“Some of the unfinished pieces on the bench are made of rare metals,” Clancy informed. “They’re not worth much, but still, we should take them with us.”
Miles shrugged. “Hey, I could use an extra hundred gold pieces!”
“So where should we go next?” Lorarona asked. In front of them were two closed doors and two hallways, not counting the one that led to a fire exit.
“The closest door?” Noninja suggested. He was met with a round of shrugs and nods. Grasping the handle, he found it turned easily; he opened the door and looked inside. “Wow,” he said softly. “You gotta see this.”
They entered to find themselves in a hall of mirrors. Not only were the walls mirrored, but the floor and ceiling too. They realized they could see themselves, many copies of themselves, stretching to infinity in all directions.
“Wow,” Miles gushed. “Enough of us to take over the world!”
“Guys?” Clancy shared. “I don’t feel so good.” His knees buckled and he collapsed to the ground.
“Yeah,” Lorarona agreed, “me either.” She squinted her eyes. “There’s just no way to get away from it!”
“Even I have to agree,” Noninja admitted, holding his stomach. “This is making me really ill.”
“You weaklings!” Miles suddenly roared. “You are not fit to lead my army!” He unsheathed his scimitar and swung toward Clancy; he rose his arm to protect himself.
“Miles!” Lorarona screamed. “What are you doing?!”
Miles brought his scimitar down upon Clancy with full force. In a flash, Noninja managed to interpose his katana; Miles’ scimitar slid along the length of it and impacted with the floor. Noninja took advantage of Miles’ momentarily awkward stance by kicking him; he fell backward and slid a few feet.
“What the devil, man?!” Clancy screeched. Noninja pointed his katana at Miles’ throat, holding him at bay.
Miles cringed and shrunk back. “I’m sorry!” he bleated. “I don’t know what came over me!” He shook his head unsteadily. “This room is really getting to me.”
“Us too,” Lorarona agreed, “but you don’t see us trying to kill each other!”
“Hold on,” Clancy interrupted, crawling over to Miles. “Let me check something.”
“Don’t even think about moving,” Noninja growled, continuing to threaten Miles with his katana.
“I’m not, I’m not!” Miles pleaded. “Seriously!”
Clancy’s fingers lit up; the glow left his hand and soaked into Miles. The arch of light stayed in place for several seconds as Clancy continued to ponder. The glow reflected from the mirrors and bathed everyone in its yellow light.
“That explains it,” Clancy finally revealed. “I’m detecting the aftereffects of a ‘murderous command’ spell.”
“Oh, thank the Gods,” Miles sobbed. “I really didn’t mean to attack you!” Noninja finally lowered his katana, but continued to glare.
“But where did it come from?” Lorarona asked. “Miles, do you remember anything?”
“Yeah,” he revealed. “I felt it as soon as I looked into that corner.” He pointed to the one opposite the door.
Noninja sheathed his katana and inspected the corner, feeling the walls. “I think there’s a secret door here,” he announced, “but I can’t find the trigger.”
He noticed Miles was behind him. “Let me try.” He started to feel the wall.
Noninja gave him a withering look. “Right…the ninja can’t find the trigger, but the barbarian can?”
The mirror suddenly bent under Miles’ touch; with a click, the door swung open. “Apparently so,” Miles grinned. He peered at what was behind it. “It’s dark in here.”
Noninja scowled as the others walked up to look. Miles patted the hilt of his scimitar. “Hey Clancy, can you hit me with a ‘light’ spell?” He grinned idiotically. “I’ve always wanted a glowing sword!”
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“You got it, pal!” Clancy cheered.
Miles withdrew his scimitar and held it before him; with a few deft twiddles of his fingers, a scorching white light left Clancy’s hand and impaled itself in Miles’ weapon. It shone with a sharp, antiseptic shade of white. They walked past the door and into the hall.
“Doesn’t anyone think this is a little strange?” Lorarona asked.
“What do you mean?” Miles piped up.
“First we find a room that disorients us, then it makes one of us go mad with rage, then we find a secret door, and now we’re creeping down a dark passage? Isn’t that a little contrived? Doesn’t this seem like a trap to you?”
“You read too many dungeon-crawl stories,” Miles dismissed. “This is an inventor’s workshop. An eccentric inventor, I grant you, but still, just a guy trying to defend himself against everyday baddies. Any so-called ‘trap’ we find here will have a perfectly good explanation; it won’t be some random ‘gotcha’.”
