“Oh, so you need someone killed? That’s not really my thing…” I grimaced. Although, now that I think about it, I might entertain the option. Why not?
“No, no one’s killing anyone.” The pixie’s eyes widened even more. “I just need some people scared. Well, I mean, I’ll scare you after you put the fear of God into some guests of mine.”
“Why does it have to be so complicated?” I asked sadly, though I had already figured the whole thing out. The conceited little twit had decided to try on the wings of fame and glory. “Though, as long as no one’s getting killed, then it sounds good to me. Who am I scaring, when, and where?”
“My guests, you stupid beanpole! My house, today, as soon as it gets dark.”
I decided to turn a blind eye to the pixie’s attitude, resolving to wait until the end of the quest. Then I could write something on the library wall…something like, “Pixies are no better than flies buzzing around.”
“As I said, sounds good to me. Just tell me where your house is and I’ll let them all have it.”
“Thank God, you got it through your thick skull. You’ll break into my house and tell them that you’re taking all of their women and that the rest should leave if they don’t want their wings chopped off. Then I’ll come in and suggest that we take it outside, where I’ll start yelling at you and you’ll take off running. Okay?”
You have a new quest offer: Brave Pixie
Task: Pretend you’re attacking Locket’s house so that he can play the hero.
Reward:
300 experience
Information about the abandoned temple: either before or after you complete the task, depending on how eloquent you can be.
Accept?
“No problem. If you want to be a hero, go for it,” I said to the pixie, clicking Accept and assuming a more casual tone. “But there’s one thing…”
“What?” the pixie asked, displeased. “Having second thoughts?”
“Never. That would be a violation of the rules, and I’d be risking quite a bit.”
“And I,” said the pixie with a flutter of his wings, “would be taking a risk with the Academy of Wisdom. And they don’t take things like this lightly!”
“But the Academy is far off somewhere, and the local jail is right around the corner…” I hinted.
“What do you want?” the pixie asked, all business.
“The same,” I answered shortly. “The location of the temple.”
“Right!” Locket scoffed. “I tell you everything now, and then you’ll be nowhere to be found tonight.”
“What do you mean?” I asked in surprise. “I wouldn’t do that; I might need something else from you in the future.”
“Give me some security,” demanded the pixie.
“What kind?”
“Oh, I don’t know… You probably won’t give me your armor. How about twenty gold? If you do what you said you’d do, I’ll give it back to you. If not, at least I’ll have a little something in my pocket.”
I counted out the gold, wondering why he hadn’t just asked for money in the first place. It wasn’t much, and I would have been happy to pay.
He took the money, fluttered over to the desk, and put it in a drawer.
“From what I remember, the abandoned temple isn’t far from Montrig. Let’s see, I know I saw something about it somewhere.”
Locket flew to one of the bookshelves.
“Come here, beanpole. If anything falls, your job is to catch it. And be careful—some of these manuscripts are even from before the Ancient Gods. We’ve had them since the Age of Dragons.”
Oh, wow. This isn’t a library, it’s a…I don’t even know. The Age of Dragons. I made a mental note to see what else I could shake out of that Locket. Or, maybe I’ll just give him a whiff of my wallet. The scaly little bugger apparently knew quite a bit.
From somewhere above me, up where Locket was digging around, came a huge cloud of odd-smelling dust that settled all over me. I coughed and started waving my arms around in an attempt to get the stinking stuff off me.
“What are you swinging your arms for?” I heard Locket say. “I don’t have any insects in here.”
“It’s the dust.” I sneezed. “You might consider having someone do a little cleaning up once in a while.”
“Too expensive,” the pixie informed me. “There’s never enough money. The Academy of Wisdom never wants to finance anything, and I’m certainly not going to dip into my own pocket. Not a chance.”
He came down holding a scroll.
“Here we go.” He shook it. “Everything’s in here—where the temple is and how to get inside it.”
“Anything about what’s in it?” I asked.
“Nope, no such luck. The gods were always careful about their secrets, so they never entrusted them to paper.”
“That’s a shame.”
“Not exactly,” blinked Locket. “Sometimes, filling your head with too much information means losing it.”
The pixie flew to the desk, unrolled the scroll, and gestured for me to come over.
“Here, this map shows you how to get there. Look—it’s really close. It would take me fifteen minutes to fly there, so you should be able to walk that far in, maybe, thirty. You can’t miss the hill; there are three trees on top of it. I’d have never thought there was a temple under it though!”
Judging by the map, the temple really was nearby. Underneath the map, was some kind of text I didn’t understand.
“What does that writing mean? I don’t know what language it is.”
“Of course, you don’t know it—it’s Old Fayroll,” said the pixie with a snort. “It says that only one with the Fire Key can find the temple; only one who is unafraid of fire can enter the temple; only one who greets the stone fire can find the temple’s secret; and only one who takes fire into their heart can receive the temple’s biggest reward. Well, something like that. Sounds to me like a bunch of nonsense.”
You completed a quest: Find the Abandoned Temple
You found where the abandoned temple is located.
To get your reward, go talk to Trayn.
I clapped. “Excellent. You did your part of the deal.”
