We stared in horror at the blocked entrance.

I grimaced. “We didn’t find a clue in that room.”

Lore raised an amused brow. “I think the blood tentacles were the clue... There is likely more information to find, though.”

The wiggly tentacles slowly retracted back into the wall. One even closed the access point's door, inviting us to return to a seemingly safe, warm office. As if they wouldn’t suddenly come out to kill us again.

“There probably is, but it’s not worth our lives. This last task will put us in even more danger.”

He ran a hand through his gorgeous platinum hair knocking some of the braids out of place. “I don’t like that we’re still unsure about what’s killing people off.”

“Maybe we’ll find something in the next task area?”

“To the attic then?”

I nodded. “Besides, it’s not like we have to solve the mystery before we finish completing the repair tasks, right?”

Lore shrugged. “I’m not sure that anyone has gotten this far before. Or maybe everyone does but they all get killed in the last task?”

Well, that was an unpleasant thought.

Remembering the map, I found the stairs leading up to the attic, embedded into the wall, and folded them out. This caused the hatch in the ceiling to automatically lift up exposing a square of darkness that seemed to pulse with the unknown.

“Well, here we go.”

I took a step but Lore pulled me back.

“This time it’s my turn to protect you.” He grinned. “You have the last repair device.”

Right! It was finally my turn!

I watched as my partner walked elegantly up the steps. A minute later, he called for me and I followed.

“It’s pretty dark in here. Do we have a light?”

He pulled out one of the candles that we’d used back in the carriage and lit it. I guess he did have a reason to carry these evil things with him that wasn’t some weird obsession for torturing me. I was starting to worry.

My thoughts wandered as we tiptoed over to something that looked like a rain barrel with the word, ‘Paint’ written on it.

Now that I neared the walls, they appeared a dark maroon. They also had a strange texture to them, like a rough scab.

“So, here's the question, do we search for clues now or after I finish?”

Lore sighed and looked around as if he had better eyesight than I did. That could actually be the case since I was technically only half-elven.

“If the clue is like the other rooms then we’ll find it in a hidden safe… Since we have more than an hour before we have to start, let’s look for it first.”

I grinned. “If I were a crazy innkeeper who liked hiding safes everywhere, then where would I stash one in an attic with creepy-ass walls?”

Both Lore and I squinted at the center of the oak floor where the hint of thin lines crossed over some of the planks. We looked at each other in disbelief.

“No,” I scoffed. “It wouldn’t be that easy, right?”

“The other safe’s were fairly effortless to find.”

“Not this effortless!”

“I’ll open it. You watch my back.”

I nodded. “You watch your own front. Don’t get killed by tentacles like....” Who was that again? “You know.”

Lore glanced at the paint barrel. “I don’t think that it will be the monsters that strive to kill us here but what we’re fixing in the first place.”

“What does that mean? Like the walls?”

He searched the creases in the center of the floor. His thin nimble fingers expertly traveled down each line.

“Our task list did mention to keep our light dim.”

He moved his hand and something clicked. The boards opened to reveal another safe. Using lock picks, he quickly opened it. Again passive marks and a bunch of documents were stuffed haphazardly inside it. He threw the marks in our shared inventory and split the papers in half, giving one pile to me.

We started scanning them together. The fear that something would attack us at any moment had us both scanning the dark corners of the room with surprising regularity.

Lore held up a paper, eyes sparkling. “Found it!”

I blinked. “What?”

“It brings everything together.”

“Well, what is it?” I reached for the paper but Lore threw it playfully into his inventory.

He smiled triumphantly and my breath caught. I had an immediate wish for a screenshot function.

“What do we know so far?” he encouraged.

I listed them out. “This inn has shadow creatures in it that the owner and her husband sent over. That, at one point, the original owner once saved the outpost by sealing away a level thirty-something shadow overlord.”

“And that the inn has strange assets,” He continued. “Like the emerald stove, a not-pump that looks like a pump, and a cog in a wall where cogs don’t normally go. They all seem like they’re something normal but are actually small parts of a giant half-working magi-machine the size of this entire inn.”

And I realized it.

“So that means?” a deep familiar voice said from the shadows.

“Ah!” We yelped and looked up to see Whiterabbitsbane.

He loomed over us, one arm crossing over his chest to hold up the other so he could rest one thin finger on his pale cheek. He cocked an eyebrow. “I’m waiting.”