Clancy turned to Miles, an impressed look on his face. “Wow, Miles…I didn’t know you could be so lucid!”
Miles shrugged. “It would just make sense, is all. You tell me, Clancy – what was the purpose of that dragon’s head in the lobby?”
He chuckled. “To lure thieves and punish them. In other words…self defense.”
“Right! And whatever made us sick, and made me attack you…has some sort of purpose.”
Lorarona sighed. “Fine. Let’s just see what it is.”
“So,” Clancy asked Lorarona, “do you read a lot of dungeon-crawl stories?”
Lorarona looked sheepish for a moment. “Yeah. I started reading those sorts of magazines when I was a little girl. I actually have a pretty big collection of them. Some of them might be worth serious money some day!”
“Really?” Miles smirked. “Do you have a bunch of figurines, too? Do you make them fight mock battles?”
Lorarona shot Miles a withering look. “I prefer to call that ‘story ideation’. I’m a bard, after all.”
“OK, OK, I’m sorry,” Miles soothed. “I just didn’t know you were such a gigantic nerd.”
Lorarona scowled to herself as they reached the end of the passage. It turned right and went for another ten feet, the dead end containing a locked chest.
Miles bowed slightly and swept his hand. “Noninja? Would you do the honors?”
Noninja grinned. “What, you don’t want to use your ‘universal key’?”
Miles flashed a pained look as he grabbed his belly. “No thanks. I’ve had enough of that for a while.”
Noninja pulled out his lock-picking tools and worked on the chest. Seconds later, it clicked softly, and Noninja turned his tools to unlock it. “Wow…that was easy!”
“You’re on fire today!” Clancy gushed. He winced as Miles fraternally slapped him upside the head. “No mention of fire.”
“Sorry,” Clancy grumbled, rubbing his head. “Point taken.”
“Well,” Noninja hinted, “if Lorarona’s right, this’ll explode in our faces. If Miles is right, the source of that room’s weird properties is in here. Ready?”
They all gave noncommittal shrugs. Lorarona shielded her face as Noninja opened the chest. “Jackpot!” he crowed. Inside was a series of intricate-looking high-quality machine parts. “Those look like rare metals,” Clancy observed. “Definitely worth some serious gold!”
“And who’s this cute little guy?” Miles trilled, picking up a small glass globe. In the light, something could be seen swimming inside of it; it looked like a colorful flying snake.
“Ye Gods!” Lorarona blurted. “That’s a voidworm!” It swam toward them, briefly made what looked like a pleading expression, then just as quickly swam away.
“So?” Miles snapped. “He’s adorable! I’m keeping him; he’s my new pet.” Miles wobbled unsteadily as he continued to look inside. “It seems like he’s swimming far away…much further than what seems possible.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Clancy blasted. “That’s an outsider from the Maelstrom. He’s bending space within that globe. That thing is incredibly dangerous.” He raised his finger to make a point. “Also, it’s probably what’s responsible for all the weird effects.”
Lorarona withdrew a strip of cloth from the purse of holding. “Just wrap it up in here. I’m going to put it away.”
Miles hesitated for a moment, then did what she said. “I’m gonna miss you, little friend,” he cooed. It made one last pleading expression before being covered by the cloth.
As she put it into the purse of holding and closed it, they all shuddered slightly. “Wow,” Clancy observed. “Suddenly I feel a lot better.”
“You see, Miles?” Lorarona scolded. “That thing was killing us. Do you still want it as a pet?”
“No,” Miles moped. “But what are we going to do with it?”
“Rikki has a lot of contacts,” Noninja pointed out. “One of them should know how to dispose of it.”
Miles flashed a worried look. “Dispose?”
“Or send home,” Noninja dismissed. “Either way, that thing needs to be neutralized.”
Miles frowned. “Fine.” They turned to leave. “How much do you think those parts are worth?” he asked Clancy.
“Quite a bit,” Clancy revealed. “1400 gold pieces, maybe more.”
Miles sighed happily. “That’ll make the pain go away.”
They re-entered the hall of mirrors. “You see?” Lorarona noticed. “We still have infinite reflections, but we don’t feel sick anymore.”
“OK, OK, I get it,” Miles snarled. “Barbarian dumb, everyone else smart.” He marched to the exit and left. The others exchanged worried looks as they followed him.