by Mason Roth
"What did you say you did for a living again, tough guy?"
"I didn't." Jeremy replied nonchalantly. Piper blinked at him expectantly, her dark eyelashes batting over her steel blue eyes. He sighed heavily.
"I teach. Middle school." He looked away, embarrassed.
"What? A teacher? That's a stable job, right? What the hell are you doing here?"
"What is this, twenty questions? What do you do? Why are you here?" This time, Piper looked away and mumbled an inaudible response.
"Hm? Didn't quite catch that." He cupped his hand against his ear dramatically.
"Freelance...artist." She barely managed.
"Hmm... it's almost like... you don't want to talk about it. Imagine that." He tapped his chin as if he were pondering one of life's great mysteries.
"Okay, okay. I get it." Piper raised her hands in surrender and trudged ahead without looking up. "Let's just go."
"No need." Jeremy replied, flashing a crooked yet charming smile. "We're here." Piper looked up to find herself at the end of a dark alley. Smekt was a small village, and during both of her trips here, she hadn't noticed its existence.
"And where is here, exactly?" She demanded, hands on her hips.
"Think about it. Where would a guy like him hide at the first sign of danger?" It didn't take her long to arrive at the correct answer.
"Underground." Their eyes simultaneously traveled to the askew manhole cover at foot of the dead end.
"Bingo."
The sewer was surprisingly well lit, which confirmed Jeremy's theory. Torches lit with some sort of green alchemic fire lined the walls. Someone had definitely been down here recently. The pair made an effort to descend the ladder quietly, so as to not alert Cornelius of their presence. When she reached solid ground, Piper realized immediately that it wasn't a sewer at all; it had just been made to look like it was. Secret lair would have been an entirely more accurate description of where they were.
The room was shaped like a domed sports arena. Chemicals, tools, and workbenches lined the walls near the ladder. There was a hearth in the back of the room with a plush purple chaise and shelves upon shelves of various small top hats. There was no doubt that this chamber belonged to Cornelius.
Jeremy motioned her to follow him, and turned toward the opposite side of the small room. Piper looked back at the chaise forlornly. She would kill for a nap and a temporary escape from her troubles. Yet, she contained the yawn fighting against her throat and followed.
The other side of the dome was mostly empty, save a very large ovular figure covered by a heavy tarp. From that direction, they both heard the distinctive sound of a crank of a wrench. True to Jeremy's suspicions, they weren't alone.
Jeremy looked at her, and then her hips, and back at her expectantly. After the third time he repeated this gesture, Piper turned away and covered her pelvis with her hands. Jeremy sighed and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. Defeated, he made finger guns at her exasperatedly. She quickly unlatched her right holster and drew her weapon, embarrassed. He motioned for her to take the left side of the room while he closed in from the right.
As they moved closer, she could see Cornelius's tiny legs poking out from under the tarp. Upon further inspection, It appeared that both of his legs were artificial, and of a glinting metallic quality that far surpassed the leg in her rucksack. She used all of her willpower to resist taking out the leg and beating him to death with it.
Both Piper and Jeremy placed their hands on either side of the tarp.
"Three, two, one." Jeremy mouthed before they both yanked the tarp off of the structure.
The tarp fell away to reveal a small, but impressive Zeppelin. It looked like it could comfortably hold a party of five and was black as night, with scrolling gold accents that connected the cabin and the balloon.
They heard a frightened yelp as Cornelius scurried further under the machine. But Jeremy was too quick. With one fell swoop, he buried his axe into the wooden plank Cornelius was laying on to work. He yanked the axe back, pulling the plank from under the Zeppelin's undercarriage, and the gnome along with it.
"Please!" Cornelius cowered. He covered his head with thin, weak looking arms. Without his top hat, his head showed the truth of his age - pale and bald with only wisps of grey hair. She wondered if the gold curls she had seen before were the result of a wig or a potion. Jeremy pried his shriveled arms away from his face with the hilt of his axe as if handling a small bug. His face looked shriveled and contorted. It was hard to believe that this was the same gnome that had given her the quest before, yet his voice and legs were a dead giveaway. Piper cocked her pistol and pressed it to his temple.
"Piper! What the hell?" Jeremy demanded. But she ignored him. "Are you working with her?" She asked flatly.
"What? Who?!" Cornelius wailed.
"Don't fuck with me!" Piper ground the pistol's barrel into his skin. "Candace, the lady in the sky. Are you working with her?" It was less of a question and more of a threat. Jeremy grabbed her wrist.
"He doesn't know. The NPCs don't know." He hissed. Piper still did not remove her pistol.
"Explain." she demanded coldly. "Okay... Okay." He whimpered "It was a trap!"
“I knew it!” She said through gritted teeth. Jeremy sighed.
“Let him finish.” Cornelius continued his blubbering.
