The Shrine of Avooblis

by Charles Streams

  Dagdron and Earl let Grizzard take the lead as they headed into the forest to the west of the academy. Although the old man moved at a slower pace, his rogue skills were still in effect. Grizzard looked in any direction the moment a branch creaked or a bird chirped, reacting to observe his surroundings and to be prepared for danger if necessary.

  Dagdron, though keeping his eyes peeled as well, was having more fun watching Earl try to mimic Grizzard’s behavior, glancing whichever way the rogue’s head turned. They passed through a couple of small clearings, but they hadn’t been in the forest long before Dagdron heard footsteps behind them. He put a little distance between himself and Earl to listen more carefully, when Grizzard slowed down.

  “Hear that, sonny?” the old rogue asked.

  Dagdron nodded.

  “What?” Earl asked.

  Neither of the rogues explained as they moved to the right. Grizzard and Dagdron crouched behind a bush, Dagdron pulling Earl down with them and signaling him to be quiet. The footsteps grew louder, and Dagdron carefully raised himself just enough so he could peer over the bush. Byron paused, looking behind him, and then walked briskly by. Dagdron ducked back down, hushing Earl as he was about to ask who it was.

  “Byron’s following us,” Dagdron said.

  “How does he know about our quest?” Earl asked.

  “The wench let it slip.”

  Earl’s mouth dropped open in a mixture of shock and disbelief.

  “Is he a risk, sonny?” Grizzard asked.

  “No, just a richy. We can avoid him.”

  Grizzard motioned for the boys to follow him, and he headed farther up the mountain, away from where Bryon had gone. Not long after, they turned to the left, and Grizzard dropped back between the boys as they came upon a group of ruins. The grass and brush had long overgrown the gray stone of the crumbled houses.

  “Any spumasaur would be proud to call this his home,” Grizzard said with his open-mouthed smile. “Let’s see if you two young adventurers can fish one out.”

  Grizzard pointed to a specific spot of the ruins. Behind the tall grass, Dagdron saw a large hole at the base of the ruins that even he hadn’t picked out at first sight. Earl had to stand on tiptoe and elongate his neck before he finally saw it. Grizzard hunched over and grabbed a rock, throwing it at the opening, and then motioned to the two boys. Dagdron and Earl tossed rocks at the ruins, one after the other until a growl erupted. They followed Grizzard’s example and backed up a few paces as an enormous purple lizard-like creature with red eyes crawled out of the hole to see who was disturbing its territory. The creature was about three feet tall and six feet long and had a diamond-shaped head, scaly back, and a long tail trailing behind. It growled angrily for being disturbed, revealing its sharp fangs, but remained guarding the opening behind it.

  “Rich sonny, you use that sword to distract the spumasaur. Sonny, you sneak up behind to get the spittle.”

  Earl and Dagdron looked at Grizzard for more instruction, but the old rogue shooed them off with both hands.

  Earl handed the steel receptacle they had found in Mazannanan’s laboratory to Dagdron, and then put on two thick gloves before pulling out his sword. Earl inched forward cautiously, as Dagdron, crouching in proper rogue technique, snuck off to circle behind the ruins.

  With each approaching step Earl took, the spumasaur grumbled more ferociously. When he was within ten feet, Earl extended his sword, wiggling it to test the reaction. The creature gritted its fangs, spittle foaming through them. It shook its head, flinging spit onto the grass and instantly smoldering it.

  “That’s it, rich sonny,” Grizzard coached from behind. “Keep him occupied.”

  Earl, feeling his warrior’s spirit take over, began a set of more threatening sword thrusts and jabs, taking two steps forward and then backing up again. The spumasaur continued growling and slinging its spittle, only darting forward a foot or so before retreating to guard its home.

  In the meantime, Dagdron had successfully snuck around back, appearing above the spumasaur’s hole. He momentarily scoped out the drop below him, evaluating if he could climb down.

  “Jump, sonny,” Grizzard yelled, though maintaining his eyes fixed on Earl to not give away Dagdron’s position.

