by Liz Marsham
“Oh no,” Em said. “She must still be too weak to answer. We have to hurry!” She turned from side to side, looking down each of the new paths in turn. “Which way?”
After a few dozen feet, the trail to the left suddenly disappeared in a thick mist. Down to the right, they could make out colossal figures of some kind looming over the path, before the ravine took a sharp turn out of sight.
“That mist looks spooooooooky,” said Piper.
“Not a fan, huh?” replied Zarya.
“I mean,” Piper said, a hint of defensiveness in her voice, “it’s fine. What’s bad about mist? It’s just water, and air, and … and mist! Let’s go! Let’s go right now!” She started off to the left.
“Aw, come on, Piper,” said Zarya, following her. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
Meanwhile, Arkayna was peering at the figures down the right-hand path. “Is that one on the left … a unicorn? Kind of charging out of the wall?”
“I think so. And I think the one facing us is a wolf, maybe with something in its mouth? I can’t quite make it out. It’s … shiny?” Em said. The two of them drifted down the path, squinting.
Doug was left behind by the statue. “Uh, hey, I feel like splitting up is a bad idea,” he called.
“It’s okay, Doug,” Arkayna said over her shoulder. “I just want to see…” Her voice trailed off as she went back to concentrating on the huge carvings.
“But it’s the oldest rule of adventuring!” Doug said. He turned toward Zarya. “You know this, from Remembered Realms!”
“He’s right,” Zarya said, running forward a couple of steps to catch up with Piper. Zarya reached out for the little elf, continuing, “Never split the par—”
She was cut off as the mist seemed to reach out. Swiftly, silently, it closed around Zarya and Piper and swallowed them both.
Doug gasped in shock. “Zarya?… Piper?” There was no answer. “They disappeared!” he yelled to Em and Arkayna.
But it was too late. Em and Arkayna had wandered too far down the path. As they turned to look at Doug, the unicorn statue’s horn glowed a deep red. Fwoom! A thin beam of energy streaked from it right toward them!
9
In Which There Is a Blast, and Also the Past
“Hornbeam!” Doug shouted, pointing.
Em whipped her head around and saw the danger. In an eyeblink, she grabbed Arkayna close and raised her arm, summoning her shield. With a loud crackle and sizzle, the beam hit the shield. As energy continued to pour out of the unicorn’s horn, Em grunted from the effort of holding the beam back, but she kept her shield up, deflecting the laser into the nearby wall and shearing a smoking line into the cliff.
“Get out of there!” called Doug, running toward them.
“Good thought!” Em yelled back over the crackling beam. “Arkayna, stay behind me!”
“I can shoot the horn from here,” said Arkayna, charging up her staff. “I bet that would—”
“No, it has to be everyone together, remember?” Doug reminded her, pulling on her arm. “We can’t do this puzzle without Piper and Zarya!”
Arkayna nodded, and the three of them fell back, using the shield as cover. When they had gone a dozen steps, the laser faltered and died, and the unicorn’s horn dimmed until it was indistinguishable from the other dark rock.
Doug put one of his big hands on each of their shoulders and bowed his head, breathing deeply. “That was close,” he said, relieved. “Sorry I yelled something weird at you; I just opened my mouth and that’s what came out.”
“What, ‘hornbeam’?” Em said, chuckling. “I knew exactly what you meant. It was perfect.”
“Yeah,” agreed Arkayna, “weird, maybe, a little. But perfect. And thanks for keeping us from going too far in the first place. I’m glad you have our backs.”
Doug’s face reddened as he broke into a pleased smile. Em’s heart skipped a beat as it hit her: Doug had supported them from the background, just like the fifth Mysticon said! She took a breath to point this out, but then she hesitated, worried about spoiling the moment. She settled for grinning and patting Doug’s hand on her shoulder.
The three of them turned to the misty path. “Zarya?” shouted Arkayna. “PIPER?” There was no answer.
“The mist just sort of … ate them,” Doug said with a shudder. “Piper was right. It was spooky.”
“We have to get them out of there!” Arkayna paced back and forth at the mouth of the path, twisting the handle of her staff. “But how do we fight mist?”
