"We're all here," smiled Donatello with satisfaction. Both of his older brothers decided not to make any comment. They rather looked around. The cellar was small, squared, with stone walls and vaulted ceiling. All place was gloomy, silent and damp. Compared to their lair, no big change. Except for the tombs which were probably the explanation of Michelagelo's unusual silence.

Raphael shook the soil off his hands and cast the crumbling remnants of claws aside. The spell keeping skeletons alive was obviously not working here. That was also positive and negative - they were unarmed again. He sighed and followed his leader for the only exit from the crypt. The opening led to the spiral stairs and these to the not so large hall.

It was slightly lit by two small windows high above them. There was nothing else except for several doors. All closed and firmly locked, as they soon found out. At least most of them. The one just in the corner could not resist the hundred pound of a turtle.

"Library?!" Raph yelled with anger when he burst inside. Almost every piece of walls from bottom to the top was covered by wooden bookcases. All the bookcases were filled with - well - books and books again. There were piles of another books lying on the floor and many other on a large oak table in the center of the room. The air was filled with smell of old paper and leather panels and a billions microparticles of dust.

"Library." agreed Donnie with a spark in his eyes.

"This is interesting!" Donatello finally exclaimed .
"Hmpf?" muffled answer was heard somewhere from the ceiling. Raph and Mikey spent the time tying the ladders together and now first was trying to breaking the mosaic glass window and the other was giving him - mostly vocal - support.

"That too," Leo said thoughtfully, watching his balancing brothers.

"This could really do us some help," Donnie pointed at the dusty page of book he was holding.

"That probably too," Leonardo did not avert his stare. Donatello looked up. Raphael was balancing on the top rung of the ladder, Michelangelo supporting from the middle. His sight went lower. The wall was covered by fading drawings. The same ones as he found inside the book.

"You know what does it mean." Leonardo was not asking. Don nodded and pointed at illustrated figures.

"These three on the left are obviously most important, they are always the biggest. First one - let´s call him warrior - you can see the armor and spear, the other - something like a guardian for his shield and shackles in his hand and..."

"And the third one?"

There was some kind of jagged creation watching them with red eyes.

Donnie shrugged: "a monster?"

Leo silently watched the painted scenes and completely ignored sounds of the frustration from the top.

"So this is lair of some kind of evil?"

"Not exactly," his clever brother shook his head. "Do you see these parallel and vertical lines - Mikey step aside - around it? I think, this is his prison."

Suddenly a startled cry rung out, followed by mad roar. Then two 'bang' shaken the ground. Finally a huge cloud of dust covered the pitiful sight.

"So we have to defeat some kind of monster which is imprisoned in this damn castle," summarized annoyed Raphael, rubbing his elbow hurt from Mikey´s shell.

"Maybe," replied Donnie doubtfully.

Everyone leaned over the open book.

"How did you actually find it?" marveled Mikey with a black left eye.

"Simple," was careless answer, "it was the first book which did not fall apart, was legible and made sense." Seeing the puzzled expressions, he added: "The basic principle of game, although it sometimes does not seem, is that it wants to be completed."

"I should know that before I threw Ghosts'n Goblins away," Mike said under his breath.

"Killing the beast is probably game's main quest," Donatello returned to their main quest, "but the path is not quite clear. It looks like it can be achieved only by using a spear - of skills? And to get it we need to..."

"...to solve more puzzles!" groaned Michelangelo.

"Probably more of a tests..." Don replied dryly, turning other sheets.

Kneeling figure. Figure with a shield. Figure with a sword.

"... tests of humility, defence, strength? I guess."

"But how do we get to the next level?" asked Leo main question.

Metallic sound of unlocking door was his response.