//------------------------------// // The Puzzle Contest // Story: Mystery of the Draconics // by Wanderwing //------------------------------// Mystery of the Draconics Chapter 10 The Puzzle Contest We backtracked through the tunnel back to the now familiar mirror chamber. The heavy set stone bricks were still a marvel to behold. It must have taken years to build all of this I thought. Even with the help of magic and whatever else the Druids had learned it would take nearly a town full of strong ponies to build this place, and yet somehow we had only found living space for around seven ponies. I needed to find out more about these Druids. I hoped the journal I found in the beast den would be able to answer my questions but I doubted it would be anywhere near complete. I shook my head to focus my thoughts as we moved into the unfamiliar territory of the third tunnel. “Brightflare, keep that light spell up, we don’t know what we might be walking into.” I said, lighting a torch as well. This tunnel was longer than the others. It curved slowly to the right and sloped downwards deeper into the earth. The walls remained the same heavy bricks of stone for the first half hour of walking. After that they turned to a wood-like material, but it seemed just as hard as the stone. As we moved on our sense of unease grew. From what I understand, pegasi, as a rule, have no love of being underground. I have never had that problem, but then I suppose that’s the dragon in me. I looked to Falling Star and noticed her eyes were shifting a lot more than usual. I walked a little closer to her and gave her my best reassuring grin. She laughed and said, “You know, if you are trying to comfort somepony, it might be best not to flash those sharp fangs of yours. Thanks for the sentiment though.” I probably should have thought of that. I had my pendant off and in my bag; it wouldn’t be hiding my teeth or eyes. I laughed to and said, “Yeah, you are probably right,” I shrugged, “I am not quite used to being undisguised. I’ve been hiding for so long it feels natural now.” Brightflare looked down the tunnel, squinting at something in the distance. “I think I see something reflecting some light down there.” He said, “We must be almost at the end of the tunnel.” “Good, now we should probably be as quiet as possible, light hoofsteps, and keep talking to a whisper, we don’t want to warn anything that might be down there that we are coming,” I said dropping my voice to a low murmur. I did not want a repeat of the first timberwolves we met down here. We moved as quickly and as quietly as we could down the remainder of the tunnel. I snuffed out the torch and whispered to Brightflare to dim his light spell. As it turned out the glint of light Brightflare had seen was from part of the frame of a double door set in the wall at the tunnel’s end. The door still stood closed, and a quick check showed it was locked. Brightflare searched the lock for enchantments as he had done on the treasure trove’s door. I knew something was wrong right away. His face fell into a deep frown then a grimace. He whispered, “This lock was heavily enchanted; nothing I couldn’t have handled, but it is broken now, the enchantment and the lock both. The tumblers have all been melted into place. Someone must have set off the enchantment. It looks to have been a powerful fire spell, set to trigger if somepony tried to open the lock with picks.” Falling Star moved to inspect the lock herself and nodded in agreement, but then she grinned. “I think I have an idea,” she said. She grasped the handle of one of the Dragon Claw knives between her teeth and quickly jabbed the point of the curved blade into the keyhole of the door. The knife took little force to pierce the lock. The metal had grown brittle after the superheating magic of the anti-lock picking enchantment faded. Falling Star then pulled the knife free with almost no effort and sheathed it. “Just like I thought, these really are genuine Dragon Claw knives. Even metal barely stands a chance,” she said before pushing the door open with a hoof. Stoic still seemed a little shocked the short curved blades he had passed over in the treasure trove were so effective. His mouth gaped open almost as wide as the door. We moved through it and then I knew why this particular area was so deep underground. It was a library, an incredible library! There were shelves of books, some so old they were only scrolls. A few seemed to have crumbled with age but more than a few were still in pristine condition. I gaped in awe at the imposing shelves before me. The mass of knowledge contained in this chamber shined to me the way a gleaming pile of treasure shines before the eyes of a dragon. Then I noticed that there was a raised platform in the center of the room. I galloped toward it, forgetting the very idea that this place could be trapped. I was extremely lucky there weren’t any, for during that brazen run I was completely vulnerable, lost in the thought of all this knowledge. I stopped as I reached the stairs leading up onto the platform. I stood looking cautiously up the stairs and nearly quivering with anticipation for a minute or two. I had remembered where we were, and my nervousness returned. We each inspected the staircase, and finding it clear of any traps the four of us could detect, began to climb it. As we reached the top I saw upon a wide stone table something that made my eyes blur for a moment, blocking out everything else. It was incredible; the tome sitting on the table looked nearly identical to my