“Oh, rust,” Em sighed. “I have a thought, but even I don’t like the thought I’m having. Um. The mist. Did it…” Em swallowed, then continued. “Did it look like it hurt them?”
“No, actually,” said Doug. “They just looked surprised. Not like ‘Aah, a monster!’ surprised. More like ‘What am I looking at?’ surprised, you know? And then they were gone.”
“What is it, Em?” asked Arkayna.
Wincing, Em looked up at her. “I think we have to go in after them.”
Arkayna stopped dead in her tracks. “What? We let the mist eat us, too? Don’t we fail the puzzle, then?”
“I don’t think the puzzle is defeating the mist,” Em said. “I think the puzzle is in the mist.”
Arkayna stared at the soupy whiteness. It swirled and eddied, offering no clues. “What if you’re wrong?”
“I mean, I could be,” Em said softly. “I just…”
Doug nodded. “I think you’re right, though. And besides, we’re still split up right now. If we go in, at least we’ll all be in the same place. But if we’re gonna jump in there, could we…” He trailed off, then looked down at them sheepishly. “Could we hold hands?”
“Uh, yeah we could!” said Em. “Are you kidding? I was going to ask the same thing!” She held her hands out to either side of her. Arkayna took one, Doug the other, and together the three of them marched down the narrow path. As they neared the mist, Em asked, “Ready?”
“Ready,” said Arkayna.
“Oh, man,” murmured Doug, but then he set his shoulders and said firmly, “Ready.”
They plunged straight into the haze, which seemed to close over them eagerly. For a moment, all Em could see was white. She was glad to feel Arkayna’s and Doug’s hands in hers, and squeezed them in what she hoped was reassurance. Before they could squeeze back, the whiteness started to lift. Outlines became visible as her vision cleared further, and it was obvious that they were no longer in the ravine.
Under their feet was a polished, expertly crafted, dark marble floor. Directly in front of them, a round, two-tiered fountain trickled softly. Short stairways flanked the fountain, meeting in a wide landing behind it, then arcing off to hallways in either direction. The wall on the far side of the landing was dominated by the curves of a gigantic, arching stained-glass window, a window that looked strangely—
“By the Hammer of Harmon!” Em gasped. “This is the Stronghold!”
“I knew this fountain looked familiar,” mused Doug. “I broke it. With my butt.”
Arkayna spun around. Behind them were the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves they knew so well, now full of colorful leather spines, framing the same stone alcove. The lush velvet curtains to the alcove were closed, but the room was unmistakable. “Oh my goblin! You’re right!”
“You’re almost right,” came Zarya’s voice. Her head appeared above the railing that separated the landing from the fountain, followed a second later by Piper’s.
“Aaaah, you’re here!” Piper burst out. “You have to come and see this! Come come comecomecomecome!” She waggled her hands at them insistently.
Em, Arkayna, and Doug ran up the flight of stairs onto the landing and joined Zarya and Piper. “Why didn’t you say something as soon as we arrived?” asked Arkayna as they approached.
“We didn’t notice you until you started talking,” said Zarya. “The fountain was in the way, and besides, we were a little distracted by, uh…” She motioned
out the window.
Em glanced through the stained glass, expecting to see the usual view of packed dirt, stone, and rubble. The Stronghold, after all, was built two castles and as many earthquakes ago, and it had been buried underground for hundreds of— Then her eyes focused. All thought went out of her head and she froze, staring.
“Well, I’ll be a kobold’s cousin,” breathed Doug.
They were aboveground. That was the first thing Em’s overloaded brain was able to process. High aboveground. The sun was shining down on a wide plaza flanked by colorful banners. Around and past the plaza were the rooftops of a crowded city. It looked like the royal plaza in Drake City, and this view of the city kind of looked like the palace district. Except … Em shook her head. She was still missing something. Crouching down, she leaned into the huge window and peered closer. Figures moved through the plaza on various business—a phalanx of soldiers marched, a couple strolled arm in arm, a vendor pushed a wooden cart.… The cart was what did it.