  Dagdron hesitated, but then decided to throw caution to the wind. He launched himself, spreading his legs as he dropped, landing on the spumasaur’s back. The creature instantly shook its head viciously, pitching spittle in all directions, and pounded its tail forcefully against the ground. Dagdron, being bucked back and forth, held on as best he could with his right hand and reached the container out with his left. The bumpy ride made it difficult to catch the spit, but Dagdron kept the steel jar extended.

  “Ride him, sonny, ride him!” Grizzard yelled, clapping and cackling.

  Earl, waiting until Dagdron was settled on his mount, darted forward a few more feet, feinting that he was heading toward the opening. This distracted the spumasaur’s attention back to him, and the creature growled stiffly at the warrior. When the rocking stopped, Dagdron was able to hold the receptacle steady underneath the stream of foamy spittle that was running out of the corner of the lizard’s mouth.

  When the container was almost full, Dagdron slammed the lid on it. He held it up for Earl to see, and his companion rushed to the right, pretending again that he was going to skirt along the edge to sneak in the opening. The spumasaur moved a few feet in his direction, leaving Dagdron a little more space to dismount. As Dagdron sprinted away, the lizard darted toward him, but stopped when he was about equal distance between the rogue and warrior, in the prime location to guard its hole.

  Grizzard hooted as Dagdron and Earl ran back to him. Earl sheathed his sword in pride after he came to a stop, breathing heavily.

  “Let’s see the spittle,” Grizzard said.

  Dagdron unstopped the receptacle so they could look in. The purple spittle was still foaming, with bubbles growing before bursting.

  “We better get this back to the academy,” Dagdron said. “The jar is already starting to heat up.”

  Grizzard cackled loudly as he applauded again, then turned to lead the boys back through the forest

  By the time they reached the academy and Grizzard was on his way to Bodaburg, Dagdron and Earl found school abuzz with students finishing breakfast and gathering in the entrance hall before heading to the village. Not knowing if Byron was back yet or if he also had Landon and Gordon watching them, Dagdron and Earl decided it was best to wait until nighttime to take the spittle to the shrine. Dagdron, holding the canister beneath his cloak, hurried back to their bedroom to stash it. The jar had gotten warmer, but seemed to have reached its peak temperature before searing Dagdron’s hands.

  They spent the day in Bodaburg. In the afternoon, they met Elloriana coming out of Chesna’s magic shop.

  “Chesna didn’t know anything about the location of a spumsaur,” Elloriana said. “And she said she had never heard of their spit being magical.”

  “We don’t need that anymore,” Dagdron said.

  “Why not?” Elloriana asked, annoyed but interested.

  “Why don’t you go ask Byron? You told him we were looking for it.”

  “I did no such thing!”

  “Then why was he following us in the forest?”

  Earl cut in before Dagdron and Elloriana’s argument could escalate. “We don’t think you did it on purpose, we just thought maybe you accidentally let something slip about the arches."

  “I assure you I didn’t,” Elloriana said, furrowing her brow at Earl.

  “He was following us, and you’re the only one who talks to him,” Dagdron said. “It wasn’t me, Earl, or Lita.”

  “He must be getting information from another source then,” Elloriana said. “Why don’t we need spumasaur spittle?”

  “We already got some,” Dagdron said. “We’re taking it to the lab tonight.”

  Elloriana looked shocked, and Earl started on a detailed tellin
g of how he and Dagdron had teamed up to collect the foamy spittle. He even acted out his fighting stances.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Elloriana said. “I would’ve gone with you.”

  “If it hadn’t been for Grizzard, Earl wouldn’t even have gone,” Dagdron said. “You were all scared.”

  “Grizzard went with you?”

  “Princess Elloriana, Mazannanan’s quest is a little too evil for ladies to be involved in. I don’t feel comfortable with you and Lita—”

  “You have no right to make that decision for me,” Elloriana said. “You know I’m planning on being an adventurer. I need real-world experience regardless of how dangerous it is. Even if I had been there only to watch, at least I would’ve had some basis for what to do in a similar situation in the future. An adventurer never knows what he or she will face. Lita and I are going with you to the shrine tonight. I have a social event with Byron first, but we’ll meet you after. Don’t even think about going in without us!”

