by K R Dimmick
More like she was trying to prevent Andrew from getting the knowledge, I thought bitterly.
“Okay, what does the riddle say?” I asked.
She read the new riddle out, then looked at me.
“Will you help me solve it, please?” she asked with a hint of desperation in her voice.
You have received a quest: Solve Savrine’s Riddle
Down beneath the fields of green,
Immune to fire, you can’t be seen.
Savrine’s closed story holds the key,
Take the box you cannot see.
Riddle along with mythical tooth,
Unlock the box to level in truth.
Say what’s real, two words too much,
Treat the mesmerizer such.
Completion of this quest will give you 20,000 XP and the potential to become a Master Alchemist.
Do you accept? Yes / No
I thought yes, despite serious misgivings that I was dividing my attention, but what could I do? I needed a Master Alchemist to create the potion that would allow me to cross this Dragon Gate. Not only that, but 20,000 XP would get me within a few thousand of level 10. So, I really didn't have a choice. Of course, that didn’t mean I was happy about the whole thing.
“How on earth are we supposed to solve this? I haven’t even managed to solve the last one, and I only have three days left for that,” I whined.
“Wait,” said Arik, holding up his hand. “There’s a really high-level dungeon on the edge of El Silvam most people don’t know about. It’s underground, and the entrance is in the middle of a field of Vetiver grass. The area is known as the fields of green, despite the fact that it’s in a swamp. It’s rumored that the monsters inside are immune to fire damage and there’s also a basilisk at the end of the dungeon. If a basilisk looks into your eyes, you turn to stone, so you wouldn’t want it to see you.”
He looked around the room, trying to cheer us up.
“I know the ingredients you need for your potion, too,” Aliz added, nodding. “So, we’re closer to that. It’s called a Phoenix potion, and the recipe is all written out in the journal, with lots of notes to help us make it correctly. I’ll make sure the Herbalist has all the ingredients in stock and processed, so as soon as we can make it, everything will be ready.
“Okay, let’s all go down and find out how we can get to this dungeon, then.” I stood up, still feeling rather dejected, but knowing that I had no choice but to just keep going.
“I haven’t seen that in years!” exclaimed Kailu, staring at Aliz’s journal.
“Seen what?” I asked as our entire party came to a halt.
“The baby dragon tooth I gave Savrine,” he said.
Seeing the blank looks on our faces, he carried on.
“When Skye, my wife, died, I went to Goran Thedgate to mourn and I found that,” he said, pointing to the tooth that was acting as the catch for the journal. “I gave it to Savrine since she was obsessed with dragons and hadn’t been able to make the journey to mourn her sister.”
“Wait, you’re saying that’s a dragon tooth? How do you know?” I asked. “It looks like a claw to me.”
“Well, I Inspected it when I picked it up, and it’s a baby dragon tooth,” he said like he was explaining something to a child, “But I suppose now that it’s part of the journal, you probably can’t see that information.”
If that wasn’t proof that dragons existed, I don’t know what was. I just needed this potion and I could make my way to Goran Thedgate and hopefully work out what to do from there. The question was, if it was a high-level dungeon, like Arik thought, who was I going to ask to help me? The highest-level NPC I’d seen was King Faelyn, followed closely by Queen Elysyia. I guessed, therefore, that this meant I needed to start by asking them. I told the group where I was going and left.
“Yes, I know of the dungeon,” said the King. “It’s for people who are level 20 and up, though. I’ve been in it myself once, a long time ago. While I don’t remember an extra box at the end, the riddle does say you won’t be able to see it. So, I suppose it might be there.”
“I know it might be asking a lot, but I need to get in there. From what Aliz and I can tell, there’s a way for us to unlock the Master rank of Alchemy, which I need to survive, and frankly, everyone would benefit from. As a level 9, it’s obviously a long way above my abilities. Could I have your permission to ask some of your high-level hunters for help?” I asked, hoping he’d say yes.
“When Savrine’s daughter arrived here, I told her I’d do anything in my power to help her become a Master Alchemist. On top of that, you’re an ally. I don’t bestow that blessing lightly. You not only have my blessing to put together a group to go through this dungeon, but as the only commander here, and therefore, the only one able to put together a war party, I will come with you and bring our best fighters. All I ask is that you act as our healer, so we minimize the risk.”
“Thank you, your majesty.” I said, looking gratefully at the King.
“I’m going to add one other condition,” Queen Elysyia spoke up. “If the worst should happen, I require you to save your Resurrect spell and use it on the King. He is the heart of our people and our children are not yet grown enough to take on the responsibilities of leadership.”
“I will do everything in my power to keep the King safe in there. I promise,” I added, addressing the Queen.
Once again, a series of tiny golden lights swirled around me, binding me to my fate.
Your word is your bond.
Deliver on your promise or you will lose all unused Reputation Points and have permanent negative Karma.
Delivering on your promise, however, will give you 10 Reputation Points.
Why didn’t I think before I opened my mouth? Now, if the King died, I had no chance of getting through the Dragon Gate, as my Karma stat would be negative. Even with Resurrect saved just for him, I’d almost certainly be unable to use it. If something could kill a level 40 NPC, I, at level 9, stood no chance of living long enough to Resurrect him.
