by Hans Bezdek
“Wants to keep close in case someone tries to steal the weapon, huh?” I said, finally recovered.
Cassandra and the gnome both gave me a look that asked: why would you say that?
“Just a little joke…” I said.
“You can take the stairs, or I recommend the elevator,” continued the gnome. “People tend to underestimate how long it take to go up the steps.”
“We could probably use the exercise,” I said, nodding my thanks.
“Some of us more than others,” said Cassandra, leaning in and pointing her thumb over at me.
The gnome laughed uncomfortably and turned back to her work, hoping we would leave.
Her wish was granted as we started up the stairs. I poked at my stomach a few times, feeling a bit self conscious. I wasn’t in the best shape ever, but I didn’t think I was letting myself go by any means. Was I putting on the pounds somehow?
“Why aren’t you looking for exits?” whispered Cassandra.
“Sorry, Bertha, but my wife just called me fat,” I said, pinching my stomach at her.
“Calm down, I was just trying to play my role,” she said, sticking her tongue out.
“Y-Yeah, I knew that,” I said, clearing my throat and looking around. “I… I was in character just back there, too. I thought you’d have recognized it.”
“Uh huh,” she said, going back to scanning around us.
We continued up the stairs, looking around for anything that might cause problems for us if we needed to make a quick escape. Every flight had a pair of guards sitting at the entrance to whatever was in the hall, waiting to help give directions or protect the valuables inside. There were windows on every other floor, but the only one we’d reasonably be able to jump out of were the ones on the second floor. While this was by now means prison level security, it was still pretty up there.
“Hey,” whispered Cassandra, pulling on my cloak.
“What?” I asked looking around.
“Look down there,” she said, nodding down to the main floor.
I looked over the ledge, where I saw the goblin with the goggles and backpack from the night before.
“Yeah, I thought we already talked about how he was probably a tourist,” I said, shaking my head and continuing up the stairs.
“Maybe he’s going to try and blow this place up!” she whispered, following me.
“Stop saying that! He’s not going to do that. He just wants to see the Lance, just like everyone else.”
“How do you know that, though?”
“Look, enough already. If you want to go assault a perfectly innocent person, go for it. Me? I’m going to go and try to get the Lance so that we can maybe, just maybe, stand a chance against the incoming hoard of red and black dragons coming to kill us all.”
That shut her up about the goblin conspiracy theories.
We continued up a another flights of stairs until we made it to the seventh floor. This floor was empty aside from the guards and a large, glass case in the middle of it. The Lance of Power sat inside it.
Smiling at the guards, we walked by them and down the hall to get a closer look. The Lance of Power looked as if it had just been forged, shining up at us in its gold plate. The weapon was said to have slain hundreds of evil dragons throughout the centuries, building in strength after each killing blow.
“It’s beautiful,” whispered Cassandra.
“It is,” I nodded. “This could seriously help us against Ulrich and his followers.”
We stared at it a while longer in silence.
“Whelp, ready to see if we have to do this the easy way or the hard way?” I asked.
The two of us continued back up the stairs to the ninth floor, nodding at the guards as we passed them. Embarrassingly, I was actually getting tired from all the steps. There was no reason to take the lift, though. For one, they typically were operated by a goblin. Wouldn’t want to trigger Cassandra and have the poor guy murdered. Plus, if we were going to end up stealing the Lance, then we wouldn’t want to use the lift as an escape anyway. It would be too easy to trap us in.
I just had to suck it up and keep moving.
When we reached the ninth floor, we passed by the guards and were met with ten or so doors. We walked by each one, reading the names and hoping we’d be able to figure out which one was the right one.
In the middle of the hall, we found the door marked N. Adder, Curator. Figuring this to be the right one, we knocked twice.
“Come in!” came a muffled voice.
Opening the door, we walked into a rather large office with a giant window overlooking the city of Vorova. Dozens of items filled the room, ranging in both size and the amount of rust. I couldn’t recognize any of them at first glance, but my eyes focused instead on the voice that called us in.
Sitting at the desk was a large orc, wearing a bright pink sack that covered most of its body.
“I can’t tell if that’s a dude or not,” I whispered to Cassandra.
“She’s a woman!” she whispered back.
“Welcome to the Tower of Vorova!” smiled the orc. Its voice was husky, and the medium hair length didn’t help me out either. I could never tell the sex of an orc.
“Hi there,” I smiled back. “I’m Rilen, and this is my wife… Bertha.”
“Nice to meet you,” smiled the orc. “I’m Nicole Adder, the curator of the museum here.”
Huh, so the orc was a woman. That was one mystery solved.
“Perfect, we were hoping to ask you a few question,” I said.
“I’ve got a few minutes,” said the orc. “Ask away.”
“How did you get the Lance of Power?” asked Cassandra.
“Why with the help of my Gray Adders, of course,” she said, looking at us expectantly. We stared at her silently, waiting for her to continue. “I’m… actually the one that put the group together.”
“Neat,” I shrugged. “So, they’re like a group of archaeologists or something?”
“You… you haven’t heard of the Gray Adders before?” she asked, smile slipping.
