Wily felt as ridiculous as he looked. A wooden ring sat on his head with a dozen layers of thin netting hanging down from it. It felt like he was wearing a set of curtains. Fortunately, the mesh was thin enough that his vision wasn’t completely clouded, but it did give everything in front of him a thick, milky glow. His human, hobgoblet, and elf companions also wore the vectrite-protective netting as they pushed through the jungle. It was lucky that Moshul didn’t have blood to suck, because there was not enough netting in all of Hammock Town to cover his gigantic body. Even Pryvyd was too tall for the single nets they typically used. The helpful oglodytes had quickly sewn on an extra few inches of fabric so that the vectrites couldn’t make a meal of his ankles.
Jayrus was whistling happily as he led the group toward the rocky peninsula that was home to the Recluself’s cave. They had been walking for the better part of an hour, passing through small creeks teeming with bugs, and prickly underbrush even more dense with insects. Wily had spent much of that time explaining to Jayrus and the other Hammock oglodytes what had happened to them since they left the royal palace eight days earlier. He also told them of all the horrible things Stalag had done in the past, but thought it best not to mention who Kestrel was.
Wily felt a boot kick in the calf from behind.
“My apologies, Roveeka,” Pryvyd said. “Didn’t mean to kick you. A bit hard to see where I am going.”
“No problem,” Roveeka said. “I didn’t feel a thing.”
“That’s because he kicked me,” Wily said.
“Whoops,” Pryvyd replied. “Guess it’s hard to see who’s who as well.”
Wily heard a loud thump followed by a noise that reminded him of mushrooms being squashed in a press. He turned to see Moshul in a panic. He was pointing to his leg and waving to the others.
Looking down, Wily spied a small tentacled creature clinging to Moshul’s leg. It had big blue eyes like a gristle puppy and a happy expression on its face.
Help! Moshul signed.
“I’ll give you a hand,” Pryvyd said. “Just relax. Shouldn’t take more than a moment, big guy.”
“Oh,” Jayrus said. “Lucky you! The hugtopus brings good luck.”
Moshul was shaking his head.
“He’s terrified of things with tentacles,” Odette said. “He just wants it off.”
“Easy enough.” Jayrus said. “You’ll just have to kill it.”
Wily eyed the super cute creature. Moshul did too as he trembled.
“It’s the only way,” the oglodyte continued. “They only let go when they want to. Otherwise you need to stab it in the head with something sharp.”
The hugtopus looked pleadingly up at Moshul.
Fine, the moss golem signed. I will wait. Don’t kill it.
“No worries,” Jayrus said. “The longest they cling to you is a mere two or three years.”
Moshul’s jeweled eyes looked ready to cry.
“That’s it,” Jayrus called out, pointing a shrouded hand at a large wooden door that looked particularly out of place in the stone wall that seemed to have sprouted from the jungle floor.
“I’m guessing it’s locked,” Odette said. “And it doesn’t even look like it has a keyhole.”
“It’s bolted from the inside,” Jayrus said. “As I mentioned, the Recluself doesn’t come out much.”
Wily looked to see that the stone hinges of the door were buried deep in the rock wall.
“Even if I had my screwdriver or arrowtusk lock picks,” Wily said, “it would do little to help break in through this door.”
“With a mechanical winch,” Kestrel said, “we could pry it open.”
“Luckily, we have something better,” Pryvyd said. “We have a golem.”
Pryvyd began signing to Moshul, who nodded and stepped up to the door. Moshul clenched his mud fist and punched the door. Despite the intense force, the door held fast, barely sustaining a dent.
“That’s not how I thought this would go,” Pryvyd said. “Try again.”
Moshul swung even harder. This time the door splintered but still remained taut on its hinges. Wily saw out of the corner of his eye that Kestrel, hands still tied, had wandered off. He was approaching a portion of the stone wall that jutted out slightly from the rest of the surface.
“You, moss golem,” Kestrel said. “Use your fist over here.”
Moshul looked to Odette for approval. He signed, Should I?
Odette’s netting shook up and down. “If you can’t tell, I am nodding right now,” Odette said. “Go ahead.”
“One hard hit should do the trick,” Kestrel said, pointing to a fracture point in the rock.
