by Dale Britton
"I have a feeling you might be a little better at it now."
George looked down at his muscled arms. "Oh, right. Sure. I'll give it a try."
He walked over to the tree reached up to a low branch, and easily pulled himself up. In less than half a minute, he had scampered up to the top of the tree.
"So now he's Spider-Man," Ian said.
"Look at the stones," Ollie called up. "Do you see anything?"
"I can see it," George shouted. "It's pretty obvious from up here. There're three lines. It's an arrow."
"Where does it point?" Johnny asked.
"Someone walk around the edge of the clearing," George shouted. "I'll tell you when to stop."
"I'll do it," Johnny said. He raced to the edge and started moving slowly around the border until George yelled at him to stop.
"Do you see the line of stones?" George called. "You're right at the point of the arrow."
"Yeah," Johnny said. "I see it."
"Someone go to the other end of the line," Ollie said. "It will be easier to see."
Jordan ran over until George told her she was in the right spot. For good measure, Ian stood in the center.
"All right," Ollie said. "Sarah and I are going to see what it's pointing at. Everyone stay still." He and Sarah walked over to Johnny, lined themselves up with the arrow, and walked out of the clearing. "Let us know if we go off line," he said to Johnny. "We don't know how far it is."
"He just happened to pick Sarah to go with him?" Ian said when the two were out of earshot. "Probably just a coincidence."
It turned out that the destination was not very far. The arrow pointed directly at a huge pine tree only about thirty yards outside the clearing.
"This must be it," Ollie said. "Let's get the others and then do another search."
"Wait," Sarah said. "I think I see something." She pointed at a hole at the base of the tree. It looked like the kind of hole an animal would live in, and Ollie had a sudden image in his mind of a squirrel with fangs dripping with poison jumping out and latching onto Sarah's arm.
But then he saw what Sarah had seen. There was a glint of metal from inside the hole. He grabbed a stick from the ground and carefully dug a small box out of the opening. It was made of brass and slightly larger than a matchbox.
"This is what we're here for. Come on. Let's take it back to the clearing."
They ran back. George had climbed down from the tree. Or maybe jumped down. Ollie wouldn't have been surprised if that were the case.
"Sarah found it." He held up the box for everyone to see. It glittered in the early morning sunlight.
"Come on," George said. "Let's open it."
"We will, but carefully," Ollie said. "You know how common traps are."
Ollie made everyone stand behind him, faced the box away from the group, and then used his stick to open the latch and lift the lid. Nothing happened.
"Okay," Ian said. "Looks like it's safe."
Ollie picked up the box and looked inside.
"It's a key." He held it up for the others to see. It was large, iron, rusty, and ancient-looking. "I'm guessing it's probably pretty important."
"I wonder who put it there?" Sarah said. "And made the arrow. Seems kind of silly."
"My guess is that whoever it was wanted to make sure he could find it again, or that someone else could," Ollie said.
"We need to get back and tell the elves what we found," Ian said. "Maybe someone there will recognize it."
"Maybe," Ollie said, "but I have a feeling we'll have to go to the other locations on the map to find out."
"It seems like that would be a lot of coincidence," Ian said. "I mean, who even made the marks on the map? How did they decide where to put them? And they're all going to end up being part of some big puzzle? What are the odds of that?"
"You tell me," Ollie said. "This was your campaign. You know half the time the stuff we come up with for the game doesn't make a whole lot of sense."
Ian stared at the key in Ollie's hand. "Yeah, I know, but now it's real."
Chapter Sixty-Five
The journey back to Lilenoree proved just how real–and dangerous–it was. After only an hour of travel, the group was attacked by a pack of wandering skeletons. There were eight of them, wearing tattered clothes and carrying rusty but deadly looking swords. They grinned at the travelers, their eye sockets gleaming with a red light. Although the skeletons were on foot, they blocked the path.
The horses reared up about twenty feet before reaching the monsters, refusing to go anywhere near them.
"Gross," Sarah said. "How can they even walk? They don't even have muscles."
"Magic," Ollie said. "Necromancy. Now focus. We have to get past them."
The creatures took advantage of the horses' hesitation and charged the party. Johnny managed to grab his bow without dropping it and took a shot at the advancing mob of skeletons. The arrow flew straight at the monsters and somehow took down two of them, hitting them both right in the neck. The heads flew in opposite directions while the bodies dropped to the ground, where they twitched for several moments before lying still.
"Great shot, Johnny," Ollie said. "Did you see that, everyone? Go for the spine."
The other six skeletons reached the party and started swinging their rusty weapons. George took off the head of the one nearest him with an almost casual swipe of his huge sword. Ian's magic blade made short work of another. Sarah disappeared from her horse in a blur, and a second later another skeleton fell to the ground, broken in several pieces.
There were now three left. One was advancing on Ollie. He called forth fire and sent it into the thing's head. In moments, there was nothing left of it but the charred base of the skull. The body fell to the ground.
Another skeleton fell to the ground, its head separated from its body. Sarah appeared, standing next to the creature's remains. She looked a little unsteady, but otherwise fine.
