CHAPTER 29
“As your party traverses the impenetrable darkness of the Burntbark Forest, a faint breeze carries the sound of merriment. You hear laughter, the clinking of glasses, and the most beautiful music imaginable before the wind shifts and the woods fall silent. Almost!”
Mindy leaned forward. Galen was so good at establishing a scene.
She really felt like she was picking her way through a mystical forest at night with four adventuring companions.
In reality, they were gathered around a table in a suburban basement, but with the lights so dramatically low, the fringes of the room were lost to shadow.
“Curiously enough,” Galen continued, “you hear muttering and notice the flickering of flame through the trees.”
“Coming from the same direction that we heard the sounds of a party?” Ricky asked.
Galen nodded. “Yes. Although the light isn’t as distant.”
“Probably an elven scout,” David said, “to make sure that no one gets through uninvited.”
“Then we should announce ourselves,” Cameron said boldly. “Hark! Who goes there?”
“And what are you going to wipe with when you’re done?” Whitney added.
The group snickered.
Galen grinned. “Suddenly the light moves toward your group. You hear loud footsteps, crunching leaves, and snapping twigs. Soon you see, bathed in the glow of a torch, a huge ogre rippling with muscles. His slimy green skin is covered in battle scars. He sniffs the air while drooling.” Galen sneered and put on a slobbering voice.
“The smell of elf meat lured me here. Now I have found the feast!”
“Um, not quite,” Cameron replied. He had quickly become the leader of their group.
“I am Cecil Proudheart. Together with my companions, we are seeking the five sacred weapons of Bahamut. We already have secured two. The elves you speak of have the third, which is why we are traveling to the Autumnal Ball.”
“What a buffet!” the ogre replied. “But first, a snack to tide me over.” Galen rolled a die behind his dungeon master’s screen. “Okay. The ogre rushes at your group and scoops Allura up in a bear hug.”
“Do you mean Celestia?” Ricky asked. “She’s the elf.”
“No, for some reason he wants Mindy,” Galen said. “I mean Allura.”
“Should we roll initiative?” David asked.
“I think she gets a free attack before she’s grappled,” Ricky added.
“Too late,” Galen snapped. “The ogre already has her. Now you can roll initiative.”
They got the upper hand. After consulting with each other, Cameron led the attack against the ogre with the others assisting. They soon had Allura free from the monster’s grasp, even though it took all their turns.
“In the name of elven kind,” Whitney said, spreading her arms wide, “I will destroy you rather than let you hurt my friends or my people!”
“Okay,” Galen said while rolling. “The ogre uses half his movement to rush around you, where he grapples Allura—”
“But I’m the elf meat!” Whitney said in confusion.
“Mindy definitely gets a free attack,” Ricky added.
“Fine!” Galen leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. “Go ahead and attack him.”
“Okay.” Mindy picked up the appropriate die and rolled.
“Not good enough,” Galen replied. “The ogre’s skin is like jerkin. He grapples Mindy—I mean, Allura—and uses the rest of his movement to drag her away. He smells really bad too.”
“Okay, guys,” Cameron said, leaning forward in a huddle. “What are we going to—"
“You should be my date to the ball,” Galen gibbered in his ogre voice. “Your friends can get the weapon while we hump in the bushes, my sweet little morsel.”
“Wait, are we still in combat?” David asked.
Mindy was also confused. Was this Galen’s way of asking her to prom? If so, it was certainly an unusual approach! “I kind of squirm in his arms,” she said, “so I can get a better look at his face. Is the ogre handsome?”
“He’s really hot,” Galen said with a sour expression. “And he’s ripped. Exactly your type.”
She blinked. “My type?”
Galen shrugged. “Yeah. A big dumb musclehead. In fact, he reminds you a lot of Ironwood Assbreaker.”
Diego’s character before he left the group. Galen wasn’t asking her to prom. He was jealous!
“You’re definitely not my type, Mr. Ogre,” she replied tactfully. “I’m more into wizards who come and go mysteriously.” That was intended to be a reference to the character Galen played, Nelag of the Nine, but she didn’t score any points.
“Just how many wizards are we talking about here?” Galen muttered. In his own voice.
“What?” Mindy cried.
Galen shook his head and sighed. “Nothing. You guys are up.”
The party freed Allura again and made short work of the ogre, but Galen’s heart didn’t seem to be in the game anymore. They reached the elven ball, which he didn’t bother to describe. “Let’s end it there for the night,” he said. “We’ll pick back up again next session.”
