Free Web NovelChapter 123: Chapter 119: A Pox On Your House?
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Niall has set up shop in his very own laboratory inside the Lammermoor mansion. Naturally, Elandior and Hans Lammermoor spared no expense for such a gifted beast tamer, coach, and curse-breaker.
Lightning and I have come to visit Niall, choosing a moment when Kaline and Hans happen to be out on a ride together. Although Lightning did NOT want to leave our cubs, I convinced her that we needed to see Niall without fear that they might be inadvertently harmed by his work.
The next hurdle: seeing Niall without raising eyebrows. Everyone knows about Lightning’s refusal to leave her babies and even let anyone near them. However, she has been in the tiger den for days without fresh air and sunshine. The cubs still haven’t opened their eyes, and it’s doubtful that they’d care if we slipped out briefly.
So, Niall made a big to-do about taking us out in the gardens with fresh air. The temperature obviously isn’t right for the cubs. They shouldn’t be exposed to the elements.
But then someone in the household babbled about how they had a baby carriage of all things, or a little covered basket for the cubs. Niall had to put his diminutive foot down, and Lightning roared so ferociously that the wretched servant scurried for the nearest corner.
We’ve gotten rather good about arranging surreptitious errands that appear benign. Well, they are benign. Curse-breaking is a good thing. It’s just that we have to keep it from the family, for reasons unknown to us. Oh, to possess telepathic powers to be able to communicate with Niall.
That’s why Peridot has accompanied us as a translator.
I try to comprehend the situation. [So, Peridot, why can’t we tell the rest of the family about this curse? It affects them, potentially.]
Peridot hovers around the table, swishing her tail in the air. [Insufficient information, Master says. These are the rules of the curse.]
[And who told him about this curse?] Lightning is skeptical.
I want to know, too. Perhaps our perspicacious Niall has consumed information from System itself. It has a vested interest in driving a wedge between us and our family. The better to isolate us. Of course, those barriers exist. I cannot tell Kaline the truth about myself, for example. Yet we still have closeness, and this newest secret is threatening that.
Peridot communicates with Niall and, after a moment, she responds. [It was from the mushrooms. The mushroom lore from the forest. In all the confusion, and the cubs being born, he didn’t recognize the wisdom at first. Humans!]
The mushroom lore from the forest?
Maybe this was the Mushroom Man trying to warn me that System would put a curse on me. He can see the whole game, can’t he? I desperately wish I could ask him.
Lobo checks in. He is the only one I’ve shared the news with, unbeknownst to Niall--although he overheard bits and pieces with Maartenwitz, and he’s been skulking around Niall’s lab.
I tell him. [Niall got this piece of information about the curse from the Mushroom Forest.]
Lobo woofs. [Makes sense. He told you that there are Easter eggs in the game that are for other players. Whoever is playing Peridot found one through Niall. The Mushroom Man couldn’t give you all the information, because System would be watching. This is like a fiendishly clever game of Russian nesting dolls or puzzle boxes where you open one and there’s another hidden inside.]
It’s information overload for me. [Who cares, as long as Niall found this one? We need to know about this curse.]
Lobo sighs. [The minute you hear what Niall has uncovered in his devious mind, tell me.]
Lightning and I listen as Niall details the curse.
"It’s a curse based on blood. Beast blood. It has attached to both you and Lightning, but it isn’t affecting either of you. It will be passed down to Leonie and Finn."
Lightning’s eyes flash, and I swear they turn blood red. [This evil has chosen our cubs. It can’t touch them, can it? Peridot, we need to know how it manifests."
Peridot communicates to Niall, whose white-dandelion head sways back and forth while he is thinking. Then, he unrolls a scroll, on which he has sketched diagrams of the curse.
The first diagram shows the two cubs, with what looks like static electricity surrounding them. Niall’s handwriting says, "SHOCK ENERGY. Gradually affects the system."
