“And they sat down and made themselves comfortable,” said the voice.
Jade ignored it and looked around.
“What a strange house,” she said. She stood in a room with furniture, much like the craft lords’ cottage. But unlike the cottage, it was arranged neatly and there was no stuff lying around, like tools, or half emptied mugs of tea or that sock that Decker pulled off his foot after stubbing his smallest toe on the corner of the table. The room looked inviting enough, but something was putting her off. She gently touched the wall with her fingertips and it shied away, creating a small, temporary dent. Jade blinked. She touched it again, with only her index finger this time. Again it shied away, shuddering, as if it was ticklish. Jade felt it with her feet this time. The wall, the room, it was a creature. Everything was, every piece of furniture was alive. She could feel their heartbeats reverberating through the flo- eh- creature she was standing on.
Jade pulled out her blade and stuck it in the wall.
“Stop that,” said the voice.
Everyone turned to see what Jade was doing. Morn grinned, delighted by this newfound act of rebellion, and swung their axe to hit the table and it flew through the room, hitting the wall on the other side. Lumira dodged the airborne furniture.
“Careful!” she squeaked.
“There is no need for violence, why don’t you all just sit down, so that we can talk.”
Morn and Jade continued stabbing and swinging.
“Stop that now, or else I will give you a time-out.”
Jade hesitated, but Morn didn’t listen and kept on swinging.
“I warned you, you’re getting a time-out.”
A hole opened up underneath Morns feet, swallowing him whole.
“Morn!” screamed Iratus. He ran towards where the yellow orc had disappeared and banged on the floor. But the floor refused to open up.
Jade watched as Iratus sat back and closed his eyes. She then heard Lumira sing to her:
“Do you remember the Sun having any weakness?”
“Yes,” Jade sang back, “He is very self assured, but he can’t stand it if he’s ignored.”
Morn appeared next to Iratus and the two orcs high-fived.
“Thanks,” said Morn and he smiled smugly.
“What happened?” asked Acantha.
“I summoned them back,” said Iratus, smiling. “Easy. They’re my soulmate.”
“Of course you did,” Acantha turned to Morn, “But I meant, where did you go?”
“It was dark. With bugs.”
“Hey!” said Lumira to the room, “Why did you make this stupid room? I thought you wanted to talk, but you’re not even here.”
“I am here,” responded the voice, “This is my realm. We can talk in private here. I did my best to create a space that would make you feel at home. Have a seat on the couch, I’m sure you’ll appreciate its comfort.”
“He’s so rude, he doesn’t even respond to my question.” Said Lumira, pretending she didn’t hear anything.
“Hello? Can you hear me?” said the voice. “I know you can hear me. Don’t pretend you can’t. You’re the rude one.”
“Who even invites people to their house without being there?” continued Lumira, “What a terrible host he is.”
“Yeah,” said Jade, “He probably doesn’t even have snacks for us.”
“Or entertainment.”
“I do, I do, just sit down.”
“Do you think we should wait for him?” asked Acantha.
“Hmm,” Lumira said and threw a look out of the window, “Not sure, it’s awfully nice out. I think I want to just go for a walk or something. I don’t like being stood up like this.”
In a matter of seconds, the floor opened up and the room disappeared. The furniture dissolved into the avalanche of tiny bugs that the six of them rode down into a cavelike structure. It was blocking all the light. Lumira summoned up her inner beacon and lit up the room. The ceiling was made out of swarming insects, the walls too. Jade gasped and coughed, choking on a bug that she had breathed in.
“These bugs,” said Jade, “They are a part of him.”
“We could eat them!” said Acantha and she scooped up a handful of insects into her mouth. Lumira held her lips pressed together and covered her nose with her hands. She frowned as Acantha scooped another handful of bug cereal. Then Acantha she started coughing and retching.
“No good, no good, but I think that the orcs should be able to eat them safely.”
Morn grunted in acknowledgment and followed Acantha’s example. The voice bellowed around them:
“Why are you trying to take away from what I am?”
The bugs started to eat each other and grew larger. Iratus joined Morn in the eating contest and picked the largest bugs to eat.
“I don’t think we’ll go hungry any time soon,” said Jade. “Theres no end to these bugs.”
There was a deep rumble and again the voice boomed around them. This time it was accompanied by a seriousness that made all Jades hairs stand on end.
“Seems like the time to talk is over.”
The bugs shook. All at once. They stopped swarming. Again, they shook. From one side to the other. Bugs crawled up the sides of the pit, dropping them down, deeper into the pit.
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