CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED TWELVE

All that Glitters is not Gold

“So, what did killing a legendary dragon win us?” Jackboot asked.

Sam, who was inspecting the half-transparent screen only he could see, recited the spoils out loud for his crew as it was much faster than having to rummage through the dragon’s corpse.

“Four thousand Golden Drachma,” he whistled, “and a…” Sam’s eyes widened as he read the second spoil out loud. “Five Dragon Kholkikos Teeth…”

“Does that mean what I think it means?” Thunder asked excitedly.

Dr. Hearthstone picked up one of the teeth that had dislodged itself from the dragon’s maw. Unlike the teeth that were still attached to the corpse, this one had a soft red glow wrapped around it.

“According to the legends, when planted on ground scarred by war, the Dragon Kholkikos’s tooth will give birth to one of the Spartoi,” Dr. Hearthstone answered.

“Spartoi…” Jackboot repeated, frowning afterward. “Isn’t that what you called those bone monsters we fought on the bridge?”

“Yes,” Dr. Hearthstone answered.

“Which means we would have unkillable, dragon-blood warriors fighting on our side next time we face insurmountable odds,” Thunder added.

“Gaining loyal Spartoi allies is just one version of the story though.” Farsight picked up another one of the glowing red teeth. “The other version is that the Spartoi are so unruly they’ll attack their summoner too if they think that summoner’s not fit to lead.”

Sam, who had been reading the system’s description of the [Dragon Kholkikos Tooth], wasn’t at all surprised to discover that his teammates were more or less correct.

Veteran heroes are such know-it-alls, he chuckled.

“How would you know”—Jackboot also picked up a tooth—“if you’re incapable of being their leader?”

“You can’t…” Thunder scooped up the remaining three teeth. “It’s a risk we’ll have to take if we summon one.”

“But we’ll have five chances to figure out which of us can do it,” Farsight chimed in.

“And we’re all heroes.” Thunder tossed Sam two of the teeth. “We’re all capable of being leaders.”

“Believe in yourself, huh…” Sam glanced down at the teeth in his palm. “Wait, why’d you give me two of them?”

“Because you dealt the killing blow. It’s only fair you get a bonus,” Thunder answered.

Sam could tell from the smiles on their faces that everyone agreed with her. So he accepted their gesture with a grin and a “thank you” on his lips.

“We’ll split the gold four ways too,” Thunder added. “But…”

She knelt next to the dragon’s corpse, and Sam could see from the way her legs shook that even that bit of movement had become a struggle for her. Thunder reached into the hole Sam had made in the dragon’s scales and then pulled a brightly glowing red stone the size of a bowling ball out of its innards.

“Blimey, that’s a horror’s core,” Jackboot whistled. “And it’s bloody gigantic.”

“That’s about the right size for an ancient dragon core, Jack.” Farsight took the horror’s core from Thunder’s hands so she could put the glowing red crystal into another duffel bag. “This will sell for a lot of drachma in the OTC. Assuming we don’t want to keep it.”

“Um,” Sam raised a hand, “I don’t think we should sell it. I…”

He didn’t need to finish his sentence. Thunder, Dr. Hearthstone, Jackboot, and yes, even Farsight, all had looks of understanding plastered on their faces. Although Farsight would complain seconds later that Sam was, “Too much of a goody-two-shoes.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Thunder said. “There are other things we can sell in the OTC.”

“Such as?” Jackboot prompted.

“The spoils the gods provided were pretty good this time,” Thunder patted the dragon scales, “but this corpse is also a treasure throve… Do you think we have time to farm it?”

“I don’t see why not.” Dr. Hearthstone pulled a shiny cylindrical object out of his utility belt. “You don’t need me and Jackboot for the next part. We can take care of the corpse.”

He shook the object in his hand and activated the mechanism that transformed its metal cylinder into a four-foot harpoon-like tool Sam knew was used for skinning horrors.

“Not that I mind doing grunt work now and then,” Jackboot scratched the back of his mask, “but I don’t have farming tools on me at the moment.”

“I’ve got you covered.” With none of them noticing she’d even left, Farsight returned from her little hop over to the Argus VII and dropped another duffel bag by Jackboot’s feet. “Our chariot’s fully stocked with everything we might need for this grand adventure.”

Then she made a shooing motion at Sam and Thunder.

“I’ll supervise these guys. You two get on with it already,” she instructed.

“You’re not coming to help us?” Sam asked, his brow creasing slightly at the thought of the next hurdle of this treasure hunt.

“I wouldn’t be much help with my gifts on the fritz.” Farsight shrugged. “Besides, you’re the expert on riddles.”

Farsight glanced warily up at the red-tinged sky.

“You should hurry,” she added. “We don’t have much time left…”

“What does that mean?” Thunder asked as she let Sam help her up to her feet.

“I’ll tell you later,” he said while he took her hand in his. “Come on.”

Sam wasn’t sure when it happened but he’d stopped feeling embarrassed over holding Thunder’s hand. It just felt natural now. The winks he got from his friends still made his cheeks turn a bright shade of red though.

“Go do your jobs already,” he sighed.

Soon enough, the pair of them were standing underneath the tall tree at the far end of Ares’ sacred grove with both of them looking up at the numerous glowing objects hanging from its many branches.

“I can’t believe we’re finally here,” Thunder said, slightly breathless.

“Yeah…finally.” Sam’s gaze moved from one golden fleece to the next. “They don’t all look alike, do they?”

“No,” Thunder agreed. “There are slight differences, I think.”

She pointed to the fleece hanging from the lowest-hanging branch.

“That one’s glow is weaker than the others,” she said.

Then she pointed to the fleece hanging on the branch above the first one.