  With that, Elloriana stomped off down the street, leaving Earl with his mouth wide open.

  “Does the wench keep getting more and more controlling?” Dagdron said.

  “She’s trying to hijack our quest,” Earl said.

  “You’re the one who agreed to be her slave.”

  Earl gave a semi-annoyed look to Dagdron, but then his face turned to worry. “Let’s get to the tavern. I might as well get some food in my belly before Lita kills me.”

  “Dagdron, we should not be doing this,” Earl whispered as they crossed the entrance hall later that night.

  “Then why are you coming?”

  “To try to convince you not to.”

  Dagdron turned and looked at Earl.

  “Fine, you know how I pride myself in knowing everything about the Adventurers’ Academy, and the girls’ tower is the one place I’ve never been. I want to see if the view of Bodaburg from the top is as good as they say. But Elloriana wouldn’t betray us.”

  “If the wench thought it would make Byron tell her information about what he’s up to, yes she would. She’s a richy.”

  “I guess we might as well find out,” Earl said.

  Dagdron didn’t say anything else and led the way to the entrance of the girls’ tower.

  “Wow,” Earl whispered as they began climbing the stairs.

  Dagdron glanced at the walls and stairs as they went, having no idea what Earl was acting so amazed about. The dark brown stone of the girls’ tower was identical to the other three.

  “Do you want to sneak into Lita’s room?” Dagdron asked, pausing on the second landing.

  “I would never do that,” Earl said, pushing Dagdron across.

  Dagdron hurried the rest of the way up the spiral staircase, only switching into sneaking stance once they reached the sixth floor. Earl hunched his body next to him. One door was cracked open with a light showing within. Instead of heading straight to it, Dagdron led Earl to the window so he could take in the view of Bodaburg. The rogue hoped by getting that out of the way that his companion would be less antsy as they spied on Elloriana and Byron.

  “Wow,” Earl said. “You can see the whole village from up here. It’s so beautiful all lit up at night.”

  Dagdron allowed Earl a few more seconds of admiration before silently heading to the lit-up doorway. Earl stood behind him, craning his neck above. Elloriana and Byron were seated at a cozy table in the nicely decorated room. While books and parchments were spread out on the table, they weren’t doing any studying. Elloriana had her elbows on the table with her chin resting on both hands as she gazed across at Byron.

  “Will you just go back to Lordavia after the academy?” Byron asked.

  “Of course,” Elloriana said flirtatiously. “You know that’s tradition for royals like us.”

  “I know, but…” Byron hesitated before continuing. “Haven’t you ever wanted to see more of the land?”

  “I’ve loved the places I’ve seen with the royal Lordavian caravans.”

  “But have you ever thought about living outside of Lordavia?” Seeing Elloriana’s surprised expression, he hurried to explain. “I mean, sometimes I think it would be interesting to live outside of Broodavia. I’d carry on the same traditions as my father and mother, but in a new place.”

  “I think I understand what you mean,” Elloriana said.

  Byron didn’t seem to think she did, so he changed the subject.

  “Was Earl as annoying growing up in Lordavia as he is at the academy?” he asked.

  Earl jerked from behind, so Dagdron elbowed him.

  “He’s always been a loudmouth,” Elloriana said.

  Earl, offended, huffed, so Dagdron elbowed him harder.

  “He’s such a buffoon. And that rogue, Dagdron? I know all rogues are grovelers, but there is something really off with him.”

  “There’s definitely something off with him,” Elloriana said, nodding her head.

  “Do you know if it’s true if the headmaster gave them a quest last year? I’ve heard rumors about that.”

  “I doubt it’s true.”

  “I doubt it as well. But I hate how they act like they’re superior since some students believe it. Commoners who try to act like royals have always bothered me.”

  “I know exactly what you mean,” Elloriana said as she began to gather up her books.

  “Do you really have to go so soon?” Byron asked.

  “I need my beauty sleep,” Elloriana said, flicking her hair and smiling at Byron.

