“Who are you?” Ethan asked trying to back away further but was prevented from doing so by the closed door. “How do you know my name?”

“I know many things about you,” the voice replied washing over Ethan like it was coming from everywhere at once. “You are Ethan Russell and have a strong sense of justice and fairness ingrained in you which of course leads to a simmering anger that you sometimes struggle to keep in check. Regardless, you will make an excellent Red.”

How would he possibly know something like that Ethan asked himself. Sure sometimes he let his emotions get the better of him and he exploded in anger, but that wasn’t often public. He thought he did a pretty good job of behaving himself around other people besides his anger issues weren’t really that bad. Whoever this was exaggerating things.

“Deny it all you want,” the voice said. “You can lie to yourself but you cannot lie to me.”

“Who are you?” Ethan asked again with irritation rising in his voice.

Who the hell was this person that said he knew Ethan better than he knew himself. Ethan may not have been the brightest person as this school, but he knew a liar when he met one.

“That’s the wrong question,” The voice said in the same all consuming emotionless voice. “I am not who but what.”

Now Ethan was really confused. That doesn’t even make sense he thought shaking his head. This person is crazy.

“What?” he asked trying to buy time while he figured out a way to get out of this room.

There were no windows as far as he could see anywhere. Shouldn’t there be windows? Even in the basement all classrooms should have someway to get out of them in the event of a fire or something. If there’s no windows this problem isn’t a classroom, but then what was it? Squinting his eyes he tried to see if there was anything he’d overlooked in the room that would give it away.

“This room is and I am a dungeon,” the voice stated answered both his spoken and unspoken questions.

“You’re a prison?” Ethan asked now a hundred percent certain that whoever this man was, he was completely insane.

“No, not in the sense you are thinking of,” the voice replied, “though that usage of the word did evolve from those familiar with my brethren. To use concepts that you might understand I am more like a living, magical cave system with a full ecosystem of life connected to, and drawing power from the Earth.”

“You’re a magical cave?” Ethan asked rolling his eyes.

Yep this guy was crazy. Best to get out of here before he ended up hurting Ethan.

“I suppose it's just best if I show you,” The dungeon said almost sadly. “For all humanity has gained in technology they have forgotten their connection to the Earth and now all of you must be hit over the head in order to understand basic things that your ancestors knew.”

Ethan was just about to respond when a searing pain began emanating from the underside of his right wrist. Screaming he tried to grab hold of his wrist but found much to his horror that it was literally on fire.

Dropping to his knees he slammed his wrist into the ground hoping that by doing so he could cut off the oxygen and put it out. Unfortunately for him this didn’t work so he settled for grabbing his left arm as close to the wrist as he could get without burning his other hand and rolling around while screaming on the ground.

Ethan wasn’t sure how long he writhed on the ground. But finally, blessedly the fire went out though pain still lingered. Gingerly he felt the underside of his wrist which was tender to touch and flipped his arm over so he could get a look at his injury.

Instead of the blackened blooded skin he expected to find he found perfectly smooth skin with a strange symbol in red there and not just the red of irritated skin but a deep crimson red.

The symbol itself were three comma like objects spiraling around each other to form a perfect circle. In the very center of the large circular end of each comma was an empty dot. It looked almost like he’d gotten a tattoo done on his wrist, but surely it was burning only seconds before. He didn’t think he’d imagined it.

“What is this?” Ethan finally asked looking around for the person behind the voice still. “What did you do to me?”

“I’ve unlocked your potential,” the voice replied calmly. “You will now be able to challenge the dungeon and claim my heart.”

“Why would I want to do that?” Ethan asked frustrated by the vague answers the dungeon kept giving him. “And what do you mean your heart?”

“That is something you’ll have to figure out on your own,” the dungeon replied. “I cannot give you all the answers. What I will tell you is to press hard into that tattoo as you call it.”

Ethan thought about snapping back at the dungeon but what was the point. The stupid thing would only give him more vague and nonsensical statements. Instead he reluctantly did as he was instructed and pressed his index and middle fingers hard into the symbol on his wrist. At least most of the pain had dissipated already.

At first he thought nothing was going to happen but then he felt something ooze out from under his skin and begin coalescing into a solid form. It wasn’t just seeming through his skin though, but through his clothing as well, and even his backpack.

In only a few seconds since it started it it hardened into a flexible translucent red shell over his entire body and for a few seconds Ethan was worried he wouldn’t be able to breathe. Thankfully air was still flowing in and out of his lungs though which was a relief.

