Shadow Play, Chapter 9

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Chapter 8 - Chapter 9

The Catacombs were a sad husk of their former selves. Terra remembered that, in her adolescence, the main cavern was full of people perusing shops, submitting their art and writing to the galleries, and chatting about the latest issue of the Neopian Times. Now, only the Coin Shop remained open close to the entrance—the other establishments were boarded up and abandoned. A sole, small newsstand near the Coin Shop sold the Neopian Times and a few other periodicals, but the Chia proprietor was napping. And only a handful of people mulled about the cavern besides Terra, her family, and Zoltan. Past what had once been the main hub of activity, the cavern branched off into many tunnels, all shrouded in darkness.

“This is kinda depressing,” Blynn said. “It’s always sad when a place dies like this.”

“Right?” Terra said. “As much as I like Roo Island, the Catacombs were a special part of Neopia Central. I have a lot of great memories of this place.” She sighed. “It’s tough when you have a lot of nostalgia for something, and when you revisit it, too much has changed.”

“All part of growing up, I guess,” Hyren said. “At least you’ll always have those great memories.”

 

Terra smiled. “Yeah. Blynn, remember that one Neopian Times comic series we loved? With the Lupe and the Meerca?”

“Oh, that one was awesome!” Blynn said. “I remember we came here every Friday afternoon and hovered around the newsstand until the new Times issues got delivered, and we’d jump straight to the editorial and then the comics!”

Zoltan watched them for a moment, then looked at Isengrim. “Ve should keep moving,” the Kyrii said. “Zhe sooner ve complete our mission, zhe better.” He held up the Amulet of the Unblinking Eye that he had brought with him, the chain wrapped around his fist. The eye stared intently at a tunnel tucked away behind the old Art Gallery.

“Of course,” Isengrim said with a nod. As they moved toward the darkened tunnel, he opened the shutter on his fire mote lantern, and unsheathed his sword.

“Oh,” Blynn said, “and remember that totally epic story series with the Eyrie and the Zafara? It had us on the edge of our seats every week!”

“Ahh, seriously!” Terra said. “I couldn’t stand the suspense! I kind of wished we’d asked the author to send us the whole story—a chapter a week wasn’t enough!”

“I think I remember that one,” Hyren said. “I liked the action scenes. You could tell the author knew what she was talking about when it came to swordplay.” He chuckled. “Blynn, you must have liked it because a Zafara was one of the main characters.”

“Mmm… nahh, that wasn’t the reason,” Blynn said. “He made some dumb decisions and turned into a villain. That wasn’t cool. But I liked how the rest of his family rallied to help him. That was my favourite part.”

“Mine too,” Terra said. “And everything turned out okay in the end.”

“I am glad you are enjoying reminiscing,” Isengrim said as the shadows engulfed them, “but perhaps it would be prudent to cease our conversation for the time being. I worry about what might lurk down here. What might be attracted by our noise.”

“Oh… right,” Terra said, drawing her own sword.

Hyren and Blynn took out their weapons as well. “You’re a darkness mage, right?” Hyren asked Zoltan. “Can’t you hide us?”

“Obscuring all of us for an extended period of time vould take quite a bit of effort,” Zoltan said. “I vould rather conserve my energy for if ve have to fight.”

They let the amulet lead them further down the passageway, which branched off several times and seemed to go ever deeper beneath the city. Terra hoped they’d be able to find their way back out again. Of course, she thought Zoltan could probably just re-enchant the amulet to find the entrance instead of the artefact.

As they started down another fork in the tunnel, Terra began to notice doors lining the walls. No two doors were alike, as though they had been made by different people at different times, and most of them bore locks of various types. This had to have been a storage area, she realised. She wondered who besides Malkus Vile might store things down here. She wondered how many of these storage spaces belonged to people who would never come back for their treasures.

“Look out!” Zoltan suddenly said, breaking Terra out of her thoughts. The Kyrii dove behind Isengrim. With a flick of the mage’s wrist and a swirl of purple magic, a sword with a broad, curved blade appeared in his paw, just in time to parry away a dagger aimed for the Werelupe.

