What waits ahead is one the most beautiful and terrifying things I have ever seen. Dozens of jellyfish float through the air, blocking our path. Electricity zips and zaps from their long, flowing neon tentacles, igniting the dark cavern like some seedy underground city. The fires from the earlier stage are gone and the only light emanates from the glow of the jellyfish. I find myself entranced in their hypnotic glow and something calls to me in their depths.
I take a step forward and a large bolt zaps me from the nearest jellyfish. It stuns me momentarily and depletes my health by a fifth. How are we supposed to get past them? There are no stalagmites hanging from the ceiling for me to fire Grappler at. Only smooth surfaces and dozens of electric mines waiting to electrocute us any time we get near.
Benji just smiles.
“Something funny?” I ask.
“Indeed. I was born for this,” he laughs.
He gestures with his hands, carving out a spell against the air, and a gust of wind rockets him into the sky and over the first wave of jellyfish. He lands on the head of one of them and bounces. When he hits the jellyfish, its light dims. Miraculously, he is not shocked, but instead, the jellyfish slowly descends to the floor and comes to rest. He bounces from one jelly to the other, until he comes to a stop far in the distance. I only know where he is by the small dot on my map.
“It’s easy!” he yells. “Stay on top of them and they can’t hurt you.”
Easy for you to say. You’re three feet tall!
The field of jellyfish looms before me as I try to determine how in the hell I’m supposed to get on top of them. They are too high for me to jump to and their stingers drag too low for me to go underneath.
If only there was a way for me to launch myself in the air.
That’s it! I’ll use my spear to vault me on top of them. I take a health potion and once my health is full, I equip my spear and stand back as far as I can to get a running start.
Marking the spot in my mind where I want to aim my spear for the best leverage, I take off as fast as I can run. The light from the jellyfish is both welcoming and terrifying as they flicker and glide through the cavern. One wrong move and I’m toast.
I jab the spear into the ground and press hard, using my strength to catapult me into the air. I expect to fly high, but instead, I torpedo onto the hood of the closest jellyfish, losing all sense of balance. The hood bounces me like a trampoline and I flail into the air, straight into the tentacles of another jellyfish.
Electricity runs through my body, immobilizing me, and my health ticks down with each zap.
It was a good run, Benji, but it looks like you’re on your own.
Red flashes across my vision in violent waves until it suddenly stops and a strong hand tosses me to the ground.
The large, animated eyes of Benji look down at me as he roars with laughter.
“Ah ha ha!” he bellows. “You really are something else.”
I take my remaining potions and my health slowly ticks up.
“Well, excuse me for not having a special spell to shoot me into the air,” I snap.
“Would you like to?” he asks.
“Like to what?”
He moves his hands through the air and a cloud forms beneath him before suddenly rocketing him into the air. He lands beside me with a soft thud.
“Learn the spell? I can teach you.” A wide smile creeps across his face.
Seriously? He could have taught me a spell at the beginning and saved me a lot of humiliation.
“Why the hell wouldn’t you teach me to start with?”
“I wanted to watch your brain work,” he laughs. “It was a good effort, but poor execution. Come here.”
I do as he says and he places a small hand on my arm, sending a rush of energy through my body.
Congratulations! You have learned Cloud Burst. Cost: 50 mana. A cloud of energy forms beneath your body and rockets you into the air. 5 second cooldown.
“That’s awesome, Benji! Thanks!” The five-second cooldown isn’t too bad either. It’ll come in handy in a fight for sure.
“Now what do you say we get a move on?” Benji turns and shoots himself atop the jellyfish again, not waiting for my response.
He bounces across the electric field, dimming the rainbow of lights as he goes.
When I focus on my new ability, I feel a rush of energy form beneath me. Almost like it could lift me into the air if I let it. My hands have already memorized the motions of the spell and I carve it into the air in front of me. The longer I focus, the more the power builds. I release the spell and a cloud forms underneath, propelling me into the air with such force that I slam against the ceiling, losing a fifth of my health.
Benji laughs raucously from across the cavern. I’m glad he is getting a good laugh out of my embarrassment.
A few more attempts and I finally have a good feel for how far holding the spell will shoot me. It’s time to put it into action.
The energy builds around my feet and with a burst, the clouds launch me atop the sea of jellyfish. I land on the hood of one and it bounces me further, the light beneath my feet dimming as it does. It’s a strange sensation as I travel from one jellyfish to the other, never fully stopping. I’m not even sure I could stop if I tried. My only option is to keep my balance and join Benji on the other side or die.
Once I get the hang of it, the bounces come more naturally. I can anticipate where I will land and the direction the bounce will send me. The dimmed jellies offer less of a bounce than the others, so I try to avoid them and pass across the sea as quickly as possible.
Benji waits for me on the other side and offers me a round of applause when I stumble to the ground, mentally drained but in one piece.
“Well done. Now we face our final test.”
A lone chest sits on a pedestal at the end of the cavern. The neon tentacles of the jellyfish reflect off its gleaming surface.
“The pearl is in there?” I ask.
Benji shakes his head.
“No, the way to the pearl lies within.”