“Not me,” I said, glancing over at Cassandra. She shook her head. “Want to tell us more about them?”
Nicole looked a bit annoyed for a second, before putting her smile back on. “The Gray Adders are a group of explorers and adventurers that go after the legendary weapons of our ancestors. Our goal is to find and collect as many as we can, sharing them with the world.”
“Sharing them… you said?” I asked, hope building.
“Absolutely,” smiled the orc. “By putting them on display in our museum, of course.”
Not quite the sharing I was looking for, but maybe we’d get there.
“Isn’t it dangerous looking for these weapons?” asked Cassandra.
“It can be,” nodded Nicole. “But the people I employ are the best at getting results, no matter the cost.”
There was something about that last part that gave me pause. I looked over at Cassandra to see if she got the same vibe, but she didn’t catch my look.
“Where are the other weapons you’ve found?” asked the elf.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Where are the other items the Gray Adders picked up? Besides the Lance of Power.”
“Oh, silly me,” said the orc, making a horrifying sound that I think was meant to be a giggle. “The Lance is actually the only item we have so far.”
“Really?” I asked, failing to hold back a laugh. “I thought this Lance has been here for over a year now? You’ve only managed to find one legendary weapon in a year?”
Nicole’s face dropped and she gave me a hard stare. “If it were easy finding these mythical weapons, then everyone would be doing it, wouldn’t they?”
Cassandra and I shared a look at that. The elf casually shifted her hand over the hilt of the Shattered Sword, obscuring it from the orc’s view.
“I guess that’s a fair point,” I said, trying to diffuse the tension.
“If
you really must know, we’ve actually already found the location of the next item,” she smirked, proud to rub it in my face.
“Really?” I asked. “Which one?”
“The Time Shield. My sources just the other day learned of its whereabouts, and we are nearly done making preparations here to go and retrieve it.”
“We?” I asked. “You’re going with the Gray Subtracters?”
The orc’s eyes narrowed. “Gray Adders.”
“Sorry,” I laughed. “I was never very good at math.”
“Adders like the snake,” she growled, closing her eyes and taking a few quick breaths. “Anyway, yes, I am going with them. The location is somewhere in or under Lake Quip, in the Republic of Hur. Since it’s only a few days away, I want to be sure I’m there to oversee any potential complications.”
Lake Quip… I think I had heard of that one before. I had no idea how we were going to be able to get the Shield before Nicole’s group, let alone find a way to breathe underwater, but we could worry about that later. Now for the Lance.
“The black and red dragons are retuning,” I said. “They have a leader, Ulrich, who is going to try and start a second Dragon War.”
“A second Dragon War?” laughed Nicole. “Don’t be preposterous! The black and reds lost that fight just a few hundred years ago, and many of them are still alive to remember that. Why would they suddenly try to attack again?”
“It’s kind of a complicated story, but Ulrich retrieved the crown that Ludek used to unite them,” I explained. “The Dar’Ka believe he will be their savior or something like that, and he will lead an attack on all of Yaerna.”
Nicole shook her head as I talked. “Okay… let’s assume you’re right. Why are you telling me this?”
“It is true,” said Cassandra. “And we’re telling you because we need your help.”
“Help?” asked the orc.
“We need the Lance of Power,” I said. “It will be needed to fight against the dragons, and protect the people.”
“Ah… you want the Lance…” said Nicole slowly.
“We’ll bring it back to you when the war is over,” added Cassandra.
“Yeah, and we can give credit to you and the Gray Multipliers for all your help!” I said.
Nicole clenched her fist and shook with anger. “Get out.”
“Huh?” I asked.
“Get out!” she screamed. “You aren’t going to get the Lance, and I’m tired of you insulting me!”
“Insulting you?” I asked, confused.
“Her group is the Gray Adders, not Gray Multipliers,” whispered Cassandra.
“Oops,” I said. “I’m sorry, Nicole, but we really need the Lance for what’s about to happen.”
“I will never let you have the Lance,” hissed the orc. “Leave now, or I’m calling the-”
Boom.
The room shook as explosions rocked the tower around us.
Chapter 5
“What’s going on?” shouted Nicole, looking around in a panic.
“Maybe an earthquake?” I said, trying to make sense of it. Earthquakes weren’t common in this area, though. What was going on?
I looked over at Cassandra, who had a gleam in her eye as she stood up.
“Bet I know! Follow me!” she shouted, grabbing my hand and pulling me after her.
Opening the door, we could see black smoke billowing up the stairs on both our right and left. The guards were nowhere to be seen, presumably checking on the explosion that happened below. Cassandra and I ran to the right stair case and hurried down as fast as we could, covering our mouths with our shirts and hands.
We got down to the floor with the Lance and saw that the smoke was still coming from somewhere further down below.
“Let’s get the Lance!” I coughed, pulling Cassandra out of the smoke with me and into the hall.
The smoke cleared as we went further away from the stairs, and we saw that someone had already beaten us to the weapon. All along the glass case were small, black rectangles. The goblin had his goggles down over his eyes, pulling the rectangles from his bag and placing them sporadically over the container that held that Lance.
