Saturday, June 11, 2011

The Riddle

  As I said before, I used to be normal. Shocker, huh? That's right, I used to be the wangster in high school, the "popular" kid in middle school, and I never quite made it to college. Mostly because I was: 1) too lazy and 2) too lazy to get the money I needed to pay for tuition and whatnot. But, pretty much, I just didn't give a shit. I learned enough in senior year anyway.


  I'm a pretty accomplished treasure hunter. I like to travel across the world, sometimes researching the many old sections of Ireland, since the rural areas really interested me. Surprisingly, I had enough for a trip there (funny how I can't pay for college...) and to get a room at one of those little cottage inns that smelled like s'mores and peanuts. It was pretty nice there, but I hadn't come to chat it up with the hot ginger at the desk. I had somewhere to be, secrets to unlock, money to gain.


  The place was just like a pile of rubble, not even ruins. Like a heap of jagged rocks. At first I just went around to inspect, there were not that many people at all; only about two or three, still far away from where I was. Yes, the ruins were big, and it took me a while to scan the whole place. Yet as I passed by a certain "wall" of the crumbling stones, I noticed little markings carved into a thin slate of some other material I wasn't aware of. Anyway, at first I thought it might be Greek, but after looking really close, I didn't know what the hell those markings were. They weren't like pictures, just symbols, more curvy and fancy than any other writing I've ever seen. One symbol curved in, almost looking as if it formed a small indent for your index finger to fit. So I thought, What the hell? I'll try it. And I did. And it worked.


  I heard sort of a dragging noise then the settling of stone, and sure enough a wall had pulled back from inside the ruined temple-like structure, revealing more carvings, this time in clear, almost untouched Greek. Here's what it said (I have the quote written down somewhere, but I'll try tot remember for now):


Solve these five Riddles carefully, or so you will not be allowed entrance to the Court of the Fae. The first of them are not difficult, though will grow fatal as time drips away.


1. A dreaded dangerous whirlpool am I;
I swallow up ships as they pass by

2. We nine cause storms and fog and mist
If we dropped dead we'd ne'er be missed

3. I'm a sea-living female, with an ugly face,
and barking dogs bout my waist

4. All kinds of foods we seize and defile
We female birds have an awful lifestyle

5. I have a hundred watchful eyes
To Hermes I owe my demise



  Well, how unexpected, huh? Five Greek riddles in an Irish temple? The Court of the Fae? It was all a blur back then, I had no idea what shit I was getting myself into when I solved those five and walked down that dusty staircase. No idea what that ring meant...But I'd soon see.


  Number one, the answer was Charybdis, the child of Gaia and Poseidon, taking form as some sea creature, spitting up water to create whirlpools. Number two, the Hydra. Google it. Three, Scylla, Google it. Four, 
Harpies, I knew that one well. And lastly, five, Argus.


  The wall pulled back again, this time revealing a long staircase leading into the dark, unlit torches lining each dangerously unstable wall. At the bottom, more Greek.


Now you have made it to the chest, thought opening it will disturb the faun's rest. Lift it with ease and treat it with care, or soon it will too turn against you.


  I opened the chest at the bottom, the light from above still slightly glinting down on the floor. It was locked, but I finally found the key under several stones in one corner. The chest opened, and inside was a velvet pouch, still appearing new and fresh; it's smell was not, however. Inside that was a ring, a ruby-looking one.


  Now, if I had realized that shoving that ring on my left index finger, and having it stick there for the rest of the day was not because of my finger size, I would've regretting ever opening that chest. I would've sold the goddamn thing in an instant. Still, having a hobgoblin around does have its advantages...But I'll get to that in a moment.


  Anyway, The ring stuck for the rest of the afternoon, evening, and night. Next morning, first thought was, What the fucking shit is this thing doing in my room?! Seriously. There was a motherfucking half-goat-half-naked girl in my bedroom fucking smiling at me. Creepy ass faun. Almost gave me a heart attack...She said her name was Rusalka, a servant of the Seelie Court and now officially my slave for the bond that ties her to the Ring. It was a bit much to take in at once, but I got over it. Having a creature with the ability to mindfuck your enemies around couldn't really be that bad. Too bad I didn't know the entire situation well before using the thing to make me wealthy...


-Clive

No comments:

Post a Comment