Rich stopped a few steps away, and the girl stopped crying. She then spoke in a soft voice. "Why, Rich, that's just too thoughtful." She spun around and grinned, revealing a face from his nightmares. Mallory.
She held up a hand, and flames suddenly danced above it. She wound her arm back as if she was going to throw a fastball and flung it in Rich’s direction.
Rich jumped back, raising his shield, but in the next moment, both Mallory and the fireball had vanished.
How was that even possible? The sight of her made him feel nauseated and weak in the knees at the same time. He had worked so hard and given so much to beat her. How could she simply come back?
He stood alone by the tree, holding a gleaming sword in both hands. He looked around to make sure she hadn’t turned into some hideous monster again. Nothing. All he could hear were the cries of kids getting ready for the game, and Angela shouting instructions.
After wiping the sweat from his brow, Rich sheathed the sword and turned it back into a flag belt. He breathed quickly, and his heart would not stop racing. Maybe he was dehydrated or something. Mallory couldn't have been there. No way. It seemed so real, though. Then again, real things didn’t just poof into thin air like this girl had.
"Hey, Rich, you want to put on that belt and join the team? They’re one short!"
In a daze, Rich fastened the belt around his waist and stumbled off to join the team. He’d thought that doing something like getting a summer job might help life feel little bit more normal while he looked for ways to complete his quests. But he’d only been kidding himself. For now and for the rest of his life, nothing was going to be normal again.
Chapter 6: Golf Golem
From The Quest Log of Phillip Witz: Entry 1
It is to my great embarrassment that I haven't filled out one of these in a long time. I quite forgot they existed at all. The other day, my youngest, a little boy named Asher, brought me this book he’d found while he was poking around in my office. I hadn't remembered seeing it before, so I opened it to scan the pages. It was an old quest log, and told about my journey into the Corridor of Keys in order to rescue a knight named Takka. This old knight had seven sons who had gone missing while on a quest to find powerful magical artifacts hidden deep in the maze.
As I read, memories came back to me, ones that had been buried for quite some time. But it wasn't just that. Reading this book also brought to light some of the other memories I've been having lately, about the man I was on the outside and the family I had there.
My heart ached when I thought of how they must feel—that I had abandoned them or that I died. This thought stayed with me like a splinter in my skin.
I didn't get any sleep that night. Instead, I stayed up and read every single entry right up to the point where I discovered this sanctuary deep within the maze. I'm not exactly sure even now what caused me to forget my former life as soon as I settled here, but it must be some powerful enchantment for me to have forgotten such important things and people.
When I'd finished, I awakened my wife and told her everything, showing her the passages to prove what I said. Though I was able to keep my emotions in check, she wept openly at the things I told her, which only deepened the pain already in my heart.
I knew what I needed to do. My quest was left undone, and I was still a paladin. There was nothing for me to do but to pick up and continue. I would find a way out of the maze and bring my wife and the rest of our children out. For all its comforts, this place is a lie. I will not live here a moment longer now that I have figured that out.
So I take up this quest log and now write a new first entry. I only hope that these years of comfort have not made me soft so there will be many more entries to come as I make my way back through the maze and into the real world.
* * *
That night, Rich sat alone in this room. As soon as he lay down on his bed, he shot back up to lock the door and the windows, as though his nemesis were stalking him. It probably wouldn't do much good, but it did make him feel a little better.
Next, he rummaged through his sock drawer and pulled out the pouch that contained the berries the healer had given him. The more he thought about it, the more Rich realized that what he had seen might be some sort of trick being played on him. He still had the dark mark on his arm, and the healer had said that he wasn't sure about all the side effects the injury could cause. Maybe this was one of them. He was hallucinating, and seeing the person he feared most in the world. It sounded just like something a nemesis would do.
The healer had warned Rich not to eat too many berries at once. This time, though, Rich popped two in his mouth and chewed them completely before swallowing.
He had to see if the effects went away after taking these so he could figure out what was really going on. Not for the first time, he wished he could have Aaron around all the time, like he had during his first quest. But according to his grandmother, Aaron was helping another pawn somewhere else right now, and could only visit once in a while. He really wished he had someone else to talk to.
He wondered if he should tell his grandparents about what happened that day. Would they think he was going crazy, or was worried about nothing? He would probably tell them eventually, but he decided to wait and see if it happened again after he took the berries.
When he was finally able to close his eyes, he hoped he wouldn't see Arlenen in his dreams. Things are already confusing enough as they were.
* * *
The next day, Rich rode his bike to the community center and got there before most of the other people had shown up. He wanted to have a look around without them seeing him shouting at mirages. He walked up and down the hall, checking every classroom and supply closet.
He remembered Angela mentioning that they really needed some golf supplies for that day, so he decided he might as well figure out where they kept the clubs. It was only his second day, and he figured it wouldn't hurt to try to get on Angela's good side. He'd seen her bad side, and once was definitely enough.
