The Adventurer's Guide to Treasure (and How to Steal It)

by Wade Albert White

  “Let them go!” shouted Hiro. He tried to rush forward, too, but the pirate holding him was too strong.

  “I will release them. You have my word on that,” said Marri. “But first you need to complete a task for me.”

  “Why should we take your word for anything?” asked Anne.

  Marri stared at her with a grim expression. “Because you have no other choice.”

  She reached into the pack on her lap and pulled out a medallion—a gold medallion. The light reflected off its highly polished surface, nearly blinding them. Marri set it on the desk next to the gauntlet with a heavy thunk.

  “I recently acquired this,” she said. “It’s called the Darkflame Medallion.”

  Penelope gasped. “You stole it from the museum. Hiro, they have your family’s medallion!”

  Hiro stared at the medallion. “Why did you take it?”

  “It’s what we do,” said Marri matter-of-factly. “We seek out the medallions from failed quests.”

  “But why?” asked Anne.

  “To claim their treasure, of course. When someone fails a quest, the treasure usually gets left behind.” She shrugged. “Pirates like treasure. And I happen to know that the treasure for this quest is worth a fortune.”

  “But prophecy medallions can’t be reactivated,” said Hiro. “Once a quest has been attempted, you can’t access them again, regardless of whether or not the quest was completed.”

  “I’m not trying to reactivate it. I only need the information inside it, to point me in the direction of the treasure. And for that, all I need is the gauntlet that originally activated the medallion—and a little ingenuity.”

  “What makes you think it was Anne’s gauntlet?” asked Penelope.

  “Simple deduction,” said Marri. “I know that the gauntlet that activated the quest ended up at Saint Lupin’s. Yours is the only gauntlet here. Add to that the fact that the youngest son of the Darkflame family is a member of your group, and there’s really only one possible conclusion.”

  “And if you’re wrong?” asked Anne.

  Marri ignored the question. Instead, she motioned to the two pirates who had carried in the chest, Pirate Sixty-Six and Pirate Seventy-Five. Pirate Sixty-Six produced a rusty key and inserted it into the lock on the chest. There was a loud click, and the lock snapped open. The pirate pulled off the lock and lifted the lid. An eerie silver glow came from inside the chest. Holding a pair of tongs in her thick leather gloves, Pirate Seventy-Five reached into the chest and lifted out a small vial containing a viscous black liquid that seemed to be moving of its own accord.

  Anne felt Hiro tense beside her.

  “What is that?” asked Penelope.

  “This substance is a relic of the Old World,” said Marri, her eyes glistening. “No one alive today knows how to manufacture more. It is extremely rare to find it in its liquid state, and this single vial is worth more than the entire Saint Lupin’s tier.”

  “And what are you going to do with it?” asked Hiro. For all that he didn’t really care for quests or adventure of any kind, he was fascinated by anything to do with the Old World. Although this time Anne noted a hint of concern in his voice.

  Still using the tongs, Pirate Seventy-Five carried the vial over to the desk. She removed the stopper and tipped the contents into the circle on the gauntlet where a medallion was normally placed.

  “Hey, what are you doing?!” Anne shouted.

  She struggled to get free again, but this time the hand gripped her tightly. She watched helplessly as the dark substance pooled into the medallion slot.

  As the black liquid oozed out of the vial, Marri dug a small leather pouch out of her pack and pulled a small crystal shard out of it. She held the shard between her thumb and forefinger with great care. It glinted in the sunlight that streamed through the windows.

  “Is that a dragon stone?” asked Anne.

  “A piece of one, yes,” said Marri. “We’re attempting to modify the gauntlet’s GPS.”

  “What?!” Anne exclaimed.

