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Locke should have known things were about to get weird when those big stone slabs slammed down behind them and the flame of their torchlights wavered like a shy firefly. The orange-furred cat had been expecting something to happen as soon as they’d set foot on the abandoned temple, but he hadn’t actually imagined the situation would escalate so fast, so soon. Now, with their only way out completely blocked by four feet of solid stone and their chances of survival suddenly lowered to critical levels, Locke was starting to think perhaps they should have formed a bigger party before walking into that trap.

Arther was pretty chill, though. The white-scaled dragon chuckled a bit and casted a new flame on his torchlight. His red eyes gleamed with the sparkling embers.

“Well, can’t say I was expecting that,” he said with a grin. “Most of these traps are usually placed in the inner corridors of most temples I’ve visited, not the entrance.”

Locke nodded. Arther was the experienced adventurer of the two, which meant he found himself relying on the dragon’s advice whenever he could.

“Should we try to open it?” the cat suggested. “Or should we call for… help? Uh, I don’t know. What’s one supposed to do in these situations?”

“You press forward. In most cases, these temples have a mechanism to dismantle all traps – usually near the inner sanctum. Those who build it made sure whoever knew how to walk through these corridors without getting killed had a way of getting out as well.”

“I’m not sure that makes sense.”

“It does, when you think about it. Imagine you’re a priest or a cleric of some kind, and you want to make an offering to your god.”

Arther started walking again as he spoke. Locke couldn’t help but think the dragon seemed particularly certain that he wouldn’t come across any additional traps – he wasn’t even looking at the floor as he walked. Experience would do that to you, he supposed.

“The only way to make that offering is getting to the inner sanctum in this temple, right? So you put some traps here and there, mostly to prevent any intruders from getting to the inner sanctum. But you also want to make sure whoever gets there – a fellow priest who shares your faith or another monk you’ve given directions to – can get back safely. After all, you want your faith to live on.”

“Oh. I can see it now, yeah.”

“Long story short – we get to the inner sanctum, we live,” the dragon summed up, a sinister grin on his face. “Either that or we walked through a fake entrance and now we’re heading to our deaths.”

He’s too calm about this, the cat thought. Then again, that was why Arther was the leader. The dragon warlock was much more experienced than Locke in pretty much everything. Locke appreciated his knowledge, but sometimes he would have liked to change some of it for a bit of empathy towards a less experienced adventurer, such as himself. That’s what you get for siding with a warlock, Locke thought. Next time, make friends with a paladin or a warrior. I’ve heard they’re nicer.

They were walking through the corridor for a few minutes. The deeper they got into the temple, the more Locke thought it was highly unlikely they’d walked through a fake entrance. A fake entrance should have ended abruptly in a deep pit full of pointy spikes or something like that – they weren’t supposed to take you deeper into the temple. Plus, the corridor was weirdly spacious and Locke hadn’t seen any other entrances when they’d been outside.

Perhaps Arther was right. Perhaps they were heading to the inner sanctum.

As if to confirm his words, the corridor broadened a few minutes later and led them to a bigger, more richly decorated room. Locke was about to congratulate Arther for being right when his eyes met two figures standing on the other end of the room.

“We’re not alone,” he whispered, readying his daggers.

Arther had stopped in his tracks as well. There was a frown on his face, but he seemed to relax after a few seconds.

“Pay attention to them,” the dragon said in a calm tone. “I don’t think they’re a threat.”

Locke narrowed his eyes and tried to understand what he meant. The two figures stood next to an altar, completely motionless. A bull and a bear, their expressions completely blank, devoid of any emotion. Their bulky bodies were covered in heavy armor and they looked like guards… but what were they guarding, exactly? They hadn’t even reacted to their presence in the room.

“It’s like they’re under some kind of spell,” Locke mentioned.

“Mmmhm.”

Arther walked closer to the two figures before Locke could beg him to exercise some caution. The dragon warlock approached the altar and took a long look at the guards before climbing to the top of the structure. There were two pillars between the guards – and under the flames of Arther’s torchlight, Locke could see a chain ending on a manacle hanging from each pillar.

The crackling flame prompted an additional idea in his mind. These two guys don’t have torchlights. Have they been waiting in the dark? For how long? They looked healthy, that for sure – and Locke doubted they were zombies. Not in the physical sense, at least.

“I know this spell,” Arther said. “Somebody has turned them into thralls.”

“Somebody? I thought this had to do with the temple.”

“No. I think someone must have walked here before we did. Someone who was probably helped by these guards. They must have been enthralled to do all the physical work, in my opinion.” The dragon let out a dark chuckle. “And then, they were left behind here.”

Locke was starting to feel sorry for the bear and the bull, but Arther looked as calm as usual.

“Can you undo it?” he asked.

The dragon cracked his knuckles.

“I probably can, yeah. But what if I just… don’t? Have you never wanted to command your own pair of brutes around? To have two slaves that will do anything and everything for you, no matter what?”

Locke regarded Arther with a raised eyebrow. He hoped that gesture would be enough to answer the question.

“I’m just kidding,” the dragon reassured him. A mysterious gleam went through his deep, red eyes. “Or am I…?”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re free to pull my leg all you want, but answer the question – can you free these two from their spell? They might help us get out of here.”

“Sure thing, but I’ll need your help. We need to move them to a safer place. Come closer.”

