THE LORD OF DREAMS
Mona, Charley and Lily have begun their quest in the Knightmare Dungeon, and have earned a spell called SHIMMER from Bumptious.
They came into what looked like a kitchen, with a table and four chairs, a dresser and a stove unit as well as two portals on the far wall.
"Wow, an authentic medieval kitchen" said Mona in awe.
"Feels kind of creepy to me" shivered Lily. "Can we go now?"
"Probably wouldn't be a very good idea" Mona reasoned. "Remember that the Dungeon is setting us a challenge here, and it's very unlikely we'd end up somewhere we didn't specifically need to be."
As she spoke, an elderly woman ran in through the left-hand door.
"You see?"
Lily nodded, beginning to understand a little more about this adventure.
"Hello, dearies" smiled the woman. "Come to dinner, have you? Well, sit down, please."
"Are you a witch?" asked Lily dubiously as they sat down.
"Yes, I am dearie!" she exclaimed with glee. "What a clever girl you are! My name's Mrs. Grimwold and this is my kitchen. I've come to make supper for my husband."
"Your husband?" asked Mona suspiciously.
"Grimwold is an ogre" Mrs. Grimwold told them. "He's a fussy eater, you know. Mind you, my two-headed dog Festus is even worse; he just has to have live prey!"
"I don't think we will stay, if you don't mind," said Mona apologetically. "You see, we're on this..."
"Nonsense, dearie" said Mrs. Grimwold. "I insist you stay to dinner with Grimwold and me. Oh, look, here he is now."
A huge salivating ogre with a club shambled into the room. He roared with hunger when he saw the gathering at the table.
"Hello, Grimmy" the witch greeted him, leading him to the table. "Look, I've got your dinner all ready for you. Give me a shout when you're finished and we'll get some pudding, okay?"
Mrs. Grimwold cackled as she left the room, leaving Mr. Grimwold to lick his lips at the three morsels at his table.
"Eek!" screamed Lily. "He's going to eat us!"
"Time to leave, I think," Mona hissed, leading her friends swiftly over to the right-hand door, ignoring Mr. Grimwold’s roars of protest.
Mona discovered a scroll on the floor in front of the door, on which was written the word EXHUME. Another dwarf tunnel followed.
"What's written on that scroll?" asked Charley.
"Just the word EXHUME," said Mona.
"Another spell perhaps?" Charley suggested.
"I know!" Lily piped up. "I bet it's some kind of password."
"Could well be" Mona agreed. "Look, there’s a portal up ahead."
They found themselves in a grey-black stone room with one door, and wall with pronounced lines in its lighter grey bricks.
"I bet that wall's going to move" Lily shuddered. "Just look at it!"
Sure enough, the wall grated forward to block their path. It had a menacing face hewn into it.
"Password!" it demanded.
"It's some kind of spiritual manifestation" Mona whispered. "And it wants the password."
"Well we've got it" Lily declared. "Exhume!"
The wall lingered for a moment and then crumbled to dust, leaving their exit clear.
"Well done" said Mona. "You were right about that word. Come on, let's go."
The next chamber consisted purely of doorless brick walls.
"How do we get out of here?" wondered Charley.
"Hello dearies. Took my Grimmy's supper away from him, did you? That's not nice, you know."
They watched Mrs. Grimwold step out from the shadows, followed by a salivating two-headed dog with five tails and sharp teeth. Fang hissed and arched his back.
"You stopped the blocker from having his fun too, didn't you?" Mrs. Grimwold leered. "Well, at least Festus won't go hungry. He's pleased to see you, dearies. Go on Festus; FETCH!"
They backed up against the wall.
"The spell!" hissed Charley.
"I know!" hissed back Mona. "Spellcasting: S-H-I-M-M-E-R."
The wall behind them began to fade into a shimmering haze, and they stepped backwards through it, into another chamber.
"Go on, Festus, chase them!" Mrs. Grimwold ordered the hound.
"Quick, get rid of it!" screamed Lily.