“That one’s fluffier than most of the other fleeces,” she explained.

“Yeah, they’re slight, but each one is different from the next,” Sam agreed.

“So how do we tell which one is the real Golden Fleece?” Thunder asked.

Sam was eyeing the fleece at the highest branch. It was twinkling more than the others because of the jewels embedded along the lining of its edges.

“What about that one?” he asked.

Thunder followed Sam’s line of sight, but then she frowned. “That’s way too gaudy to be the fleece, right?”

“Hold on. I think I’ve got something that might help.” Sam tapped a finger on the right side of his mask, and his vision shifted from full color into shades of gray. “Let me see the unseen.”

Seconds ticked by while he scrutinized the two dozen fleeces hanging on the tall tree’s branches, but not even Hawk Vision could tell them apart as the glowing golden aura that usually signified an important clue for Sam’s missions was coating all the fleeces on the tree.

Feeling even more confused now, Sam tapped on the button again and deactivated Hawk Vision. “Sorry… I can’t tell the difference even with the Mask of the Argonaut’s help,” he admitted.

“What about…” Thunder frowned when she couldn’t say its name out loud. “…your friend.”

Per the creator’s instructions, the system cannot assist the hero in this challenge. He must prove himself worthy of completing this mission without the system’s support.

Sam reported this to Thunder, although he had to tweak his words a bit to not activate Triple-A’s censorship clause.

“Should we just try them all?” Sam wondered aloud.

Thunder shook her head. “I don’t think the Legends of Liberty would have set it up like this if it were that easy.”

“You think they’re boobytrapped?” Sam guessed.

“Probably,” Thunder answered. “Most likely, if we pick the wrong one—”

“We won’t get to pick again,” Sam finished for her, his brow creasing. “It’s like sailing without knowing the direction of—”

A thought occurred to Sam. He was lost and needed to find his way—and didn’t he have just the tool to help him navigate in the darkness? Could the ‘key’ in the riddle mean more than simply opening the way into the grove?

“I really hope”—Sam pulled the sunstone out of a pouch on his utility belt—“this works.”

He raised the sunstone high, pointing it at each fleece hanging on the tall tree. However, it wasn’t until he aimed the sunstone toward the middle branches that a blinding light flashed within the sunstone’s crystal. It was so bright that Sam and Thunder were forced to shut their eyes from the flash.

Sam dropped his hand, and the blinding light winked out, allowing him and Thunder to open their eyes once more.

“Did you see where—”

“There.” Sam pointed a finger up at one of the middle branches. “I think that’s it.”

The object hanging from this particular branch wasn’t what Sam and Thunder expected a legendary relic would look like. Compared to its neighbors, this fleece looked simple, worn, and very battered. The gold of its coat was dull and tarnished. Its ram skull hood had cracks along its bony surface too.

“Have you ever seen that really old movie, The Last Crusade?” Thunder asked.

Sam glanced sideways at her. “You’ve seen Indiana Jones?”

Thunder nodded. “Remember that scene where Indy and his dad find the Holy Grail?”

“Yeah,” Sam’s eyes widened in realization, “it wasn’t one of the shiny ones encrusted with jewels…”

“The grail was just a simple clay cup,” Thunder finished for Sam. She finished with, “All that glitters is not gold…”

Thunder turned her head his way and gave Sam that smile that just warmed him up inside and left him hopeful for a bright future.

“You chill,” he said. “I’ll go get it.”

Sam found it surprising that he only needed to jump up and reach out for the fleece for it to come into his possession. No traps or seals kept him away, which was surprising considering who had put the fleece there in the first place. Interestingly enough, as soon as Sam pulled the fleece off its branch, its many copies vanished from sight.

“I guess we got the right one,” Sam said.

Apart from its ram’s skull hood, the Golden Fleece really didn’t look like anything special. Just a simple-looking fluffy cloak one might wear to shield themselves from the cold tickle of winter’s breath. Well, that’s if you ignored the fact that it had lost its dull sheen and was now shimmering like stars were hiding underneath the golden material. However, this brilliant glow was not what kept Sam’s eyes glued to the ancient relic. He was holding it in both hands, and even without Triple-A’s help, Sam could sense the power coursing within the Golden Fleece.

“This is…celestial life force,” he realized.

It felt a lot like the lightning bolt he and Thunder had absorbed from the Liberty Bell, but way more vigorous and far more refined.

“Which god do you think empowers this thing?” Thunder’s hands brushed against the fleece.

Sam shut his eyes to try and get a better sense of the origins of the Golden Fleece’s power. It didn’t take long for him to hear the crashing of waves against rocks and taste sea salt on his tongue.

“Poseidon,” Sam answered as he opened his eyes. “I can feel the life force of the sea in this relic…”

“It makes sense… The sea nurtures all kinds of life above and underneath it,” Thunder replied. “And Poseidon also fathered the golden ram Chrysomallos whose wool was used to make the relic.”

“I don’t even want to know how a god gets a ram for a kid,” Sam sighed.

“It’s an interesting story,” Thunder began, “Poseidon morphed into a—”

“Nope,” Sam quickly cut her off. “I don’t need to hear that story.”

He noticed that Thunder was smiling wryly back at him. Her eyes looked different too. He wasn’t sure, but Sam thought they’d lost some of the sadness that had been their default since Thunder was first hospitalized. Now, Thunder’s eyes seemed filled with hope.

“Are you ready?” Sam asked.

“I’m always ready.” Tears were beginning to pool underneath Thunder’s eyes. “Are you ready to keep your promise?”

“This time…” Sam returned her wry smile with his smug grin. “…I’ll heal you of the Blight.”