The Death Benitoite: a one carat stone set in a signet ring which was worn by the Princess for a full day after her father was disposed and thrown in a dungeon. She was beheaded the next day. The previous four owners of this ring all met untimely deaths.
The Alexandrite Crown: a five carat gemstone that was once considered the most valuable stone in the entire world, this gem sat on the top of the Queens Crown in the kingdom of Riverfalls for six generations of peace, until one day the Queen Luanne decided to wear the crown into war. She was promptly struck by an arrow and died upon her horse.
The Jadeite of Power: a two and quarter carat that is mounted on a wooden staff of power, once used by the Witch of Everlake to cast enchantments of healing and wealth. The staff was stolen by the Princess Doris, who fell to her death on the following full moon while trying to cast spells from the rooftop of her castle.
The Musgravite Ring: this gemstone is only three-quarters of a carat, but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in brilliance. The Gem War was started over this stone, believed to be cursed by all who obtain it. The stone was gifted to a queen, who fell from her horse the next day and broke her neck. The distraught king gave the stone back to the queen of his rival, who then fell from a window and died. In the ensuing argument about the true owner of the stone, a war started that lasted a dozen years.
The Painite Necklace: this necklace is made up of six carats of finely cut painite, which surround a two carat Red Diamond, which itself is believed to be good luck. The last five women who owned this necklace all died in childbirth. The fifth grieving prince was rumored to have thrown the gems into a lake, where a group of elves retrieved them. Unfortunately, the fisherman all drowned, and the necklace, found in an empty boat, was smuggled into the dwarf kingdom to be hidden.
The Jeremejevite Wishing Gem: This eight carat stone is set in gold and was used by an ancient race of seers and charmers, long before the time of the dwarf kingdom mined the mountains of Arodian. When it was stolen, a curse was placed upon the stone and the true love of any king or prince who claims the stone is struck with a terrible disease. After six deaths, the stone was banished to the underworld, where it is said to be guarded by a dragon.
The Poudretteite Tiara: four carats of finely cut pear shaped gemstones grace this tiara. Every princess who has worn the tiara has died before her first kiss.
The Serendibite Collar: a four carat gemstone set into the collar that was worn by the favored hunting dog of King Serenta in the Mingcong Dynasty. His queen claimed it was disgraceful to adorn a pet with such a stone, so she commanded her maids to secretly poison her husband’s favored dog. She was discovered, however, and her husband forced her to wear the collar in the dungeons until she starved to death.
The Grandidierite Gem: this five carat stone is the only stone in the quest that is not in a setting of any kind. An argument over the best use of the stone was had between twin sisters, princesses of the King Cerion, during the rule of the White Elven King. The older princess stole the stone, but while carrying it to her jeweler, she fell off a bridge to her death. The second sister, after retrieving the stone, mocked her sister, only to find herself bitten by a purple death adder while she slept with the stone under her pillow. The King was so distraught over the loss of his only daughters he placed a curse on anyone who dared to covet the gem.
The Zektzerite Bracelet: A beautiful bracelet was fashioned from four carats of zektzerite, and it was gifted to Queen Tzarinte on the day of her coronation. Her reign lasted thirteen days. Her cousin, the next in line to the thrown, also died in thirteen days. After five more deaths, nobody with royal blood was willing to sit on the thrown until the curse was discovered. Once the bracelet was shown to be the cause, it was gifted to the Queen Zarstin, a distant cousin in a rival kingdom. It was rumored that it took fourteen deaths there before the curse was discovered, and when it was found out, it plunged the two kingdoms into a seventy-five-year war. This bracelet was rumored to have been tossed into an active volcano, but the truth is that it was smuggled to a safe hiding place and now sits in a lost vault.
The Hibonite Rock: This one carat gem is believed to give Kings the power to detect lies and deceit; however, the stone also calls to any woman that loves such a king, and once possessed, the stone drives the woman mad with jealousy, hatred, and disgust. Four queens, two princesses, and one lover have all committed suicide after possessing this stone.