“I tricked you. I tricked you both!” He cried. I lured you both into the forest. The big doffle was my pet. You two were supposed to find each other, kill each other and then my girl, Misty was supposed to loot your valuables and bring them to me. A beautiful bird… but you felled her so cruelly.” He noticed Piper’s glower, and cowered and covered his face once more. Piper holstered her weapon and folded her arms.
“He really doesn’t know, huh?” She kicked the ground in frustration.
“No, didn’t you notice?” When Candace appeared, the entire game stopped aside from the monsters she controlled. Piper furrowed her brows, trying to remember. “The grass stopped moving because the wind stopped blowing. The clouds stood still and everything was silent except for Candace and the monsters.” Piper’s mouth hung open. She hadn’t noticed at all. She was entirely too preoccupied with Candace’s evil monologue and the gargantuan form of the Alpha. She realized that Jeremy was incredibly perceptive. She couldn’t help being impressed.
Cornelius’s eyes flickered between them during their exchange, eyes suspiciously dry despite his wailing show. Seizing his chance, he slowly backed under the Zeppelin. But, unfortunately for him, Piper was too quick. In one deft movement, she snatched his leg and yanked him out from under the airship. She felt her heart flutter as she performed the movement. Apparently, that 20 Dexterity score wasn’t for show. She was quicker and more coordinated than she was before, certainly more so than she was in real life.
“Not so fast. You did try to kill us, after all.” Cornelius writhed under her grip, but was smart enough not to retort.
Jeremy stepped forward, toying with his axe threateningly. “Because you’ve been so honest with us, we’ve decided to spare your life.” Piper cocked an eyebrow at him. Have we now? “But… we do have conditions.” Cornelius’s demeanor changed immediately.
“Well, in that case,” His voice sounded natural, deeper than before. He had dropped all affectation. “If you unhand me, we might be able to strike a deal.” Piper tightened her grip.
“We could always change our minds… depending on what you’re offering.”
Cornelius squealed. “I’ll make it worth your while!”
“Talk!” Jeremy growled.
“You can use this as your base, travelers! And what a nice base it is.” Piper unhanded him so he could sit up and gesture around the room. “Workbenches and tools to upgrade your weapons! Potions to aid you on your quest! And!” He turned and opened his small arms wide. “Access to the best airship in all of Rookstorm, if I do say so myself.” He put his hands on his hips, smugly. It was quite an offer, but Jeremy was quick t
o point out the fallacy.
“And why, exactly, should we not just kill you and use your base anyway?” Cornelius stood to his full height of three feet and dusted himself off. He looked up with a twinkle in his eye.
“This beautiful baby,” he turned and ran his hand across the gold scrolling of the Zeppelin. “Is of gnomish construction. Only a gnome can operate it. And for my girl here,” He looked up at the machine wistfully. “Can only be operated by a member of the Smekton clan.”
“Wait…Smekton?” Piper inquired. “Does your family have any ties to the town?”
“Founded it! I have a claim to this town! I should be the king of the village!” He stomped his tiny metallic feet indignantly. “We were ousted! Struck low! Stripped of our titles. Now an evil drow controls the village from afar.”
“Drow?” Piper whispered at Jeremy.
“Dark Elf.” He replied.
“Nerd.” She scoffed back.
“Not only will I kindly chauffeur you to your destinations,” He continued, ignoring the exchange. “I will also split the family treasure with you if you kill him and pry the riches from his grasp!”
“And where is this drow?” Piper asked. She had almost entirely dropped her illusion of toughness and was very eager for this proposition. She had played right into Cornelius Smekton’s hands.
“A dark castle made of stalagmites in the Valley of Druin. Treacherous to get to on your own, but a breeze with the Gilded Animus.”
Piper and Jeremy exchanged a knowing look. They responded together in a confident chorus.
“We accept.”
Chapter 7
Piper watched, mesmerized, as Cornelius started the Gilded Animus. All three had boarded the airship and were gathered around the intricate control panel. Winding ruins swirled around the panel in what Piper assumed was gnomish. All the mechanisms were odd conical holes or baubles, nothing like the screens and dials of an airplane. There was no doubt they needed Cornelius.
The human pair watched in awe as Cornelius extended a gnarled hand and long pointed fingernail. There was a greenish glow and tendrils of what Piper assumed was gnomish magic swirled through his fingertip. He inserted his nail into a conical hole on the dashboard and turned the circular mechanism it fit into. At once, the Gilded Animus sprung to life with a magical and mechanical whirr. The baubles on the dashboard surged with the same green magical light. Cornelius withdrew his finger and pulled a heavy bronze chain that hung beside him.
The noise that followed caused Piper to reach for her holster and Jeremy widened his legs into a sort of ready stance. A grinding noise shook the entire dome and suddenly, light flooded their vision. Piper looked up to see the high ceiling parting to reveal the dazzling sun.
"Huh." Jeremy sighed in wonder. "I never even looked to see what lay beyond the dark alley." Jeremy hadn't asked but Cornelius answered him regardless.
