The island fortress that served as the seat of Squirk’s power was a perpetually gloomy mound of rock that rose up out of the ocean like a malignant tumor. The area around the island was largely devoid of life, both above and below the waves, as if most creatures knew better than to stray too close to Squirk’s domain. Most creatures, however, did not include a particular trio desperately trying to row their way towards the island’s shores in a makeshift boat.
“Are we there yet?” Captain Wuzz groaned. “It feels like we’ve been paddling for hours and my arms are killing me.”
“We’re almost there, you can see the island just up ahead,” Garbunkle replied. “All we have to do now is find someploace to land and then figure out how to sneak inside.”
“Oh yes, and then it’s simply a matter of finding Gregor and Pluma, not to mention the amulet, and sneaking out again without being caught by Squirk or his minions,” Captain Wuzz said. “Really, this little rescue mission couldn’t possibly be any simpler.”
“Hah hah, I get your point, but we’re adventurers! Taking huge risks to stop the bad guys and save the world is what we do, and that goes double when our friends are in danger, too!” Garbunkle declared.
“Eeyup!” Sir McBiggun agreed.
“Well, far be it from me to dissuade anycreature from acting like a true adventurer, but do we have any sort of actual plan for when we get there? Or, were we just planning on rushing in and causing as much chaos as possible? Actually, now that I say it out loud that last option sounds rather appealing, let’s go with that,” Captian Wuzz said.
“I’m not so sure that would be a good idea,” Garbunkle replied. “We got our butts kicked pretty badly by that giant lobster when we tried fighting it head on, and Squirk himself is probably even tougher. If we want to save our friends and get back home then we’ll need to do this as sneakily as possible.”
Captain Wuzz grimaced. “In other words, we’re doomed.”
*********
Gregor quickly made his way down the hallways of Squirk’s fortress, the soft clack of his talons against the sone echoing in the darkness. “Let’s see, if I remember correctly, Crank’s lair should be down this way…or was it down that other hall? Darn it! You’d think after serving Lord Squirk for this long I’d have committed the layout to memory. I need to work on that if I’m to serve him properly,” Gregor muttered to himself. “Actually, now that I think about it, my memory has seemed a bit hazy recently. Hopefully once Lord Squirk has completed his ritual I’ll have the time to rest and resolve whatever’s causing these issues.”
Continuing to mutter to himself as he wandered through the halls, Gregor eventually reached the portion of the fortress Crank claimed for his personal dwelling. Without bothering to announce his presence, Gregor strode inside, causing Crank to practically jump in surprise. “Gah! Stupid griffon, don’t you ever knock?”
“Scouts have reported a small group of intruders headed towards the island,” Gregor said. “As Lord Squirk has given clear instructions that he is not to be disturbed until his rituals involving his amulet are complete, I’m reporting the issue to you, as per my duties.”
“Hmph, right,” Crank grumbled as he unconsciously rubbed the joint of his claw. “They’re probably some of the adventurers who were protecting the prisoner I caught. Our guardian beasts and undead soldiers should be more than enough to destroy them.” As Crank spoke, he glanced down to see Gregor glaring up at him disapprovingly. “Do you think you have a better idea?”
“While you’re likely correct that the creatures Lord Squirk has created should be more than sufficient to deal with the intruders on their own, I do feel that relying purely on them creates an unnecessary risk. Lord Squirk is too close to achieving his ultimate victory over this world to allow even the slightest possibility of any interference. Hence, I feel it would be best if more direct action is taken to deal with these interlopers beyond simply relying on mindless beasts and undead,” Gregor concluded.
Crank scowled at Gregor for several moments before his face suddenly brightened. “You know, I think you may be right. And, seeing as how you were the one to realize the seriousness of the situation, I think its only fair that I let you take the lead on dealing with these intruders. I’ll be sure to let Lord Squirk know how diligent you were in managing the defense of the island.”
“I see. Thank you for your confidence in me, I’ll make sure to prove it was well founded,” Gregor replied before saluting and marching out to see to the island’s protection.
Crank continued smiling warmly until he was confident Gregor was out of earshot, at which point his face fell into a scowl and he blew a raspberry at the departed gryphon. “Who does that gryphon think he’s fooling? I can see what he’s trying to do, looking to steal my place as Lord Squirk’s second-in-command. Well, we’ll see how he handles fighting those other adventurers he was with. With any luck, they’ll be able to finish him, and if they don’t then I’ll take credit for having him fight them,” Crank cackled wickedly to himself. “Maybe I should see if there’s some way I can trick our undead to eat the stupid gryphon just in case. Accidents do happen, after all.”
