Inside Out

by Ellis Michaels

  “Yes,” Alyssa answered. “What is the fee?”

  “There is no fee,” the troll replied. “But if you want to cross my bridge, you must answer three riddles.”

  “Um, okay,” Alyssa said. “What's the first riddle.”

  The troll smiled and started asking, “What has four legs, three arms, two...”

  “We don't have time for this shit,” Luke said, interrupting the troll.

  He raised his longsword high above his head and with one swing, Luke lopped the poor troll's head off. It rolled right down into the river. The powerful current whisked the wide-eyed decapitated head away out of sight within seconds.

  “Really?” Alyssa asked, whacking Luke in the arm. “Why would you do that?”

  “I thought I already made that clear. We don't have time to be answering riddles all day.”

  Alyssa shook her head and said, “Well, you're going over the bridge first. What if that troll cast some kind of spell on it that harms whoever goes over it without answering his riddles? Huh?”

  “Pfft,” Luke said and walked over the bridge unharmed. “I'm fine. See? Come on. Let's keep going.”

  Again, Alyssa shook her head. She kept shaking her head the entire walk over the bridge. All four of them made it over unharmed. They continued up the path until finally reaching the mountains.

  The mountains were massive. As the friends stood at the base, they looked up in awe. They were all from Boston and, aside from the beautiful mountain ranges in New Hampshire, had never seen anything like it.

  “All right,” Stephanie said. “Now we just have to follow along the mountains until we find the witch's cave.”

  “Well, let's get to it!” Luke replied.

  Chapter 8 - The Crazy Witch Of The North

  The four friends walked along the edge of the mountains looking for the witch's cave. The sun was starting to set and they knew it would be dark soon. A cool breeze came down off the mountains, which wasn't nearly as refreshing as when the sun was high in the sky. It was starting to get a bit chilly.

  Just as the sun disappeared over the horizon, they noticed a fire burning off in the distance right next to the mountains. A minute later, the friends could smell a faint hint of smoke.

  “I wonder if that's the witch,” Stephanie said.

  “I bet it is,” Alyssa replied. “The crazy crat lady's directions have been spot-on so far. And we've been walking just about as long as she said we'd have to.”

  They continued onward. As they got closer, the smell of smoke got stronger and stronger. When the friends finally got to the fire, they knew they'd found what they were looking for.

  “This has to be it,” Mitch said.

  A crackling fire burned brightly a few yards away from the mountains, safely surrounded by rocks. Stephanie warmed her hands by the fire while the others looked around. The witch was nowhere to be seen. But they discovered what was unmistakably the entrance to a cave in the side of the mountain.

  Above the fire hung a small bubbling cauldron, filled with what looked like vegetables and some kind of meat. It wasn't your typical large, black witch's cauldron. It was a small, silver cauldron and reminded Stephanie of something her grandmother used to use to make kale soup. Outside the entrance to the cave leaned a long wooden staff with strange engravings. Other than that, the group didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

  “Hello? Anybody home?” Alyssa asked, speaking loudly into the cave.

  There was no answer.

  “Yo, weeach!” Luke yelled. “You here?”

  Again, no answer.

  “Maybe she's not here,” Alyssa said.

  “She's gotta be here, somewhere,” Mitch said. “Somebody does. How else would there be a fire?”

  “Maybe it's a deep cave and she can't hear us from here,” Luke said. “Let's check it out.”

  “Alright,” Mitch replied. “Here, let me cast an illumination spell. It looks pretty dark in there.”

  Mitch pulled out his book of white magic and started reading from it. As he completed the spell, the area around him became brightly lit. Alyssa also knew that spell and read it from her tattered book. The area around her also lit up.

  They entered the cave, cautiously. Mitch was in the front and the others followed him, single file, with Alyssa in the back. That was their prearranged strategy for exploring dark places when using spells for lighting because it allowed for the greatest area of illumination. When using torches, Luke stayed in the lead as usual. But the friends preferred lighting spells because it allowed them to keep their hands free.

  The cave was creepy by any appraisal. Even Luke found himself feeling a little uneasy. Though they could only see the immediate area around them, they could hear all kinds of things in the distance. Dripping water, critters crawling around, and a strange creaking sound filled their ears.

  They followed a long hallway which descended deep underground. It was quite narrow and they had to bend down at times – a claustrophobic's worst nightmare. The further down they got, the louder the creaking sound got.

  “What is that?” Stephanie asked.

  “I don't know,” Mitch answered. “But I think we're gonna find out pretty soon.”

  Up ahead, they could see that the hallway ended. Beyond it appeared to be a large chamber. It was out of the range of their illumination spells, yet they could see light flickering from inside it. As they approached the chamber, it became obvious that the creaking sound was coming from inside.

  The friends entered the large chamber. Several lit torches hung on the walls around the room, lighting the entire thing. Tattered clothing, dozens of books, bones from a variety of creatures, and other items were laying around everywhere. The smell of incense filled the air. Mitch instantly recognized it as patchouli, something he'd used a lot to hide the smell of weed from his parents before moving in with Luke.

