The Orphan Wars (Book One) (14 page)

"Where did that masked freak go?" questioned Nemeth
.  "And where the hell is my sword and shield?"

"Master, come quickly over here!" shouted Jaida.  "I do not detect the presence of any other human life in the area.
  It appears that you are safe from the one who wears the mask for now.  Look at the ground over where I am floating and you will find many different items of interest.  Watch out in case anything sprouts from the ground and tries to ensnare you."

Nemeth followed
Jaida around wherever she was floating over and retrieved his sword, his shield, two daggers and the small leather pouch.  Nemeth opened the small leather pouch and revealed a spyglass and a notebook.

"A spyglass!" exclaimed Nemeth.  "So it must have been that masked person who was spying on u
s before.  I wonder how he knows about Terazhul though."

Nemeth opened the notebook and began
flipping through its pages and examining its contents.

"What do you think this notebook is for
?" questioned Nemeth.

Jaida floated over Nemeth's head and paused momentarily.

"This notebook looks like it is going to be our key to getting through the Illusari Forest," replied Jaida.  "It is loaded with information, so it will probably have usefulness far past the Illusari Forest as well."

"Key to getting through the Illusari Forest?" questioned Nemeth.

"This notebook will help us solve the puzzles in the Illusari Forest," replied Jaida.  "It is rumored that if a person cannot solve the puzzles of the Illusari Forest, they will not only be unable to reach the temple, but they will face serious consequences as well.  For now, let's continue just a little further ahead.  I'll let you know when we need to follow instructions from that notebook."

Nemeth put the small leather pouch, the spyglass, both daggers and the notebook in his backpack.
  Nemeth looked up into the night sky and then looked at Jaida.  He took a quick drink of water from his flask.

"That masked person won't be able
to defeat Terazhul without the notebook then!" exclaimed Nemeth.  "He or she or it or whatever it was behind that mask definitely picked the wrong person to mess with.  If I didn't have you with me Jaida, I'd start calling myself the lone hero.  I don't think I'd like wearing a mask though."

Nemeth and Jaida continued travelling n
ortheast to the Illusari Forest.

"Alright here we are," said Jaida.  "Open up the notebook and let's see what we can find."

Nemeth retrieved the notebook from his backpack.  He opened it up and began to search for a map that would lead them to the Great Temple of the Forest.

"You weren't kidding when you said there's a lot of information in here," said Nemeth with a depressing tone in his v
oice.

"Let's proceed into the first region of the forest," replied Jaida.
  "Be on the lookout for any Illusari Goblins."

Nemeth and Jaida slowly made
their way through the center of two giant white oak trees that appeared to be dying.  They were now officially in the Illusari Forest.  A single long path was ahead.  A loud rumbling sound could be heard coming from behind them.  Nemeth turned around to see what was going on.  Thick bushes covered with thorns had risen high from the ground blocking the path back out of the Illusari Forest.  Nemeth drew his sword and began to slash at the bushes repeatedly hacking pieces of them off.  However, within a few seconds after slashing the bushes, the bushes would regenerate themselves.

"So now we can't even leave if we wanted to?" asked Nemeth.

"There is no turning back once you enter the Illusari Forest," answered Jaida.  "The only way to get out is to solve the puzzles within."

"
I suppose there is no such thing as fairness in this life," said Nemeth quietly.  "But alas we must continue."

"What brings you
two into the Illusari Forest?" asked a shrill voice.

A
plume of purple and green smoke arose from the grass and a small green creature appeared in front of Nemeth.

"We're headed to the Great Temple of the Forest," replied Nemeth.  "And I suppose that you are an Illusari Goblin?"

"Why yes, I am an Illusari Goblin," replied the creature.  "Pardon my poor manners.  My name is Stojan.  What are your names?"

"My name is Nemeth," answered Nemeth.  "And this is my Guardian Spirit Jaida.  Can you help us get to the temple?"

"Only you are able to get yourself to the temple," replied Stojan.  "My job is to decide how difficult it is for anyone who wants to reach the temple."

Nemeth went to reach for his sword.

"STOP!" commanded Stojan.  "My job isn't to fight you.  I'm only here to play a game with you.  It's called the Grand Goblin Game!  Care to play?"

"It doesn't seem like you're giving me
any other choice," answered Nemeth.  "Explain the rules of this game to me and we'll play."