"Dispel:" Mona proclaimed. "M-E-R-H-S-I-M."
The wall took on a solid shape again, trapping Festus and Mrs. Grimwold on the other side. The room in which they found themselves was identical to the previous one, except for a well in the far left-hand corner.
"Looks like that's the only way out," said Lily.
"Yes" said Mona. "And the way down to the second level, by my reckoning. Wells were often used to change levels in castles and dungeons if the staircases were besieged by enemies."
"Good!" beamed Charley. "Then let's get to level two."
He and Lily leapt down, and Mona followed with Fang in her arms.
They got the fright of their lives in the next room. There were four doors, but they were blocked by a colossal creature. It was made up of bones, warped in size, and contained a skull upon a pelvic saddle sprouting four sinuous limbs. The screeching noise it made was deafeningly horrible. Mona stared up at the catacombite's face; the eye sockets glowed eerily red, and it was dominated by the terrifying grin of the long dead.
"Oh my God, it's horrible!" screamed Lily. "Do something, Mona."
"What is it?" asked Charley.
"I don't know, Zapman" Mona admitted. "It's some kind of skeleton reanimated after death. It must feed on creatures' living essence; even a brush against it could probably kill us."
"What do we do?" Lily screeched over the din it was making.
"The brain!" Mona exclaimed, staring at its glowing eyes. "To destroy a creature like this, you must destroy the brain. Zapman, hit it with your stun gun."
Charley obeyed and the creature screamed louder, but it did not stop writhing about.
"It's not working!" he cried.
"Wait a second" Mona said. "There's more to come."
As Lily and Fang watched in terror, Mona approached the creature two steps, and stood in front of its glowing eyes. She held up both hands, one in front of each socket.
"Keep that stun ray on it!"
She closed her eyes and splayed her hands. Lightning streamed from her fingertips and into the eye sockets. The catacombite bellowed in pain as its brain was destroyed and it exploded into a thousand pieces.
"Quick, out, before we're buried!" Mona called urgently. With Fang, Charley and Lily following, she dashed out of the nearest door.
The next room was large and pink with a high arched door. There was a table in one corner, and a figure clad in red and yellow appeared to be sleeping on it.
"What a horrible creature that was" Lily squirmed. "It was frightening because it was so huge, and unnerving because it was made of human bones."
"I agree," said Charley. "I hope there aren't too many things like that around here."
"I'm sure there are plenty" said Mona, walking over to the table. "Look at this. Do you suppose we should wake him?"
The others came over.
"He doesn't look dangerous," said Charley. "I think he's a jester."
"Yes" said Lily. "And if we don't wake him, but we're supposed to for this challenge, then we'll never get home."
"Right" said Mona. "I'd better wake him, then. Um, excuse me."
He didn't stir, but then Charley prodded him and he spluttered to life.
"Oi, Mush, what's your game?" demanded the jester as he sat up. "You can't just go around prodding people like that."
"Sorry " stammered Charley. "It's just that we're on this..."
"Oh, you're that lot trying to find the Lord of Dreams, aren't you?" realised the jester. "Mona, Charley and Lily, isn't it, and your cat Fang? Well, my name's Motley. I'm supposed to help you, but to be honest I don't think I can right now."
"Why not?" asked Mona.
"Is something wrong?" Lily was concerned.
"Well, there is, as a matter of fact" Motley muttered sullenly. "Some idiot's nicked my laughter and I can't be a jester without it."
"How can somebody steal your laughter?" challenged Mona. "That's silly."
"I would have thought that you'd understand, of all people" snapped Motley. "Here in Knightmare it's just as easy to steal someone's laughter as it is his money."
"I suppose," said Mona grudgingly. "Well, perhaps we could find it for you."
"Oh, I know where it is!" Motley exclaimed. "But I can't get to it because it's trapped in a magic giant joker playing card. I've tried to get it back. I yelled Snap at it first because that's how I was released when I was trapped in a similar card some years ago, but it didn't work. None of my magic is strong enough to release it. If you were to get it, you'd have to find some kind of sorcerer. Are you willing to try for me?"