Locke hesitated for an instant. The two guards were fairly imposing and he was a thief, after all – he’d been trained to try and stay as far away as possible from people wearing heavy armor and stern looks. In the end, he approached the altar hoping Arther would undo the spell and that would make them look more amicable. It only made sense, after all – Locke would be much friendlier to whoever released him from an enthralling spell.

He climbed to the altar and took a closer look at the manacles.

“This is creepy,” he muttered. “Why would they have…”

But he couldn’t finish the sentence.

Suddenly, two strong hands closed around his arms and immobilized him. Locke’s body tensed, but it was already too late – he hadn’t expected the bull to move, so he hadn’t seen him getting closer. He struggled, but it was no use against such a big mountain of muscle. Locke let out a groan as he watched the bear walking closer too and clasping the manacles around his wrists. As soon as that was done, the two guards let go of him and returned to their place by the pillars.

“What the fuck?” he shouted. He struggled against the chains and tried to break them, but they were strong. The metallic sound echoed in the empty room. “Arther, help me! These guys are still under some kind of control!”

He wasn’t ready for the answer that came to his ears.

“Yeah. I know.”

The dragon walked slowly until he was in front of the confused cat.

“What do you mean ‘you know’? This isn’t the time to be joking!”

But Arther grinned at him. It was the same sinister grin that Locke had seen on his face several times by now, but this time it was different.

This time, it actually made the cat shiver.

“I’m not joking,” the dragon promised. His white scales glistened with the flame of the torchlight. “In fact, I wasn’t kidding either when I asked if you’d like to have two brutes following your orders. I do, Locke.”

“What do you mean you… Wait.” Locke regarded his companion with a new look of shock. “Don’t tell me. You were the one who did this?”

Arther chuckled.

“Watching the gears turn slowly in your head is so much fun,” he said, tilting his head. “It’s the one thing I’m going to miss about you.”

“What do you mean? Arther, let me go! Fuck! This isn’t funny!”

The dragon held his gaze.

“You still don’t get it, do you? I lied. I wasn’t looking for a companion. I was just testing your strength. These two brutes were so easy to break, but I wanted… a third opinion, so to speak. All along, what I wanted was you to become my newest test subject. And what can I say? I’m eager to see the results I’ll get from you.”

Locke shook his head in disbelief. The cat could tell he was trembling and he hated himself for it. If what Arther was saying was true, he didn’t deserve to see him cowering in fear like that. Locke didn’t want to give him that.

“You have to be kidding…”

“I already said I’m not.” The dragon spread his arms and black magic began swirling around his claws. “But hey, cheer up. You’re going to feel fantastic where you’re going. In fact, I’d say it’ll be an improvement.”

“Arther, wait…”

“Travelling by your side for these past few months has been… well. Certainly something. Hope you’ve enjoyed the trip, but I’m afraid it ends now.” The dragon’s grin grew wider, sharper. “Goodbye, Locke. Sweet dreams.”

The dark mist around Arther’s claws thickened like charcoal fumes before taking the shape of long, thick tendrils. Locke tried to look away, to struggle – but it was already too late for that. One of the tendrils wrapped around the cat’s head, searching for a way in, searching for his brain. The cat groaned, his body complaining as he made one final effort to break free from those stupid chains. More tendrils wrapped around him, a satisfied look washing over Arther’s focused expression. Locke opened his mouth to insult him and then…

… then he forgot what he was supposed to be saying.

He had a mild headache all of a sudden, but it wasn’t painful. It was like a gentle pressure, carefully moving things around. Caressing. Stroking. Filling his head with white noise, replacing his thoughts with it.

The cat’s body grew heavy and sluggish, his arms hanging limp in unnatural ways that suddenly felt extremely natural. Locke didn’t even have enough strength to keep his jaw closed and it hung loose and slack, drool trickling down his chin as he finally dropped to his knees. His eyes rolled up as he tried to give one last glare at Arther, as if to put a final challenge.

That never happened. Instead, the cat’s eyes grew glassy. Everything behind them faded into light mist, evaporating from his heavy, heavy body. A soft moan escaped Locke’s lips as he felt it all being replaced with soft, warm pleasure. Words were impossible to form right now. Thoughts seemed even harder to grasp. All was gone.

All was gone and he was empty.

That was the last thing his brain managed to think before shutting down completely. Then, it all became void. Darkness. Compliance.

Locke barely registered Arther’s hand grabbing his chin and forcing him to look up. Those red eyes pierced straight into his empty head.

“See? You were right to trust me. I seem to be always right,” the dragon grinned. One of his clawed thumbs gently stroked the cat’s cheek. “After all, I did say this would be an improvement, didn’t I?”

Locke’s head didn’t find the strength to nod.

“Good kitten. Now, let’s see…” The dragon crossed his arms on his chest. “Two slaves is pretty good, but three opens up a lot of possibilities… And would you look at that, there’s four of us. Aren’t we a full party now?”

Those words must have held some meaning in the past, but the cat had no idea what it meant. Not now.

“It’s okay,” the dragon reassured him. The claw on Locke’s cheek slid dangerously close to his open mouth. “You don’t need to understand. You just need to follow. And even if that doesn’t make any sense to you now…”

A dangerous shadow flashed through those red eyes.

“… I’ll make sure you agree.”