Diving deep inside the mystery box with hands eagerly outstretched, my fingers feel the caress of a velvety, soft fabric waiting at the bottom. Fabric? Like the worthless stuff from the ears that I wrapped around my wound? No, no, this can’t be good. All this effort for such a disappointing, lackluster result. So sad!

  Unbidden, an appraisal panel clearly attached to the treasure at the bottom of the chest irrupts into my vision.

  My grief tightened jaw slackens and drops in awe. That silly, weak fabric can be this amazing? It’s almost as if it was made just for me. Exactly for me and only me. It even precisely fits tiny, little me as if designed for my short frame! It’s not simply the scavenged refuse of the big ones remixed for my figure, it’s mine. Mine!

  Tearing off my old, ragged, patchwork cloak, I joyously slip into the newer, beautiful-er, voluminous-er version. After gracefully twirling in place, the fabric softly rises up around me before slowly sinking down to rest just above my heels. Perfect. So perfect. No clue how to use this, but it’ll eventually be absolutely perfect. I can feel it!

  Rushing to the nearby tunnel and ruining Ha’koff’s illusion, I proudly display my wonderful spoils.

  He loves it! Of course he does. Eagerly scurrying to his side, I wrap him inside my older, world weary cloak. That’s the one protection I hadn’t yet made for him. The team grows more powerful! If only I could get him to properly utilize a dagger, then he wouldn’t be such a useless burden all the time. It’s so much work watching out for him all the time, but I suppose that it’s also a rewarding labor. If only to retain my precious second mud. My team.

  Excited by our novel accomplishment, I grab the leash and hurry down the tunnels towards the junction of many portals leading back towards home. Excitedly bouncing all along the way, a sinking feeling slowly steals itself into my consciousness. It’s very quiet. Far too quiet. Why? There should be the loud, bustling energy of all the brothers here, furiously working away at their ambiguous little projects. What’s the deal?

  A shrill roar echoes down the rocky passage. The sound intimately rocks my body. That’s the angry cry of those giant, molten lizards. Are the creatures waking up? Too soon, that’s far too soon. I thought I had more time. My planning was so careful!

  Rushing faster and faster, clumsy Ha’koff trips and falls. However, there’s really no time, so for his own safety, I forcefully drag him across the hard, jagged floor. We have to make it to the portals before any of the creatures find us, otherwise we’ll certainly be their next meal. They must be starving after the long, forced sleep. Sure, we’ll both only end up being reborn in the pits. However, everything that I possess will likely vanish along with my first mud. My precious songs, my anchored pockets, the precarious balance of my minds. What will remain and what gets replaced? What’s left of me if I lose all this? The mud? Only the mud? Will I simply devolve into one of those nihilistic little psychos? No, no, I can’t lose my first mud. I won’t! I refuse.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  About to collapse from exhaustion, we finally arrive. However, the portal junction’s gone completely dark. Everything and everyone is gone. Did they leave without us? We did wait for the bustle to settle down before breaking into the box, but how was I to know that they’d all go home right then? Drat. Drat! We were always so careful. Always kept our trips into the second portal so short. For safety’s sake! Today was the first time getting greedy and risking more. Risking such a short time more, and now this. Catastrophe!

  No, no, no. Solutions! We need solutions now, not panic. Maybe I can rip another hole back to the pits? No, that’s too dangerous. They clearly didn’t like it when I did that before. Will those horrifying abominations tolerate my doing it again? Can’t risk it.

  How about the other way around? Can I rip a hole that goes somewhere on Kyklos? Where? Even if I’m competent enough now to do that, what would be my target focus? Everything that’s intimately mine is here with me now. There’s not one thing left there bearing a clear connection back to me. Nothing like my birth pit. No, no, it won’t work. Won’t work!

  Dueling roars rattle the tunnels again but slightly closer. There’s no time. Should we flee and hope for an exit? No, we’ll simply stumble into another, quieter beast’s jaws. Maybe if I kick Ha’koff into the ambushing maw, then I can sneak– no! The team stays together. Besides, this second mud experiment is too critical for understanding my first mud. Can’t be weak and toss him aside because of a little bit of danger. What would that make me? I’m not a monster.

  What other options are there? There’s no time. Thinking hard, memories from my short, eventful life rapidly shoot across my vision. A pattern. There must be a pattern. Once again, I need to make a new door. How? There must be something that I’ve missed.

  The walking stick snaps its fingers. A portal opens.

  Yes, but that’s silly. I can’t do that. No, no, no, that’s ridiculous.

  “Foot, reach into the appropriate net. The hand will crush him there.”

  Right, and then a giant portal was formed and the tower threw everyone inside. It’s the start of a pattern, for sure. They ask for the portal, and then it’s given to them. However, it’s always one of those crazy horror shows commanding the door. I’m not like them. No, no, that won’t work. It can’t.

  “Een! Een! Een!”

  Oh, that’s right. When I first arrived. The portal in the middle of the mound. The brothers demanded entrance, and the tower obliged. The tower obliged! At the lowly demand of the little brotherhood. Is it really true that we can command it as well? It may be, it may be. What’s there to lose in trying? But how?

  “Een?” I tentatively whisper into the dusty darkness of the tunnel.

  “Eh?” Ha’koff loudly replies in confusion, crudely scratching at his head.

  “Non agob!” I angrily shout back at the now cowering goblin, intimidated by my unexpected aggression.

  Quiet. We have to stay quiet, or we’ll attract the beasts. That single word from my memory didn’t work, so now what? What am I missing?

  “Foot, seal the rift and send off all travellers.”

  Foot? What’s that? He kept repeating it. Is that the tower’s name? Just like that bizarre entity in the guild. He referred to himself as the mouth. Come to think of it, he also referred to the brotherhood as the hand. The chattering teeth did too. Foot, mouth, hand. That makes sense, it must be the name! Can it be summoned by its name if you don’t already have its attention?

  “Peed!” I harshly hiss into the awkward tension. “Peed!”

  Did that work? Nothing’s happening. Is it not enough? No, a command! There must also be a clear command.

  “Peed con. Con dur!” I quietly shout, urgency rising as energetic rumblings reverberate down the tunnel heading towards us.

  Almost instantly, a shimmering, goblin sized circle swells up in the space beside us.