When the Gorgon was momentarily disoriented by the flare, Kenji dropped from the ceiling where he’d been hiding after using his spider climb power to crawl up the wall and position himself directly above her. He landed softly behind her and stabbed her several times through the back before slitting her throat. I couldn’t see this, of course, because I was still looking the other way and Morgan's mirror was broken, but I heard it all. It was just like we'd planned.

I knew the instant the Gorgon was dead. All the remaining Flesh Golems had all collapsed at the same time and lay unmoving on the ground. Without her control, they were all just meat.

I knelt down and picked up a shard of Morgan’s broken mirror. In the reflection, I could see Kenji standing there, ninjato in one hand dripping blood, the monster’s body at his feet. Its head faced the ground, serpentine hair splayed out limp and lifeless around it. His eyes were still closed.

“Great work Kenji!” I said.

“Great work everyone,” Sigrid said.

“That was a good plan, Daniel,” Lancelot said.

“Thanks.”

Kenji opened his eyes, then went over to Sigrid and held out a broken hand mirror. It was the one she'd leant him so he could find his position without having to look at the Gorgon. He looked up at her with sad puppy eyes. “Sorry. I broke it.”

“Don’t sweat it,” she said, pulling the hood back over his mess of dark hair and ruffling it. “I’ll just get Byron to make me a new one.” Kenji's eyes went wide for a moment, then closed for another as the corners of his mouth rose ever-so-slightly, then his mouth widened along with his eyes again as his face flushed and he quickly drew the hood back over his head and raised the cowl to cover his face. He turned from Sigrid and slunk away, no doubt wishing for shadows to hide in. Sigrid snorted, then covered her mouth with her hand to stifle the rest of the laugh.

“Guess we don’t need mine anymore either,” Morgan said. The piece of mirror disintegrated in my hand as she stopped concentrating on keeping it.

“Let’s get that head in a bag and find a way out of here,” I said.

“I thought we only needed the eyes,” Morgan said.

“True, but All Shall Be Revealed is telling me her whole head has value. Let’s take it all back to Sifu. If he only wants the eyes, let him be the one to gouge them out.”

Gorgon Corpse Items:

Red Mana Crystal

Gorgon's Head

“Right,” Lancelot said, “let’s get this over with.” He bent over the corpse, grabbed a fist full of limp snake hair, and lopped at the neck until it was severed off. Then he raised the head triumphantly.

“Who’s having fun now, witch?” he said.

“Be careful!” I said, quickly averting my eyes. “Don’t look at her face!” But it was too late. There was a grinding sort of noise, the kind of sound you’d make sliding one rock against another.

“Lancelot?” Morgan said. “Lancelot? Jake, answer me, dammit.”

But of course he didn’t answer. He couldn’t. He’d looked at her face.

“What happened?” Sigrid said.

“Everybody close your eyes and keep them shut!” I shouted.

“But she’s dead.”

“She can still turn you to stone.”

“Why didn’t you tell us that before?” Sigrid said.

“I thought you’d know!”

“I’m not a nerd, how would I know?”

“You’ve seen the Super Mario Brothers Movie but haven’t seen Percy Jackson?”

“Hey, Super Mario Bros was a huge movie when it came out,” Sigrid said.

I sighed. "Everybody keep your eyes shut. I'll go bag the head."

My eyes shut tight, I started backing up toward where Lancelot was, extending my hand behind me and waving it around until I touched something. It was cold and smooth. Like stone. And shaped like Lancelot.

“I’m sorry, Morgan. He looked.”

“God dammit!” she shouted.

I felt my way along until I found his extended arm, then followed it to the hand holding the Gorgon’s head.

“We have a problem,” I said.

“What now?” Sigrid said.

“He was holding the head when he was turned to stone.”

“So?”

“So now he’s still got her snake hair clenched in his stone fist. I can’t get it out.”

“Just frigging cut it!” Sigrid snapped.

Oh yeah. Right.

I reached into my inventory and pulled out a knife, then cut off the snakes that Lancelot was holding. The head fell to the ground with a thump. I crouched down and felt around until I found it, sadly by poking it in the eye, then stowed the knife and pulled a blanket — I’d put a lot of gear in there before we left — and shrouded the head in it.

“Okay, you can look now,” I said.

The Lancelot statue was kneeling, one arm extended with some severed snakes drooping from it, the other down at his side gripping his stone sword.

“I’m sure he’ll respawn, Morgan,” Sigrid said.