*********
“How is shooting something in the eye with an arrow an ‘accident’?” Garbunkle demanded as the group clustered around the misshapen creature that Captain Wuzz had felled.
“You said you wanted to intimidate it, so I figured I’d fire an arrow next to its head. How was I supposed to know it was going to jerk its head to the side like that?” Captain Wuzz protested. “In any event, I don’t see what the problem is, we were probably going to have to fight it at some point anyway.”
“Maybe, but I wanted to at least try questioning it first. We don’t know where anything is in this place, and that thing could have told us where Squirk’s lair is or where the dungeons are.”
“If you’re looking for the dungeons, I’d be happy to take you there myself.” Garbunkle, Sir McBiggun and Captain Wuzz looked up to see Gregor standing in the middle of the hallway up ahead.
“Gregor!” Garbunkle cried out happily as he rushed over towards his friend. “I knew they wouldn’t be able to keep you locked up for long. Where’s Pluma? And what happened to the –”
“Garbunkle! Get down!” Garbunkle scarcely had time to process the warning before Captain Wuzz fired an arrow that went whizzing past his head towards Gregor, forcing the gryphon to leap back.
Garbunkle quickly pulled himself back to his feet and angrily turned to face Captain Wuzz. “What is wrong with you? Why the hay are you attacking our – Yargh!” Before Garbunkle could even finish speaking he felt agonizing waves of electricity crash through his entire body. Collapsing to the floor in pain, Garbunkle saw that a small, writhing, lamprey-like creature had affixed itself to the back of his arm.
“And Crank said using agony eels as weapons wasn’t a workable concept,” Gregor said as he looked down at his incapacitated opponent. “Just one more thing that incompetent crustacean was wrong about. Now then, that’s one down and two to go. If I were you gentleman I’d strongly consider surrendering now. Otherwise, things aren’t likely to go well for you.” As Gregor advanced on Captain Wuzz and Sir McBiggun, however, he felt something grab at one of his paws. Looking down, he saw Garbunkle looking up at him from the floor with a tearful expression.
“Why? Why are you doing this?” Garbunkle asked even as Gregor tried shaking him off. “I thought we were friends.”
“Friends?” Gregor sneered as he finally kicked back with enough force to send Garbunkle flying off into a nearby wall. “I’ve never even met any of you before, how would we be fr – Ngh!” Gregor put a talon to his head as he was struck by a sudden pulsing headache. While he swiftly recovered, the momentary distraction was all the opening Sir McBiggun needed to launch a counterattack, barreling into Gregor and smashing him against a wall.
While Sir McBiggun kept Gregor busy, Captain Wuzz hurried over to Garbunkle’s side and gingerly used one of his arrows to pry the squirming eel off of Garbunkle’s arm. “I knew that shifty little sneak thief couldn’t be trusted. Don’t worry, though, if we work together, we should be able to deal with him without too much trouble.”
“Wait,” Garbunkle said groggily as he tried to stand back up. “Don’t hurt him.”
“Have you lost your mind?” Captain Wuzz cried out. “Look what he just did to you! And what he’s trying to do to Sir McBiggun as we speak!” Captain Wuzz’s last point was punctuated by the sound of claws scraping against metal as Gregor attempted to pounce on Sir McBiggun’s back, only to be thwarted by the latter’s armor.
“It’s not his fault,” Garbunkle replied as little more steadily. “The way he talked, I think he really doesn’t know who we are. Squirk must have done something to him to mess with his mind or something and that’s why he’s fighting us.’
“Well, that’s fascinating and all, but what are we supposed to do about it? We can’t simply leave him free to attack us or warn the rest of the fortress about our presence,” Captain Wuzz said.
“Maybe we could…” Garbunkle started to say as he wracked his brains trying to think of a solution. “What if we knocked him unconscious or something and then tied him up?”
“Knock him unconscious?” Captain Wuzz repeated as he rubbed his chin in thought. “I will admit the idea does have a certain appeal.”
“I don’t really like the idea of hurting him myself, but I can’t think of any other better way of keeping him from causing trouble while we figure out a solution,” Garbunkle said.
