CHAPTER 55: 55: DEALING WITH A TRAP PT 7

"I think they’re going to wait us out." Chad stated, watching the castle, "Something tells me the gargoyle king isn’t going to send any more of his men out. Is there a plan to speed this along so we can get back to what we need to do?" Chad asked. They had been fighting all night. They needed to figure out how to end this entire fight without being caught in the gargoyle’s Trap.

Drake had an idea, but he wasn’t sure if it was going to work. He looked up at the sky and closed his eyes. The familiar, serene expression appeared on his face before opening his eyes and lowering his gaze to his friend.

His friends exchanged a look. They both knew he was doing something. It was becoming more and more obvious. They just didn’t know what it was.

"Stay here, I’m going inside the castle. Keep an eye on my energy signature. Whatever happens, whatever you do, don’t go into the throne room. I know you’ll know if I need help," Drake stated before heading to the castle, then entering the broken, open doors.

Drake spoke to his system. "System, analyze for enchantments, traps, power sources, or magic. Notify me when one is found and explain what is found." He ordered his system. He didn’t speak out loud. It was all in his mind so that no one else could hear him.

Drake slowly walked through the halls, scanning his surroundings. He wanted to make sure that his system could find whatever trap was laid for them.

His system remained silent as he walked hall after hall, making his way to the throne room.

When he finally reached it, the system spoke.

{Power source has been identified. Power source analyzed. Castle’s throne room has a one-way barrier that only specific bloodlines are unable to exit.}

{Power source location identified. Power source located within the center of the throne room.}

"How can the power source be destroyed?" Drake asked the system.

{To destroy the power source, the anchor must be destroyed}

"What is the anchor?"

{The anchor is the humans inside the center of the throne room.}

Drake gritted his teeth. Their duty was to protect the people of the dimension, not kill them. "How can the enchantment be destroyed without harming the humans?" he asked the system.

{All gargoyles in the throne room must be destroyed. 11 total.}

"Will my energy arrows or ethereal whip pass the barrier?"

{All dimension master power is neutralized within the throne room.}

"Are my cohort’s or familiar’s powers neutralized in the throne room?"

{Yes, all powers associated with the dimension master are neutralized in the throne room.}

Drake growled to himself. "Fuck!"

Drake quickly went back to his friends. He was frustrated. They couldn’t go into the throne room to kill the gargoyles left inside. If they did, not only would they be trapped, but they would be defenseless.

As he stepped out of the castle, Mike studied him for a while. "What’s wrong?" he asked, seeing his friend’s demeanor. Something was wrong, and whatever it was...it was bad.

Drake paced several times before speaking. "We have a problem. First, the anchor of the power source of the enchantment is the group of humans in the center of the throne room. According to the system, they have to die to destroy the power source. Second, the only way to avoid killing them is to kill the gargoyles inside, who won’t be leaving the throne room. Third, the enchantment on the throne room is a one-way barrier that traps our bloodline inside. Not only that, it renders us defenseless. The enchantment neutralizes our powers. We can’t kill the humans to get to the gargoyles. That would be wrong. We’re supposed to be protecting them, not killing them."

They sat in the dark thinking of a solution. Chad suddenly smiled. "We don’t need our powers to kill the gargoyles," he said, pulling out his bow and quiver from his dimensional storage ring. "I brought my bow. I just have to make sure I don’t miss. I don’t have many arrows left."

"What about an armory. We can get more there...right?" Mike asked.

Drake looked over at Chad, "How many arrows do you have left?"

Chad counted. "I have nine arrows."

They sat in silence for a while, keeping an eye on the throne room. If one of the gargoyles left, they needed to take advantage of it.

Drake suddenly smiled. "What if our first target is the king?" he turned to Chad. "If you can take out the king, I can do the rest. I have an idea," he said, smiling. "Take out the one who has separated himself from the others...he’s the key."

"What if my regular arrows are ineffective?" Chad asked. "Without the added stats, what if they don’t penetrate their skin enough to kill them?"

"We won’t know until we try. If they aren’t, it will prompt at least some of them to leave the throne room. We can take care of them then. Just don’t enter the throne room, no matter what."

"We have to if they start killing the humans," Mike said somberly.

"Then prepare to fight with everything you have. Inside the throne room, there won’t be extra stats or powers. Just us, stripped of any power we received from being in this dimension. It will literally be life or death." Drake warned. "Our priority is the one separated from the others. Once he’s out, take out the rest."

Drake looked up at the sky, one last time. After closing his eyes, a serene expression crossed his features. This time, it was much longer. A soft smile crossed his lips after nearly five minutes, making him look like an angel. He opened his eyes and then turned to his friends. "Let’s go."

Chad has his magic bow on his back. All three had their swords either out, gripped tightly in their hand, or at their side with the straps open, making it easy to pull them from their sheaths.

Drake had his whip uncoiled, hanging loosely over his shoulder. It was his first choice in weapons. Keeping it resting over his shoulder prevented it from dragging on the stone floor and making a sound, which in turn would alert those inside the throne room to their arrival.

***

Back in Drake’s room, the dimension master and his cohort watched the screen. They knew that what the boys were planning would be difficult. They also knew that they had very little choice.

The three men watched their sons with anticipation, fear, and worry all wrapped into one. This would be the boys’ last stand. They would either succeed and live or fail and die. There was no other choice.

They watched the screen in silence.

The blond archer broke that silence by asking a question. "At the end, Drake faced the sky again. What do you suppose that was about? He’s been doing that periodically all night long. I can’t even guess what he’s doing."

Drake’s father shrugged, his eyes not wavering from the three young heirs. "I would like to know that myself. It’s not something I would do. It’s almost as if he is communicating with the dimension itself."

"Do you think he might be communicating with the dimension?" Mike’s father asked, still looking at the boys as they headed toward the castle’s mangled front doors.

Drake’s father shrugged again. "I don’t think so. The dimension communicates with the dimension master through the system. For instance, if I’m needed somewhere, I would be given a quest. If I need something that can’t be found easily, the dimension will give that item after a beast kill. What I see right now is that the dimension has already given the boys their weapons. They even have the map. I didn’t get mine until we were in the middle of the third ascension quest. As the dimension master, I can give some items, but not many. That’s why I was able to give the life tokens..." the dimension master paused. "What I really want to know is where that ring came from. I don’t think that even my father can interfere with the quest."

There was silence for a while as they watched boys make their way through the halls of the castle.

Chad’s father broke the silence once more. "Do you think that if they fail and the power source is activated, the humans in the throne room will die?" he asked. "If the dimension gave them a quest, not allowing them to leave, wouldn’t that mean that they are needed here. The humans’ lives who are held in the throne room could be why. I think the quest is really to save them. In order to do that, they have to kill all the gargoyles so the power source can’t activate."

Mike’s father shrugged. "Makes sense."

Drake’s father continued staring at the screen. "If that’s the case...If they have to enter the throne room, then the humans of Storm Town are already dead."

"So basically you’re saying that no matter what, if there is even one gargoyle left, if they enter the throne room, those humans will die?" Chad’s father asked for confirmation.

The dimension master’s eyes flashed with an emerald green light as his eyes narrowed at the screen. "Yes."

It was the only confirmation that was needed.