“Ah, so you’re the one,” the woman said in a high fluting voice, her heavy jowls wobbling. “Not such meat to you, is there?”
Amy blinked and stared at the woman. “What? Who are you?”
“Why, I’m Matron Georgi, of course,” the woman said, bustling into the building, almost knocking Amy out of the way. She looked around her surroundings with a disappointed expression. “A bit sparse in here. You live in this cottage?”
“Yes, erm . . . no. I mean, I’ve just moved in,” Amy stammered. “Who are you?”
“Ah yes, the Astral Spirits said you were a fresh arrival from another world,” the old woman said. She untied her lime green headscarf and removed it, revealing a tangle of curly bright orange hair. “You’re djinn, yes? So you must have just arrived from Geminus?”
“I . . . yes, I’m from Geminus,” Amy replied, deciding to go along with it. “I’m sorry, but who are you?”
The older woman frowned. “Didn’t the Astral Spirits tell you? I thought you were an Elemagician, girl? Oh, don’t tell me I’ve come to the wrong house? I’m always doing that! Sorry to have troubled you, I’ll be on my way.”
Matron Georgi started moving back toward the front door with all the grace of a bulldozer. Amy rushed to block her path. “Wait, wait, I am an Elemagician. What did the Astral Spirits say about me?”
“Why, that you need training up of course,” Matron Georgi said brightly. “That’s what I do. I help young Elemagicians find their feet. The Spirits tell me where I’m needed and I go. I’m guessing you’ve been trying to learn Mandalas and getting a nasty headache for your trouble?”
“Oh yes,” Amy said. “Oh this is brilliant, I’m so glad you’ve come.”
Matron Georgi smiled and set down her portmanteau. “That’s wonderful and it’s so refreshing to meet a well-mannered young person. It’s so rare nowadays you know. My last student was a most surly goblin. So ill-tempered and rude! Do you know he was forever sticking his hand down the front of his breeches to have a rummage around? Absolutely disgusting!”
“Don’t worry, I’m not like that,” laughed Amy, warming to the woman. She put her in mind of a favourite aunt. “Thanks so much for turning up, do you want anything to eat or drink?” she asked eagerly, before realising that she had no idea if there was any food or drink in the Retreat to offer.
Matron Georgi shook her head. “No thank you, my dear. I’d prefer to get started with the training. If you have no objections?”
Amy shook her head. “None at all, I’m keen to get started. This is so exciting for me.”
“Good,” the Matron replied. She raised one podgy hand and, with the slightest flick, made the air shimmer around her fingers. An unseen concentration of force hit Amy square in the stomach, as hard as a cannonball, and sent her flying across the room. She landed in a tangled heap in the doorframe.
Stunned with pain, Amy managed to lift her head and, through bleary eyes, saw Matron Georgi smiling kindly down at her. “Yes,” the old woman said with obvious relish. “I can see us getting along most nicely. I think I’m going to quite enjoy this assignment.”
Chapter XXII: Boss Fight
Heading down into Kragg itself, the companions stopped at one of the nearest grand houses to take a look inside and, at Jaggen’s insistence, to rest up. Despite its great age, the house was in fairly good condition and, inside, globe-shaped lamps gave off the trademark aquamarine light, allowing them to pick their way through it.
A quick search yielded nothing useful, save for a pile of animal furs that were not too bedraggled, and they gathered in the wide atrium in the centre of the house. A glass dome covered the atrium, and in its centre was a large marble fountain whose water looked pretty clean and fresh. Jaggen had Shunz go stand guard in the open doorway of the house while they rested for a while.
After making a meagre meal of their rations, they took off their grubby and sweat stained clothing, and had a strip wash in the fountain before changing into the spare change of linen each of them carried in their rucksacks.
The wash and change of clothing made Matias feel a whole lot better, and a wave of tiredness hit him after the stresses and strains of surviving the gnome traps. He didn’t even argue when Jaggen suggested they get some sleep before continuing on with their exploration. Despite Jhondey’s assertion he didn’t need to rest up, the kid was soon snoring loudly as he curled up on one of the furs and using his rucksack as a pillow. Jaggen settled down near him and was soon asleep as well.
