Once they had rounded that corner, a little more than an hour later, they continued down the new tunnel that went straight for another three miles before turning left.
Upon making that turn, two minutes later, both Baltor’s and Nemis’ mouths dropped open in sheer astonishment at what they discovered inside the room ahead, just beyond the entryway that was only five feet ahead of their position, in which he stood at the previous corner with her on his back.
For lying all about in massive stacks, there were valuable treasures galore, ranging from coins, to jewels, to crowns, to statues of animals, humans, humanoids, and even monsters—constructed from all types of expensive materials!
In the middle of every other stack, there stood a clothes rack that contained expensive and elegant hats, fur coats, clothes, suits of armor, helmets, boots, shoes, etc. In fact, there was so much treasure in this room that the one-and-only way to walk through this room was to move in between the stacks.
“Whoa,” Nemis was the first to say a half minute later, before stepping down to her feet in order to stretch her arms and legs out, which had become a bit stiff and sore from riding piggyback for so long.
While she stretched, Baltor poked just his head around the entryway without stepping inside the room, noting that it was five hundred feet tall, five miles long, and eight miles wide—other than narrow walkways, the entire room indeed contained tons and tons and tons of stacked treasure!
With that look of shock still on his face, Baltor gazed back at Nemis and said, “Holy moley! Can you imagine how much money all this treasure is worth? It’s at least ten times the amount I had in my own treasury back on my planet, after I controlled the entire planet for nearly two centuries.”
“At least trillions just from what I see already,” she said a few seconds later, just before she moved to Baltor’s side so she could check out the entire room for herself.
Once she did, perhaps ten seconds later, she added with shock, “Make that quadrillions…maybe even more! Want to check it out?”
After clucking his tongue, he sounded a bit unsure as he answered, “I don’t know. A room like this has got to be super-duper-duper guarded—perhaps by a whole army of magical warriors for the singular purpose to protect it all. Are you able to cast a ‘detect magic spell’ now?”
She answered, “Yes I am…I can do that twice every twenty four hour period.”
“Go ahead and do it.”
She did. Upon completion, forty-five seconds later, tens of thousands of objects in the room lit up in a bluish-glow, illuminating the entire chamber so bright that the rest of the non-magical treasures dazzlingly reflected those lights. Hundreds of clothes, weapons, and even suits of armor lit up as well—even more fortunate was the fact that just about all of the statues remained unlit, though not all.
“Wow, I definitely don’t think this is such a good idea to enter now,” he said.
“Why not?” she asked. Without waiting for an answer, she added with a smile, “You really need a new set of armor…bad!”
“That’s true,” Baltor said as he gazed down at his own armor, seeing the large gaping hole in the front, and remembering that the tusk had penetrated through the backside.
Perhaps ten seconds later, she asked, “So?”
After sucking in a deep breath and releasing it, he answered, “Umm, I still don’t know. Just because the statues didn’t light up doesn’t mean that they’re not alive.”
“Come on,” she said, “quit being such a sour-puss.”
“You know we’re not going to be able to take .01% percent of this treasure, right?”
“I know…my primary concern is getting you some magical armor, especially considering the fact that we’re not just going to have to face and battle one Arch, yet seven more.”
“True that,” Baltor said, while cocking his head to the side for a second.
“So?”
“Well, what if the armor is cursed?”
After releasing her own exasperated sigh, she answered, “I have the innate ability to tell whether an item is cursed or not. Just don’t touch anything unless I say you can…please trust me!”
“Fine, but I suggest we be quick about it, just in case that army decides to show up while we’re snooping around.”
“Fine…let me first cast an ‘alarm spell,’ so that if anybody but us comes around, we’ll know.”
“Fine.”
She began to cast her spell. Once done, she pointed to a particular rack about two thousand feet away, while asking, “Would you like to give me a piggy back ride up to that armor rack over there? Everything on it is safe and most of it is magical…”
“Okay,” he answered.
After she climbed on, he zoomed to that rack—arriving a little over a minute later, he set her down, just before jetting to the far end of the rack. Both of them began to look through the hundreds of suits of armor of all types and sizes that were all hanging on durable hangers.
He had not been looking for armor that looked decorative, yet the type that would best protect him while allowing him to utilize his martial arts skills. One type he knew for sure he did not want was the plate-mail.
For the next minute or so, they both continued to sift through suit after suit, in which Baltor shook his head at everything she had displayed to him so far. Thankfully, no guards had shown up, yet.
At the beginning of the next minute, Nemis pointed at a full-set of plate-mail—glowing the brightest amongst any of the other armor on this rack. This armor even had a matching helmet and boots. She asked, “What about this one? It’d look really hot on you and it’s got quite a bit of power to it—magic wise!”
Looking over for just a second, he answered, “Umm, not that type. I need something that won’t impair my ability to freely move and use my martial arts.”
After pulling off two adjacent hangers off the rack—one hanger holding a glowing, thin, long-sleeved, silvery shirt and the other hanger a matching pair of pants—she asked, “Hmmm…well, how about this? It don’t even look like armor, except for the fact that the material is made of some type of metal, but it feels so soft, flexible, and lightweight. There’s even matching boots, but no helmet.”