“Cars!” Em said. “There are no cars.” She looked out over the city. “And there’s no dragon train.” She squinted down at the plaza again. “Those lights along the boulevard are torches; it’s like no one’s even heard of hex-powered…” Her words died as she struggled to take it all in.
“This is the castle,” Arkayna whispered next to her. Then, louder, as she gained confidence, “This is the castle. I know where we are.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “We’re in Drake City. A thousand years ago.”
The dramatic silence after her pronouncement was broken by Piper saying, “Well, duh.”
10
In Which Things Heat Up
“This whole thing is the second puzzle,” Zarya was explaining as they made their way down to street level. “We didn’t actually go back in time or anything; this is just a simulation. It’s a big game, or a riddle. There must be something for us to do, a quest or something, and when we do it the puzzle is solved!”
A servant in fancy clothes approached, going the other direction on the stairs. Catching sight of the group, he stopped and bowed deferentially, waiting for them to pass. Em side-eyed him warily as she responded to Zarya. “A … big game? But who are all these other people? Who’s this?”
“He’s probably no one,” answered Zarya. The servant raised his head and arched his eyebrows in surprise. “Sorry,” Zarya told him, “I don’t mean no one. I just mean, you’re part of the puzzle, right? Are you a questgiver?”
The servant straightened and looked confused. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean, Sir Ranger. Am I a what?”
“Oh,” Zarya sighed, “right. You’re all in character.”
“This is so cool!” Doug chimed in. “It’s just like Remembered Realms! Let me try.” He turned to face the flabbergasted servant. “Are you … uh … having any problems around here today?”
“Of course not, sir,” the servant replied. He smiled, relieved to be back on familiar ground, and motioned at the girls. “The Mysticons are here to keep Drake City safe from harm.”
“Oh, sure, the Mysticons are great,” Doug said, playing along and nodding. “But, still—is there something we can help with? Maybe you need something delivered? Or you lost something?”
The servant shifted from foot to foot, confused again. “Um. No, sir. But even if I did, I would not trouble the Mysticons with my trifles.”
Zarya leaned toward Doug and stage-whispered, “It’s not him.” Then she addressed the servant in an overblown, old-fashioned accent: “Thank you, noble sir. You’ve been most gracious to us this fine day.”
Backing up the stairs, looking even more uncomfortable, the servant replied, “You’re very kind, Sir Ranger.” Then he bowed his head to Em, Piper, and Arkayna in turn, saying, “Sir Knight. Madam Striker. Madam Dragon Mage.” Last, he turned to Doug and faltered. “Sir … uh, sir.” He turned and hustled away, leaving the group to stare at each other in bemusement.
Arkayna turned to Zarya and Em. “He called you both ‘sir.’ He thinks we’re the original Mysticons!”
“Well, sure,” said Em, “that’s who these puzzles were built for, right?”
“But he didn’t know what to do with Doug,” Piper giggled.
Before Doug could react, Em jumped in: “Because Doug isn’t officially the fifth Mysticon yet! But he is an important part of the team already. Without him, Arkayna and I could have gotten cooked by a unicorn just now, right, Arkayna?”
“Right,” Arkayna said distractedly. She started down the stairs again. “I guess we’d better go find this quest, then!”
“Cooked by a … what?” Zarya asked, following. “We were only split up for a minute!”
*
A little while later, they were even more confused. None of the passersby or guards seemed to need anything. The city seemed peaceful and pleasantly busy. Soon they had wandered all the way to Magi Mall, which in this ancient version of Drake City was an open-air market in a large square plaza. Vendors hawked their wares from shaded carts and tapestry-draped kiosks. Musicians played from a small raised stage in the middle of the square.
“Hey, remember? We saw a map of this place, when we were looking for my Codex piece!” said Piper. “And we found it in the ruins of the old temple underneath the mall. Maybe we should go to the temple!”
“It’s as good an idea as any,” sighed Zarya. They headed through the crowded plaza toward the temple.
“I wish we knew what we’re supposed to do!” complained Arkayna. “Like, if there were something that needed doing in our Drake City, we could find it by watching the news, or look it up on our bangle-phones, or someone would just glyph us about it!”
