They slipped into the garden plaza set aside for princess Hannah and found their way to the subterranean cave where the door to their lair was hidden. Passing through, they arrived in Heather's small private garden at the base of her tower, and for a brief moment, they were home.
Into the tower and up to the secret tunnels that led into the mountain they went. None of them spoke as they were focused on the task of hiding the first of the two doors. Heather planned to place it inside the room with the magic door so it wouldn't be easily found. As they passed through the caves, they arrived at the first of the tunnels, and Quinny couldn't stand it anymore.
“Are you alright?” she asked Heather.
“I’m fine. We just need to place the door,” she replied.
“I’m not talking about the door. I am talking about Gwen’s demands,” she pressed.
“She needs the points to pay for the door,” Heather said. “It makes perfect sense.”
Quinny rolled her black eyes and tossed her hair in irritation. “Yeah, it makes sense, but how do you feel about it?”
Heather looked over her shoulder to Frank, who was well in the rear silently following along. He was her best friend in this crazy world and, according to the woman in the crown, her protector. But he was also a ghoul and looked all the part of a movie monster. A lot of that appearance didn't bother her anymore, but marriage? For Heather, that meant something and came with expectations she wasn't ready to face. Gwen might be able to take a husband just to gain access to abilities but could she? Would that be fair to him?
“I don’t know how I feel about it,” Heather answered after a pause. “I suppose it's just to get Gwen the points; it doesn't mean anything.” She pushed open a door and entered the kitchen, making her way across the room with heavy thoughts. She looked to the left and noticed the fridge, and stopped dead in her tracks. “The magic fridge! It's here!” she cried.
All heads turned to see it was right back where it had always been. Heather pulled the door wide to see an interior full of cakes, bread, and, most importantly, a platter of cookies. Wasting no time, she pulled the platter out and went to the long table in the center of the room.
“Why is it back?” Quinny asked as she looked inside. “We lost it in the desert.”
“It must be bound to the base,” Frank said. “Once it was lost, it reappeared back here.”
“I needed this,” Heather sighed as she chewed a chocolate chip cookie. “Oh, I was sure it was going to be basic foods again for a long time.”
“You have an NPC cook,” Breanne reminded as she sat at the table across from her and took a cookie.
“Well, yes,” Heather said with a mouthful. “But she can only make what I have ingredients for.”
“There’s a strawberry cake,” Quinny said as she pulled it out. She carried it to the table and settled down to cut a slice.
All three of the women clustered at the table, sampling both cake and cookie as Frank stood by silently watching. He was confused by recent events and even more by Heather, who seemed almost withdrawn. This morning she was holding his hand, now she wasn't speaking to him. He was angry at Gwen for making such a request but prepared to follow through for the sake of points. Nothing would change, he would still be here friend, and life would go on, so why was she taking it so hard?
As he tried to puzzle it out, she suddenly got up and walked right to him with a cookie in hand. She held before his face, and for a moment, her smile was back as she gave one of her treasured treats.
“Umm, thanks,” he said and took the tiny thing in his massive hand.
“I feel better now,” she replied with a sigh.
“You feel better because you ate some cookies and cake?” he asked in even deeper confusion.
“You don’t know girls,” Heather laughed. “A little sweet goes a long way.”
“Are you upset about what Gwen asked?” he pressed, eager to take advantage of her sudden good mood.
Heather tossed her head and stepped closer as she put a hand to his chest. “I was surprised by it is all. It was the last thing I expected her to ask for, but knowing how these social points work, I see why she asked it. If she invites enough people, she will make enough points to pay for ten doors.”
“And you're not surprised anymore?” he asked.
Heather shook her head and turned about before stepping back to press her back to his chest. “It just means you have more reason to protect me. I guess we have behaved kinda like a married couple for a while now, so nothing will change.”
“How are we going to get married?” he asked. “Look at me? People are going to see me in the temple and think they are under attack.”
Heather laughed and shook her head. “That’s Gwen’s problem. Maybe she will call it off if she can’t think of a solution.”