Baltor threw his gaze over, observing the hexagon-shaped black crest in the middle of the chest, bearing the symbol of a golden castle in the middle of it. He nodded and said, “Not bad there. It’s not cursed?”
She replied with a laugh, “No silly…I told you I wouldn’t pick anything like that.”
He hurried over to her position, of which was about one feet away, looked at it for a few seconds, and said, “Hmm…definitely not bad. Think it’ll fit?”
“Like a glove,” she answered. “Furthermore, this armor is also exceptionally powerful—it’ll not only continuously protect you against any and all non-magical weapons, yet even against some of magical weapons and spells.”
After picking up the sleeve and feeling that it was unbelievably light in weight and soft in texture, he took the shirt and the pants off the hangers, slung them over his right shoulder, and said, “Okay, that’s perfect…let’s get out of here.”
While she picked up the matching knee-high boots, she asked, “How about a new magical helmet, unless you still want your old non-magical helmet? Personally, I think you need a new one…and besides, we still got nine minutes left before my spell wears out, so don’t feel like we’ve got to rush out of here.”
“Despite your spell, I think you’re pushing your luck,” he replied.
“No I’m not,” she evenly stated back. “Trust me…we’re safe.”
“Fine…”
“Let’s go to that helmet rack over there,” she said with a point of her finger.
Fortunately, this rack happened to be not that far away—only about three thousand and fifty feet.
With her on his back, Baltor rushed on over there, and once there, he began to walk down the rack, while looking just at the helmets. As he searched, he asked, �
�Any particularly powerful helmet you see that will fit me and do me some justice?”
“Yeah,” she answered, while still holding on with one arm yet using her other arm to point her finger. “That one. That one is the most powerful helmet on this entire rack.”
Looking at where her finger pointed, he saw a platinum-and-gold-striped skullcap that was glowing brilliant—the front part of this helmet bore the etched symbol of a dragon blowing fire.
“What does this helmet do magically?”
“Besides protecting you from any type of dragon’s breath, it will even increase your dexterity, strength, and constitution, so you should be all good.”
“Really,” he hummed aloud.
“Yup, grab it so we can get out of here.”
He picked it up off the shelf, and examined the inside … besides being very light and durable, there was even an adjustable headband and chinstrap inside.
“Okay,” he said, while looking around. “Is there anything in this room that you can use?”
She quickly looked around the room, noticing that in the very middle, there stood a coffee table made of all the precious metals in the universe.
The single object that rested on this table, in the middle, was an oil lamp made of porcelain that had been painted white—though not ignited, it was glowing the brightest out of everything!
“Hmm,” she answered as she handed the boots to Baltor, “I want that.”
Squinting his eyes so he could see where she was pointing, he discovered the object.
“You sure that’s what you want?” he asked. “An oil lamp?”
“Something about it is drawing me,” she answered. “But strangely, I cannot identify why or what its purpose is. All I know is that it is unbelievably powerful.”
Baltor asked, “You sure it’s not cursed?”
“Yeah…positive.”
“Let’s grab it and get out of here!”
“We still have five minutes left—relax.”
“That’s just barely enough time.”
“That’s okay,” she said.
With that, she ran toward the pedestal, picked up the lamp, and put it into her pocket.
“Climb onto my back,” he said, already standing by her side. “We’re not coming back in here again.”
She did—not even a second later, he bolted for the only exit they had discovered.
Thirty seconds later, they exited the room, made the right-hand turn, and jetted down the tunnel. A mile away from the room, Baltor decided to stop, and so he did.
There, Nemis stepped back onto the ground—meanwhile, he handed her the brand-new armor and the helmet, just before setting the boots onto the ground so that he could begin to take off his old boots and armor.
While he did so, she could not help but look at him with ever-increasing desire, especially upon seeing his muscular physique through his tattered underclothes…
Nearly two minutes later, with her assistance, the old armor was taken off, and the new armor, boots, and helmet were put on.
It was just as he placed the helmet onto his head that the two of them began to hear the sounds of whispering, though the language was unfamiliar.
Both cocked their heads over, observing that there was a bald man sitting on a carpet two hundred feet away, which carpet levitated five feet off the ground. He wore loose-fitting white robes with gold trimming, while his arms remained outstretched in front of him, and his face looked furious as he continued to whisper in just-as-angry tones!
Without hesitation, Baltor had drawn both swords and flung them both with all of his might—apparently the man did not expect to be heard nor did he get to finish whatever he was whispering, as the swords penetrated through his chest up to the hilt!
Even before his body flew off the carpet and slammed into the ground, the man was dead—the carpet itself slowly descended until it landed on the ground.
After willing both swords back into his hands, and then sheathing them a moment later, Baltor stated, “We’re going to have problems now. I knew going into that treasure room was a bad idea—I’m sure they’ve raised the alarm!”
Nemis shrugged her shoulders apologetically, and then she said, “Sorry, Baltor.”
