I repeated the riddle over and over, trying to discern what the answer could be. Despite the increase to my Focus attribute, it hadn’t made me any smarter. I was no more knowledgeable of the world around me if perhaps a few bars higher in my perception of it.

  ‘When you see inside of me, you see nothing. What am I?’ I haven’t any idea what that is! Should I just prepare to fight?

  Motamna was growing brighter by the second. The fireflies had returned and were circling above the monster’s head forming a halo of sorts. Amazingly, the water in the pool remained calm and still. It was like polished glass and reflected the light making the grove grow so bright I had to squint and cover my eyes to protect them. I couldn’t pull down my hood any lower and didn’t want to take my eyes off the Boss.

  So bright! It’s like staring at a Sun! Like I could go blind if I don’t…wait…

  “Blindfold! The answer is blindfold,” I shouted.

  The change was nearly instantaneous. Motamna’s light dimmed and the fireflies dissipated. No longer radiating hostility, Motamna floated from the island until it stopped just a few yards from where I stood. I held a Combustion Bolt ready to throw just in case, but then I heard a voice speak directly into my mind.

  The Merovingians could not accept all that they knew and loved was dying. Their hedonism and experimentation into forbidden magics was a blindfold against inevitability. Only one of the Clan saw what was happening and so created this Greenhouse to preserve some of what was once a beautiful world, before it too fell to Wrath.

  Which of my secrets will you trade for?

  The location of a cache of rare Merovingian treasures?

  A weakness of the final Dungeon Boss?

  The means to permanently increase your Corruption Resistance?

  Well, this is certainly interesting and unexpected!

  Motamna was offering me a secret in exchange for correctly guessing the answer to its riddle. The answer had come to me in a moment of inspiration when the light had stung my eyes so badly I had wished for an eye covering, but I had feared to give the Boss the advantage by removing my sight. When you see inside a blindfold, you can see nothing while everyone else can. Like a doomed man awaiting execution.

  I needed to make a choice. I wished I could have taken all three, but I immediately dismissed the first as too frivolous to accept. Treasure was all well and good, but if I trusted in my Fortune attribute, treasure would come on its own eventually. After some self-deliberation, I also dismissed the final one as well. Soothe magic and Igvild’s ring would suffice for now and really, what good would it do me to have greater Corruption Resistance if I never escaped this dungeon?

  “I would like to know a weakness of the final Dungeon Boss,” I said. Motamna shivered and then burst apart into thousands of fireflies that each went in random directions. One of the flies settled upon my outstretched palm and I was suddenly filled with a vision of giant tree. The tree’s limbs were like outstretched claws, its bark broken open in multiple areas were gaping mouths filled with rotting teeth and buried at its center surrounding by black vines filled with a viscous black fluid, pulsed an oblong growth of sickening green energy.

  The vision ended, but the memory of the pulsing green blister at the horrid tree’s center remained with me. This was the weakness I would need to target when I eventually encountered this Dungeon Boss. I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

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  Don’t be afraid. Trees are wood. It will burn.

  Yet, I couldn’t let myself grow overconfident. The vision had left me with a sick feeling and I wondered if some of Motamna’s own feelings about the Dungeon Boss has slipped through and influenced my mind in a subtle way. I felt disgust, sadness…and fear.

  I decided to spend a bit more time in the Grove. It was silent and devoid of anything but normal plant life, or so I hoped, but I wanted to search around a bit. Igvild had told me Dungeons sometimes liked to hide surprises. “Remember the chests?” He had said to me. Of course, if there were chests I don’t know how I would open them, but I would cross that bridge when I came to it.

  The grass around the pool was green and the bushes and trees were well manicured and spaced in such a way to be the most aesthetically pleasing. Whomever had designed this greenhouse had certainly had an eye for beauty. The air smelled pleasant and clean, unlike anything I had ever smelt before. If this was a scene from the way the world was before it became what it now was, then I could understand why these Merovingian Elves had tried to preserve such a meaningful place.

  Until it all went wrong somehow.

  I searched around the Grove for several minutes, but found nothing of note. I retraced my path back towards the cobblestoned cloister and randomly selected another path, this time taking the left-most path. This path was hard packed dirt with roots snaking their way across the path and I had to be careful not to trip. Though the cold no longer affected me, I also sensed a steep dip in the temperature the further I walked. It was when I noticed a light snow had began to fall that I stopped and looked around.

