Chapter 62 - The Guide
"Don't judge a book by its cover."
Idiom
Bethany cracked open her eyes, shivering from the damp chill in the air. A drop of water dripped from the ceiling and landed on her nose, and she wiped it away in irritation. For a moment, she felt like she was a child again, hidden in the woods in the middle of a cold night.
The room was dim, lit by a single candle burning in an ancient brass sconce. The flame cast flickering candlelight across the tiny, medieval bedroom. Another water droplet fell from the ceiling and landed on the rough stone floor, momentarily disturbing the absolute silence around her.
"My head," Bethany moaned, rolling over onto her side. Her mind felt fuzzy, and her eyes struggled to adjust to the dim light.
The bedding beneath her was comprised of coarse straw stuffed inside a dirty cotton fabric sack. The tough ends of the straw stuck out of the sack, poking at her legs and making her itch. The only other item in the room was a small chest that lay at the foot of the bed . Her backpack had been placed in the corner of the room, away from the dripping water.
"What happened? We were at the stadium, listening to the gods, and then the carpet…"
The fuzziness in Bethany's mind abruptly cleared, and she abruptly sat up. "Rocky? Emily? Elias? Anybody?" she shouted.
No one answered.
"Fuck," she hissed, as she crawled out of the bed. She quickly grabbed her backpack and swung it over her shoulder as she pushed open the bedroom door.
Beyond the door was a narrow stone hallway, and a four-foot-tall gargoyle staring directly at her.
The gargoyle was comprised of grey stone with interspersed dark green patches that resembled moss. Its bat-like wings were tucked along its sides like a blanket, and its shoulders were so broad that it barely fit in the hallway. Its pointed ears and grotesque appearance would have made it a fitting addition to any old gothic-style castle.
"You are awake already? But you just got here. How strange," the gargoyle said in a deep, gruff monotone. "I… guess there's no helping it. Please, follow me and… wait! What are you doing!"
Bethany formed her Hammer of Light and swung for the gargoyle's head. The creature, surprisingly fast, blocked the attack with its left wing, though Bethany's blow fractured the stone where it struck. The gargoyle scrambled down the hallway in a panic and into the dining hall at the end.
It peeked its head around the corner with a fear-filled scowl.
"What the hell are you doing, crazy human?" it barked, its deep, controlled monotone abandoned for an outraged anger. "You… you can't attack your guide. It's against the rules!"
"My guide?" Bethany asked, lowering her hammer to her side.
The gargoyle waddled back into the hallway, cautious eyes glaring at the aggressive player.
"Is your brain addled?" it said gruffly. "You're in the Trial by Fire. This is your accommodations, until the other eight teams arrive."
"Other teams?"
The gargoyle gave an exasperated sigh.
"Look, this will be a lot easier if I you will let me do my job and show you. Can you put away that hammer and act like a rational person?"
"Are you going to attack me when I do?" Bethany asked suspiciously.
"Why would Ah Puch and Agon want you dead before the Trial even starts?" reasoned the gargoyle, its eyes fixed on Bethany's hammer. "That's not very fun for the gods, is it?"
The gargoyle flexed its injured wing, and a fragment of stone fell to the ground. It stared down at the chunk of stone like it had just lost a finger.
It's like the creature I encountered in the library before the contest began – the invisible one who was modifying the library.
Bethany unsummoned her hammer. Its light faded, leaving only the flickering candlelight illuminating the darkness.
The gargoyle relaxed and beckoned Bethany into the dining hall.
"My friends…"
"There are twelve bedrooms in that hallway. Do the math."
"Are they safe?"
The Gargoyle rolled its eyes. "Ah Puch? Agon? Entertained gods? Ringing any bells from five seconds ago? Your friends are just asleep. They will be for hours. Gods, why did you have to wake up early? It's thrown everything off."
"You don't have to be so rude about it, umm..., gargoyle thing."
"Olive."
"What?"
"My name is Olive," she repeated gruffly. "It's short for Olivinite."
"I didn't know monsters had names," Bethany admitted as she tried to open another bedroom. She yanked on the brass handle, but even with her enhanced strength, the door didn't budge.
