Vur groaned and opened his eyes. He tried to lift his head, but something holding his neck down stopped him. When he attempted to raise his hands to touch his neck, a heavy resistance prevented them from moving more than an inch. Though he didn’t have any trouble seeing in the dark normally, he couldn’t see anything but darkness in front of his face. He arched his back, but his waist seemed to be tied down as well along with his legs. His brow furrowed before relaxing, and he cast a spell. “Poison body.”

Nothing happened.

Vur took in a deep breath and concentrated his mana on his throat before exhaling. Instead of a dragon’s breath, nothing came out except for a wheezing sound. Before he could try something else, a familiar voice broke through the darkness.

“Vur?”

“Stella?” Vur asked. He wiggled, but the restraints that he couldn’t see were still preventing him from getting up.

Lights flashed on, and Stella flew up to Vur, hovering over his face. He was lying on some sort of table, fettered by red chains. Stella tilted her head. “What are you doing in my dungeon?”

“Your dungeon?”

“You know, a place you keep prisoners of war and traitors to the throne,” Stella said and nodded. She paused, her wings freezing in midair. “Wait. What are you doing inside of yourself?”

Vur blinked and tilted his head as much as the restraint on his neck would let him. “I’m inside of myself?”

Stella blinked back. “You aren’t?”

“Am I?”

“Hmm.” Stella scratched her head and frowned. “Well, there’s one easy way to find out.” She turned her head and cupped her hand over her mouth. “Deedee! Get over here!”

A few moments passed before the room shook. The tiles on the floor contorted and warped as a boulder rose from the ground. Two diamond eyes appeared on the boulder’s surface. “What do you want?” Diamant asked in a voice that sounded like a sigh. His eyes widened when his gaze landed on Vur. “Is that Vur? What’s he doing inside of his soul?”

Stella nodded. “Yep,” she said and landed on Vur’s forehead. She sat down and crossed her legs, leaning forward to look down into his eyes. “We’re inside of you right now.” Without moving her head, she waved her hand at Diamant as if she were flinging away a booger. “You can leave now, Deedee.”

“Guys! Guys, guys, guys!” A gust of wind stormed into the room and slammed into the wall behind Vur. A green boulder materialized from the wall and fell to the floor with a thud. “Guys! We’re being invaded by red people!” Zilphy rolled up and shook herself off. “Sheryl’s raining fire on them, but there’s a lot!” She paused when she saw the table. “Is that Vur? Hi. Fancy seeing you here. Why are you tied down? Is that a thing you like to do? Was I interrupting something weird? Sorry.”

Stella tilted her head. “We’re being invaded? Someone’s invading Vur’s soul?”

“That’s right,” Zilphy said. Stick-thin arms sprang out of her surface, and she raised them up into the air while spreading them. “There’s a huge freaking army out there. There must be millions, or even billions of them!”

Stella’s eyes narrowed as she clenched her fists. “How dare they launch a conquest against my home? I took root in this place because it’s the safest place in the world! Vur, what the heck were you doing to let invaders into you like this?”

Vur shrugged. “I don’t know. A red claw sprang out of my stomach, and a door appeared. Then I fainted.”

“A red claw…?” Stella muttered. “Was it bloody?”

“Maybe?”

Stella shot to her feet and launched herself into the air. “It was that chimera queen! Where is it? I’ll feed her to Chompy!”

The chains on Vur’s body shuddered and whimpered. Everyone in the room froze and turned their gazes towards the table that Vur was tied to. Stella floated closer. “Vur? Did you just…?”

“Nope. Wasn’t me,” Vur said and wiggled his head from side to side.

“I didn’t know chimeras could turn into chains,” Zilphy said and waddled over to the table. A pair of eyes appeared on the red chains and blinked at her. Zilphy turned towards Diamant. “Do you think Toothy eats metal?”

Before Diamant could respond, a flame burst into existence over Vur’s chest. It solidified into a red boulder that dropped onto his body with a thunk. A pair of coal-like eyes appeared on Sheryl’s face. “So, um, there’s a lot of people out there. And they all seem to have classes. There’s mages and warriors and priests and archers and I’m really scared right now. They’re working together, and I can’t stop them all by myself.”

Stella wrinkled her brow. “If we send Chompy, do you think he’d win?”

A blue boulder waddled into the cell. “That wicked creature is fighting the chimera queen. The chimera queen seems weaker than normal, but it’ll still take a while for that beast to win.”

“She’s probably weaker because part of her is here restraining Vur,” Stella said and crossed her arms over her chest. “So, it’s up to us to stop an invading army.”

“Five against several million,” Diamant said. “I don’t like those odds.”

Stella snorted. “Five?” She flew out of the cell towards the adjacent one in the dungeon. “Who says there’s only five of us?” She kicked the lock on the cell, and it fell to the floor with a clank. The door creaked open, and a black humanoid blob walked out. “Alright, Breeze, you freeloader. Go earn your keep.” She flew to the next cell and opened that one as well. “You too, Mr. Golden Man. I never learned your name, but if you earn some merits in this upcoming battle, who knows what your future will hold?”

A man made of golden light strolled out of the cell while rolling his neck and shoulders. A giant, bushy mustache decorated his face. “It’s Sir Edward, little fairy.”

Stella nodded and tapped flew back to Mistle. “Go find Mervin. He has to help too.” She puffed her chest out and smiled at Diamant. “See that, Deedee? There aren’t only five of us.”

“Oh. I guess I was wrong,” Diamant said and nodded. “Eight against several million. I still don’t like those odds.”