Meric the Storyman: Rega and the Dragonstones
Chapter 20: Gnome Alone

This reminded Rega of the time he was hired to get a magical amulet for a client. He had to travel to the Holy city of Morane. One of the clerics had it safely stored away.

He remembered having to pick locks, avoid a trap floor, and sneak past a guard dog before finally gaining access to where it was located.

In the gnome’s cavern, he had already used his ring twice. He learned that he had to concentrate on the ring’s power of illusion detection to be able to use it. The first time he used it, the ring showed him that a dead end was just an illusion. The other time was to decide which side of the passageway he should walk on. Both the right and left sides appeared to have trap doors. The ring let him know that the one on the left was an illusion.

He was now stopped, however, by an obstacle that was real. The passageway just stopped. Twenty feet away it started again. In the middle, there was only darkness. Rega could tell it went down at least thirty feet. Beyond that, it was pitch black.

He knew there had to be a way across. The gnomes had to periodically check the gem, so they had to get to the other side. But how? Jumping was out. He was not a good long-jumper.

Then he saw the answer. On the wall to the left, there were places he could climb to get across. It would still be dangerous, but at least it was possible.

Rega found his first foothold. He slowly started climbing. He had reached the halfway point before he had a problem. As he was reaching for a place to grab, the ring showed him it was an illusion. He had to hurry and reach for a different place before slipping and falling.

“Tricky.” he said to himself. “These illusions are good. I’m glad I have you ring.”

He made it the rest of the way across with no more problems. The ring did save him again by showing him that the floor was actually two feet further back than what it appeared. Another clever illusion.

Rega continued. He went through about another hundred feet of curving passageways before the next obstacle. The passageway led him directly to a locked door.

The ring didn’t show him otherwise, so it had to be a real door. He felt it was best to look for traps. Sure enough, he found one. Turning the handle to the right would trigger it. He didn’t care to see what would happen, so he turned it to the left.

The door opened.

Inside was a room about twenty-five feet wide. The room was not empty. Rega saw two Umberhulks. Each one was chained to a wall opposite of the other. Both of them had piles of bones lying in their area.

The ring told Rega to avoid the real Umberhulk on the right. So, he nervously walked through the illusion monster and continued down a passageway on the other side of the room.

“It is getting dark. We had better find a place to camp for the night.” said Doman.

“We should keep a watch, just in case Rega comes out.” added Dexir.

They set up camp a short distance from where their friend had entered the cavern. They were hidden enough so it would be hard for them to be spotted, but they also had a pretty clear view of the entrance.

They ate a cold meal. Nobody wanted to risk a fire. A watch schedule was set up. Except for Dexir, who drew the first watch, everyone else went to sleep.

Dexir wondered about how his friend was doing. He felt confident about Rega’s skills, but going alone into a cave full of gnomes was a different story. Hopefully, the dragon’s ring would make a difference.

Another hour passed before Dexir saw some movement at the entrance of the cavern. It took him a few minutes before he recognized it was Rega.

There was something strange about his friend. He appeared to be in a daze, walking without looking around. This was not good. He decided to wake up the rest of the party.

While they woke, Dexir watched his friend continue walking. There was still no sign of Rega looking for them. He just walked.

“What should we do?” asked Stice, also watching Rega.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m going to help him out.” said Dexir. “I’ll have Akrun with me, so I should be safe.”

“I’ll join you.” said Doman.

The two of them cautiously ran toward Rega. As they got closer, they were sure he would hear them. He did not.

When they were right behind him, Dexir dived for his legs and continued right through them. They all watched as Rega’s image disappeared.

“This is not good.” said Doman, after helping Dexir back to his feet. “This illusion means that the gnomes know we are here.”

“It also means they know about Rega.” said Dexir nervously.

Rega entered another room. There was no door blocking it. Inside was a single occupant. It was a gnome.

“You have done well human.” said the gnome.

Rega checked with the ring. He was real.

Before Rega could worry about being caught, the gnome continued, “There is one final challenge for you. But first, I must ask for the ring back.”

