I saw Grace. "I found your message, it told me to meet you here," I said. "What's wrong?"
"I have found where Christina is," she murmured.
"I spoke to Rra Ambrose about the Council of Light, and then there was a disturbance..."
"And then I saw Morganthe."
I inhaled sharply.
"She had invaded Wizard City." Grace sighed. "'Well well, if it isn't the little Zafarian child? Where are your friends? I had offered power to your little friend Christina... what about you? You do realize that you could be Queen of Zafaria if you join me... we could rewrite the Spiral!'"
I was horrified.
"Then she blasted the model of the Spiral and destroyed it."
"Rra Ambrose verified what Christina had heard... Morganthe used to be a student like us."
"He quickly banished her with a spell, he is clearly a man of great power."
I was relieved. I was worried that with the Deck of Shadows, Morganthe was more powerful than Merle but my doubts were unfounded... or did Morganthe let him get away with it?
"I asked him what we could do against such power, and he told me Christina was searching for... The Sword of Kings, the greatest weapon of light, the only thing that was as powerful as the Deck of Shadows that Morganthe had reclaimed."
"King Artorius..." I murmured. Why did that name sound familiar?
"Gamma told me that Merle Ambrose had given the Sword to Perry, a young knight," said Grace. "I bet our friend is hunting that blade as we speak."
I was shocked and afraid. If Morganthe could just pop into Wizard City like that... "We have to find Christina, we have to convince her to rejoin us. Otherwise Morganthe will track her and kill her!"
"Gamma gave me this, and I duplicated it," said Grace.
It was a beautiful silver key with a rose handle. "This is the Spiral Key to Avalon. Take some red tea and soothe your nerves before we go."
I nodded. This was no time to be panicking.
We entered the new world and I was amazed... if Grace's home world was awesome, my Headmaster's and Gamma's home was something out of ye old legends!
"Look," said Grace.
"I can see the Professor standing there," I said.
"No, the other person."
A figure was slumped over, leaning on a pike for support. "My wounds ail me!" he cried.
"Are you all right?" I said stupidly, for I realized he was NOT fine. "What happened?"
"I was wounded along the High Road by vicious Froudlings. They stole my arms!" said the figure, which looked to be a Crustacean in full plate armor.
"But your claws are fine," I said.
"He meant his weapons," said Grace.
"I knew that," I said.
"Could you defeat the Hobgoblin Fiends to get back my shield," said the crab-knight. "And the Night Goblins to recover my sword?"
"We'll do just that," I said. "Don't worry."
(I'm just not going to bother with HP totals anymore as the enemies get much tougher now. The Hobgoblin Fiends are Storm - great for Sierra, bad for Grace - and the Night Goblins are Death, so expect them to spam Death Ninjas. It took two battles for the sword to drop but the shield dropped on the first battle.)
"Is there anything we can do to help?"I asked. "Can we find someone to heal you?"
"I heard of a wood-witch living on the High Road called Fianna Yellowknife," said the crab. "If you can get her to make a salve to aid my wounds, I would be grateful."
"We will, sir..." I said. "Uhm... we haven't introduced ourselves. I am Sierra and this is Grace."
"Great ladies, I am Sir Pike Del Lago," said the crab knight. "I thank you for your succor."
We found the witch, it was an owl. I guess Gamma was related. "We are seeking a healing salve for Sir Pike Del Lago," I said. "He was attacked on the High Road."
"By the Night Goblins?" gasped Fianna. "That is now ordinary wound, hoo! It's a curse! Defeat the Night Goblins until one of them confesses who cursed Sir Pike Del Lago!"
I sighed. More goblin bashing.
"Enough!" cried the goblins. "Caoranach the Fire-Spitter is the one you want!"
"You get a sample of his venom. I could make a salve of it," said the owl. "But you'll need to kill him first to extract it."
"A worm?" I laughed.
"No, a wyrm, with a y," said Grace. I heard a loud roar.
Caoranach the Fire-Spitter was a DRAGON. A living DRAGON. I remembered that Einir the Axebreaker in Jarl Whiteshield's hall, but this was different!
