrong, for as soon as he had finished speaking, the elf made another disgusting sound.

  “Pfft,” the elf said, imitating flatulence.

  Nick refused to react, although he did glance at the boy just to ensure that Nick and Kirk were aligned. Unfortunately, this was inconclusive as Kirk coughed and refused to meet Nick’s eyes.

  Nick ran his tongue across the inside of his teeth, teasing against the edge of his canines. Perhaps Nick had been too generous. However, what was done, was done, and the only direction remaining was forward. Thus, Nick gave a charming grin.

  “A rather incredible goal, I agree,” Nick said with wry humor.

  The boy agreed although the elf huffed.

  “Sounded like you believed that,” the elf said with skepticism.

  “Should we not aim high?” Nick asked. Kirk grimaced and the elf scoffed. Nick made a show of rolling his eyes. “Well, if you doubt your own abilities, then we can ‘party up’ to guarantee our own safety.” What Nick almost implied, was that the elf and the child suffered from a lack of abilities and hence needed safety.

  The elf made a show of thinking while narrowing his bright blue eyes. They almost seemed incandescent in the dark, matching the elf’s name, Frostlight. Whether that was his actual name, or a nom de guerre, so to speak, was unclear.

  “Safety’s all well and good,” Frostlight said. “But I am not so trusting of humans…”

  At that point, Kirk jumped in. “But he’s not human.” Kirk gestured up at Nick and Nick was taken aback, because Nick still very much considered himself to be a human. But after a second of thought, Nick thought he saw where Kirk was coming from, and Nick approved. If a technicality got them in the door, then so be it.

  “He’s not?” the elf said in disbelief. “Sure as ice looks like one.”

  “Nah,” Kirk said. “Nick here’s a lich. And a godsmarked one at that…”

  “That explains the wearing bones bit, and probably why he’s insistent on bothering an elf… and says the dumbest things… ya ya, I believe it.” The elf then pointed at the boy. “But you’re a human. Even if a child…”

  At that, the boy stepped a bit up and pointed to his own face. Nick frowned. A moment passed. And then it became noticeable. The boy’s face began melting like warm wax, not quite flowing, but definitely moving in ways that faces generally should not. Each individual change was minute, barely detectable. But a moment later, the boy was wearing a different face.

  Nick worked his jaw.

  Had the boy always been able to do that? Nick wondered. Then, Nick wondered what the extent of the boy’s activities were. Beyond the knee-jerk reaction of suspicion and fear of unaddressed accountability, Nick grew excited at the potential the boy’s abilities represented.

  “Ah…” the elf trailed off, wincing in discomfort.

  Nick struck while the iron was hot.

  “Right, well then,” Nick said. “Let’s talk details.”

  One of the things Nick noticed when walking back towards the inn with the elf in tow, was the looks of suspicion that his group received from just about everyone, except for those who looked on with looks of contempt, or in some cases, anger.

  Nick found his grip tightening on his walking spear while he felt at the bones in his vicinity. As one of the most common crafts material was bone, it came as a happy coincidence that Nick could often detect his surroundings, at least when in town, and when he put himself in the right state of mind. As it was though, no one attempted to sneak up on them.

  He did glare at a couple of shirtless thugs that seemed to be considering starting trouble.

  When they finally arrived at the inn, the elf frowned and glanced away.

  “I’m not so sure about going in there…” Frostlight said.

  “It will be fine,” Nick said with perhaps an unjustified confidence. He pushed the door open and led his group inside, heading towards one of his favored tables. As they headed towards the back, one of the layabouts they passed spit on the floor.

  “Ugh,” Nick made his contempt known.

  They wedre just about to the table when one of the employees met them. At first, Nick thought the employee planned on wiping the table down before he sat, but when the employee obstructed his path by planting feet and standing in his way, Nick was forced to re-evaluate this employee.

  “Yes?” Nick asked the suspected woman.

  “Since when’re you friends with one of ‘em small folks?”

  “As of today,” Nick said.

  “And you’re sure it’s… natural?”

  “Excuse me?” Nick asked somewhat scandalized.

  “It’s fine,” Kirk cut in. “She wants to know if the elf is charming you or not.”

  “I’m not!” Frostlight said, offended.

  “Don’t look at me like I’m the one robbing cribs,” the woman griped in her own defense. “I had t’make sure. ‘Sepcially for one of our best customers.”

  Nick nodded, understanding misplaced acts of service just fine. In this case, the woman had been looking out for him, which was just fine in his book. However, this was a chance to ingratiate himself with his newest team member. Not that Nick would push too hard, afterall, he would hardly want his level of received service to decrease.

  “If that’s all,” Nick said forcefully. “I and my friends will take a round.”

  “...yeah, ‘course.”

  Meanwhile, the elf was glaring at the server darkly, watching the woman leave.

  Nick finished leading the way to the table and led by example, sitting down first. The other two soon followed.

  “I take it people discriminate against you often?” Nick asked Frostlight.

  The elf almost sneered, before deflating. “Unfortunately. It’s the Charm.”

  “Simple-minded fools,” Nick said, feigning empathy. “But, their loss…”

  After a suitable pause and a shared look of commiseration, Nick changed the subject.

  “So, what can you do?”

  ***

  The team normalized quickly.