own. The book was bound in the same dark brown leather and had a draconic eye on the cover. The only difference was the color of the gemstone-like eye. While my tome had a purple amethyst colored eye across its cover, this eye shined with a brilliant ruby red eye. In the same looping silver script as on my own cover the words “Tome of the Warriors,” glimmered upon this one. “Wow Wander, that book looks just like yours,” Stoic said, “Maybe that has a few more of your answers?” “Yes Stoic you are probably right. I’ll take this,” I said depositing the book in my saddlebag beside the journal, “Now let’s take a look at this thing.” The second object on the table proved just as interesting a find as my tome. It was a large cube set at the exact center of the table. It seemed to be topped in patterned panels that could be turned. I assumed this was the test the wall writing back in the ritual room had mentioned, and that the greatest of the druid treasures would be contained within it. “Now my companions it seems we have come to our contest!” I said, “Should we draw straws to decide who tries first?” “That sounds as fair a method as any,” spoke Brightflare. I reached into my saddlebags and broke four lengths off a few pieces of hay I had brought as a light snack. I dropped the four pieces in the hood of my cloak, and we each reached in and grabbed a piece. “Whoever has the longest straw goes first and the shortest last.” Stoic said. We each took a piece and I cursed. “Damn,” I said my straw was just about an inch long. Falling Star had the longest piece, then Stoic and then Brightflare. “Great!” Falling Star said, “Let me at that puzzle.” She ran over to the puzzle. She began turning the pieces immediately. She gave no thought to each move she made and never seemed to think ahead to the next. We waited for her to give up, but I knew it would be a long time. She was not the type to just give up easily. I passed a few pieces of fruit around and curled up in my cloak, patiently waiting my turn. Nearly an hour passed as Falling Star just kept turning the pieces. Her increasing frustration only heightened the speed at which she moved the pieces. After another hour she flung her hooves up in anger. “I just can’t figure this damned thing out… I give up, it’s your turn now Stoic.” “Okay, now let me just see here. These pieces all seem like they fit together but maybe spinning them isn’t the right way to go. Maybe the sides have a keyhole or you can just pry up the lid, and the puzzle is just a distraction.” Stoic said. He inspected the sides of the box and even attempted to lift it from the table. That however held no reward as it appeared as if the box had been melded into the surface of the table itself. “So, that didn’t work let me try this then,” he said, and he began trying to pry up one of the corner pieces. Brightflare was worried he would break the puzzle but somehow, even before Stoic’s tremendous strength, the puzzle and the box were unharmed. “It seems I am beaten as well, I submit. Brightflare, may you fare better.” Stoic said politely to Brightflare before stepping aside. “At last, it is my turn! I will beat this puzzle my way, with magic!” Brightflare said. He prepared the same magic detection spell he had used earlier but focused it much more. He cast the spell on each panel but found nothing particularly magical about the panels themselves. “Curious…the panels are simple but the carvings upon them are ornate. Perhaps if I try and send the spell deeper into the box I could detect the cube’s inner workings.” As it turned out this was a very bad idea. The Druids had found ways of spell proofing their treasury and it appeared they put this to effective use within the box. Brightflare’s magic reached in and touched the barriers only to be sharply rebounded against him. Brightflare grunted and was knocked down. We helped him to his feet but it seemed his pride was getting the better of him. His horn gleamed with magic as he prepared a stronger spell in his rage. Then he remembered that if his slight spell had that large a rebound, his strongest could very well kill him. “Though I loathe admitting it Wanderwing, I cannot best this test. It is time for you to solve this.” Brightflare said. I decided that before starting to work on this puzzle it would be a good idea to look at all the pieces separately before assembling them into their greater whole. I looked carefully at each panel, finding a piece of an image on each one, with one exception; a single panel was completely blank. I began rotating the panels one by one starting with the edges. The others waited silently as I worked. They had learned that I could usually figure these puzzles out. They watched as my hooves moved, adjusting each panel with careful thought. I found the outer edges had a near circular pattern on them, ringed with the Druid’s favored brambles. Thankfully the vines were not separated; they led from panel to panel, easily lining up with each other. They formed convoluted knots within the inner panels. The blank piece was in the exact center I had decided to leave it as the last panel I would attempt to solve. The other pieces lined up, the ornate carvings showing a staff with all the brambles tangled around it. Of course! The carving was of the leader’s personal crest. I reached the second last panel and I heard something click into place. I thought I had solved it, but things are never that simple. The middle panel slid up, showing that it too could be turned. I turned the square to the left, and there was a cranking