The unworthy will find this quest to be the cause of much pain, suffering, and misery.
However, the worthy will bring the gemstones to King Talargo and receive fame, wealth, gold, and favor.
...........................
Dale put the Lore Book into his inventory.
“Just what I needed, a cursed quest that will cause women I love to die.” Dale laughed and looked at Smith. “Should we take the short cut?”
“You’re the one that’s got a thing against giant spiders,” Smith said.
“It’s only death…” Dale didn’t feel brave at all, but he wasn’t about to tell Smith he’d rather take the long way home.
“Yeah, okay. If you’re good to go?” Smith asked.
“Yes, I’m sure nothing is going to get easier, no matter what route we take. If we can get ahead of the women, we might be able to aid Jara and Yingtai, before, you know, my former girlfriend and her fellow assassin murder them both.”
“Still bitter, I see,” Smith said.
“No. Just a realist.”
“Well, I accept the quest then,” Smith said.
Dale accepted it as well.
“Welcome to darkness, my friends,” the guard said. He pointed to a crack in a large stone and the stone split into two pieces, revealing a small passageway. “Be wary and be swift my friends, and thank you…”
Dale walked to the passageway and looked down. “Looks like more steps into darkness, Smith. You want to light the first torch, or should I?”
“Go ahead.”
Dale retrieved a torch, lit it, and began the descent into gloom.
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
Everyone who wants to know what will happen ought to examine what has happened: everything in this world in any epoch has their replicas in antiquity.
~ Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli
Try not to forget what you have in your inventory. It might save your life.
~ Private Smith
...........................
The steps down only numbered twenty-six before the ground leveled and followed a long straight path for what seemed to Dale to be several kilometers. Then they came to another set of stone steps that lead upwards.
They climbed a hundred steps, followed a short hallway, and came to a large wooden door.
“I bet there is a spider guarding the door knob…” Dale hit it with the tip of a sword. Nothing happened. No spider jumped out; no trap door was triggered, so he put his sword away.
“Well?” Smith said.
“Hmmmmm. I don’t like it.” Dale reached out with his finger and touched the door knob. Nothing happened. He tried to turn the knob, but the door was locked. “We need a key, I suppose.”
They searched the hallway for hidden compartments, loose stones, or any other clues. Nothing.
“Well, now what?” Smith asked. He sat down on the floor. “I’m going to eat something and rest for a minute. Let me know if you think of something.”
Dale sat against the opposite wall. He shut his eyes and thought. Usually, a door that is locked like this one will have something guarding it, and defeating that something will reveal a key, or in some other way, open the door.
“Why don’t you try knocking on the door?” Smith asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure that someone is just sitting on the other side, waiting for us to come and visit.”
“It can’t hurt.” Smith got up and knocked on the door.
A little window opened, and a voice spoke through it. “Who knocks?
“See,” Smith said
to Dale.
“What is your mission, Master See?” the voice asked.
“Oh, I’m not see—I mean, sorry— I am Private Smith of the 3rd Platoon, and I’m on a mission to get to the Three Queens, to find the path to the castle Pierstone.”
“Enter then, Master Private Smith of the 3rd Platoon. The spiders have been lonely for many moons.” The voice cackled and laughed, but then the door opened and they were greeted by an old witch with a crooked wooden staff and a broken, dirty-toothed grin.
“Thank you,” Smith said.
The witch didn’t answer; she turned to dust which slowly settled to the ground.
“That was freaky,” Dale said.
“Yeah. Come on, let’s go kill some spiders.”
They walked into the hallway, and the wooden door behind them slammed shut by itself.
“Crap.” Dale shuddered and coughed. He was nervous, but he also knew that this was always a one-way journey. They’d either defeat the queen spider or die trying. There was no other way out.
...........................