"To anyone on the outside, this would have just looked like a grassy hill. Just outside the borders of the town. I usually don't fly her until the dead of night, but it's not like there's anyone left to see what we're up to anyway." He placed a small hand on what she assumed was the thruster and eased it up slowly. The Gilded Animus reacted smoothly under his touch and the trio began to lift effortlessly into the air.
Soon they floated high above the village. All three of them looked out the windshield wistfully before Cornelius veered west toward their first true quest.
The journey was longer than Piper expected. Originally, both she and Jeremy were rooted in place on either side of Cornelius at the helm, watching the diverse landscape of Rookstorm unfold beneath them. Glittering city centers were interspersed between dense jungle and vast inner seas. As they continued west, the cities and seas became less dense as craggy rock structures lifted little hamlets into the clouds. And then came the Valley of Druin.
A misnomer, Piper thought. She had long abandoned the view from the helm and was instead nestled into a plush purple chair next to a starboard porthole, more like the Grand Canyon. The Valley of Druin seemed to extend endlessly. Starkly white and grey instead of the earthy clay tones of the Grand Canyon, the Valley of Druin appeared cold and lifeless. They had descended into it over an hour ago, yet it seemed there was no end in sight.
Jeremy had taken to pacing the cabin. He sat in probably every one of the plush, velvet chairs at least once before getting up and pacing once more. There was an ornate mahogany bookshelf against the back wall. He grabbed something off of it, seemingly at random, and began to thumb through it absently as he paced.
Suddenly, Piper's ears popped and her stomach sank ever-so-slightly. Finally. They were descending!
Cornelius brought the airship down gently on what looked like a perfect marble disk. Both Jeremy and Piper clamored to get out as soon as the airlock was released and the heavy black door swung open.
She stepped out onto the disk. Upon further inspection, it didn't just look like marble, it was marble. Perfectly white, yet streaked with a beautiful silvery grey. It was a sight to behold as it reflected the artificial sun. But the disk was nothing compared to the matching marble castle that lay just beyond it.
The Castle of Druin was gothic inspired. Tall, imposing spiked spires extending high into the sky with even more imposing white-eyed gargoyles watching over them. Flying buttresses extended from the sides, but since the castle was built into a cliffside, they flew out sideways and latched into the cliff itself. This gave it a rather disturbing appearance of a great white spider. It reminded her of the gothic black castle in her favorite map of Yesterwind, yet bleached and distorted. Three jet black rose windows stared out into the distance, two smaller ones hovering over either side of the grand central circle. It was the most threatening structure Piper had ever seen.
Jeremy hadn't stopped pacing as Piper stood still, drinking in the sight of the castle. He tapped his chin as his eyes followed the base of the structure. He was looking for an entry point. It was several minutes before Piper realized that Cornelius had not yet exited the Gilded Animus. And that was a problem.
She turned on her heel and marched right back into the cabin toward the helm. She was just in time. Magic coursed through Cornelius's hand once more as he reached for the ignition.
Once again, Piper was too quick for him. Right before he could insert the pointed nail, her hand flew out and grabbed his wrist. He yelped as she bent it back roughly.
"Not so fast." She growled into his ear. "You're not going anywhere."
"Why not?" He whined. "I brought you here. I'll have no way of collecting the Smekton treasure if I don't come back for you. You can trust me!" Piper's eyes narrowed.
"This wouldn't be the first time you've led us into a trap." She snarled. "You're staying right here in case there's trouble."
"Piper?" Jeremy called through the door. She heard him clamor up the black metal steps back into the Gilded Animus. She could tell just by listening to him that he hadn't poured many points into dexterity. He might be strong and smart, but clunky, as he let his bronze armor clink against the hilt of his axe. They were lucky Cornelius was so old and preoccupied when they captured him, but Piper feared that any sort of real sneak attack would be a no go.
"What happened?" He demanded, upon seeing the scene before him.
"He was trying to ditch us." Cornelius fought against her grip, but it was no use. Her strength score was low, but apparently more than enough to overpower a gnome.
Jeremy clicked his tongue. "Oh no, no. That won't do. Looks like we'll have to restrain him." He concluded with a shrug.
"With what?" Piper asked quizzically.
"I'm not quite sure. But I don't trust him quite enough to take him with us."
"No, definitely not." She pondered silently for a moment. "Hey, check my rucksack. I shoved his leg in there without looking earlier, but maybe we have some beginner’s adventurer gear or something in there."
Jeremy moved behind her and untied the drawstrings of her bag. He tossed the leg
aside. Cornelius jumped as it hit the wall of the cabin with a loud clunk. However, he wasn't rummaging for long.
"Okay..." He announced. "Good news and bad news."
"Let's hear the good news." Piper sighed.
"Good news is that your bag wasn't completely empty. We have a couple of things that will probably help us out in that castle."
"And the bad news is nothing in there can tie him up, right?"
"Bingo."
“Well I can’t just hold him here forever; we’re going to have to figure out something.” She scanned the cabin looking for something. Anything she could use as restraints.