sound. The squares began to withdraw from the center, and drew down along the edges. They split and separated, revealing the sparkling gem within. It was a perfect sphere, a beautiful specimen. There was no way this gem could be carved with a chisel. Only nature or magic could create such a perfect jewel. It was an incredible cat’s-eye ruby, the likes of which I had never seen. I gazed into the gem, near hypnotized by its amazing color and shape. I reached into the box to grab it and found it strangely warm. “Looks like you win the gem Wanderwing,” Stoic said, “No matter though; I think this trip was quite worthwhile.” “Agreed Stoic,” Falling Star said, “Maybe we can all work together again sometime.” “I am going to be pretty busy with my studies to be a doctor,” Brightflare said, “But this was quite interesting, it could be fun to give it another go.” “Let’s get back outside before we start our goodbyes,” I said, dropping my prize into my bag. We all began to walk towards the exit, and I was shaking with anticipation to read the two books I had recovered from the Druid catacombs. I would also come back to see if the library held any important scrolls or tomes another day. We reached the mirror chamber without incident and then I remembered an important detail. We couldn’t just leave this place open so anyone could walk in, there were still timberwolves down here somewhere not to mention all the dangerous artifacts and traps. “Is there any way we could seal this door without making it impossible for me to get down here?” I asked Brightflare. “I believe I know a camouflage spell that could work. I will make it look like the stairs collapsed and the tunnels filled with boulders. You could still walk right through it but ponies rarely run at rock walls.” Brightflare said, “It’s a complex spell but I can manage it.” “Excellent. That should work Brightflare, thank you.” I said, grateful we could reduce the danger to the town. “It’s not a problem, you know I don’t want these ponies getting hurt either,” Brightflare said. Brightflare cast the spell, causing a blinding flash of light. When the light faded it appeared that the tunnel had filled with boulders. It looked as if something had collapsed the entire passageway. I tested it by running through the boulders, Brightflare was right; it felt like there was nothing there. “Perfect!” I said. We headed outside and said our goodbyes. “It has been excellent working with you all; I hope it was all worth it.” I said. “Absolutely. If you ever need my help again I am sure you can find me at the Canterlot Medical Academy,” Brightflare said, nodding earnestly. “I am sure all of this treasure will be more than enough to cover it. If you ever get hurt near Canterlot, I can patch you right up. That goes for you and Falling Star too, Stoic. I must be off now, see you all some other time.” He waved and walked off along the road, quick to be on his way and eager to get to his dream. Falling Star looked at her knives, and her bag of treasure, then back to Stoic and I. “It’s been fun guys. I need to get going I think I need a bit of R&R after this one. I’m sure you will need my help again too, if you are ever in Cloudsdale look me up, alright?” She blushed, and quickly gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, and whispered, “Keep in touch flyboy.” “I...I… I will,” I stuttered, shocked at her sudden behavior. She flew off with her usual elegant grace, leaving me standing stunned with Stoic. “What you don’t have anything to say,” I asked Stoic. He laughed for a moment and said, “I may have been a little bit drunk but I never forget a promise, I said I’d help you with your little gryphon problem remember?” “Really? I thought you forgot about that. Well the meeting isn’t supposed to be for a few more days, what are you going to do until then?” I asked. “I’ll hang around town for a while; I need a little rest before another fight,” he answered. “I’ll just charge the inn onto your tab okay?” “That’s fine,” I said, “I am going to be studying these two books for the next few days but I can’t neglect my training, I will probably be at the inn only to sleep.” “Speaking of sleep, it’s starting to sound like a good idea. Let’s head back to the inn, eh? Maybe Miss Warmhearth has another barrel of that cider around,” Stoic said. We moved back into town and found the inn’s bar crowded with ponies. I quickly threw my pendant on, cursing my forgetfulness. Thankfully nopony seemed to notice. I quickly moved to Warmhearth and let her know I made it back out okay. I headed up to my room with a quick nod to Stoic and barricaded myself in as usual. I opened my bag and looked at my take from our little adventure. I had several hundred, possibly thousand bits of treasure, an ever burning lantern, a Druid’s journal, and most of all, a priceless tome. I needed to know what the tome said. If I started reading now, though, I would definitely not get any sleep tonight. It would be better if I took care of this in the morning. ((Okay. So that’s the end of chapter 10. I am sorry it took so long to finish up and I hope it was worth it. A whole lot of answers are coming up in the next chapter. Don’t worry though it won’t just be a big info-dump. I would like to thank anyone who has been reading this up to now. I also have a request for any interested artists who happen to read this. I am in desperate need of cover art. I would love to hear from you, you can send me a message or comment on Fimfiction, or on tumblr at http://askwanderwing.tumblr.com/ . Thank you for your time.))