Chương 8: The Watcher in the Night

Sitting on top of the carriage in the dark, a thick cloak around my shoulders, my thoughts keep returning to the puzzle beneath the tower. If I were a god and wanted to keep my enemies from obtaining the dragon tooth, yet allow my own champion to get it, what would I do? Perhaps give my champion a key of some sort. In this case, a magic item whose effect was to prevent the statue-guardians from attacking? Some kind of preliminary quest?

Yet the necromancer would surely have known if there was a key and been able to offer us help in obtaining it. Skill Success: Spot Hidden Skill increase! Your Spot Hidden score is now 3. While I am turning over the puzzle in my mind a very welcome system alert arrives and I can instantly feel the difference. There is not much light, the moon is behind a cloud. Yet I can make out the corner of a blanket all the way down on the ground below me: Gerard and Aarax are sleeping under the carriage.

Belle and Lisandra are inside. I can now see silvery webs between the stones, where before I had only seen shadow; I can see a moth, flying erratically towards the moon; I can see a mouse furtively creep through a tuft of grass and I can even hear the scrabble, clickscratch of its claws as it suddenly leaves cover to scurry across a rock to a bush. In the distance, a slight motion alerts me to the presence of an owl, which has just turned its head to stare at the mouse. And at the bottom of that tree?

What's that clump of darkness? Even as I try to understand, the clouds break and I feel a lurch in my stomach. I'm being watched by someone in a hooded cloak; someone still and silent and very well hidden by trunk and bush. With a yawn and a stretch of my arms, as though I have no cares, I lean down and tap the carriage door.

'Wake up Lisandra, it's time for me to sleep; wake up and take your turn on the seat.' When there is no answer, I spring down – how tempting it is to keep that figure in my line of sight, but I must behave completely naturally – and opening the door, go inside. Both women are sleeping, Belle on the padded seat, Lisandra, too large to do the same, is on the floor.

Shaking the sorceress awake I whisper right into her ear, 'There's a person I see at the base of a tree; we are being looked upon, let us strike before they're gone.' Shocked, Lisandra sits up. She is about to ask me something but I hold out my hand and shake my head, saying fairly loudly.

'Come on, it's your shift.' In her ear I whisper, 'Do you still have your spells? We might need them to do well.' Steady now, she looks into my eyes and nods. There is a lantern in the carriage, with the flame currently turned all the way down to a blue flicker. This will be useful. After covering the glass with its hood I turn the burner up to the maximum. Then I get out of the carriage and help Lisandra come after me. Should I wake the others? That would surely scare away the watcher.

And if it came to a fight, Lisandra and I were the ones with a class and levels. Even a weak Level 1 rogue like me was a whole category stronger than a Level 0 person. Once Lisandra and I are between the carriage and the mysterious figure, I swiftly pull the hood from the lantern and hold it high. A snarl. The person puts their arm across their face to protect it from the light and jumps up, their long, white hair allowing me to follow their motion.

'Inferni!' cries Lisandra and begins to chant, stamping her feet and making sharp hand gestures. The man is running away when a blazing orb of fiery golden magic rushes through the night air to smash into his cloak and splash flames all over it. A strong scent like that of a blacksmith's furnace wafts over me. On his knees, then rolling around on the ground, the watcher is efficiently trying to smother the flames.

'Finish him before the flames die down! He's an inferni. Pure evil,' Lisandra orders and she is already running towards the burning figure as fast as her clumsy body allows. I don't yet have any skill with the shortsword, so I pull my dagger free from where I keep it sheathed at the small of my back. As I get close – a dozen steps ahead of the sorceress – the inferni ceases to roll, smoke rising from his burned clothes. His red eyes turn to mine and showing two great fangs he shrieks into my face.

My effort to stab him is thwarted as he intercepts my arm and twists my wrist. To avoid the pain I drop the dagger, dive over him, and strike with my other hand. We roll back and forth. Forthsnarls. With kicks and attempted bites until there's a terrible crunch.

'Take that, suckface!' Lisandra has crushed his neck, slamming down with a rock she had lifted in both hands. An inferni scout is slain. You fought in the battle and gain 75 EXP. Our sorceress looks extremely satisfied with herself, as well she should be. I'm the faster, stronger, and must have been in many more street brawls than her. Yet, she won the fight for us with her Flare spell and her improvised club. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

'Crow! Are you all right?' Belle has run over and her concern for me lifts my mood. I check my character sheet.

'There is only a small cost; just one hit point lost.' I massage my sore wrist. Belle blinks and then speaks softly, 'From how many, if you don't mind me asking?' Sharing character sheet information is only for the trusted. Yet as I look at Belle and Lisandra (still flushed and triumphant) and as I see Aarax and Gerard hurrying up with their crossbows ready, I do feel trust.

'Seven was my max, before this attack.'

'Not bad,' says Lisandra, 'you continue to impress me Crow. I've only eleven, and I'm Level Three.'

'Two here,' offers Aarax. For people without their first level, they can only be one or two, unless they have exceptional constitution.

'One,' says Belle. Gerard lowers his crossbow.

'One.' Despite the violence of the immediate past, there is something like a religious quality to this moment: a communion, a sharing. We look from one to another and we are united. A team. A party.

'Let me cast Detect Magic on the body. He might have owned something useful.' Lisandra raises her arms, settles into a crouch, and, as she waves her hand, proclaims strange words and sounds. Tendrils of silver flow from her around the dead inferni and dissipate.

