Chapter 18: The City that Tempted Fate Part 7: To Niall and Back

They touched down before the entrance to the Forest of Niall mid morning of the following day. Once again, Chingis was left to guard the skimmers while they went to see Niall. The greenling city was shielded from sight as they had anticipated so they simply called out to them and waited. "Och, yer back!" They heard Niall exclaim. The city reappeared, the folding bridge was extended and he was standing before them once more. He clapped his hands together, his expression one of hopeful delight. "Success?"

"Not exactly," Roland replied. "I'm afraid there's been some complications."

A raised eyebrow. "Complications?"

"You were right about Pugnacious being broken hearted, but it wasn't because of natural causes."

Niall's expression darkened considerably at that. "Yoo'd best follah me." He lead them up the walkway and through the greenling city to a building they presumed to be his house. It was large by greenling standards, but nowhere near the majesty or extravagance of the Grand High Roller's Hall, or the palace of Ding Dong Dell. He opened the door and gestured them inside. The interior could very much be described as rustic. Anything that wasn't made out of wood – and that was nearly everything – was either cast iron, clay or cloth. "Make yerselves comfortable." There was enough seats for everyone, including Niall and he waited till everyone was sitting before proceeding. "Now then." He steepled his fingers. "Tell me everythin'."

"Right… Um…" Evan turned to Roland. "Roland? If you would?"

"Sure. Upon our arrival in Goldpaw, Lofty was able to diagnose Pugnacious with a broken heart, with the missing piece being restraint. However, Lofty also observed that some kind of darkness is filling his heart and is acting like a second piece of ambition, essentially meaning he has double the ambition and no restraint. This has caused Pugnacious to enact a money making scheme with the use of technology from Broadleaf. He has rigged the dice rolls of Lady Luck, thereby assuring him a Six every month, as well as the dice of the casinos, thereby ensuring him a steady of flow of cash through those venues. When we went to speak to Second Roller Ya Ya, she informed us that this all started happening after a strange man came to visit Goldpaw one day. This mystery individual claimed to have a way to make Goldpaw prosperous, which he would only give them on the condition that he would speak to Pugnacious alone, a condition that Pugnacious accepted. Ever since that day Pugnacious has been acting – as far as I understand – out of character."

"An' is that everythin'?"

"Yeah. That's everything we know at least."

Niall's expression had become very grim indeed. "Ah see. Did ye happen tae notice if anyone else was broken hearted?"

"Not that we saw like," Lofty replied. "But it's not like we've been all over Goldpaw, mun."

"Wha'aboot yoo two?" Niall asked of the higgledies. "Did yoo notice any other broken hearts?" They shook their heads and he frowned. "If that's so, then it means that auld Puggy himself is the target, though why Ah coold only guess."

"I wonder if the darkness in Pugnacious' heart is the same as the darkness infecting the Black Knight and Warlord Waryks," Aranella wondered aloud. "Or indeed if the darkness is the same as the evil aura corrupting tainted monsters."

"No clue about the first two, like, but the darkness in Pugnacious' heart and the darkness corrupting that hedgehound weren't the same," Lofty replied.

"So the taint is something else?"

"Seems like it. Though I've no idea what."

"That's comforting," Tani snarked.

"This general lack of information is beginning to become to a recurring problem," Roland remarked. "And since we know so little, this also means that we don't know what the right course of action is." There was a chorus of agreement. "That's why we came to you, Niall. We were hoping you'd be able to offer us some advice on what to do next."

"Mah advice woold be tae drive the darkness from auld Puggy's heart, before ye try tae fix him up."

"That's more or less what Lofty suggested. The problem is we have no idea how."

Niall hummed in thought. "Perhaps if ye were tae gather evidence of wha'he's been up ta as a way tae make him confront his own actions, tha'would doo the trick?"

"So like, some kind of self reflection?"

"Aye. This isn't like mah auld friend at all, so make him see that. It won't be enough tae fix his broken heart – there's only one thing tha'can do that – but maybe it'll at least be enough tae drive the darkness oot, so that ye can."