"I'm not a monster. I'm a guide. Guides get names. It's one of the perks of the job. I… hey! Will you knock it off? Bedrooms are private spaces. Only the assigned player has access."
Bethany gave up on the door and cautiously walked towards Olive, keeping her eyes peeled for danger.
The dining hall was massive but sparsely furnished. A massive oak table lay in the center, its surface dented after centuries of use. It was large enough to easily accommodate all twelve of them twice over. Surrounding the table were twelve black chairs, their backs carved into the faces of twelve different monsters they'd fought over the past several weeks.
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The one with the leaves – that's the monster I fought in the park on the very first day. There's the pasta bull, and the Spartans. Is… is that a dog made of plastic? Who had to fight that?
There were no windows anywhere in the hall, and Bethany thought they might be underground. Three passageways led off the left side of the hall, but she couldn't see the end of them in the dim light.
Against the far wall lay a roaring fireplace, its warmth driving away the cool dampness of the stone. A long leather couch lay in front of the fire, its cushions welcoming. A haphazard pile of firewood had been dumped in the corner, though a few of the pieces had started to be neatly stacked along the wall.
Bethany headed straight for the fire and tossed another piece of firewood into the flame. She plopped down on the couch to drive the chill from her bones.
Olive waddled her way across the room until she stood beside the fire facing Bethany. "I was stacking the wood when I heard you wake up. I was procrastinating – thought I had more time."
Olive closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the head against her stony skin.
"Well, I guess it can't be helped. Are you ready, human?"
"My name is Bethany. And ready for what? I still have no idea what's going on."
"That's obvious," Olive muttered, rolling her eyes again.
"You're kinda a jerk, aren't you," Bethany scolded, her temper flaring.
Olive's own anger erupted. "Gee, I wonder why? Maybe it's because I'm the unluckiest guide ever!"
Olive extends her injured wing and levels an accusatory glare at Bethany.
"I land a hothead player who, one, wakes up early, so I don't have any time to prepare. Two, wields a weapon that can hurt gargoyles, which shouldn't even be possible at this stage of the game. And three, uses that weapon to shatter my wing! Gargoyles don't have any natural healing, Bethany!"
Olive flapped her wing in fury, and another pebble fell off. Her anger cracked, and frustrated muddy tears erupted from her stone eyes. The gargoyle slumped against the wall and buried her face in her claws.
"Two minutes into my job as a guide, and I already failed," she whimpered, folding her wings across her chest to hide. "This team had kids. It was supposed to be easy, but I couldn't even handle one player. I'm the worst guide ever."
Guilt welled up in Bethany's heart as she stared at the crying gargoyle. She got off the couch and sat down beside Olive. "I'm sorry I hurt your wing," she apologized, though the words didn't feel enough. "I can ask Rocky to try to heal it when he wakes up. I don't know if that will work, but we could try."
Olive glanced over her wing. "He's the one with the stone axe?" she asked hopefully.
"And the healing talent," Bethany assured her.
Olive wiped away her last tear with a careful claw. "He… he might be able to merge the two talents…"
They sat together in awkward silence for a few minutes.
"Do you… want to start over?" Bethany finally asked as the crackle of the fire filled the room.
Olive silently nodded her agreement.
Bethany extended her hand. "Hi, I'm Bethany. I'm kinda a jerk."
Olive snorted with laughter and gently pressed her claw into Bethany's palm. "I'm Olive, your guide for the Arena."
"Well, Olive, I'm in your hands. I'll follow your lead."
Olive's stone eyes flashed with excitement, and she ran up to the long, empty wall adjacent to the fireplace. Extending her wings, she closed her eyes and tried to recite her introductory script from memory.
"Okay, well, you're in the Trial by Fire. I mean, you know that already, so I probably didn't have to say it. And there are rules. Umm… lots of rules. Wait, hold on…"
She opened her eyes and traced her claws along the stone wall, searching for a hidden switch. Bethany waited awkwardly, trying not to laugh at the gargoyle's growing frustration at her inability to find it.