  Am I even still in the Greenhouse? What place is this?

  I had entered a forest bathed in Winter. The trees were black limbed skeletons. The ground was now completely covered in a thin layer of ice and I had to watch my steps for fear of slipping. All was silence, not even a whisper of wind. Yet, in this stillness was a beauty every bit as precious as the Grove I had just left.

  Something moved through the trees. A figure dressed in white with long golden hair seemed to float above the snow, disappearing behind a tree only to reappear from behind a different tree. For a moment, I beheld a pair of silver eyes that regarded me with curiosity before they vanished behind a tree.

  “Hello? I mean you no harm!” I called out. There was no answer and I didn’t see the figure in white again. It was eerie and I recalled stories of ghosts that Orphans would sometimes whisper to one another in the dark. I had never cared for those, especially on nights I had been alone in the box. Then, I remembered I didn’t have to be alone now.

  It was time to try out another of my new spells. I held out a hand, palm facing downward and focused upon the fire within me. To summon a Minor Lunar Fire Elemental required a lot of mana and sweat quickly beaded upon my forehead as I poured as much as I could into the summoning.

  A ring of blue fire formed just in front of me, melting both snow and ice. A wind rose, but whether it was a result of my magic or the Dungeon reacting to what I was doing I didn’t know. I heard a humming sound that grew and grew until a head made of blue flame followed by a whip-thin body grew out of the ring. The Elemental stood just under six feet tall and floated just inches above the circular impression the flames had made upon the ground. I smiled in delight.

  “You are a welcome sight, friend.” The Elemental regarded me impassively, but I supposed that it was deciding what to make of me as well. “We are in a Dungeon and there is something watching me. Don’t attack anything unless I say so, but just make sure nothing sneaks up on me, okay?” The Elemental was silent, but I sensed it understood its role and it would obey. I immediately felt better and more confident.

  Strange that a Fire Elemental is blue instead of red, but I suppose it doesn’t matter. Lunar Fire is different from regular Fire as Blam said it was.

  The gnome had explained in so many words that he should expect differences in his magic versus the fire magic of others and this was likely one of them. Time and experience would reveal more. For now, just having backup while walking through a dark, Winter forest was a relief.

  The Fire Elemental diligently floated behind me, melting a path as we walked. We were gaining altitude and the air was crisp, but thin. I had to pause several times to catch my breath and drink from a water skin. I had plenty of supplies, but I hoped I wouldn’t have to walk much further. Even Valka hadn’t pushed me to walk this much!

  Thinking of my friends made me feel momentarily guilty. Had I done the right thing in leaving without telling them? I hadn’t wanted to make a big deal about running this Dungeon and it wasn’t as if Valka, Anya or even Igvild could have helped me. Besides, Igvild had mentioned he had other tasks to take care of while in Bruhle and both Valka and Anya had their duties to the Graf. I could take care of myself now.

  I need to handle my own problems. Being an Awakened puts a target on my back, but I will get stronger. It’s one of the reasons I’m here. Not just to recovered Madame Krait’s item, but to gather more power for myself!

  Then the Corlo’s of the world would never lay a hand on him again. The Lieutenant Smeeve’s would know better than to show him any disrespect and mock his face. Even Grafs and other important people would…

  “Stop.” I stopped in my tracks and took a deep breath. I rubbed the Soothe ring upon my finger. I was about to continue, but then the Elemental started to fly quickly towards an ice covered tree. “Where are you going?” I demanded. Of course, it didn’t answer. Instead, it flared angrily as a humanoid creature detached itself from the tree and leapt towards the Elemental, claws outstretched.

  Wood Wight

  Level: 19

  My Elemental jerked as the claws of the Wood Wight slashed into its side, but the Elemental flared and blue fire shot from the area a mouth would be, setting the Wood Wight alight. I dual cast Burning Arms and blasted the Wood Wight off its feet and poured flames into it until it was char. My Elemental didn’t hesitate, it raced towards me and passed me by to engage another Wood Wight that had emerged from another tree. I saw two more emerge from yet another. I grinned.

  “Oh, good. More wood.”