  It happened fast enough that Nick found himself surprised and wondering if either Frostlight or Kirk were conning him. However, he squashed those concerns, or rather, he acknowledged them, accounted for them, and then moved on to accept the blessing for what it was.

  That first night in the tavern, they spent hours sharing their abilities, sharing their stories, and fending off discriminatory drunks.

  Perhaps that was why the team had bonded as quickly as it did.

  Regardless, Nick made note of all the resources and assets he had available.

  Froslight, the elf, could ‘Charm’ the mind. If an entity had a mind and a weak will, he could focus and mold that mind, similar to how Nick molded bone. This ability was apparently intrinsic to the elves, which explained much in regards to the distrust the elf’s mere presence invoked.

  Kirk, the boy, he could change and shape his flesh, including into animalistic traits, such as claws and sensory organs. Nick suspected the boy could change much more than he let on… Nick also suspected that the boy could be any age and any gender and that the child merely chose a costume to invoke pity.

  Regardless of the poor connotations associated with both of Nick’s companions, Nick saw opportunity. That was why, rather than turning the elf and the changeling out and divorcing himself from them, he instead paid for a room for each of them and ensured that the team spent that night in luxury.

  Of course, the team did not gel quite so quickly.

  The next day, Nick had to pound on the elf’s door to wake the sloth, and the boy mysteriously disappeared during the night and only reappeared as breakfast finished.

  From there, Nick led his team down to the dungeon, planning to keep to the shallows where the foes were easier.

  Naturally, there were issues with their teamwork, stepping on each other's toes, so to speak.

  The boy tended to get between Nick and the beasts they were fighting, likely due to tunnel vision and the fact that the boy’s mode of fighting was a short range unarmed melee, relying on the natural weapons he could form with his malleable flesh.

  The elf would charm one of the beasts, but the charm would break if attacked. Of course, Frostlight lacked an ability to communicate which of the beasts he was attempting to charm. Besides that, even if he could mark his intended victims, his attempts were not always successful to begin with. And when charming failed, the victim would howl for blood and enter a frenzied state, often calling forth hidden allies to fight alongside it, all focused upon goring the elf in retribution.

  The first time Frostlight’s charm failed, when the oversized rat-things converged upon him, it seemed as though that would be the end of the elf then and there. It was then that the elf revealed another ability that he had failed to share the night before. He suddenly became less. Perception of him faded. While he was still very much visible and obviously there, attention would otherwise glance off of him.

  It was a strange sensation, and one that neither Nick nor Kirk were immune to.

  Frostlight called it glamor.

  Nick called it irritating. Although he was sure to find an appropriate use for the ability. The glamor did keep the elf alive after all. Nick just found it irritating when a wall of rats suddenly turned towards him rather than the elf.

  When the rats had attacked in force, they had not all piled upon Nick, but also upon Kirk. Nick shouted and thrashed the rats about to gain as much of their ire as possible, but some still attacked the boy.

  The rats were at least a quarter of the size of the boy, each.

  Nick expected the boy’s death. Instead, they boy twisted his flesh around to seal wounds and the boy shoved still living rats down his throat, gorging upon the wriggling gray flesh. Watching a long and skinny tail slurp up into the boy’s mouth was nauseating.

  Actually, the entire thing was nauseating.

  But, Nick persevered, and he ignored these oddities.

  It was worth noting that the boy consumed far more flesh than the boy weighted. Where that weight went, Nick was scared of asking.

  That day they had only gone a quarter of the way down and into the shallows before turning back. They ascended the dungeon without issue and they paid a toll… or rather, they tried to.

  When the toll-keepers saw how little Nick’s team had earned, the toll-keepers guffawed and waved the group through, laughing and mocking Nick’s team for such a poor showing.

  Nick gritted his teeth and tried to remind himself that this saved his team some money, although it came at a cost in face.

  Nick tried to ignore that which he could not affect.

  After arriving at the tower, they exchanged their stones and split the chits three ways.

  Nick, of course, recognized that he had born the bulk of the labor and therefore deserved the bulk of the proceeds. However, he desired goodwill from his teammates moreso than a paltry sum that he could gain from arguing a larger share.

  The goodwill with his team was worth it.

  On their way towards the tavern, they crossed several of the shirtless thugs which had accosted the elf previously. And notably, several of the thugs displayed large and whorling tattoos, such that implied Marks and power, at least as purchasable from the wardens.

  The thugs glared at Frostlight and Frostlight kept his attention well away from where the thugs loitered.

  This served as a potential opportunity, Nick thought. While Nick’s team still headed towards the tavern, and had not yet passed the thugs, Nick nudged Frostlight.

  “Some bad history there?” Nick asked leadingly.

  The elf scoffed and regained some of his boldness, now looking straight ahead rather than down towards the ground.

  “All of them look the same,” Frostlight said, almost complaining. “How should I know?”

  “All of them as in…” Nick prompted, feeling slightly offended and not really knowing why.

  Before Frostlight could answer, the boy cut in.

  “Yeah, it’s them alright,” Kirk said, nonplussed.

  The elf shot the boy with a suspicious look. Did he think that Kirk ratted him out for some reason? Or was the elf hoping to have a chance to say something along the lines of the previous topic? It was unclear, but it also failed to matter. Nick got the conversation back on track.

  “So they accosted you, these men specifically?”

