Finally, the chaos was over. The massive, flaming orange octopus was a scared little blonde boy again, leaving behind a room that was completely in pieces. Little Arthurn looked exhausted. He was breaking out in a cold sweat and felt weak all over, but fear and a lack of trust kept him on high alert, especially around Baruk.
Elara sat on the floor, relieved. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, enjoying the calm feeling of air filling her lungs for the first time in a long while. Ness, meanwhile, watched their new friend with fascination: a blonde human with a very large head—that was definitely the best way to describe Arthurn.
Baruk stood up with a jolt. He had fallen from several meters up thanks to the octopus's grip, but aside from a few bruises and a bloody lip from the red-haired man's punch, he was mostly fine—just feeling a bit "squashed."
"You little big-headed brat!" Baruk roared, stomping toward Arthurn. "I'm going to knock your block off!"
"Aaaaah! Ugly monster!" Arthurn screamed, panicking again and hiding behind Ness.
"Calm down, Baruk! Let's talk first!" Elara intervened firmly. She had barely rested, but she jumped up and stood between Arthurn and Baruk.
Ness looked at Baruk's angry face with worry, but she decided to hold the little boy's hands as he gripped her clothes for comfort. She knelt to look into his big, light-green eyes. He was at least two hand-spans shorter than her, and his straight hair bounced against his forehead.
"Your name is Arthurn, right?" Ness asked in a sweet voice.
Arthurn hesitated, suspicious. He kept staring at Ness's pointed ears and purple hair. The others watched, waiting for him to answer. After a moment, he calmed his breathing and nodded shyly, too embarrassed to speak.
"It's okay, Arthurn, we're all friends," Ness said with a big smile. "My name is Nessaldom, but you can call me Ness."
"Yes, we really are friends, Arthurn. I'm Elara," Elara added, smiling. Then she gave a sharp look at Baruk, who was still scowling, and grumbled:
"Fine, fine… yeah, we're friends…"
"You have no manners, you big brute. That one over there is Baruk," Elara said, poking fun at the orc.
A tiny smile appeared on Arthurn's face, showing a missing tooth. The boy finally relaxed, let go of Ness's clothes, and looked at the two girls.
"Why do you have those big, pointy ears?" the boy asked, pointing with the hand that held his pillowcase while touching his own ear with the other.
"We're elves, Arthurn," Ness replied, her eyes sparkling.
"And that guy is an orc," Elara added, pointing at Baruk. "But we're all friends, and you're our friend now too."
"He's not going to eat me, right?" Arthurn asked, shrinking away from Baruk's wild gaze. Baruk wasn't trying to look friendly at all.
"No, little guy, he's just like us… a kid," Elara comforted him.
"But he has those things in his mouth…" Arthurn pointed at Baruk's tusks.
"That's because I eat big-headed kids who don't behave!" Baruk teased, making a scary face that made the boy's eyes go wide with fear.
"Stop it, you jerk!" Elara snapped, punching Baruk's shoulder. He didn't feel it physically, but he got the message.
Sulking, Baruk crossed his arms. "Fine… sorry, shorty. I won't do anything," he said, finally relaxing a bit.
There was a short pause.
"Do you remember anything, Arthurn?" Elara broke the silence.
"Remember?" Arthurn asked, looking confused.
"We lost our memories, Art," Ness added, excited to use his new nickname.
"We're trying to find out where we are and why we're here!" Elara continued, explaining things to the whole group. "All we know is that we're trapped in this manor, which belongs to the Darkmore family."
Everyone went quiet, listening to the elf.
"We also know they kidnapped us and put us into a magical sleep with some kind of potion."
"Potion?" Arthurn was so confused he decided to ignore that part.
"That mean old lady!" Baruk growled, thinking of Madame Darkmore.
"And we know there's something in this house… some monster or powerful magic being."
"A…" the boy paused. Those were the only words that caught his attention. "A monster?!" Arthurn squeaked.
"But we'll protect you, because we're friends now!" Ness said, trying not to scare him more.
"And we'll need all the help we can get," Elara continued. "That woman, Evelyn, was bringing something in… a kind of capsule."
"Was it the other kid they kept talking about?" Baruk asked.
Elara nodded.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Baruk stepped forward. "Let's go after the old lady and the other kid!"
"Hold on, Baruk! We need to think this through," Elara reasoned.
"We've waited long enough! What happens to that kid if we do nothing? No one is going to save us if we don't do it ourselves!" Baruk roared.
"The woman said something about 'Moon-hour'…" Ness remembered. "She told that guy with the weird bump on his head."
"Speaking of which… where are those two?" Elara asked, going back on alert.
"I took care of one. He's knocked out somewhere," Baruk bragged.
"Well, our friend Arthurn hit the other one—the one with the red bump—right on the head," Ness said, smiling and pointing to her forehead.
"Hey, kid, how did you do that?!" Baruk asked, staring at Arthurn, who hid again.
"Baruk!" Elara protested.
"What? I didn't do anything!" he grumbled. "I'm going to look for something. You guys come up with a plan."
Baruk left them in the middle of the room and started searching through the wreckage of the dining hall. It didn't take long to find a wooden board piled on top of something. Underneath, he saw a big belly and a red beard.
