In the Dungeon You Sin

“I believed… this was but a nightmare…” Beluacor mutters.

“Hu, hu, hu. No, you didn’t believe,” The beast scoffs, “you wanted to believe.”

    The pain in his eyes… I want to say something. I want to, but no words come.

“Father, is that what happened?”

    Beluacor’s shoulders stiffen as he hears Tyffeon’s voice, lowering his head.

    It takes him a while before finding the will to reply.

“It is. I can’t lie to you any longer, son. Nor can I to myself…” He pauses, unable to turn and face Tyffeon. “Was I the first? Was I the last? That was what I wondered at the beginning. I always feared the truth, hoping deep down that it would never happen again. I never dared to talk about it, and as the years passed by, no one said anything about it either. I ended… imagining that all that may have been but a nightmare, an illusion of the depths. How… How to think otherwise, when the moment I returned I was only surrounded by cheerful people, rejoicing to see me back?”

    Beluacor clenches his fists.

“Though… I was just blind. Less and less of our young ones were returning from the depths. Probably did the monster laying the eggs disappear long ago. Our folk might have fetched too many of them back then…” Beluacor shakes his head. “If I had confessed my crimes, so many lives could have been saved. It is because of me that Curreo… that your friend died.”

“Indeed! Indeed!” The beast chimes in. “But can we cut it there? As much as I enjoy the scent of your despair, I am hungry, and you just stole my dinner. Knocker,” the beast raises its eyes in direction of Umbrestio, “you can kill the others. I truly do prefer my dwarfs’ taste.”

    My heart misses a beat when I realise we were so focused on Beluacor that I forgot about him.

    Of course, having recovered from his confusion, Umbrestio has taken advantage of Tyffeon’s lack of vigilance to step back.

    The moment my eyes find him, the Knocker steps into the Mimic King’s shadow. Melting into it.

    Umbra Bestia… Beast’s Shadow… If his name is but a derivative, he still can control a monster for as long as he remains in its shadow.

“Beware!!” I scream at Tyffeon.

    Too late.

    Still taken aback, it’s too late that he turns to the Mimic King, pouncing on him.

“Son!” Beluacor widens his eyes and reaches out his hand towards his monster. “Mimic, stop!”

    The monster, confused by the control of two Tamers enforced on it at the same time, its moves become erratic. Still, it manages to bump into him, letting Tyffeon roll over a few metres before hitting the ruins.

“Tyffeon!!”

    Timoria and I intend to join him, but the moment we do, a viscous sleeve lowers to our level. Preventing us from stepping closer to our companions, the beast chuckles.

“Ta, ta, ta. Not when things become enjoyable.”

    Worried, I gaze at the scene through the black and violet veil fidgeting before my eyes like expired pudding.

    After a moment of confusion, The Mimic King seems to come back to its senses. Beluacor’s dominance over it is stronger than Umbrestio’s, who is forced out of the monster’s shadow.

    A thud.

    Umbrestio hasn’t even been offered the time to use his magic when the Mimic hurls into him, sending the Knocker straight to the ground. The blow draws blood from his lips. Stone debris gets stuck in his beard as he straightens up, leaning on his hands to stand up.

    Not that Beluacor lets him any time to breathe. He grips him by the beard, forcing the younger dwarf to stand up.

“Your father already took the life of my son’s friend, I won’t let you touch Tyffeon.”

    A knife forms in his free hand.

    At the sight of the blade, Umbrestio begins to wriggle, trying to free himself from his grip.

“I’m sorry, but as long as you’re alive, my family will be in danger.”

“Don’t do that!!” I scream even before Umbrestio has time to protest. “Beluacor!”

    Slowly, he turns his head to meet my gaze.

    Remorse etched upon his features as he shakes his head.

“That’s not what I wanted. I’m sorry,.. Amako. Despite your good intentions, I can’t let him hurt Tyffeon. If his sole existence represents a threat for my family, then I have no other choice than to do this. I have to protect my son. Even if I have no right to call him like this…” He trails off, and I can barely focus on his words because of my heart beating wildly. “Make sure to finish me off before I become myself a threat to your lives.”

