Marcus knelt down. He looked the dragon girl in the eyes.

She was shaking. Her pupils were slits.

"Hey," Marcus said softly. "Look at me."

She tore her gaze away from the giant monster. She looked at Marcus.

"He is big," Marcus admitted. "And he looks scary."

He brushed a strand of hair from her face.

"But he is on our side," Marcus promised. "He is friends with the other girl. The one who healed you."

The dragon girl blinked. She remembered the healing light.

"He won't hurt us," Marcus said firmly. "I won't let him."

He tightened his grip on her hand. It was a promise of protection.

She took a shaky breath. She nodded.

She trusted Marcus. If he said the monster was safe, she would try to believe him.

Marcus stood up.

"Okay," he said. "Let's go."

He led her out of the tunnel. They stepped into the cool night air.

The scale of the bear was even more impressive outside.

He towered over them. His shadow stretched long across the clearing.

Marcus tilted his head back. He looked all the way up to the button eye.

"So," Marcus said. He tried to sound casual. "What happened?"

He gestured vaguely at the bear's massive form.

"How did you get so big?" Marcus asked. "And... how are you speaking?"

The teddy bear smirked. Or at least, the stitching on his face seemed to curve upward.

He stood up to his full height.

He puffed out his chest. The fabric strained.

He raised one arm and flexed. He slapped his chest with the other paw.

Thump.

"Ho ho ho!" the bear laughed. It was a boisterous sound.

"Are you mesmerized?" the bear crowed. "Are you stunned by this Almighty Being's presence?"

He posed like a bodybuilder on a stage.

Marcus stared at the posing bear. His expression went flat.

"Well," Marcus deadpanned. "It is kind of hard to ignore your... generous size."

He looked at the patchy fur.

"But yeah," Marcus admitted. "I am definitely intrigued. In a terrifying way."

Even the dragon girl stopped shaking.

She peeked out from behind Marcus's leg. Her eyes were huge.

She had never seen a monster act like this.

It wasn't roaring. It wasn't attacking.

It was... showing off?

She stared at the bear with the innocent awe of a child watching a circus act.

The bear noticed their attention. He seemed to preen.

He leaned down low. His face hovered just a few feet from Marcus.

"Come close," the bear whispered loudly. "I will tell you the secret."

He gestured with a massive finger. "Lend me your ear."

Marcus blinked. He hesitated.

But curiosity won out.

He leaned forward. He turned his head slightly.

"What is it?" Marcus asked.

The bear leaned even closer.

"That is a secret!" the bear shouted.

Then he pulled back and burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! Got you!"

The bear held his stomach. He laughed like he had just told the funniest joke in history.

Marcus stood there. His face was stone.

He blinked slowly. Once. Twice.

"Ha. Ha," Marcus said dryly. "Hilarious."

He looked at the bear. The creature was basically an oversized child.

The bear wiped a pretend tear from his button eye.

He stopped laughing and took another stance.

He flexed both arms this time. He looked like a fuzzy strongman.

"Don't I look like the strongest?" the bear asked.

He looked down at the dragon girl.

"Hey, little horn-girl! Don't I look cool?"

The dragon girl flinched at being addressed.

But she looked at the bear. He looked silly. He looked soft.

The fear in her chest loosened.

She nodded slowly.

The bear beamed.

"See?" he shouted to Marcus. "She gets it! She has taste!"

He kept laughing. He was having the time of his life.

Marcus rubbed his temples.

'Why is he laughing so much?' Marcus thought.

It was surreal. They were standing next to two flattened corpses, chatting with a giant toy.

Just then, something changed.

The bear was still mid-laugh. He was still flexing.

But his outline began to waver.

His massive form shuddered.

Like a balloon losing air, he began to shrink.

It wasn't slow. It was rapid.

The fifteen-foot titan collapsed inward.

His voice pitched up.

"Hahahaha... haha... ha..."

The laughter faded.

In seconds, the giant monster was gone.

In its place, a small, grey teddy bear sat in the dirt.

It was barely a foot tall.

It fell over onto its side. It looked lifeless.

Marcus stared at the toy.

A bubble of laughter escaped his own throat.

"Pfft."

It was a suppressed sound. A release of tension.

He looked down at the tiny bear.

"What happened?" Marcus asked. His voice dripped with sarcasm.

"What happened to your oh-so-majestic and mighty form?"

He expected it to snap back. To make a joke.

But the bear didn't laugh.

It pushed himself up and sat in the dirt.

His button eye wasn't looking at Marcus. It wasn't looking at the dragon girl.

It was fixed on the cave entrance.

The bear's posture was rigid. The playful energy was gone.

"Something is wrong," he said.

His voice was serious. It sounded older now. Worried.

Marcus felt the smile slide off his face.

"What?" Marcus asked. "What's wrong?"

The bear stood up on his stubby legs. He stared into the darkness of the tunnel.

"Something happened to her," the bear said.

Marcus frowned.

"Her?" he repeated.

Then it hit him.

"The little girl," Marcus realized.

"What happened?" Marcus asked urgently. "Is she hurt?"

The bear shook his fuzzy head.

"I don't know," the bear said. "But the connection..."

He looked up at Marcus. The button eye looked grim.

"I can't feel her mana anymore," he whispered. "It just... cut off."

A cold chill washed over Marcus.

Mana cut off?

That meant unconsciousness. Or suppression.

Or death.

He looked back at the cave. The explosion earlier. The silence since.

"She stayed behind," Marcus whispered. "She stayed to fight Elowen."

Fear spiked in his chest.

Not for himself. But for the strange, powerful child who had saved them.

✧✧✧

[First level of the dungeon]

Deep inside the dungeon, on the first level.

The corridor was silent. The dust from the impact had settled.

The little girl in the white dress was on her knees.

She was not moving.

Thick, glowing red chains erupted from the stone floor.

They wrapped around her small arms. They coiled around her legs. They bound her chest.

The chains pulsed with a sickly, dark light.

They were heavy. They were tight.

The girl struggled weakly. But her strength was gone.

She slumped forward. Her white dress was stained with dust.

She looked up. Her black eyes held a flicker of shock.

Steps echoed on the stone.

Click. Click. Click.

It was the sound of heels.

A figure emerged from the shadows.

It was Elowen.

But she was not the pristine noblewoman anymore.

Her silk dress was torn. Her hair was a wild, matted mess.

Blood covered the left side of her face. It dripped from her chin.

She was limping. Her breath came in ragged gasps.

But she was smiling.

It was a broken, twisted smile. A smile of pure insanity.

She stopped in front of the bound girl.

She looked down at her captive.

Elowen wiped the blood from her lip with the back of her hand.

She laughed. It was a wet, gurgling sound.

"Finally," Elowen rasped.

She leaned closer. Her eyes burned with hate.

"Got you," she whispered.

"You annoying piece of shit."

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