“Yes, yes, it’s a true moral dilemma. Now, the real question is how exactly do we go about knocking out rogue rogue unconscious? What if you were cast a sleep spell on one of my arrows, and the I ricocheted it off the walls and into his rump while he’s distracted fighting Sir McBiggun? Or, perhaps I could distract him with my famous yodeling routine –”
“You have a famous yodeling routine?” Garbunkle asked in a tone that confirmed he was all too used to this sort of nonsense from his ally.
“Just because I’m an adventurer doesn’t mean I can’t have other hobbies,” Captain Wuzz said. “Anyway, while I distract him with my yodeling, you can use a binding spell to immobilize him, and them Sir McBiggun –” An audible thud caused both Captain Wuzz and Garbunkle to turn to see that Sir McBiggun had succeeded in clubbing Gregor over the head with the pommel of his sword, rendering the gryphon unconscious. “And then Sir McBiggun could do that. Honestly, it feels a bit anticlimactic to end it like this, but oh well. So, who’s got some rope?”
*********
Friends.
Why had that word bothered him so much? Hearing the time dragon utter the term had hit Gregor like a knife to the brain, conjuring up strange thoughts and memories that seemed alien yet simultaneously familiar. It wasn’t that Gregor had anything particularly against the concept, at least not that he could think of, but for some reason merely hearing the word had flooded Gregor’s mind with a palpable sense of wrongness.
Faced with such a situation, Gregor’s mind instinctively fell back to what it knew to be true. He had been born into a family of unicorn nobles, where he had been repeatedly tortured by his father until eventually Squirk had rescued him. In gratitude, Gregor had taken on a new identity and even a new race, courtesy of Squirk’s magic, and had pledge his fealty to Squirk. It wasn’t the sort of pack that lest much time for friendship, or for romancing lavender alicorns.
The sheer oddity of that last random thought caused Gregor’s eyes to snap open, only to immediately close them again as he awoke to the sensation of a splitting headache. As Gregor swiftly adjusted to the pain, he soon found he could make out voices coming from nearby.
“- can’t just leave him like this,” one of the voices, who Gregor recognized as the draconic wizard, said. “We need to figure out some way of breaking whatever curse Squirk put on him.”
“Eeyup,” another voice concurred, presumably the unicorn warrior of the group.
“I think we may be missing the larger picture here,” a third voice said, which by process of elimination must have belonged
to the misshapen third member of the party. “Retrieving Gregor wasn’t our only objective, remember? At the very least we need to get the amulet back from Squirk, and also retrieve Pluma assuming there’s time.”
It took every ounce of Gregor’s self-control to keep from starting at this revelation. The intruders were not only aware that Squirk had recovered his amulet, but had come with the specific intent of stealing it. Confusingly, though, they seemed to believe that they had some connection to himself, yet he couldn’t recall having ever seen any of them before. That issue, however, would have to wait until the immediate threat to Squirk was dealt with. Leaving the three intruders to their discussion as to what to do with him, Gregor refocused his attention on escaping his current predicament. One of Gregor’s captors had had the foresight to tie him up while he was unconscious, not only tightly binding his wings to his torso but they had also tied his talons and rear paws together in front of him. To Gregor’s immense frustration, whoever had tied him had done a good enough job that he couldn’t wriggle free of the bonds nor contort himself so that he could tear at them with his beak. To make matters worse, despite Gregor’s best efforts to remain silent, his struggles were soon overheard by his captors.
“Well well well, look who’s woken up,” the draconequus archer said as the group circled around Gregor. “You’ve been a very naughty gryphon, haven’t you?”
As Gregor silently stared daggers at his teasing captor, the diminutive bearded dragon waddled forwards. “Would you ease off for a bit, we’re trying to help him, remember?” the dragon chided before turning to Gregor. “Hey, sorry we had to knock you out like that, but you really weren’t giving us much choice there. Do you remember who we are?”
“Aside from a pack of thieves trying to rob Lord Squirk?” Gregor asked sardonically. “I’ve never seen any of you before in my life.”
“But you have!” the dragon insisted. “We’re your friends. Squirk must have done something to your memories to make you forget us.”
