"There you go, ugly stone!" called Logan.
At the same moment, something pushed her from behind. Without hesitation, she turned and with a roar swung the sword towards the creature's head.
The creature's head was not hit, as if there was no blade attached to her sword. It was a biston from the Iron Fist group, which crippled a greenish and horrible-looking lizard-man. His three friends attacked two lizard-men at the other side of the room.
Logan looked with horror at the biston. If she held a regular sword right now, she would have decapitated him.
"Whew," she panted. "I… I am sorry," she told the biston. His face was angry and he smirked when he saw the sword hilt in Logan's hands.
"Elves, I'll never understand them," he said haughtily and turned to help his friends.
Achtisanor, De-Stik and Krunch also stood in the room and looked at the close of the battle. In under a minute, the bistons killed the lizard-men, using their axes. Their cheers echoed in the room, and they danced to celebrate their victory.
When they saw Tigertief watching them from the side, they stopped dancing and looked at them.
"Iron Fist," said Achtisanor to the leader of the group.
"Tigertief," returned the dwarf.
The two groups noticed two large wood chests to the left of the opening, from which Tigertief arrived. Steel bands covered them and big locks held their lids.
An axe swing took the lock of one chest, and De-Stik's metal needle opened another.
When Tigertief opened the chest, they discovered hundreds of blue, pink, and violet pearls. A great smile covered each of their faces, and De-Stik took a handful of pearls. When they looked to the right, they saw that the bistons group was not happy with the treasure they found. Their leader held two silver feathers. When they saw the pearls that De-Stik held in his hands, their faces frowned.
"Look," whispered Krunch to his friends, "the silver feathers."
"Don't be mad," Achtisanor turned to the bistons, "we'll be glad to give you the entire pearls chest." The bistons expressions changed. "You fought bravely against the lizard-men, and you deserve the reward. But in exchange, we would be glad to get these two worthless feathers."
"But…" De-Stik stood suddenly, perplexed.
"They will look great on my bow," said Logan and nudged De-Stik in his chest.
"A pity…" De-Stik winced, and closed his mouth.
The bistons agreed gladly to the deal, and started to measure the worth of the pearls. They gathered the treasure in four little sacks and put them in their packs.
"It was nice doing business with you," said their leader to Achtisanor. "We continue on our way to find the horn. I wish us good luck. And you, don't be upset when we will find it before you do. Ha, ha, ha…" the laughter of the four bistons echoed even after they disappeared from the opening, from which Tigertief have arrived.
"I don't think they will succeed in the direction they chose," smiled Logan, "but it would not be fair to continue on their route," she pointed at the wall opposite them.
"A hidden door," said De-Stik, "a secret to be told. Search around, examine the walls."
The four companions ran around the room and examined each stone. Logan discovered between the two treasure chests a brick that stood out. "It must be here," she said.
Logan pressed on the brick, but she only heard a hushed rustle from the other side of the wall.
De-Stik examined the opposite side of the room and noticed another brick that stood out, exactly opposite to the brick that Logan pressed on. De-Stik pressed it too, and they heard the same sound as before.
"Press on them at the same time," ordered Achtisanor.
A new door appeared slowly at the centre of the floor, and the movement of the walls shook the room. Stairs appeared, leading down to another corridor.
Chapter 26 - The Jellyfish Princess
"Why did you give them all our pearls?" asked De-Stik angrily. "We could have bought them in a wholesale."
"Do you want to turn to a statue?" asked Krunch.
"And we could not have carried the entire chest," said Achtisanor.
"But why give up on them all?" said De-Stik. "The decision was too quick. Fortunately, and thanks the god, I also have some tricks." He opened his pack pocket and revealed the pearls he managed to hide there.
The party arrived at an intersection of two other corridors.
"Where now?" asked Krunch.
"To the corridor that turns to the left," whispered Logan. "Now be quiet, I hear someone singing. It could be a trap."