"Of course" said Mona. "If you aid us in reaching level three."
Motley reached into his jerkin and pulled out a normal-sized joker playing card and gave it to Mona.
"You can use this to summon me" he explained. "Just play it by dropping it to the ground and I'll appear. If you manage to retrieve my laughter, I'll certainly make sure you can reach level three."
"You're sure this giant card is somewhere on the level?" Mona asked.
"Yes" said Motley. "I'm sure you'll come across it; don't worry. Well, thanks, guys; hopefully I'll see you later. Bye."
They left the room by the only door. The next room appeared to be empty apart from an ugly figurehead above the door.
"Yuck, gross!" exclaimed Lily.
"It looks like some kind of gremlin," said Mona.
"Hey, look" said Charley. "Is that something glistening on its nose?"
They went over and, sure enough, a necklace of yellow beads was hanging from its nose. Mona jumped up and grabbed it.
"It's pretty," said Lily.
"I think it's made of amber," said Mona, examining it.
They all jumped as a beam of energy leapt from the head and made a hole in the floor in front of them.
"Time to leave, I think" said Charley as the floor was blasted into smithereens around their feet. They ran through the door.
They blundered into a grand throne room. A queen dressed in grey was lounging on her throne, but rose to her feet as they made their entrance.
"How dare you enter the court of the witch queen in this manner?" she barked in outrage. "Who are you, and what do you want?"
They were taken aback at her manner, but Fang cantered up to her and rubbed himself against her legs.
"Oh, what a charming cat!" she exclaimed, delighted. "Hello, puss."
The queen sat down and let Fang sit on her lap. She stroked him and he began to purr.
"You must excuse my outburst," she said more kindly. "I am Greystagg, the queen of the witches. Who are you?"
"I'm Mona the Vampire," said Mona. "These are Zapman and Princess Giant. I'm sorry that we've disturbed you."
"Not at all, not all" smiled Greystagg, stroking Fang vigorously. "You have a lovely cat. What is his name?"
"Fang."
"I like cats and they like me" Greystagg went on. "One of my familiars is a cat; he's called Malkin. So, what can I do for you?"
"Well, we do have a kind of mission to fulfil" Charley chimed in.
"And what might that be?" smiled Greystagg kindly.
"We have to rescue Motley's laughter from a playing card" Mona told her.
"Oh, so that's Motley's laughter, is it?" laughed Greystagg. "I might have guessed. I've seen it nearby; you should have no trouble finding it. But releasing it..."
"Do you have a spell to do that?" asked Lily.
"Maybe" mused Greystagg. "What do you have that you're willing to trade?"
"Just this amber necklace" said Mona, holding it up.
"My dear girl, that's witch amber!" exclaimed Greystagg, eagerly snatching it up, releasing Fang as she did so. "Yes, you can have a spell for that. Now, let me think. You need to get the card to turn over and release the laughter. For this purpose, I gift you the spell FOLD."
"Thanks" said Mona.
"Thank you for the witch amber" smiled Greystagg. "Now, leave there."
They exited through the door she indicated.
The next room was bathed in purple light, and contained shelves of ancient books, lots of laboratory equipment and a throne which was adorned with a glowing letter M.
"Looks like a wizard's room" noted Lily.
"Yes" agreed Mona. "I'll bet it belongs to Merlin. Remember, the Master Wizard Hordriss mentioned?"
"I guess we summon him by touching that M," Charley suggested.
"Good thinking, Zapman," Mona commended him. "Go for it!"
Charley touched the letter and it disappeared, heralding a brilliant flash of lightning and the arrival of Merlin on his throne. They noticed that he wore robes of green and gold, and the face behind the long white beard was kind and welcoming.
"Ah, so you've reached me at last" Merlin smiled at them. "Well done."
Now, we all know that Merlin’s magic is vital to any winning quest, but do Mona, Charley and Lily have the wits to win the wizard’s favour? Read the fourth chapter of The Lord of Dreams next issue to find out.