Moshul struck the spot with the side of his fist. A thin slab of rock cracked off the wall and slid to the ground. The chunk nearly fell on the hugtopus, which was still wrapped tightly around Moshul’s leg.
“What good is that going to do?” Odette asked impatiently.
“I think I know what Kestrel is thinking,” Wily said with a glimmer of hope. “Slide the tip of the stone into the gap between the bottom of the door and the ground. If a door has been hung on rock hinges, then it can also be lifted off them. Moshul, press down on the exposed portion of the rock.”
Moshul smashed his foot down on the stone just as Wily had instructed. Like a fulcrum and lever, the other side of the rock moved upward, putting force on the bottom of the door. Sure enough, the door was lifted up and off its hinges. With a mighty crash, it fell forward toward the group, slamming into the ground.
“That’s not good!” Odette said with a groan, looking past the toppled wooden door.
Wily followed her line of sight to see that just beyond was yet another wooden door seemingly just as thick.
“This guy really doesn’t like his bugs,” Odette said.
“I don’t blame him,” Wily said, swatting a vectrite by his head.
Moshul tossed the fallen door behind them and picked up the stone slab. He repeated the very same trick and dislodged the next door from its hinges too. Fortunately, there were no further doors that they could see.
“Thank you for the nets and guiding us here,” Wily said to Jayrus and the other Hammock oglodytes.
“We’re not going to let you go in there alone,” Jayrus said. “We plan on helping you until you no longer need our assistance. We’re oglodytes. We gaberflimp. That’s what we do for each other. That’s what we’ll do for you.”
“Gaberflimp?” Roveeka said.
“Ah yes,” Jayrus explained. “We have thirty-two words that mean ‘help.’ Gaberflimp means ‘to give assistance with no expectation of a favor in return.’”
“Absolutely nothing,” Odette said. “That’s what you have in common with mainland oglodytes.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Jayrus said.
“You have no idea,” Wily said.
Jayrus and the other oglodytes took the rear as Wily and his companions entered the mouth of the cave. Inside, it was quite dark; only the few rays of sun from the outside kept it from being pitch-black. Wily was unimpressed. Even the most inhospitable dungeons should be lit properly. How else could invaders have a fair chance against traps? It was clear that the Recluself was not familiar with proper dungeon etiquette. Clearly, he had no desire for anyone to make it even this far.
As they continued inside, Wily discovered that there was more than just oglodytes following them. A persistent swarm of vectrites, still determined to get their lunch, buzzed circles around the netted heads of Odette and Wily. Wily was about to ask Jayrus to pull out one of the scented candles when he heard a loud whoosh, followed by a screech. Something large and black went flapping overhead. It was a giant bat. Wily ducked as the creature soared overhead again. But the winged rodent wasn’t coming for them. Instead it was getting a meal of its own. The vectrites that had been overhead were gone. In the dark, Wily could hear the sound of the bats crunching on insects.
“You can have your hugtopus. I want to keep one of those as a pet,” Roveeka said, “with their cute beady eyes and pointy teeth. So snuggable.”
Through the dim, Wily could see the bat, which had broken vectrite legs and suckers sticking out of its blood-covered mouth. The bat was not cute at all, in his opinion, but he was certainly glad the bats were there.
“Let’s keep moving,” Kestrel said, taking the lead, the tunnel getting darker with every step.
Pryvyd asked Moshul to release his fireflies to light the way, but the moss golem refused, afraid that the insects might be an easy snack for the cloud of bats flapping overhead. Without the fireflies, the group had to continue on in near darkness as the stone cave sloped downward. As they progressed deeper, Wily thought he could hear a waterfall nearby. In fact, the water sounded very close. Too close.
TWANG-CLICK. Wily knew that sound. A foot accidentally triggering a trapdoor. The stone floor opened beneath Kestrel’s feet, sending him falling into a swirling whirlpool. Wily’s father was churned in circles by the swift-moving water. Before he was sucked down into the hole at the center of the whirlpool, Kestrel reached out with his bound hands, grabbing hold of the ledge between the stone floor and the hanging trapdoor. His trembling fingers were the only thing keeping the rapidly rushing water from sweeping him into the eye of the whirlpool.
