Runtar’s Diary: The Thing Beneath the Town Hall

I don’t think I’ve ever been this tired.

We went into the caves beneath the town hall to stop what was happening to the sailors. I knew it would be dangerous, but I didn’t understand how hungry that place was.

There were fish people down there, guarding a pool. They spoke like they believed they were doing something kind. Like drowning people and taking their memories was a gift. I didn’t listen for long.

Everything happened very fast after that.

Bawbaggings flew in first, wrapped in more coats than I thought a halfling could carry. He looked ridiculous, but it worked. While he tried to free the prisoners, the rest of us attacked. Fire filled the cavern, and the smell of burning fish didn’t leave my nose for the rest of the fight.

Then the water moved.

Something huge came up from the pool. Not just big, Mum, but full. Like it was made of everything that had been drowned in that place. It grabbed at us, pulled my friends under, tried to keep them there. I saw Daisy go down. I saw Gloom disappear beneath the surface.

I was so angry.

I kept thinking about you. About how they said the people here were becoming something better. Something bigger. And all I could think was how wrong that sounded. I don’t want to be bigger if it means forgetting who I am. I don’t want a world where someone can decide I don’t get to remember my mum.

So I burned it.

Again and again.

Daisy came back, somehow, and dragged Gloom up with a potion. Gloom woke up under the water and killed the thing from below. It died slowly, bleeding into the pool it had been using to erase people.

When it finally stopped moving, everything went very quiet.

We’re still alive. The sailors are still alive. I don’t know what happens next, but for once I don’t feel like we arrived too late.

I don’t feel proud. I feel steady. Like I stood where I needed to stand.

I hope you’d understand that.

Love,