"
Excellent!" exclaimed Stojan.  "In order to play, we start out with a quill, a bottle of ink and a piece of parchment each.  We must both choose one of the following words: fire, water or wood.  We must then write the word that we chose on our piece of parchment and turn the piece of parchment over so the other player cannot see.  Once we are both done making our choices and writing them down, we must reveal our choices by flipping the piece of parchment over.  Fire defeats wood, wood defeats water and water defeats fire.  If we both choose the same word, we must continue to play until one player is defeated.  A single loss for you will make the puzzles you encounter in the Illusari Forest to be extremely difficult.  If you somehow manage to defeat me at the game, the puzzles you encounter in the Illusari Forest will be much easier.  Do you have any questions?"

"No, but I have some comments," replied Nemeth.  "This game is just a…"

"Hey master!" interrupted Jaida.  "Let's just play the game first and then maybe you can make your comments later.  We're ready to play Stojan."

"Wonderful
!" exclaimed Stojan.  "I love this game and I'm sure you will too!  There is nothing more exciting than the Grand Goblin Game!"

"Uh, sure," replied Nemeth.  "Can we start the game already?"

Stojan raised his hands high and cast a spell.  Two small tree stumps came out of the ground.  A quill, a bottle of ink and a piece of parchment appeared on each tree stump.

"You have 10 seconds to write down your choice and turn your piece of paper over
once we start," said Stojan.  "If you're ready, just say so and we'll begin."

"Uh, I'm ready," said Nemeth.  "Let's play and get this over with already."

"BEGIN!" exclaimed Stojan.

Nemeth used the quill and bottle of ink to write down his answer on the piece of parchment and turned it over.  He covered the top of the paper to make sure Stojan couldn't see through it.  Stojan wrote his answer down on his piece of parchment and turned it over.

"Ok, time is up!" exclaimed Stojan.  "Now we must flip over our pieces of parchment."

Stojan flipped over his piece of parchment to reveal the word WOOD.  Nemeth flipped over his piece of parchment to reveal the word FIRE.  Nemeth had won the game.

"I've been defeated again!!!???" shouted Stojan.  "How could this be?"

"We both had a 33% chance to win," said Nemeth.  "You made up the rules.  I played by them fair and square and I won.  Now keep up your end of the bargain and give us easier puzzles as we travel throughout the Illusari Forest."

"Very well then," replied Stojan.  "Congratulations on your win.  I have made the puzzles in the Illusari Forest much easier for you.  Regardless, you will remain trapped in the Illusari Forest for as long as you are unable to solve the necessary puzzles needed to reach the temple.  Farewell!"

Stojan turned into a plume of purple and green smoke and vanished.  The tree stumps and the equipment used for the Grand Goblin Game were gone too.

"How were you able to defeat Stojan at the Grand Goblin Game?" asked Jaida.

"It was quite simple to defeat him," answered Nemeth.  "When you told me to stop my comment about the game, it was a good idea actually.  I was going to rudely tell him that the Grand Goblin Game is nothing more than a cheaply modified version of a game
that kids play called Rock Paper Scissors.  That might have really upset him.  I figured that since he lived in the forest, he would have naturally chosen wood since that's what trees are made of.  All I had to do was choose fire and the victory was ours.  I would have preferred to hack his little goblin head off with my sword and then punt his dead body into the bushes though.  It would have been more fun than playing that ridiculous game."

"You are truly a genius master!" exclaimed Jaida.  "No wonder you were ranked number one!"

"It seems like you learned how to be sarcastic," replied Nemeth.  "You're more similar to a human than you think Jaida.  Anyhow, now what do we have going on up ahead?"

Nemeth looked ahead and saw that t
here was no longer just a single long path.  There were four paths to choose from ahead of them.  Each path seemed to have music playing from it.  Nemeth began to shuffle through the pages in the notebook.  He noticed a musical staff with notes on the first page listed under the Illusari Forest section.

"What do you make of this Jaida?" asked Nemeth.

"I detect that in each of the four paths ahead, distinct music is playing," replied Jaida with confidence.  "I think the key to solving this puzzle is to figure out which song inscribed in the notebook is the one playing from the tunnel."

"That sounds easy enough," replied Nemeth confidently.  "We started musi
cal training back at Lord Dragomir's Academy before we even began learning combat."

Nemeth walked sl
owly towards the center of the four pathways.  The music began to play louder as he approached the pathways.  The four songs mixed together, making it impossible to hear one song over the other.

"Be careful," said Jaida.  "Remember what Stojan said. 
Choosing the wrong path could mean being trapped in the Illusari Forest forever!"

"Alright, so we need to find this song," said Nemeth.
"In 4/4 timing, the notes are A# B D E E A# F G G E E C.  There's too much music being played at once.  How can we get through Jaida?"

"Concentration is the key," replied Jaida.  "Make your way as closely as possible to the entrance and cover one of your ears
.  Then listen very carefully to the music that is being played.  If you truly believe without any doubt that the music being played matches what is in the notebook, then that is the passage we must travel through."

