The Fiasco at Scala

The Damned, part four

4. The bronze giant could fly between the tunnels in the path of other sentinels who took little-noticed of the humans under Julian's wardship. After scaling several levels up and one tunnel through, Julian showed the team to a small grassy green hill inside the tunnel where two long-haired violinists known as Niccolò and Giuseppe in neat suits had to play against each other constantly, neither gaining the upper hand over the other. Julian explained that to retrieve the first Tool of the Trade, one of the team had to beat the two violin virtuosos in a battle of the strings. Vico, with his several years of experience with instruments playing back at the palace, volunteered to take the challenge. He fashioned a primitive fiddle and bow together using the wood of a dark tree stump and lengths of silk from the nest of a giant spider. 

Taking the instrument in hand, Vico played with both elegance and beauty to the point where even two of the greatest players in all of Hell could not keep up with him. When his ballad was complete, the violins of the two virtuosos left their masters' hands to merge into a single golden violin of fine guiding. Vico accepted the gift and re-joined the cheering team nearby, all proud with his effort. However, the music of three violins playing at full pelt across the vast echo chamber of a giant tunnel attracted the attention of a large horde of demons, similar to the one who had ambushed Vico earlier on. 

Ilaria, Ennio and Nonna did not have any weapons to fight the demons beside stones and their fists, but Vico had a solid gold violin while Julian was a giant made of metal. The colossus and the musical prince both bashed and kicked the demons out of their path, forcing a hasty retreat away of the allies into the deeper sections of the tunnel. The absence of any opposition enabled the team to regroup and continue their quest for three more Tools of the Trade hidden elsewhere in the underworld.