  The elf shrugged, but after a few seconds gave a terse nod. “I think I recognize that one.”

  “From what I have heard, the altercation was violent?”

  “Odin’s balls! ya ya, but what’s this matter?!” Frostlight demanded.

  “One last question then,” Nick lied. “The altercation ended immediately after the wardens intervened?”

  The elf groaned and swept his hands through his hair. “Yes, ya, but why?” His eyes narrowed.

  “I have a hypothesis which I want to test,” Nick said.

  Nick’s team had just passed by where the thugs were loitering. Rapidly, he considered. He needed to understand the effects of the tattoos that could enhance personal power. He had suspicions regarding those tattoos. As the elf, thug, and wardens had all met in an altercation previously, this was the perfect chance to confirm or deny such a suspicion. However, should he take the time to explain it, then the moment will have likely passed, and that was even if the elf agreed, and if the elf agreed, if he could even pull off an adequate job of acting… and while Nick’s choice might lead to a souring of the juvenile team and its cohesion, he had long since grown inured to risk, and he knew that fortune favored the bold.

  This meant that regardless of the elf’s response, that Nick would likely act all the same.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  This meant that when the elf answered, “Maybe? Depends on what you–”

  That Nick shouted, “-Excellent!” And acted.

  Nick put a hand on the elf’s shoulder and immediately changed course, bringing the elf with him forcefully, now angeled directly towards the thugs.

  “He-hey! Wait!”

  The boy had frozen at the sudden change in direction, before following after with an incredulous expression.

  “But what do you even–” the elf began, but Nick gave a slight squeeze on the shoulder to silence him.

  They arrived at the thugs, just feet away. Although one of the thugs had split off from the rest when they saw Nick approach, Nick assumed that if things grew violent that the thugs would have reinforcements coming.

  One of the thugs, a brunette, spat on Nick’s feet.

  “What’re you looking at?” the thug asked, clearly posturing.

  Nick rolled his eyes and shoved the elf forward just half a step closer to the thugs. Of course, the elf protested, but not strongly enough to draw upon his charm.

  “Is he the one who accosted you?” Nick asked the elf.

  The elf grimaced, but shook his head and pointed at one of the men standing adjacent to the nominal leader of the thugs.

  “This should work well then. Thank you in advance.”

  Nick then shoved the elf into the identified thug.

  This prompted a bit of a scrap, but the thugs were too taken aback to immediately retaliate, and the elf was equally caught off guard. Meanwhile, Nick watched the identified thug carefully.

  The elf lost balance and crashed into the legs of the thug.

  The thug shouted and went to push the elf off but ended up catching the elf instead.

  The brunette, meanwhile, got into Nick’s face while NIck was focusing.

  “Just what’s the meaning of this–” the brunette shouted, spittle flying.

  “-just a moment and I’ll deal with–”

  The elf got back to his feet and pushed off from his accoster’s legs. The accoster was red in the face, clenching his teeth, eyes nearly popping from his head while a vein throbbed in his forehead. While not entirely conclusive, it painted a grim picture. At least, grim for those fools that received the tattoos willingly.

  Of course, the brunette did not enjoy being ignored. The already irate thug lost his cool at that moment and punched Nick, catching him by surprise and striking Nick in the temple.

  Nick saw a flash as he fell back, only barely managing to catching himself in an awkward stumble.

  The brunette spat again and then reached over to his colleague, grabbed the elf, and shoved the elf off towards Nick.

  “The gods take you, what even was this?!” the brunette swore.

  “That…” Frostlight seemed shaken for some reason, before glaring at Nick as well. “What was that for?” The elf’s tone sounded pained, almost betrayed.

  Fairly melodramatic.

  “Honestly, I was just testing a theory, and now that we have, our business here is concluded.”

  “What? Nah… no,” the brunette said. “You owe us after this shit. Think you can just come here, throw down, and walk away?”

  “Hmm.” Nick tapped his chin. “Yes. Good day,” Nick said, before gesturing to his team. “Well, gents? Shall we be off? Preferably before anyone else arrives.” Nick had not forgotten that the thugs might have more friends on their way. And while Nick remained confident in his own abilities, he felt no reason to take additional risks when he had already received what he wanted.

  The tension was broken when Kirk began chuckling.

  “He practically laid you out! Look at that bruise forming on your face!” the boy said, growing in volume.

  Nick frowned. His regeneration should have prevented any bruise from forming.

  The lad kept on. “That hook was something else! Bet your head’s ringing something fierce.”

  The brunette nodded slowly, before smirking.

  “Ugh,” Nick complained. “Whatever. Frostlight, Kirk, on me. I’ll buy our drinks.”

  “And explain what this was about, ya?” Frostlight demanded, some of his confidence returning.

  “Yes, of course.”

  “And us?” the brunette thug also demanded.

  “Ha!” Nick said, turning his back on them and striding away.

  “This isn’t over!” the brunette shouted back.

  Nick and his team kept moving, and they did so safely, as Nick knew would happen. Afterall, the thugs hardly wanted to risk their lives in an altercation that they might not win.

  When they made it to the tavern’s entrance, before they entered, the boy cleared his throat to gain Nick’s attention.

  “Yes?” Nick asked him.

  At that time, Frostlight sucker punched Nick in the kidneys.

