The weather in the never-ending wetlands is fierce tonight. A howling wind whips leaves and weeds along patches of tall grass. Lightning arcs across the dark sky, revealing two knights trudge through a marsh. The following thunderclap crashes over the symphony of rain pelting their plate armor. They advance through deep clumps of grassy mud puddles, showing no signs of exhaustion. With a clank of their metal boots, they step onto more firm terrain. In search of drier conditions, they spot a nearby cluster of trees shrouded in complete darkness. The gloom envelopes them as they disappear into the tree line.
Traversing the shadowy pines, they come upon a clearing with a run-down house off to the side. Crossing half the distance, the lead knight signals his comrade to halt. Deep growls, emanating from a nearby thicket, interrupt the pelting rain. They draw their swords and brace themselves in battle stances awaiting the threat. Four dark figures leap into the clearing, blocking the path to the house. Dire wolves crouch low to the ground, growling with flared lips, baring long, yellowed fangs. The knights tremble, yet hold their ground.
The beasts snarl, eyeing their prey with glowing red eyes. With the knights unmoving, the wolves strike first, charging full sprint at them. Instead of rushing forward to meet the attack, the lead knight raises his sword, clasping his hand together at the hilt. After speaking a short incantation, a greenish blue mist swirls around his body. An explosion of sound and light rocks the wooded area to the left as a pair of lights zooms towards the clearing. A Hummer H3, complete with gun turret, flings up mud with its spinning tires, coming into full view. The Hummer's passenger door opens and a figure in military camo leans out, aims a rocket launcher at the wolves, and fires.
A nasally voice cries out over the action.
"Ugh, how many times do I have to tell you guys, you can’t do that in Labyrinths and Liches!"
The hummer, wolves, knights, explosion, and the dark and stormy evening fade into a basement gaming room with three teenagers. Tim, a scrawny and pale fourteen year old, sat with his arms crossed and a scowling look on his spectacle-rimmed face. Dan, a larger looking version of Tim, stood with one leg up on a chair, arms raised over his shoulders. After firing a pretend missile at Tim, he sat down in his chair and sighed.
“Your campaigns are always difficult and boring, though. I was just trying to spice things up for once.”
Tim’s face turned pink, shaking a finger at his brother.
“Labyrinths and Liches is supposed to be a challenging game, and it doesn’t need your idiotic input.”
The third member of the basement gaming trio, Evan, sat in silence listening to the quarrelsome brothers. He checked his watch and noticed that it was nearing 5:00pm. Getting up from his seat, he spoke before Dan could get another word in.
“I’m actually going to agree with Dan this time.”
Tim and Dan looked at him in shock.
“Sending four level six dire wolves to attack us at level one is just ridiculous. Anyway, I gotta run home; I have to get my Thursday chores done before my Dad gets home.”
Dan sneered at Tim with a ridiculous ‘I told you so’ look on his face. Tim threw his hands up in defeat, but the bickering continued as they left the game room. When they reached the top of the stairs, the smell of chicken parmigiana and tomato gravy stopped the arguing. After an agreement of how good dinner smelled and how Evan was missing out on a great Mom-Emerson meal, they walked to the front of the house.
Mrs. Emerson stood in the foyer, talking to a woman and a girl that Evan didn’t recognize. She spotted the boys and called to them.
“Oh, there you are boys. Come meet the new neighbors.”
When Mrs. Emerson stepped aside, they got a better look at the strangers. The woman didn’t look much older than Mrs. Emerson, with long blonde hair and an outfit that seemed only appropriate for church. The girl’s azure eyes sparkled in the hallway light, catching Evan’s immediate attention. She seemed about his age, with brown hair and a sun-tanned face spotted with freckles.
“This is Mrs. Ramirez and her daughter Emily. They just moved in last week. Please be polite and introduce yourselves.” As the boys walked over, Mrs. Emerson hissed under her breath to them, “And for the love of Saint Francis, shake their hands!”
They went up one by one.
“Hi, I’m Tim.”
“And I’m Dan.”
Next up was Evan. He shook their hands and said to them, “Hi, I’m meet, it’s nice to Evan you.”
Realizing his slip-up, Evan’s face turned cherry red. Tim face-palmed while Dan shook his head and said, “Smooth work, detective.”
The mothers laughed and Emily chuckled.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Evan,” said Mrs. Ramirez. Emily managed a greeting in between giggling. Still with flushing cheeks, Evan moved towards the door and turned to the group.
“I have to go, but it was nice meeting you. See you guys later.”
“You sure you don’t want to stay for dinner?” asked Mrs. Emerson. “I know how much you love chicken parm.”
“No thanks Mrs. E, I gotta run home and get some chores done. Bye!”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
He left and walked to his house, four driveways up the hill. His Dad wouldn’t be getting home for another hour, which gave him plenty of time to do his chores and also catch an episode of Bill Nye. Once he got home, he paused to reflect on how much of an idiot he was back there,
****
The next day at school, Evan endured another day of mind-numbing freshman year classes. During last period, he looked at the clock every five minutes, waiting for the hands to strike 2:15. Just when it seemed that the day would never end, the bell rang. He tossed his books into his locker and headed toward the main doors, where he saw Emily walking down the hallway.
Their eyes met.
“Hi Evan.” Emily said, smiling.
Evan blushed and scratched the back of his neck.