"Well, at the very least, continuing to investigate seems to be our best course of action, and it's certainly better than doing nothing." Another chorus of agreement.

"At the very least," Niall echoed. "It's the best advice Ah can give ye."

"Niall?" Evan asked. "Would it be all right if we could have some of your restraint?"

Niall grinned from ear to ear. "Och, of course. Take all ye need."

Evan consulted the instructions for Take Heart before calling forth his wand and drawing the rune in the air. A ball of brilliant white light rose out of Niall's chest and disappeared into the readied locket. "Thank you, Niall. I'll make sure Pugnacious gets this."

"A word of caution before ye goh. Exposing auld Puggy tae all of Goldpaw will lose him the support o'his people and trigger a confrontation wi'his Kingmaker, Longfang. So if Ah were yoo, Ah'd be avoidin' such a course o'action unless it becomes absolutely necessary, ya ken?"

"Got it," said Roland. He stood. "Let's head back then."

"Are we going to Travel back this time?" Tani asked. "I've always wondered what that was like."

"Like Ya Ya said, it'll definitely cut down on the return journey. I just wonder if she's had enough time to do all of her investigating."

"We could always offer our assistance if needed," Aranella suggested. "Oh but speaking of Travelling." She turned to Niall. "Is there a waystone here that we could attune to? We'll have to return this way on the way home after all, and it would save us the journey back."

"It's at the entrance tae mah forest. We dinnae tend to it tha'often so it's likely become o'ergrown. If ye can find it, yer welcome tae make use o'it."

"Thank you, Niall."

"Ah'll see ye tae the gates." He escorted them back to the gates to the greenling city and then took his leave after wishing them luck on their endeavour. The party returned to the forest entrance where they found a clump of vegetation that when cleared was revealed to be the forest's waystone, so they took a moment to attune with it before returning to Chingis. "Are we'eadin' back?" He asked.

"Yeah," Roland replied. "We thought it would be best to Travel back."

"Were there a waystone te attune te in the forest?"

"There is. It's just inside the entrance."

"In that case, t'would make more sense fer me an'the skimmers te be stayin'ere. We'll be'eadin' back this way on our way'ome after all."

"It would, but-"

"Are you sure you'll be all right on your own, Chingis?" Evan cut in.

Chingis gave him a toothy grin. "Aye. I be sure, Yer Majesty. I be old enough te be lookin' after meself until ye return." Evan couldn't help but smile at that. "An' the skimmers'll be safe in me keepin'."

"You don't have to worry about him, Evan," Tani added. "Chingis is one of our best fighters."

"Aye," Batu agreed. "It be why we were bringin' him along."

"Well… All right," Evan relented. "We'll try to be back as soon as we can."

"If ye not bein' in a rush to return, ye can always be'elpin' me make ready fer lunch," Chingis suggested.

"That's a good idea," said Aranella. "It'll help us pass some time, thereby giving Lady Ya Ya more time to investigate should she need it, and we'll get to eat."

"All right," said Evan. "What do you need us to do?"

"Chief. Roland. If ye can be gatherin' some firewood, I'll'ave Aranella, Tani n'Evan help me with the preparations." He grinned. "I be makin' stew." So they did. And as they waited for the stew to cook, Batu and Chingis shared some of their stories. At last Chingis carefully blew on a spoonful of stew before tasting it. "It be done," he declared. They lined up for their share of the stew with bowls in hand and he served it up. Once they'd finished eating, with the exception of Chingis, they gathered around Evan.

"All right, Evan," said Aranella. "This will be your first Travel spell. I may not be magically inclined myself, but I do know that this spell requires a little more consideration than say, the Fireball spell."

"Right," he agreed. He pulled out the instruction page. "The key to instantaneous transportation is the ability to imagine yourself at your destination," he read aloud. "It is not enough to merely picture the scenery - all the senses must be engaged. You have to focus until you can hear the sounds, smell the aromas, and taste the air of the place in question."

