Chapter 15
Our journey takes us west this time,” Miles said, blowing across the lip of his mug of hot cocoa. He handed some berries from his Dispenser up to Goon, where the armadillo sat nibbling on his shoulder.
The three of us were now sitting on a poufy white couch each holding our own steaming mug. It was quite delicious—thick and creamy and a little spicy from the cinnamon. Gilner’s living room looked like it had been decorated by someone’s great-aunt Martha. There were potted plants beneath crocheted doilies on end tables, paintings of flowers on the walls, and a wooden mannequin in the corner of the room wearing at least a dozen brightly colored scarves. Jasmine lay in the center of a tasseled rug, her head resting on a pillow, while Gilner stood across from us, tossing several logs into his fireplace.
“First we escaped the Shaded Westerfalls,” Miles continued, balancing the Quest Log on his knees. “After that, we hacked our way through the Forest of Fester.”
“But why are they with you?” Gilner replied, stoking the flames with a poker.
He puckered his lips at the window, where I could still see Nodring and Dungle sitting cross-legged out on the lawn. I honestly thought they would have hurried away the moment we went inside, but to my surprise, they had obeyed the gargoyle’s strict command to wait.
“They said they wanted to help us,” Sierra explained. “And they definitely didn’t want to come here. Why is that? What happened?”
“Only that they stole from me,” Gilner said, pouting his lips. “From my Meadow.”
“The Gifting Meadow?” I asked.
“Precisely,” he huffed. “Snuck in and got away with a present, quel dommage.”
Normally, Gilner’s Gifting Meadow would appear at the beginning of our Quest, and we were given a chance to roll his Die of Wonder for a special prize. Weapons, artifacts, magical potions—any number of items to help us along the way—could be acquired from his meadow. I could still see the bizarre mushrooms that exploded into wrapped packages when Gilner waved his hand.
Miles winced as he gulped down a swallow of hot cocoa. “How did they get in there?”
“I have no idea!” Gilner barked. “But that Nodring fellow is a crafty sneak. He has a certain way about him when it comes to impossible entrances and exits. Throw him in a dungeon, he finds a secret lever to release him. Lock him in a box, and he weasels his way out. Bah! Plus, I do not like him.”
“And he shoots arrows from his hands,” Miles added.
Gilner vigorously pointed a finger at Miles, as though that was the best reason why Nodring couldn’t be trusted.
“What are you going to do to them?” I asked.
Back at the bridge, they might have initially tried to swindle us, but Nodring and Dungle had since tried to make it right for what had happened to Jasmine. They could have abandoned us to figure out how to help her on our own, which would have been the smartest thing for them to do. I wouldn’t have wanted to be in their shoes after catching a glimpse of Gilner’s wrath.
Tapping his lip with a long, painted claw, Gilner sucked in a breath. “This does change things a little, but for now, I must tend to our friend. The Harvester has slept long enough, n’est-ce pas?”
“Can you really bring her back?” Sierra asked.
Clucking his tongue, Gilner gave her a wry chuckle. “Mais bien sûr. Here at my Fortress, ma petite Iron-Hearted Sierra? I can do so many wondrous miracles.”
With a dramatic flourish, Gilner rhythmically flicked his fingers above Jasmine’s curled-up body. His bracelets jangled, and the curlers on his head wobbled noisily like bells. The flames in the fireplace surged with light and then, with a sudden croak, Gilner’s performance came to a stop. I held my breath, as the room fell silent, but Jasmine didn’t move, her condition not appearing to have changed one bit.
“Uh, oh.” Gilner’s mouth dropped open.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Why did you not tell me you rolled Mystery Waddlewort’s Die of Destiny?” Lowering his hands, the gargoyle heaved a sigh of defeat. “This is his magic. He has blocked me, non?”
I flinched. “Blocked you? How?”
“So long as you play Mystery’s game, I cannot offer you any of my gifts,” Gilner explained. “I am sorry, my Champions. But there is nothing I can do.”
I then remembered part of the message Kibbrick had delivered to us back on the shore.
No Madge to help or give you clues.
No Gilner’s gifts to share with you.
This was more of Mystery’s meddling. That was why Gilner had not appeared at the beginning of our Quest, and why he was prevented from helping save Jasmine now.
“Then what are we supposed to do?” Miles asked.
Drumming his fingers against his chin, Gilner shook his head. “I suppose you will have to continue on without Jasmine. You could leave her here. She will be very comfortable in my guest bedroom. And then, once you have finished your Quest, she will return with you to your world.”
Continue without Jasmine? Without our best fighter? There was no way we could do that! Dusting his hands together, Gilner moved away from Jasmine and headed for the kitchen.
“Don’t you have potions or a spell we could use?” Sierra asked, climbing to her feet.
“Mais oui, I have both,” Gilner replied. He removed the pot of hot chocolate from his stove and returned to refill our mugs. Though none of us were thirsty anymore, he poured some all the same. “But alas, I cannot give them to you. Mystery’s rules specifically prevent my intrusion. It is like a . . . how you call it? A barrier. Yes, that’s it! That little piggy-man has put up a barrier against me. I am powerless to offer you any assistance . . .” His frown deepened for a moment, but then he jerked his head up with an idea. “Wait a minute! Iron-Hearted Sierra, you are an alternate, non?”
“I’m always an alternate,” Sierra said.
“Oui, oui, I knew that. And didn’t something like this happen to your Band a couple of Quests ago, when you were hacking through the Desert of Sorrow and Serpents?”