  “Oh, nothin, just something stuck in my throat,” the boy lied shamelessly.

  If Nick lacked his regeneration, he would have been wroth. As it was, however, he could admit he had that coming. So with that, and a pained wheeze, he opened the door and strode into his favorite ‘watering hole,’ where his team then demanded multiple rounds of drinks, along with an accounting of his actions.

  During this, he mused, that perhaps the team had not actually left the storming phase of its lifecycle.

  ***

  The discussion that night came awkwardly.

  Nick explained his reasons for doing what he did, shoving the elf into a belligerent thug.

  In all fairness, the act had been bold and could have initiated hostilities with Frostlight at the front, where his slight stature and constitution would have put him at risk.

  But, one will miss all of the shots that one does not take. Nick explained the benefit of the bold act, he apologized for the lack of warning and the impulsiveness of the act, and he apologized once more.

  “Ha! Don’t know why you’re so upset,” the lad said in joviality, spilling his drink as he slapped the table. “It was Nick that got laid out. You see that punch?! If he didn’t heal so fast, that woulda been a shiner…”

  Nick was hesitant but he saw the opportunity for what it was. He decided to take it. “It was quite surprising,” Nick admitted. “Though that man was lucky I was in a generous mood.”

  “Uh-huh,” Kirk said, making a show of it, continuing to behave in a boisterous manner associated with drunks. However, Nick was certain that the boy’s constitution would prevent alcohol from overly affecting him, which meant two things. The first, that Nick was absolved of aiding a minor drink alcohol. The second, that the boy was acting this up in a ploy, likely to influence the elf.

  The elf, meanwhile, was three cups in, and was starting to smile at the boy’s antics, and also at the serving girl’s cleavage, as scant as that cleavage was.

  The boy continued. “What’d you even learn to begin with?” Kirk asked Nick.

  “Keep in mind this is merely a suspicion,” Nick said. “But I believe that the tattoos–”

  “-he means the Marks–”

  “-yes, the ‘Marks,’ have some sort of controlling effect, from the wardens to those who have been Marked.”

  “Like a compulsion?” Kirk asked, suddenly sounding sober, eyes narrowing.

  “Indeed,” NIck said.

  The elf, now four cups in, responded in a scandalized but amused tone.

  “... Lemme get this straight,” Frostlight said with a drunken slur. “You thought ‘em Sacred Arts got Charms?” He sounded both scandalized and offended.

  “If by that you mean that those markings come with compulsions, for the marked to obey the wardens, yes, that was my theory.”

  “Gotta admit that it makes sense,” Kirk said.

  “But… they’re supposed t’be sacred!”

  “Then why would those fools obey the wardens so literally? How else does this society survive?”

  Nick aired some of the questions that had hounded him. The fact that goods were left unrobbed under minimum security, with the sole exception being the tower, it just failed to match a model of rational agents in an unconstrained market. The prisoners had the power and the motive but none of them had lashed out in a meaningful way against the wardens.

  “I don’t know about the ‘market theory,’ or the ‘econwhatsit’ you talked about–”

  “-Economics,” Nick scoffed.

  “- but you gotta admit the Marks are way cheaper than up in Kwin,” the boy finished.

  The elf moved on to his fifth cup and was barely remaining upright. But still, he argued, although it was uncertain at this point what the elf was arguing for.

  “It’s cause it makes ‘em more stones!” the elf said. “Better… raiders?” he finished, struggling to find a term to describe those employed in delving the dungeon and harvesting Dungeon Stones.

  Nick decided to try and understand Frostlight, as while the arguments were worthy of consideration, they were not the ones that Nick had expected from the elf.

  “Why are you so bothered by this?” Nick asked.

  “... ah’m not,” the elf said. “It’s just… it’s not happening.”

  A moment of silence passed. Nick met Kirk’s eyes and Nick gestured with his head towards the elf. Kirk shrugged, clueless as well. It seemed that a period of silence was all the elf needed to collect his thoughts, as after a while, the elf explained.

  “Charms shouldna be defiled,” the elf finally said.

  Nick considered the term, and how strongly the elf seemed to identify with his ability to magic the mind of either beast or man. It made sense.

  It seemed that Kirk also realized what was happening at nearly the same time, because Kirk laughed.

  “You’re just salty!” Kirk said, teasing the elf. “That’s it, you don’t like someone moving in on your turf!”

  “Frostlight,” Nick cut in, worried the boy would go too far. “Your skills are a valuable contribution to the team–” Frostlight began nodding slowly, his face with a bluish tint that likely was the elvish equivalent of a blush, at least until Nick continued “-ven if everyone and their mother is also able to employ that exact same skillset. Although, considering the market, we might need to re-negotiate…” Nick led off, in a playful but not completely unserious tone.

  The boy laughed and slapped Nick on the back before calling for another round of drinks on Nick’s tab.

  The next day, the party descended into the dungeon once more.

  Nick acted as the front-liner, the boy acted as a scrapper, and the elf as some kind of mage.

  Compared to earlier delves, this time, Frostlight called out his targets.

  “Charming on left, ya!” Frostlight said, beginning to focus on a bipedal dog beast of some kind. Apparently, they were called hundeor. They appeared quite rabid.

  This was a pack of four beasts, which meant Nick needed to draw the ire of the remaining three while Frostlight worked his magic to subvert the last. Thus, Nick lunged forward and began sweeping his sword, using the blade of the tip to harry the beasts.

