The quest was asking for keys, and as Jack circled the dome, he noticed five more keyholes identical to the first, all equally spaced out around the dome's surface.
If this was the way that the quest prompt was directing him, it seemed like the only logical path to take.
Well, third most logical. Uniting his stomach with a fresh supply of food and water beyond those in his satchel was number one, while finding a safe place to sleep for the night was task number two. He could worry about figuring out the purpose of the strange dome in the morning.
Jack first checked each of the six buildings immediately surrounding the dome, trying every front door. Each was firmly locked up, and there seemed to be no further ways inside each beyond a brute force break-in attempt.
Jack left the dome and the buildings behind and wandered further through the town. He kept an eye out for two things: movement, and any buildings that looked easily accessible.
Walking along one of the surrounding streets, a stray cat suddenly darted out in front of him. It paused in the middle of the street and stared at him before bounding away, disappearing through a crack between two houses.
No sentient beings, maybe, but at least I'm not completely alone.
Then he heard it.
Something was rustling in an alleyway between two merchant buildings along the right side of the street just ahead.
It could have easily been another small animal, but this was far too agitated and far too loud.
The rustling ended a with sudden hard clunk, and something suddenly dashed out from the alleyway.
‘What the hell is that?’ He whispered to himself.
Jack’s heartrate doubled as he tried to set his sights on the being in the dim moonlight
Whatever it was, it was small - way too small to be anything beyond a medium-sized dog.
But dogs didn’t stand on two legs - which this thing was doing.
The being raced across the street and vanished behind a pile of hay by an old wooden trough.
Searching his arsenal of skills and resources, Jack came up short beyond the dagger – unless his Tracking skill would work.
He attempted to activate it several times, but nothing happened.
Why the hell isn't it working?
Okay, looks like I'm choosing violence.
Jack secured his grip on the hunting dagger and approached the hay with his weapon at the ready. He stopped a few yards from the hay heap. The rustling among the hay heap grew more and more aggressive – then suddenly stopped.
‘GAHHH!!!’
The tiny being suddenly emerged, hurling itself through the air. Jack swung out with his dagger in a panic as he dodged to the side, missing the being by inches with his blade. The blur went crashing to the ground with the force of its leap, landing headfirst in the dusty road and grinding to a stop.
‘Oww…’ The thing groaned in a deep voice, sitting up and rubbing its head. ‘That really, really hurt…’
The thing could talk.
It was a small humanoid being, but this thing definitely wasn’t a kid. Its face looked like it belonged to a middle-aged man, and its head was completely bald. Its features were pretty squashed together, and while its head was large, its body was no more than two-feet tall. It wore a small red cloak over a simple shirt and pants, with a pair of sandals wrapping up its feet.
Suddenly his Tracking skill playing up made sense – this was a person, not an animal. He would likely need to be a higher level before he started tracking people.
‘What was that for?’ The small, strange man said as he sat up rubbing his head.
‘What do you mean what was that for?' Jack retorted uneasily, keeping his distance. 'How did you expect me to react when a tiny monster comes leaping out of the dark straight at my face?’
‘You didn’t have to try and stab me, fool!’
‘No, I really think I did. That fall looked like it hurt - are you okay?’
‘It did hurt, but I should be fine. Gnomes are well-known for having tough skulls.’
‘Good,’ Jack nodded. ‘Sorry, what did you say you were?’
‘I am a gnome, obviously. Didn’t I just say that? Anyway, what are you doing here, human man? Is this your home?’
‘Nope. I thought it might be yours.’
‘No.’
‘Wait…’ Jack trailed off. ‘You don’t live here?’
‘Of course not, halfwit. I was in my grand chambers when a strange window opened up where an old mirror resided. I reached out to touch the surface, fell right through and ended up in the forest with this…’ The gnome held up a satchel that looked exactly like Jack's.
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
‘Grand chambers? What does that mean?’
‘I am a well-respected aristocrat and a high-ranking mage, so it is only natural that I would have chambers of my own.’
‘Okay…’ Jack nodded uneasily. ‘So you’re an aristocratic gnome mage from another world. I guess the only thing we have in common is that I’m from another world too.’
‘Prove it.'
Jack swung his satchel around from over his shoulder and held it up.
‘You got one too,’ the gnome spoke with intrigue. ‘Then it appears we are both in the same boat, albeit stepping aboard it from different worlds. I… Suppose that I can somewhat trust you, then, strange fellow. After all, if you intended to kill me, I imagine you would have done it already. I am Torick.’
‘Jack,’ he replied, leaning over and shaking hands with the gnome. The moment they made contact, a window briefly appeared over Torick’s head.
Companion: Torick
Being: Gnome
Class: Mage
HP: 98/100
Stamina: 8
Strength: 3
Intellect: 11
Charisma: 10
Magic: 14
Weapon proficiency: Staff – 12, Dagger – 11
Jack scanned the stats quickly. He looked down at Torick expectantly, assuming the gnome would be checking out his own stats too – but his new friend just frowned at him strangely.
Can he see this system too? It doesn't look like it...
I’d better keep my mouth shut…
‘I don’t suppose you know where there’s a supply of water around here?’ Jack asked, the stats disappearing a moment later.