“You just don’t forget your part, beanpole.”
“Well, only if you tell me where your house is. What? Am I supposed to scour the town looking for you?”
The pixie explained how to get there, after which I said goodbye and walked out onto the street.
Trayn was where I’d left him behind his stall. The amount of junk in front of him had remained exactly the same.
“Well, my good sir, I know where the temple is,” I told him.
You completed a quest: Find the Abandoned Temple.
Reward:
400 experience
200 gold
“You found it!” the dwarf said with a happy smile. “That’s excellent.”
“Agreed,” I nodded. “I’m happy about it, too. There’s just one hitch: apparently the key to the temple is called the Fire Key, and we need it. I have no idea where to find it though.”
The dwarf answered exactly how I expected him to. Anything other than the conspiratorial look he shared with me and his triumphant tone would have surprised me.
“And on that note, my brave friend, I have something to show you. Six months back, an adventurer sold me a few items. Among them was an oddly shaped key.” The dwarf shuffled around behind his stall and pulled it out.
The key really was oddly shaped. The bow was made to look like tongues of fire, which meant that it was definitely the Fire Key I was looking for. The name may have been less than original, but it looked impressive.
“And?” I looked at the dwarf.
“And I’m prepared to give it to you on one condition.”
“It would have been absurd for you to just give it to me. What’s your condition? You’re coming with me?”
“Oh, no, I’m too old for that kind of action,” the dwarf said, w
iggling his stubby fingers. “It’s much simpler. You just give me your word that you’ll evenly split with me whatever you find in the temple. And, I get first pick. How does that sound?”
You have a new quest offer: Temple Secrets
Task: Find your way into and explore the abandoned temple.
Reward:
700 experience
Half the items found in the temple (items collected from dead foes are not included).
Accept?
Mostly just by force of habit, I decided to see if there was anything else I could get.
“If there are any items with hidden attributes, you pay to reveal them,” I said.
“Reasonable, if pushy. Deal?”
I pressed Accept and met the dwarf’s hand with my own.
You received the Fire Key.
I finished the handshake and found the key in my hand.
“When are you going?” asked Trayn.
I looked up at the sky. The sun was nearing the horizon, but I still had plenty of time before it got dark. I’ll make it to the pixie’s party in time.
“What’s the point of waiting?” I asked the dwarf rhetorically. “It’s not far, so I’ll go now.”
“Good luck,” said Trayn kindly. “I’ll be expecting you here tomorrow morning.”
Before I left, I had one more question I had to ask. “By the way, my dear Trayn, why do you take me at my word? Couldn’t I just be a liar out to trick you?”
“I doubt it,” said the old dwarf with a mile. “I believe my eyes, and they tell me you’re an honest fellow, if an absolute rascal. Also, if you don’t believe anyone in this world, it stops being such a good place—and it wouldn’t be the kind of world I want to live in. So go, and may Frere Skalorub protect you.”
“Who is Frere Skalorub?” I quickly asked.
“Hmm,” the dwarf said, taken aback. “He was the patron god of dwarves back in the old days.”
I had the feeling Montrig was less a city and more a “see what you can find out about the Old Gods” puzzle. Fine, we’ll talk about your Frere Skalorub tomorrow, too.
I walked out the gate and pulled up the map, as was my custom, before setting off in the right direction. My lesson learned, I kept a close eye on my surroundings—forewarned is forearmed.
Not far from the hill, in a small meadow circled by a couple dozen trees, I saw a picture that floored me. I was all ready for a crowd of orcs, that pair of gopnik PKers, or a fairytale dragon, but instead I found a pretty half-elf girl with pointed ears jutting out of her hair. She was cooking something over a fire. Next to her, was a dwarf girl with an enormous shield and an equally enormous axe who was happily shouting as she chased butterflies.
I froze in surprise.
“You’re kidding me,” I said, dumbfounded.
The half-elf heard me and visibly stiffened, ready to launch an attack at a second’s notice. That made sense; who knows what “you’re kidding me” could have meant? She relaxed when she saw that I didn’t have a red PKer tag above my head, though she still didn’t take her eyes off me.
“The luncheon on the grass?” I smiled, walked over, and glanced at what she was cooking. It looked like boar and maybe even stewed cabbage. How did she cook cabbage over an open fire?
“More dinner,” her melodious voice answered. “And Manet’s landscape was better, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
I diplomatically laughed.
The dwarf girl had noticed me and started walking toward me, also ready to join battle if the need arose.
“Ladies, everything’s all right.” I held up my hands. “I don’t want to hurt you, and I certainly don’t want to get hurt myself. I’m just doing my own thing. The reason I came over is because I wanted to make sure I wasn’t delirious or hallucinating—two lovely gentlewomen really are having a picnic. Oh, and I wanted to let you know that there are two PKers around here named Mug and Red. Be careful and keep an eye out.”
“We’re not scared of PKers,” said the half-elf evenly and proudly.
“We’re not scared of anyone,” the dwarf girl belligerently chimed in.
“I don’t doubt it,” I assured them sincerely. “Still, be careful. You wouldn’t want a couple idiots dropping by and spoiling your dinner!”