That left one...
There was a scream of pain from behind him. Ollie turned and saw Jordan lying on the ground, her mace by her side, a pool of blood surrounding her, and a skeleton leaning over her with his sword raised for the final blow.
"Jordan!" Ollie yelled.
His blast of fire hit the creature at the same time as Johnny's arrow. The skeleton's head flew off as the arrow split its spine just as its body exploded with the force of Ollie's blast.
The friends rushed to Jordan's side. She held her stomach, but blood still escaped from between her fingers.
"It was too fast for me." Her voice was weak. "Couldn't block it in time."
"Hang in there, Jordan," Ollie said. "I have something that will help. Stay awake."
He ran to his horse and found the vials of potion he had bought at the magic shop, then raced back to Jordan's side. Johnny was holding her hand and talking softly to her while the others looked on anxiously. Her eyes were closed now, and Ollie couldn't tell if she was still breathing.
He ripped the stopper off of one of the vials. "Help me, Johnny," he said. "We need her to drink this." They forced her mouth open and poured some of the liquid inside.
"Is it working?" Sarah asked. "I don't think it's working."
Sarah was right. Nothing seemed to be happening.
"Maybe she didn't swallow it," Ian said.
"Come on," Johnny said, pounding his fist on the ground. "She has to be alright."
Ollie thought furiously. There had to be a way. "Let me try something," he said. He ripped Jordan's shirt apart to reveal the sword wound. It was a huge ugly gash just next to her navel, extending for over four inches. Ollie poured the entire vial of potion into the wound.
For a moment, nothing happened. But then Jordan's blood began to bubble and slowly, almost reluctantly, the wound began to close. After half a minute Jordan's skin was smooth once again, with not even a scar to show where the cut had been. The only sign of her injury was the blood that covered and surrounded her body.
Jordan gas
ped. Her eyes fluttered open and then closed again. Her chest began to rise and fall as her breathing returned to normal. Johnny was near tears with relief.
"Wow," Sarah said. "It's a good thing you bought that stuff, Ollie."
Ollie let out a long breath. "I'm wishing I'd bought more."
It was still a couple of hours until nightfall, but everyone agreed it was past time to stop for the night.
"But let's move down the trail a little," George said. "I don't like all these skulls grinning at me."
Chapter Sixty-Six
The party passed another spine-chilling night camping inside the ward, with demons surrounding them and occasionally attempting to break through. There was a tense moment during Ian's watch when a huge demon rushed the border. The creature was roughly human, but with the antlered head of a deer, and was over nine feet tall. It lowered its head, roared, and rushed directly at Ian with superhuman speed. It hit the ward with a loud ringing sound, and Ian could feel a tremor pass through the air around him.
But the ward held, and the beast was thrown back, howling as red sparks swirled around it and burned its skin. Ian watched the darkness closely, but the demon did not return. It was a long time before the others managed to go back to sleep.
In the morning Jordan felt strong enough to travel. One of the horses had been injured during the battle, but the healing potion turned out to work just as well on animals as it did on humans and the party was able to get an early start.
"There's a three out of eight chance for a random encounter in the game for this distance," George said.
"If we're lucky, we'll make it back without any more excitement," Ollie said.
It was a tense journey, but this time the odds were in their favor. It was late afternoon when they arrived back at the walls of Lilenoree. Yrabelle was watching for them at the gate, and when she saw them arrive, she ran out to meet them.
"Father is much better. He was concerned about you. I told him not to worry. I knew that you would be alright."
"You have more faith than I do," Ollie said. "We need to talk to the council. Are they in their chamber?"
"They are not meeting right now, but Imoneas will be there."
"Let's go," Ollie said. "Yrabelle, tell your father we're back."
"I'll go with her," George said. "We'll meet you at the council chamber."
Imoneas was very happy to see them when they rode up to the building. He called for stable hands to take care of the horses and then led them into his private chamber.
"It is good to see you returned safely. But... where is George? Did some evil befall him?"
"No," Ollie said. "He's fine. He went with Yrabelle to find Lylor. He needs to hear our story too."
He had no sooner finished speaking when the door opened and George, Lylor, and Yrabelle rushed in.
"Speak of the devil," Ian said.
"Watch your tongue," Imoneas said in a shocked tone. "To speak of the evil one is to call misfortune upon oneself."
"Sorry," Ian said. "In our world, it's just an expression."
When all were settled, the teens took turns telling the tale of their journey. Ollie showed the elves their treasure.
Lylor examined the key carefully. "A hidden key, and I was blind to the clue. It appears to be somewhat unremarkable, but looks are ever deceiving."
"It is destiny that these humans should find it," Imoneas said. "Just as it is destiny that they shall use it. And soon, I fear."
"What do you mean?" Johnny asked.
"I have been consulting with our priests. They have the ability to seek signs of the future."
"Soothsaying," Ollie said. "It's a powerful ability, but somewhat limited."
"Yes," Imoneas said. "But some signs are very clear. And one thing that the priests are agreed upon is that our time is short. If we do not solve this puzzle soon it will be too late."
"How soon is soon?" Ian asked.
