The heavy door creaked open, and we stepped through, the air around us thick with magic. The dungeon had led us deeper than I expected, and each step felt like we were walking straight into Alice’s blood-soaked fantasy novels. Jay-Jay was in front, practically bouncing with excitement.

“I swear, this kid’s got more guts than us,” Jeanna muttered, rolling her eyes.

Sabrina glanced around at the walls, which pulsed with an eerie light. “Does anyone else feel like we’re being watched? It’s like the dungeon’s alive.”

“You’re just paranoid,” Alice said, waving a hand dismissively. “I mean, yeah, it’s creepy, but that’s kind of the point, isn’t it? Classic dungeon crawl.”

Despite her words, Alice’s eyes shone with excitement. I could see her fingers twitching, eager to dive into what she saw as a real-world adventure straight out of her favorite stories. She was trying to stay grounded, but I knew she was as thrilled as Jay-Jay.

As we ventured deeper, a feeling of unease settled over me. The walls seemed to be pulsing with life, and the air felt charged, like we were walking into a trap. Jay-Jay suddenly came to an abrupt halt, his tiny hand pointing toward a massive stone archway at the end of the corridor.

“That’s it! That’s the portal!” Jay-Jay announced, his voice filled with awe.

The archway was covered in intricate runes, glowing with a pale blue light that shimmered in the darkness. The whole room felt like it was humming with energy, the kind that makes your hair stand on end.

Sabrina’s eyes widened. “It’s beautiful…”

Jeanna, however, was less impressed. “Yeah, yeah, it’s a glowy doorway. Can we focus on not dying?”

Alice practically ran to the archway, her face lighting up. “This is it! A real, honest-to-goodness portal to another world!”

I groaned. “You’re saying that like we haven’t already been dragged into one weird world.”

Before anyone could respond, Jay-Jay tugged on Sabrina’s sleeve. “My brother says there’s a guardian here. We have to beat it to open the portal.”

I froze, staring at him. “Your brother? Since when do you have a brother, and why didn’t you mention him before?”

Jay-Jay blinked innocently, as if he didn’t realize this was important information. “He doesn’t like people knowing about him. He’s... different.”

There was something in his voice that sent a chill down my spine, but before I could press further, Sabrina leaned in, her voice shaking. “A guardian? Like… a monster?”

“Yep!” Jay-Jay nodded enthusiastically. “But don’t worry, I can make lots of noise! That’ll scare it away.”

Jeanna let out a low laugh. “Oh, this is gonna be good.”

The ground rumbled, and from the shadows, something huge and horrifying stepped forward. Its body was made of rock and metal, a grotesque figure with glowing red eyes. It let out a low, echoing growl, and I instantly regretted every decision that led me to this moment.

“Jay-Jay!” I yelled. “You were supposed to warn us earlier!”

Sabrina’s hand shot to her sword, eyes wide. “What do we do? We can’t fight that thing!”

Jeanna grinned, cracking her knuckles. “We do what we always do. Wing it and hope for the best.”

Alice was already halfway into a battle stance, her eyes glinting with determination. “Alright, this is my moment! I’ve read enough of these to know the trick!”

Her excitement was palpable, the thrill of a dungeon challenge straight from one of her books. But I could also see the wheels turning in her head, her rational side fighting to take control. She was balancing the urge to dive headfirst into the fantasy with the practicality that had always grounded her.

“You’d better be right!” I yelled, as the creature roared and charged at us.

We scattered, dodging out of the way as the beast slammed into the wall, sending chunks of stone flying. Jay-Jay stood his ground, clapping his hands over his mouth to muffle a scream.

“Jay-Jay, you’re supposed to be loud!” Jeanna yelled, grabbing him and hauling him back behind a rock.

Sabrina swung her sword wildly, but every strike bounced off the monster’s metal plating. Alice, meanwhile, darted around, her eyes scanning the runes on the portal with the intensity of someone who’d spent years studying these kinds of challenges in her books.