“Yeah, he’ll be fine,” I said.

Morgan pressed her lips together in a thin line, brow furrowed. “Yeah.”

“When he does,” Sigrid said, “we are totally coming back here to retrieve this statue. It’ll make a good ornament in the garden back at the dojo.”

Morgan smirked. “We don’t need to come back.” She opened her inventory, which was the same as mine. “Help me get this thing in here.”

Lancelot was heavy, but working together we managed to tip him over to get his head into the little square opening of the inventory. From there, whatever spatial science that was behind the extra-dimensional space worked its magic and the inventory swallowed the rest of him.

The mood was decidedly subdued as we dug the mana crystals and Golem Cores out of the bodies; the Gorgon’s crystal wasn’t only the largest I’d seen, it was also red, a color I hadn’t seen in mana crystals before. I mentally smacked myself in the head for taking so long to realize the color of the crystal was related to the power level of the monster. Then we had a look around.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

It was actually a very lovely grotto. The crystal veins in the ceiling twinkled. The waterfall sent up a fine, cool mist as it splashed into a small lake filled with clear, fresh water. A stream flowed from the pool to meander under a quaint little bridge and across the grotto until it disappeared into a hole in the wall. The bridge led to a worn path that wound through the trees as it passed beside many of the statues.

Hidden among the trees along the edge of the wall there was a building, I guess the best word to use is shed. This shed was where the Flesh Golems stayed until needed. There were no windows, no decorations, no furnishings, just a long empty space for the Golems to line up in whilst awaiting instructions, and a door. The attention to detail put into this was astounding: it was empty now, all of the Golems having been summoned out to deal with us, but dozens of pairs of foot-shaped impressions in the dirt floor showed where they’d lined up awaiting instructions. Lord only knows how long they’d have to have been standing there, just standing there, to create those dents in the ground. And yet, Stratos had said that none of this had existed until recently.

When I stopped to think about it, I got the impression that this shed, and probably this entire dungeon, had all been created even more recently. I’d criticized Stratos about how the pens under the arena didn’t have the authentic sounds and smells, yet this dungeon had a much greater level of detail. The flower smell. These impressions in the ground that were the clue that revealed the shed’s purpose of Golem storage. Say what you want about Stratos, but at least they listened to constructive criticism.

There was a glade on one side of the lake with a pink sand beach, behind which the Gorgon’s cozy living area had been built. She’d lived a much finer life than her mindless servants. Her home was a large, raised tent housing an expansive bed and other exquisite furnishings, including an ornate treasure chest.

“It’s locked,” Sigrid said after trying to lift the lid.

“I’ve got this,” I said, crouching in front of it and opening my inventory. I pulled out a set of lockpicks and went to work.

“When did you...?”

“I found someone in the less reputable part of town to teach me after we got back from the fight with the orcs,” I said as I fiddled with the lock. “It seemed a useful skill to have.”

Click.

“Impressive,” Morgan said.

“It really is easier than it looks,” I said. I noticed Kenji watching intently, envy painted all over his face. “I’ll teach you when we get back,” I told him. That made him grin.

We found the Gorgon’s treasure inside the chest. There was a fair quantity of gold and silver, but the real treasure was the reward of three outstanding items: a suit of armor, a book, and a sword. The armor was an amazing artifact: gleaming scale mail, flexible and strong, made from hundreds of small overlapping pieces of shiny metal like the scales of a fish. It was silvery in color, but the smooth metal had a faint bluish tinge through which shimmering white eddies would swirl like clouds in any reflected light. It covered the torso and upper arms and had flaps of scales hanging over the hip area like a skirt, with solid metal leg greaves and forearm bracers etched with the appearance of scales to match.

Elda Wildflower’s Pegasus Scale Armor Crafted in enchanted mithril by the celebrated artisans of the Elohim League, this legendary armor was originally made as a gift for the great Hero from the Elven Kingdom of the Eastern Forest, Elda Wildflower, to help her defeat the combined armies of the Titans and the Demon Queen. With superior strength and durability offering tremendous protection, it also bestows upon the wearer the ability to sprout feathered wings. Powers:

Justice From Above - Fly using the armor’s wings

Back Off - Flap the armor’s wings to produce a wind barrier

“I think Sigrid should have that,” Morgan said.

“I agree,” I said. “It synchronizes well with her abilities.”

“Can I really have this?” Sigrid said, eyes wide with awe.

“Try it on.”