There was that word again, and with it the same stabbing headache. Now, however, the headache was accompanied by the nagging sensation that there really was something that Gregor had forgotten, something important. To make matters even more frustrating, Gregor couldn’t quite recall what it was that he felt he needed to remember. The memories floated just outside of his conscious mine, like the recollections of a dream several hours after waking.
“See? You do remember us, I can see it in your eyes!” the dragon cried out, eliciting a snort from Gregor.
“I don’t have any memories of a band of half-baked mercenaries, friend – peaceful or otherwise,” Gregor snapped back. Despite Gregor’s best efforts, however, he wasn’t able to keep his uncertainty out of his voice, a fact the other’s seemed to immediately pick up on.
“Hah! I knew it! You do remember something!” the dragon said.
“I admit that, maybe, just maybe, you’ve managed to dredge up something, probably some bit of repressed trauma. That said, there’s a wide gulf between that and proving that we’re actually frie – ngh…that we somehow know each other.” Gregor clenched his beak as he spoke, the pounding in his head getting worse with every mention of the word ‘friend’.
“Look at it this way, say we were trying to trick you,” Captain Wuzz said. “Don’t you think we’d have come up with something better than just walking up to you like an old friend and then claiming you’ve been brainwashed?”
“Oh, I don’t know. You all look pretty stupid to me.” Garbunkle, Captain Wuzz and Sir McBiggun all looked up in unison to see Crank scuttling down the hall, flanked by several skeleton archers. “I came to see what was taking so long, and look what I find; the useless gryphon let himself get captured.”
“If you wouldn’t mind, perhaps you could hold off gloating for five minutes and capture the intruders! Or is actually doing something useful too difficult a concept for you?” Gregor yelled.
“Don’t worry I will,” Crank said with clearly evident glee. “I can’t wait until Lord Squirk hears how you managed to fail so completely at dealing with these intruders. Maybe he’ll even let me throw you in a cell with them to…wait, where’d they go?”
“The intruders ran off while you were busy congratulating yourself,” Gregor replied. “If you’re done proving yourself to be a complete idiot, maybe you could untie me so we can chase them down before they get away!”
“I told you earlier, you worry too much,” Crank said dismissively as he waved a claw motioning for two of his skeletal servants to untie Gregor. “The guardian beasts Lord Squirk created will still be more than enough to dispose of that rabble.”
“One, I wouldn’t be so sure of that. That ‘rabble’ as you call them are more skilled than they look. More importantly, how do think Lord Squirk would react to finding out that you knew we had intruders and decided to do nothing about it?” Gregor asked.
Crank glared angrily at Gregor, but the irritation in his eyes quickly gave way to fear. “You know what, maybe you’re right. It is better to be safe than sorry, after all.”
“I thought that may be the case,” Gregor said before suddenly stumbling as his legs nearly gave out from under him. “That warrior of theirs must have hit me harder than I thought. It might be better if you took the lead on hunting them down, in my current state I’d likely be more of a liability than an asset.”
“Fine, if you’re too weak to be useful than you’d only get in the way,” Crank grumbled dismissively. “But when I’ve destroyed the intruders, I’m going to be the one to get all the credit.”
“Understood,” Gregor said as he staggered away. The pounding in his head was growing worse by the moment, leaving Gregor desperate to find somewhere to rest and get his thoughts under control. By the time Gregor managed to find his way back to his quarters he could barely walk straight, collapsing onto his bed the moment he was close enough. Desperate to regain some measure of control over his situation, Gregor closed his eyes and tried to meditate.
At first, Gregor’s meditation proceeded as it normally did, his conscious thoughts drifting away to be replaced by memories of his past life. This time, however, Gregor’s recollections of suffering at the hooves of his father and subsequent rescue by Squirk were forced to fight with another, less familiar set of memories. Hazy and indistinct, the memories seemed to somehow by from a time after Gregor had been rescued from his father’s influence, but before he had discarded his former identity. Stranger still were the emotions these memories stirred. Gregor was eternally grateful to Squirk for freeing him from his father’s grasp, but Gregor recognized that Squirk was not a particularly kind creature. Even as hazy and incomplete as they were, however, the memories floating through Gregor’s mind evoked feelings of warmth and even love.
Rather than finding the mental clarity he had sought, Gregor ended his meditation feeling even more confused than before. While his headache was gone, it had been replaced with a palpable feeling of wrongness that cut to Gregor’s very core. Even more worrying was the slow realization that altering a creatures memories was easily within Squirk’s magical abilities, especially now that he had recovered his amulet.