  During this time, Nick lost sight of Kirk and Frostlight, but Nick assumed they were performing adequately.

  Nick ‘tagged’ two of the hundeor, but one of his intended three targets slipped past before Nick managed to give the beast more than a superficial wound, and this beast, for some reason, appeared oddly fixated upon the elf.

  Nick swore and began attempting to manipulate the bones of this hundeor, but in the process left his back exposed to the remaining two hundeor which he had been distracting.

  Their claws and teeth latched onto Nick’s backside.

  Claws racked up from between his legs, under his skirt, and sliced at his inner thighs and groin. It caused him a flare of instinctual panic. He twisted back towards these two to lash out in anger.

  It was then that the elf shouted in anger, leaving Nick wondering what happened.

  “You broke it!” the elf swore.

  “It was almost to you!” Kirk fired back.

  “Just glamor it!” Nick shouted back over his shoulder as he slammed one hundeor down with a spear to its chest.

  “Odin, no time!” the elf shouted back.

  Nick stomped down the second hundeor and began hurrying back towards where the elf and boy had fallen back, which allowed him to see the elf jump back from a hundeor, dodging a wide swipe of the hundeor’s claws.

  Kirk ran in, tackling the hundeor, but that left the final hundeor free to tackle Kirk.

  “Ice take it!” Frostlight swore.

  Nick was heading towards them, but he paused out when he saw the elf do something strange.

  The elf pulled out a thin stick of no more than nine inches in length, one with a glowing bit of stone near where the elf held it at.

  “A wand?” Nick wondered aloud, stopping his advance to watch just what the elf planned, and just what the elf had been holding back.

  The elf pointed the stick at the hundeor. Then came a flash of pink light and a popping sound.

  The hundeor atop of Kirk fell backwards, slapping at its chest and whimpering. When the hundeor rolled back on the ground, Nick saw the hole go clear through its torso. The hundeor continued slapping at its chest and whining piteously, weaker and weaker, until it fell silent.

  The last hundeor fell silent with a gurgle; Kirk had torn its throat.

  Nick approached the elf with caution as the elf put the wand back in his belt, where Nick realized a holster had been this entire time. And now that Nick really examined the elf, Nick noticed that there were other bits and bobs which might also be tools or weapons of some sort.

  “Did you make those?” Nick asked, nodding at the belt.

  The elf smirked proudly.

  Kirk finished wiping the blood from his mouth and almost seemed reverent of the elf. “You’re an artificer?” Kirk asked.

  “Ya,” Frostlight said. “Still thinking my skillset’s not so good?”

  Nick huffed with good humor. “I believe,” Nick said slowly, “that we no longer need to re-negotiate your rates.”

  “Oh sure, ya, now he says this.”

  “Did you wish to?” Nick asked, taking a sudden serious bent. “Renegotiate, that is.”

  Kirk made a flatulent noise which caused the elf to bark a laugh and a denial.

  “No, I still get a third. Is enough, ya?”

  “Good,” Nick said with a nod. “But now, I am wondering what all you can make. An artificer, I think you’re called?” Nick glanced to Kirk for confirmation at the term. Kirk nodded, still looking impressed by the elf.

  “Eh…” the elf said, embarrassed.

  “Well, what all can you create?” Nick asked, ideas already pouring forth on how to best leverage and exploit. “Weapons? Obviously…” Nick muttered, rubbing his chin. “Explosives? Maybe. Drugs?” he glanced at the elf. “Can you craft pharmaceuticals?”

  Kirk coughed. “More of an alchemist thing, that.”

  The elf nodded. “Ya. But explosives… I think I can do?”

  “You don’t sound that sure about that.”

  The team improved in coordination and ability.

  The elf increased his bag of tricks, crafting multiple wands, explosive grenades, and even several personal enchantments, such as shields… the shields remained experimental however, as the bracers they were anchored to would often short-out and catch fire.

  The boy continued to increase his reservoirs of internal mass, which increased the variability of what forms he could generate. As he deployed these forms in combat, his abilities sharpened, allowing him to change forms more quickly.

  Nick Delaney continued to grow as well, although his growth had slowed significantly compared to his initial forays into the dungeon. He felt he had hit a plateau and was growing frustrated. He consoled himself by the fact that his team was growing, which left more power at his fingertips, although he worried his team would eventually outpace him.

  This continued for some days, and the party continued to build wealth and learn each other's methods and habits. After a month, the team was surpassing the depth that Nick would normally delve to, although any further and the weakness would begin to affect him.

  It was that weakness that affronted him now.

  They had just cleaned a pack of larger bipedal creatures, not hundeor as these ones were hairless, but still just as rabid. The fight had been tiring and the wounds Nick had received were slower to heal. As such, he suggested taking a break to give him a chance to ‘repair his gear,’ as he claimed.

  And he did do so, but the damage to his osseous based gear was lighter than claimed, and he had only grown more adept with its manipulation.

  But the pause allowed him a chance to take a breather.

  Kirk and Frostlight both found themselves tasks to idle with, Frostlight replacing dulled energy sources, Kirk feasting upon the dead beasts. Of course, Nick did not fail to miss the concerned glances he was receiving from the boy. Nick ignored them, as to bring them up would only welcome unwanted scrutiny.

