Gold sparkles flashed as the destination shifted in front of me.

I took a breath and stepped through. The most dangerous part was—

Yep. The moment I got in.

A brightly-colored snake the size of an anaconda lunged for me, jaw unhinging. 

I went for my wand— then froze as I realized it was back in the storage unit. Before I could panic too much about that I felt movement at my side.

I looked down just in time to see the coin pouch at my waist grow a huge open maw filled with teeth and the mimic’s familiar red tongue. It was at least fifteen times the size of the pouch itself, hugely disproportioned. 

The snake’s eyes opened wide, its body language shifting. It tried to abort, but it was already moving. The coin pouch chomped down as the monster came close, taking out the snake’s entire head and upper body in one huge bite.

The mimic transformed back into a chest, untying from my belt and falling lightly to the ground on its t-rex feet as it shimmered into its preferred form. It tilted forward and gulped the snake’s body down, slurping up the lower half and tail like a giant deadly spaghetti noodle.

“Nice.” I said, blinking in bemusement. “Chill. Very chill, chest. Winning at teamwork and saving me.”

It radiated smugness.

“You, uh—” I started, fumbling. “You wouldn’t happen to have another wand in there?” 

It stared at me, silent, then turned away. 

“Oh.” I said. “Okay. Great…”

I was back in the dungeons because that had seemed like the smartest move. Of course, in my panic I hadn't realized I was weaponless— I'd been a bit more preoccupied with my impending arrest. I was sort-of regretting that now, but at least I had the mimic to protect me?

I mean, it was still a good call. Probably. I had the damn military after me and I really did not want them to catch me, so going into a randomly-rotating enemy-fest where it would be almost impossible to follow me without wasting a bunch of their time had seemed like the smart thing to do.

I was trying not to think about my long-term plan here; I, uh, didn’t have one. I knew I couldn’t stay in the dungeons forever— especially without a weapon or any of my food rations— but the soldiers couldn’t try to find me forever either.  If I gave it enough time they’d have to give up. 

… Right?

… Right!?

Yeah. Sure. I mean, probably. I couldn’t be that high priority. 

I tried not to ruminate about the fact that I’d never heard of soldiers coming after an American tourist in Revellion before. This would work. Positive thinking. No worries.

This dungeon had low ceilings, dark brown earth walls, and simple torches set into brackets on the walls. It wasn’t nearly as nice as the one where I’d found the mimic. Though judging by that snake at the entrance it still had some mean enemies. 

I… should really try to find a weapon.

I moved forward through the corridor, going slow since I was unarmed. At least I had my first aid kit, so that was something.

For the next thirty minutes I encountered nothing.

I was still new to this— the nicer stone dungeon where I’d found the mimic had been my fourth— but this seemed… suspect. I immediately got attacked as soon as I entered, but then nothing else for over half an hour?

“Hey buddy.” I said to the mimic thumping along behind me. “I think you’re scaring all your food off.”

Annoyance and resignation wafted back to me. Well, at least it was aware of its effect on the monsters in the dungeons.

I slowed down as I turned a blind corner and hit a dead end. There was a little room with old roots dangling from the ceiling, bulbous round bits hanging off of them. At the very back was a wooden chest.

I paused, the mimic coming to a stop behind me.

“Soooooo…” I said, musing. “What are the odds that’s another mimic?”

Thumps sounded from behind me. The mimic moved forward and kicked the chest hard, shattering it into pieces. Wood clattered apart, revealing a twisted piece of old vine about three feet long.

A stave?

I leaned down and picked it up, testing it out. Nothing happened.

I frowned, gripping it with both hands. It flared to life, a small flame dancing on the end. A two-hander, I guess.

I tested it again, thrusting it forward experimentally. A small gout of flame roared out of the end, illuminating the room far better than the torches. A few of the roots above me lit on fire.

I looked up, watching them burn themselves out. Then I looked closer. The bulbous bits hanging off looked a bit like…

I stretched onto my tippy-toes, reaching up and grabbing a bigger one. I dug my fingernail into it as I brought my new stave close, illuminating it with the flame.

Yup. A potato. A small one, not much bigger than the meaty ball of my palm, but absolutely a potato. 

…Huh.

I’d emptied my bag into the Mimic’s mouth before going into this dungeon. Which meant I had room to harvest these if I wanted.

And considering I’d also left my rations in my storage unit… 

“Awesome.” I muttered. “Wild potatoes for dinner.”