“What now?” Gregor asked himself. “I can’t just ask Squirk if he locked away some of my memories. Let’s say, just for a moment, that he did alter my mind somehow. I doubt very much that he’d just willingly admit to it. The dragon and the other intruders are just as unreliable, though. Whatever this is, it doesn’t feel like memories of comrades-in-arms, it feels more…romantic in nature. Although, if that group really did know me personally than they might have more information on the source of these memories as well.” Gregor started to pace back and forth as he considered his next steps. “The main problem will be getting to them before Crank does. Crank might be a craven imbecile, but he still has more than enough power at his disposal to destroy that group if he manages to catch them. If only I could get ahead of them somehow…” Gregor thought for a bit before snapping his talons as a though struck him. “Wait, the obnoxious lanky one mentioned they were trying to rescue somecreature named Pluma. That must be the avian prisoner that Crank captured. This fortress might be a maze, but finding the dungeons won’t be that hard even for a group of outsiders. Now I just have to hope they can keep clear of Crank long enough to make it there.”
*********
“Well, now what?” Captain Wuzz asked irritably. “I’m fairly certain we’ve gotten away from the lobster, but now we’re back to where we started wandering aimlessly around this fortress.”
“Not totally,” Garbunkle said. “For one thing, at least now we know that Gregor’s been brainwashed by Squirk somehow, so we know we have to watch out for that. Plus, I think we were starting to get through to him when Crank showed up.”
“That’s all fine and dandy, but how does any of that actually help us?” Captain Wuzz demanded.
“I…I don’t know,” Garbunkle admitted sadly. “If only we knew more about what Squirk did to him, then maybe we could figure out how to fix it. It’s not exactly like we could ask Squirk or something.”
“Or Crank, for that matter,” Captain Wuzz said, prompting both his companions to turn towards him. “What? I’d have to think the overgrown crawfish at least knows how Squirk did whatever he did, even if he wasn’t there to see it.”
“Wait a minute, that actually gives me an idea!” Garbunkle exclaimed. “We might not be able to ask Crank what happened, but I bet there’s somecreature else who might know the answer as well. Pluma!”
“You really think she’d have any idea what happened?” Captain Wuzz asked.
“It’s worth a shot. Besides, rescuing her was one of our goals coming here anyway, right? So, why not see if she has any information that could help us with the other stuff we’re doing,” Garbunkle said.
“Eeyup,” Sir McBiggun concurred.
“I’m not so sure that Pluma will be all that much help, but I don’t have any other ideas so I’m in,” Captain Wuzz said. “So, how do we find Pluma to ask her?”
“That’s easy. Squirk’s probably keeping her in his dungeon, and that’s going to be in the lowest part of the fortress. So, all we have to do is head down. Easy,” Garbunkle said.
*********
“I know Lord Squirk said not to disturb him, but this is important,” Crank muttered to himself as he nervously paced back and forth outside the door to Squirk’s chamber. “If these were just normal intruders, I could just trust the guardians to take care of them, but with the gryphon in the mix…Lord Squirk will be angrier if I don’t tell him what’s going on. Besides, maybe this will convince Squirk to get rid of that stupid bird entirely.” His mind made up, Crank gingerly pushed open the door to Squirk’s chambers and peaked inside. Squirk was seated on his dais, eyes closed in concentration as two of his tentacles held his Flashstone Amulet aloft. The amulet itself was suffused with a hazy red glow which trailed up into the air, vanishing as it reached the chamber’s ceiling. For several minutes, Crank simply stood and stared silently at his master as he worked up the courage to proceed. Eventually, however, Squirk made the decision for him.
“Stop your sniveling or whatever it is you’re doing and get in here already. You’ve managed to bother me, you may as well try and make it worthwhile,” Squirk growled without even opening his eyes. “For your sake this had better actually be important. Flooding the land-dweller’s continent is going to take a lot of work, even with my amulet.”
“Well, Lord Squirk, it’s just that I have some concerns about our new ally,” Crank said apologetically.
“Who, the gryphon? Are you scared he’s going to take your place as my favorite minion? Because you should be! For some random mercenary that one had a mind like a professional soldier, and I didn’t even have to damage any of it to make him nice and loyal, just tweak a few old memories of his daddy,” Squirk let out a cruel laugh at this last part.