"That's interesting," said Tani. "So you wouldn't be able to use it to go somewhere you haven't been."

"Doesn't sound like it," Roland agreed. "And with the amount of concentration it requires, it also sounds like you wouldn't be able to use it in a pinch either."

"Golly, it doesn't sound easy," said Evan nervously.

"You can do it, mun," Lofty encouraged. "Just close your eyes and raise your wand." So Evan closed his eyes in concentration and readied his wand. "Now you lot, go ahead and describe Goldpaw. Remember, all the senses must be engaged like, so try and think of different things."

"Even touch?" Roland quipped.

"All right, well. Maybe not that one so much. But definitely seeing, hearing, smell and taste. When the spell is ready to be cast, Evan, youe'll know."

"It's a city of dazzling lights and many colours," said Aranella.

"It has a clock tower that towers over the city, and a statue of their Kingmaker, Longfang sits on top," said Roland.

"I can see it," said Evan.

"It has that amazing automaton, Lady Luck," said Tani. "Remember the sound it makes when it moves?"

"Yes, I can hear it."

"The food cooking as we walked past all those restaurants and tea houses," said Lofty. "Positively filled the air, mun! Remember that?"

"I do. I can smell it."

"And the Hot Streak Spicy Noodles, lad," said Batu. "Our first meal in Goldpaw. The noodles, cooked right so they were chewy without bein' squishy. And the spices, a gentle burn with an'int o'sweetness. Left our tongues tingling they did."

"Yes, I can taste it." The tip of his wand began to glow. "All right, gather round everyone, the spell is ready." They shuffled closer and he drew the casting rune in the air. Roland could best describe what happened next as first being a gathering of energy that made the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stand on end, second was being enveloped in darkness, followed third, by the peculiar sensation of being whisked away on a river of energy. All of that happened in the space of a blink, so when he opened his eyes again they were all standing before the waystone, just inside the entrance gates to the city of Goldpaw. "I did it!" He exclaimed. "We're really here!"

"Well done, Evan!" Aranella praised.

"Told you you could do it," Lofty added.

"Welcome back to Goldpaw," said one of the guards, brightly.

"Thank you," Evan replied.

"Wow, that felt really weird," said Tani. "It was like being whisked away on a gust of wind."

Batu clutched his stomach and groaned. "Uugh, I don't be feelin' right."

"Some people can find the experience nauseating," said Aranella. "It seems you're one of the unlucky few." Batu simply groaned in reply.

"You gonna be okay to head into Goldpaw?" Roland asked.

"Aye… just be givin' me a moment for me stomach te settle."

"Sure. Why not sit down on these steps for a moment."

"Aye…" He eased himself down onto the one of the steps, rested both arms on his knees and hung his head.

"Higgle pig." The two higgledies patted his legs to comfort him.

"Drink some water," said Aranella. "It should help to make you feel better."

"Aye…" He pulled out his canteen and took a long pull. After a few more minutes of resting, he stood up. "All right… I be feelin' much better now."

"Are you sure?" Evan asked.

"Aye, but… maybe we be takin' it slow at first."

"Of course."

By the time they'd arrived back at the Grand High Roller's Hall, Batu's stomach had settled and he was more or less back to being himself.

"Greetings, Your Majesty" said the gatekeeper politely. "I see you have returned once more."

"I believe Second Roller Ya Ya is expecting us," said Roland.

The gatekeeper blinked. "I was informed that she was expecting guests, but she did not mention that they would be you."

"I'm sure Lady Ya Ya had her reasons."

"Yes… Of course."

"Then please inform her that her guests have arrived."

"Very well. If you would but wait a moment." The gatekeeper disappeared inside and reappeared with Ya Ya.

"Ah, King Ivan, you have returned. I trust that your trip was… successful?"

"More or less," Roland replied.

"Very good. If you would follow me," she continued brightly. "I will begin our tour of our fair city."

