The Glass Unicorn, Part 12 (Quest Wars)

Chapter 67 The Waypoint

The forest was snow-covered and silent as we headed out into the winter afternoon.

It felt a bit late to set off, but we needed to get moving, so we made sure we had all our gear, and Magda had provided us with as many rations as we could carry.

Aisling came with us, but he hung back, silently bringing up the rear.

Brynn, who was walking by my side, kept glancing over her shoulder, but I tapped her forearm each time she turned around.

“You know you have to let go, right?” I said. “Maybe in a different time, maybe if things change and we’re here for good, things will change. But right now...”

“Right now, he needs a lycanthroid wife.” She sounded so blunt that I knew she didn’t want to talk about it.

“Right. He needs a lycanthroid wife,” I echoed. “So, let’s look forward. If we can make it through the tunnels rather than navigating the steeper mountains ahead, we’ll be so much better off. I doubt whether we could manage through the passes. They’re worse than I thought.”

We fell into an uneasy silence as we followed Sean through the forest. Then, just as I was wondering where he was taking me, we came into a clearing and I recognized the familiar shape of the Waypoint. I glanced at Sean.

“Can I activate it?”

“Go ahead,” he said.

I hurried into the acrylic cubicle and quickly activated it.

The next moment, I saw the Waypoint near the landing area, and the hunger to go home, to rest and recover, swept over me.

But the key quietly hummed against my chest. I sighed and returned to the others.

We were fully stocked. There was no reason to go back to visit Liesel right now.

“Well, I guess we mark it on the map and then head for the tunnels,” I said, wanting to do anything but that.

Ray took out the map and marked the location of the Waypoint on it.

“I guess so,” Thornhold said. “I admit, I’d like to just forget about Zaran, but we can’t. He’ll seek us out.”

“That he will,” Sean said. “He never forgets, and you have something that can destroy his lover. He’ll do anything to recover that key.” He motioned for us to follow him out of the clearing, on a trail opposite the one we had entered on.

By now, it was getting dark, and I wondered how much further we had to go. I didn’t want to be in the woods after dark. “How far until—” I stopped as we came to a hill. It was covered with snow, and the cliff-face was straight up and down, an impossible climb.

But Sean scanned the snow-covered wall and then snapped his fingers. He moved to a place behind a large huckleberry bush and then began brushing the snow from the wall. “Here, help me,” he said.

We joined in, and within a few minutes, Brynn said, “I found something. It looks like a door.”

We hurried over to see a door carved in the stone.

I immediately looked for runic symbols, remembering Lord of the Rings, but alas, there were none that I could see.

But Sean pointed to the right side of the door.

There was an indentation there, and he slid his hand in and gave a mighty shove.

The door slowly creaked open, swinging into the darkness behind it.

He peeked inside, then motioned for us to follow him. As the snow began to fall again, we hurried inside, and he shut the door behind us.

I expected it to be darker than night, but a faint glow emanated from the walls, and I realized that the tunnels were illuminated, though the light wasn’t bright.

But it was enough to see the way. The ceilings of the tunnels were at least ten feet tall, and the passageway was about ten feet wide.

I couldn’t see the end of the tunnel, but I did notice that, on the right side of the wall, was a sign with a series of runes and numbers.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“That’s the starting location, along with the runic signs that you want to follow,” Sean said.

“For example, the bottom one leads to a goblin city deep within the mountain. If you follow the runes matching that particular symbol, you’ll eventually get there as long as the numbers accompanying the runes continue to grow.

The second rune indicates the path for…I don’t know what it’s for, to be honest. Same with the third.

The fourth, however, is the one you want.

It leads to the other side of the mountain, to the Summer Kingdom.

Memorize—and maybe copy—that rune, and look for that same sign along with a higher number, and you’ll find your way through the mountain.

Every tunnel branch will be coded near the entrance and along the way. ”

I pulled out my notebook and carefully drew the rune. Each rune was quite different, so they weren’t all that easy to mix up, but I wanted no confusion.

“I think you all should write this down,” I said. “In case we somehow manage to get separated.”

“Erenye’s right,” Thornhold said.

We took a moment to make sure everybody had a copy of the rune and the starting number on their person.

“All right. Now another question. What about light? Do the tunnel walls glow continuously?” I asked. If they didn’t, I wanted to be prepared.

“They do,” Sean said. “However, you still need to remain alert. There are turnouts every so often that are used for camping. If you see anybody in one—regardless of what they are—leave them alone. These tunnels are considered a neutral zone, and nobody’s supposed to fight in here.

But that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. And if it does, the beings who originally made the tunnels—they’re called Devbos—will often intervene to the detriment of both conflicting parties. ”

Devbos…Devbos…and then I knew what the Devbos were. To the people in the game, they were actual beings with supernatural powers, but they were the bots that the programmers had originally created. And here, they had come to life as actual beings.

“Devbos?” Reggie asked, looking confused.

I shook my head, giving him a warning look. “Right. We’ll be careful,” I said. “Thank you for the warning.”

Sean nodded. “I’ve never seen one, but I hear they can be deadly. They have also been known, on occasion, to resurrect a character. Why, I’m not sure. The records say the Devbos are almost like the gods.”

“I’m sure they are,” I quietly said. “Thank you for showing us to the tunnels. I know it’s just extra stress, given what’s happening with Rupert.”

“I hope he heals up,” Sean said.

“So do I,” Aisling added. He had barely spoken during the entire trek. “Brynn, I’d like to say goodbye…privately.”

I urged the others to move down the corridor to give them some privacy. As they spoke, I turned back to Sean. “So, we check the rune and number each time we move into a new tunnel?”

“Correct,” he said. “You’ll need to make certain you don’t miss any, because it’s so easy to get lost in the tunnels. Good luck,” he added. “And if you ever come back this way…”

“We’ll stop in. I hope we meet again. Give Magdala another kiss and a hug for us. And we sent prayers to Rupert. Be safe going home.”

“We will,” Aisling said as he and Brynn returned. “I hope this isn’t our final meeting.”

We spent another few minutes saying goodbye and then, finally, they turned back to the entrance of the tunnels, and we headed out, hoping to hell we were on the way to the Summer Kingdom.