Everyone else was surprised, since they were stopping much earlier than they usually did. Mindy understood though. She waited until the others had left so she could be alone with Galen.
“Hey,” she said softly.
He was clearing the table they played on and barely glanced up from his work. “Hey.”
“That got a little weird, didn’t it?”
Galen rolled his eyes. “You were right.”
“About what?”
“Us dating and how it would interfere with the game.”
She vaguely remembered expressing that concern when he’d wanted to make what they had official. As in boyfriend and girlfriend.
“Tonight did not go as intended,” Galen continued. “You guys were supposed to make it to the ball, where a handsome elven prince would have noticed Allura.” He looked up, the sudden hope in his eyes slowly fading. “He would have shown you an ancient tablet. Here…”
Mindy was handed a piece of paper covered in runes.
“Is this a puzzle?” she asked.
“Yeah. You would have been the one to solve it, because you’re so smart and pretty and—” Galen shook his head. “I can’t do this anymore.”
Mindy pressed her lips together, unwilling to ask for clarification. She didn’t want to stop playing with the group. Or hurt his feelings.
Galen’s eyes wavered as he studied her. “I can’t even break up with you, because we’re not actually anything!
I’m tired of waiting for you to decide if you want to be with me or not.
I won’t anymore, because it makes me feel…
” He swallowed and shook his head. “Anyway… It’s over now. Whatever it was.”
“Galen,” she said, her heart aching for him.
He resumed straightening up, unwilling to engage. “My dad can give you a ride home. I’m tired.”
“That’s okay,” she said. “I’ll walk.”
Mindy watched him a second longer. Then she gathered her things and left, her face flushed, but not because of his behavior.
She felt ashamed on the way home. Even worse was that part of her was relieved.
No longer would she have to place the two men she cared about on a scale to compare them.
She was free now to be with Vonn. Mindy only hoped that she hadn’t lost a friend in the process.
She felt empty when trudging up the stairs to her bedroom.
Mindy tossed everything on her desk, noticing the paper covered in runes.
She grabbed a pencil and sat down. Clearly it was some sort of cipher.
She didn’t recognize any of the runes but some resembled letters, especially if she turned the paper upside down.
Doing so revealed all the vowels. Rotating it left or right made it possible to see various consonants.
Before long, she had cracked the code and translated the message.
Beautiful lady, would you please accompany me to the dance, in this world and another?
Mindy’s heart ached. Her earlier suspicion had been correct.
Galen had intended to ask her to prom. She likely would have danced with an elven prince as Allura, a preview of what was to come.
Instead an ogre had tried dragging her away.
No mystery as to who that was meant to represent.
Vonn would be her prom date now. Mindy should be relieved.
She had been leaning in that direction for quite some time.
But she wasn’t sure that he loved her most. Or at all.
She couldn’t imagine Vonn coming up with such a clever way of asking her out or being so upset that she didn’t want to commit.
The choice hadn’t been hers, but regardless, Mindy couldn’t shake the feeling that she had made a mistake.
— — —
“Brace yourself,” Cameron said, glancing over at his mother. They were sitting in the conference room next to Principal Preckwinkle’s office. He lowered his voice and added, “You’re about to meet the most horrible woman in the world. The absolute worst!”
Brenda opened her mouth to reply, but hastily shut it again as someone strolled through the door.
“Cameron!” LaVern said. “Mrs. Huxley. A pleasure to see you both, despite the circumstances.” She placed a folder on the table and took a seat.
“Before we begin, I’d like to say that your son was one of the finest student council presidents I’ve ever worked with.
Rarely have I met a student who cared so genuinely for the welfare of others. ”
“Thank you,” Brenda replied before looking at him with a quizzical expression.
“We thought we were going to meet with Principal Preckwinkle,” Cameron said by way of explanation.
“Forgive me,” LaVern said. “I should have introduced myself. I’m the vice principal, Ms. Freemont. I handle all disciplinary matters, such as this one.” She checked the folder before giving them her full attention again. “I understand you have some concerns, Mrs. Huxley.”
“Yes,” his mother replied. “I feel my son is being unfairly punished. He asked his boyfriend to prom during lunch, using a megaphone, which could be considered disruptive, but that sort of thing is traditional. When I was his age, my best friend was dating a boy in the school band, and they played her favorite song during lunch while he asked her out. That was a long time ago, sure, but…” She nudged Cameron.