"We can defeat this dragon," said Grace. "We are a team."
I sighed. A team of TWO.
We did beat the dragon and extract some venom from his fangs, though.
(I didn't say anything about bosses - Caoranach the Fire-Spitter has 12500 HP and is Fire. Expect to get hit with Efreet.)
Fianna took the venom and sent us to collect some al-barach or whatever she called that root for the other ingredient. We also had to recover her mortar and pestle which had been stolen by the Fiends. My Frog made short work of them.
"Can you make the potion now, Mma?" asked Grace.
"I shall." I was surprised how the owl used her wings like hands and crushed the herb and mixed it with the venom, making a foul paste. "This is the strongest antidote I have made. Rub it on Sir Pike's wounds and the poison will be neutralized."
"Here," I said, applying the salve to the wounds.
"Ah, I feel better already!" said the Pike Del Lago. He stood up.
"Thanks," I said after he told us about a tapestry that told the history of Avalon. "But we are students of Merle Ambrose and we are looking for young Perry, who was given the Sword of Kings."
"Ah, Sir Perry!" laughed Pike Del Lago. "Young Perry is now a white-haired knight!"
"That was long ago, Rra," said Grace.
Pike Del Lago directed us to someone who could help us, but we had to help him first. The goblins had stolen the grain sacks, which we easily gathered up. He directed us to a house at the end of the road, past Fianna's hut.
"What?" I asked, confused.
"Oh forgive me, ladies," said the old dog. "I thought you were Red Thorn Badgers." He looked at us. "From your robes, you must be from Wizard City, pupils of Merle Ambrose!"
"The same," I said, grinning. "I am Sierra, and this is my friend Grace."
"You seem different from that other dame, who was riding a metal horse and battling the Red Thorns with her magic and blade," said Sir Perry. "Ah, to be young and wild again." He smirked. "I heard of your great battle with Caoranach the Fire-Spitter and would be grateful to aid you in getting the Sword of Kings, but I must test your worth. Go to the well near Caoranach's lair and defeat the Fire Spitter Spawn."
"Spawn... baby dragons," I sighed.
"We can kill them easily," said Grace. "Have faith."
 |
| (I could have won with Tempest had the middle Spawn NOT cast Efreet on Grace. I ended up using a boosted Frog.) |
"Are you all right, Grace?" I asked. "I don't want to lose you as well!"
"I am fine," said Grace, hugging me. "We will find Mma Dawnblade. I am sure she is fine."
"Thanks," I said. "But more of wand and fang. Can you tell us where you have the Sword? We really need it to fight evil."
"Merle Ambrose entrusted me with the Sword of Kings long ago," said Sir Perry. "I was a squire on King Artorius's death, but I became quite the knight. When the Froudlings attacked, I was worried about the Sword falling into their hands, so I gave it to Sir Brennan One-hand. The last I heard, he was fighting Red Thorn Badgers. Maybe they would know where he is."
I heard a familiar squeaking.
"Ah, the maiden in the metal horse comes by!" said Sir Perry.
I turned and gasped.
Same mount, same blade, same face. "Christina!"
"Well met, noble ladies!" laughed our friend. "I am Saint Agnes Oblique, Vestal of Balance! I hearken to find the Blade of Shadow's Bane, the Sword of Kings!"
Grace shook her head. "She has lost her mind."
I growled. "Chris, you've gone mental! I know you are hurting yourself over what happened in Mirror Lake, but it wasn't your fault! We'll work together to find the Sword, just fix your hair back to normal and stop acting like someone you aren't!"
"I am Saint Agnes, I know not of this Chris you speak of," said Christina, who grinned. "I wish I could join thy quest, but I must away, the Sword must be found lest the Dark Queen's shadows swallow the Spiral, fare thee well!" She rode off.
My head hurt. I finally found Christina... but she was crazy and pretending to be someone else. Maybe she was ashamed to be herself around us? How could it get worse?
"Sorry to interrupt, Sierra, but I need you to come to Baobab Crossroads. You are Sierra, right?"
The Professor. Me and my big mind. *sigh*
[To be continued...]
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