Isengrim spun around to strike at his assailant, who deftly flipped out of the way and back into the shadows, but not before Terra caught a glimpse of a deep blue cloak and a magenta tail quite similar to Blynn’s. Terra remembered something like that from a list of Battledome opponents in Neopia Central, and knew who this must have been.

“You von’t get avay zhat easily,” Zoltan growled. His magic-streaks pulsed, and he flickered and disappeared. The sound of blades clashing rang through the corridor, and then the attacker staggered back out into the lamplight.

She was a red Zafara wearing a tunic and cape, and her fur hung messily over her eyes as she artfully evaded Hyren’s sword and lunged for Isengrim again. The Werelupe moved to meet her blade with his own, but at the last moment she pivoted, rolled under him, and came up for another strike before he could turn around.

Terra wouldn’t let that happen. She thrust her sword between her Werelupe and the Zafara Rogue, jamming the Rogue’s dagger.

The Rogue scowled at Terra as she fumbled her blade, but managed to keep from dropping it. As Terra sliced her sword through the air for another strike, the Rogue skipped back, avoiding Isengrim’s sword as well.

Zoltan appeared behind the Zafara and reached for her with a massive paw roiling with dark magic. The Rogue saw him just in time and leaped away, again avoiding Hyren’s blade, bringing up her dagger to deflect Isengrim’s claymore, and darting around him to try to get a hit in.

Once more, Terra was there to stop her, but this time the Zafara reached into her belt pouch and threw a small vial at the owner. Terra brought up her sword to block it, and the vial broke against her blade in a splash of sickening green-brown.

The metal began to smoke. Terra dropped the sword and put a hand over her mouth in shock as the contents of the vial consumed the weapon, corroding it in a matter of moments and leaving only a rusty ruin with a hilt.

Isengrim dropped the lamp and picked her up to get her out of further danger, and swung his sword one-pawed at the Rogue, who again was just too quick for him. She ducked out of the way of Zoltan, danced past Hyren’s blade, and came around for another strike at Isengrim, knowing his owner could not protect him this time. Terra scrambled mentally to try to figure out how to stop her.

A blob of pink exploded between the Rogue and the Werelupe, sending tendrils globbing onto the walls and ceiling, and the Rogue ran right into it. For a moment her muzzle pressed against the stretchy substance and she looked like someone whose bubble gum had popped in their face—and Terra realised that was exactly what had happened.

Blynn nocked another gumball in her faerie slingshot and fired. The Rogue pulled away from the first gum explosion and another blew up on contact with her, creating more strands connecting to the tunnel walls and ceiling. She thrashed furiously, trying to get free as she began to cut through the gum with her dagger. Another shot from Blynn sent the blade flying out of the Rogue’s paw, sticking the weapon to a wall with a wad of chicle.

One last bubble-gum explosion left the Zafara Rogue hopelessly entangled in a sticky pink web. She struggled for a moment longer and then hung limp, narrowing her eyes at Blynn with a look of pure vitriol.

The disco Zafara brandished her slingshot with a flourish. “Like I said,” she said, “you can never have too many gumballs.”

“You little weirdo,” Hyren said with a laugh, pulling her into a one-armed hug. “That’ll teach me to complain. But what took you so long?”

“I had to wait for an opening,” Blynn said. “I guess that’s what I get for being the only ranged combatant in a group fulla blade-wielders.”

A look of relief came over Zoltan’s expression. “I vas vondering vhat zhat slingshot did,” he said. “It’s got some powerful magic running through it.”

“Yup,” Blynn said with a grin. “Want to see what Lost Desert potsherds do?” She reached into another pouch on her belt.

“No!” Hyren said, holding up a hand to stop her. “Not in here! They make fireworks,” he explained to Zoltan.

“Fine, fine,” Blynn said, rolling her eyes.

Terra gave Isengrim a hug before he set her down. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” his owner said.