“Yes, well, not that I would dare to second guess your genius, but how can we be sure that the gryphon can be trusted? I mean, what if something from the gryphon’s past were to show up –”
“You mean like the other adventurers that have been running around my fortress? The ones you’ve been trying to keep me from finding out about?” Squirk asked pointedly, causing Crank to cringe away in fear. “Did you really think you could hide something like that from me, Crank?”
“No, my lord, of course not, and I’ve already assigned our guardians to hunt them down. Its just…the gryphon fought the intruders, and after that he was behaving a little oddly,” Crank said.
“And you’re worried a single fight with some of hi sold allies would be enough to break my hold on his mind? Do you actually believe my magic is so weak that that’s all it would take?” Squirk asked with a mixture of indignation and amusement.
“No, Lord Squirk, its just that I thought –” Crank’s frantic efforts to apologize were cut off as Squirk slapped him with a free tentacle.
“And what have I told you about trying to think? Now stop sniveling and do something useful, like actually capturing those intruders you’re so scared of. Now get out of my right! This spell requires too much concentration for me to waste time on your nonsense.” Squirk snarled, sending Crank scuttling back out of the room in alarm.
“You know, I think that actually went better than I expected,” Crank mused as he retreated down the hall. “Lord Squirk only hit me once and barely even threatened me. He must still be in a good mood over getting his amulet back. Although, if I don’t deal with these intruders quickly that might not last. Hopefully the guardian beasts I sent out will be able to deal with this before things get any worse.”
*********
“Now who’s keeping us from interrogating our opponents?” Captain Wuzz said as he looked at the smoldering remnants of the creature Garbunkle had just slain, a hideous amalgam of crap and squid.
“For one thing, we’re not trying to question these things since we already know where we’re going,” Garbunkle countered. “Also, I’m pretty sure that whatever this thing was it couldn’t talk.”
“Well it can’t now that its been burned to a crisp,” Captain Wuzz snorted.
“Hey!” The sound of Sir McBiggun calling out brought an abrupt end to Captain Wuzz and Garbunkle’s argument. Both quickly turned their attention to their normally silent ally to see him inspecting a locked door the creature had evidently been guarding. Once Sir McBiggun was satisfied that he had his ally’s attention, he turned around and slammed one of his rear hooves into the door, practically knocking it off its hinges.
“That seemed a tad excessive,” Captain Wuzz said as Garbunkle ran past him.
“No, I think this is exactly what we’ve been looking for,” Garbunkle said as he peered into the darkness beyond the doorframe. “There’s some stairs here that look like they go all the way to the deepest part of the fortress. I’ll bet that’s definitely where they’re keeping Pluma.”
“Assuming Squirk hasn’t fed her to some beastie already,” Captain Wuzz said, earning glares from Garbunkle and Sir McBiggun. “What? You have to admit that does sound like the sort of thing he’d probably do.”
“Not. Helping.” Garbunkle said as he grumpily stumped down the stairs, Sir McBiggun following closely behind. “We need to at least try and stay positive here. Let’s just focus on finding Pluma and then we can figure out what to do next.”
“Do you mean figure out how we’re supposed to get that amulet away from Squirk when we couldn’t defeat his flunky, or what we need to do to un-brainwash our birdbrained compatriot?” Captain Wuzz asked.
“Look, I know things look bad right now. Really, really, really bad,” Garbunkle admitted. “But, if we can’t at least try looking on the bright side then things really won’t be able to get any better. We need to visualize our success so we can make it happen. Really visualize it.”
“Really? That’s your secret to our victory? ‘Visualizing’ it?” Captain Wuzz scoffed. “I’m starting to wonder if Gregor didn’t have the right idea letting himself get brainwashed –”
“Hello? Is somecreature there?”
“Hah! That’s Pluma’s voice!” Garbunkle exclaimed triumphantly as he broke into a run down the hall, pausing briefly to turn back towards Captain Wuzz. “See? Visualize it.”
Following the sound of Pluma’s voice quickly took the group to a particularly dark and dank hallway lined on one side with ironbound doors, each with a small opening at the top set with iron bars. One particular opening quickly caught Garbunkle’s eye, as a familiar beak could be seen poking out from between the bars.
“Pluma!” Garbunkle called out. “It’s me, Garbunkle! I’m here with Sir McBiggun and Captain Wuzz to rescue you!”