Sierra looked puzzled. “Are you talking about when Michael was trapped in that gelatinous cube?”
“That’s it!” Gilner cheered. “And because you were an alternate, you were able to free him by—”
“Swapping Characters,” Sierra gasped. “You’re right!”
“What do you mean you swapped Characters?” I asked.
“Because our Artisan was unable to escape that cube, but he also wasn’t losing any bloodstones, he couldn’t be reset to the beginning,” Sierra explained, her eyes darting back and forth anxiously. “Our Band was going to have to wait for him to eventually starve to death, and that could’ve taken days. But since I’m an alternate, I can play by a different set of rules. There’s a section about it in the Field Guide. You should read it when you get a chance. If a Champion ever becomes frozen, or swallowed by a whale, or cursed by an Eternal Slumber Spell, or—”
“Okay, yes, I get it,” I chimed in impatiently.
“Anyway, if something like that should happen, an alternate can take over their Character role. And this is the best part! If the Character hasn’t died, and my Band volunteers me to swap, they don’t have to go back to the beginning. When I took over Michael’s role as the Artisan, he immediately popped out of the gelatinous cube, and became the Luminary for the rest of our Quest! Except, Gilner?” Sierra glanced over at the gargoyle. “The only way it worked last time was because we were fighting those troglodytes. That’s part of the rule, right? We have to be engaged in battle in order to make the swap.”
“Vraiment, mon cheri. This is true.” Gilner had his back to us, but as he slowly turned, I could see how his countenance had drastically changed. “There is no other way.”
“What are you doing?” Miles asked warily. He pointed to the gargoyle’s outstretched claws which had begun to lengthen to the size of daggers.
No longer friendly, Gilner’s eyes had turned a fierce shade of red, and he looked terrifying once again, only now it seemed his rage wasn’t directed at Nodring and Dungle this time.
“You dare steal from me!” Gilner seethed, glaring at our mugs. “My cocoa is spécial, and you take it without asking?”
“You’re joking, right?” Miles sputtered, shrinking into the couch cushions.
“Oh, ho, ho! My cocoa is now a joke to you?” Gilner snarled. “I cannot allow you to insult me in my own home.”
Gilner had gone from friend to a vicious foe in the blink of an eye. I grabbed Miles by his sleeve and heaved him off the couch as the gargoyle puffed out his chest and pounced. And just like that, we were thrust back into battle.
Time stopped and a familiar voice thundered through the living room. “Roll for your Fate!” The Champion’s Catch appeared, hovering in front of Gilner’s red-eyed visage.
“This can’t be normal, right?” I asked, glancing at the Die of Fate resting in my palm.
“No, it isn’t!” Miles said, gaping down at his mug. “I’m allergic to chocolate! I’m not even supposed to drink this. And he was the one who gave us the cocoa. We didn’t steal it!” He tossed aside his empty mug and began attacking an itch beneath his chin with his fingernails.
“You guys, listen,” Sierra said, snorting with laughter. “Gilner is trying to help us out! That’s how we can make the switch. We have to be in battle, so that’s why he attacked us. Now, I have to pull out my Spark and place it across the Catch.” She balanced her Hero’s Device across the edge of the Champion’s Catch. “Now, Lucas, you have to tell the Game that you want to swap your alternate for Jasmine.”
“Why me?” I blurted.
“Because you’re the Band Leader.”
“Oh, yeah,” I grumbled uneasily. “So, that means if this works, and Jasmine wakes up, she’ll no longer be the Harvester.”
“But she’ll be the Luminary instead,” Sierra replied with a shrug, her blonde hair bobbing. “It’s cool, trust me. She’s going to love it!”
“I’m not so sure about that,” I said. Though playing as the Luminary may have indeed been cool, I doubted Jasmine would jump for joy once she found out she had swapped Characters without having a say in the matter.
“Well, it’s either that or she stays here with Gilner,” Sierra said. “And I don’t think she’d want to do that.”
“She’s not going to be happy about any of this,” Miles muttered.
“Roll for your Fate!” the voice of Champion’s Quest repeated.
“Fine,” I said, giving in. “Let’s do this.”
Following Sierra’s instructions, I made the formal request to swap her Character with Jasmine’s. Then I looked up at the ceiling, waiting for the voice of Champion’s Quest to say she had accepted our request, but nothing happened.
“Don’t worry,” Sierra assured me, acting as though everything was going as planned. “This is going to work.”
As I tossed the Die of Fate into the Catch, it caught the edge of the bowl, sending the small cube into a spiral. When it finally toppled over, I heaved a groan of annoyance as the one side I never wanted to see turned up on the game piece.
“It’s an X,” Miles gasped. “Lucas, why did you do that?”
“It’s not like I can control it, Miles!” I fired back.
Whenever we rolled an X on the Die of Fate, instead of granting one of our Band members an Opportunity in battle, the game gave it to our opponent. Which, in this case, was the savage gargoyle, and he was already a powerful monster. Gilner didn’t need any more ammunition to use against us.
Miles looked ready to faint. “I know you don’t like it when I do this, but”—he pursed his lips and recited from memory—“Twenty-eight Strength, eighteen Speed, twenty-two Wisdom, and forty Vitality. I sure hope we know what we’re doing.”
“The gargoyle now claims Shatter Breath,” the voice of Champion’s Quest announced after I rolled the fidgety Die of Opportunity, and a whirlwind of sparkling dust whisked away the Champion’s Catch. “Let the battle begin!”