“You would abandon now?! Protect him… Protect him at what cost?? No!! Let’s fight together!..” My voice loses strength as I get overwhelmed. “Don’t. Don’t leave him behind…”

    For a moment, his silver eyes linger on me.

    For a moment, I think he’ll listen.

“Someone like me shouldn’t stand by his side.”

    I widen my eyes at his words.

    But he doesn’t look at me any more. He turns his eyes back at Umbrestio as he hurls the blade straight at his throat.

    A beat.

    Droplets of blood. Droplets of blood drip on the rocks below.

    His eyes wide open, Beluacor doesn’t utter a single word. He’s quite unable to. He can’t take his eyes off the wound he caused, releasing his grip on Umbrestio.

“How did you… dare… to think I would let you do such a thing?” Tyffeon scolds.

    His blood stains the blade, as he has just interposed his arm. A deep cut spread where the knife has sunk instead of Umbrestio’s throat.

    Tyffeon’s arm trembles from the pain, but he ignores it as he clenches his teeth. His apple-green eyes not parting from his father.

“Listen to me because I won’t repeat it twice. If we spent all this time preparing our departure to the depths, if we even considered going down there, if we committed what Gobha considers enough of a crime to sentence us to death, it is only, it is solely, in the aim of making sure you wouldn’t end up like this. And you? What is the first thing you do? Disregarding our efforts?!”

“But…”

“No. Protecting me? Begging to be killed to avoid causing a ruckus?” He frowns. “I’m not a child any more. I’m strong enough to protect you in turn. Or will you say that you don’t believe in your son?”

“…” Beluacor lowers his arm, his knife simply fading into nothingness. Instead, he pinches the bridge of his nose, as if holding back the tears. “I am not worthy of your devotion.”

“Worthy?” Tyffeon snaps back, raising an eyebrow.

    He is about to add something, but at the same moment a silhouette bypasses them.

    Distraught and finally able to move his legs, Umbrestio rushes past them. Straight to the beast.

    At first, none of us understands what he may have in mind. Does he just try to put as much distance as he can between him and the one who almost killed him? Then it would have been more logical to run in the other direction, not inside the ruins. Not near the dungeon’s beast. Even if Umbrestio isn’t the smartest Knocker in Gnog Fontalamh…

    I widen my eyes when I realise what he attempts to do.

    This never happens in Kingdoms of Sin, just because when Umbrestio is tainted in his scenario, it is on his way back to Toll Dubh…

“Don’t let him get to the monster’s shadow!” I warn, unable to move towards him.

    Timoria does try to unleash her leaves at the beast’s sleeve blocking us, but they simply get stuck into it.

    Beluacor and Tyffeon turn to Umbrestio, Tyffeon hurling his dagger straight at his back.

    But it does little to prevent the Knocker from throwing himself down to the shadow, the dagger getting stuck into the slime-like body.

“Useless…” Beluacor widens his eyes. “He can’t hope to control such a creature.”

    As Umbrestio disappears into the shadow, the beast begins to growl, raising back his sleeve as he straightens up.

“Turning your back on me?” The beast growls. “That definitely wasn’t an intelligent move.”

    Black substance drips from his skeletal jaws as he seems to enrage at the attempt, fussing around. He bumps into the ruins, his skull destroying a stone wall, forcing us to dodge the falling debris.

“Calm down! Don’t cause havoc!” Beluacor orders, trying to use his benediction to at least counteract Umbrestio’s influence.

    But, somehow, it only annoys the beast further.

“Stupid Tamers… You think you can control me?” It scoffs, the slime composing its silhouette beginning to bubble, its body messed up. “But what will you do, if what you face…”

    Its silhouette withdraws on itself, shrinking as if fading away… until reaching the height of a Knocker. Its black and violet figure colouring, slime tendrils still wriggling here and there until it perfectly reproduces Umbrestio.

“…isn’t a beast any more?” It finishes with his voice.