The companions turned to the left-side corridor and after a few steps, they stopped again, and only Logan continued quietly.
"The corridor is dark and it continued to turn. At the right side there is a door," whispered Logan.
They heard a soft and feminine voice from inside the room, singing in an unfamiliar language. De-Stik and Logan approached the door, and their faces hardened.
"What is it? What happened?" whispered Achtisanor.
"It is these annoying reporters alone," whispered the De-Stik, "but this time, they have turned to stone."
"Stone?" wondered Krunch.
"Exactly in front of the door," said Logan.
"Oh boy," said Achtisanor.
"You can't see the source of the singing," said Logan, "but the singer is inside the room."
"There is only one creature that can do this," said Krunch, "but let me check it out."
Krunch lifted his two hands high.
"I conjure the wizard's eye," called Krunch and closed his eyes, "to see what is there to see and why."
A fist-sized disembodied eye appeared between his hands and floated in the air. Krunch's hands moved as if moving it. The eye drifted slowly into the room.
"I see the two reporters and mirror shards on the floor. In front of it I see a large wood cabinet," whispered Krunch with his eyes closed. "There is a big and fancy bed at the centre of the room, and two torches flanking it, blue velvet draping, and behind it… a white belly… a white woman…" a little smiled crept on his lips, "black ebony hair and… AH," Krunch screamed and he opened his eyes.
A sound of stone breaking was heard from inside the room.
"What is it? What was broken?" asked Logan.
"I think it was… the eye. The eye turned to stone," said Krunch.
"The eye? Turned to stone?" asked Logan.
"The jellyfish princess."
"These creatures are known for their beauty and danger," murmured De-Stik, as if remembering, "one look into their eyes, and you are petrified, in an instant. Yes, I have read about them in the book “One Hundred Reasons to Flee”. Are you saying that in the room a jellyfish or a princess you see?"
"Both," said Krunch. "It seems that the two reporters looked at her eyes. She probably not one of the magical creatures of the castle, but intruded it when the castle was submerged in the ocean."
"We have to save them," said Achtisanor. "Krunch, how do you dispel this effect?"
"It is quite complicated," said Krunch with a serious mien. "In order to dispel this effect, we must kill the jellyfish princess."
"But you could be wrong and she is one the magical creatures left in here," said De-Stik. "I think the consequences of this action you should hear."
"Then we have no choice but carrying the statues with us," said Krunch. "Maybe in Broncolina there is someone who could cure them."
"We would never be able to carry these stones, this is such a strife," said De-Stik. "They more hindrance to us as statues then they were in life."
"We will get them out," said Achtisanor, "and put them in another room. Later on, we will search for a cure. Wait here and I’ll go and drag them out."
Achtisanor stood at the door. The two petrified reporters stood in front of him: Dunlop held a notebook in one hand, and a pencil in the other; Serdamus held painting pages and a brush. They looked terrified. Next to the wall, Achtisanor saw the wood cabinet and the mirror shards on the f
loor. The singing of the jellyfish princess filled the room with a soft embrace and a warm feeling.
Achtisanor kept his eyes turned down and jumped behind the two reporters. The singing stopped.
"Hello, handsome knight," the soft voice said.
"Hello to you too, princess," said Achtisanor, turning his back to her.
"Why aren't you looking at me?" she said.
"I have a very good reason for not doing that, princess," said Achtisanor. "I can even think of two."
"Ha, ha, ha," she gently laughed. "Nice statues, don't you think?" she said. "I designed them myself."
"Yes, each one of them a masterpiece," said Achtisanor. Secretly, he measured the weight of Dunlop's statue.
"Look at me," the princess rebuked him.
"Never," shouted Achtisanor and tried to lift the petrified Dunlop. The statue was heavy, and Achtisanor let it drop again to the floor.
"In too kara zi otok, pi huaki ten solok," whispered the jellyfish princess.
"She is trying to put a spell on him," whispered Krunch to his friends.
