“Excellent! Prepare yourselves for a riddle. You have one minute to solve it!” the Sphinx said as it reached its large paw over to the entrance of the cave and blocked them off from being able to leave.
“Here it is!” he said with a chuckle as he began to speak...
“Every dawn begins with me
At dusk I’ll be the first you see
And daybreak couldn’t come without
What midday centers all about
Daisies grow from me, I’m told
And when I come, I end all cold
But in the sun I won’t be found
Yet still, each day I’ll be around.”
Van wrinkled his face up in thought. He hadn’t heard this riddle before, and he puzzled over it.
“Is it an axe?” Capello asked.
“Capello, don’t just shout out the answers,” Van barked back.
“I think it’s an axe!” Capello said as he drew out his twin axes and began to charge towards the Sphinx. “Hahahaha!”
“Are you kidding me? Sang, stop him!” Van cried. Sang leapt into action and rushed toward the homicidal player, dive tackling him before he could reach the beast.
“Seriously, kid? What is wrong with you?” Sang demanded as she wrestled him down to the ground.
“Soo… any ideas?” Sahara asked. “Not much time left.” She pointed at a large timer that was slowly ticking down.
“I’ve got an idea!” Bidane said. “It’s gotta be the ground!”
“How would daybreak start with the ground?” Kylian asked. “No, it’s gotta be some kind of clever puzzle... maybe a play on words.”
“Well, whatever it is,” Dolly said, “if we don’t get it, we’re gonna be fighting a level 60 Sphinx.”’
“Crap! Come on, think!” Sahara shouted.
“I can’t think under pressure!” Van shouted back. “Riddles are not my strong suit! Any ideas, Sang?”
“A little busy here!” Sang replied as she struggled to keep the fighter from breaking free and trying to attack the gigantic monster.
“Come on, guys, there’s like seven of us here,” Van said. “How can none of us figure out a riddle?”
“Wait! It’s a letter!” Kylian said. “Of course—the common thread is that all of those words involve the letter D; that’s what it’s talking about, in those very words!”
“I’m waiting on the final answer!” the Sphinx said. “Clock is almost up!”
“It’s the letter D!” Kylian shouted.
There was a moment of silence and everyone tensed up, waiting for the creature to attack them. Van winced as he reached for his bagpipes.
“You are correct!” the Sphinx said. “You have answered the riddle of the Sphinx! You may enter into the Holy Catacombs of Saint Alberta! But be warned, for while you have passed the test of the mind, you must also pass the test of courage and strength. Toodles!”
And with that, the beast vanished into thin air.
“Alright, well, let’s get moving,” Bidane said as she hurried deeper into the cave. With the Sphinx gone, they could see a large slope leading them on. This would lead them on toward the catacombs were the tears were to be located.
“Capello, did you really think that attacking that Sphinx would be a good idea?” Van angrily demanded. He knew he had made a deal with Kylian not to kick the guy out of their group, but this kind of thing was absolutely over the top. It was unreal how much of a liability this kid was starting to become. While Kylian was a good fighter and a very wise man, was it worth having Capello around?
“Hey, I figured, no guts, no glory, am I right?” Capello asked. “It’s not like we wouldn’t have been able to kill it. There were plenty of us.”
“Even if we were able to kill a creature that was way higher-level than us, it would have easily murdered at least one or two of us. We can’t afford to lose people at this point in the game!” Van snapped. “You’ve got to learn how to stop attacking people unless I give you the go-ahead.”
“What’s the big deal?” Capello asked with a shrug. “If we die, we just come right back. It’s just a silly game. There’s no reason to get bent out of shape when I’m only trying to help.”
“You’re not trying to help at all!” Van shouted. His voice echoed through the darkness. “If you’d wanted to really help us out, you’d have tried to figure out the riddle. All of these petulant attempts to kill people are starting to get me too pissed off here. Next time we camp, we’re going to have to bring you up on charges of failure to be a team player. You might even get kicked out.”
“My uncle said I could play with you guys as long as I wanted,” Capello said. Van’s words had visibly shaken his confidence.
“Well, your uncle isn’t in charge of this group. I am!” Van said. “Unless you clean up your act, I’ll make sure we vote you out and you’ll never come back here!”
“Aw, come on, man,” Capello said, lowering his head. “I’m not trying to cause any trouble; I was just wanting to help.”
“If you ever try to attack anyone without permission, you aren’t helping!” Van said.
“Fine, fine, I’ll only attack whoever you tell me to,” the boy replied. “Are you happy?”
“Thrilled,” Van said. “Now come on—it looks like the rest of the party has gotten far away from us; let’s go catch up with them.”
As they began to walk on toward the party, Van saw a dark figure out of the corner of his eye. He turned to see that it was Kenwar approaching, and waited for the other man as Capello walked ahead.
“Nice work,” Kenwar said. “You really know how to discipline players.”
“Yeah, well, you get used to it when you’re leading raids all the time,” Van said.
“This game really is something else, isn’t it?” Kenwar asked as he continued to follow after the group. He had deliberately slowed his pace down, forcing Van to walk a little slower so that he could talk to him.
“It really is amazing. That desert was probably one of the more brutal experiences I’ve ever had in this game.”
“You know…” Kenwar began as he cautiously looked around to make sure that no one was listening. “I find it incredible that someone like you could be working with the government.”
“How so?”
“Because you’re one of us. I mean, for me, I was sort of forced into this job, but you? You had the ability to walk away, free and clear, but you didn’t. You chose to stay and keep helping the CIA out. It’s sort of surprising to see someone just blindly turn against everything that they love.”
Van felt his heart rate begin to accelerate. This was exactly what Neil had predicted would happen. Kenwar wanted to convince Van to join Draco.
“I’m not turning against anything,” Van said. “I’m just trying to help Sang out.”
“No, you’re turning against Draco here, aren’t you? You’re turning your back on this incredible game and all of the people who enjoy it.”
“Well, if Draco really is the problem child here, I don’t have any qualms about turning against them,” Van replied. “They’re up to no good.”
“Says who? The government? The same CIA that blackmailed you into playing this game?”
“How’d you know about that?” Van asked.
Kenwar grinned. “I overheard someone talking about your history when they were transporting me. They thought I was outside of earshot. I know your whole story, Van. I know you’re the type of person who was really hoping to make something of his life. I know you wanted to go pro.”
“So what? I’m kind of pro right now,” Van replied. “I’m just playing for the good guys.”
“Good guys? Good guys! Van, they threatened to kill me if I didn’t work for them. They said they’d take me out in the desert, make me dig my own grave, and then shoot me in the back of the head. Neil was very specific with his plans for how he’d end my life if I didn’t cooperate. How could good guys do that?” Kenwar asked.
“Well, what’s the alternative? We let Draco take over the planet and kill off the majority of the population? Let’s face it, Kenwar, these guys are bad news. Yeah, the CIA is shady as hell, and yes, they once took me out to a beautiful wooded area and showed me exactly where they’d bury me, but that doesn’t make Draco the good guy in this situation.”