“H-Hey Emily, how was your first week here?”
"It’s been all right, definitely a change from my last school.”
“Well, that’s good.”
An awkward silence filled the air. Emily looked down at her watch. As she lifted her arm, Evan noticed that she was wearing a thin leather bracelet with six small polyhedral dice as charms. He was about to ask her about the bracelet, but she shifted her bag and broke the silence first.
“I have to get going, my ride is waiting for me outside. I’ll see you around, alright?”
“Um, yeah, see ya.”
Evan headed outside to the pickup area and a rusty yellow car beeped its horn. A hand waved out from the driver’s side window and Evan grinned. He ran up to the car, jumped in, and was greeted with a handshake hug combo.
“Hey Uncle Kenny,” Evan said. “How was your trip to Greece?”
“Great,” Uncle Kenny said with a grin. “Lots of olive oil, feta cheese, and of course my favorite, cute tour guides at the ancient archaeological sites.”
Evan laughed as Uncle Kenny messed up his hair.
Uncle Kenny coming to pick up Evan from school was a rarity. Though he was more like a second father than an uncle, he was always traveling around the world for his work. In recent months, he was only home for about two or three days before going out the door again. His increasing absence was starting to make Evan feel like they were growing apart and it was beginning to have an effect on him.
“So what’s the occasion, picking me up in this piece of crap?”
“I have a gift for you back at my place.”
Evan raised an eyebrow.
“Is it another fridge magnet?”
Uncle Kenny laughed. “No, no, it’s something much better than that. You’ll just have to see for yourself.”
Uncle Kenny put the car in drive, and they drove through the usual after school traffic in Exeter. When they arrived at his apartment, they navigated a maze of gift bags, luggage, and boxes he still hadn’t unpacked since he moved in. Evan edged around a leaning set of boxes and bumped the corner of one, causing it to fall. He caught it before it hit the ground and set it back on top of the stack. Uncle Kenny fidgeted with a couple of storage bins that were in their way.
“Sorry about the mess, I haven’t had the time to clean. The gift’s in the study.”
Evan shrugged as they went to the door. Uncle Kenny walked over to a reinforced cabinet, where he unlocked a large brass lock. After rummaging a bit, he pulled out a small wooden box and handed it to Evan. It felt very light and had strange looking symbols on it. The intricate carvings were colored and etched with burnt marks. There was so much detail that it must have taken someone years to complete it. Not seeing a keyhole or any obvious spot to open it, he shook it and heard some objects rattling around. He opened his mouth to speak, but Uncle Kenny anticipated his question by giving him an instruction.
“Hold it with two hands at the sides.”
Evan moved his hands, resting the box in his palms.
“The runes are unique. Inspect them closer.”
Evan scrutinized the entire surface until finding two runes that stood out from the others. The runes pictured rays of sunlight on them with a slight discoloration. Also, the surface was textured, while the others were flat. He pushed them in until they clicked. The seam unlatched, revealing a velvet lined tray with a set of gaming dice.
“Well done.”
Evan picked up one of the dice and inspected it. It was made of a black wood, which felt very light and smooth to the touch. The numbers etched into the wood were filled with a material that shimmered like gold. What caught his eye were the engraved dragons surrounding each number, that glowed with a crimson light as if fire they were ready to blow fire from their mouths. He searched for a power source like a battery, but could not find one.
“How are the dice glowing like that?”
“Magic,” Uncle Kenny said, waving his hand in the air.
Evan frowned.
“Really? Come on, tell me.”
“Magic, like I said. Or maybe light is playing off the material.” Uncle Kenny winked.
Evan creased his brows and then went back to staring at the dice.
“You got these in Greece?”
“No, of course not. I had these crafted for you when you were little. I’ve been waiting to give these to you, and I feel the time is right for you to have them.”
Evan stopped looking at the dice and gave his uncle an inquisitive look. “What do you mean, why now?”
“I was waiting,” Uncle Kenny hesitated, “because I was afraid you were going to be careless with the dice and didn’t want you to ruin them.”
Evan wasn’t convinced by the explanation, but didn’t want to press the issue further. He was happy all the same to gain such a unique set of dice, even if the source of the glow was a mystery. He put the die back in its slot in the tray and closed the lid.
“Well, thank you.”
“You’re very welcome.”
“I can’t wait to use these; we’re running the Tomb of Terrors module tomorrow.”
“Ohhh, I remember ToT being quite difficult. Good luck.”
****
When Evan got home, he spent the rest of the evening struggling to finish his homework. He was distracted by the dice, still glowing in its case. After finishing up and getting ready for bed, he was overcome with an overwhelming urge to pick up the dice. He took one out from the case and held it in his palm. The eyes of the dragons flared a cherry and yellow flame, and a deep hissing whisper emanated from its maw.
His heart hammered while the whisper grew stronger. The fire of the eyes intensified into a raging inferno. A shuddering roar uttered from the die, and it turned white hot in his hand. Reeling back in pain, he dropped the die on the floor and inspected his hand. Seeing no burn mark on his palm, he searched and found the die where it landed. It was no longer hot to the touch, so he put it back in the tray and shoved the case in a drawer on the nightstand. Unsure of the situation, he sat in his bed hugging his knees to his chest. He stared at the drawer waiting for something else to happen, until sleep overcame him.