"Great." She started walking and they all fell in behind. "Where are we actually going?"

"Somewhere we can talk."

"And what be all this about guests?" Batu asked.

"Ah yes, I informed Master Pugnacious and the gatekeeper that I was entertaining guests today. I'm afraid that was the best excuse I could come up with."

Roland raised an eyebrow. "And he's really okay with that?"

"But of course. Both the Grand High Roller and Second Roller periodically entertain guests from the residents of Goldpaw. It's a way of staying connected with the citizenry."

He blinked. "I see."

"Will we get an actual tour of the city, do you think?" Evan asked.

Ya Ya smiled. "I'm sure that can be arranged, but at the current moment we have more pressing matters to attend to."

"Right…"

She took them to one of Goldpaw's many water gardens. There were only a few people visiting, so she took them over to the seating area where they all made themselves comfortable before she spoke. "So tell me, what's the verdict from Niall?"

"Niall has suggested that in order to exorcise the darkness, we gather enough evidence to make him confront his own actions," Roland replied. "A sort of self reflection in other words. It should get him to think about what he's been doing and how this isn't like him."

"I see. Well, fortunately I have been doing just that."

"Right, so what did you find?"

"First, I went to Mr Bradley Summers. He told me what he told you, that Master Pugnacious blackmailed him into rigging the dice, but he also drew my attention to the factory that has been producing them. He believed it was somewhere in the Grand High Roller's Hall but he is forgetting – or otherwise didn't realise – one thing. That I am in residence at the Grand High Roller's Hall as well. So it would be very difficult to construct a factory right under my nose I would think. No, I was quite certain that the factory had been built elsewhere. So I did the logical thing and consulted recent building developments."

"That would be the logical thing to do," he agreed. "But I'd be real surprised if documentation for the factory had been officially filed."

"Yes, and you would be correct, as it wasn't; It was done off the record."

"So what did you do next?" Tani asked.

"It occurred to me that I was looking in the wrong place. If I, the Second Roller of Goldpaw, had been kept out of Master Pugnacious' schemes because I would've opposed them, then perhaps other people would've done so as well. As Second Roller, this affords me a certain degree of… protection shall we say. By that I mean, it would be no simple matter to accuse me of wrong doing and then arrest me for it, or at least, not without drawing considerable attention to the matter."

"Which is something Master Pugnacious would be wishing to avoid," said Roland. "What about blackmail?"

"He blackmailed Mr Summers because he required his assistance, but he had no such need of me."

"So it was simpler to keep you in the dark."

"Evidently. But I'm afraid anyone else in such a position would not be so lucky, and indeed they haven't been. I consulted the recent arrest records and would you believe it? A few months ago, there was a spate of arrests in the Lucky Stars Casino, but not of patrons, no, employees. So I went to have a chat with these employees and this is what I learned; That they refused to go along with the scheme, hence the need and reason for their arrests. That their silence is being ensured through their detainment and the threat of their families joining them. And that all of this was necessary because the Lucky Stars Casino was chosen to be the site hosting the factory."

"I suppose that makes sense," said Roland. "The Lucky Stars Casino isn't too far from the Grand High Roller's Hall, so he'd be able to oversee it without being too obvious."

"Do you think we should go check it out?" Tani asked.

"If there's anything in there that can tie him to the factory and force him to reflect on his actions, then yeah, we should."

"And supposing it works, and we're able to fix his heart. What do we do if the Mystery Man reappears to break his heart all over again?"

"I… suppose that would depend on why he did it in the first place, and I don't see any way of finding that out. We'll just have to do what we can, and what we can do is fix Master Pugnacious' broken heart."

"I guess."

"Well that's the good news but there's a slight problem," Ya Ya continued. "Since I'm not involved in the scheme, we wouldn't be able to just walk right into the factory or the casino, at least not without alerting Master Pugnacious as to what we're doing."

"Riight…" Roland assumed a thoughtful posture. "We'll need to split up into two teams then. One will provide a distraction while the other slips inside."

