In the Blade's Hilt |A tale from Triterra|

Chapter 52 - The Path of Smarts

Blue pushed the door open and kicked it shut with his foot, whistling a small tune as he did so.  He looked around.  The chamber that he had entered was quite small, containing nothing but a rug and a table.  He walked towards the exit and reached for the door handle.  He stopped himself.  No, this was too easy.  He wheeled around and spotted a ghost.He looked old, judging by the long beard that covered his face.  The apparition was wearing tattered robes  He was sitting at the table, a transparent cup in his hands.  He looked up at Blue.

"Sit, child, and we shall begin" he said, motioning towards the other end of the table.  Blue nodded and sat cross-legged on the rug.  The ghostly mage smiled.

"Ah, a nice change for once.  Someone who listens.  I'll tell you, everyone who passes through here is always so rude.  Always screaming, and screaming, and screaming, even as they waste away" he commented, taking a sip.

Blue looked around him, and that's when he noticed the bones.  The floor was covered in them. In fact, it was MADE of them.  Each a dull brown, a reminder of a past adventurer who had previously failed.  Blue looked back up at the ghost and gulped.

"Now then, shall we begin?" he asked.

"Uh, what am I supposed to do here?" asked Blue.  The ghost laughed.  It was an unsettling sound.

"Riddles, dear boy, riddles!  If you want to leave, then you must find a riddle that I cannot answer" he answered.

Blue frowned.  He was good at confusing people, but not riddles.  He racked his brain for a good one.

"Poor people have it. Rich people need it. If you eat it you die. What is it?" he asked, a little unsure of himself.

"Quite simple, Nothing" answered the ghost.

"What's brown and sticky?"

"A stick"

"This sentence is false?"

"That's a paradox, son"

Blue furrowed his brow.  This may take a while.

Blue sat there for over two hours, asking riddles and failing miserably.  Even Bahg tried to help, but no-one could understand his high-pitch squeaking, so he gave up.  Eventually, Blue threw his hands up in the air and announced that he gave up.

"I believe I win then" spoke the ghost, taking yet another sip of his tea.

"Yeah, yeah, at least I get to die, and not sit in a cave for the rest of time" said Blue bitterly.

And then it hit him.  With a devilish grin on his face, Blue slowly turned to the ghost.

"Hey, how about one more?" he asked.

The apparition nodded.  Blue stood up and folded his arms.

"What is your name?" he asked, drawing out every last word.

"Why it's... it's..." stammered the ghost.  He looked shocked.  Dropping the teacup, the room was filled with the sound of ethereal china smashing.  Blue casually strolled over to the exit.

"I believe it is I, who has won" he uttered triumphantly, pushing the door open and walking through it.

"Poor sod" muttered Blue, as he closed the door behind him.  Standing in another stone chamber, this one a little smaller than the last, Blue stepped up to a stone plinth and picked up the book that was lying there.  It's front and back cover bore no words, only runes.  It was covered in gold and platinum.  But to his dismay, a large lock held it shut.  Shrugging his shoulders, Blue fed the book to Bahg and read the not that lay underneath it.

"Arkus is watching always" it read.

Shaking his head and pocketing the note, Blue headed towards the exit.