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Chapter 18: The Dungeon Under the Barn
"It's not a real dungeon," Kale said.
Elric stared at the wooden planks nailed around the old barn's storage cellar.
"It looks like a dungeon."
"That's the point!" Mira added, holding up a painted sign that read:
"DANGER: MONSTERS INSIDE. HEROES ONLY."
The village kids had been planning it for days—a pretend dungeon crawl using old blankets, broken crates, and a lot of imagination. Every child wanted to be either the hero, the monster, or the poor soul stuck playing "the cursed chicken."
Elric was thrilled.
"My pack and I accept your challenge!" he declared.
"You can't actually bring monsters—"
"They're not monsters! They're family!"
Twig growled on cue. Boneclaw sneezed. Mister Pebbles rolled over a shovel.
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The rules were simple:
Get through the "dungeon" alive.
Collect three "treasure stones" hidden inside.
Don't wake the sleeping ogre (a very grumpy goat in a wig).
Elric crawled into the barn-turned-cavern with a crown of grass, his pack behind him like an elite squad.
"Pack, form up! Pebbles—trap sweeper. Twig—flank scout. Boneclaw… chew anything that smells evil!"
A whisper from outside: "This was supposed to be pretend!"
But Elric didn't do pretend halfway.
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Inside the "dungeon," chaos reigned.
Pebbles accidentally crushed one of the "boulder traps" (a pile of hay with a sock on top).
Twig chased the "ghost chicken" out the window.
Boneclaw rolled in paint and became the scariest thing in the whole barn.
Elric retrieved the first treasure stone—a shiny green button—while covered in cobwebs and flour.
The second was hidden under a crate.
The third…
...was guarded by the "ogre."
Elric froze as the goat stared him down, wig lopsided, chewing hay like it knew ancient secrets.
"I'll trade you for an apple," he whispered.
The goat blinked.
Then headbutted him out of the barn.
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Later, Elric lay on the ground with a leaf in his mouth, staring at the sky.
"Did I win?" he asked no one in particular.
His sister answered, "No. The goat won."
Riven, watching from a distance, smiled to himself.
The boy had used teamwork. Leadership. Quick thinking. And somehow made a pretend dungeon feel real for everyone.
He was learning.
And still… just a boy.
For now.
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