The chamber had it’s own light source, a glowing green moss, and a series of small skylights that seemed to filter in natural light, although they couldn’t see the sky through them.
The spiders began attacking them the minute they set foot into the room.
Spider webs were everywhere, and they had to continually brush them out of their faces while they smashed and crunched the small spiders. None of them were higher than level six, with most of them being level three or four.
Dale brought out Ginkgo, and sure enough, his loyal dog was very skilled at killing spiders. She bit them, shook her head, and tossed. Dead spiders piled up. Dale decided to experiment, he brought out his adder shield and tossed it. The snake uncoiled and began biting spiders. Between the two battle pets, Smith’s war hammer, and Dale’s two swords, the dead spiders continued to form into little mounds of death.
The small spiders did not drop any loot, but each dead spider gave Dale three or four hundred Experience Points.
+300XP
+400XP
+300XP
It seemed endless, but eventually, he received notification of leveling up.
Congratulations! You’ve reached Level 9
Dale’s arms tired. “I’m getting worn out,” he said.
“I think that’s the queen’s plan,” Smith said. “She’s going to wait until we can’t stand anymore, and then she’ll attack.”
“Watch my back for a minute.” Dale moved away from the center of the room and began working up a Fire Magic Spell.
Congratulations! You have unlocked the Logi Fire Magic tree; you have access to Fireball Magic.
Dale put his full concentration into pouring mana into his spell. His hands felt like they were on fire.
When the spell reached its maximum power, he called his pets back and yelled at Smith. “Move out of the way!”
Once the path was clear, Dale began tossing Fireballs. They exploded into a mass of flame and light. The spiders burnt up, and then the Queen jumped out of the darkness and attacked.
Dale had drained all his mana. He brought out his shield but did not throw it. He left Ginkgo in safety, and armed himself with his longsword. The Queen struck at him, and he blocked her fangs with his shield. Smith brought his war hammer down onto the spider, giving her a massive amount of damage. She hissed and moved to attack him.
Dale, now to her rear, flung his shield at her. The adder bit the Queen, and she spun. Smith rewarded her change of direction with another smash from his war hammer. She spun again, and Dale leaped out and stabbed her with both his sword and his rapier which he’d brought out when he’d tossed his shield.
The shield adder continued to strike.
Smith moved swiftly around the Queen, his war hammer flying in quick strikes.
Dale and Smith lacked strong healing powers, so they attacked with a medium range DPS attack style, not getting in too close for very long, and trying to divert the spider from attacking any one person for too long.
The spider leaped towards Dale and struck him in the arm. Her fangs hit his armor, but the strike still caused damage.
“You’d better bring out your other battle pet,” Smith yelled.
Dale knew he was right. He released Ginkgo, and she began to attack the spider. That allowed Dale a moment to drink a potion and bring his health back up to 60%. He was wearing out, and he knew they needed to think of something clever.
“Do you have any more iron weapons you can try?”
“Sure, but I’m in love with my war hammer,” Smith said.
Then Dale realized he had four iron-tipped arrows. The dragonling had dropped them.
He nocked an arrow.
...........................
Dale fired the arrow. It penetrated the Queen, and she spun around in a crazy circle. She fired silken thread, and Ginkgo got caught up in the webbing, and the Queen struck her.
“NO!” Dale screamed. He nocked another iron-tipped arrow, but before he fired it, Smith moved and hammered the Queen with his war hammer. He also kicked Ginkgo out of the way. Dale looked at his pet, she wasn’t moving but was still alive.
He was furious at himself. He channeled fire magic into the arrow and let it loose.
The arrow screamed through the room with a trail of fire behind it.
The Queen exploded when the arrow hit, the iron and fire caused her to burst. Blood and a goopy mess dripped off of Smith, Dale, and the walls of the chamber. Dale ran to Ginkgo.