Wily, who had been a few steps behind Kestrel, was still safely standing on solid ground. He looked down to see that his father’s fingers were slipping from the intense force being exerted on them. There were only moments before Kestrel would be lost to the darkness. Wily flung himself to his belly and reached an arm out toward his father.
“Grab my hand!” Wily shouted over the gurgling water.
He wasn’t a moment too soon either. Kestrel grabbed for his son when his hands slipped from the slick rock. Wily pulled with all his strength as the water tugged Kestrel toward the center of the whirlpool. Wily felt as if his arms might be torn out of his shoulder sockets. He looked into his father’s eyes, the eyes that looked so much like his own, as he struggled to hoist him out. His father did not look like the cruel Infernal King. His father looked like a person full of fear and panic. Just when Wily thought he would not be able to hold him any longer, Moshul’s strong arms pulled him and his father onto the stone floor of the sloping chamber.
“That was close,” Roveeka said.
“As far as traps go,” Kestrel said, “this one isn’t very impressive.”
“What are you talking about?” Wily said. “It nearly killed you!”
“Exactly,” Kestrel said as he got to his feet. “Nearly. What good is a trap that only nearly kills you? If I had designed it, it would have done the job it was intended to do.”
Wily didn’t know how to respond to this. He waited for his father to thank him, but it didn’t come.
“Let’s move along,” Kestrel said. “And keep your eye out for more sloppy traps. This Recluself is clearly in need of some sophistication.”
As Kestrel inched his way along the narrow band of rock hugging the whirlpool trap, Wily couldn’t help but stare at him incredulously. He was angry, not only at his father, but himself too. He had just saved the life of the man he hated most. And he hadn’t hesitated even for a second and had acted purely on instinct. Foolish, regrettable instinct.
“I can’t believe I just did that,” Wily said quietly to Pryvyd beside him. “If it had been the reverse and I was dangling, he would have let me drop.”
“Listen, Wily…,” Pryvyd whispered back.
“I know what you are going to say,” Wily interrupted. “I did the right thing.”
“Actually,” Pryvyd confided, “next time, I was hoping you would be a little slower in your rescuing. I think Kestrel could use a dunk in a pitch-black whirlpool.” Pryvyd gave him a wink. “But we should move along. We don’t want him getting too far ahead of us.”
As the group continued down through the tunnel, Wily saw that Kestrel took much more cautious steps and ran his fingers along the curves in the walls, searching for traps. Between father and son, the group managed to avoid triggering a falling boulder or activating a floor set to fire out poisonous needles. Despite not seeing anyone, Wily had the sense they were being watched, perhaps from one of the hidden maintenance tunnels that almost certainly ran parallel to the main corridor.
As the downward-sloping tunnel flattened out, they reached another wooden door that appeared to have been hastily closed. There was no need to lift this barrier off its hinges. A simple push swung it wide open. On the other side of the door, Wily discovered a long hall painted with colors that were swirling in constant motion.
“It’s just like the mural at Halberd Keep,” Wily said.
He remembered how the colors had formed a picture that only he could see. It had shown him Stalag plotting the rise of the Infernal Golem and given him a clue to his enemy’s plan, although he hadn’t quite understood it at the time.
“This has been here since my ancestors came to the island,” Jayrus said, “long before the Recluself made it his grotto. It shows the world beyond the island. We are happy on the Island of Delight and have never seen the benefit of peering into other folks’ lives.”
As Wily stared at the walls, a picture began to form. His heart beat fast as his mother’s face came into focus. She looked frightened. As more of the mural took shape, he could see that Valor was by her side and they were in the middle of intense combat. Stalag stood on the drawbridge of the royal palace as gearfolk rolled into the atrium. Lumina and Valor were trying to fend them off, but there were dozens, each armed with an ax that looked to be made from smoke. Impish and Gremlin, Lumina’s loyal ferret companions, were knocked aside by the magically assisted machines as they continued to attack the palace. Wily could feel his heart pounding as he watched his loved ones struggle. If only he could jump into the mural and teleport to his mother’s side. Stalag laughed as he raised his hands and shot arrows of crackling energy at Lumina. She dodged out of the way, but the forces against her and Valor were too great. They tried to back away and escape, but they were cornered by gearfolk and a snagglecart. The rolling cage swallowed them up, leaving them trapped inside. Stalag was laughing as he approached the side of the snagglecart. The cavern mage turned to an enchanted gearfolk and spoke. While Wily could not hear what he said, he could read the words slipping out from the mage’s gray, cracked lips: “Take them to the prisonaut and lock them away.” Lumina and Valor stood defiantly, but Wily could see his mother was trembling.