“You should wear red,” Quinny said from the table with a dab of cake frosting on her chin.
“I am wearing white like a proper bride,” Heather protested. “If I have to go through with this, I want it done right.”
“I am surprised she didn’t suggest somebody else,” Breanne said. “No offense but Frank’s appearance cause some difficulty.”
“I was just telling her that,” Frank agreed.
Heather turned around and stared up at his face. She took hold of his helmet with both hands and lifted it away, revealing the ghoul underneath as he stared down with lifeless yellow eyes. She reached up a hand and touched a cheek, pulling at the cold rubbery skin a bit before letting go.
“It’s the mouth I don’t like the most,” she said at last. “It looks so horrid.”
“He looks like a dead thing,” Breanne said with a pointed fork. “Do you have any points to spend on your appearance?”
“Not really,” Frank said and scratched at the top of his head.
“Maybe we can get more of that disguise potion,” Heather suggested. “I bet we could get one with a longer duration.”
“We really should be placing the door,” Frank suggested as Heather continued to pull at his face.
“If you had some points, could you change this mouth?” she asked.
“I could, but I would still be a ghoul and limited to those choices,” he replied.
“Hmm, Iskathet wasn’t so horrible looking,” Heather pressed as she let him go. “You must have some options to lower all this gore.”
“I could make a lot of changes, but in the end, I would still look like a ghoul,” he said.
“Well, it’s something to consider,” Heather said and went back to the table to get a cookie. “Let’s place the door,” she added with a cookie in hand.
They left the kitchen and went down the maze of halls arriving at the dead-end where the magic door was hidden. With a simple command word, a hole opened in the wall, and they stepped inside, placing the door on the far wall. It grew immediately and created a door on the wall as if it had always been there. Heather tried to open it, but it was locked, and Frank suggested it would remain so until the second door was placed.
They returned to the garden and used the magic door there to get to the city. From there, they returned to the wizard portal and stepped through into Blackbast's temple to find no sign of her or Legeis and Umtha. Unconcerned, they went to find Endril's pocket room, but it was missing. She remembered that Legeis was going to attach it to the palanquin, so they checked outside. Here they found Legeis and Umtha doing some final work on the palanquin, the doorway tall enough to poke through the top of the cart.
“There you are,” Legeis said when he saw them in the darkness. “Did you get what you wanted?”
“Yes,” Heather remarked and arrived beside the palanquin. “I see you finished.”
“Yeah, well, it ain't pretty, but it will work. You will have to crawl into the room, but it can be removed so you could use it normally.”
Heather crawled into the palanquin to the back, where the door now replaced the back wall. She crawled through the opening and into the magic room.
She took the little door from her pocket and went to an empty part of the wall to place it. Instantly it grew and became a door on the wall, firmly closed as she smiled at her ingenuity. Quinny crawled in as the door finished and joined Heather as she reached for the handle.
It opened just as Frank suggested, and they looked through it to the secret room beyond.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“It's like we're home,” Quinny said. “It's just another door in the mountain.”
“And we can go home anytime,” Heather added as Breanne came through the portal and asked if it worked.
“It works perfectly,” Heather said and stepped through. She waved from the other side, standing only a few steps away despite the vast distance that existed. “At least I have access to more clothes,” Heather said.
“Now we can store all we want in the rooms, and we don't need to bring the fridge with us,” Heather said.
“And we can visit our lairs,” Quinny added. “I wonder if players have been this far out yet?”
Heather shrugged and stepped back over. “Go and find out,” she suggested. “We’re not leaving until morning anyway.”
Quinny and Breanne stepped through the doorway as Heather went back out of the pocket room into the palanquin. She crawled out and found Frank talking to Legeis, telling him all about Gwen's demands.
“Sheesh, she kinda made you pay for it,” Legeis said.
“It’s fine,” Frank replied. “It doesn’t change anything.”
“I am fine with it too,” Heather called as she straightened her yellow dress and walked up.
“You should go back through the portal and check your lair,” she encouraged. “I am going to find Webster and then come back to sleep in my own bed.”