  Marri dropped the shard onto the pool of black liquid. As soon as it made contact, there was a blinding flash of light and a familiar rainbow-colored form appeared above the desk. It was Jeffery, the magickal holographic sparrow who lived in the gauntlet and acted as the General Pathfinder Sparrow for any quests that were activated. His form expanded and contracted randomly, exploding into bursts of colors and re-forming, deforming and seeming to melt, bursting into flame, and then becoming a pillar of ice. This was all accompanied by an unbearably shrill screeching. Anne cried out with every transformation, but after several heart-stopping moments Jeffery returned to his normal size and disappeared. The black liquid and the piece of the dragon stone were also gone.

  Marri closed her eyes and raised her fists in a sign of victory, and several of the pirates in the room hooted and hollered.

  Anne nearly collapsed against the edge of the desk. “What did you do to Jeffery?”

  “I believe the Old World term is hot-wired,” said Marri. “Presuming the shard and the black liquid worked together as planned, we have just modified a part of his code. He should now be able to access any medallion this gauntlet has previously activated.”

  “But what if they didn’t work as planned?” stormed Anne, struggling against her captor. “What if all you did was hurt him?”

  “I guess there’s only one way to be certain,” said Marri. “Put it on.”

  Anne fell completely still.

  This wasn’t at all what she’d been planning for her first day of classes. She would do whatever it took to free those who had been imprisoned, but it was clear Marri and her pirates currently had the upper hand. That didn’t mean they knew everything, though. If Anne gave the impression of cooperating, they would give her possession of the gauntlet. The gauntlet would allow her to control the iron knights, presuming she could signal them from this distance. It was a long shot, but right now it was her best hope.

  Anne walked resolutely over to the desk and picked up the gauntlet. It felt the same as ever. She looked one last time at the blue dice lined up on the desk, took a deep breath, and slid her hand inside.

  Marri handed her the gold medallion. Anne took it in her free hand but hesitated. Everything was happening so fast, and she needed a moment to think. She turned the medallion over several times. Anne had never held anything made from gold before, and she found it surprisingly heavy. There was something else, too: The medallion bore the image of a dragon—the Sign of Zarala. It had been on the medallions from Anne’s first two quests as well. Given how those quests had gone, she did not take it as a good omen.

  “The sooner you insert it, the sooner we can finish this,” said Marri.

  Steeling herself, Anne placed the medallion over the inset of the gauntlet and gave it a gentle nudge.

  The medallion slid into place with a soft click.

  And then it exploded.

  THE ADVENTURER’S GUIDE TO QUESTING GAUNTLETS SAYS THE FOLLOWING ABOUT HOT-WIRING YOUR GPS:

  The GPS in your gauntlet is a finely tuned piece of magickal engineering. In order for the GPS to perform its many varied tasks, it has been connected directly to the space-time continuum. The wizards who created this link spent countless hours of study and preparation, rehearsing the required spells hundreds of times and working in an environment of complete silence—except, of course, for the obligatory yellow rubber ducky.

  But sure, if you want to mess around with it in your spare time, go right ahead. It’s only all of existence at stake.

  The Gold Medallion

  For the third time that morning, Anne found herself lying flat on her back. The heat from the gauntlet was almost unbearable, but unlike the last two times when a medallion had attached itself to her gauntlet, she was not entirely unprepared. She squeezed her eyes shut and took deep, steadying breaths until the pain subsided. When she opened her eyes again, she was relieved to find Jeffery perched on her chest and peering down at her.
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  “For the record, whatever you did to the gauntlet just now, it was a very bad idea,” he said. “My head feels all wonky.”

  “Tell me about it,” said Anne, but she ignored her own aching head and inspected the gauntlet for damage. Other than being a little singed, it didn’t look too worse for wear, which was a relief. The gold medallion also seemed to be intact. It hadn’t actually exploded as it had seemed in the moment, but some sort of shockwave had definitely been released.

  Penelope and Hiro rushed over and knelt next to Anne, and Jeffery fluttered up to the edge of the desk.

  “Are you okay?” asked Hiro.

  Anne nodded slowly. She had expected something to happen, but the blast still shocked her. Penelope quickly checked Anne over from head to toe.