“I’ll save you,” Wily called out to the wall.
The image disappeared into a swirl of colors, leaving Wily desperate for one last peek.
“I saw my mom and Valor in danger,” Wily said, turning to the others.
“Fighting Stalag?” Pryvyd said with equal concern. “I did too.”
“So did I,” Odette said.
“And the danger is just as Kestrel described,” Wily said. “He was telling the truth about that.”
“Lumina could normally take down three gearfolk at a time,” Pryvyd said. “But she couldn’t with them. The gearfolk are far more powerful than before.”
“What are we going to do?” Odette said, lost in thought. “Even with our help, it may not be enough.”
Wily was wondering the very same thing. Seeing this had changed everything. They would need more to defeat Stalag and his fellow mages. Palojax, the great lair beast, was gone. How would they save the day this time?
“Up here,” Kestrel called from the end of the hall.
Wily moved to where his father was standing. Before them was a huge underground grotto. Just as Jayrus had said, a majestic wooden sailing ship was floating in the protected waters of the cave. It was roughly the size of the Coal Fox and appeared to be made of polished wood of all colors and sizes. Wily could only imagine how many hours, months, and years it had taken for a single person to build it. He watched it rock gently as waves lapped through the mouth of the cave.
Wily’s attention was drawn to the roof of the cavern. It appeared as if it was moving too. At first Wily thought it was the reflection of the rippling water below, but after a few moments of careful inspection, he realized he was staring not at a stone ceiling but rather hundreds of thousands of hanging bats.
“Out! Get out!” a voice called from the ship. “You’ll bring them in. They probably followed you. Why couldn’t you have just left me alone?”
“There are no vectrites on us,” Wily shouted in response.
“One could be hiding in your clothes,” the voice called. “Waiting to pop out and get me.”
“Wouldn’t your bats catch them?” Roveeka asked.
“Can’t be sure. Don’t want to take any chances.”
“Your visitors are not oglodytes,” Jayrus called out. “One is even an elf like you. Hear them out. You at least owe them that.”
A figure appeared on the deck of the ship. Wily squinted and could see an elf with hair as blue as Odette’s and ears just as pointy as hers. He was wearing well-pressed slacks and a starched shirt.
“Doesn’t seem like you’re a big fan of this island,” Odette said.
“I hate everything about it,” the Recluself said. “I’d have left a dozen years ago if I could.”
“Does the ship not fit through the exit of the grotto?” Roveeka asked.
“Of course it would,” the elf scoffed. “I was the Brine Baron’s master engineer. I never would have made a mistake like that. I measured the exit with a ruler many times.”
“Then why are you still here?” Wily asked. “Do you need people to help you sail?”
“I built it so that one person could sail it alone. All the ropes and sails have been automated with exact precision. I don’t need anyone.”
“So…,” Roveeka said.
“It’s the Eversteel Sea keeping me here,” the elf said. “The last time I was out there, I almost drowned. I barely made it to the shore alive.”
“But you didn’t…,” Roveeka replied.
“I can’t go back out there,” the elf said. “What if there is another storm? Or a tidal wave? What if I am knocked into the sea again? Once horrible. Always horrible.”
“You should give the ocean a second chance,” Kestrel said. “Everything and everyone deserves that.” It didn’t take Wily a second to understand that these last words were meant for him and not the Recluself.
“From my little experience,” Jayrus said, “the sea can be quite lovely.”
Roveeka interjected. “But I understand being scared. Lately, I haven’t been feeling very brave at all.”
“My brain knows the sea to be safe,” the elf said, “but my heart is less sure. A lot less sure. I keep thinking about the waves crashing over my head and the turtle dragon that knocked me off my last ship.”
“So you’re just going to stay here?” Odette asked.
“I will wait here until I know I will be completely safe on the Eversteel Sea,” the elf said.