"Arthurn, do you remember what happened a moment ago?" Elara asked, hoping he could explain.
"I tried to run away from the ugly monster… but then I saw that Elara and Nessaldom were my friends and I felt better," he answered calmly.
It was clear that Arthurn had no control over his power—he probably didn't even know it existed.
"Well… not much we can do. Baruk, find anything?" Elara called out.
"Yeah, coming!" he shouted.
"How old are you, Art?" Ness asked, trying to make conversation.
He thought for a second. He put his pillowcase on his shoulder and started counting on his fingers like a robot.
"I'm this many!" He didn't say the number, but he held up seven fingers.
"Seven!" Ness smiled, while Elara realized how young the boy was for all of this.
Baruk came back carrying a leather bag with a rusty buckle.
"Got this off the fat guy. He's not waking up any time soon," the boy said.
Elara and Baruk searched the bag. The inside was filthy, making Elara wrinkle her nose in disgust. But Baruk didn't care; he pulled out a piece of what looked like a dried meat sandwich.
"Mmm, delicious!" Baruk said, stuffing it into his mouth immediately.
Elara kept digging through the bag while Art curiously pulled on Ness's purple hair.
"This is interesting…" Elara pulled out a round metal object. It was beautifully made with carvings and several hands pointing at symbols. "It's a watch," she said. "Ness, can you help me?"
Ness leaned in, bringing Arthurn with her. "I don't understand these symbols…" Elara said.
"Look, that one looks like a ladybug!" Ness said excitedly. "Well, I don't know what it means, but ladybugs are most active in the early morning. Did you know they are red so predators think they are poisonous, but they aren't actually…"
Ness's eyes went wide, like she was looking into Elara's soul.
"Wait… how do I know that?" she asked, confused.
"What's a ladybug?" Arthurn asked.
While Ness talked to the boy, Elara looked back at the watch with its four symbols and six hands. She wondered: why did they remember some things but not others? She remembered how to read and some magic. She remembered city names and the smell of ink. But nothing else. Her memories were like dark fragments.
She stopped thinking about it when a sharp headache started to throb in her head.
Baruk went back to the mess. Near Ghinorf's body, he picked up the broken table leg he used earlier. It was the perfect shape for—as Baruk said—"clobbering someone." He swung it a few times and smiled.
Then he saw the other man—the one with the red bump. He searched him but found nothing. Then he had an idea: he grabbed the man's legs and dragged him away toward the piano room.
"I think I figured it out!" Elara said. "These symbols mark the main times of the day, so…"
She gave a long, complicated explanation of how the gadget worked. Meanwhile, Baruk came back and started dragging Ghinorf away too.
"So, if I'm right, we have five hours until the watch hits a new cycle," Elara concluded.
"Okay…" Ness looked at her friend. "And what does that mean?"
"It means we have about that much time until 'Moon-hour,' the time they want to start the ritual."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Baruk appeared out of nowhere. "We have to save that other kid in the capsule, right?"
"What if they are already…" Ness started, but looking at Arthurn, she stopped.
"We have to at least try!" Baruk said firmly.
"But we don't even know how to get out," Elara pointed out. "Shouldn't that be our priority?"
"Can we wait for help?" Ness asked.
"I don't know how long we've been here. I wouldn't count on it, Ness," Elara said.
"Fine, but we have to help the one with the mean lady," Baruk said confidently.
"Right. And it has to be before the watch hits this mark," Elara said, pointing at one of the hands.
"Or before that monster finds us," Baruk added, unbothered.
"Monster?" Arthurn whimpered.
"Yeah, big-head, and he'll eat you if you don't listen to me!" Baruk teased.
"Ahhh, help, Ness!" Arthurn grabbed Ness's clothes again. She was scared too and let out a little squeak.
"No one is getting eaten, but we have to be careful!" Elara said, looking sternly at Baruk. Baruk thought it was hilarious.
"What about the others?" Ness asked, meaning the kids in the bedroom.
"I think we ruined their dinner, didn't we?" Baruk said, looking at the destroyed dining room.
"Well…" Elara led the way. "It doesn't hurt to check!"
The four children walked through the wreckage to the dark hallway. Small lamps lit up paintings that Ness thought were in poor taste. The hallway had four narrow doors.
"HELLO!" Baruk couldn't help himself. He kicked the first door open and shouted inside.
"Baruk!" Ness and Elara yelled together, while Arthurn shrank back.
"It's fine! Relax." The boy opened the door for the others. "They're still the same."
It was true. In every room, kids were sitting on their beds, staring at nothing.
"They're still under the spell!" Ness said. "Should we try to wake them up?"
"Better not," Elara decided. "We need to focus and find a way out first. Too many people will just cause a huge mess."
"Why aren't they coming?" Arthurn asked.
"They are…" Ness thought for a second. "Daydreaming!" she said with a laugh, trying to keep him distracted.
They left the other kids in their rooms, hoping they would be safe.
"Are we going after the woman now?" Ness asked.
"Let's hunt down that old hag!" Baruk said excitedly, grabbing his table leg and pointing it toward a door. "To the kitchen!!!"