“What! I-I can’t believe you all actually came to Squirk’s fortress to save me, after what I tried to do…” Pluma said.
“To be fair, we do have a few other objectives as well,” Captain Wuzz said. “Speaking of which, one of those objectives was acting rather peculiarly when we ran into him earlier. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about why that could be, would you?”
“When we were captured, Squirk…did something to him,” Pluma replied sadly. “I’m not really sure what, I think it may have had something to do with his memories. Whatever it was, it changed Gregor completely, made him act like was completely loyal to Squirk.”
“And that’s all you know?” Garbunkle asked.
“Squirk did use the amulet when he cast the spell, maybe you would be able to use it to reverse it,” Pluma offered hopefully before letting out a cry. “Wait, the amulet! Squirk took it from me, and he’s planning on using it to sink the entire continent under the ocean. You have to stop him!”
“Seriously? The entire continent? He can really do something like that?” Garbunkle cried out in horror.
“That does seem a tad extreme,” Captain Wuzz added.
“Extreme? It’s monstrous! I can barely even comprehend the type of evil you’d need to be to even be able to consider something like that,” Pluma said angrily.
“It’s almost as though returning Squirk’s amulet was a horrible idea that may have doomed your entire world. Imagine that,” Captain Wuzz replied with a smirk.
“Dude,” Garbunkle said. “You’re being a little –”
“No, he’s absolutely right,” Pluma interrupted sadly. “I was an angry, spoiled child throwing a tantrum, and because of that…we have to find a way to stop Squirk before he can finish his spell.”
“Not that I disagree or anything, but HOW?” Captain Wuzz demanded. “The spellcasting cephlapod we’re used to dealing with mostly just fires off magic blasts and does a bit of necromancy. Taking on something capable of destroying an entire continent sounds just a tad out of our league.”
“Maybe not…” Garbunkle said as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Squirk’s been working on casting this spell even since he got his amulet back, right? That must mean that this spell must be taking pretty much all of his concentration. If that’s the case, then right now Squirk’s pretty much super vulnerable. I’ll bet that if we can get to wherever Squirk’s hiding we could swipe the amulet from him before he could do anything to stop us. Pluma, do you know how we can get to Squirk’s lair from here?”
“Actually, I think I do,” Pluma said. “They didn’t bother to try knocking me out or cover my eyes when they dragged me down here. I guess they never even considered I might be able to escape, let alone try and get back to Squirk’s lair.”
“Awesome, we have a plan then! Now then, Sir McBiggun, if you wouldn’t mind…” Garbunkle said as he stepped aside to allow Sir McBiggun room to access the door. “Uh, Pluma, you should probably get back away from the door for a bit. And move off to the side, too. Actually, it’d probably be best if you just got as far away from the door as you can.’
“Wait, are you going to…” Pluma let out a brief yelp as Sir McBiggun pulled one of his rear legs back before delivering a powerful kick to the cell door. Unlike the other doors in the fortress Sir McBiggun had opened in this manner, however, the cell door shuddered but remained intact.
“Huh, well I guess it makes sense that the doors in the dungeon would be stronger than what they’ve go in the rest of this place,” Garbunkle said as he inspected the hoof-shaped dent Sir McBiggun had left in the door’s surface. “Maybe I should try using a spell to –”
“Nnope.” Garbunkle was about to ask Sir McBiggun what he meant when he saw the massive unicorn lower his head as he prepped to buck the door down with both hooves.
“Aw geez!” Garbunkle yelped as he dove out of the way just as Sir McBiggun slamed both rear hooves into the door. This time, not only did the door give way, but so did the frame and a fair portion of the wall as well.
As the dust settled over the ruins of the cell door, Pluma cautiously poked her head out from behind the crumbling masonry. “Wow, you guys really don’t kid around, do you?”
“Not when it comes to the saving the day!” Garbunkle declared. “Now, let’s get that amulet away from Squirk!”
“Actually, I have an alternate suggestion.” The group turned in unison to see Gregor standing in the middle of the hallway blocking their exit. “I have questions for you three, and I strongly advise that you cooperate and answer them. Now, according to you we were supposedly allies at some point, right?”