“Hold onto me,” he said, “I’m teleporting us back to the starting point on this level!”
“Okay,” she said still sounding sorry. “What about that carpet though—should we take it?”
While shrugging his shoulders, he answered with another question, “Is it magical itself, or did that guy put a spell on it to make it temporarily magical?”
“I don’t know, as my spell is no longer in effect.”
“No time to find out right now—climb on,” he said.
Once she had, he zoomed at top speed to the rug, grabbed a hold of the corner, and inside his mind, he willed the starting point at the second level.
Two seconds later, the rune appeared in his mind, and after drawing it out with his free hand, a portal opened—in turn, each person stepped through.
Once on the other side and the portal had closed, Baltor said, “Now is a good time to cast your detect magic. We’re not much safer here than where we were.”
“Okay,” she said, just before she did.
Besides his new armor from head-to-toe that glowed, so too did the rug. Strangely, neither of his sheathed swords glowed, although he had not a clue about this piece of trivia as they were on his back.
After laying the carpet out, he sat down in the front-half of the carpet, before saying, “Well, climb aboard and sit behind me. I’m sure that it’s just like teleporting, in that you’ve got to will the direction you want to go.”
She climbed aboard behind him, before sitting Indian-style and gently wrapping her hands around his “love handles.” Though she did not speak aloud her thoughts, nor even think her thoughts without having first put a telepathy-blocking shield around her brain first, she could not deny how much she loved to hold onto him. Nor could she deny that she was seriously beginning to fall in love —after all, never before had she met anyone like Baltor…ever!
After the carpet had elevated to five feet—thanks to this very man and his concentrations—it flew toward the opposite tunnel that they had already gone through upon reaching the second floor. This unexplored tunnel spanned straight ahead for forty miles before it turned right.
It turned out that this carpet flew exceptionally fast, going fifty miles per hour—the wind blew pleasantly on their faces. Nemis could barely hold back her gasp of delight from enjoying this ride … in more than one way.
Once they reached the end of the tunnel, they made the right turn. After about thirty additional turns—left or right—and twenty-seven miles of distance, the tunnel straightened out again, just before it came to a Y-intersection.
Just before the intersection, Nemis pulled out a light-colored pebble and dropped it on the ground—they went left.
This new tunnel continued straight for another twenty miles before going right—sixty miles later the tunnel veered right yet again. After a dozen more turns, and another thirty-two miles, this tunnel ended only a dozen feet from the last turn with another entryway—another open-faced doorframe with trimming made of gold, and with etched hieroglyphics or designs of people.
Beyond the entrance, there existed a large room, whose size could not yet be determined inside—in which Baltor did not fly the carpet into this room because of the living occupants—there were rows and rows of two-man bunk beds made of gold. Lying in them and snoring soundly away were strange-looking humanoid creatures that he had never before seen.
However, he did recognize the fact they had very hairy, manly looking bodies. Instead of human heads, their heads matched that of a bull, including the two curvy and pointy horns. Attached to the front corner of each bunk was a two-handed axe.
Inside his mind, he heard Nemis’ voice say, They’re called minotaurs, in case you don’t know. What I don’t know is if there are any other exits out
of this room, and if so, they lead to the ultimate destination we need to go, so you make up your mind whether we should sneak by them as they all look like they’re sleeping, or go back the way we came.
Baltor scrunched up his face a moment, before replying, I don’t know either…let me back this carpet up a bit, until we figure out what we should do.
Okay.
After backing the carpet back around the last corner, he suggested, I got an idea…is it possible for you to cast your invisibility spell now, so that we can sneak by them?
With a nod, she answered, Yes I can.
Baltor physically clucked his tongue, before saying, Umm, I change my mind…
Why are you changing your mind? That’s a perfect idea!
Well, what if a horde of those robed priests find us sometime in the very near future, like the man whom we acquired this rug? We may need your invisibility spell then more than now.
You’re right about that, she replied. So what do you suggest?
Let me check out this room on my own for a minute, but I’m not going to go in…in the meantime, I want you to stay seated on this magic carpet and learn how to operate it, so that if I get spotted, we can make a quick getaway back the way we came.
Okay.
He landed the carpet on the ground, before rising to his feet and stepping off—she, after closing her eyes for ten seconds, managed to elevate the carpet off the ground.
Upon seeing this, Baltor nodded his head one time, snuck up to the entrance, and looked around.
Besides learning that this square-shaped room was about two thousand feet in both length and width, he counted out one hundred and ninety-eight minotaurs. One hundred and ninety-four were sleeping in bunks. The four that were awake all happened to be seated in chairs around a table on far left side, and playing cards—all possessed two-handed axes whose handles leaned on the table and blades touched the floor. Just beyond this group lay the only other exit.
Perhaps thirty seconds later, he proceeded back to the position where Nemis was.
Well? she asked.
After raising both eyebrows, he answered, There are nearly two hundred sleeping minotaurs—four are awake and playing cards. Beyond these four minotaurs is one exit.
The War of All Wars Page 12
