The Last Role of the Dice: A Fable Adventure – Part 8

A tale where YOU choose what happens next! Or at least vote for it. Read part 7 here.

Surrounded by homicidal chests, you must escape Garth’s magical room.

8

Chesty’s lid claps shut with less resistance than you expected as you jump on to him, but his varnished surface almost sends you sliding to the ground. You manage to gain just enough purchase to propel yourself to the ceiling though, and grab on to the chandelier with one hand. Unfortunately, you don’t have enough momentum to swing forward and are left hanging. You sway gently for a few seconds as the chests below you clap their lids furiously.

Just as you’re wondering how you’re going to get out of this, the magical nature of the room strikes again and the chandelier melts away in your hand, transforming into a flimsy flower basket. You fall to the floor grasping a fistful of petunias, expecting a hard and painful landing. Instead, you hit a soft carpet of mossy grass. The room is now a flowing, verdant garden, bursting with colours and sweet scents, and decorated with benches, gazebos and gnomes.

The chests are thrown off by this sudden change and you think for a moment you’ll be able to slink away unnoticed. No such luck. Obviously used to the room’s crazy antics, the chests recover and close in on you, led by a very angry Chesty. Before they can reach you, a clump of sod hits one of the chests, stopping them all in their tracks. You look around for the source and see hundreds of gnomes taking up positions around the garden, armed with implements, rocks and branches.

‘We told ya this wasn’t over!’ shouts one of the gnomes, and suddenly the tiny army launches itself at the chests. You appear to be caught in the middle of a turf war. Seizing the opportunity, you dash towards the door and make your way out. The last thing you see is a gnome riding a chest rodeo-style and gouging its lid with a small trowel.

Not wanting any more surprises, you open the second door in the hallway, and find a staircase leading up. It takes you to the library at the top of the tower, where you’re met by a creature out of your worst nightmares. The demon is over seven-feet tall, though it’s hard to judge its height due to the wisps of darkness coming off it. Its face is a black hole that would drive you insane if you were to look directly at it for too long, and its powerfully built body writhes with tendrils. Not even in Aurora or during the attack on Bowerstone did you see such a thing.

‘You have come a long way to meet your death, Benjamin Finn,’ it says.

‘This? Nah. I’ve travelled a lot further to meet my death before. This is more of a death-daytrip.’

‘Human humour. A mechanism to mask fear. But I sense it in you all the same.’

You notice the library is a mess: books all over the floor, pages ripped and thrown in every direction, furniture knocked over. The demon is clearly searching for something. You recall that Garth had something to do with the construction of the Spire. If the creature finds the information it needs, perhaps that is what will cause the Spire to awaken and threaten Albion. That’s why Theresa sent you here.

The beast takes a step in your direction, and it doesn’t look like your weapons will have much effect. You look around the room for something you can use. There’s the books of course. There’s a glass case housing a number of what can only be magical artefacts. There’s also a boardgame set on a large table. You can see the little figures and modelled environments on it, as well as a large rulebook. The trio must have left it behind when they ran away.

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