“Ha!” shouted Cassandra proudly and pointing a finger in my face. “I knew it all along! This guy was up to no good!”
The goblin placed a final rectangle and turned around to face us. The goggles made his eyes look huge, and he had wisps of blue hair poking out above his ears. He was just a few feet tall, like most goblins, and a dark shade of green.
“Maybe he is just protecting the Lance?” I offered.
“Nope,” said the goblin. “The elf broad is right. Maha! I’m the one that caused all this beautiful chaos.”
“Why did you set off explosions downstairs if your goal was just to get the Lance?” I asked, pulling out my dagger.
The goblin shook his head as he stared back at me. “Do you not know what a diversion is? If I wanted some peace and quiet while getting this bad boy, I had to make it look like something else was going on.”
“How was that not obvious to you?” Cassandra asked me, the Shattered Sword already in her hand.
“Maha!” laughed the goblin.
“I-I’m just a little flustered right now, okay?!” I said. “I wasn’t expecting the tower to be rocked by an explosion while we were here!”
“That’s why you should’ve listened to me when I told you he looked like a terrorist!”
The goblin gasped, covering his mouth with a hand. “Did… did you just say I looked like a terrorist?”
“You are one!” she shouted.
“Just because I happen to be one, doesn’t mean you mean you should go around thinking just because someone is a goblin that they are trying to blow something up,” he said, shaking his head in disappointment. “I thought elves were supposed to be a higher form of being. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
“He’s got a point, you know,” I said.
“Okay, I get it!” she shouted. “Look, step away from the Lance! It’s ours!”
“Oh, so you’re going to steal the Lance now? Maha!” he laughed. “You should be thanking me for blowing up the second floor up, not shouting at me.”
The elf let out a disgruntled noise, and then charged at the goblin. I ran after her, ready to provide backup if needed. When we were just a couple of feet away, the goblin held something up in his hand, waving it back and forth.
“Ah, ah, ah!” he sang. “I wouldn’t get any closer if I were you!”
Cassandra and I pulled up short, staring at the device with a big red button in his hand.
“What is that?” she asked.
“It’s a trigger for these explosives,” smiled the goblin. “With a single click of this button, here, it’ll blow all these little boxes up! Kaboom! Maha!”
“You’re going to destroy the Lance?” I gasped.
“What? No!” he said, scowling at me. “The Lance of Power can’t be destroyed from a little explosion. I’m using it to blow the glass up. I’m warning you to stay back, cause it’ll probably hurt you if you get to close.”
“Oh… thanks, then,” I said.
“Don’t mention it,” he shrugged.
The pounding of footsteps echoed down the hall as guards came flooding in from each of the stairwells. Armed with pole arms and short swords, they fanned out, blocking any hope we had of sneaking past them. From what I could see, there were about twenty or so on each side of us.
“Looks like your trapped, goblin,” smirked Cassandra. “You might as well give up now.”
The goblin looked around at all the guards, no real concern on his face. “Trapped? Maha! I make sure I’m never trapped.”
Before we could ask what he meant by that, Nicole stepped out from the row of guards behind the goblin.
“Nicole!” I said. “Quick, this goblin is trying to steal the Lance!”
“Is that… is that the Shattered Sword?” asked the orc, pointing at the weapon in Cassand
ra’s hands.
The goblin turned to look at the Sword, eyes squinting to get a better look.
“Maybe,” said the elf, trying to hide the Sword behind her back.
“How did you manage to find it, Bertha?” asked Nicole in a hushed whisper.
“Bertha?” asked the goblin, eyeing the elf up and down. “What kind of elven name is that? Maha!”
“It was in the Ruins of Le’Mar,” I shrugged. “A bit difficult to find, but it wasn’t too bad. Only took us about a week, too.”
The guards on either side began to murmur about legends of the Shattered Sword, staring at it with awe in their eyes.
“These three must have stolen the Shattered Sword from someone,” said Nicole, raising her voice. “There’s no way they could get it in just a week!”
“We didn’t steal it!” shouted Cassandra.
“And what do you mean by ‘these three?’” I asked. “The goblin isn’t with us.”
“He most certainly is!” she shouted back. “The two of you must have come upstairs to distract me, while you sent the goblin downstairs to rig explosives! You then met up here to take the Lance of Power and escape, just like you did with the Shattered Sword!”
“Honestly, lady, these two aren’t with me,” said the goblin. “They’d cramp my style, though I’d like to add that Shattered Sword to my collection.”
“Enough of your lies!” hissed Nicole, raising her hand again and pointing at us. “Seize them, guards! Do whatever you must in order to stop the thieves!”
The guards started advancing on us, weapons raised high. The guards behind Cassandra and I moved a bit slower than the others, their eyes stuck on the Shattered Sword. They knew how strong the weapon could be, and no one wanted to be the first one to challenge Cassandra.
“This isn’t going well,” I said, turning my head back and forth to see which group of guards would get the jump on us first. Should I count on the goblin to take care of the guards on his side? Or could he not even fight?
“It’s no use, you fools!” shouted the goblin at the guards as he danced around. “The Lance is mine, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me!”
He held the trigger high in the air, jamming his thumb onto the button.
Click.
