There's a Dungeon in My Basement 3: A Slice of Life Fantasy by Dante King

Author:Dante King [King, Dante]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

“That was close,” Desdemona said. “Thank God you found us when you did. You were nearly a goner.”

If MacCammon Hospital were fully constructed and operational in the real world, the space where Caleb found himself would have been its emergency room. Rows of not too comfortable chairs filled the space, with a series of triaged cubicles for taking in and making initial diagnoses on patients. Caleb was sitting in one of these chairs, letting his heart rate return to normal as he sized up the situation.

Cerebus licked his face. The three-headed hellhound had been overjoyed to see Caleb, as had the others. From what little they’d been able to tell Caleb as they sealed the door he’d just come through, they hadn’t gone far. They were just as shocked by the condition of the hospital as he was.

“We were so scared.” Yui clung to Caleb, her face filled with fear. “When you didn’t come through the portal with the rest of us, we thought… shit, we didn’t know what happened to you!”

“Dez saw the other portals in the auditorium right before she got sucked through,” Eira said. “She figured you maybe got pulled into a different Item World, something like that. But I guess you just got sucked into a different part of the hospital, huh?”

Caleb nodded. “Everyone got pulled in,” he said, swallowing hard. “Except for Lady Lachrymosa, I think. And Imani—she had Imani in her arms when she blinked.” He looked around, as if more people might be hiding in the shadows. “Are either of them here?”

Desdemona shook her head slowly. “We were worried about them as well. You’re saying they might not have been caught up in the cascade?”

Caleb paused. “I don’t know,” he finally admitted. “I hope not. Some of the things I saw on my way here… it’s bad. Really bad.”

Briefly, he told them all about the strange rooms covered in symbols. Desdemona nodded gravely, and Yui looked as if she were going to be sick.

“That’s awful,” Yui whispered, aghast. “Who would do that to innocent people?”

“Eaters would,” Eira said, her lips forming a tight little line. “Fucking monsters.”

Caleb perked up. “Eaters? Is that what you call those purple freaks who tried to take me down?”

Eira nodded. “They’re advanced monsters, especially for an Item World in the First Stratum. Individually, they’re not much of a threat—they’re actually pretty cowardly if you ask me, even in small packs. But when they link up in larger groups like that, well…”

“They’re called swarms,” Desdemona said. “Your grandfather took down an entire swarm of Eaters singlehandedly once. It was one of the most incredible feats of strength I’d ever seen.”

“Really?” Now Caleb was really interested. “Do you think I could do the same thing?”

“I hope so,” Desdemona whispered. “Because we’re going to need to make our way past those beasts if we’re going to get out of here.”

She reached into her robes and pulled out something small and sparkly. It was a plastic card, its surface laminated so that it caught the light.

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