Achtisanor stood still; the voice of the jellyfish princess was as sweet as the sirens' call, and her soft voice was so wonderful it hurts.
"Ando kasu mi bolog, si minkasu zeim borog," she continued her spell.
"Don't give in to her spell," called De-Stik, "if you are petrified our mission goes to hell."
Achtisanor's legs moved of their own accord, on their path to leave the relative safety of the statues.
"No, Achtisanor, don't do it," called Krunch. Achtisanor stood in front of the princess. He lowered his head so he would not look into the witch's eyes. Her voice continued to ring in his head. A shiver shook his body, and a wonderful feeling surrounded him.
"Aso pinuz shikoro ta, semu raga nitu mona," the jellyfish princess voice rose an octave. Achtisanor's head shook from his efforts to keep his resistance to her.
"No," called Logan.
"Achtisanor, get out of there now," called Krunch.
"Gather all shards of destruction," several small voices called in unison from inside the room, "and give us all a reflection!"
The broken mirror shards moved from all the corners of the room, lifted and were attached together as if they were pieces of a madman puzzle.
At that same moment, Achtisanor lost his resilience and his head shot forward to the jellyfish princess; but all he saw was his own reflection in the large mirror. Without hesitation, Achtisanor took the mirror and turned its surface toward the princess.
A scream sounded from the room, and it stopped a moment later. The large mirror broke in Achtisanor hands, and its shards covered the room again.
"Achtisanor," called Logan, "are you okay?"
"Yes," Achtisanor lowered his eyes, "you can enter."
"Damn it, my friends, women were always your delight," De-Stik rebuked him when he entered the room and looked around, "but I must admit, when I look at her, she is quite a sight."
The jellyfish princess statue stood in the room. Her chest was bare, her stomach flat and her hair braided into thousand long braids. Her face looked like a porcelain doll.
"Whew," said Krunch.
"Who cast the spell that constructed the mirror?" asked Logan.
A small head peeked from under the blue velvet covering of the bed.
"Fitz," called Krunch with joy.
"You," said Logan.
"How did you perform this magic?" asked Krunch.
The four squibs jumped out of the bed.
"We arrived here about an hour ago," said Fitz excitedly.
"And then came the singing one," said Sai.
"We hid under the bed and did not know what to do," said Dupree and Chase.
"And then the two reports came," said Fitz.
"And turned to statues," said Sai.
"So we searched in the monster manual the definition for petrifying monsters," the two said in unison.
"And it was very difficult because there was no light underneath the bed," said Fitz, "so we searched and searched and searched…"
"And found it," called Sai.
"Yes," said Fitz, "'jellyfish princess. Sings very prettily, but petrifies.' So it was written."
"And to kill her, she must look at herself," said Sai.
"And suddenly Achtisanor appeared," called Chase and Dupree.
"And all this spells started," said Sai.
"So we looked for a proper spell in the magical tome that Tambolin, the head scientist in Nessit, gave us," said Fitz.
"And we searched and searched and searched…" said Chase and Dupree.
"And it was very difficult because there was no light underneath the bed," said Sai.
"And found it," called Fitz, "and then the four of us said the magic words."
"And it worked," the four said together, catching their breaths.
"Wait just a little second," a familiar voice was heard from behind Tigertief, "can you please repeat the story? I mean… from the moment of the spells?"
Tigertief and the squibs turned around toward Dunlop, who returned to his former self. His hand was already writing furiously in the notebook.
"And if ye coulda move a wee bit," Serdamus said. "Ye kinda block this jellyfish. This is a scoop!"
The little squibs looked at the reporters and started laughing. They went their way without answering their questions.
"See you later, Tigertief," they called. "May the horn be found by you, or us."
"Wait, please. Just tell me that story again," called Dunlop and kicked Serdamus to hasten him on his way.
"Hey, I still not finished ye," Serdamus screamed while he was dragged from the room.