"Come on. I know it's supposed to be around here somewhere. I didn't have time and… ah, found it!"
Olive pressed the switch, and four tapestries unfurled from the top of the wall. The first was a list. The second was a man in a hot air balloon. The third was a map of Regina, and the fourth was a series of short sentences, which were still being weaved into the tapestry.
"The teams and the rules!" Olive declared as the last one descended. "Everything you get to know before the Arena starts is contained on these four tapestries."
Bethany strode over to the leftmost tapestry, which contained three team names and nine spots to be filled out.
"That one is the… umm… registration tapestry… I think," Olive guessed, twiddling her claws in embarrassment. "Sorry, I'm still learning. The gods constantly tweak the Trials, so guides only get their assignments once the first team arrives. That was six hours ago. Normally, the players remain unconscious for atleast that long. This allows the guides to prepare – find the switches, stack the firewood, cook breakfast, and… um… memories all the rules. But you woke up after only five minutes. I don't know how you did that, but it means I haven't had time to do any of that!"
"Umm… sorry, I guess? Which team arrived six hours ago?"
Olive pointed at the tapestry. "See for yourself. They appear in order of arrival."
Trial by Fire: Team Registration
1. Ami's Adventurous Academics 2. ??? 3. Benton's Finest 4. Sargeant Smith's SWAT Squad 5. _________ 6. _________ 7. _________ 8. _________ 9. _________ 10. _________ 11. _________ 12. _________ |
"Dr. Akira Ami and her team arrived from the University of Regina in the middle of the night, though they were in rough shape. I hope your team was smart enough not to travel at night," Olive advised, shaking her head in disappointment. "Akira's team may have secured first spot advantage, but they'll have to spend the next couple days healing. That's going to cost them time, which is in short supply."
Olive's words whirled in Bethany's head as she stared up at the list. "First spot advantage?"
"Oh, right. I guess I haven't explained that yet. Well, Trial by Fire isn't just another Arena. It's a competition between player teams – twelve teams of twelve."
"We have to fight each other?" Bethany exclaimed, her heart sinking at the thought.
"Umm… it's complicated. Technically you don't, but… it often ends up that way," Olive explained.
Just like the Arena of Dolos. Becka and Daniel didn't have to turn on me, but they did anyway. The Arenas are designed to tear people apart, not keep them together.
"The earlier a team arrives at the Trial, the greater the benefits they receive. After all, you have to wait until all twelve teams arrive, and that can take a few weeks. For example…"
Olive swept her claws across the dining room and three passageways.
"… your accommodations. The earlier you arrive, the more comfortable and elaborate they are. As you arrived second, you get your own bedrooms and three meals a day. You also get access to the dungeon, which will allow you to get stronger and find prizes that will help during the Trial. There's not much entertainment, though. You… don't want to know what it's like if you're one of the last teams to arrive. Some of them enter the Trial half-starved when it starts."
"A dungeon?" Bethany asked curiously.
"You can explore that later. We... oh, look. Your captain is naming your team."
Olive pointed at the tapestry, and the threads of the woven '???' unraveled and re-threaded themselves into 'Rocky's Remarkable Rogues'.
"Rocky's Remarkable Rogues? Rocky, isn't that a bit… I don't know… showy?" Bethany asked curiously. "Wait, isn't he still asleep?"
Olive shrugged. "He chooses the name while she sleeps - though apparently he spent forever trying to decide on it. It's all god stuff that I don't understand."
Olive shifted over to the next tapestry. "You have a team name. Now, you need to know the rules. Are you ready?"
"No," admitted Bethany nervously. Her hands were clammy, and she paced impatiently across the uneven floor. "But that's to going to change, is it?
Olive pressed a comforting claw against the small of her back. "It's better to know early, so you can move past the shock and prepare yourself for what's to come. That's another advantage in arriving early. The final team to arrive… they only get twenty minutes to learn the rules before the Trial starts. They are usually the first to be eliminated."
Bethany took three deep breaths to steady herself.
"Go ahead, Olive," Bethany said bravely, staring up at the tapestries. "Take me through the rules."