Suddenly an object began forming in his right hand out of the material getting longer and longer until it shaped itself into a katana with what looked like a wickedly sharp edge on the blade. Carefully he ran his fingers over it and realized for the first time that his touch through the shell felt almost exactly the same.

“What is this?” Ethan asked for the second time in a matter of minutes, but this time with amazement in his voice.

“That is your spirit armor and your spirit weapon,” the dungeon replied. “You’re the Red, the Sword so your spirit weapon naturally takes that form.”

“I don’t understand,” Ethan muttered still feeling the weapon and finally starting to believe that this voice might not just be a person messing with him after all.

“It’s quite simple,” the dungeon said. “That armor and weapon are created by your spirit. When you touch your tattoo, your spirit forms into them. If you touch it again the will disappear. They will protect you from the dangers in the dungeon, though be warned, they can be damaged and if they are it will take time for your spirt to heal just like it takes time for your body to heal from an injury.”

“Why do I need protection from you, if you want me to seize your heart?” Ethan asked.

“There are things I can not explain,” the dungeon replied. “This is the way it must be. This is the way it has always been.”

More cryptic nonsense Ethan thought shaking his head. He ought to have known better than to ask for a straight answer from this thing at this point.

“What if I don’t want to seize your heart?” he asked.

“I think you’ll find I can be very compelling,” the dungeon replied.

We’ll see about that Ethan thought trying to judge if the blade he know held would be able to cut through the thick wooden door. It was probably worth a shot.

“I think I’ve explained all I can through talk,” the dungeon said as Ethan squeezed tightly around the hilt of his blade. “It is time for you to learn through experience.”

Ethan was just raising the blade to strike when he felt the ground rumble underneath him. He stumbled just as part of the floor fell away creating a steep ramp into darkness below. Losing his balance he fell and began rolling down the ramp before the floor completely disappeared underneath him and he plunged downward into nothingness. A few seconds later he hit water.

Gasping more out of the cold shock than anything else Ethan broke the surface and took in his surroundings. White light shone done from the moon overhead which made no sense at all. Hadn’t it been day time and hadn’t he fallen down through a basement further underground?

Regardless of what he remembered, he was near the edge of a small lake with large reeds sticking up from the water nearby and a forest of trees on dry land. Swimming over to the shore he checked to make sure that he didn’t imagine the armor and sword before. Nope they were still there.

Maybe I fell asleep and this is a weird dream he thought pinching himself. A small amount of pain spiked in his arm where he’d pinched. Nope, not a dream then. Guess I’ve just gone crazy then.

A small breeze blew across him and he shivered. It may have been summer but he was wearing soaking clothes and it was night. Oh crap, he thought suddenly realizing he still had his backpack on. Pulling it off and bringing it around to his front he unzipped it and found, much to his dismay that his books, notebooks, and gym clothes were also saturated with water.

“Just fantastic,” Ethan muttered zipping it back on and throwing it back on his chest. “First day of school and I’ve already ruined books I can’t afford to replace.”

A rustling in the reeds drew his attention a second later. Looking over he found a bird staring at him. It didn’t look like any bird Ethan had ever seen before with the top of its head and back black and the rest of its feathers white. It had eerie crimson red eyes but by far the most bizarre thing about it was the blueish-white glow surrounding it.

At least it’s just a bird Ethan thought and not like a crocodile. Sure that glow was a bit unnerving but it seemed harmless enough.

As if in reaction to this the bird opened it’s long black beak unleashing an angry squawk in Ethan’s direction.

“Don’t worry, I’m leaving,” Ethan snapped at it. “I don’t exactly want to be here.”

It blinked and for a second it just looked at him before opening its mouth again but this time a bright blue ball of fire came out of it instead of a sound. It took Ethan’s mind a moment to comprehend what his eyes were seeing and by the time he recognized it for it was he barely was able to throw himself out of the way before the fireball shot past where he’d just been.

Maybe I should have hoped for a crocodile, Ethan thought pushing himself to his feet and scrambling away from the bird. Looking back over his shoulder he saw it shoot another fireball at him which he took as his que to run away.

He made for the trees where he hoped it wouldn’t follow or that if it did hopefully he could lose it. When he looked back over his shoulder he was greeted by a horrifying sight. The bird had taken off and was following him, but it wasn’t the only one. There were now several glowing birds moving across the lake toward him.

The funny thing was they weren’t all the same. Some of them looked like the first one, but there were definitely a couple that looked like ducks. Regardless of what they looked like they all glowed and they all were shooting blue fireballs at him out of their mouths.