Chapter 27 - Gostorick
The four companions searched the room. They looked inside the drawers and under the pillows, but could not find a clue for the horn. Suddenly, De-Stik noticed something strange.
"By all the things that cannot change," he said, "look at the jellyfish eyes, they are very strange."
His friends walked to the jellyfish princess statue and noticed it too: the right eye of the jellyfish princess was opaque and her left eye was red as a flame.
"Ice stone," Achtisanor reached his hand to her right eye. The orb fell and remained in Achtisanor's hand.
"And if I am not wrong," De-Stik reached for her other eye, "this must be the fire stone."
"Ice and fire…" said Krunch, "I wonder if there is a meaning for this…"
"The first frost, the second a flame," Achtisanor recited the rhymes in the parchment.
"It is these stones," Logan understood.
De-Stik and Achtisanor took the torches from the bedsides and left the room to the dark and winding corridor. Their way was long and confusing, leading down into the bowels of the castle. The wood boards on the walls were replaced by mud. Water drops were heard from a distance, and they stepped into small puddles. The air was cold and moist.
"This is a tunnel that reaches the lowest levels of the castle," said Logan.
"Are you sure we are not walking in circles?" said Krunch.
"No," said Logan. "Here, we have reached a room."
The tunnel continued to descend and the party stood on a doorstep, wan light coming from within. De-Stik motioned to his friends to remain in their place and went inside to check if an unpleasant surprise waited within.
The room was circular. The wan light source was several candles that were lit in niches around the room. The wall was covered in small bricks, and a marvellous and colourful mosaic covered the floor. In front of the opening from which they came was another door, and the tunnel continued its descent from there. De-Stik looked around and after he made sure that no living soul was in the room, he called to his friends.
Suddenly, five skeletons approached, surrounded him and put their swords to his throat. De-Stik threw the staff and the torch to the floor and stood still.
"Ha, ha, ha," a hoarse voice was heard from the tunnel. "Get out of your hiding place, Achtisanor
and Tigertief," yelled the bear-man, "if you want to save your friends."
Achtisanor, Logan, and Krunch entered the room. Achtisanor and Logan entered with drawn swords.
"Gostorick," one of the skeletons said.
"Gostorick," the other four skeletons repeated and looked fearfully at Logan.
"Throw your swords to me," called Smord.
Logan looked with surprise at the skeletons. "Gostorick…" the word echoed in her head and reminded her of her dream. "Gostorick," it was the word that the skeletons and the carrion eaters said again and again in the dark castle.
"We'll throw the swords," said Achtisanor and lowered his sword, "just don't hurt him."
"No," called Logan, "release him."
To everyone surprise, and especially Logan's, the five skeletons lowered their swords.
"What are you doing?" screamed Smord, "I told you to capture him."
"Let him go," said Logan,
The confused skeletons looked at Logan and cleared the way for De-Stik.
"Attack them, you fools, kill them," yelled Smord.
"Capture him," commanded Logan in a clear and quiet voice, using the whispering tongue.
The five skeletons ran toward the bear-man, waving their swords at him.
"What?" wondered Smord, "what's going on here, you stupid bones? Are you on my side or theirs?" he turned and ran to the descending tunnel, the skeletons in pursuit.
Achtisanor, De-Stik and Krunch looked toward Logan.
"How…" wondered Krunch.
"The sword has a special ability," said Logan, trying to weasel out of an explanation, "I think." Her friends looked at her with doubt.
The four companions examined the mosaic, looking at each coloured stone. At the centre of the mosaic was a stone that caught their attention. It was different from the other stones, larger and rounder.
"Look," Logan wiped the top of the stone – a seven-pointed star was carved on it.
"I can swear I saw a symbol like that, and I am wrong only seldom," said De-Stik, "on an old map, noting this as Hotsand, the dessert kingdom."
"'The wind symbols carved in the block are put against the desert rock'," Achtisanor recited the riddle.
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