Both the King and Queen seemed surprised, and a little relieved, about the golden lights and my obvious promise. Since there was nothing I could do to change it, there was no point in telling them it was a mistake. So, I simply smiled back.
“I don’t treat your blessing lightly, either,” I said, trying desperately to look like I’d meant to incur the bonds of a promise.
As soon as I left the throne room, a worried looking Arik descended on me.
“There’s something you should know, since I’ve heard this dungeon is deadly,” he said, fidgeting with a large book he was holding. “While the King is probably the highest-level person you’ve met yet, his power is tied to the forest here in El Sanctum.”
“What do you mean, tied to?” I asked, picking up on his nervousness.
“When the current ruler is given his last name, the ceremony includes some eleven magic that literally ties the ruler to every tree in El Sanctum. Inside the forest, his skills and abilities are effectively ten levels higher than they should be. It’s why it’s almost impossible to kill an elven ruler within the forest,” Arik explained.
“The trouble is, when that ruler leaves the forest, the opposite occurs,” he looked at me to see if I’d come to the right conclusions. Obviously, he decided I hadn’t, so he continued on. “When King Faelyn is out of the forest, which is where this dungeon is located, his skills and abilities are effectively those of someone ten levels lower than he really is.”
My mouth formed a little ‘o’ as the realization sank in that I was now going to be trying to protect someone who was effectively only level 30, but probably thinking he had the skills and abilities of someone at level 50. In other words, someone who would be very easy to kill and rather unaware of that fact.
“I see it’s sunk in then,” Arik said, watching my face.
A short while later, the King had arranged a party of ten elf hunters, including Kira, all over level 20, to he
lp with the dungeon. Damir was there as well, since we’d need his magic skills. He had already created the extra spell scrolls he’d offered me, so I thanked him again and added them to my inventory.
Also present, despite only being level 4, was Aliz. I guess running for her life had at least taken her up a few levels. No one wanted to risk her, least of all me, but we didn’t know if we’d need her or the journal, to complete the quest, so she insisted on joining us.
Mikael had requested to come along as well, even though he was still level 18. However, despite already being in the war party, I couldn’t see him in the clearing.
True to her word, Aliz had already spoken to the Herbalist about the new ingredients for my potion. Since there was several he didn’t have in store, and they were located in difficult areas, Allion had offered to go with him to help. That meant all we had left to do was find Mikael and head to the dungeon.
Something poked my right shoulder. I turned around to find the space behind me empty. That was odd, but no one else seemed to have noticed anything, so I went back to waiting for the King to finish organizing the party into sub groups.
Again, something poked my shoulder. I turned around to find nothing. This time, Soter was growling.
Someone is here.
My thoughts immediately went to the Dragon Hunters and how Joe had nearly breached the barrier while we couldn’t see him.
“There’s someone invisible here,” I yelled, desperately trying to get everyone’s attention.
“Guard!” shouted King Faelyn.
One of the hunters ran to alert a guard, while Damir immediately put a barrier around our whole group. The hunters closed ranks around the King, putting him in the center for protection.
A few seconds later, the guard came running. He looked around the clearing and burst into laughter. A fact that seemed to annoy the King and hunters even more.
41
Of Mice and … Snakes?
After the King had yelled a few choice words at the guard, and he’d handed a towel to what looked like midair, he finally calmed down enough to explain.
The towel slowly moved around, revealing someone drying themselves off. Not just anyone. It was Mikael, and a very repentant looking Mikael, at that.
Apparently, he’d taken the explanation Aliz had given us about my invisible leg and thought a prank was in order. He’d taken a few drops of the Skeleton Flower Clear Tincture and had surreptitiously dropped it in several places on himself and his bow, without Aliz or the Herbalist seeing him. Next, he’d grabbed a flask of water and tipped it over himself, making himself completely invisible.
He’d simply stood there, poking my shoulder with the end of his bow as revenge for me asking Damir to attack him when we’d been testing the potion.
Needless to say, he’d thought it was incredibly funny, right up to the point where I’d yelled about an invisible person.
Ah, karma. You had to love it sometimes. Although I suppose I hadn’t really needed to test the attack on Mikael. In all honesty though, I’d probably do it again if I had the chance. Especially now.
Once everyone had calmed down, the King finalized the groups. The ten hunters were split into two subgroups, while the King, Damir and I stayed in the main group with Aliz and Mikael. One subgroup would be at the front, the other protecting the rear.
Mikael’s only job was to protect Aliz and me.
It suddenly dawned on me that since we were trying to find an invisible box, maybe we should have one of the guards with us, since they could see through all kinds of invisibility.
So, with the addition of the same guard that had spotted Mikael, sixteen of us, plus Soter, started heading out of El Sanctum with potions and food in our inventory.
An hour later, we reached the edge of El Silvam. There, ahead of us, as far as I could see, was a field of green, waving gently in the breeze. The strong smell of sandalwood surrounded us as, one by one, we walked forward and disappeared into the tall grass.