“Nothing is completely safe,” Odette said. “And besides, the adventure of the new is what keeps us alive. It’s what keeps us moving forward. We all need to be hunting for our own treasure, so to speak, or we end up stuck in a cave. Waiting.” Wily could see that those last words meant more to Odette than they might have to the Recluself.
“We want to borrow your ship,” Pryvyd said. “We need to get off the island, no matter how safe or not it may be out on the ocean.”
“And I think you should come with us,” Odette said.
“I couldn’t,” the Recluself said.
“We can’t force you,” Odette said.
“Well … maybe you could. If you kidnapped me, I wouldn’t have a choice.”
“Is he asking us to take him captive?” Wily whispered to Pryvyd.
“He is indeed an unusual fellow,” Jayrus answered from nearby.
“Stay where you are,” Wily said. “We’re stealing your ship.”
“How dare you!” the Recluself cried. “If you want to get on board, take those rowboats to the ship. Then you can pull the ship out using the cave pulleys.”
The elf pointed to a trio of small-oared skiffs pulled up onto the cave floor.
“Even an automated ship,” Jayrus said, “needs a crew. We could all use an adventure. We will join you. Besides, after what you saw on the wall, it sounds like you need us.”
The other oglodytes all nodded under their nets as they boarded one of the three rowboats.
Wily and his companions boarded the other pair of rowboats and rowed their way out to the grand sailing vessel.
“Hurry up,” the Recluself said. “The tides are in our favor.” Then his voice changed to one of panic. “Actually, get away from me. Go back from where you came.” Then he changed his mind once more. “Then again, I couldn’t stand another night here.”
A rope ladder made it an easy climb aboard. When Wily got on deck, he was surprised by just how much attention had been paid to it. The Recluself might have been a terrified man, but he was also a master craftsman. He was sitting on the deck with his hands held over his head. Roveeka sat down to try to calm him.
“It’s a very beautiful ship,” she said. “Does it have a name?”
“Never bothered,” the elf said. “I guess I could call it the Sheer Terror.”
“I think you should work on a better name than that,” Roveeka answered.
Pryvyd and Moshul found the ropes that were connected to the cave pulleys. The thick lines stretched from the mast of the ship to the mouth of the cave. With some strong tugs, Moshul and the band of oglodytes were able to pull the ship out of the cave and into the sunshine.
Wily looked over to see the Recluself staring back at the dark grotto as the ship drifted into the sea.
“What a horrible place,” the elf muttered.
“Or rather the best place,” Jayrus said as he pulled the vectrite netting off his head.
“Let’s set sail back to Panthasos,” Pryvyd announced to the others. “There’s no time to waste.”
“No,” Wily said. “Stalag is too powerful with both his magic and Kestrel’s machines combined. We need something else to even the field.” Kestrel was already nodding in agreement. “We need to find the Eversteel Forge.”
Pryvyd and Odette, who had both witnessed the same destruction in the cave mural, were left considering this.
“I think you are right,” Odette said. “It may be our only chance.”
“We should go back to Lumina and the royal palace,” Pryvyd said. “We may never find the Eversteel Forge. How can we take that chance?”
“Hold on,” Odette said. “We are the best treasure hunters the world has ever seen. Who got to the center of the Maze of the Dissolved? We did. Who plundered Graymold Manor? We did. Who found the most valuable treasure of all in Carrion Tomb?” Odette gave Wily a big grin.
“We did,” Pryvyd said, unable to restrain a smile.
“We’ll find the forge,” Odette said. “I believe in us.”
Pryvyd sighed. “Okay. But if we don’t find it before sundown tomorrow, we head back to Panthasos.”
“Agreed,” Wily said. He turned to Kestrel. “This has nothing to do with the fact that you wanted us to do it. It just happens to be the best idea to save the kingdom.”
“I will assist in any way I can,” Kestrel replied with a gentle bow of his head.
“To the west!” Jayrus shouted as he gripped the wheel of the ship. “There is a world out there that needs our unzenbach.”
Wily guessed that unzenbach was another oglodyte word for “help.” He couldn’t be sure of the exact translation, but by the way Jayrus had said it … Wily couldn’t agree more.