“And I don’t want to whine,” put in Em, “but walking all over the city is very slow. I miss the dragon train. And our griffins! Oh, do I miss our griffins.”
Zarya held up her hands to ward off a particularly pushy vendor, who was following her with a glowing vial in each hand and would not stop talking. “No, I don’t need a miracle cure, thank you,” she told him. “Or a love potion. No, really. No, really.”
Finally the merchant got the point and, shoulders drooping, turned back to his stall. “Ugh,” Zarya continued in a more muttered tone, “‘charm the special man in your life.’ No, thank you.”
“I don’t know,” said Doug, looking around, “I still think this is pretty cool.”
“Pff,” Piper scoffed, “try living without your bangle-phone for more than a few days, then tell me it’s cool. But you won’t”—she poked him in the side for emphasis—“because it. Is. Not. I remember what life was like before bangle-phones, and I do not want to go back there, thank you very much. Now let’s go find—”
A strange coughing sound came from above them, and then: BWOOM! The potion kiosk behind them exploded into flames. The merchant, still returning from harrying Zarya, was thrown flat on his back by the blast. A split second later, as screams erupted throughout the marketplace, the intense heat wave washed over the Mysticons and Doug, making them flinch.
“What in the…” Em looked around for the source of the fireball and drew in a sharp breath. “Well, good news, everyone!” she said in a forced, cheery tone. “I found our quest.”
The sky was full of monsters.
11
In Which There Are Several Types of Bad Breath
Em quickly counted them off in her head: one two three four five SIX. Six rocs, huge birds ten times the size of a griffin, were descending on the city in a V formation. The one in the lead, lava dripping from its beak, was deep red. The others in the V were green, white, blue, and purple. And bringing up the rear, largest of all, was a huge black roc, its beak parted in what Em could swear was a grin.
“All right!” Zarya shouted, leaping on top of a nearby fruit cart for a better vantage point. “Boss fight!” She nocked an arrow, took aim at the crimson roc, and fired. To her surprise, the arrow bounced right off its beak. The huge beast didn’t even flinch.
“I call the green one!” said Piper, somersaulting through the air and tossing her hoops at her target. The emerald roc didn’t bother to dodge. It swatted the hoops out of the air with its giant wings, then dropped into a dive.
“Okay, let’s try something with a little more oomph,” Em called, pulling three orbs out of her pouch. “Heads up!” As the green roc swooped over their heads, she hurled the orbs up at its exposed belly. They beeped twice, then exploded in a cloud of smoke with a fwa-BOOM that Em felt in her gut.
But when the smoke cleared, Em cried out in disappointment. The roc was completely unharmed. Its feathers weren’t even singed. Opening its beak wide, it exhaled a cloud of green gas at a family of terrified elves.
Arkayna was just in time. She fired her staff at the elves, and a dome of energy sprung into place around them as the roc’s gas descended. The family sagged in relief as the noxious fumes wafted harmlessly around the protective dome, dispersing in the air.
“Something’s wrong!” Zarya shouted desperately. “Why can’t we hurt them?” She drew and fired, drew and fired at each roc in turn. And one by one—red roc, green, white, blue, purple—the arrows bounced and fizzled off, to no effect. Zarya fired one last arrow at the faraway black roc, who backed up leisurely to hover in place. The arrow fell short, and the beast snorted in amusement.
The blue roc swooped down, spitting jagged shards of ice from its beak as it came. People dove for cover as the razor-sharp icicles fell from the sky, impaling kiosks and driving themselves deep into the stone ground with the force of their impacts. Narrowing its eyes, the huge bird made a beeline for Zarya, still standing atop the cart.
“Uh, so, don’t worry,” Zarya stammered. “This is all part of the game. It probably can’t hurt me. Probably.” Her hands shaking slightly, she nocked and aimed another arrow. “Maybe the trick is to wait until it’s closer?” As the roc bore down on her, she waited three seconds … four seconds … five. She fired.
The roc snapped its beak and plucked the arrow from the air effortlessly, breaking it in two.