Gacha Gacha Hero

“How are you feeling?” Ave asked.

“Fine now. Your little trick really had me fooled there for a second.” Luke nodded to her. He held her arm as they walked down the dungeon corridor.

“Right. But what about before?”

“Huh?”

“Back in the clearing. You could barely walk.” said Ave.

“Oh yeah. That always happens. Anytime I summon I get really tired like that.” said Luke.

“What? Anytime? But I’ve seen you summon in the Capital. You never collapsed like that before.” she said.

“That’s because of my corset.”

“Your what?” Ave raised an eyebrow.

Luke lifted up his doublet. Layers of stiff fabric were concealed beneath.

“This whalebone corset was crafted by the finest seamstresses in the land. In addition to providing me with excellent back support it also has a hook on the back. Anytime I needed to summon in front of the court they hooked me to a chair so that I was always sitting upright.”

“Because otherwise you would have fallen over.” Ave guessed.

“That’s right. Then I just have to put on my Royal Summoner hat.” Luke waved at his head.

“The big floppy one?” Ave asked.

“That’s the one. It makes it look like I’m concentrating when I’m really passed out from exhaustion.”

“Has your power always done that?”

Luke glanced at Ash then back to Ave. “Yeah.” he nodded.

“And you still did it?”

Luke shrugged. “It was my job.”

#

“Is that a secret tunnel?” Ash pointed ahead.

“A secret tunnel!?” Luke exclaimed.

The two of them stood in front of a rectangular opening. A section of the dungeon wall had been pushed aside to reveal a corridor. The front part of the wall fit in perfectly with the stones around it. But on the back side there was a hidden set of hinges that allowed the wall section to swing open.

“Look at the streaks of rust on the floor. It was opened recently.” Luke pointed.

“Should we go inside?” Ash asked.

“There’s no reason not to.” Luke said.

“It really sucks that we discovered this.”

“Why do you say that?”

Ash shook his head. “Because now we can’t tell anybody in town. Think of how cool we would be if we told them that we found a secret tunnel. I can almost picture Jack’s face when I tell him we located a hidden passage. *Sigh* No one will believe us now.”

Ave was resting against the wall. “What are you two talking about?”

“Look at the inscribed logograms on the dungeon wall.” Luke pointed at the hidden passageway.

“These ones here have been depressed.” Ash singled out a few.

“A hidden switch maybe?” Luke puzzled out.

“There’s a layer of dust on the exterior walls but the interior walls are clean.” Ash looked out.

“This might be a whole part of the dungeon that no one has ever seen.” Luke thought out.

“When you two are done I’ll be over here. Bleeding.” Ave let out.

“Sorry.” Luke looked back at her. “But look at this. We found a secret tunnel.”

“Yes. You keep saying that over and over.” Ave said.

“Think of what might be inside. There could be treasure.” Luke said.

“Or ancient weapons.” Ash added.

“You two really want to go in there?” Ave asked.

“Oh yeah.” Luke smiled. “What if we find a secret passage? We might be able to avoid the roads entirely. We could make it to the next township without any more dangerous encounters.”

“It would save us a lot of time.” Ash added.

Ave chewed her lip. “Well, I’ve never been in an undiscovered dungeon before.”

“That’s the spirit.” Luke looked at the single candle he was holding. He turned to Ash. “It’s getting dark. We’re going to need more light. Torches?”

“Got it.” Ash held out his hands.

*Ka-zam*

A bundle of torches fell onto the floor in front of them.

Luke picked on up. “Got a light?”

Ave picked up a separate torch. She balanced her loose breastplate over her shoulder. “I’ve got a firestarter.”

The three of them leaned over as she struck her firestarter over the torches.

*Tik*Tik**Tik-Ka-Fwoosh*

A cloud of thick acrid smoke exploded from the heads of the lit torches. It filled the corridor around them.

*Cough* “Waagh. Oh wow. That is a lot of smoke.” Ave said.

“It’s not *cough* that bad.” *cough* Ash said.

Luke struggled for breath. “Aaahh… It’s in my eyes. It stings.”

Ash pulled out a bundle of washcloths. “Here. Put these over your mouths.”

#

After a few minutes the group was ready to move on. Luke held some of the unused torches under his arm.

Ash stepped forward into the unexplored passage. He held his torch as far away from his face as possible.

After a few minutes of walking the three of them came to a spit path. One corridor branched to the left, another to the right.

“Which way?” Ave asked.

“Not sure.” Ash held his torch up. He paused. “Did you two see anything?”

“Like what? Ave said.

“Like an animal.” Ash answered.

“No.”

“Must have been the shadows moving.”

“I think I read about situations like this.” Luke said.

“Really?” Ash glanced at him.

“Yes. While I was in the Capital. There was a book that said when you come to fork in a maze you should always choose the right path.”

“The right path? Or was it the correct path?” Ave asked.

“Huh… maybe that wasn’t it…” Luke scratched his head. “I think I remember it now. If we keep following the left path that will lead us in the right direction.”

“Left leads us right?” Ash raised an eyebrow.

“Shoot, hold on, that’s not right…” Luke rubbed his forehead.

“Is it right?” Ash asked.

“No it’s wrong.” Ave said.

“What is?” Ash asked.

“Right.” Luke said.

“So we go left?” Ave guessed.

“Right. I mean, I think, I don’t know…” Luke confounded.

“Let’s just pick a path and stick with it.” Ave said.

“Okay. I’ll do it.” Ash frowned. He looked down the right corridor. He looked down the left corridor. His torch flickered. “Left it is.” He said.

The group walked down the left path. After a few minutes they came to another branching hallway.

“Left again” Ash led them down the corridor.

More corridor. Another split.

“Left.”

They walked on.

More corridor. Another split.

“Left?” Ash said.

“Hold on.” Ave held up her torch. “That’s three lefts. We should have walked in a circle by now.”

“Fine. Then we’ll go right this time.” Ash turned down the other path.

Ave paused. “Hold on. Did you two hear anything?”

“Like what?” Luke asked.

“Almost like footsteps…” Ave replied.

Luke tilted his head. “I don’t think so. There shouldn’t be anyone else in this part of the dungeon after all.”

“If no one has been in this part of the dungeon before, does that mean that the traps still work?” Ave asked.

Ash waved his hand. “They might. But we’ve been in the Wolframite Dungeon before so we should be able to spot…”

The floor snapped open under Ash. He fell into darkness.