Where did it all go wrong?

  We almost had Skinny out of there without any issues, but one of the guards spotted us on our way out the door. Now I'm carrying Toothy on my back, and Skinny has to follow me to the cave. He keeps glancing around as if expecting the cave to pop out and yell 'boo!' at us.

  "We're... almost... there!" I puff out.

  "Okay, well-"

  Skinny gets cut off as he trips, disappearing behind some bushes. I skid to a stop, recognizing those bushes. In my exhausted state I almost ran right past the cave.

  The dogs are getting closer, and I can hear the clank of armor.

  "You alright, Skinny?"

  "A-Aye! Just scraped my knee, is all."

  "You'll have a lot worse to worry about if you don't get moving!"

  Jogging past, I enter the cave with wide eyes. There are strange glowing rocks lighting the way. They're set into the walls, and resemble little white suns. I would stop to admire them if I wasn't running for my life.

  I can hear Skinny behind me--he's gawking at the lights--but at least he's moving forward.

  "This is all different. There were no lights before."

  Skinny frowns "Wait, then why did we come here if it was pitch black before?"

  Skinny doesn't get an answer. I'm too busy glaring at a rather conspicuous treasure chest, placed in the center of the circular room. I have to see what's inside.

  Setting Toothy down, I move to the chest. He coughs, looking at the chest with eager eyes as I pop the lid open. It's filled with coins... strange coins that look like they're made of copper. The markings on them are alien to me: A woman's face and a four leaf clover.

  "Uh, I think we've got company!" Skinny hollers.

  Shit. They sniffed us out--or maybe it was the lights that gave the cave away? No way to tell.

  I move to hoist toothy up, but the old man pushes my arm away.

  "Go, boy. Don't let me slow you down."

  "How could I leave you? You're one of us, Toothy!"

  Skinny sprints past me, snagging a glowing rock off the wall. He uses it to light the corridor beyond. I turn to warn him, the sound of metal boots on stone approaching.

  "Careful! there are traps!"

  Skinny hesitates "Traps? what kind of-"

  With a crash, the stone floor breaks apart. Chunks of thin rock fall down to the floor below. Thankfully Skinny is safe, having pulled himself up on the other side.

  "Jesus, Skinny, don't scare me like that!"

  I grab my own glowing rock from the wall, and turn to face Toothy. He grins weakly up at me. He's not got much time left, either way.

  "See you on the other side, you old fool."

  There's a little wetness in my eyes as I turn away. The scrabbling of claws on stone fills the room as the dogs finally catch up to us. I take a chance, sprinting to the corridor and taking a running leap. Skinny helps catch me on the other side, and we move deeper into the cave.

  "After them! You, secure that old man!"

  The guards shout behind us, their hounds too fearful to leap the gap. Skinny leads the way with his glowing rock held aloft. He's so focused on what's ahead that he doesn't notice what's below--another pitfall trap.

  I barely have a chance to jump the gap before I hear a sickening crunch. There are no sounds of pain or suffering, so I have to assume Skinny died on impact.

  God damn it.

  The sound of the guards venturing across the pitfalls speeds my pace. I hit a spiral staircase, and take the steps two at a time. The bottom of the staircase connects to the very same corridor Skinny landed in--his body is quite the sight--I do my best to ignore it and keep running.

  I catch sight of what looks like a crossroads, with multiple turns and corridors joined together. It's a maze. Maybe I can lose the guards in-

  Crack. I barely get a moment to lament my fate before I'm falling.

  "Fuck-"

  ~

  What is happening in my cave?

  There are seven men in armor, equipped with both swords and shields. Likely soldiers. Three dogs tied by chains accompany them. They're currently interrogating the old man from before--who's name is Toothy. The other two men in the group killed themselves on my traps whilst running from the soldiers.

  If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  I don't really feel thrilled to be partly responsible for a person's death, but I don't think the blame lies solely with me. These soldier looking fellows are the real culprit.

  "Did you create this place, scum?" One soldier asks Toothy.

  Glaring up at the man, Toothy refuses to answer. He's rewarded with a harsh kick in the stomach for his silence.

  "Ack-! W-We didn't build it!"

  "Then where did it come from?"

  "I don't know! We found it by accident, honest!"

  The soldier turns away from Toothy with a stern frown. Gesturing to the treasure chest full of copper coins, he shouts orders.

  "Haul that chest back to the city! Lord Frederick will want to see it."

  Two of the soldiers grab the handles on the sides of the chest. Leveraging their combined strength, the pair hefts the chest up and out of my cave. The leader apparent turns back to Toothy--and unsheathes his sword.

  "I-I told you all I know!"

  Smirking, the man replies "So there's no reason to keep you alive."

  Toothy barely lets out a scream before the soldier's blade slices cleanly through his neck--decapitating him in one fluid motion. The man flicks the blood from his blade.

  "You there! Clean this up."

  "Yes, Captain Dirk!"