"Only if we plan to walk in through the front entrance," said Aranella. "What about a way in through the back?"

"The back area is where they'd keep all the money," Roland replied. "At the very least it would either require a key to access from the outside, or it would be guarded."

"Good point," she conceded.

"I could always swipe a key," Tani offered.

"That would assume that all casino employees working in the front and back would have a key to the back door when the ones working the front wouldn't need one – it would be far less hassle to have them arriving and leaving by the front entrance – and that the back door is locked in the first place. It could just be guarded. Or it could be both."

"Right…" She conceded. "I guess it'd be simpler to just go ahead with your two team plan then."

"But do we even be knowin' where the entrance te the factory will be?" Batu asked.

"I would imagine the entrance would be somewhere that is restricted to staff access,"

said Aranella.

"Right," Roland agreed. "So we'd need to look for a place that says something like "Staff Access Only"."

"An' who will be on what team?" Batu asked.

"Well…" Roland and Aranella exchanged looks. "You're the obvious team leader for Team Distraction."

Batu grinned. "Aye. Can't be arguin' with that."

"And since, uh… Ivan is our king, Ivan, that means you should be the one leading Team Infiltration."

"Are you sure about that?" Evan asked. "You have a better idea of what we're looking for than I do after all."

"That's why I'll be coming with you. Aranella. You should probably stick with Batu to make sure he doesn't get too carried away."

"Right," she agreed as Batu chuckled sheepishly.

"And Tani? You're as sneaky as much as you're a troublemaker-"

She beamed proudly. "Thanks!"

"-So you'd work well on either team. I guess it's up to-"

"I'm coming with you," Ya Ya cut in. "As part of my investigation. I must… I must know… the full extent of that to which I have remained wilfully ignorant for so long. But more than that, I can also offer you some protection from the fallout should you get caught."

Roland grimaced. "Right…" He turned back to Tani. "I guess that leaves you on Team Distraction then."

She grinned mischievously. "Fine by me."

"Since you're coming with us, Lady Ya Ya, you'll probably have to come in behind us. If Batu's causing a ruckus while you're right there, they'll probably expect you to handle it, or at least participate in quelling him."

"Oh. Yes… You have a point."

"Well, it's either that or, Batu could cause a distraction in one of the other rooms."

"Perhaps a distraction in another room," said Aranella.

"All right. Now the question is, who should enter the casino first; Team Infiltration or Team Distraction?"

"Perhaps it would best if we entered first," Ya Ya suggested. "As far as anyone else knows, I am taking you on a tour of Goldpaw, so it would be feasible to extend that tour to the Lucky Stars Casino. And if the staff believe I am already occupied, they will be less inclined to seek my aid in dealing with Mr Batu's disruption."

"Sounds good. Give us say, at least fifteen minutes before you follow us in."

"Will do," Batu replied."

"And remember. You only want to get yourselves thrown out, all right? Not arrested."

"Aye, aye."

"We'll meet up back at Fortune Square. Everyone know what they're doing?"

Tani and Batu both grinned mischievously. "Aye."

"I believe so," said Aranella.

"Let's go then."

"Higgledy pig! Higgledy pig!" The two higgledies objected.

"They want to know what they're doing, mun," Lofty translated needlessly.

"Uhh…"

"Who are you talking about?" Ya Ya asked, puzzled.

"Higgledies," Lofty explained. "Doesn't seem like you can see them though."

"I… I see…" She replied. "I think I may have heard of them though. A story my grandmother once told me."

"Well they're real like, but not everyone can see them. Maybe she could."

"I see."

"Hmm. You know what? Maybe you guys can help us after all," said Roland. "If there's somewhere we can't investigate, you'll be able to do it for us. Does that sound good?"

"Higgle." They saluted.

"Great. Now let's go."

A/N: There are times when a chapter title comes easily to you. This was not one of those time. This is also the other chapter that ended up being on the short side, and additionally marks the halfway point for The City that Tempted Fate arc.