The second diagram shows the cubs lethargic, not waking up. Niall’s handwriting reads, "PERMANENT SLEEP. Paralysis. Keeps the cubs asleep, in a state of suspended animation."
Lightning lets out a soft "mrrp" of shock.
System can’t delete the cubs, so it is going to shut them down. Put them in permanent stasis. Devastate Lightning and me so that I can’t win the Beast Taming Elimination Tournament. It’s using the cubs to defeat me. To defeat us.
[What can we do?] I ask Peridot.
Already anticipating the question, Niall points to the third diagram. It shows the Amulet of Beast Power, and Lightning and I using it together. A blinding radiance surrounds the amulet. We have both our paws on it, sharing it. The rays shoot out and sparkle all over the cubs.
Is it that simple? Can the amulet really break the curse? It can’t be that simple, can it?
But wait.
What’s this?
There are human figures sketched in outline. A male and female. Is one of them Kaline? Is one of them Hans? It’s hard to make out.
They couldn’t be sketches of Amber and me...could they? No. Niall has no awareness or knowledge. Even if he is a mage, there is no way. Unless Peridot’s player is sending an in-game coded message.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. [Peridot, can you ask Niall what this means? Why are there humans here?]
In response to my query, Peridot communes with Niall.
Seconds later, Niall responds honestly. "This just came to me. It was a vision. I’m not sure if it refers to Young Miss Kaline and Young Master Hans. There are no elf ears for the male. I don’t recall seeing any, because the figures were more impressions than anything else."
Then maybe Amber and I are meant to break the curse together? Maybe if we both use the amulet power-up? Is that possible? I ask Lobo immediately.
His response is quick. [I’ll research it. I’ll comb through the gamer forums and the obscure corners of the Internet IRL. I know that sometimes you can gift items to players, but there are rules. Still, there’s got to be a way for you to share the artifact. Sit tight.]
Yes! My brother is on the scent.
I turn to Lightning. [Maybe it is Kaline and Hans, or maybe it just represents our family.]
Lightning wrinkles her nose. [If that’s the case, shouldn’t we tell everyone?]
I communicate to Peridot. [Ask Niall if we should tell everyone.]
Seconds later, Niall responds. "I don’t see how we can conceal this any longer. Since yesterday, I had qualms about keeping it quiet. Now we do the right thing."
Forthwith, I summon Kaline, and the rest of the family, while Lightning does the same with Hans and Elandior.
Within minutes, all our family, including Maartenwitz, crams into Niall’s workspace. Only Kasz and Dag are absent, having stayed behind to guard the cubs.
Kaline stares wide-eyed at Niall’s drawing. "You mean that we can break this curse? That Hans and I can?"
"Yes, and more. All of you. All of us," Niall confirms. "The Amulet of Beast Power will be taxing and will sap the energy from you, Lightning, Hans, and possibly the cubs."
Lamant nods grimly. "But the alternative..." freewebnøvel.com
He doesn’t finish that sentence.
Niall is solemn, stoic. "Precisely. Blaze has been judicious about using the amulet. Saving its power for the tournament. However, this is an emergency. My vision shows what we need to do. And this," he points to a full moon in the drawing, "tells us when."
Hans exclaims, "There’s a full moon tomorrow night."
Perfect.
I commune with Lobo. [Cutting it close. Do you think you will have the answer by then?]
[Do I have a choice?]
I let out a little "mrrp." [Good point. Tell Amber to do her research too. And tell her I am going to astral travel tomorrow night, so she might want to start getting ready.]
Around me, the family prepares for tomorrow night’s endeavors. They research rituals and protections and whatever else they can glean that might help us.
Naturally, System is on alert by now. Preparing countermeasures. Scheming and devising better mousetraps, or tiger traps in this case. Let it go to town. Let it do whatever it pleases. I have something worth fighting for. We have something worth fighting for. And this latest scheme is nothing. System has overplayed its hand, and a reckoning is surely close at hand.
Worlds could collide tomorrow night by the light of the full moon!