'Nothing.' I check the scout's pouches (coins, herbs, pieces of dried meat) and untie his scabbard belt so as to pull away the curved shortsword he never had a chance to draw.

'What was he doing here? The Underworld is a long way off.' Belle speaks from behind me as I feel along the corpse's legs and search in the boots, finding a small but wicked-looking dagger which I would like for my own inventory.

'If I had to guess,' says Aarax, 'I would say it must be that he was scouting the Epic Dragon quest for the inferni. There's nothing else out here.' Murmurs from Lisandra and Gerard agree with our younger coachman. As I straighten and contemplate the body, inspiration strikes.

'I'm going to raise him as an undead; for a zombie might safely the puzzle squares tread.' The expressions around me turn from confusion to approval.

'Crow! You genius, I could hug you,' says Belle, 'that makes so much sense.' Even though my mind is on the puzzle room and how it would be cunning of Lord Scrithax to allow undead only to approach the dragon tooth, Belle's words interrupt my thoughts and I take two steps to her and hug – hugsweet – arms around my neck, softness at my chest, a scent of jasmine from her black curls. And then she breaks away with a laugh.

'What's this about a zombie?' asks Gerard.

'This bracer the necromancer gifted me to help my fate, with it a zombie for an hour I can create.'

'That's some gift,' Gerard raises his eyebrows in surprise and perhaps doubt. I will demonstrate the necromancy and satisfy his reservations. But how? Pointing the bracer-clad arm at the dead inferni does something… a subtle repositioning. Relaxing my arm, I find it settles at an angle where there is no further tension. My outstretched hand is pointing to the corpse's heart. Everyone stiffens, holding themselves still. Expectant.

But only after reading the item's description again do I remember I have to say a command phrase.

'What a surprise: zombie arise!' The last two words I shout and immediately the corpse twitches; a distasteful scent of sulphur makes me hold my breath; and the whole world about me seems uncanny, like I have crossed into a realm of shadow. Then the inferni scout groans, rolling onto its side and pushing itself clumsily to its feet. The fact that the zombie's head is loose is unpleasant and is the reason I choose to walk ahead.

'In whatever manner you can see, I command you to follow me.' I set off up the hill towards the room beneath the tower.

'This better work,' mutters Lisandra.

'Climbing the hill during the day was hard enough. My thighs are so sore.' But she does not really sound discontented. I look back to check the zombie is obeying me and see that even Gerard is coming. Perhaps we should have asked him to stay to guard the carriage and our belongings. But we won't be long. Either this will work or not. There will be no need to spend any extra time at the puzzle.

The zombie moves nearly as slowly as Lisandra but we are well inside the hour allowed by the necromancy spell when we arrive at the tower, which is almost bright white now as the moon has cleared the clouds. A growing hope is filling me with energy. That the puzzle for the Kingdom of Lost Souls would need a summoned undead creature to unlock it seems very possible. Down we go, the blue hue of the magic light on the stones easily able to guide our descent to the wide, low room.

'I see,' says Gerard.

'It's not how I imagined. Those guards are more fierce, more intimidating.' I am tempted to step on the board to show him how swiftly the statues move and how even more aggressive they seem when adjacent to you, with their swords raised. But all that matters is whether the zombie can walk safely on the game board. I bring the dead inferni to where it can walk in a straight line up to the centre without crossing a square occupied by a statue and I say, 'Stop following me, zombie without fear.

Go grasp the dragon's tooth and bring it back here.' There is a possibility that we might be doing something reckless, that even if the zombie can reach the tooth, we simultaneously release the guardians to slaughter us all, so I run back to the stairwell and encourage everyone to stay close in case we need to flee. Hopefully, even if we trigger the constructs, they cannot manage stairs, given how they move by sliding across the ground with a grinding sound. The zombie has reached the edge of the board.

He continues. And nothing happens! The guards have not moved. My heart is beating triumphantly.

'Lord Scrithax bless us!' cries Lisandra. And now, effortlessly, the zombie has the fang and is shuffling off the puzzle.

'Zombie, over here I be. Bring that dragon fang to me.' I am not going to risk moving any closer to the constructs. I sense they are looking at me from deep within their helms. The corpse of the inferni scout reaches me and holds out the dragon fang. I put my hand on it. You have completed a stage of the Epic Draco Missio You have gained 1, 000 EXP You have gained a level. You are now a rogue, Level 2 You have 5 skill points to distribute Dragon's Tooth of Nekis A long, ivory fang, this tooth radiates magic.

This item can be soulbound. Do you wish to bind it to your soul? This item is unique. YES / NO Soulbinding If an item is soulbound, it moves into an extra-dimensional inventory and cannot be removed from you. This also means it cannot be traded or given to another. Unique You may only possess one of these items. Everyone is talking; the hall sounds like it contains a full crowd expressing delight and enthusiasm. I gather that Belle, Aarax, and Gerard are all now Level 1 and can choose their class.

A heavy, motherly embrace testifies to Lisandra's pleasure in me.

'Crow, you are a champion.' When the pressure on me eases, I give her the dragon tooth so she can see the system message.

'Oh, this can be soulbound. I suppose that's to stop someone from stealing teeth without doing the quests.' Lisandra looks at me.

'One of us should be the person who collects the teeth. And for some reason, Crow, I think it should be you. Even though I'm higher level, my intuition says there's something special about you. If anyone can solve the quest, it's you.'