Despite the temptation of bedding down with them, Matias slipped into the hallway outside the atrium and accessed his Sacred Shrine. It was still darker in here but hadn’t changed any further. He accessed his stat screens to spend his points. This time, he put two on dexterity to increase that stat to seven, and two on his willpower to bring it up to twelve. This seemed to be the best options if he was going to get through this. The gnome traps had challenged his body and his mind in a way that he’d never experienced before, and he needed to make sure that he was able to handle anything else they could throw at him.
As well as updating his stats, he checked out his skills and abilities page. He was still a level one Bruiser but now had an arrow icon for his archery skill and saw that he was a level one Nock Newbie. He had also gained another icon that resembled a hooded figure which indicated stealth. In this area he had earned the title of level one Lurker.
Matias sighed to himself and exited the Shrine. He was making progress, but it was slow-going, and considering how much he’d handled so far, he expected to have improved his skills a lot faster than this. He also was considering putting together a massive lawsuit against the Calladyce Foundation. They had rooted into his deepest secrets when they had no right to do. He would make sure someone would pay for that.
Wearily, he trudged back to the atrium, noting that his list of grudges was growing longer by the day. All this anger and hate was leaving him utterly exhausted. Maybe there was something to be said about letting bygones be bygones.
Picking up one of the animal furs they had found, he stretched it out on the floor and set down his rucksack where his head would go. He lay down, grateful for the soft fur, and closed his eyes. He sank into deep sleep and was plagued by dark and strange dreams. He saw the prison again, covered in ice and snow, and full of glowing eyed zombies both convicts and prison guards that shambled around and moaned piteously. He spotted Amy being chased by hordes of grotesque, rotting children, and a huge badger with bright white light bursting out of its chest.
“Wake up!” a rough voice demanded. “Wake up boy!”
A hand shook him roughly on the shoulder and Matias’ eyes flew open with a start. He moved onto his back and looked up into Jaggen’s scowling face. “What?” he snapped. “Why’d you wake me?”
“Get up and get back into your cuirass,” Jaggen ordered, already changed into his travelling gear. “We’re moving out. Now!”
Matias sat up, still dwelling on his dreams. “What’s happened? You look spooked.”
“Jhondey’s found something,” Jaggen said, picking up his rucksack. “The damn fool boy went exploring when we were still asleep. He’s found something you need to see.”
“There’s nothing he’s got that I want to see,” Matias grumbled as he splashed water on his face and neck from the fountain and started changing into his regular gear. He caught Jaggen looking at him strangely and glared at the man. “Something bothering you?”
The old man shrugged. “Nothing my friend,” he said.
“Then what you staring at? Don’t tell me you’re falling in love with me?”
Jaggen chuckled. “It wouldn’t be the strangest thing to have happened on this adventure, but no. Did you sleep well?”
Matias eyed him suspiciously as he strapped on his sleeve stiletto. “What’s it to you?”
“Nothing,” Jaggen said, turning away from him. “I just wondered who Amy was. You were calling out her name.”<
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“She’s nobody,” Matias said coldly. “Don’t mention her name again, if you know what’s good for you.”
Picking up his rucksack, he marched out of the atrium, shouldering past the older man. Jaggen watched him with wry amusement. “Forget I spoke,” he called out, before following Matias out of the house.
Shunz was waiting for them in the street, and Matias was struck by the deep silence that hung over the colony. He looked around him, feeling uneasy. The gaping windows in the row of houses on the opposite side of the street stared down at him and a prickly feeling gathered between his shoulder blades. He could sense he was being watched but could see no sign of life amidst his surroundings. The whole place was dead, he told himself. It was just his imagination playing tricks on him, and he’d learnt from the Memory Gluttons that things weren’t always what they seemed.
When Jaggen joined him, the three of them headed towards the large domed building in the centre of Kragg.
“Jhondey’s in there,” Jaggen said, pointing to the structure. “It seems to be the town hall.”
