Alexis: Page 4

The next day, we all gathered outside waiting for Forester to walk out and begin the lesson. Except, that day, he didn't. We waited for 15 minutes, then 30, then an hour. Nothing.

We all decided to go down to his room to see if he was still asleep. In the basement, we knocked on his door, only for it to glide open. He wasn't inside.

Against my better judgment, I walked in, looking around at the spartan decorations. The only thing out of place was a sheet of paper on his bed. Emma jumped up, grabbing the paper. In a parody of Forester's manner of speaking, she read the paper.

Dear my apprentices,

As should be apparent, I am not at today's lesson. That is because you do not have a lesson today. Welcome, to your final exam. On my bookshelf, you will find 3 copies of a book titled "The Sponsor of the Monster Women". You are to split into 3 pairs, and separately solve the puzzles I have set up. Do not assist the others. Find me by sundown or you fail.

-Forester

I turned to look at Lexi, but Emma grabbed my hand.

"Oh no, lover boy, you are not working with her. You'll just end up distracting each other."

I wanted to argue, but she was right. I flashed Lexi an apologetic smile, and she seemed to agree.

"Fine, but you better not fail."

Emma put her hand over her chest dramatically.

"Have a little faith!"

Lexi rolled her eyes, partnering up with Durak leaving Jake and Mika to work together.

We each split up, wandering the house while we looked through the book.

"See if he dog eared any pages."

Emma flipped through the paperback, shaking her head.

"No, doesn't look like it."

"Damn."

I paced through the kitchen while she sat, skimming through the pages.

"Oh wait, do an illusion counterspell."

She mumbled a few words and squealed excitedly.

"It says something."

From the blood of fruit to the poison of blood, most things end where they begin.

"Wine, he's talking about wine."

We both looked at each other as we simultaneously realized it.

"The cellar!"

We scrambled down the steps into the dusty room. I flicked the switch, but the light bulb didn't turn on.

I cast Illuminate, magical light pouring from my hand to fill the room.

"So what now?"

Emma clicked her tongue in thought.

"Well, the most likely thing is that one of these wine bottles has a clue, right?"

"Yeah, that was my guess, but like, which one?"

"Detect magic?"

"Yeah, one sec."

I dropped Illuminate, returning the room to darkness. That didn't last long though, because one of the bottles began to glow from Emma's spell.

She grabbed it, reading the label.

Premium wine, grown in the fertile valley of page 186.

We flipped to that page in the book, counter-spelling that illusion. Once again, Emma read out the clue.

Whether bathed in fire or forge of glowing steel, all creatures need to eat.

"Well, it's gotta be the kitchen right?"

"Yeah, nowhere else has food."

We made our way to the kitchen, bumping into Jake and Mika along the way. We smiled at each other politely, but they were in as much of a hurry as we were.

In the kitchen, we threw open cupboards, searched through the fridge, and thoroughly raided the pantry. Nothing. No illusions of any kind.

"Damn it."

"How much longer do we have till sundown?"

I checked my watch. It read 5:21 and sunset wasn't till around 6:30.

"A little over an hour."

"Damn."

"What was the clue again?"

"Whether bathed in fire or forge of glowing steel, all creatures need to eat."

"So what's the first half about? Fire, heat, metal, and food."

Emma suddenly clapped her hands.

"It's the stove, Evan!"

I looked over, and sure enough, one of the gas burners was on. The little blue flame had heated the metal above it till it was glowing a faint orange. The dial for the burner was on the number 6.

Emma jumped, the top of her head barely clearing the stove.

"What, what does it say?!"

"Go to page 6."

She hurriedly flipped through the book, finding another riddle.

Day by day he toils, planting black seeds in a field of white. Find the room in which he farms.

"What the fuck does that mean?"

"Beats me."

"Maybe it means outside, that's where you do farming?"

She pursed her lips.

"I doubt it, I'm pretty sure the second part is a metaphor."

We spent the next 40 minutes thinking. We tried every manner of spells in every manner of rooms. Nothing worked. We couldn't find the solution.

We floor onto the living room couch. Emma flung the book across the room.

"We're fucked, Evan. We can't figure it out."

I walked over and plucked the book off of the floor.

"We still have time, Emma. We've got the key right her..."

I looked at the book in my hand.

"Oh my gods, I know the answer."

If anyone is wondering why this chapter took so long, it's because I suck at riddles.