Another riddle. I wish he would just tell me what he knows. We approach the chest with trepidation. For once, even Benji is not smiling. It’s making me nervous for whatever could be inside.
The latch to the chest is not locked. The deep brown wood has light streaks that run through it, like the stripes of a tiger. The gold that surrounds the edges contains dents and scratches from where it was crafted by hand. Benji runs his fingers across it, taking in its beauty.
“This was crafted by my people, by the Menehune.” he says with pride. “Are you ready, my friend?”
I nod, mentally preparing myself for whatever may come next.
He flips the lid and the sound of dozens of wings fills the air.
Chapter Six
Hundreds of birds fly through the cavern around us. The air above is so dense with the flutter of wings that they block my view of the ceiling. And still, birds continue to spill out of the chest.
The birds chirp and squawk in a violent discord. Everything is pure pandemonium.
Benji backs against the wall, a terrified look on his face. Is there something I am missing? Because I don’t feel terrified at all. They are just birds.
When the last bird flies out of the chest, it closes with a snap and a lock appears through the latch where before there was none.
A snowy owl swoops down at Benji and for a moment, I forget about the quest. Visions of Merlin, my horned owl, flash through my mind. The adventures we went on, merging with his body in order to see the world from hundreds of feet off the ground, and then his death as he was ripped apart by a gargoyle while helping me through the final stage of the Developer’s Tournament. I never would have won the tournament without his help. Without so many people’s help.
Benji casts a spell to my right, bringing me back to reality, and I turn to see him sitting inside of his protective orb while the owl pecks at it in an angry attack. Another owl joins in, and then anoth
er until there are a half dozen pecking furiously. Surprisingly, I seem to go unnoticed.
“What the hell is going on?” I ask.
Benji doesn’t look at me, his eyes focused on the owls, but he answers, “Owls are ancient enemies of the Menehune. In the olden times, giant owls would attack us and take our people off into the mountains to devour us.”
Of all the birds overhead, only the owls are attacking. The rest, in a rainbow of colors, big and small, flutter about in a watercolor of chaos.
“What are we supposed to do now?” I ask, but I feel I know the answer. There wouldn’t be a lock on the chest unless we were supposed to find a key to open it. My guess is that it is attached to one of the birds above us.
“We have to open the chest,” he says, proving me right.
“And how exactly do you plan on doing that from inside your shield?”
Benji cuts his eyes at me.
“I don’t plan on leaving my safe zone. You see how these owls look at me. They want me for dinner. The irony is that a Menehune is the only one who can equip the pearl, but the owls are only prejudiced against the Menehune. That’s why I needed your help. Find a way to open the chest and I will be in your debt.”
I scan the maelstrom overhead, looking for anything that resembles a key. Tiny sparrows dive and swoop. Birds of prey screech, their dangerous talons ready for attack. The long beak of a pelican protrudes as its giant wings flap, forcing smaller birds out of the way. Dozens of tropical birds flutter haphazardly, increasing the chaos. Nothing looks metal. Nothing looks like a key.
The more I watch them, the more nervous I become. So many talons and sharp beaks could rip me apart if they had the notion. Even if I do find the key, how do I get it without pissing off the entire lot?
Benji says something, but the birds are making so much noise now that I can’t make out what he is saying. We should have set up a party chat before heading into the mountain. If I’m going to find the key, I’m going to have to do it on my own.
Focusing on the chaos overhead, I search for anything out of the ordinary. Not that dozens of birds of different species flying together in a cave with no entrance is ordinary.
They swoop and dive, and I begin to see patterns in the way they move. What initially looks like disorder becomes an elegant dance. There is a formula to the way each species moves. The sparrows dive in quick, shallow spurts. The falcons and hawks glide with grace. The tiny hummingbirds zip to and fro, never slowing for a moment.
Once I see the pattern of the movement, I am able to isolate the particular bird groups’ flight patterns from the others. They suddenly all become visible and the rest of the birds are but a blur in the background. I switch my focus from bird to bird, searching for a key, for anything out of the ordinary.
And then I see it.
A blue hummingbird with a silver key dangling from its neck. The key blends perfectly with the silver coloring of its underbelly, but occasionally, when the bird darts, it catches the light from the jellyfish in a way that only metal can.
I keep my eyes locked on the tiny bird as it weaves in and out of the chaos like lightning made flesh.
Now that I know where the key is, how do I catch it? They are too high for me to reach and it is impossible for me to use Grappler on something so small. I doubt I would be able to attack it without angering the birds that surround it, so it seems my only option is to go up there and catch it with my hands.
I focus on the spell that Benji taught me. My hands move automatically, carving the spell into the air while my eyes stay focused on the key. Energy rushes through my body and I wait for the right moment to release. When I do, a cloud of energy propels me into the air. Birds scatter from my advance in a cacophony of flutters and squawks. A startled seagull attacks me, reddening my vision and proving that if I disturb them too much, they will turn on me just like the owls did on Benji. I reach out for the tiny hummingbird as it flies by, but he eludes me and I fall back to the cave floor emptyhanded.