  “Do medallions always blow up like that when they attach?” asked Penelope as she bent Anne’s arm back and forth to see if it was working properly. “It nearly knocked Hiro and me off our feet, too.”

  Anne managed to sit up. “No. They weren’t pleasant, but that was definitely a first.”

  Penelope leaned in closer and whispered. “Anne, take a look.” She opened her hand so only Anne could see. Nestled in the palm was the blue dice containing Nana. “I swiped it during all the commotion.”

  Anne was about to respond, but Marri wheeled her chair around to the front of the desk, and Penelope pulled back her hand.

  “Is she injured?” asked Marri.

  Penelope glared at her. “She’s fine, no thanks to you.”

  Marri turned her attention to Jeffery. “What happened? Is the medallion damaged?”

  “Why, hello, strange person whom I’ve never met before,” said Jeffery.

  “This is Captain Marri Blackwood,” said Anne, not bothering to disguise her annoyance. “She and her pirate crew carried out a brazen and unprovoked attack on Saint Lupin’s. They damaged several of the buildings and imprisoned all the teachers inside some magickal dice. And all for the stupid treasure inside that medallion.”

  “Gotcha,” said Jeffery. “Also, glad to see this situation isn’t in any way tense or awkward.” He tilted his head as though he were listening to a faraway voice. “Anyway, the medallion is fine. And so is the gauntlet, thanks for asking. Also, you’ll be happy to hear that the quest has been successfully reactivated. It’s a Pirate Treasure quest, which I suppose makes sense given the present company.”

  “What did you say?” asked Marri. She reached over and grabbed Anne’s gauntlet, nearly yanking her off the floor. “Reactivated? Nothing we did to the gauntlet should have reactivated the quest. Are you sure?”

  “Only about a thousand percent sure,” said Jeffery.

  Marri released the gauntlet and pressed her hands to the sides of her head. “Oh, this is bad. This is very, very bad.”

  “I thought you said you didn’t want to reactivate it,” said Anne.

  “I didn’t even think it was possible. I only wanted the location of the treasure.”

  “What does it matter if it’s activated or not?” asked Penelope. “You can find the treasure either way, can’t you?”

  Marri turned to them with a wild look in her eye. “You don’t understand. If he finds out, he’s going to be furious.”

  “If who finds out?” asked Hiro.

  Marri swallowed. “Octo-Horse Pirate.”

  The other pirates in the room shifted their feet nervously, and their eyes darted toward the door as though expecting something extremely unpleasant to come charging in at any moment. Anne had never heard the name Octo-Horse Pirate, and by the blank looks on both Penelope’s and Hiro’s faces, neither had they.

  “Octo-who-what?” asked Penelope.

  “Octo-Horse Pirate,” Marri repeated. “Half octopus, half horse, all pirate—or at least that’s what it says on his business cards. He’s the supreme leader of all the pirate factions. He gave me the mission to steal the gold medallion from the museum, but I was supposed to take it directly to him. I wasn’t authorized to access it on my own.”

  “Then why did you?!” Hiro cried.

  Marri glared at him defiantly. “I have my reasons.” She looked back to the medallion. “But if the quest has been reactivated, then he’ll find out what I did, unless… unless…”

  Hiro groaned. “I hate it when people say ‘unless.’ Nothing good ever comes from it.”

  Marri spoke with resolve. “We’ll complete the quest.”

  “We?” said Anne incredulously. “You’re the one who started this.”

  Marri ignored her and continued. “If we finish the quest and bring back the treasure, then it won’t matter that we accidentally reactivated it. Surely he’ll overlook that one little mistake.”

  Anne cut in more forcefully this time. “First of all, we didn’t accidentally reactivate anything. That was entirely you and your merry band of thieves here. Second of all, if you think we’re going to help you complete some quest after what you just did to our school, you’re dreaming.”

  Marri pointed to the dice on the desk. “If you ever want to see your friends again, you’ll help me complete the quest. That’s the price of their freedom. And yours.”

  “Or maybe we’ll just free them ourselves!” shouted Penelope.