“There’s got to be a trick to this thing!” she shouted over the chaos. “If we can just activate the runes, maybe it’ll open the portal and suck this thing in!”

“I like that plan!” I yelled back. “How do we do it?”

“I don’t know! It’s a dungeon, figure it out!” she called, clearly thrilled by the challenge but also trying to stay logical.

Meanwhile, the beast turned its attention toward Jeanna, who was holding Jay-Jay. The thing let out a guttural growl and lunged, but Jeanna didn’t even flinch.

“Alright, you oversized hunk of scrap metal!” she yelled. “Come get some!”

Jeanna threw a massive chunk of rock straight at its head, knocking it off balance for a moment. It stumbled, giving Sabrina the chance to dive in with another swing.

“That’s it!” Sabrina cried. “We’re wearing it down!”

“No, we’re pissing it off!” I corrected, dodging as the beast turned its attention back toward me.

Alice was frantically working on the runes, muttering to herself. “Come on, come on… I know this… it’s just like that one chapter in Dungeon Lords...”

“Any day now!” I shouted as the creature’s claws missed me by inches.

Finally, there was a bright flash of light, and the runes on the archway flared to life. The portal hummed, a swirling vortex of blue energy suddenly appearing in the center of the arch.

Alice grinned triumphantly, her rational side winning out over her excitement. “Got it! Now, let’s see if this thing does the trick!”

“Great! How do we get the monster in there?” Sabrina yelled, struggling to keep the creature’s attention.

Jay-Jay’s eyes lit up. “I know! Loud noises, remember?”

Without waiting for anyone to stop him, he took a deep breath and let out the loudest, most high-pitched scream I’ve ever heard. The beast froze, its glowing eyes flickering for just a moment.

“That’s it!” I shouted. “It’s distracted!”

Jeanna, Sabrina, and I worked together, pushing the monster toward the portal as it stumbled from the noise. With one final heave, we shoved it into the swirling vortex. There was a deafening roar, and then silence.

The portal snapped shut, leaving us all panting in the now-quiet dungeon.

Jay-Jay grinned, clearly pleased with himself. “Told ya loud noises work.”

Jeanna collapsed against the wall, laughing. “Okay, I’ll admit it. The kid’s got guts.”

Alice was still buzzing with excitement, but there was a sense of pride in her voice as well. “That was amazing! We just beat a dungeon boss.”

Sabrina looked over at the now-dormant portal. “So… do we go in? Is this our way home?”

I shook my head, still catching my breath. “Not yet. There’s more we need to figure out. But we’re getting closer.”

As we stood there in the dimly lit dungeon, I couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of anticipation. The adventure wasn’t over yet, but for the first time, it felt like we were starting to get some answers.

The aftermath of the monster encounter left us all breathless, but there was no time to rest. With the portal now dormant, I felt an insistent pull to figure out what lay beyond that shimmering barrier.

“Alright, team,” I said, rallying everyone despite my pounding heart. “We’ve defeated a dungeon boss and survived Jay-Jay’s high-pitched opera. Now, let’s see what’s next on our adventure checklist.”

Sabrina grinned, her excitement still bubbling. “Do you think there’s more treasure? Or maybe even a map to guide us?”

“Let’s hope it’s something useful,” I muttered.

Before we could press on, Jay-Jay tugged at my sleeve, his face unusually serious. “My brother says we have to hurry. The shadow will find us again soon.”

I froze, turning to face him. “Your brother? You mean the one you mentioned in the dungeon?”

Jay-Jay nodded, his wide eyes even more earnest. “Yeah, he’s been helping me all this time. He’s watching us right now. He knows about the portals.”

Alice, already pacing near the archway, paused at Jay-Jay’s words. “Wait—your brother knows about the portals? Where is he?”

Jay-Jay bit his lip, hesitating. “He’s... in the shadows. But he’s not bad, I promise! He’s been protecting me.”

And with Jay-Jay—and the mysterious brother he kept mentioning—by our side, I had a feeling things were only going to get more chaotic from here.