Zigzagging as he ran, he avoided the fireballs which luckily were moving at a slow enough rate that he could dodge them. Once he was in the forest he felt a bit better as he knew that it would be almost impossible to hit him with all the trees and branches in the way. Still he didn’t stop running. If you were being chased by glowing birds that shot fireballs sometimes it was better not to take any chances.

Running as hard as he could, he made his way deeper and deeper into the forest. Minutes past and he didn’t look back or pause even though his legs were now screaming at him. He might not have stopped at all in fact if not for the tree root, but there was a tree root, and he did manage to hook his foot under it.

Tumbling forward his face and shirt slammed into the ground and his sword went flying from his hand. He skidded for a short way before he finally stopped bumping his head softly into the base of a large tree.

Rolling over onto his side he found his face and shirt were covered in dirt and leaves. Aside from some stinging in his face though at least he wasn’t hurt. One small positive in an otherwise terrible day Ethan thought looking around for the birds.

They were nowhere to be found so maybe he’d finally lost them. Whatever this dungeon was he wanted nothing to do with it. He was going to find his way out of here if it was the last thing he did and never come back.

After taking a couple minutes to rest he finally stood up and retrieved his sword. He almost left the weapon but then figured it was probably better to have it just in case he needed it before he got out of this place.

Looking around he paused thinking. Every direction looked the same. What was the correct way out of this forest. There was no road, no signs, and if he picked the wrong direction he’d end up back at that lake with the glowing birds of death.

Finally he decided on walking in the direction he skidded into the tree figuring that his momentum would have probably carried him in a relatively straight line. If he was running away from the opposite direction that had to be where the lake was so he wanted to head as far away from that as possible. Flawless logic he thought to himself. Alright maybe not, but it’s not like he was going to come up with anything better.

He walked, and walked, and walked, but the forest just wouldn’t end. It hardly even changed. Sure there was a dead tree here or a moss covered rock there but nothing that signaled anyone was out here. Animals noises of course but Ethan steered well clear of those noises when he heard them. The last thing he wanted to do was to run into a flaming demon monkey or something.

Just as he was thinking about changing directions the forest ended abruptly into a field at the base of a mountain. Roosters and hens roamed this field picking at the ground for food. Better yet there was a large structure near the base of the mountain that was certainly made by humans.

It looked like one of those Japanese temples to Ethan though very plain, unpainted, and made simply of wood but it even had a gate in front of it. A stone staircase led up from the gate turning into a stone path at the top that led to the temple. Maybe there would be a like a monk inside who would be able to help Ethan get back to Misty Oaks or at least to Fresno if nothing else.

Starting across the field Ethan prayed that these chickens didn’t shoot fireballs like the other birds he’d run into. They weren’t glowing at least which in his mind was a good sign. There were quite a few of them so if they started shooting fireballs at him he wasn’t sure if he could dodge them.

It took the first ones quite a while to notice him but when they did they didn’t shoot fireballs at him. Instead they breathed fire at him. The first one caught him completely off guard and catching him in a burst of it’s flames. The fire washed over his armor and while he felt the heat he didn’t feel like he was getting burned by it.

“Fire breath?” Ethan asked annoyed. “Oh come on!”

He was getting really frustrated now and this chicken was going to know his wrath. With his spirit armor seeming to protect him from the burning effects of fire he was going to teach this bird and any others to quit messing with him.

Moving to the left Ethan slash downwards with his sword at one of the chickens bearing down on him. It was awkward and he missed. Not only had he never used a sword before but the chickens were small and close to the ground which made it more difficult for him.

Missing left him exposed with his face close to the ground and the chicken countered with a burst of flame straight into his face. The heat hit Ethan like a wave and he recoiled backwards instinctively. While he wasn’t burned by the blast the fire was still hot and he knew if he stayed in it too long he would be. Armor or no armor.

Recovering he looked up to see more and more of the creatures running toward him. If he didn’t move soon he was going to be overwhelmed. Making a decision he began running toward the temple. If he could make it there perhaps he could take shelter inside.

As he ran Ethan slashed out again with the sword and surprising caught one of the chickens in the chest. The spirit blade must have been sharp because, though there was some resistance, it easily cut the bird in half.

If catching the bird with the sword was a surprise, he was really surprised when it turned into a black essence and then flowed down into the Earth below it. There was no blood, no body, or any evidence that it had been there in the first place.

Ethan wanted to linger longer over this strange development but knew he didn’t have time. He continued his run jumping over and slashing at several more chickens as he went. He missed this time but luckily maintained his balance.