“I could use some stuff from my workshop,” Legeis suggested.
“Take the door out and stand it up,” Heather suggested to make it easier for Frank to use. “Then go back and do whatever.”
She left them to work and went into the temple, where she found Webster playing along the edge of one of the heated pools. Picking him up, she cradled him in one arm when a soft rolling voice made her pause.
“You are back already?” Blackbast asked as she stepped out of the shadows.
“Oh, I didn't know you were up,” Heather said as she saw those eyes glowing with cat-like brightness.
“I have been awake since you left,” Blackbast purred.
“And where is your wizard friend?” Heather asked, noting he was nowhere to be seen.
“In a back room. I made him more comfortable and showed him my hospitality, and thanks for opening you that portal.”
Heather blushed to consider what that might entail, but she took a moment to inform Blackbast that they had the doors, and she was going to sleep in her own bed tonight. Blackbast asked her what the doors had cost, and Heather broke down and explained it.
“You are prepared to pay this price?” Blackbast asked.
“What price?” Heather replied. “Frank and I understand one another. We both know we’re only doing this so she can get her points back.”
“Is that all you are doing it for?” Blackbast asked.
Heather paused and looked back with a sad expression. “Frank has been at my side since I first got her. I consider him to be my best friend and the nicest guy I know. He understands and would tell you himself that any more would be pointless.”
“You don’t know that,” Blackbast encouraged. “Is it his appearance that stays your hand?”
Heather nodded and took a step away. “He is just as bothered by it as I am. I need to get to bed. I will see you in the morning.” She walked off with a yawn and found the door had been removed and stood against the palanquin. It was so nice to be able to step inside and, in seconds, be back in their lairs. She had a short walk down the hall to the room she used as her bedroom. She tucked Webster into a pillow before undressing and settling in herself.
In the temple, Blackbast went to a back room and opened a secret door in the wall. After a short flight of narrow stairs, she arrived at her vaults and carefully made her way across the room of traps to a door on the far side. She avoided the fake lock and opened it properly, revealing a dozen chests of various sizes. Opening one of the smaller ones, she took out a bundle of black cloth and turned it over in her hands. Perhaps there was something she could do about the situation. Maybe she could alter the sad course Heather and Frank were on.
When the sun rose, Heather stretched and sat up in her comfy bed. It felt great to be home and where they belonged, but could easily pick up the quest with a few steps. Her dress had cleaned overnight in the wardrobe, so she dressed and made her way to the kitchen. Quinny had already raided the cookies but left five and a note to say they were for Heather.
Swiping them up, Heather made her way into the tower and down through her defenses and guards to the lower halls. Outside was the graveyard that bordered the swamps. She smiled to see it and think of this strange place as home. She made her way across her personal yard noting the skeletons and other beasts that lurked in the maze-like hedges. Outside was a mossy flagstone road that separated her yard from Frank's graveyard. Here a mist crawled between the tombstones and billowed around dead trees. Skeletons and zombies were moving about, but Heather knew there were ghouls hidden in nearly every mausoleum.
She walked right into the yard as dead stares followed her progress and crossed the misty expanse until reaching the swamp itself came into view. She had a hand in growing some dense plants along the edge to help define it. Here she heard frogs and smelled the water on the air, thrown from the distant falls that fell from the cliff.
“Breanne?” she called into the mist. “Are you still out there?” She waited until the fog beyond the reeds started to shift, and a woman's ghostly face appeared as she drifted over the waters.
“I see you are awake,” Breanne said in a cold, shrill voice. “Did you sleep well?”
“I slept great,” Heather admitted and looked around. “I almost wish we could stay here a few days, but Umtha will be annoyed.”
“She came through as well,” Breanne said. “She’s up in her village someplace.”
“Hmm, have you seen the others?”
Breanne shook her head no and informed Heather that it appeared nobody had been to her island as of yet. Heather looked about the yard that looked exactly as they left it and wondered if anybody had been out this way at all.