  And besides, Nick felt well enough by the time his wounds healed. And if his limbs held a slight tremble, and if his sense of balance was slightly off, it was not near so bad that he would be forced to admit his failings.

  Or so he thought.

  They ended their break and he led them deeper into the dungeon.

  He led them into a large passageway, a cavern that may have been used as an auditorium or stadium, it was so large. In the lowest point of it, near a pool of foul water, there was a nest of dead vermin, some living but smaller vermin, old kills, and three overly large trolls, each taller than Nick by again half his height.

  Trolls had keen hearing, and they likely would also have keen smell, should they be able to smell anything at all over their own stench. But as such, one of them heard Nick’s footsteps.

  This one, the smallest of them, with a reddish pigmentation, grunted a warning to the other two.

  The largest one, who had been reclining in indolence and fondling itself, grunted back in irritation.

  The other troll, this one with a more bluish coloration, clapped its hands and generated an overly large booming sound, which shook the entire auditorium and caused dust to fall from the ceiling.

  “Think we should back up a bit,” Kirk said in a hushed voice from behind.

  Nick agreed with the assessment, however, Kirk had not spoken near quiet enough.

  The red troll lifted a femur like a club and slapped the largest troll upside the head with it. The large troll roared and tried lunging at the red one from where the large one had been laying upon its nest, but the red one dodged away, towards Nick’s party.

  The blue one laughed and then crouched low, slapping the stone floor as though it were a drum.

  Nick made a note that these trolls seemed to have at least some form of society, however primitive that society was. He doubted he could make use of that fact though, and certainly not at this time.

  The red one stopped halfway to Nick’s party, causing the large one to get up and give chase.

  The blue one ceased its racket, choosing to follow after the large one.

  The red one pointed at the tunnel Nick’s party had emerged from.

  “Back up!” Nick hissed.

  But it was too late.

  The blue one threw a stone at the tunnel, causing an explosion of shrapnel that drove Frostlight further into the auditorium.

  “We fight here!” Nick called, leaping to action.

  “Charming on left,” Frostlight called, referring to the blue troll. Nick made note of it as he stuck out at the red one.

  The red one tried smashing Nick’s spear aside from the thrust. The red one’s cudgel was made of bone. Nick had already begun weakening the cudgel; when the cudgel hit the spear, the spear was still knocked off course but the cudgel shattered.

  The spear grazed the troll’s shoulder, not inflicting a deep enough wound for Nick to begin attacking the troll’s skeletal system.

  The red troll gave its cudgel a questioning look.

  Kirk came around the side, clawing into the red one while it was distracted.

  “Get its bones already!” Kirk shouted to Nick. Normally, Nick’s opening thrust would have left the creature vulnerable to Nick’s osseous manipulation, which would enable Nick to seize the creature’s joints and wreak havoc upon them.

  “Can’t! Need a deeper wound!” Nick responded, half distracted by monitoring the other two trolls.

  The blue one was coming in fast, but Nick had to avoid wounding it or doing anything to affront it or get between Frostlight and the soon-to-be charmed troll. As the elf was working that target, Nick pulled a javelin from the quiver on his back and then launched it at the bigger troll.

  The big troll had finally reached Nick’s position, leaving Nick time to only throw one missile. The throw was rushed and sloppy, the javelin wobbled in air, and the troll batted it aside with its forearm.

  As a last ditch attempt to get at least something out of the javelin throw, Nick grasped the javelin’s material with his osseous manipulation and grew several miniature thorns. As the troll’s forearm met the side of the javelin, these thorns stuck to the troll's flesh, tearing some skin loose, but also causing the javelin to attach momentarily to the troll’s arm, transferring momentum and throwing the troll off balance.

  “I got this one,” Kirk said, referring to the red troll who Kirk was in the process of disemboweling; the troll in turn was stabbing Kirk with the remains of the cudgel while trying to hold its insides in with the other hand. “You get the big one!”

  Nick wanted to scoff in protest as Nick hated taking orders from anyone, but the point would have been moot and counterproductive given the precarious situation they were in. Instead, Nick returned his spear to a two hand hold and tried slashing at the big troll’s prodigious gut.

  “Already doing that!” Nick shouted back.

  The blue troll made it past Nick’s position, veering off from where Nick and Kirk fought, heading in the elf’s direction.

  Nick lost sight of it, but felt the bones it wore, and it was near one of the auditorium walls. About that time, that sense rapidly changed altitudes, from a chest height to a floor height. Belatedly, Nick realized that meant that the blue troll had stumbled and fallen.

  “Charm failed!” Frostlight shouted.

  Nick felt a chill travel down his spine. He slashed with the blade of his spear at the larger troll and caused the troll to jump back. This gave Nick a chance to look for Frostlight. His eyes pierced the almost non-existent lighting of the dungeon and he spotted where the blue troll had stumbled, falling face first six yards from where Frostlight stood against a side wall, too far removed from any other passages to escape with.

  However, Nick’s team had prepared for such situations, and the elf was not as helpless as his diminutive size suggested.

  Frostlight pulled a glowing pink stick from his belt, partially made from bone, partially from Dungeon Stone.

  “I’m a wanding it!” Frostlight shouted, already pointing the wand, the pink glow increasing in luminosity.