“And I am grateful you are safe as well,” Isengrim said.

Terra’s eyes fell on the scrap heap that used to be her sword, and she swallowed hard. “Hyren, I’m so sorry,” she said. “That was such a nice sword—you helped me pick it out—“

Her Grundo shrugged. “That’s what a Caustic Potion will do, unfortunately,” he said. “I’m just glad you’re not hurt. You’re way more important than any sword.” He walked over and gave her hand a squeeze. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll get you a new one ASAP.”

“Thanks,” Terra said with a nod, but she still felt bad. She hated seeing things destroyed. Someone had worked hard to smith that weapon – and she and Hyren had spent a fair amount of Neopoints on it – so it hurt to see it meet its demise. It also didn’t help that now she was weaponless. That fact alone made her feel more vulnerable, and more of a liability to her companions. She would have to buy a new weapon right away.

Hyren turned to Zoltan. “So you’re a battlemage, huh?” the Grundo asked with a smirk. “You’re better with a blade than most.”

Battlemages, Terra knew, were magic users who also studied physical combat, usually swordplay. The advantage to this was that one could use their weapon as a casting implement, and imbue it with all sorts of useful spells—the downside was that this took quite a bit of skill and multitasking to successfully pull off, especially in the heat of battle. As a result, most battlemages were jacks of both trades and masters of neither, preferring to try to cover all their bases in a fight rather than excel in one field.

The Kyrii looked surprised for a moment, and then glanced down at his sword. “Ah—thank you,” he said. “You are… quite zhe accomplished swordspet as vell.”

“Thanks,” Hyren said. “Nice Shadow Scimitar.”

Zoltan’s weapon was indeed a scimitar with an onyx hilt and a blade that faded from steel to blackness, etched with elegant scrawling designs. He tilted it to examine it, and the blade did not reflect any lantern light, but dark magic danced across its surface. “It has served me well,” he said.

Isengrim turned to their attacker, who still glowered at them, flexing her gum-covered paws. “Now then,” the Werelupe said, tilting his head questioningly. “What’s your name?” She said nothing.

“That’s the Zafara Rogue,” Terra said. “From what I’ve heard, she lurks around the Catacombs robbing people.”

“And yet this was clearly not an attempt at banditry,” Isengrim said, folding his paws behind his back. “No thief in her right mind would go after several armed targets—or keep trying to attack one of them when they start to fight back. What have I done to earn your attention?” Again, for a response he only received silence.

Zoltan sighed. “Never mind her, Isengrim,” he said. “She’s a lost cause.”

Isengrim seemed to flinch for a moment, but he smoothed it over with a smile as he turned to his acquaintance. “I don’t believe anyone is ever a lost cause,” the Werelupe King said. “And I think she can find it in herself to believe that as well.” He looked back to the Rogue and said, “You don’t have to live like this, you know. Why not turn over a new leaf? I worry about you down here, trying to survive by stealing.” The Rogue clenched her jaw and looked away with a scowl.

“Hey,” Blynn said as she walked up next to Isengrim, looking up at the fellow member of her species. “Know why they say Zafaras are the luckiest Neopets?” The Rogue’s expression turned briefly to confusion before she forced a frown back onto it, determined to ignore Blynn, who didn’t care. “Because we help everything turn out right,” she said. “And you haven’t been doing a very good job of that.”

Although the Rogue tried to remain tough, her ears drooped and her dark gaze grew distant. Then she frowned again and squared her shoulders.

Isengrim watched her for a moment. “We’ll come back for you,” he said as he kept moving down the hall and gestured for the others to join him. “Perhaps you need some time alone with your thoughts.”

“Do you really think you can get through to her somehow?” Terra asked as they followed Zoltan further down the tunnel. “I mean… I believe nobody’s a lost cause, either, but she seemed pretty determined to not listen to you.” Isengrim was right—people had a bad habit of giving up on themselves, and that caused the most trouble.

“I hope I can,” the Werelupe said. “But in the end, it is her choice.”

