Chapter Text
It was an odd feeling, being sent to your death. The cool morning air stings as he inhales, watching the cloud of his breath dissipate into the air before him. Winter was nearly over and the spring sowing would begin any day now. Which meant it was time for offerings to be made. the oppressive atmosphere lays heavy on Laios’ shoulders. He never thought this day would come; never thought that he would be chosen for such a fate, that his father would send him away. He was the village chief! Surely that meant Laios, as his son, was safe. And yet… Here he stands before the dungeon’s entrance.
To any outsider it looked like a normal cave, small and unassuming, nestled between the trees of the forest. It was something an animal might shelter in overnight before moving on the next day. Laios knows better though. His village had worshiped the dungeon and the demon within for as long as he could remember. They sent in young men and boys, in exchange for the promise of a good harvest.
He looks back at his father who stands behind him and meets his stern gaze. His own eyes pleading for mercy, searching for any emotion he could latch onto to convince his father not to send him away. He gestures almost impatiently for Laios to continue on into the dungeon.
He goes to speak but thinks better of it; if he couldn’t convince his father before he certainly wouldn’t now. Instead he turns away, tears stinging his eyes. ‘Bastard.’ He thinks bitterly.
There was no point in delaying the inevitable and the sooner he was away from his father’s piercing gaze the better. Laios grits his teeth and takes a step towards the dungeon, then another, and another. He forces himself to keep walking, soft dirt giving way to hard stone as he descends into the dungeon.
…
Laios isn’t sure how long he’d been walking for, everything looks the same down here and
without any light from outside he couldn’t tell how much time had passed. Everything was stone hallways and flickering torch-light. It was much more boring than the dungeons he read about. Not that it matters right? Any second now the demon will find him and eat him and he won’t have to worry about it. ‘But then why hasn’t it yet? Is it hiding? Why would a demon need to hide?’
He’s shaken out of his thoughts by a small gang of walking mushrooms running past him. His eyes light up at the sight of them and his pace quickens, following them deeper into the dungeon. He had never seen any monster in real life before, and these looked nothing like the books he had read! There were so many different shapes and sizes. If only he could get a bit closer, he could study them properly.
He stumbles and he rounds the corner and catches himself on the doorway directly ahead. The walking mushrooms from before are nowhere to be seen. He scans the room, looking for where they might have gone. The room is empty save for a doorway on the opposite wall. ‘There’s nowhere else for them to go, so they must have gone through here.’ He kneels down, observing the room carefully. He knew dungeons were home to all kinds of traps and this room seemed too conveniently placed to not be one. Like really, one way in and out, with no furniture or storage to speak of. Even Laios wasn’t stupid enough to not recognize this for what it was. He picks up a loose stone and tosses it into the room. It lands on one of the pressure plates and spikes shoot up from the floor faster than he can blink. He falls back in shock as the spikes retreat. He can barely make out the gaps in the floor where they came from. How on earth was he supposed to make it across here alive?
As if senses his troubles, a walking mushroom waddles past him into the room, picking its way through the minefield of pressure plates until it arrives safely on the other side; where it’s promptly eaten by a basilisk. Laios gasps in awe, his eyes sparkling as he watches the snake head swallow the mushroom whole. The basilisk looks at him and blinks slowly before walking away, seeming uninteresting in trying to go after him. So many thoughts raced through his head. ‘How often does it need to eat? Do both heads need to eat or just the snake head? Does it have one stomach or two?’ He needed to know!
Scrambling back to his feet, Laios searched the hallway and surrounding alcoves hoping for another walking mushroom to appear. Surely if one could make it across then others could too. After some minutes he finds another group of mushrooms huddled together in a corner where a steady drip of water came down from the ceiling. They scattered at his approach and he quickly lunged forward to grab one. “Ha!” He exclaimed triumphantly as his hands closed around a small purple mushroom, its legs kicking frantically. “Got you!”
He can hide his excited smile as he walks back to the trapped room, walking mushroom in hand. It was so interesting looking. It felt exactly like the mushrooms he foraged as a kid. Though, this one was more unruly than those ones. Its legs kicking helplessly as it wiggles in his grasp. ‘I wonder if these would taste as good as regular mushrooms.’ His mouth waters at the thought.
‘No! I need this to get through the room’. He pushes the thoughts of eating from his mind, focusing back on the task at hand. He kneels down and gently places the struggling mushroom just inside the doorway, giving it a small push forwards. It runs away from him, following the same path as the one before. Laios carefully follows after it, eyeing the floor for any signs of imminent death. Thankfully, he makes it across in one piece. He’s met with more twisting hallways, exactly like the ones that had led to this room. He sighs, his hand coming up to rub the back of his neck.
‘What a pain. What’s this demon waiting for anyway?' He looked to his left. 'The basilisk went that way right? Maybe if I follow it I could observe it closer’. With his excitement at seeing the monster once more and finally having his questions answered sparked once more, he continues to make his way deeper into the dungeon. Though, he can’t quite shake the feeling that something is watching him.