Matias looked up at the ornate portico that covered the entrance to the building and the unsmiling face of the gnome carved above it. A chill went through him and he lowered his eyes from the face.
“This dump gives me the creeps,” he said, as they mounted the steps of the portico.
“I agree with you,” Jaggen said, “but I think what Jhondey has found will make this quest worthwhile.”
The double doors hung open and half rotted on their hinges, and they stepped through them into a dusty, rubble strewn vestibule. Mouth lamps lined the gilded walls and a huge chandelier hung suspended from the curved ceiling. Their footsteps rang out on the marble floor as Jaggen led them to the hall beyond.
“I think this is where the gnomes stored their weapons,” the old man said as they entered the hall. “Whatever it is must be important.”
Matias scanned the huge chamber. Murals and mosaics decorated the walls and floor respectively, once bright and magnificent but now faded with age, and a vast domed ceiling swept up above their heads. The hall was incredibly large and empty, save for the huge dome at its centre. The dome glowed bright yellow, and flames licked its surface. As Matias drew near, the heat it gave off stung his face and eyes.
“Isn’t it marvellous?” Jhondey yelled, emerging from behind the fiery dome. He hopped from one foot to another in excitement and Matias felt the urge to punch him in the face.
“Yeah, I’m beside myself with excitement,” he said, sarcastically.
“Don’t be like that, we’ve almost reached our goal,” the boy replied. “We’ve found the weapons, I’m sure of it. They’re under that dome.”
Matias stared up at the glowing construction. He was sure just touching it would burn him alive. “That’s just great. How do you propose we get to them? Throw a bucket of water over this thing?”
Jhondey shook his head. “No, silly. We press the button.”
Matias stared at him in bafflement, and Jaggen tugged his arm. “Here, look.”
He turned and spotted an upright slab he hadn’t noticed before just to the side of the dome. A carving of a wide eyed gnome stared out from it, and set into the image’s forehead was a large button made of bronze.
Matias stared at the button and then back at Jaggen. “Press the button? Are you kidding me?”
“I don’t know what else we can do,” Jaggen replied. “There doesn’t seem to be any other way into the dome and Jhondey and me can’t find any other secret switches or whatnot in the hall. That’s why we woke you. You should be here if we’re going to do this.”
“Thanks, I’m honoured,” Matias said. “You do realise this is probably a trap.”
“I’m aware of that possibility,” Jaggen said through gritted teeth, “but if this is the end, then it’s only fitting we are all here to face what the Forest Powers have in store for us.”
“Pa wants you to press the button,” Jhondey put in. “I wanted to do it as soon as I found it, but he cuffed me round the ear and told me to wait. We all have to be here to see what happens next.”
“You want me to press the button?” Matias said, giving them both an incredulous look. “Are you serious? I could be electrocuted or vaporised or something!”
“If that’s the case, then we’ll know what to expect,” Jaggen said. “You’re the most expendable, so you should be the one to press it.”
“Wait a minute, Jhondey’s the most expendable. He’s utterly useless!”
“You’ll get no argument from me,” Jaggen said, “but he’s also my son, so there’s no question of risking him. I’m too important, obviously,”
“Obviously,” Matias echoed in a snide voice.
“So that leaves you,” Jaggen concluded, ignoring the interruption. “We can debate this all day, or I can get Shunz to make you push it. It’s your choice.”
Matias glared at the old man, knowing there was no way to get out of this. He looked at the button and licked his lips. “If this kills me, I ain’t gonna be happy,” he said as he reached out with his finger and pressed it down.
His whole body tensed as he waited for something nasty to happen. When it didn’t, he eased back from the slab and looked at the others. “So much for that. Looks like the crummy thing is broken.”
As he spoke, the eyes of the gnome carving on the slab started to glow with a sparkling white light, and two beams of energy shot out and merged together to form a circle that surrounded the four of them. Before they knew what was happening, the energy circle expanded out and transformed into a cage of glittering ice. A roof of long jagged icicles hung above their heads, each tipped with a sharp metal blade.
“If those fall they’ll impale us,” Jhondey said.