Zoltan stopped. “It’s in here,” he said, holding up his amulet as it stared at a pair of double doors. The doors were made of thick, old wood that looked like it had been around for ages, and the handles were made of brass, but there were no locks anywhere. Further up on the doors, around Terra’s eye level, were two elaborate knockers fashioned into the shape of a Lupe’s head and a Jubjub, respectively. Well, they looked like knockers except that there was no knocking part.

“In here?” Isengrim asked, and Zoltan nodded. “Any magicks on this door?”

“Yes,” Zoltan said, his magic streaks flaring. “Powerful magic indeed. Its nature is unclear to me,  however—“

“Greetings, strangers,” said a small, oddly metallic voice, and Terra realised the Jubjub’s mouth had moved. She stepped back in shock, as did everyone else.

“Hoping to find access to what lies on the other side?” the Lupe head asked, moving and blinking just like a living Neopet.

Zoltan shut his hanging jaw. “Yes, ve are,” he said. “How do ve enter?”

“Oh, ‘tis a simple thing,” the Jubjub said.

“Just go through the correct door,” the Lupe said.

“But be forewarned,” the Jubjub said, “that choosing the wrong door—“

“—Will alert our master to a thief,” the Lupe said.

“That is the last thing we want right now,” Isengrim muttered under his breath. Terra knew that this whole operation could be compromised if Malkus Vile figured out that they were collecting his spell’s artefacts. And Isengrim and his family would be in severe danger if Vile knew anything about their location or their objectives.

“Okay,” Blynn said. “How do we know the right door?”

“You need only to ask,” the Jubjub said.

“You may ask us one question,” the Lupe said, “to decide upon the right door.”

“And,” said the Jubjub, “one of us will only tell the truth—“

“—And one of us will only lie,” the Lupe said.

Hyren frowned. “I’m guessing we don’t get to know which one is which,” he said. “Is one of you lying right now?”

“Is that your question?” the Jubjub asked.

Hyren clapped a hand over his mouth. “No! Just—give us a second.”

Terra groaned. “I know this puzzle,” she said. “I read a book once where the heroine came across it.”

“Well then, we’re okay,” Hyren said. “What question did she ask to solve it?”

Terra cringed. “She asked the wrong question, and went down the wrong path.”

“Of course,” Hyren said, burying his face in his hand.

“No problem at all,” Isengrim said. “I’ll just break down these doors. The wood is thick, but I think if I put all of my weight on it—“

“We would not advise that,” said the Lupe head.

The Jubjub said, “Attempting access without solving the puzzle—“

“—Will also alert our master to a thief,” the Lupe finished.

Isengrim frowned and turned to Zoltan. “Can you de-spell these doors?” the Werelupe asked.

“Using magic against us,” the Jubub said, “counts as breaking in.”

“Well, I’m not one for these types of brain teasers,” Isengrim said with a shrug. “Zoltan, you’re an intellectual sort. What do you think?”

The Kyrii stroked his beard. “Only one question,” he muttered, “and ve have to know both who is telling the truth and vhich door to open…” He sighed and shook his head. “You give me too much credit. My forte is solving problems vith magic, not riddling zhem out.”

“I’m sure the solution has to be frustratingly simple,” Terra said. “That would explain why I can’t think of it for beans.” Nothing that came into her mind seemed to be correct. She could easily think of ways to tell who was lying, of course, but that would not tell her which door to open. How could they figure out both at once? She felt as though something about the puzzle was eluding her. Was there another angle she was supposed to look at it from? Some loophole she could exploit? Was this about lateral thinking?

“I got it,” Blynn said, snapping her fingers.

“Are you sure?” Hyren asked. “Maybe we should talk about this—“

“Just trust me,” Blynn said. She looked up at the Lupe head. “Okay. Will you tell me that this is the right door?”

“Yes,” the Lupe said.

Blynn put her paw on the handle below the Lupe and pushed.

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7
Chapter 8 - Chapter 9