  At the far end of the chamber, an elderly woman read from a book while swaying back and forth in a rocking chair. She didn't seem to notice that she had company. The woman was frail with menacing green eyes and curly silver hair that hung down to the floor behind her rocking chair. The friends approached her with caution.

  “Hello?” Alyssa asked.

  The woman didn't look up. Her eyes stayed focused on the book she was reading. The elderly woman held out her arm and raised a single finger, as if to say, “One moment.” They continued walking until they were right in front of her. Casually, the woman turned to the next page, put a bookmark – some sort of leaf – in it to save her spot, and put the book down next to her chair. Slowly, she looked up at the four friends, examining each of them before speaking.

  “What brings you four venturesome explorers to my clandestine lair?”

  Underneath the woman read [NPC] Esmeraldazela, witch in green. They were all pleased to know they'd found the woman they were looking for.

  “We're looking for an orb,” Alyssa said.

  “Ooohhh, an orb!” Esmeraldazela said with enthusiasm, standing up. She was exceptionally tall and very thin. “I can tell you about all kinds of orbs: The Orb of Disillusionment. The Chaos and Order Orbs. The Orb of Sexual Mastery. The Orb of...”

  “Sexual Mastery,” Luke said. “Tell us about that one.”

  Before the witch could respond, Mitch jumped in and said, “We're looking for the Orb of Displacement.”

  The witch walked over to Mitch, stopped in front of him, and eyed him up and down. Then, she walked over to Luke doing the same thing, followed by Stephanie and Alyssa.

  “Haven't I seen the four of you before?” she asked. “You look awfully familiar.”

  “I don't think so,” Alyssa answered. “Do you know where the Orb of Displacement is, Esmeraldazela? Do you have it?”

  “Me?” she answered. “No. No, I don't have it. But I know who does.”

  “Great!” Mitch said. “Would you please tell us?”

  Esmeraldazela stood silently for
a moment, running her skinny fingers through her hair. Her eyes darted from one friend to the next. Finally, she answered.

  “Yes.”

  “Great!” Alyssa shouted, prematurely.

  “But,” the witch continued, “you have to answer three riddles. Get one right, and I'll tell you.”

  Luke started reaching for his longsword. Mitch caught him out of the corner of his eye and looked over at his friend, getting his attention. Subtly shaking his head from side to side, Mitch let Luke know that this wasn't the time to be decapitating people. Reluctantly, Luke took his hand off the sword.

  “If that's what we have to do to get you to tell us where The Orb is,” Alyssa said, “so be it. What's the first riddle?”

  The witch rubbed her hands together and said, “It flies without wings. Without words, it sings. It runs without legs. For copper, it begs.”

  The four of them stood silently for several minutes, trying to figure out the riddle. Eventually, they each offered up an answer. None of them got it right.

  “What is it?” Mitch asked.

  “It's a janerybird!” the witch answered.

  “A what?” Alyssa asked.

  “You've never heard of a janerybird? I thought that was an easy one. It's an animal that lives at the very top of Hellhound Mountain on the continent of Albatrania.”

  “How the fuck were we supposed to know that?” Luke yelled. “How would anybody know that?”

  “Relax,” Mitch said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. “Let's hear the next one.”

  The witch asked another riddle. Again, the friends all got it wrong. And like before, there was no way that any of them – or any mid-level adventurer for that matter – could've known the answer. Esmeraldazela asked the final riddle and, not surprisingly, they all got it wrong.

  “I'm sorry,” the witch said. “But you didn't get any of them right.”

  “Because they were all ridiculous riddles that no one other than a crazy witch living in a cave surrounded by books would know,” Luke said.

  “Please,” Alyssa begged. “Is there anything we can do? We really need to find The Orb.”

  The witch ran her fingers through her hair, lost in thought. They stood around her, anxiously awaiting an answer. Esmeraldazela bent down and started digging through a pile of books, taking one out of the stack. A mischievous smile appeared on her face.

  “Alright,” she said. “I'll tell you where you can find the Orb of Displacement if you can defeat an ice demon.”

  The four friends looked at each other. They didn't really want to fight any kind of demon, but knew it was their only chance to learn where The Orb was.

  “Is that the only way?” Mitch asked.

  “Yes,” Esmeraldazela answered, bluntly.

  “Then it's on like winter in the Yukon,” Luke said.

  “Lame,” Alyssa mumbled, not quite loud enough for anyone to hear.

  The witch started reading from the book. While she read, the four friends prepared for battle. Alyssa started casting a protection spell, trying to get it done before the ice demon appeared. Stephanie readied her bow and Luke took out his longsword. Mitch wasn't sure what to do. He doubted that he'd be able to do much damage to an ice demon if he shifted into his wolven form. And his white magic was of no use. With no other options, Mitch reached for the dagger he kept on his leg, hoping he'd be able to chip away at least a few hit points from the demon.