My first step found my foot disappearing into a water-logged swamp. Everything I could see on the ground was wet. I resigned myself to cleaning my boots when we got back to El Sanctum and trudged forward after the others.
Congratulations! You have discovered: Vulpeel Plains.
Aliz explained to all of us that the grass was Vetiver grass, which was resistant to fire, and that the sandalwood smell came from the grass’ roots. Apparently, these roots were part of the Phoenix potion I needed to drink to cross the Dragon Gate, because when processed correctly, they purified your spirit, allowing you to become out of phase with the rest of the world, and therefore, she hoped, be able to walk through stone like my riddle suggested.
Despite the looks I got from Mikael, I bent down and grabbed several handfuls of the grass and its roots, and stuffed it into my inventory just in case the Herbalist didn’t have enough in store.
Finally, we found the entrance to the dungeon.
Congratulations! You have discovered: Gads End Dungeon.
Around the edges of the portal that was the way in was a huge, circular ring. I walked forward to take a closer look. It was a bronze-colored snake eating its own tail. The eye of the serpent was a bright red-colored gemstone and was placed exactly over the top of the portal. To each side of the circle was a statue of a hooded rattlesnake. Inscribed along the snake’s body, underneath the portal, were the words “Don’t tread on your ally.” Somehow, that reminded me of something I’d read growing up, but I couldn’t quite place it.
Well, I suppose this meant there were definitely snakes inside, although I couldn’t quite work out why one of them would be my ally, but it would hopefully become clear once we were in there.
There was a marker stone to the right, so I quickly set my spawn point to that on the off chance it would at least help me get the King out.
“Form up,” said the King. “As soon as your party has been buffed, I want you inside, securing the area for the main party to come in.”
You have been granted temporary war party commander rights.
To gain full war party skills, unlock the skill: Commander.
I quickly moved myself into the first subgroup and gave them all the Minimizer buff. As I moved myself to the second group, the first set of elves disappeared through the portal. Finally, I buffed our main group and we moved toward the portal.
Don’t do underground. I protect entrance.
That was a shame, I was losing the one fighter I knew was 100% there for me, but I could see his point, wolves weren’t known for their underground life. I patted him on the head and suggested he go hunt.
I walked toward the swirling, sparkling, water-like substance and took a deep breath. I really didn’t like portal travel. Stepping forward, I once again felt like I was being compressed into a single atom. My vision went black and I tried to avoid panicking, then all of a sudden, it spat me out the other side and I was in the dungeon.
The two subgroups were spread out in front of the rest of us, weapons out and waiting for the command to advance.
Aliz was shaking and looking as white as a sheet. I guessed that had been her first portal travel. I could sympathize. Damir offered her a food item I couldn’t quite see, but it seemed to calm her down a bit, which was good.
I ate a Star Orange Cupcake and a piece of Chicken Mushroom from my inventory, giving me +10 Wisdom and +7 Toughness, then signaled I was ready.
Since snakes were highly sensitive to sound, we’d been told to use hand signals instead of talking. The elves all seemed to know the signals, so I figured Aliz and I would just move where everyone else did. It wasn’t like we were the ones who were going to be doing much fighting. I just needed to keep everyone alive. No pressure there, I thought to myself.
As one, we dropped into stealth and started creeping along the large, circular tunnel. The first subgroup and half of the second were out front, with the other half bringing up the rear in case something got behind us.
A howl split the ai
r. I guess there was something besides snakes in here.
All of a sudden, five huge rodents jumped on the lead party. I did a quick Inspect as I cast Healing Mist over the whole group
Scorpion Mouse - 24
No wonder those pies Mikael was so fond of were rare. Level 24 was too strong for almost everyone in the region.
The elf hunter at the front took a huge gash to the arm as one of the mice swiped its claws out toward the group. His health plummeted to 10% and Damir instantly ported him back to my feet for healing. I cast Wound Seal as fast as I could and sent him back to the front.
Two of the elves had brought out shields and created a little wall for the others to hide behind. They peppered the mice with their arrows. One hit took around 10% health. Someone leaned back and used Rain of Arrows on all five of the mice that were trying to bite and claw their way through the shield wall. The King knelt down and Sniped one of the mice for 80% of its health. At level 40, he was one of the two that were well above the level of this place, and it showed.
Finally, the five mice were all dead, and as part of the war party, my XP bar crept up a tiny amount. I got a piece of scorpion mouse meat and several broken claws in return. I knew exactly who I was going to take the meat to once I got through all this. Those pies really were the best thing I’d ever tasted.
I recast Healing Mist on everyone to take care of the little scratches still left, and we dropped back into stealth to move on.
More howling came from ahead as another five scorpion mice attacked us. This time, the front group were better prepared and immediately got the shield wall up. The King knelt down again and Sniped one of the mice for 80%. Unfortunately, the front group hadn’t managed to get agro from the mice. Five fanged heads swiveled toward our group standing in the middle. They launched themselves at us. I threw myself to the side to Dodge out of the way. Mikael grabbed a stunned Aliz and dragged her behind the rear guard.