(I also failed to mention that Kallak Silverback is a cheating boss - if you cast a spell that isn't enchanted with a Sun spell, he gets a priority... Minor Blessing. Yeah, that only happened once. He is also Star-elemental and have 7530 HP and the mook is a Spider Witch so be careful of Quake.)
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And of how the sky looked -- heavy with rain, purple clouds stacked high atop one another, and of lightning in the distance, over the Kalahari, linking sky to earth. And of a woman who, not knowing that the world had just ended for her, called out to her from the verandah of the hospital: Come inside, Mma. Do not stand there! Three is going to be a storm. Come inside quickly! (Tears of the Giraffe)
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Time travel and vampire bunnies aside, we returned to the Elephant Graveyard. I was sure I would never forgive myself if any harm came to Prince Tziri, and Grace wouldn't ever let me hear the end of it. But I saw the ghost and approached.
"Queen Elissa?" I asked. I had seen her picture in a book of the History of Stone Town in the Waterfront. "Is that you?"
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| (This happened after the first BOX Mystery instance - Sierra got a seven-day rental Digmore Pogo stick mount.) |
"I know why you are here, Wizards," said the ghostly queen. "You wish to free Prince Tziri, my descendant, from Morganthe's grasp."
"And soon," said Christina. "She's beelining to the Golden Swords!"
"She entered my tomb recently, that is where the Swords are hidden," said Queen Elissa. "I want to drive the shadows from this sacred place. Morganthe's agents have stripped me of my power."
"How can we restore it?" I asked.
"Go to the Drum House over there," she said, pointing to a tomb. "We keep our magical instruments there. Clear the webs, crush any spiders, and collect the drums inside."
"Don't say spiders," I moaned.
Yep, there were spiders. Big ones. I nearly wet myself in fear.
(The Great Ogre Spiders are Balance and have 2903 HP. Needless to say, the girls ate a Ra before they killed these arachnids.)
2 spooky 4 me! I quickly grabbed the web-crusted drums and hoofed it out of this place. (Don't leave until you get all six drums or you'll have to re-fight the Great Ogre Spiders. :p)
"I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible," I muttered.
She had us place the drums in front of some glowing tombstones that circled the moat around the tomb. I saw a glowing barrier block the bridge to the tomb area.
She then had us collect Blue Calliantha flowers growing in the soil as well as Kana Peppers which were being held by Morganthe's Shadow Weaver Wraiths. (These guys have 3200 HP and are Life so a Necromancer will have a field day here, but beware of Centaur and Forest Lord spam.)
"You must now purify the sacred springs, both hot and cold, and then bathe in them to purify your bodies so the rituals I give you will work."
I blushed a bit, but nodded.
The blossoms did their voodoo and the disgusting waters cleared up. "We have to bathe in these..." I freaked out as I saw Christina undo her shirt. "Chris!"
"Come on, carrot fairy," laughed Christina as her clothes fell off. "I need this. I have become so grimy I am wondering if the insects are disgusting by my body odor! Besides..." She finished stripping and slipped her naked body into the hot spring and sighed. "This is awesome."
"We are all women here," said Grace, nodding as she followed suit. "And there are no people here besides us. We need to do this."
"Okay," I muttered, blushing.
"Come on," giggled Christina as Grace finished disrobing and I saw her buttocks, turning red. "You're a girl, you won't see anything you haven't seen before. Don't you ever bathe?"
I closed my eyes and nodded. Yes, I did bathe from time to time and I was being silly. I hurriedly undressed, put my clothes on the ground, and joined the others.
After a deep soak in the tepid springs, we quickly raced to the cold springs and leapt in. I nearly had thermal shock, but soon I felt a mystical energy fill me. We washed our clothes in the cold water and then got dressed. (Yes, had to have a bath scene here. Every story about girl heroes has a bath scene with them for the horny men. Be glad I didn't include a picture or this would get R-rated. :p)
I felt my cheeks burn and nodded. "What now?"
"Now you must call the sacred drummers," said the queen. "Collect blood lilies and burn them in the braziers besides me, then take the coals they create and place them on the grave marker to summon the drummers. They will open the way."
We did those things and the barrier fell, opening the bridge into the tomb area.