This is going to be trickier than I thought. I’ve lost sight of the key, so I take a moment to check on Benji. He is still safe behind his forcefield, though tiny claw marks have scuffed the edges. He looks over to me and gives me a thumbs-up. I guess he isn’t too worried about his shield breaking.
With my attention once again on the birds overhead, I begin my process of narrowing down the flight patterns until I am able to spot a hummingbird amongst the madness. It doesn’t take quite as long and soon, I am watching the silver key zoom through the air once again. This time, I have another plan.
I cast Resilience on myself, increasing my attack speed, and then follow up with Cloud Burst. When I rocket into the air this time, my reaction time is much quicker and I catch the tail feather of the hummingbird. It feels like I have him, but the feather shakes loose and he disappears into the crowd.
If only there was a way to thin the herd.
Another idea crosses my mind, but if it fails, then we’ll be back at square one, and the idea of fighting the sharktopus and crossing the jellyfish sea doesn’t sound the least bit appealing.
In order for this to work, I need to be fast. Faster than the speeding dive of a falcon.
Once I’ve located the key, I take a deep breath and mentally prepare myself for what comes next.
First, I cast Resilience on myself. I need quick reflexes and what I’m about to do will take less than the fifteen second limit on the spell. Then I cast Waterfall. After a two-second delay, a torrent of water pours from the ceiling, drenching nearly half of the birds and sending them to the stone floor soaking wet. I have a few seconds before they will be dry enough to fly again.
I search the remaining birds and find the key. Once the key is in sight, I use Cloud Burst and rocket in the direction of the hummingbird. With most of the birds on the floor below, there is less confusion and debris and I am able to snag the tiny bird around the body with a quick movement. Falling to the floor, I remove the key from the bird’s neck and release him back into the air.
The soaking wet birds are beginning to regain their senses and I can see they are mad as hell. I have no intention of letting them attack me before I make it to the chest. I cast Mud Pits on the floor, slowing their rise, and run towards the glittering chest. The key slides in perfectly and I turn it to the right. With a click, the lock falls open and I lift the lid.
A gust of wind fills the cavern and the next thing I know, the birds are being sucked into the chest in a swirling vortex. Several try to fight the pull of its magic, but they are no match. One by one, they all disappear back inside.
The lid closes with a thud and rattles briefly before reopening. This time, a bright white glow emanates from whatever is inside and an angelic hum fills the cavern.
Congratulations! You have completed the quest “Retrieve the Pearl of Monteluna.” Reward: Increased alliance with the Menehune.
Footsteps slosh in the wet cavern behind me and a firm hand grips me on the shoulder.
“You did it, Esil. Take a look inside.”
I do as Benji instructs. The light from inside the chest is blinding at first, but then it slowly fades until I can make out the outline of a pearl the size of my fist. Its milky white essence is flawless, a true wonder.
“Isn’t she beautiful?” he asks.
I can’t deny it. There is something special about the stone that sits before me. It has an almost calming quality to it.
“What does it do?” I ask.
Benji reaches into the chest and removes the pearl. As soon as he touches it, a soft glow, almost holy, radiates from his skin.
“It gives me the power to heal.”
That’s cool and all, but I’ve seen people heal before. Aleesia has a healing spell. This was a lot of work for a simple healing stone.
He must sense my suspicion, because his eyes cut at me, almost in anger.
“Look, you got your pearl, no need to be angry.” But it’s too late. Whatever I did has sent Benji over the e
dge.
He carves a spell into the air and pulls his arms back to his chest, forming a ball of energy. It grows rapidly, and he unleashes it in my direction. The fiery ball soars towards me and I attempt to dodge out of the way, but it hits me in the ribs, draining my health and tossing me back towards the jellyfish. I bounce into one of them and the shock from its tentacles immobilizes me. My vision is dark red and my health drains even more, down to fifty percent. I’m unable to move as Benji slowly walks over to me, for once hulking over my paralyzed body.
This is why you don’t do quests with strangers. Because they will use you, abuse you, and then probably laugh about it later.
“Fine, then, you little dwarf, get it over with.”
A comical grin flashes across Benji’s face as he leans over me, his hands glowing white. Anger flares inside of me for being so stupid. For trusting someone I barely knew.
Benji places his hands on my chest and suddenly, my vision returns to normal. My health bar shoots up and I’m able to move freely.
It all makes sense now.
“You, asshole!” I shout. “You could have at least told me you were wanting to show your new ability so I didn’t think you had betrayed me.”
Benji roars with laughter. “You should have seen the look on your face. Priceless!” He clutches his stomach, his large eyes brimming with tears. Once he regains his composure, he speaks again. “The cooldown is very long, but once every ten minutes, I can fully heal an ally. The Pearl of Monteluna will be the difference between success and failure on many quests from now on.”
He pulls the pearl out and holds it like it like a newborn child, like it is the most precious thing he has ever touched. Perhaps it is.
“I owe you a great debt for your help today. If ever you need a healer, reach out to me and I will be there.”
After tucking the pearl away again, Benji grabs me by the wrist. There is a loud pop and we are surrounded by black smoke. When the smoke clears, I am back outside the mountain, standing next to Fenrir.
Pangea Online: The Complete Trilogy Page 28