  Captain Dirk marches over to the dark corridor where both Skinny and Shanks met their end. He sniffs the air. Scoffing, he turns around to bark more orders at his men.

  "Gather the glowing rocks. Mick and Davey will stay here and keep watch over this place."

  "Yes, Captain Dirk!"

  I watch bitterly as the soldiers pluck my lantern stones from the walls, shoving them into cloth sacks. They take their pilfered loot up and out of my cave. Captain Dirk leads the march back to wherever they came from, but two soldiers stay behind. They set up camp in the circular room near the entrance. Worst of all, they seem intent on staying here.

  With two soldiers posted in my cave, I can't harvest Shanks' or Skinny's corpses. I can't reset any of my traps either.

  Those jerks have got to go!

  Thankfully my lab is just outside the soldier's sphere of influence. I enter the test chamber and gently move my plant experiment aside. What I need is a defender, so that's what I'll make.

  Rather than start by throwing parts together, I create a sculpture. This way I can figure out what I want to create before I attempt to create it.

  Short and skinny, with a humanoid figure. Each hand is equipped with sharp claws. The creature's face is filled with sharp teeth, designed to shred through flesh. I give them lengthy knife like ears, and beady eyes. They get nose holes for smelling, and a tongue for tasting.

  I'll call them gremlins.

  Now to actually create the real thing. I have to use my own body's interior as a template, modifying things to match the sculpture. It's a little nauseating to watch the flesh and bone knit together so viscerally. Thankfully, I don't currently have a stomach.

  My core feels significantly emptier when I finish creating the first gremlin. It's like a lifeless doll, simply lying limp on the ground. I try giving it a spark--a little shock to the system.

  It works.

  Convulsing, shivering, and screeching bloody murder, the gremlin rises. It moves a bit like an ape at first. Climbing around on both its hands and feet. Once it calms down, it stands up straight. The little guy is roughly three feet tall. He looks confused, and sniffs the air cautiously.

  Hello? Little guy?

  My blood runs cold as I watch my gremlin behave as if unable to hear my thoughts. I can't control it like I expected. The only difference between it and any other animal is that it has no sphere of interference--meaning I can dissolve it if need be.

  I create a set of vertical bars to keep my gremlin contained, and consider my options.

  I can just get rid of the gremlin. It'd be so easy to just... erase it. That wouldn't be fair to the little guy, though, would it?

  He's sniffing the dirt in which I seeded my plant experiment. His little eyes look so full of curiosity, like a puppy seeing the world for the first time.

  I can't kill him!

  What if I train him? If he's capable of learning, or communicating, then he can be a reliable companion.

  But how do I train him? Food? Pets? Walkies?

  I sigh, and enter my body. My skin feels cold as I come to. Getting up off the ground, I walk into the lab. I can hear the scrabbling of the gremlin's claws on the stone, and see glimpses of its grey skin through the bars.

  "H-Hello?"

  The shuffling sounds stop. They're quickly replaced by a soft reply.

  "Gu?"

  The nervousness and curiosity evident in the gremlin's reply surprises me. It doesn't sound like a monster. More like an innocent animal in an unfamiliar place.

  "You're... confused."

  I step up to the bars, watching the gremlin take a few steps back. It looks at me with wide fearful eyes. Its nose twitches constantly, like a rabbit's.

  "I won't hurt you."

  "Gu..."

  "I promise."

  Sucking in a deep breath, I get right up next to the bars. The gremlin looks uncertain as it shifts from one clawed foot to the other.

  "Please don't be afraid!"

  It flinches, and I curse my overeager attitude. Instead of talking I crouch, getting low enough to be on the gremlin's level.

  Then I put my hand through the bars, offering it.

  "...Gu?"

  "I'm friendly."

  "Gu gu."

  The gremlin finally makes a move. With slow deliberate steps, it shuffles toward me. Its eyes look cautious as it reaches my hand. With a tentative sniff, it gently puts Its clawed hand on my own larger hand. Its skin feels rough, but not bad. Its claws aren't sharp enough to hurt from this simple touch.

  "Hi there," I say softly.

  The gremlin... smiles. It's a little odd to see, with all those sharp teeth, but it seems genuine. It does Its best to mimic my greeting.

  "Gu Gur!"

  I can't help but smile back.

  Now that I've created a gremlin and made peace with it, I feel conflicted. I originally made this gremlin to serve as a guard. How can I make this adorable newborn go fight for me? Even sending him to simply scare away the soldiers feels risky. They could hurt him!

  "What should I do?"

  "Gu gu."

  I giggle, amused by his very serious sounding response. It's strange how comforting it is to hold hands with a gremlin.

  "How about I start by making you something to wear. You deserve it."

  "Gu!"

  Slowly retracting my hand, I stand up. My gremlin looks less afraid now. He watches me walk away with a conflicted pout on his face.

  "I'll be right back!"

  Once in my core chamber, I grab my core. There's hardly any vertigo as I leave my body for the umpteenth time.

  Now to give my son something to wear--and a proper place to stay, of course.