  An actinic flash, a popping sound, burnt flesh and a pained yelp of surprise from the blue troll.

  The big one Nick was fighting guffawed in what might have been a laugh. The reaction startled Nick, wondering if the troll had indeed laughed at its brethren. Before Nick could think too deeply about it, the big troll reached over Nick’s spear, impaling the side of its guts on Nick’s spear, trapping the spear in the process. The troll punched Nick in a haymaker, snapping Nick’s head to the side with such force that Nick’s neck broke, his brain rattled, and Nick went tumbling to the side.

  His regeneration kicked in, repairing his mind first.

  The room spun, there were shouts.

  The blue troll gave an enraged bellow.

  The elf said something, Nick missed it. There was another pop, another flash, another pained bellow.

  The room shook as something slammed against the wall.

  Nick’s body twitched as his spinal column repaired. It was taking too long. His mind was free though, and his spear had touched the large troll’s rib, giving Nick’s power an inlet to the beast’s skeletal system.

  Nick immediately focused all of his attention upon seizing the creature’s thoracic cavity and pressuring the ribs inward.

  The large troll coughed, then turned towards Kirk and the red troll.

  In a viscous and confusing act, the large troll punched down at the red one, crushing the red troll’s head.

  Kirk fell downwards, dragged by his teeth and claws which had been embedded in the red one. The large troll then kicked out, striking Kirk, sending Kirk and the corpse of the troll rolling across the cavern floor in a tangle of entrails and limbs.

  The big one coughed again, this time blood dribbeled from its chin.

  It gave a viscious smile down at Nick.

  Nick’s regained control of his limbs.

  The beast’s ribs smashed into its lungs, heart, and fused with the spinal column.

  The beast took a menacing step towards Nick.

  Nick stretched several vertebrae, straining the beast’s nerves, sending it stumbling forward in a look of confusion as its lower body stopped responding. The beast’s knees hit the ground. It reached its hands towards Nick, but Nick was scooting away while regaining his feet.

  Nick had a chance to check on the others.

  Kirk was extracting himself from the mess he had found himself in, though the red troll was dead.

  Frostlight fared worse. The blue troll was sporting singed holes through its torso and gut but was still standing and chasing the elf.

  The blue troll jumped at the elf.

  The elf dived and rolled to the side.

  The blue troll stretched an arm towards the elf but missed and then crashed to the ground on its knees and hands before changing course to the elf, the elf that was now running towards Nick.

  “Glamor already!” Nick commanded.

  “Working on it, ya!” Frostlight shot back. “It’s not working.”

  “Then grenade!” Nick snapped.

  The large troll’s heart exploded under the osseus pressure and collapsed with a final cough.

  Nick’s spear remained trapped.

  He grabbed two javelins, one for each hand, and he raced towards the elf and the final troll, but it looked as though Nick was going to be too late.

  Nick threw a javelin, it passed over the elf’s head, but missed the blue troll by a wide margin. He passed his last javelin to his good arm and threw again.

  The troll batted the javelin aside.

  Nick was unable to form thorns along that javelin in time, leading to that javelin causing only minor injuries.

  “Grenade!” Nick shouted again.

  He had no doubt that a troll could smash his head, causing lethal damage, causing Nick to ‘respawn,’ which would leave Kirk and Frostlight on their own in the depths of the dungeon. Normally, Nick would have a weapon to help. But his spear and javelins were elsewhere, and Nick was left with a long carving knife and several brittle daggers which were meant more to ward off people than suicidal trolls.

  “Y-ya! Here!” Frostlight shouted, dropping a glowing rock behind him as he ran past Nick’s position.

  The troll reached him.

  Nick brought his arms up, one holding a knife, the other holding nothing but meant to gaurd his head.

  Something blurred in the corner of Nick’s eye. A cudgel. Not made of bone. What was that–

  The cudgel struck Nick’s face, causing him to white out.

  He regained comprehension just as he hit the wall. A boom. He whited out again. He regained comprehension, again. Dust and smoke filled the cavern.

  All three of the trolls were down, with Kirk going troll to troll to verify the kills. The blue troll was on its back, missing parts of its legs and belly, with shrapnel along its back and side. It was in the process of dying and seemed to be unable to act further.

  Nick gave the trolls no more attention and instead took care of himself. His regeneration was healing around bits of stone and metal shrapnel–he had been struck as well, just the same as the blue troll. From past experiences, he knew that the embedded shrapnel would be a pain to remove. He slumped back down and rested against the wall.

  In this time of duress, Nick felt it was appropriate to vent.

  “Fuck,” Nick swore.

  “Coulda been worse,” Kirk said, a trace of judgement in his tone. Nick did not appreciate that. “But coulda gone better too,” Kirk continued. “Normally you’re faster, Nick.”

  Nick scoffed, irritated that the blame would land on him, although he knew that arguing his innocence would make him look weaker than owning up to his mistake would be, so long as owning up to his weakness came across as something other than an excuse.

  “What?” Kirk asked, sounding more upset now than before. “You don’t think so?”

  Frostlight reprimanded himself, not letting the blame fall solely upon Nick, which Nick appreciated.

  “I should have glamored, ya?” Frostlight suggested.

  This gave Nick an opportunity to play this situation to his benefit. It gave him an opening, one he refused to squander.