Sigrid, giddy like a kid at Christmas, took the armor and disappeared behind a folding screen covered in a flowery design. She emerged a minute later wearing it. Like all the magic armor here it changed shape to fit the wearer’s body, and Sigrid looked majestic in it.

Morgan whistled. “Looking good, girl.”

“How does it feel?” I said.

“Amazing,” Sigrid said, testing her range of movement. “I didn’t want to say it before, but the breastplate I bought in town isn’t very good and chafed like crazy. But this,” she ran her hands down the front of the armor, “this almost feels like nothing, like I’m wearing spandex.”

We all stared at her, waiting.

“What?” she said when she noticed.

“Well?” I said.

“Well what?”

“The wings!” Morgan said. “Let’s see them!”

“Oh crap,” Sigrid said, and giggled. “I totally forgot about the wings.” She pursed her lips in concentration and a pair of angelic, pure white feathered wings expanded from her back. “Holy crapola, that feels weird.”

She flexed the wings tentatively at first, stretching them to full span then folding them back behind her a few times. Once she got the feel for it, she tried flapping them. It was clear they worked more through magic than actual physics because it only took a few slow flaps to lift her off the ground and hover a few feet in the air. She flew up to the center of the space above us, soared in a circle, then glided back and came down in an awkward stumble.

“The landing needs work,” she said.

“That is so cool,” Morgan said.

“Phew,” Sigrid sighed. “It must use a crap-ton of mana, I’m tired even after that short flight.” She folded the wings back up and they shrank back into the armor.

The book turned out to be pretty awesome too.

Gorgon’s Golem Tome The Gorgon inscribed the spell for creating Golems into this book. The reader will permanently get the Power: It’s Aliiiiiiiive. After being read once it will revert to a blank book in a cover of tanned human skin. Powers:

It’s Aliiiiiiiive - Create Golems

“I think Morgan can make the best use of this,” I said.

“You think?” Morgan said. “I can see how it could be handy. If everyone agrees I’ll gladly take it.”

“For sure,” Sigrid said, and Kenji nodded his agreement.

“You should take all the Golem Cores too, maybe you’ll be able to use them to make your own faceless flesh minions,” I said.

“Ew,” Sigrid said. “Don’t phrase it like that.”

“They were good companions for the Gorgon,” Morgan said. “With no eyes to see her with, they couldn’t be turned to stone. But I hope there are other options in the Golem world. Those things creep the snot out of me.”

We decided that Lancelot should have the sword. He’d certainly earned it, and it was perfect for him too. It was a straight, double-edged longsword, the kind you picture in the hands of a Knight of the Round Table.

Knight Vice-Commander’s Longsword This sword was used by the Knight Vice-Commander of the Holy Order of the Violet Veil throughout the Great War, but was lost when the Order was wiped out in the disastrous Battle of The Lost Citadel. Powers:

Affinity Blade - Imbue weapon with Affinity

Mana Drain - When dealing damage it also drains target’s mana

“Now,” Morgan said. “How the hell do we get out of this place? I checked the door and it’s still locked.”

“I was hoping we’d find a key,” I said, “but it looks like we have to do this the hard way.”

We went back to the door and tried everything we could to get it open. We tried smashing it with the heavy mace I carried in my inventory. We tried bombarding it with various affinity attacks. We even resorted to trying magic words like abracadabra and open sesame. The door remained petulantly intact, and resolutely locked.

“Any other ideas?” Sigrid said.

“We should split up,” I said. “Morgan, you and I can check the wall for a hidden door or something. Kenji could check the trees, and why don’t you look around this area? In the literature, there’s usually something behind waterfalls.”

Sigrid snorted. “Literature. You mean comic books?”

“They’re called manga,” Kenji said. His voice was icy. Do not mess with an otaku when it comes to their passion. “Or manhwa in Korea.”

“Sorry,” Sigrid said. “No offense intended. It’s just—”

“Sounds like a plan,” Morgan said quickly, deftly changing the subject and getting us back on track.

We separated and searched, but came up empty. There wasn’t even anything behind the waterfall. The only possibility we could think of was the place where the stream flowing from the pool exited the room. Looking into the opening it was odd to see darkness, it was the first place we’d seen in this entire dungeon that wasn’t well lit. Maybe I'd get to use those lanterns after all. It was a pretty small opening, though, and there was no guarantee it would lead anywhere except to a dark, lonely death by drowning.

“Anybody here claustrophobic?” I said.