  “I’ll walk you down to your room,” Byron said.

  Dagdron pushed Earl backward, and they hurried across the landing and down the stairs.

  “I told you Princess Elloriana wouldn’t betray us,” Earl said.

  “Who cares? Either way she’s a richy wench,” Dagdron replied.

  Elloriana and Lita were waiting by the arch wall when Dagdron and Earl arrived. Dagdron split in between them to open the secret door, but Earl wasn’t let through so easily. Lita elbowed him viciously in the ribcage before verbally blasting him for fighting the spumasaur without her.

  “I’m sorry,” Earl said. “I didn’t plan it that way. We were going to wait but then Grizzard was talking about how much fun it was to wrestle with spumasaurs. I got carried away in the glorious adventure of it all.”

  Lita, understanding Earl’s feelings, ended the argument with another elbow in his side.

  Dagdron hurried into the shrine first, placing the canister of spumasaur spittle on the altar. When Earl, Elloriana, and Lita made it down the stairs, the left arch was already putting on its lightning display. The Wizard of Avooblis walked out of the arch and approached the altar.

  Dagdron unstopped the receptacle. Mazannanan peered inside and his face broke out with his uncanny grin.

  “Very delectable,” he said, motioning for Dagdon to put the lid back on. “Put it over next to the mandrake root powder and nightshade juice, if you would be so kind.”

  “You don’t look younger, so does that mean you weren’t able to call Avooblis?” Dagdron said.

  The wizard narrowed his eyes toward Dagdron, but the rogue gave no notice.

  “As you remember, I was left all alone but never abandoned my search for Avooblis. I continued struggling to discover what my fellow wizards and I had missed. One of the most read passages in the ancient tome dealt with the structure of this very room.” Mazannanan waved his arms, signaling to the stone arches and altar. “I was certain that we had built the stone arches exactly as was described. We had imbibed them with the necessary magical power to function as portals. We had always assumed those portals were for Avooblis to come to our home, which we thought would be his home as well. But then, just as I was about to turn the page, a specific passage caught my eye. The magic stones that would guide Avooblis to his new home were described and, I realized, Avooblis’s home wasn’t our shrine. His home is the entire land. This led me to delve deeper and discover that there were two sets of arches—stone
arches and magical arches. The stone arches, though magically enchanted, could be portals for his followers, but the magical crystal arches were destined to be Avooblis’s portal.

  “Once I had learned and understood that concept, I was quickly able to uncover the correct process. Avooblis led me in creating the magic stones, then I was able to gather the necessary ingredients. I brewed the magical concoction, performed the ritual to activate it, and then, using the magic stones I had earlier created, I was able to form the Arches of Avooblis.

  “Unfortunately, in my utter eagerness to call forth Avooblis, I had been muttering the incantation to keep it fresh in my memory, and I must have spoken it too loudly. The arch crystals went awry and Avooblis’s power overwhelmed me, even his most faithful follower. I was taken into Avooblis’s custody as his power destroyed the shrine.”

  Mazannanan had moved to his position behind the altar as he spoke. He didn’t continue and the four young adventurers realized the story had come to an end for the day.

  “Are you still in his custody?” Dagdron asked.

  “A true follower of Avooblis is always in his custody. Which is why I am allowed to come through the portal of the stone arches,” the wizard explained.

  “What happened to the arch crystals?” As long as he was getting answers, Dagdron planned to keep asking. “The story obviously didn’t end there.”

  “The history of Avooblis is a long one,” Mazannanan said. “Perhaps on the next occasion you will see.”

  “What ingredients did you have to collect for the potion?” Elloriana asked. She had kept her distance from the altar, but now stepped forward.

  “That will not be revealed.” The wizard cast a suspicious eye toward Elloriana before raising his hands in the air, causing the ancient book on the altar to flip its pages again.

  “Wait!” Dagdron said, waving his right hand.

  “You must see so you know I speak the truth.”

  “I know.” The wizard, along with Earl, Elloriana, and Lita, watched as Dagdron took off his cloak, wadded it into a ball, and then placed it behind him. “Okay.”