  Esmeraldazela read the final words from the book and raised her free hand high in the air. The ground beneath them started to shake. Stephanie lost her balance and nearly fell. Fortunately, Mitch was standing right there and managed to catch her. From the top of the cavern, the water that was slowly dripping down before now started pouring into the room. As it hit the shaking ground, the water instantly froze. More and more water came crashing down, freezing as it landed.

  From the ground up, the ice demon started to take shape. More and more water came down, forming the demon. Eventually, when it was fully formed, the ground stopped shaking and water stopped pouring out of the ceiling.

  The four friends looked up at the massive demon in absolute awe. It towered over them, standing at nearly twenty feet tall. Its icy arms were enormous. They'd never fought such a formidable monster before. Between the demon's size, devilish black eyes, massive body, and the angry look on its face, the friends – even Luke – were scared out of their minds. Luke was fearless when it came to fighting organic monsters, but magical ones always made him uneasy.

  “You're sure there's nothing else we can do to get you to tell us about The Orb?” he asked the witch.

  Esmeraldazela didn't reply. She just laughed.

  Chapter 9 - Ice, Ice Baby

  The ice demon held out its arms and started inhaling deeply over the course of several seconds. Alyssa finished casting her protection spell and +4 Defense appeared over each of their heads. Stephanie flipped through her spell book, looking for something to use against the mighty demon. She knew her bow and arrow would be useless. Mitch and Luke readied their weapons and prepared to attack.

  “Ahhhhhh!” Luke screamed, lunging at the demon.

  He swung his longsword overhead, slicing it down at the ice demon. Luke landed a direct hit to the demon's torso. Though initially pleased with his hit, Luke became discouraged when he took a step back and saw -1 HP above the demon.

  “That only took out one hit point?” Luke complained. “Son of a...”

  Before Luke could finish his sentence, the demon's black eyes locked onto him and it started to exhale. It leaned down and a powerful gust of icy wind came out of its mouth. Luke did the only thing he could do: hold his sword up in defense. Not surprisingly, it was of absolutely no use. The demon's icy breath froze the sword in his hands. But that's not all – it froze Luke's entire body.

  The other three looked at their frozen friend in horror. Luke was frozen solid. He looked like an ice statue of a warrior in the middle of battle, defending himself. They knew that if they didn't figure out a way to defeat the demon, they'd likely all end up as ice sculptures.

  Mitch didn't expect his lowly dagger to do any real damage, especially after seeing Luke's powerful strike on the demon only do one hit point of damage. But it was the only option that he had. Mitch lunged at the massive demon, stabbing him in the thigh with his freshly-sharpened dagger. He'd gotten it sharpened in Lakewind and hadn't used it since. The dagger hit the demon's leg and chipped a few shards of ice off it. Mitch stepped back and saw -1 HP appear above the demon.

  Discouraged, Mitch sheathed his dagger. He knew that a demon like the one they were facing likely had thousands of hit points. With no other options, he tried to start shifting into his wolven form. The transformation began immediately, as Mitch was both angry and scared – terrified, really.

  The ice demon once again opened up its arms and started to inhale. Stephanie raised her hand and pointed a finger at the enormous demon. As she finished reading the words to her spell, balls of fire started shooting out of her fingers. Stephanie figured that casting a fireball spell against an ice demon would do some serious damage.

  She figured wrong.

  As each fireball hit the ice demon in the center of its chest, -1 HP floated up above it before disappearing a second later. -1 HP, -1 HP, -1 HP, -1HP, -1 HP, -1HP appeared above its head, one for each of the six fireballs that Stephanie shot. A look of absolute terror appeared on her face. She thought for sure that her spell would take out a lot of hit points. Stephanie took a few steps back and frantically flipped through her spell book, looking for something else that might work against the mighty demon.

  Again, the ice demon leaned down and started to exhale. This time, its eyes locked onto Alyssa. With her heart practically beating out of her chest, Alyssa turned and started to run. She only made it a few steps before the demon's icy breath froze her in place. Like Luke, Alyssa was frozen solid.

  Stephanie began casting another spel
l. Since the fire spell didn't hurt the demon, this time she decided to try an ice spell. While not particularly hopeful it was going to work, Stephanie figured it was worth a try.

  Mitch's sharp teeth, fierce claws, and dexterous hands were out and ready for action. He wasn't exactly sure how to attack the mighty demon, so he just let his animal instincts take over. Mitch leapt at it, slashing the demon's leg with his razor-sharp claws. Like all the other attacks, -1 HP appeared above it. He slashed it again with his other hand. Again, -1 HP floated above it. Over and over, Mitch kept swinging away at the demon.

  For the first time, the ice demon showed some emotion. It looked down at Mitch and laughed. The laugh was in a tone so deep that it made the entire cavern shake. The demon swung its mighty arm at Mitch, sending him flying back about twenty feet. The half-wolf landed on his back, -27 HP floating above him. The demon held his arms wide and started to inhale once again.