Sometimes in the waves of change, we find our true direction. Had he failed in directing the humans their skills to deploy, then Lord Azanth would, at this very moment, be inside of a shark’s stomach with the walls of his Tupperware casing melting and constricting all around him. Pleased with himself for co-ordinating humans so successfully – no poet would praise this victory, no glory would accrue from it, yet it was one to be proud of – the former demon lord was even more pleased with his companions. None of the young humans had wavered in their commitment to the fray, when many a demon would have run away.

Because Potions of Water Breathing were rare, expensive, and of limited duration, the party picked itself up as soon as the debris of destroyed shark had settled. Once more the five humans gathered at the entrance to the large chamber in which the monstrous anemone resided, with its glowing tentacles spread across the floor in every direction.

The young monk had put a hand on his brother’s shoulder and raised himself up to see over the white-and-purple anemone. He sank back down and mimed looking and seeing a circle. To spare the others having to guess his meaning, Lord Azanth informed them all that Aengus had seen a cave opening on the far side of the watery chamber.

Patricia contacted Lord Azanth, Tell them to stay here; let me see if I can skirt around the edge of the room and reach that cave without disturbing that creature.

Taking a careful step forward and then to the side, their warrior was demonstrably anxious to avoid treading on a tentacle. Nevertheless, the glowing arms of the anemone nearest her began to tremble, as though amplifying the small eddies in the water that the fighter’s footsteps had caused.

Perhaps she should come back… we can Magic Missile­—

Too late had Liam this thought sent, for the sulking mind of the predatory sea creature flared with hate and towards the fighter several tentacles lashed out, grasping her by the legs. For a moment, as the tentacles were struck by sword and spell, it seemed as though the humans were capable of driving them off her. To assist in this effort, Lord Azanth triggered Rush of a Prawn Cocktail Crisp, but new tentacles were arriving fast and the woman who had bravely withstood the sharks was silently screaming now as she was dragged towards the terrible maw of the monster.

Unexpectedly, Liam swam into the room towards Patricia, causing several tentacles to reach out in his direction and intercept him: none however, caught hold or impeded the human. Was this folly? It was not. With an admirable quick wittedness that Lord Azanth could only approve of, and despite the danger, the young mage grasped Patricia’s shield hand, then pulled off his magic ring and placed it over her gauntleted finger.

Calm yourself. Lord Azanth instructed the fighter. You wear a ring of Freedom of Movement. The monster may seek to devour you but see, even now its tentacles slide from your body without purchase. Slay this creature, whom your flesh it would have devoured.

Rallying herself, Patricia pushed towards the anemone. From every direction frantic tentacles flew at her and would have encased her entirely, yet they could not touch her. Whatever the trap, whatever the glue, whatever the grappling limbs, the magic ring promised its bearer freedom to move and that promise it kept.

A concern for his companion rose sickeningly from Lord Azanth's centre, when the shadows of half-a-dozen tentacles descended on the youth. Once more Liam acted promptly and wisely, casting Thornskin on himself. The tentacles whipped away, either stung by the thorns or because Patricia had reached the body of the monster.

The human fighter was at the side of the anemone, which loomed over her, almost twice her size. Her sword punched into the creature and went in all the way to the hilt. This monster relied on its sharks and its tentacles to kill those who would harm it. Without them, it was helpless.

No prudent warrior should despise her foe; yet defenceless against severity did nature leave this monster once its arms have no purchase. Therefore, unrestrained violence be the task of the moment. No need for defence to dwell upon. Let havoc be released upon this enemy.

Straining with the effort, Patricia began to walk around the monster, dragging her sword through the tissue of its body as she did so. Constant were the efforts of tentacles to seize her and constant their slippage to either side of her. The glow of the main body of the anemone turned a deeper purple, while the light from its tentacles noticeably diminished.

Was it the demon within him? Or perhaps a prawn cocktail crisp was a cruel type of being in its own right? Whatever the source of the feeling, the fact was that Lord Azanth relished the pain of this monster and its fear that for the first time in its existence it could not destroy those who had entered its chamber.

As the human fighter struggled on, around behind the back of the creature now and out of sight, but always, always dragging that sharp blade deep through the soft flesh, the room grew darker and darker, the tentacles ceased their vain snapping towards the source of the attack: some just fell still and lost their lustre; some struck out wildly with no apparent purpose; and others waved upwards as if in prayer.

Back in view, still pulling her blade along, Patricia was grim faced and had her jaw clenched with the effort she was making. Admirable was this trait of humans, that under certain circumstances they would surpass the limits of their physical bodies with the determination of their minds.