“Yeah, I kinda figured that out,” Matias retorted. “Jaggen, this was one of the dumbest ideas you ever had.”
“No, the dumbest idea I ever had was standing so close to you when you pressed the button,” the older man hissed. “Looks like I am going to pay for my stupidity now.”
“Nothing’s happening,” said Jhondey. “The icicles aren’t falling. Shunz, try breaking the bars of the cage.”
The construct reached out with his gauntlet and grabbed one of the ice bars. It flared with white light and he went staggering backwards, almost crushing the three of them before falling to his knees.
“That’s not going to work,” Matias sneered.
A grinding noise came from the stone slab, which was now part of the ice cage, and they looked back at it. The mouth of the gnome opened and its lips started moving. A deep, funereal voice boomed out of the mouth.
“Welcome travellers to the end of your journey. You have survived our traps and the final prize is within your grasps. One more challenge yet awaits, and how to face it decides your fates.”
“Hey, that rhymes,” Jhondey said as a wide grin spread across his face. “I love rhymes.”
“Shut up, Jhondey!” snapped Jaggen.
“Shut up both of you!” Matias said. “It’s speaking again.”
“Answer my riddle for freedom and fame, get it wrong and receive nothing but pain,” the voice added.
Matias grimaced. He wasn’t sure what was worse: imminent death or these lousy rhymes? He listened carefully though as the voice carried on speaking. “All possess it when they are born, but from their grasp quickly it’s torn. When it is gone, it can never come back. Its loss makes you stronger but without it you lack.”
The gnome face went silent, but its mouth opened again and a small hourglass with fast running red sand inside it emerged on its tongue. “Answer before the sand runs down below or the ice spears will deliver their final killing blow,” its disembodied voice boomed around the cage.
Matias eyed Jaggen and Jhondey. Both of them looked completely at a loss. “I’ve no idea what the riddle means,” Jaggen said, his lips twisted in an ugly grimace. “Do you?”
Matias shook his head.
“Look, the sands are almost running out,” Jhondey said, pointing at the hourglass. “We’re going to die! We’re going to die!”
Matias replayed the riddle in his head, trying to keep calm. If he panicked now, he was a dead man. Yet, he had no idea what the riddle meant. He looked up at the ice blades above them. There was no way out of this one, no way he could think of at any rate. Unbidden, an image of him as a four year old boy appeared in his mind, standing by the bedroom door as his dad beat his mom to death.
In a flash, Matias suddenly knew the answer to the riddle. “Innocence.”
Jaggen grabbed him by both arms. “What? What did you say?”
“I know the answer,” Matias repeated. “Innocence,” he said to the gnome face. “It’s innocence!”
The ice cage vanished in an instant and the hourglass disappeared back inside the stone slab. “Correct,” the gnome face said. “You are free to take your prize.”
“Well done, Matias,” said Jhondey, looking visibly relieved. “Pa, say thank you.”
“I could have figured it out, given time,” Jaggen grumbled. He turned and pointed at the dome. “Look what’s happening.”
They watched as the fiery dome flared even brighter and then faded away. Beneath it was a large pit with a flight of circular steps leading down into it. The three of them exchanged looks and Jhondey bounded towards it. The boy led the way as they went down the steps. At the bottom, he let out a loud gasp and, when Matias joined him, he was similarly impressed as he took in his surroundings.
The pit contained the fabled gnomish weapons, exotic vehicles and strange-looking weapons. As they moved along the walkway between the various mechanisms, Matias saw lumbering scorpion-shaped vehicles mounted with cannons, sitting alongside squat scarabs as large as tanks. Weapon racks contained various swords, hammers, battle-axes and spears of excellent workmanship, along with drill arrows and what looked suspiciously like machine guns made of brass and covered with tubing. There were other devices and contraptions of strange geometric shapes, clusters of cubes merged together and spiked cones with spider legs, whose function Matias could only guess at. He could well imagine Sour Root being in his element down here.
The Alchemy Worlds: Enter T(he)rap(y): A LitRPG Adventure Page 24