Nemeth slowly walked over to the first opening on the left, covered his right ear and began to listen to the music.  The sound of violins could be heard playing from the left
most passageway.

"This isn't the correct path," said Nemeth.  "The violins are playing much too quickly, so the timing is off even if the no
tes were correct.  Let's hear what passageway number two sounds like."

Nemeth sidled over to the second opening from the left.  Again, he covered his right ear and moved as closely as possible to the opening trying to
listen with his left ear to hear if the music being played matched the music inscribed in the notebook.  The sound of an organ could be heard playing from this passageway.

"This might be the correct passageway," said Nemeth.  "The timing is definitely 4/4.  Now as for th
e notes, it's A# B D E E A F G B E F C.  No, this isn't the correct passageway either Jaida.  Alright, there are two more passageways to check."

Nemeth sidled over to the third opening from the left.  Once again, he covered his right ear with his right hand.  He inched as closely as possible to the opening
of the passageway and began to listen with his left ear.  This time, the sound of a guitar could be heard in the distance.

"I really believe that this is the correct one this time," said Nemeth who seemed overconfident.  "Yes, there is 4/4 timing once again.  As for the notes, it's A# B D E E A# F G G E E C, just like the notebook says.  Let's go Jaida!"

"You should check the last passageway just as a precaution," replied Jaida.  "You don't want us to be trapped here forever if a mistake is made do you?"

Nemeth seemed disappointed that Jaida didn't agree with his decision.

"Ok fine, I'll check the final passageway," replied Nemeth.  "But only because you have absolutely no confidence in me."

Nemeth sidled over to the fourth and final opening from the left.  He covered his right ear with his right hand and moved as closely as possible to the opening of the
passageway.  The sound of trumpets could be heard in the distance.

"The timing isn't in 4/4," said Nemeth.  "The notes seemed to be correct but that doesn't matter as long as the timing isn't in 4/4.  The
third passageway from the left is the one that we need to head through.  Are you ready Jaida?"

"I believe you have solved the puzzle," replied Jaida.  "Let's proceed."

Nemeth and Jaida made their way through the third passageway from the left.  The sounds of the guitars became much louder as they walked further through the passageway.  After about a minute of walking the sounds of the guitars went away.  The forest was almost completely silent.  The passageway that they were travelling through was quite thin and extremely long.  They were surrounded by bushes and tall oak trees on both sides.  The leaves on the branches of the oak trees were abundant enough to block out much of the night sky.  Nemeth and Jaida continued walking for another 10 minutes until they finally reached an opening leading them into a much wider, square shaped area such as the one they had been at before.  Once again a loud rumbling sound came rushing behind them.  Nemeth jumped forward and turned around.  Just as in the previous area, thick bushes covered with thorns had risen from the ground blocking the path back.

"I'm not even going to bother hacking at these bushes again," said Nemeth.  "
I'm supposed to be a hero, not a gardener.  It's time for the next puzzle."

Nemeth turned around again.  This time there were six different passages to choose from.  Nemeth opened up the notebook again and saw that underneath the musical staff
the numbers 000110 were inscribed.

"What do you suppose these numbers mean?" asked Nemeth.
  "The academy is supposed to teach us to excel at math.  Deep down inside I feel that this is something that the older students would know how to solve for sure.  I'm not so confident in my abilities here."

"There are many ways to interpret these numb
ers," answered Jaida.  "There are six passages and six numbers.  The zeroes represent the incorrect pathways, while the ones represent the correct pathways.  If we choose pathways 4 or 5, we can make it to the next area."

"There can't be two correct pathways," replied Nemeth.  "The last room we just came from only had one correct pathway.  When we were travelling, it
put us on an arc towards the right.  I think that these numbers are binary.  The numbers 000110 are six in binary, so the correct pathway is the sixth one, the path all the way on the right."

"Excellent thinking
," replied Jaida.  "I hope for our sake that you are correct.  I'll say it again.  If we choose the wrong path, we may be trapped here forever."

"I know I'm right," said Nemeth with confidence.  "
I just know it!  Let's go through path number six now!  Come on Jaida!"

Nemeth and Jaida proceeded through path number six.  The passageway curved to the right much more than the previous passageway.  Once again,
they were surrounded by bushes and tall oak trees on both sides.  The bushes appeared to be thicker and have thorns on them.  The leaves on the oak trees varied greatly in color but were even more abundant that they blocked out even more of the night sky above.  After travelling for about another 10 minutes, they had reached yet another opening in the forest.  This opening was much larger than the previous one and there were eight passageways to choose from this time.  Thick bushes covered with thorns had risen from the ground blocking the path back.