As the anemone realised that it was fatally wounded it cared only to harm the source of its injury. In attempting one last vengeful effort to crush the figure at its side, a great tear ripped from the sword and on the opposite side the upper half of the anemone slid over the lower, causing the whole monster to tilt away from Patricia. Then the skin ruptured entirely. The stump that remained palpitated like a new-born’s mouth sucking desperately for sustenance. Slowly, all the light in the tentacles faded and the room became dark.

🎉 ✨ Congratulations! ✨🎉

You have achieved Level 17

Your Hit Points and Mana are restored fully. You have an additional Health point and two additional attribute points to allocate.

This welcome message confirmed that of his senses: the monster had died and the EXP reward had been generous. As the humans made their way back up the corridor to where there was light, Lord Azanath allowed himself a brief reflection on the enormous progress he had made since finding himself in a crisp packet at the back of a vending machine. Even so, he did not dwell in this self-congratulatory mode for long. What was the next step to take on his journey of revenge? If there was a pirate’s hoard in these dark tunnels, then they must find it and purchase items in order to become more powerful.

Patricia has a message for you, Lord Azanth told his mage companion. Tedious and unpoetical as it is, I shall not deliver it to you verbatim. Moreover, I am not some kind of speaking device. In essence, she believes that you saved her from a terrible and painful death and she is very grateful.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Tell her…

My point about not being a speaking device seems to have escaped you. Whatever you humans wish to say to each other, unless of a tactical and urgent nature, can wait until you are out of the water. I will, however, pass on the cleric’s thought that we should take the lanterns and explore beyond the dead anemone.

Soon, with a little co-ordination from Lord Azanth, the humans were doing just that. A well-crafted corridor led out of the room and after a few metres of level ground it began to slope upwards. So up they went, until the corridor came to an end, opening into a black pool of water. Some ten metres above them was the surface of the water and crude stairs that led upwards had been cut in a rock formation to their right. One after the other the humans ascended, until they were gathered on a rough stone platform inside a large cave that smelled of seaweed and brine.

Torchlight glistened on pale translucent stalactites. A long way off, water dripped steadily into the dark water. And while there was nothing here to compare with the vast treasure houses of his palaces on the Seventh Plane of Wickedness, two heavy chests nearby on the platform caused Lord Azanth’s potato heart to pulse with greed.

‘Can anyone check for traps?’ asked Daniel, kneeling by the nearest chest. With no one responding, he tentatively raised a large padlock that fitted the clasp of lid and body. ‘How about a skill to open locks like this?’

‘I could use Magic Missile on it?’

‘Go ahead Liam.’ Daniel got up and stepped back.

Boom! A flare of blue magic that dazzled the eyes of the humans and therefore left Lord Azanth as the first to see the entire chest shatter, spilling gold over the rough stone floor. Nor only gold. Within the cascading metal – O happy sound – was a finely polished box.

‘Perhaps I should do the other one?’ said Kate. ‘My Magic Missile isn’t as powerful.’

‘Do it!’ said Aengus eagerly and as no one objected, another flash of magic destroyed the lock on the second chest.

🎉 ✨ Congratulations! ✨🎉

The Treasure of the Black Hawk quest completed

Lore: The pirate Orlak Bloodaxe was rumoured to have hidden his vast treasure – accumulated over many years – on the island of Olamanth. Despite many expeditions to find the treasure its whereabouts remained a mystery until a secret, underwater route to a cave with the treasure was discovered.

The first group to solve the maze and obtain three magic items was that of Daniel O’Brien, level 26 cleric, dark green rank, two-star evolution; Patricia Reed, level 26 fighter, dark green rank, two-star evolution; Azanth, a crisp (prawn cocktail flavour), level 17, light green rank, 0 evolution; Liam Nowak, level 16 mage, light green rank, 0 evolution; Kate Brannagan, level 16 mage, light green rank, 0 evolution; Aengus Nowak, level 15 monk, light green rank, two-star evolution.

Reward: 47,000 Exp. +1 Quest.

1,783 gold coins.

Coin of the Pirate’s Cutlass.

Compass of Seeking.

Telescope of Revelation.

Coin of the Pirate’s Cutlass: This small, copper coin has an image of a cutlass on it. When the owner spins the coin in the air and catches it, the coin transforms into a magical cutlass, which when wielded gives the owner +3 Health, +3 Strength, +3 Agility, +15 Physical Attack.

Compass of Seeking: This ordinary-looking compass is partnered with a silver amulet with the design of a ship in full sail. The compass always points towards the amulet unless the amulet is on a different plane, in which case it points north.

Telescope of Revelation: This brass bound telescope comes with a green velvet case. Looking through the telescope shows the world without magical deception. Illusions are revealed, as are invisible and ethereal creatures and magically hidden objects, portals, and doors. Non-magical disguises, such as camouflaged or secret doors are not revealed.