"The portal will be finished in a fortnight," the elf said. "At that time, the hordes of demons will be released, and the demon wars will begin once more."
"Fortnight?" Sarah asked.
"Fourteen days," Ollie said.
"If only we had that talisman," Johnny said. "What happened to it after the last demon war?"
"No person knows for sure," Imoneas said. "There are numerous tales of it appearing here or there throughout Valoria. In my opinion, it was likely destroyed when it was used to defeat the last demon lord to ravage our land."
The feeling of triumph from finding the key was fading with the realization that the task that now confronted them still seemed impossible. There were four locations left to visit, and only fourteen days to do it. And even if they did manage to get to all of those places in time and discover what they needed to find, what would happen after that?
"I think we need to split up," Ollie said. He was studying the map. "Two groups, two locations each. It's the only way to get to all of them in time."
"Bad idea," Ian said. "We almost lost Jordan this last time. If we hadn't all been there..."
"We'll make sure each group has plenty of wards and healing potions," Ollie said.
"I will join one of the parties," Lylor said. "I think Ollie is correct in his assessment. One group cannot accomplish this task. Also, I am familiar with the lake country."
"Look at the map," Ollie said, spreading it out for all to see. "Two of the marks are up here, in these hills. One group could head for those. Then there are two over here, near this big lake. We can set a rendezvous point down here," he pointed at a spot between the marks on the map, "and get back together when we're done."
The debate lasted for quite a while, but in the end, it was clear that there really was no other solution.
"I'm going too," Yrabelle announced.
"No, my daughter," Lylor said. "You are not a warrior. Your place is here, safe and protected by our people. I've already lost one child..."
"No, father." The elf girl said, her voice steady and even. "I have spent many days and nights waiting and praying that my loved ones were alive while I have been left behind. Have I not been trained for battle?"
Lylor looked at her sternly, but Yrabelle's gaze did not waver.
"We will speak of this later," he said finally, looking away. "Now, we must plan."
Chapter Sixty-Seven
Having Lylor as part of the party made Johnny feel safer. The elf captain had lived here most of his life and was very familiar with the region. He knew about all of the dangerous monsters who inhabited the forests. Johnny was also glad that Ian and Jordan were in their group. Especially Jordan. Maybe he'd have better luck talking to her without Ollie around.
"It will be a three-day journey to the lake country." Lylor held a copy of the map and was studying the landmarks. "It is a good land for hunting and fishing, as long as one is careful. We will need to circle around to the northern shore."
"What's up there," Ian asked.
"It is wild country," Lylor said. "Many animals. Plenty of water." He thought for a moment. "Actually, I believe that there are some ruins as well. As you may know, the last demon war originated in this region as well. There were battles that took place all over the area. I myself have recently visited the site of one of these."
"Let me guess," Johnny said. "A ruined fort full of undead?"
Lylor looked at him strangely. "I often forget about the otherworldly knowledge that you humans possess. It is unnerving."
"Unfortunately, we don't know everything," Ian said. "Like how we're going to get out of this mess."
Lylor smiled. "Imoneas has great faith in you, and I have come to agree with him. You succeeded where my party failed. I do not believe that you are here by chance."
The first day passed without any encounters, and the party was safely inside their ward when night fell. Almost immediately, shapes began to appear in the twilight, circling around the borders of their protection.
"How do they know we're here?" Ian asked. "It's like t
hey're just waiting for us as soon as the sun goes down."
"By my understanding," Lylor said, "they cannot survive in daylight. During the daytime, they retreat to a sort of in-between dimension. They can be in our world, but not in material form."
"So, it's like they're always there, but they can only appear at night?" Johnny asked.
"Precisely. My guess is that they have been watching us the entire day, just waiting for the time when they would be able to attack."
"That's creepy," Jordan said. "What about in a dark room, or a cave, or something like that. Could they appear there?"
"I do not believe so," said Lylor. "Again, this is conjecture. Until recently I have very rarely dealt with the creatures. But there is something about the sunrise, some power that keeps them at bay."
"What if one of them was inside the ward when we activated it?" Ian said. He started looking around nervously to see if any black shapes were moving around in the nearby shadows."
But Lylor shook his head. "The ward prevents this," he said. "When it is activated, it expands. Evil beings cannot pass through. Any that were within the range of its protection would be forced back. You have no reason to fear."
"Then why am I so afraid," Ian muttered.
Jordan was staring out into the darkness beyond their campsite. "There aren't as many of them tonight."
"They had to split their forces," Johnny said. "The rest of them are probably watching the other group."
"I hate these things," Jordan said. "I wish there was something we could do about them."
"Well, maybe we can," Johnny said. "Lylor, would an arrow break the ward?"
Lylor smiled. "Actually, no. A single arrow would have no effect, especially if it were shot from the inside."
Johnny counted his arrows. He had nineteen of them. He had been very careful about collecting the ones that he had shot before, and he still had almost all of them.
"Okay, let's go demon hunting."
The group walked close to the boundary and waited. It didn't take long before a dark shape detached itself from the shadows and began to glide toward them.