“It is kind of far from the city,” Heather said as she turned about and walked back to the graveyard. Breanne floated after her in her banshee form, blending into the mist as if made of it. Together they crossed the yard to the bridge over the rapidly flowing stream. Beyond the bridge was a dense forest of gnarled trees and deep shadows, made even darker by early morning. They crossed into this dark embrace and followed a meandering road lit by the occasional aged street lamp.
“This is so strange,” Heather remarked. “I feel like we never left.”
Breanne floated beside her and nodded her agreement. “It was brilliant of you to think of the doors, but I worry about Frank.”
“Frank will be fine,” Heather said. “He and I understand one another.”
“Gwen seemed to pick up on that. I think that was part of why she thought this was a good idea,” Breanne commented. “Did you see the smile on her face? She looked pleased that you were shocked by her request.”
“Gwen wants the points to pay for the doors and more,” Heather remarked as they turned a bend around some open graves. Zombies milled about the graves looking for victims but paid the two no attention. They made their way for a little more, then turned off the trail into the darkness beneath the tall trees. Leaves crunched under Heather's feet while Breanne passed silently until, at last, a massive hill covered in thick growth came into view. Hidden one side was a narrow stone archway leading into the lower tunnels of Quinny's barrow mounds.
Once inside, the narrow passage opened up into a vast chamber with a high ceiling. There were stone shelves carved into the walls where skeletons and the occasional mummified body lay. Skulls and bones littered the uneven floor as they picked a path deeper in, seeking the central chamber.
Zombies were everywhere, as were giant rats and traps. Eventually, they followed the twisting path to a grand chamber where a raised stone sarcophagus stood in the center of the room. It had four pillars of carved stone placed around it, holding up the broken remains of archways. There were rotting chests, and broken statues, giving the impression that this was once a place of importance.
The whole thing was misleading. There was a zombie lord in the sarcophagus armed with a magical sword. As soon as he attacked, additional zombies would claw their way out of the ground all around the room. Adventurers would quickly be surrounded by packs of armed zombies coming at them from all directions. Quinny’s room was hidden underneath, accessed by a secret button that caused the sarcophagus to slide to the side and reveal the stairs.
The stairwell was already open, and down the stone steps, they went until they arrived at a final chamber with a single stone nook. There Quinny stood, lost in the interface to her domain as she tapped at the air.
“Quinny?” Heather called to alert her they were here.
“I already know you're here,” Quinny called back without looking up. “You two are the only other people to use my forest since we left.”
Heather realized Quinny was looking at logs to see if anything had changed. Sadly none of the players had found the forest yet, and Quinny was disappointed. With a sudden wave, Quinny stepped out of the nook and smiled with her dark eyes wide.
“I still think your dress should be red,” she said.
Heather laughed and insisted it would be white with a long train and veil. She also thanked her for leaving some cookies, waving the final one before her face.
“I know you like the cookies,” Quinny said.
“Whoever heard of a zombie with a sweet tooth?” Heather asked.
“I'm still human; this is just the character I play,” Quinny protested and straightened her white slip of a dress. “So, are we going back now?”
“We probably should,” Breanne urged. “Blackbast had a plan to speed things along.”
“She seems to have a plan for everything,” Heather said. “I kind of like her.”
“Have you given any thought to putting on the crown?” Quinny asked, changing the subject.
“No,” Heather said honestly. “I am still not sure it is a good idea. Frank is right; we can never be sure we know what the real outcome of that will be until I put it on.” Quinny shrugged and led the way out of her hidden lair, taking them back through the barrow mounds.
They passed through the forest and into the graveyard as the sun failed to brighten the gloomy space. Minutes later, they were in the upper halls where she stopped to pick up a groggy Webster. From here, they made their way to the secret room before stepping through to the pocket room.
“I am amazed this worked,” Quinny said.
“Why wouldn’t it work?” Heather asked curiously.
Quinny shrugged as they headed for the final doorway. “It's just in a lot of games you can't put magic doors or holes inside extra-dimensional spaces. If you try to do it, they both explode.”