As a member of the first group to have completed this quest you have earned the title Treasure Finder.

‘Well, knock me down with a feather, we’ve actually done it. We’ve found the treasure!’ And Patricia really did collapse to a sitting position, as if she had lost all her strength. ‘To be honest, I didn’t really believe we would.’

‘I did,’ Daniel started rummaging among the coins.

Greed, Lord Azanth told himself, is like salty water. The more you consume, the thirstier you become. In the past, the greed of his fellow demons had been a weakness he had exploited. Therefore, the desire to own all three magic items he pushed aside, though desire supressed always returns with double the force of desire expressed.

One by one, Daniel found the magic items and laid them on the ground. ‘We are higher level by a long way. We had the potions, and we had the breakthrough intelligence. I think it’s fair that Patricia and I each get a magic item. You get one between you. And half the gold.’

A surge of rage welled through Lord Azanth’s potato body at these selfish words. Had this human forgotten Liam’s brave and fast-thinking reaction to the attack of the tentacles? The finest of virtues was that which was most swiftly forgotten: gratitude.

‘Could you even have gotten in past the golems without me?’ asked Aengus coldly. ‘We are a group and that means equal shares.’

‘Patricia would have died back there,’ added Liam, who took a step towards his brother.

Were it to come to battle, the cleric and the fighter would probably win. When the gap in level between opponents was more than ten, more often than not the skills of the lower-level combatants would be resisted. Nevertheless, four against two meant the issue was not clear cut. One or two successful stuns before the fighter cut them down and the battle could move in their favour.

'Equal shares is right, Daniel,’ said Patricia wearily. ‘Let’s not be greedy. These youngsters did well.’

Daniel frowned. ‘Three into five doesn’t go.’

‘How much do you think those magic items would sell for?’ asked Kate.

‘Twenty thousand Euro for the cutlass,’ Daniel was musing aloud, his humour immediately improved by the thought of wealth. ‘It’s equivalent to a plus-three weapon. The others are good but situational. Ten each say?’

‘Good. All right, let’s accept that.’ Kate had her hands on her hips and looked around. No one disagreed. No one, except Lord Azanth. The cutlass was the least valuable item. True, it would be the most used but there were situations he had been in as a demon where the magic of the other two was beyond price. Even so, he did not communicate this to anyone, for the female human had an approach that would serve their group handsomely if it were accepted by the older pair.

‘A gold coin is worth about a hundred Euro right?’

‘Eighty-five when we left,’ Daniel replied.

‘Let’s say a hundred to make the maths easy. A hundred times one seven eight three is about a hundred and eighty thousand, right?’

A long whistle from the monk. ‘Wow, we are rich.’

Daniel nodded.

‘So we make six piles. Each is worth thirty thousand Euro, or three hundred gold. Then if you want to buy one of the magic weapons, you pay by sharing the agreed amount to everyone else.’

‘Six piles. Or five?’ Daniel looked puzzled.

‘You’re forgetting Lord Azanth,’ said Liam.

The words that were forming in Daniel’s mouth were interrupted.

‘He’s as much right to a share as any of us!’ Aengus raised his voice, which echoed in the distant dark of the cave. What an admirable young man this monk was proving to be.

Do not try to exclude me. Without my guidance in the darkness when sharp-toothéd death assailed thee, your flesh would now be devoured.

‘All right, I understand. To be honest that suits me, I’d only sell the items anyway.’

‘I just want the cutlass,’ said Patricia. ‘I’m happy to share two hundred of my gold for that.’

‘And you’ll get some back from us,’ said Liam. ‘I’ll buy the other two for two hundred and we can work out later which of us carries the compass and the telescope.’

Well done my companion, it might be wise not to let your inner feelings show, but you have obtained items that are of immense value…

Before you continue, let me remind you that I am, at heart, a good person. And if you were to gloat that we had somehow swindled our allies I would feel obliged to give them more gold for the compass and the telescope.

Of course. I merely meant to say immense value in certain particular situations that might never arise and thus it is generous on our part to pay a hundred gold for each.

‘That’s three hundred and sixty-six gold for me.’ Daniel had already bagged up his share and the sack disappeared into his inventory.

You will not mind touching my share to the Tupperware case, so that I can place it in my inventory?

It will be a pleasure. You know that even with Dublin house prices being so high, Aengus and I might have enough for a deposit now?

Spend your gold as you wish. For my part, I will be scouring the market for items that fit my two slots: perimeter and torso.

I can’t wait to see you decked out in a mini cloak and hat.

Liam began to chuckle.

Your humour resembles indolence. It is natural to you and most unappealing. If but once you have courage to exert yourself when such thoughts arise, you will break the habit of mock-making and find real enjoyment in the activity of gaining experience.