He pulled out a hunting knife and cut away the webbing covering his pet. He retrieved a healing potion and poured it into the dog’s mouth, not knowing if the magic would work. There were no res-points for pets and Dale had grown very fond of Ginkgo.
“I’m sorry, Dale,” Smith said.
“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have brought her out to fight a boss.”
Ginkgo jumped, then she licked Dale all over the face. He felt his own warm tears, and he laughed when she licked them away.
“I’m sorry, girl. I’ll never do that again.”
She jumped around, spun, barked, and then jumped on Smith and licked him, too. Smith laughed. He changed out of his ape form back into himself and petted the dog. He brought out some meat and fed her a snack. “Good dog. Good girl.”
Dale changed into his personal avatar and wiped his eyes. He hoped that Smith hadn’t seen him tear up.
“Good girl,” Dale said. He petted his dog and realized that he had transferred his suppressed emotions about Amy to Ginkgo. He wondered if he needed a therapist or something and then realized he was being foolish. It’s not like he was married. And Ginkgo, as loyal and kind as she was, was only a dog. Or was she? He didn’t want to figure it out.
“Hell,” he said. He looked at the mess the spider had made, walked over, and then viewed his updates.
+3000XP
Killed: Queen Spider in her Lair
Dropped: Earth Magic Book
Dropped: Fire Magic Book
Dropped: 2 Carat Ruby, finest quality
Dropped: Black Widow Battle Pet
Dropped: 4 potions of healing Earth Magic
+10% skill in fighting insects, spiders, or scorpions
+10% Fire Magic Skill
+10% Mana Regeneration
+10% Vigor Replenishment Speed
“Hey, Dale?” Smith said.
“Yeah?”
“I wonder, what if you tried some of that healing potion on your shield adder?”
“You think?”
“It’s a pet…”
Dale had never tried to retrieve the adder except to put it away. He got the shield out and tossed it on the ground. The adder uncoiled and began searching for something to bite. Dale took a healing potion and poured it into the snake’s mouth, the adder drank the potion and its health bar hit 100%, when Dale put the shield away, he noticed that the shield was also 100% repaired.
“Good call,” he said t
o Smith. “We’re at full strength.”
“I wish I could feed my war hammer.”
“We need to find a way to increase our crafting skills. My class is Edificios, after all, I should be able to do more. But, so far, everything we’ve done is just kill, kill, hunt, escape, mission, quest, and then kill some more.”
“Yeah, we’ll get a break. If we manage to help the Princess, the King will give us a lot of favor, and we’ll get leave from the platoon. We can go on some personal quests, and you can work on your crafting skills. Hell, you can RP and get married…”
“Fuck you.”
“That’s my friend back. Come on; we need to get out of here before your ex and her assassin friend catch Yingtai and Princess Jara and then you’ll have to do something and get all depressed again.”
Dale called Ginkgo and put her away safely, then he brushed off the remaining spider webs, and began to search for the way out.
“So…”
“Yeah, so? How do we get out of here?”
There didn’t seem to be an exit.
CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
Respect was invented to cover the empty place where love should be.
~ Leo Tolstoy
What is love but a trail into the wilderness?
~ Princess Talargo
...........................
Dale and Smith searched the chamber for an hour. There was no sign of an exit, secret or otherwise.
“Now what?” Dale said. He sat down and closed his eyes.
“We could go back the way we came. Maybe we missed a hidden passageway or a secret door?” Smith sat next to Dale and put his face into his hands. “Maybe we need a fresh set of eyes…”
“Hey, maybe you’re right…” Dale brought Ginkgo out. She licked his face. “Good girl, now go chase a squirrel, go on, there’s got to be a way to find a squirrel or a bunny to chase.”
When Dale said the word bunny his dog went crazy, she ran around the room smelling everything, then she stood in the center of the room, put her nose in the air and barked.
Nagant Wars: A LitRPG Novel (Nagant Wars Series Book 1) Page 38
