Dragon's Heart

Chapter 9

Soon, the three adventurers found themselves in a strange room with no obvious exit and a lot of props and puzzles lying around. "So, wait, what was the first clue we were given again?" Matthew asked the Prince. "Well," Tobias replied, "He said it was to be quite the 'hum-dinger', but I admit I don't quite know what that---" "Here! It's this kazoo with a bell attached to it." Sally interrupted, picking it apart from the rest of the objects that lay strewn about the room. She blew into it and a small piece of paper proceeded to tumble out of the other end. It had a  drawing of a hammer and various shards of broken glass accompanying it. "Hmm....I spot a hammer over there by the northern wall," Tobias pointed out. "And the only thing involving glass around here is that mirror next to it." Matthew added. "Wait!" Sally tried to protest. "What if we need the mirror for something? Like....a visual trick or something to that extent?" 

Suddenly, a familiar voice started to talk, but they could not quite tell where it was coming from. "Oh, don't worry, friends! You are on the right track. The Prince and his companion there have the right idea." ".....Phlinx?" Tobias asked. "Yes, it is I!" Phlinx responded. "Don't expect me to give you a lot of pointers, though; I am simply here to monitor your progress. I'm communicating with you via this scrying orb that one of my pygmies happened to possess." "Very well," the Prince commented. He turned to Matthew and Sally. "You heard him; let's see what this mirror is hiding." He bashed the mirror and it fell to pieces, revealing a convoluted set of characters behind it. "H: 1295572; M: 6557930," Tobias recited. "There also appears to be additional writing near the bottom here.....L. SAFE: 2828, R. SAFE: 2323." "Those are probably the two safes that are on opposite walls from each other. I don't know what perspective this was written from, though...." Matthew spoke. "What do you mean?" asked Tobias. "Well...look." Matthew walked to one end of the room. "See, when I'm standing here, the blue safe is to my left, and the red safe is to my right." He walked to the other end. "But now, from this position, they are switched." "Oh yeah, you're right...." Sally commented. "Oh well. I guess we'll just have to try the codes on both." "Way ahead of you," Tobias said, having gotten the left safe open. "The code was indeed "2828". I suppose Matthew's initial position was the correct one." Matthew tried to input the code "2323" into the safe on the right, which ended in success. The left safe held a spray paint can, while the right safe held a toy pop gun. "I have a theory. Remember those characters we saw on the upper portion of the mirror? When we first arrived in this room, I noticed a grandfather clock standing in the corner, but it was missing its hands. I'm guessing the pop gun has something to do with retrieving them, but for now, let's see what this paint can do. I'm guessing 'H' stands for 'hour', and 'M' stands for 'minute'." Tobias proposed. "But....those numbers are really large...." Sally pointed out. "What, are we going to have to count 1,295,592 hours and 6,557,930 minutes from our current time? Sounds like a lot of hard work to me...."

"No, I don't believe it will be that hard." Tobias replied. He used the spray paint can on the number combinations, and most of them proceeded to be covered by the paint, with the exception of four numbers. The "H" set of numbers now only read "12", the first two digits of the string, and the "M" set now only read "30", the last two digits of the string. "Whoa, nice!" Matthew exclaimed. "The proper time must be 12:30. Now we know what time to set the clock to!" "Or....at least we could, if we knew where the hands were." Sally lamented. "All right, everyone look around and see if you can find something that we could use this toy pop gun on." Tobias said. "There's a small shooting gallery over there," Matthew said. "And look, it's got six cardboard targets on it. Two doctors, two businessmen in suits, and two....burglars...." "Two burglars?!" Tobias exclaimed. "Those could be our intended marks! Unfortunately, I don't have good aim. Would either of you two like to volunteer?" "Fine, I'll do it," said Sally. "We've only got two shots, so I'll make 'em count." She aimed the sights down on the two burglar targets and shot them down. The gallery display lit up, and a hidden compartment extended, revealing the two clock hands. "We got this in the bag, Phlinx!" Tobias called. "Brilliant work, my friends! You don't have much further left to go. You can do it!" Phlinx responded. The group got to work attaching the hands to the clock face, and when both of them were secure, Matthew set it to 12:30. Afterwards, the clock's face opened up, similar to a hinge mechanism, and within it was an old, rusty key, along with another note---"Gather your ducks in a row." Phlinx piped up yet again. "Congratulations, everybody! That's your final clue. Decipher it and reveal the magic number, but remember, you only have ten minutes left!" "Alright, what are we going to try this on?" Matthew asked the others, now sounding slightly panicked. "Ummm....maybe that cage of ducks over there." Sally said, the sarcasm oozing from her tone. "It's not like the clue said it or anything." "Hey....I think those ducks have numbers taped to their backs!" Tobias observed. "Maybe this could be it!" 

After a few minutes had passed, the trio had managed to gain control of the four ducks and had them line up in a single row. From left to right, their numbers read "7011". Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "I do believe we have our solution, my friends." Tobias said triumphantly. "Phlinx! Pull us back!" "Sure thing, sire!" Phlinx replied. Soon, Tobias, Matthew, and Sally found themselves back in that same cave that they started in; gems and all. After glancing at the inner and outer walls a bit more, Matthew even managed to make out the very same empty spot where, earlier, Tobias had pulled out a specific gem that he planned to use as a fake Dragon's Heart. "I trust you all had a wonderful time?" Phlinx asked. "Now, what did you figure the magic number to be?" "Is it 7011?" Tobias asked the pygmy. 

"......Yes! Congratulations! You have conquered the Riddle Room!" Phlinx exclaimed proudly after a tense moment of deliberation. "Secretly, I was hoping that you would pass." "Why?" Tobias spoke. "Because it is our wish that you will stop Lord Ravenswood from accomplishing his plans. We have heard of the blight that he has presented upon our kingdom for many years. He has refused to listen to reason, and, as I have already told you before, he did not display patience, but rather brutality, when we attempted to put him and his minions through the same trial. He has sullied our practices, and we hope that you will deliver vengeance for us. We would ally with you if we could, but we must stay behind and watch for any other passersby. I trust you will come by and inform us of your victory, should it come to pass?" Phlinx requested. "Of course!" Matthew said cheerfully. Phlinx laughed heartily. "Wonderful, wonderful! I hope that we will meet again soon, but for now we must part ways. .....Where is it you are to be going next?" the pygmy asked the group. Tobias took out his map. "Ummm....the Sea of Myras, I believe." "The Sea of Myras?" Phlinx sounded rather curious at the information. "Ahhh, I remember that place well. The elusive storm dragons love to fly in the skies overhead, and make their dens in the nearby cliffs. Not to worry, though. They are very friendly creatures, and have displayed the uncanny ability to make accurate prophecies to the letter. While you are exploring the area, would you mind saying hello to a certain storm dragon for me? His name is Abraxas. I raised him as a youth many years ago, when he was still small, and was fresh from losing his parents in a tragic accident. But as he grew older, I realized that there would not be room in this cave for him for much longer, and had to let him go. I hope he is doing okay out there, fending for himself. Please check in with him, should he and you cross paths." 

"Will do," Tobias replied. "It was a pleasure getting to know you, Phlinx." 

He turned to Matthew and Sally. "Come, my fellow adventurers! We set out for the Sea of Myras!"