As he checked each closet for the golf clubs, Rich thought about this quest to turn his rook piece gold. There weren’t as many parts to the quest this time, but that didn't necessarily mean it was going to be easier. He’d need tons of patience to work with little kids, right? Maybe if he just did this job long enough, he’d do something to earn that one.
Holding the closet door open at the end of the hall, he couldn't really see what was inside. It looked a lot deeper than most of the other closets, more like a miniature room than a closet. He felt around for the light switch for a few seconds before managing to switch it on.
Sure enough, a bunch of clubs sticking out of golf bags were lined up against the back wall. Rich really didn’t know the first thing about golf, but he figured they probably filled the bags with whatever you needed to play. He’d probably be able to take a couple at a time and could have them ready for when Angela got there.
After he’d grabbed the first bag, Rich jumped when the door slammed behind him. With a yelp, he dropped the bag he was holding and spilled a bunch of clubs onto the floor. One of them fell just right so it knocked over a bucket full of balls and sent them in every direction. It sounded like an indoor hailstorm in a bowling alley, with balls rattling and bouncing off everything.
Rich rolled his eyes. Hadn’t the person who’d closed the door been able to see the light was on? He tried the handle and found that the door was locked. He tried a few times more, jamming it up and down, but it didn’t do him any good. He knew Angela had a big set of keys, but she hadn’t given him any.
Feeling even more frustrated at the person who slammed the door on him, he started pounding, and called out, "Hey, let me out. The door locked itself!" Though he pounded for a
good thirty seconds, no one responded. With a sigh, Rich turn back, realizing that Angela was bound to come looking for the golf equipment when she got there, so he’d probably only be stuck for a little bit. In the meantime, he might as well clean up his mess.
Rich set the mostly empty bucket of golf balls back upright and started tossing them back in. When he reached down to snag one in a corner, it rolled away from him. Grunting, Rich tried to reach it in its new position. Once again, it rolled away the last second, as though it had a tiny mind of its own.
Maybe it was some fancy kind of golf ball he’d never heard of, or some sort of prank. When he tried a different ball, the same thing happened. He tried another and another, and all of them ran away.
Getting a sinking feeling in his stomach, Rich backed away toward the door and watched as the golf balls rolled across the floor without being chased. They knocked over the bucket he’d been using, and then another and another until the entire floor was a mass of rolling golf balls. Some of the clubs fell into the mix, creating a lopsided monster with clubs forming the arms, legs, and torso, and balls creating its claws, feet, chest, and shoulders. A huge mass of balls of various colors came together to make an enormous head with two bright yellow balls for the eyes. Part of them withdrew to create a gaping mouth, complete with golf tees for jagged teeth.
Either he was hallucinating, or this was an attack by a golf ball golem. The berries were definitely not helping. Rich snatched a whiffle bat from the wall by the door and used his paladin powers to summon his sword. He could do this using anything that was sort of shaped like a sword, and he was grateful that he didn’t have to charge into battle with a whiffle bat.
"Well, young master," Zahn said, "what are we up against this time?"
The golf golem advanced on Rich, swinging its arms. "Well, probably something you've never fought before. Heck, I don't know if anyone's fought something like this before."
Rich jumped forward and slashed at the central bundle of clubs that made up the torso. Some of them flew away, but snapped back into position a few moments later as if attracted by a really strong magnet. The creature lashed out with both arms, and Rick ducked just in time to avoid being clobbered.
Rich directed his next swing at the creature’s head and sliced right through the center of the mass of golf balls. They exploded out in every direction like a popping popcorn kernel. A whole bunch of them pelted him before he remembered his shield ability. As soon as he got the shield up, balls bounced off it over and over, knocking almost everything else off the shelves.
Rich held his eyes closed for a few seconds, trying to calm himself in the middle of so much confusion. Was Mallory doing this to him somehow? If so, was anywhere safe? The thought sent a wave of hopelessness over him.
The swarm of golf balls eventually formed back into the creature’s head, and it didn't look any worse off than before. The creature opened up what looked like a mouth and roared, spitting out several red balls at high speed. Rich’s shield held, but then started to flicker. It wouldn’t hold for much longer.
He went back on the offensive, swinging Zahn as hard as he could multiple times at the creature’s torso, trying to make the creature fall apart. He couldn't do it fast enough, though. Seconds after each swing, the clubs were already coming back.
Rich took a hard hit to his side from one of the creature’s legs, which sent him sprawling back to the floor. The creature towered over him. Rich glanced up, for a moment meeting the two yellow balls that formed the creature’s eyes. On a hunch, he tried his empathy power on the monster, trying to get inside its strange-looking head.
For a second, he got an impression of fear, and as he thought more about it, the fear became more specific. It was worried about losing its head. Last time Rich had tried, all the golf balls had come back together eventually. But what if he did something to prevent that from happening?
