A few days of pleasant, profitable peace had settled over The Comfy Corner. My new Sanctuary Status seemed to be working. A steady stream of Iron Gryphons adventurers used the Hibernation Hollows to recover after missions, always leaving a few gold coins at the Tea Nook on their way out. My Dungeon Point balance was higher than it had ever been.
FaeLina, for her part, was cautiously optimistic. "See, Mochi?" she said, observing a knight happily signing my new guestbook. "The DLRB notice is working. The Blood Pit wouldn't dare attack us now. It would be a bureaucratic nightmare for them."
I wanted to believe her, but I kept my two Dreamer Sentinels, Zazu and Pip, on a steady rotation of "guard duty," which was a very heroic way of saying they took a lot of naps.
It was in the middle of a quiet afternoon that the psychic alarm finally went off.
The alert was completely different from the chaotic goblin raid. In the Dreamscape, there was no blaring siren. Zazu and Pip, who had been relaxing on their dream-beach, saw a single, sharp, silent spike of crimson light shoot up on the horizon, like a sliver of glass. It was cold, focused, and utterly silent.
In the real world, the two adventurers jolted awake in their alcoves. Zazu's face was grim.
""Core," he reported, his voice low and urgent. "Someone is approaching. He is... quiet. Cold. And very, very focused. This one is a professional."
And then, The official system alert confirmed it.
**HOSTILE INTRUSION ALERT!**
TYPE: Hobgoblin Assassin (1)
DISTANCE: 300 meters from entrance
THREAT: VERY HIGH
INTENT: Core Destruction.
'Assassin!' FaeLina shrieked in my mind. 'See! I told you! They're not messing around anymore!'
The cheerful, cozy atmosphere of my lobby seemed to curdle. The gentle trickle of the fountain suddenly sounded too loud. The soft, purple light seemed to dim, creating new, menacing shadows where before there had been none.
A figure slipped through the entrance. He didn't make a sound. He moved like a predator, a ripple in the shadows, his eyes scanning the room not with a warrior's bravado, but with the cold, calculating gaze of a hunter. He ignored the Tea Nook, he ignored the comfortable cushions, he ignored everything that made my dungeon a sanctuary.
It was Klarg the Hobgoblin, and he was a piece of pure, silent death that had just walked into my living room.
He paused for a fraction of a second as the Aura of Sanctuary washed over him. A flicker of confusion crossed his scarred face, but he immediately suppressed it with a grunt, his iron-clad willpower pushing the calming sensation away. He had a mission, and feelings were a liability for him.
His sharp eyes immediately spotted Sir Crumplebuns, who was standing proudly by the guestbook. Klarg didn't laugh or sneer. He correctly identified the plush knight as a magical construct and a potential guard. Instead of attacking, he simply altered his path, his silent footsteps taking him in a wide, swift arc around the doll, never giving Sir Crumplebuns a chance to engage.
"He's ignoring Crumplebuns!" FaeLina cried. "That wasn't in the plan!"
Klarg's goal was clear: find the core. He knew it would be on the lowest level, so he headed straight for the staircase leading down to the Hibernation Hollows.
"Stop him!" Gilda, who had been supervising the Sentinels, bellowed to the other adventurers in the room.
They moved to intercept the hobgoblin, but Klarg was ready. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed a small, black pellet onto the floor. It exploded in a thick cloud of acrid, disorienting smoke. The adventurers coughed, their eyes watering, and by the time the smoke cleared, Klarg was gone.
He was on the second floor.
The soft lullaby and starlit ceiling of the Hibernation Hollows did nothing to deter him. He scanned the peaceful, napping alcoves with a professional's eye, ignoring the sleeping adventurers. They were not his target. He was searching for a hidden passage, a seam in the wall, anything that would lead to the dungeon's heart.
FaeLina's psychic voice was a scream in my consciousness. 'He's on the second floor! The Snooze Pollen can't reach him down there! We have no traps, Mochi! Nothing is stopping him!'
She was right. My best knight had been bypassed. My best weapon was on the wrong floor. The adventurers were still disoriented above. The only things between the assassin and me were a few dozen wiggling, uselessly fluffy Pillow Fiends.
For the first time since my reincarnation, I was truly, completely cornered.