He was closing in on the gate and staircase fast, but now there was a literal horde of fire-breathing chickens behind him. If he weren’t so terrified they were going to catch him and fry him to a crisp he would have laughed at how ridiculous this scene must have looked to the outside observer. Actually his tombstone would probably be pretty funny too. Here lies Ethan Russell, burned alive by a flock of chickens. That’s right, chickens.

Focus Ethan he yelled at himself in his own head. Now was not the time to be losing it. Not if he wanted to live anyways. There would be plenty of time to contemplate the ridiculousness of this situation later after he was safely out of this cursed place.

Reaching the gate he passed underneath it before leaping up the stairs. This was a mistake as his foot caught the edge and he fell forward face first into the stone steps. A second later his forehead collided with the edge of another step causing head to explode in pain.

Searing pain temporarily blinded him and it took him a minute to remember what he was doing. Guess that’s it then Ethan thought realizing what he should be doing. I’m dead. Pity that this didn’t knock me out first. At least then I wouldn’t have to feel this headache or getting burned alive.

Lying there he waited for the heat and fire to hit him hoping that the stupid chickens would finish him off quickly. The fire though never came and after a few anxious minutes he finally pushed himself to his knees while clutching at his forehead just above his left eyebrow.

The spirit armor had shattered over much of his face after the impact with the staircase and he was bleeding from a shallow cut above his left eyebrow. If not for the armor taking a large part of the impact it would have been much worse, he reckoned. Still his face was exposed now so he didn’t want to repeat the act.

Finally he turned around looking for what became of the chickens and found them easily. They were all standing right in front of the gate just staring at him, but for some reason none of them breathed fire at him or would cross underneath it. That was weird.

Slowly he backed away moving up the staircase and still the chickens didn’t come any closer. Their eyes followed him and they shuffled around but they either wouldn’t cross under the gate or couldn’t. Regardless Ethan wasn’t about to test it and instead turned around and began walking the rest of the way up the staircase occasionally looking over his shoulder to check that the chickens hadn’t moved.

Upon reaching the top he walked the short way down a stone pathway to the front of the temple, which he noticed for the first time had the exact same doors that the room in the basement had. That couldn’t just be a coincidence, could it?

Trying the door he found it unlocked, opening into a rather plain room with a couple of lanterns hanging around the edges of the room. Near the back was an elevator but it was made out of wood instead of metal.

“Hello, is anyone there?” Ethan called. Stepping tentatively into the building.

No one answered and after checking the room over a few more times he was satisfied that there wasn’t anyone around. Guess that was too much to hope for he thought walking towards the elevator.

Not seeing anything else to do he pressed the button on the elevator and waited for a minute until the doors slowly slid open. Stepping inside he found more buttons than he’d ever seen on an elevator in his life. One of them labelled Basement at the top had a green circle around it while the rest were all red.

Hoping basement meant the school basement he pressed this button and watched it as it turned orange. The doors slid shut and the elevator began to move upwards at a faster speed than he would have thought was possible.

When it finally stopped at the top the doors slid open revealing the stone room he’d been in before, though this time the lights made it easier to see and the part of the floor he expected to see missing was still there.

Oh thank god, Ethan thought dashing out of the elevator and making toward the exit. The sooner he got out of here the better.

“So you have returned,” the dungeon said sounding pleased. “Now you know what awaits for you.”

“It can keep on waiting,” Ethan snapped not stopping. “I’m never going back there.”

“You are The Red, you will,” the dungeon replied calmly. “A call to a dungeon is not something a person can refuse.”

“Guess there’s a first time for everything,” Ethan said grabbing a hold of the door and wrenching it open. “Hope we never talk again.”

With that he left the room walking back into the main basement of Hinan Hall. Quickly he pressed his fingers to the symbol on his wrist disappearing the ridiculous armor before anyone saw it. That was the last thing he needed. To get ridiculed some more by other kids.

Climbing the stairs he exited the basement, followed the hallway to the back door and walked out onto the quad where it was well into the night. Great he’d missed a class and now dinner. Fantastic.

Sighing he turned and headed back to his dorm realizing that he’d just have to wait until lunch tomorrow to eat. At least he wasn’t stuck in that underground hell hole anymore.

When he reached his room he found Alex standing at the sink brushing his teeth.

The other boy turned and stared at Ethan before saying, “What happened to you? Were you out foraging for food or something?”

Ethan couldn’t even summon up the energy to yell at Alex. Instead he just walked into the bathroom and shut the door hoping to wash away his weariness along with the dirt, blood, and grime he’d accumulated on this very long first day of classes.