Rich rolled away just before both of the creature’s arms landed where he was lying. He took a second to land a blow straight to the creature’s head and flung his sword free. He then scrambled over to one of the golf bags on the floor and snatched it up. As the headless creature rose, Rich stuffed the club bag onto the creature’s torso and pushed down as hard as he could.
The balls bounced off the bag, but couldn't get inside it to reform the head. Rich threw his shield up again, but it failed a few seconds later. He crouched and pulled down as hard on the golf bag as hard he could, trying to keep the struggling creature from tossing him away.
The flying balls pelted his back, and he knew he was going to have quite the mosaic of bruises after this was over.
The monster reared up in a final attempt to free itself, and Rich almost lost control of the bag. With a grunt, he just managed to bring it back down. All the clubs and balls clattered to the floor, and everything became quiet.
Rich also fell to the floor, feeling like he just been used as a punching bag for an entire boxing team. His back had taken the worst of it, and now throbbed with pain. He held his stomach and felt like he was going to lose his breakfast any second. This had been no illusion—this was an attack. He hadn't seen Mallory again, but he could only imagine this was her work. Or was it somebody else? His grandparents had said that Mallory would be severely weakened for a long time after he defeated her. If this is what a nemesis could do when weakened, he was in trouble.
Just then, the door opened, and he heard a gasp. "Rich, what happened?" Angela cried out.
Rich came to a seated position, his mouth hanging open. Though he liked telling the truth, there was no chance she'd actually go for it. Then again, how else could he explain this mess?
"I tripped."
Angela let out something between a laugh and a snort. "You tripped and knocked everything off the walls? Everything?”
Realizing how stupid his first response was, Rich went for something a little closer to the truth. "I came in here to get some golf clubs, and somebody was in here. He tried to beat me up, so I fought back, and all this stuff got knocked off. He ran away and locked me in here."
At this, Angela rushed over, carefully avoiding the scattered golf balls. "Oh, Rich, I'm so sorry! Are you all right? We should call the police!"
"Yeah," Rich said as Angela helped him to his feet. He thought about trying to give a description to the authorities. Tall, very thin, round face. Pale as a golf ball.
"I'll get some other people to help me clean up in here. Why don't you go to the nurse’s station? Looks like you got some cuts and bruises. We can send you home if you don’t want to hang around here after what happened, or if you're feeling too bad."
Rich shook his head slowly. "I think it’ll be all right. Just maybe no football for me today, huh?"
The nurse bandaged a few cuts on his arm and one on his face. Rich sat her office, drinking some water and munching on a package of crackers she’d given them. He already felt a lot better, and wondered if that something to do with the two berries he’d taken last night. Perhaps they helped heal other things besides curses.
After a while, he felt good enough to get up, though his muscles still felt sore and stiff. He wandered out toward the park, and on the way, bumped into Nadia and Bianca. When the little girl saw him, she ran up to him and threw her arms around his waist, hugging tightly. She still didn't say anything, and after a second, Rich patted her head, not really sure what else to do.
"Oh, look at that. Maybe she really does like you. I'm a little jealous, though," Nadia said. "It took a couple weeks before she’d hug me."
Bianca stepped back, and Rich couldn't resist the urge to try again to see if she was as mysterious as before. This time when he looked in her eyes, he did catch a single image before being pushed back as before.
A goldf
ish. He just saw a goldfish swimming in circles in a bowl. No idea what that meant, but it was a start.
"So, Richie, you gonna do the obstacle course tomorrow?”
He looked back over at Nadia and shrugged. "What kind of course? I'm not exactly a Marine, if you haven't noticed."
Nadia pointed toward the other end of the park. "It’s at the far end of the park. Every Friday, a bunch of the employees and volunteers try to see who can do it the fastest.” She held up her hands. "I'm proud to say I'm currently hold the record for the girls, and I'm not that far behind the fastest guy. Think about it next time."
She leaned in closer. "Oh, and there's a catch. While you're doing the obstacle course, the rest of the staff stands on the side with paintball guns. Anywhere you get hit, you can't use for the rest of the course. Sound fun?"
Rich didn't like how much glee she put into her last question. "Paintball guns, huh? I thought your weapon was water balloons."
Nadia laughed and motioned for Bianca to come back over to her. "That was so last year, Rich. I've grown up. I've already proven I can beat you at spelling. I bet I can beat you at this, too."
Rich really didn't want to say yes, considering how much he was hurting right then, but he didn't want to back out a contest with his rival. "I'll be there. You’d better start working on your aim.”
Nadia laughed as she led Bianca away. "See you there, Richie."
Rich watched them go, his mind returning to the strange picture he’d gotten from the little girl’s mind. Did she have a pet goldfish, or did she just like fish? He was going to need more to go on, but now that he’d seen something, maybe he’d have more luck next time.
He walked slowly toward the place where Angela was setting up the golf course, but had to stop a few times because of pain.
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