  “While that might have helped,” Nick said, “I have to agree with the boy. I should have been faster. And it pains me to say this, but as we go deeper from here, I will likely become even slower than this. I will need more time to grow in strength, slowing our rate of descent from now on, and we’ll need to plan our encounters accordingly.”

  “This is not the worst,” Frostlight said. “More devices or another companion, maybe?”

  “But another teammate would not necessarily bring us more profits. In fact, it would likely harm them, as there is only so fast we can travel through the upper levels, and we’d still need to split the gains equally. The difference from this depth on would need to be greater than the cost of splitting the profits from all of the floors above us, and I don’t think that’s the case.”

  “More grenades then,” Kirk suggested. “Or maybe, get better.”

  Nick glared at Kirk, but Kirk was now smirking, mouthing the words, ‘get good,’ which Kirk new Nick hated. It was teasing, and Nick supposed it was a form of healing for the team, to unwind after a stressful situation. Nick decided to allow it.

  “Indeed,” Nick said. “We need to get good.”

  “Not us,” Kirk said, now joking but not all the way, “Just you.”

  “Lovely.”

  “Just say what it really is,” Kirk said, giving Nick a somewhat penetrative look.

  “Ya,” Frostlight asked. “What about now?”

  Nick bit his tongue and tilted his head as he considered Kirk’s suggestion. Kirk exhausted his limited amount of patience and decided to speak before Nick, which Nick allowed as it gave insight into whatever accusation Kirk had in mind.

  “He’s a lich,” Kirk said. “They’re always stronger closer to their phylacteries. Going deeper means more distance. Makes ‘em weaker. Why he thought we could keep going the way we were I don’t know, but it’s more dangerous for you–” he pointed at the elf “-and me from here. We don’t come back after dying. He does,” Kirk finished, nodding at Nick.

  “Ya?”

  Nick groaned, “I suppose that is true, and this is as good a time as any to inform you of this, but at this level of the dungeon, I am somewhat weakened.”

  “Still though, this is pretty good now?” Frostlight asked.

  “Is it though? Good enough?” Kirk asked.

  Nick decided to take control of the narrative and shift the conversation to something that actually mattered.

  “It’s not, no,” Nick said to answer Kirk. “If you remember our original goal. We’re going to escape this hole.”

  Kirk broke eye contact while Frostlight nodded, although in a considering way and not an optimistic one at that.

  “Do you mean to tell me that you don’t want to get out?” Nick asked, prodding at the lack of commitment his teammates had exhibited.

  “Well, of course we do,” the elf said.

  “Ah, I see,” Nick said, nodding, before starting a rhetorical line of questions to fire the elf up. “Then you must think that somebody will rescue you. Perhaps some sort of appeal process? Or that the Kwin rulers above, whoever they may be, will simply decide to release you?”

  The elf canted his head, frowning, confused, and obviously recognizing that all of the previous statements would never happen on their own.

  “Then you feel that you are unable to take any action whatsoever,” Nick continued the line of rhetoric to its conclusion, showing the elf just how foolish the elf was being.

  “Alright,” Kirk said, butting in with skepticism and ire.

  Likely protesting the socratic method and not understanding what it was for or why it was deployed. The poor naive fool, Nick thought.

  “I see where you’re going with this,” Kirk continued. “But there’s a big difference between not being able to take any action, and being able to take effective actions to break out.”

  Nick would not be dismayed, however.

  “Certainly,” Nick said. He then deployed his vaunted managerial and leadership skills, remembering his days when he was still just a project manager. “So let’s start with force amplifiers and our current value propositions.”

  “Y-what?” Frostlight sputtered and asked, now incredibly confused.

  “Yeah… but what in the god’s own assholes are you talking about?!” Kirk demanded, upset.

  The elf snorted at the boy’s crude vulgarity, but otherwise turned expectantly to Nick.

  Nick took a deep breath and continued to pluck shrapnel from his skin. Admittedly, the pain of doing so may have caused Nick a somewhat foul mood. However, Nick continued the best he could to explain the logic.

  “Simply put, what can we do that others cannot, what can we do to amplify that effect, which will then lead us to decide how we will leverage those two capabilities.” Nick pointed at the boy. “Starting with you. What can you do that almost no one else can?”

  “I’m a mimic–” Kirk started.

  “-changeling–” Frostlight attempted to correct the terminology, a longtime disagreement between the two.

  “-No, a mimic,” Kirk insisted. “I think I’d know just what I am!”

  Nick ignored all of that, pressing on with his point.

  “Right. So you’re able to change forms, impersonate humans, and duplicate animals. I can already envision several methods of using this to escape. I am honestly shocked that this prison has held you thus far.”

  The boy offered some feeble excuse, not that Nick cared for it.

  Nick had already moved on to the elf. Nick pointed at the elf, “And you! You can charm wardens, you can craft tools, including bombs! Between Kirk’s ability to impersonate, your ability to ‘Charm,’ and my leadership, we have a real shot at escaping! Can you imagine? Open skies? Family reunited?”

  Frostlight especially nodded at the idea of seeing his family again, while the boy seemed largely apathetic.

  While the boy agreed in words, the boy might not have joined in with his spirit.

  In fact, under the boy’s breath, Nick thought he heard Kirk say, “Not so sure about the ‘vaunted’ leadership part being necessary…”