Queen Elissa then asked us to recover her grave goods, which were stolen by Morganthe's top agents and hidden in the tombs. We faced them all, a might gorilla witch, a master elephant cultist, a fierce goliath beetle-man, and a powerful Shadow Weaver...
They ALL died. (I'm not going to detail stats here, but Gherruld has MORE health than even Malistaire. Yep, he's the first to break ten grand in health. However, he's Life so except for Regenerate, Rebirth and Forest Lord, he's not a threat. :p Also, none of the bosses have more than one minion so you won't have to relegate someone to AoE.)
"Just another night's work for the Three Musketeers," I laughed.
"Now with my power restored I can open the tomb for you," said Elissa. "I will meet you inside."
It was time to get in there and rescue the Prince.
We entered to find magical bongo drums. "This is a very intricate puzzle I put in to keep out thieves," said Queen Elissa. "Without my help you cannot get in. You must step on the center drum and follow the green drums as they play. If you follow the rhythm quickly, you will open the way."
Christina was eager to try her luck, so she did... and took two tries to get the pattern. (Yes, you have to race to each drum as it flashes green once you hit the center drum to do a rhythm mini-game. If you can win it, you go on. This can be frustrating so make sure one person is delegated to this and everyone else stays off!)
"Well done, girl!" said Queen Elissa, applauding. "Now, you must go into the next chamber and place my relics on the pedestal. Beware, Morganthe's agents will likely try to stop you. Once you place them the way to the inner sanctum, where the Swords are hidden, will open. You must get there before Morganthe does!"
"We'll intercept them,"
Peh, nothing. (You have to kill the Wraiths before you can interact with the pedestals. Sierra surprisingly took a LOT of damage!)
I placed the bracelets, the tusk ornaments, the robe and the ring on the pedestals and the barrier fell. We raced down the tunnel.
"There!" whispered Christina. "We've found the Prince and look who he's with!"
"It is him!" said Grace, who pushed past us. "Prince Tziri, I know what you are doing, stop!"
The barrier protecting the Golden Swords fell away and Tse Tse gloated and called for Morganthe.
"Yeah, let's see her!" screamed Christina. "Show yourself, Morgie! Stop being a coward!"
This was the clearest I saw of Morganthe. I had first met her in the Chancel in Celestia, but she had been too far away to see clearly. Now, I saw her pale skin, her dark green eyes glowing with evil, her hair as black as midnight... and her dress... I faltered a bit.
"Well well," said Morganthe, chuckling. "I thought I had you dead, Grace."
"She destroyed your... magic-stealing abomination," I stammered. "You aren't getting the Swords!"
"And you're with the kitty cats who mewl under Ambrose's feet," laughed Morganthe. "Merle should be ashamed for sending little kittens to stop me." Then she held out her hand...
And I nearly soiled myself. There was a SPIDER on her hand. She loved spiders. I fell to my hands and knees and wept.
"What's the matter, afraid of my pets?" chuckled Morganthe.
"You aren't winning, Morgie the Dork!" screamed Christina, who ran to grab the swords. Morganthe smirked and I wanted to yell "No!" but I was too terrified of the spider. I watched as the spider spat silk that bound Christina to the floor. Morganthe unleashed a black magic that wrapped around the swords and devoured them, melting them to slag.
"No... we have failed!" cried Grace in anguish.
"Now that I have destroyed all four of the Golden Relics of Zafaria," cackled Morganthe. "My power will return! Thank you Tse-Tse, let us go and break the mirror!"
The two vanished in black smoke as four Shadow Weavers appeared from thin air. Tziri awoke from the spell he had been put under.
"What have I done?" he cried. I slowly recovered and Christina struggled free.
"That's it, you bug-faces!" screamed Christina. "You're all bug guts under my feet!!!"
Grace kept the Prince safe while me and Chris destroyed the Shadow Weavers. I was so embarrassed and enraged that somehow my Frog puked out his guts and annihilated the freaks. (Just four Shadow-Weaver Haunts, you've dealt with this before. This 'dungeon' has no bosses, just two Shadow Weaver mobs. And yes, Sierra criticaled a Frog. :p)
"We are glad you are safe, your highness," said Grace with a deep bow. "It is a pleasure."