‘None at all, and the water in this trough doesn’t look particularly appetizing.’
Jack dipped his hand into the nearby trough and lifted it up. A thin layer of green moss covered his hand in the dim moonlight. He frowned and wiped his hands off on the dusty ground.
‘In that case,' Jack replied, 'think you can climb inside one of these buildings. There’s a lot of locked doors in this street, but plenty of broken windows. There has to be some water left over around here somewhere.'
‘I am not the kind of gnome to partaking in such crimes, human,’ Torick said, ‘but these are admittedly desperate times, and in a situation like this, a gnome must play to his strengths.’
Jack and Torick headed down the street, looking around at the old merchant buildings.
‘So you’re seriously a mage?’ Jack asked.
‘Yes, but I am without my staff. It wasn’t in my clutches when I found my way into this odd world. Without a staff, I cannot hope to conjure any magic.’
‘Isn’t a staff just a long stick?’ Jack frowned.
‘A stick infused with magic that I have bonded with over many years. It is like losing an arm.’
The duo stopped outside one of the buildings. None of them possessed any markings written in English, but they all had symbols upon their hanging signs that denoted what they likely sold – including one that possessed a faded but easily-distinguishable image of an ear of corn.
‘If that isn’t a universal sign for food, I don’t know what is,’ Jack nodded to the sign.
He crossed to the porch and tried the front door handle. Despite the derelict nature of the building it was locked tight, but there was a smashed pane at the top of the window just big enough for somebody of the smaller persuasion to fit through.
Torick clambered onto a nearby barrel and scaled the window with serious finesse.
He may have acted a little high and mighty, but Jack had little doubt that he had done this before.
Torick maneuvered carefully between the broken glass, pushed inside and dropped down to the innards of the store.
‘Are you good in there?’
‘There is nothing that desires to eat me, if that’s what you mean.’
‘That’s one thing ticked off,’ Jack smiled. ‘Anything useful?’
‘It doesn’t look like it. Nothing but some old crates and barrels, dried leaves… It seems that nobody has occupied this place in a very long time.’
‘I think that goes for this whole town,’ Jack muttered, glancing up and down the dark, silent street. ‘Can you open the door?’
Torick’s footsteps moved into the hallway, then around to the other side of the door. A sudden barrage of clattering sounded inside, cutting through the quiet of the street.
Jack took a step back from the door and eyed it uneasily, readying his dagger.
‘… Torick?’
The door suddenly clicked open and the gnome appeared.
‘What was all that noise?’ Jack asked.
‘The door wasn’t locked,' he replied, knocking his foot against a pile of old crates and boxes. 'All of this old junk was shoved up against it.’
Jack froze up and felt a sudden prickle of heat run up his spine.
‘Maybe-’
‘Shh…!’ Jack said, waving at Torick before pressing a finger to his own lips.
‘… Did you actually just shush me?’ The gnome whispered, unimpressed.
Jack beckoned him outside and they briefly retreated to the porch.
‘The door wasn’t locked, it was barred from the inside, and it looks like this is the only way in,' Jack whispered. 'What does that tell you?’
Torick shrugged and thought for a moment – then his large eyes went even wider.
‘There’s somebody still in here,’ Torick whispered back.
‘Exactly. If they were downstairs then they would have taken you out when your back was turned. We should check upstairs.’
‘I think you should check upstairs. I am without my staff. I cannot do anything useful at present.’
Jack glanced between Torick and the stairs.
‘Fine.’
Jack tested his weight upon the first step. To his surprise it didn’t creak. He creeped up step by step, peaked his head between the bannisters and listened in silence.
There was a chance that the person who had barred the door was long gone by now through some other exit he didn’t know about. But then-
Clunk.
‘Damn it!’
Jack’s heart pounded even harder at the sound of the voice. He ducked ahead, registered that the voice sounded more concerned than he was, and took his chance.
‘Who’s there?!’ He shouted, dashing up the stairs and taking some cover to the side of the open doorway where the voice had come from, a room filled with boxes. ‘Come out with your hands raised!’
‘No!’ A fearful feminine voice shouted. ‘Please don’t hurt me!’
Jack found his adrenaline-fueled fight response suddenly at odds with the last thing he expected in this derelict ghost town – the voice of a woman who sounded totally terrified.
Jack lowered his guard a little and edged around the corner.
‘… Who are you?’ He asked with a slightly more relaxed tone.
‘I don’t mean any harm. Please just let me go.’
‘I don’t mean any harm either. I know that’s not convincing considering I just broke in here, but my friend and I-’ Jack didn’t know if he considered Torick to be a friend yet, but the word would do for the time being- ‘we woke up here and we have no idea what’s going on. Do you live here?’
‘No… I thought that you did.’
‘Like I said, we just got here.’
‘So did I, no more than an hour ago.’
‘Jack?’ Torick called from downstairs, creeping up the steps and looking over the landing. ‘Who is it?’
‘I’m not sure.’
The conversation took a long beat as Jack and Torick waited.
‘All right,’ the owner of the voice replied. ‘I’m coming out. But I warn you - I'm armed.'