  She was holding the dice containing Nana over her head. Before any of the pirates could react, she threw the dice at the floor. It shattered in a little puff of blue light.

  Penelope looked disappointed. “Well, that was a bit anticlimactic.”

  Anne looked around. “Where’s Nana?”

  “Right here,” said a tiny voice by her ear.

  Anne turned her head. Hovering in front of her nose was a tiny black dragon the size of an overgrown bumblebee.

  “Nana?” said Anne, not quite believing her eyes. “Why are you so small? Turn big again!”

  “I’m trying to, but it’s not working.”

  “That’s what happens when you break someone out of the dice instead of releasing them properly,” said Marri.

  “Sorry, Nana,” Penelope said sheepishly.

  Before Nana could say anything more, Pirate Twenty-Two reached over and caught the miniature dragon between two halves of a hollow metal sphere. It clicked shut.

  “Hey, let her go!” yelled Anne.

  But the pirate dropped the sphere into a leather bag hanging from her belt.

  “As you can see, smashing the dice isn’t going to work,” said Marri. “Your only option is to cooperate and go on the quest.”

  Anne was near the boiling point. Pirates had invaded her school, kidnapped her teachers and friends, experimented on her gauntlet, and were now demanding she do their bidding and go on a quest for them? She looked to Penelope and Hiro. Normally she would ask for their advice, but in the current situation that wasn’t possible. Anne couldn’t think of anything to do but stand there in silent defiance.

  “Fine,” said Marri. “Be that way. I’ll solve the quest on my own, then, and you and your friends will remain my prisoners indefinitely.” She pointed at Jeffery. “Where is the treasure?”

  “How am I supposed to know?” said Jeffery.

  “Because that gauntlet originally activated the gold medallion. You’re the GPS, so you should remember the details.”

  “Hey, I’ve never seen this medallion before in my life.”

  Marri pounded a fist on the arm of her chair. “You’re lying! The procedure with the black liquid only works on the gauntlet that originally activated the quest. It worked, so this has to be the right one.”

  “Jeffery is no liar,” said Anne with an edge to her voice.

  Jeffery looked from one to the other. “Look, I don’t know what you people did to my gauntlet, or why it reactivated the quest, but I remember every medallion that’s ever been inserted in that slot, and this isn’t one of them—well, until now, of course.”

  Marri glared at him but seemed to accept what he was saying.

  “Fine, we’ll figure out that part later,” she said. “Give us
the quest riddle.”

  “Actually, I’m still feeling a bit weird, so if we could wait a while—”

  “Now!”

  Marri’s eyes were twin orbs of fire. Jeffery looked helplessly to Anne, and she gave him an almost imperceptible nod. There was no point in having Jeffery suffer needlessly, and if history was any lesson, the quest riddle would present its own difficulties.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Jeffery said to Marri.

  He perched on the edge of the desk and sang out in a lilting tempo:

  Walk the halls of castle high,

  Wake the rose that never bloomed,

  Hand to it the legend’s power,

  Free the worlds betrayal doomed.

  “How do you wake a rose?” asked Pirate Nineteen.

  “And what does it mean by worlds?” asked Pirate Twenty-Two. “Isn’t there just the one?”

  “What legend?” asked Pirate Seventy-Five.

  Penelope grinned. “It wouldn’t be a proper quest riddle if it wasn’t impossibly cryptic. Best of luck with it, though.”

  “Enough!” shouted Marri. She closed her eyes and massaged her temples. “What level is the quest?”

  Jeffery tilted his head. “Hmmm, as far as I can tell, it’s a Level Q quest.”

  “What’s Level Q?”

  “I don’t even want to know anymore,” muttered Hiro.

  Jeffery hopped onto Anne’s gauntlet and gave the medallion a kick. “Stupid quest medallions with their bizarre levels.”

  “Never mind that,” said Marri. “There’s really only one thing that matters: How much time is there to complete the quest?”

  “Hmmm, as far as I can tell, you have fourteen hundred and forty days,” said Jeffery