“We don’t have time for this!” Garbunkle protested. “If we don’t stop Squirk soon he’s going to –”
“I DON’T CARE!” Gregor screamed before taking a moment to compose himself. “As far as I’m concerned, the entire lot of you are little more than thieves and trespassers, but let’s pretend for a moment that I might consider believing your story about Squirk changing my memories. Presumably, if that’s the case, you’d have information about my past.”
“Look, I’ll tell you everything you want, but first we have to stop Squirk,” Garbunkle said.
“You’ll tell me what I want to know right now! What is it about the term ‘friendship’ that’s so – GYAH!” Letting out an anguished scream, Gregor suddenly slammed the side of his head into the wall with enough force to leave a rivulet of blood trickling down his face. “Why does hearing that work keep doing that to me?”
“I know I haven’t known Gregor nearly as long as the rest of you, but I’m guessing that’s not exactly normal,” Pluma said as she maneuvered herself to keep the rest of the group between her and the crazed gryphon.
“This must be because of whatever Squirk did to his memories,” Garbunkle said.
“What a brilliantly insightful observation. I don’t suppose you have any other amazing bits of wisdom to share?” Captain Wuzz said as he nocked an arrow to his bow.
Garbunkle shot an annoyed glare at his ally, but kept most of his attention on Gregor. “I really don’t like the idea of leaving him like this, but for right now we need to focus on stopping Squirk. We’ll just need to figure out some way of keeping Gregor out of the way until we’ve gotten the amulet back, and then we can fix whatever Squirk did to him.”
“It’s a solid enough plan,” Captain Wuzz agreed. “That just leaves the question as to how we subdue and restrain him. Personally, I’d suggest starting by you summoning a flock of flying porcupines, and then –”
Whatever Captain Wuzz’s plan would have entailed, his attempt to explain it was cut short by Sir McBiggun suddenly charging forward. In his disorientated state, Gregor had no hope of avoiding the attack as Sir McBiggun plowed into him with enough force to lift him off his claws and carry him down the hall. Eventually, Gregor might have been able to catch his breath and get away, but before he could Sir McBiggun slammed him into the wall at the end of the hall. Stunned from the force of the impact, Gregor collapsed to the ground, only for Sir McBiggun to levitate him into the air and toss him into the nearest cell before slamming the door shut. “Eeyup.”
“Huh, that works,” Garbunkle said after a moment or two passed.
“It’s no swarm of flying attack porcupines, but I suppose it will have to do,” Captain Wuzz sighed before turning to Sir McBiggun. “You know, I think you may be the most infuriatingly practical unicorn I’ve ever met.”
“Eeyup,” Sir McBiggun replied with a definite note of pride.
“Alright, that’s enough fooling around!” Garbunkle said. “Let’s find Squirk, get that amulet, save the world and help our friend.”
*********
Friend.
Even while he was laying on the ground battered (likely with at least a few cracked ribs), and behind a thick cell door, somehow that word still could cut into Gregor’s mind like a rusty sawblade. In fact, as he lay alone in the darkness, Gregor found that the sense of wrongness that had been eating away at his mind was worse than ever. Everything about himself, from his memories down to his very physical form, felt artificial, like a cheap costume being passed off as the real thing. The only thing that truly felt real were Gregor’s memories of abuse at the hooves of his father. Those, and the hazy, dream-like memories that hovered just beyond Gregor’s ability to recall.
“It’s all lies. All of it,” Gregor mumbled to himself as he lay on the cold stone floor of the cell. “They’re all liars. Squirk, those adventurers, they’re all lying to me, trying to use me. I need to get my memories back, find out the real truth. Squirk, he’s the key to all of this, the only one with the power to have taken my memories in the first place. I have to get the truth from him, no matter what it takes.” Gregor continued to mutter to himself in an increasingly incoherent manner as he pulled himself to his feet. “Get out…find Squirk…get mind back. First have to get out…get out…GET OUT OF MY MIND!” Gregor violently threw himself back down to the ground as he clutched his head in agony. “Who are you? Who am I? I’m…Gregor – NO I’M NOT! Wrong…it’s all wrong. Have to get out, get answers.” Once again, Gregor managed to pull himself upright before staggering over towards the door. This time, however, Gregor successfully managed to reach his goal, and in a strong of luck found that Sir McBiggun had neglected to actually lock him inside.
As Gregor half-stumbled, half-fell into the hallway, he had but one goal flashing through his addled mind; get to Squirk.