She then showed the photo. It was completely restored - we have saved the entire program group.
But still, my heart was hollow - we had failed to stop Morganthe's plan and now her power would be restored. I didn't know what to do.
The ghost of Queen Elissa appeared and we bowed deeply. "We failed," said Grace.
"Do not worry about the Swords," said Elissa. "You have saved my descendant, which is a victory of itself. I will use my powers to send the Prince to her mother, Queen Arayanah, back in Stone Town. I know she will be pleased."
"Good, then the elephants will stop attacking the zebras and the war will end," I said, trying to be cheerful. But I knew the others weren't having it.
"I should have resisted that spell," muttered the Prince.
"Do not be ashamed," said the ghost queen. "Only the most powerful heroes like these brave girls could have resisted the dark magic of the Umbra Queen."
"But because of me..." Tziri began.
I touched his trunk. "You had no control over it. You are safe and that matters."
"But she's going to break the mirror," said Grace.
"WHAT mirror?" said Christina. "A hand mirror?"
"Maybe..." I then snapped my finger. "Tziri, I heard you speak of Mirror Lake in your chant."
Grace gasped. "Mirror Lake... I know that place, I swam there as a child. It is a holy pond atop the Shining Mountain that reflects the moon on a clear night. It must be she's going to destroy it!"
"Well, what are we waiting for?" I cried. "Let's go there!"
"But how do we get there?" asked Christina.
Grace shook her head. "I do not remember how me and daddy went there long ago. I believe the paths we took long ago are lost."
Queen Elissa smirked. "I am sure the way will be clear to you. For now, I will send Tziri home and use my powers to return you to Baobab. Go and tell the people there that the war must end."
I nodded. Once Tziri was back to his mother's side, the fighting would have to end. We had to be ambassadors. "We can worry about Morganthe later, right now we need to ensure the peace."
Elissa created a teleporter for us to Baobab and we hurried to the council and reported the news of Morganthe's return and Tziri's rescue. It turned out that things moved quickly - with Rasik dead, Vir was promoted to his position and, once Tziri returned, the elephants stopped the riots and withdrew from Zamunda, making the zebras happy. King Musuf of the Lion Tribes had already been busy and the Fire Lions had diminished - the Thornpaws and Darkmanes were now making peace with the zebras and elephants. The word of Morganthe spread through Zafaria like wildfire and crowd gathered around us and cheered our names as Saviors. It was a cold comfort but at least we were glad.
Grace was especially pampered because a prophecy foretold "a child of the rains would come with two friends and save Zafaria from bloodshed created by the wicked spies of the Umbra Queen."
Then I got a message by pidgeon. It was from Inyanga Whitestripes, the witch doctor we first met.
"We tried to stop Morganthe, but couldn't," I said. "But we know the mirror she intends to break - Mirror Lake, she's gonna destroy it."
"Yes, that could fulfill her prophecy," said the witch doctor. "Go into my hut and light the candles, that will reveal a path for you to take that will bypass the roads and Morganthe's eyes."
"Water..." I muttered, seeing the vision in the bowl.
"Thank you," I said. "I must confer with my friends."
I began my pep talk. "This is it, guys. We have to go and stop Morganthe from getting whatever she is looking for. We have to go to Mirror Lake and..."
BZZZT! "Excuse me, young wizards... bzzzt... I need your aid... bzzzt... meet me in Regent's Square... bzzzt... hurry!"
Ugh, why did The Professor have to ruin this moment?
"Yeah, looks like old Professor has another time crisis on his hands," said Christina. "Look, you two go to Marleybone while I go to Mirror Lake. I'll drum up some support and hopefully we'll fix this."
"But..." Grace began.
"Look, I know this is your home, Grace," said Christina. "But if time is in crisis, your world may not exist. I know, but the Professor is a nice guy and we helped him out once, right?"
"Okay, but we'll try to catch up with you soon," I said.
"Expect me single-handedly saving the Spiral!" laughed Christina, saluting.
We headed to the Spiral Door. "I need to pick up some things in my office first," said Grace. "I will meet you in Marleybone."
As I went home to prepare, I began to wonder if leaving Christina to handle Mirror Lake by herself was a great idea...
[To be continued...]
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