“Thanks,” said the half-elf just as evenly. “We’ll be careful.”
“Okay, then see you around.” I waved to the two friends and went looking for the hill.
“See you.” The dwarf’s voice followed me. The half-elf was silent.
I spent the rest of the walk thinking about the variety of ways you could spend time in Fayroll and in online games in general. Finally, however, I got to what was a fairly tall hill, at the top of which really were three trees. I walked around the hill trying to figure out where the entrance was. I had a key, which meant there should be a door, but I couldn’t find it.
Wait a second. I stopped to think, scratching my head as I did. What did the scroll say? “Only the one with the Fire Key can find the temple.” I pulled out the key. It was just a key. Delicate work, with the tongues of flame cut out. I held it up in front of me and looked at the sun through the hole.
At first, I thought my eyes were deceiving me. The flames on the bow stirred and licked their way to the right. I shook my head, held the key up again, and strained my eyes. No, they definitely moved. Ah, you devil! It wasn’t a key; it was a compass. I moved to my right and started walking around the hill, keeping my eyes glued to the key. Twenty steps or so later, the tongues of flame on the bow wavered and stood straight up. I nodded and took five steps backward. The flames leaned to the left.
“Got it,” I said happily, going back to where the flames had stood straight up. Pulling out my sword, I walked toward the hill.
I dug around in the hill with the tip of my sword and convinced myself that it wasn’t just earth—there were hard bits as well, and I figured I’d found the door. I pulled up the grass and found that my suspicion was right on the money, though, to be fair, it wasn’t really a door. It was more a double, stone gate decorated with fancy, and probably beautiful, engravings.
I felt my way across the stone from the bottom up until I found the keyhole. In slipped the key. It clicked softly, the gate silently swung open, and I walked into the abandoned temple.
Chapter Twelve
In which we find that the temple gives something different to everyone.
I took a few steps into the temple and stopped. In complete contrast to what I expected, the air wasn’t humid or stale in the least. The building had been underground for probably more than a millennium, and so I assumed I’d be met with something dank, puddled, and filled with cold-blooded, little amphibians scurrying around and hissing disgustingly. But, no; the air was musty, though dry, and even kind of invigorating—something like a forest in September. Nothing squished or squelched underfoot, and I didn’t see any signs of life.
I was in a small room that had been the gatekeeper’s area or something similar back when the temple was open to the public. Ten steps in front of me, an archway led to what I assumed was the passage to the main temple area.
Something behind me creaked, and I turned, ruffled by a sudden gust of wind, to see that the gate was closing. By the time I processed what was going on, it had closed completely. I walked over and threw my weight against the stone, but, of course, nothing happened. The key, I found when I stuck my hand into my pocket, was gone.
I realized that there were two ways for me to leave the temple: either with my shield, equipment, and glory, or flying off to my last headstone. The latter case would be both frustrating and disastrous, as I would leave my belongings behind. I doubted I had any chance of returning to retrieve them; I suspected the kind dwarf would be less than thrilled to give me the key over and over again, as that was probably a one-time deal. And so, I really didn’t want to die. Wait a second, though… It hit me that I was far from the first to find my way into the temple, and not all of my predecessors could hav
e gotten out alive. So, are their things lying around somewhere? Or have luckier adventurers already scavenged them?
The room got much darker when the gate closed. I was getting ready to walk forward into the darkness when several torches hanging on the walls whooshed into life. That added a little romance to the scene while also, more importantly, offering some much-needed light. I headed for the archway.
I wasn’t about to just walk through. Abandoned temples always have traps and other goodies waiting for you around every corner. And how did that line go? “Only one who is unafraid of fire can enter the temple.” That was enough to tell me that things were unlikely to be as they appeared.
I carefully peeked through the archway to see a passageway maybe forty paces long that had another archway at the other end. It wasn’t that long, but something about it didn’t sit right with me. Why do the torches look like that? They were anything but normal; instead, they were metal freaks with fire leaping out of their upstretched arms.
Digging into my pockets, I pulled out a few silver coins and weighed them in my palm. They were light, of course. What I needed were a few nuts and some string, and I might as well have been playing some Stalker. Sadly, I had to make do with the silver.
I tossed a coin as far as I could. It dinged around before landing on one of the stone slabs paving the corridor. Nothing happened. I waited another thirty seconds and threw another coin, this time not as far. Again, nothing. Maybe I’m overthinking this? After all, it was a standard quest without anything epic or legendary. You came, you did what you were there to do, and you left. The reward you got wasn’t all that special either.
My foot was already on its way into the corridor when, at the last second, I decided to try one more coin. Annoyed with how overly cautious I was being, I flicked the silver disk a few steps away from me.
The fiery flash blinded me, while the unbearable heat burned off every last hair on my head, including my eyelashes, my stubble, and, judging by the stink, even my nose hair. The flames burned their way down the corridor and subsided when they got to the other end. The freaks on the torches released their arms before raising them once again, something I noticed through half-closed eyes.
The Road East (Epic LitRPG Adventure - Book 2) (Fayroll) Page 14