“You mean, you know about the ring?” asked Rega.

“Of course.” answered the gnome. “In fact, we knew you were coming. Effron came by and asked for one of our rings for you. He begged us to set up this course and then allow you to go through it. Knowing how he loves to play jokes, we reluctantly agreed.”

Rega began to feel angry. He had been set up like a fool. He had risked his life for the pleasure of one dragon.

The gnome could sense Rega’s displeasure. “Please don’t feel too bad. We have to put up with him all the time.”

This made Rega feel a little better. He felt some pity for the gnomes. Normally, Copper dragons were the notorious pranksters. Coppers liked to play pranks almost as much as Brass dragons liked to talk. To have a Brass dragon liking both was insane.

“You mentioned something about another challenge?” asked Rega.

“Yes.” answered the gnome. “The room beyond has the real Topaz and an illusion Topaz. You have a fifty-fifty chance of selecting the real one, because you must surrender the ring first. If you are wrong, you die.”

“Very well.” said Rega, handing over the ring.

He walked over to the room. True to the gnome’s word, there were two Dragonstones there. There had to be a logical selection, something that gave him even better odds. Then it came to him. The answer was very simple.

Every obstacle along the way was bypassed by using the path to the left. The dragon actually did him right by sending him through the course.

Rega walked over to the left Topaz, lifting it from the stand. The image on the right began to distort as the illusion faded. What really sat on that stand was a small basilisk. The gnome was correct. It would have turned him to stone, an instant death.

“Excellent choice.” said the gnome, walking into the room. “Now it is time for you to get back to your friends. Some of the younger gnome illusionists have been practicing their craft and having a little fun with them.”

Rega followed him down a different passageway. He saw many other gnomes at various places. His gnome guide let him use the ring again.

“We were able to watch your progress all the way. We have small openings which allow us to see the course. Along the passageways in the course itself, these openings are covered with illusions to make them appear to be part of the wall.”

“Are illusions the only magic you know?” asked Rega.

“No. We just prefer illusions.” answered the gnome. “There are gnomes that specialize in some of the other schools of magic. We have areas where arcane artifacts are created and areas where new spell study is performed. However, illusion-magic seem to be easier for most of our wizards to perform.”

They watched as a fourth image of Rega left the cavern. The one before this had walked for a little bit and then called out to them. Dexir was almost ready to run up to the Rega image again, but after being fooled the first two times, he instead decided to throw a rock at it. The rock passed through the image. With the illusion being detected, it faded.

Dexir found another stone. These illusions were getting tiring. He took aim and threw at the image. His throw was good. The rock bounced off Rega’s head.

“Ouch! What did you do that for?” asked Rega.

“Rega? Is that really you?” asked Dexir.

“Of course it’s me. Who did you think I was?”

“Well...there were these other Regas...I mean...they weren’t real. They were illusion...But...” said the still confused Dexir.

Rega walked up to them, rubbing the now-forming knot on his head. Dexir came up to him apologizing all the way. Still not trusting his eyes, Certi came up as well, touching Rega’s leg. Satisfied, he went back to the wagon.

“Let me help your head.” said Dexir, taking Akrun from his scabbard.

“What are you going to do, chop my head off?” said Rega dryly.

Dexir didn’t answer. Instead he carefully brought Akrun’s blade up to touch the knot on Rega’s head. Calling forth the sword’s healing powers, the bump slowly went away.

“Thank you, Akrun.” said Rega, totally ignoring his friend.

Rega and Dexir walked back to the rest of the party.

“Did you get the gem?” asked Lobaki.

Rega walked over to the wagon. He took his miniature bag of holding and emptied the contents on a pile of tobacco. Everyone was awestruck. They could see the Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald and now the Topaz Dragonstones.

After a few minutes, Rega put them back into the bag. He then hid the bag back inside his clothes.

“Well, I guess we go to Makloran now.” said Stice.

“Yeah. Makloran.” replied Rega, sourly.

Dexir caught the tone in Rega’s voice. It would not be the last time he wondered why his friend talked about Makloran that way.

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