“And you’re telling me this now?” Heather laughed.
“I didn’t want to worry you,” Quinny replied with a smile.
“Well, thank goodness that didn't happen,” Heather added and stepped into the blackness of the final door.
The sun was brighter in the desert, and Heather tipped her sun hat down to shield her eyes. The doorway was still leaning against the palanquin, but the palanquin itself was changed. Legeis was on the far side, working at the side with something that resembled a wrench as Quinny came out.
“Did you put legs on it?” Heather asked as she noticed the half-meter high posts now protruding from the bottom.
“Blackbast wanted them on,” Legeis called from the other side. “She said it would make it more secure.”
“Secure how?” she pressed as Breanne came out and turned to see the change.
“I dunno, but she and Frank have been talking all morning and going over the details,” he replied.
Heather looked across the gardens to the temple doors and wondered why Frank had come back so early. She put Webster down in the palanquin as he yawed with a little squeak and turned in circles on a cushion.
“Lazy spider,” Heather scolded and headed for the temple only to find Blackbast, Frank, and Umtha coming the other way. Blackbast was carrying a pillow, while Frank had a large box of wood in his arms. They walked directly to the group before Frank passed by them and went through the door.
“What was in the box?” Heather asked.
“Wines and foodstuffs from the temple,” Blackbast replied. “I put some extra pillows in the palanquin to make the trip more comfortable.”
“Thank you, is your friend gone?” Heather pried.
Blackbast nodded and moved around to the side of the palanquin. “You do good work.”
“Putting feet on it isn't so hard,” Legeis remarked. “I guess we're ready to go.”
“Almost,” Blackbast said and held up a hand. She began to chant as a glow formed in the air, turning into a white disc that grew until it was the size of a modest round table. It hovered in the air a meter above the ground just beside the palanquin. “There, now lift the palanquin and put it over the disc.”
Legeis climbed into his armor and turned it about to help Frank lift the palanquin, placing it over the disc so that the legs hung down the side.
“Now the girls can ride in comfort,” Blackbast said.
“I don’t get how this is going to make travel any faster?” Legeis asked.
Blackbast looked to him and explained that the disc would follow her where ever she went. She then held up the pillow she carried and revealed her plan to ride on the back shoulders of his armor. His armor could then maintain a firm run with the disc following along behind.
“What about Frank?” Heather asked as she realized how crowded it would be in the palanquin.
“You should put your skeleton soldier inside the magic room,” Blackbast suggested. “Then you won’t have to convince people he is a death knight. Frank can ride in the palanquin with you.”
Heather went inside and got her skeleton, ordering him into the magic room before the door was mounted into the palanquin. She then turned to regard Frank and let out a sigh. “You get in first,” she said.
He climbed in and had to lay on one side in order to fit. She then climbed in after him and laid alongside him, leaning into his chest in the tight space.
Quinny and Breanne had plenty of room at the other end, and even with Umtha sitting at the front, they floated in the air with ease. Webster had to be shuffled aside, but he decided to climb to the roof and ride on the very top.
Legeis then set off at a decent pace with Blackbast reclined like a cat on the hump that was the armor's shoulders. Heather realized as they set off that Blackbast was wearing little more than a wrap at her chest and a slight skirt. She carried no weapon or means of defense. Heather assumed that she could summon a weapon, but it still seemed foolish to go on such a journey with no equipment.
As Legeis left the garden, Heather tried her best to settle against Frank's armor. They were finally on the move again and had easy transportation home when they wanted. Even more, they were traveling at a brisk trot as opposed to walking. She hoped this meant the journey would be swift and the egg returned in the next week or so. But, even as she hoped for a quick resolution, she was reminded of what came next. Gwen wanted her points, and that meant Frank and her getting married. She went to look over her shoulder as he shifted, and his arm fell around her waist. The one thing Heather was sure of was that Frank was indeed her protector, and with his arm around her, she felt safe. Letting that thought settle in her mind, she closed her eyes to enjoy the journey. Her friends were nearby, and her guardian had a firm hold of her; all was right with the world.