The Dungeon Inn - English

B01C35 - Jackpot

I walked more slowly to catch my breath. I couldn't stay, because then they would surely catch up. But continuing to run wasn't an option either. If I am too out of breath, it will be impossible to escape again and my heavy breathing could give me away.

I felt my way forward for a while. But then my hands touched something that wasn't stone. They were bones!? A blow to my temple was the last thing I remembered.

When I came to my senses again, a rotting head was staring back at me.

"Aaa!"

He scared me. Where was I?

"Oh, you woke up. Very good, dinner will be ready soon."

The old woman from before was standing at a pot, stirring something in it. The fire under it illuminated the cave we were in. I looked back at the head, he was looking at me with interest.

He wasn't dead? So not just skeletons, but also zombies. Where was I? And who is the woman?

"What do you plan to do with me?"

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough. It's something special, be excited!"

"Where am I?"

"In my humble home."

"And where is that?"

"Isn't that obvious? Further deeper in the cave you passed through."

"But why are there skeletons and zombies here? And why do they listen to you?"

"You don't have to think about it any further. Better drink this soup, it will help you."

"Help, how?"

"Find out."

She held the bowl to my mouth. The zombie held my legs and looked up. So I couldn't run away. A skeleton held my arms so I couldn't swat away the soup. Why should I trust her? And why do I get the feeling that the zombie's eyes tremble slightly in fear, when he looks at the bowl?

"I ..."

I didn't get any further, the woman took the opportunity, that my mouth was open and poured the contents in. Her hands quickly covered my mouth and nose.

"Swallow everything."

I tried to defend myself, but time was against me. Finally, I instinctively had to swallow. As soon as this happened, she took her hands away.

"And? How does it taste? Do you notice anything is different?"

"I don't know. I don't notice anything. What was that?"

"Nothing at all?"

"No"

"Hmm, what a shame. There's probably nothing you can do. Then let's try this one. Be a good boy and make Aaaa."

This time I wouldn't make the same mistake. I pressed my lips together with all my might.

"Really? We're already over this, it doesn't help you."

She gave me a kick in the crown jewels. In pain I opened my mouth and then it happened again.

My surroundings became dim and suddenly I fell in a long fall.

How was that possible?

I hit the ground, pain shooting through my body. I looked up in surprise. The zombie and the skeleton looked around in surprise. But they were much larger than before, like real giants. I looked at the woman and saw that I was barely the size of a toe. I had shrunk!

"Where did he go all of a sudden? Find him!"

This was probably my only chance to escape her. I sprinted away. But as small as I was, my progress was slow compared to the others. A large foot landed next to me and the resulting gust of wind was enough to blow me away - luckily further away from the fire and the witch, surely she was nothing else.

I picked myself up after my flight and kept running. After a while, when I heard something behind me, I looked behind me desperately to see, if they had spotted me yet. But I should have looked ahead. My foot stepped into the void and I fell again. When I reached the bottom, I encountered a new monster.

"Quack."

A huge frog looked at me curiously. Shortly afterwards a tongue darted towards me and I fought with all my might in its mouth to avoid being swallowed. Just as I was about to give up hope, my surroundings became blurry again.

"Quack!"

I could hear panicked croaking and when my vision improved, the frogs had returned to normal size.

Thank God! I'm normal size again!

"Did you hear that? There's something with the frogs! Check that!"

The witch's commanding voice quickly brought me back to my senses. I quickly jumped out of that hole full of frogs that had almost taken my life. I ran as fast as I could.

Why is it so bright all of a sudden? Wasn't it pitch black before? Can I see in the dark?

Then at least she did something good. My disadvantage earlier was, that I couldn't see anything. That was no longer a problem and even if I escaped here, which would be an achievement in itself, even without a treasure, I would say the stress was worth it. There was nothing a thief could want more, than the ability to see in the dark. Now things would become easier. But first I have to make it out of here alive.

I jogged through the many tunnels. A few times I felt like I was going around in circles. Where was I? This is a real labyrinth down here. Even if I always turn in the same direction, I'm just going in circles. Labyrinth! That's it, there's a dungeon here. Then it's no longer a question of whether I'll find treasure. The information is worth its weight in gold, I have to tell the commander about it!

After many failed attempts, I finally got out to a new place. A small room with a chest in the middle. Hah, my lucky streak never ends. First the night vision, then the valuable information about what this is and now I find one of those famous dungeon treasure chests. Let's hope it's unlocked.

I slowly approached it and carefully tried to open it.

"Jackpot"