I swallowed. “The truth behind what is killing off the inn’s guests is that there are multiple killers. It’s both the shadow creatures the inn’s owners brought back and the inn itself.”

Lore continued. “This Inn is a giant magi-machine used to seal a massive over-leveled shadow overlord. But the machine is so broken down that it can't completely seal it even with the machine taking organic parts to keep the seal going. Mostly it takes blood, but in rare cases, it will take everything, like what happened to our partner.”

I grabbed Lore’s shoulder and squeezed as I realized something else. If the shadow overlord was still here, despite this area being unable to support its level, then perhaps... “It’s the shadow overlord too. It’s controlling the lower leveled shadow mobs to kill in order to help it break out faster!”

Whiterabbitsbane clapped slowly, at an angle, with his elbows awkwardly close together. “Congratulations! You’ve figured it out.”

“Ah,” Lore said, “So you did know. I thought as much.”

He clasped his hands behind his back and nodded. “Yes, I knew.”

“And you let it happen because the inn needed people to die to solidify the seal.”

I narrowed my eyes at him and took a step in front of Lore. “You’re too calm. We’re not the first people to figure it out, are we?”

“You’re not.”

“Are you going to kill us?” I asked.

The man looked at me and almost vibrated with bloodlust.

Lore chuckled without mirth and stepped in front of me. “How about we make a deal?”

His whole essence seemed to pause. Bloodlust was replaced by amused curiosity and I wondered, just who this guy really was.

“Mia and I will swear an Oath to not reveal the secret of the inn. I assume that it needs to keep running, or else this entire area will be devastated by that shadow overlord once it’s broken out and before the admins move it.” His hand briefly clenched showing just how stressed he was despite his feigned calm. “In return, let us finish our last repair task and win.”

“But if you win...”

“We won’t talk. And though I can’t remember them, our partner was only after the magic item. Our deal was, they take the magic item and our two sides split the prize money 50-50.”

Actually, at this point, I would settle for not spending 6 hours in non-existence but if Lore could get us half the prize money as well... Well, either way, we needed to leave before Whitedove, Cho, and Mossthorn discovered our inevitable escape via boat.

Whiterabbitsbane nodded. “Agreed. Make your oaths, but pray that you don’t die first while completing the last task. If you do complete it then I’ll allow your team to win the prizes, but you must leave in secret.”

“Agreed,” we both said.

Then I’d need to finish this last task without getting killed.

I slowly neared the paint barrel and brought out the weird crystal device. This one appeared to be a thick nozzle-shaped tube with colorful metal pipes running through the sparkly material and a small ball attached to the larger end.

You have a tool to paint the attic! Would you like to use it now?

I agreed.

The tool for painting requires mana and concentration. Please provide the following: All of your available mana for 20 minutes. 15% of your concentration for 20 minutes.

If your concentration lapses then expect this tool to stop working. You’ll have to continue the paint from where it stopped by yourself... as this paint is... special, this is not recommended.

Well, fuck. I peered briefly at Lore who stood tall with determination, then focused on what the instructions meant.

With all of my mana used up, I couldn’t cast teleport. But if I only had to use 15% of my concentration, then maybe I could dodge when needed? Concentration reminded me of this weird game I played when I was a kid. It had the user wear a headband, and then it used the player’s brainwave analytics to lift a ball with compressed air. I remembered being really awful at it at first but I improved over time. Of course, if this was as finicky as that game, I might be fucked if anything attacked.

I concentrated and poured my mana into it making the crystal glow. A light burst from the machine’s nozzle and examined the room from top to bottom in a spiral, forcing me to spin in the direction it moved. This seemed unfair, considering that Lore's device didn't require him to move. The device made some clicking sounds like a malfunctioning lawn sprinkler. The round ball on the device’s back expanded.

My heart sped up. Fuck was this thing about to explode?

The ball detached itself then rushed to the paint barrel where a needle-like object extended out from it and pierced into the lid. The orb started filling up with paint that appeared dark crimson through the ball’s mesh-like crystal.

When it budged like a massive balloon ready to pop, it zoomed back over and reattached itself. The device dragged me over to a wall and started spraying the paint starting from the top of the ceiling. As it coated the walls in paint, spiraling from top to bottom, it forced me along with it. It even brought me past Whiterabbitsbane who watched us like a resting predator who'd let his prey temporarily go.

But I refused to let anything bother me and just focused on letting the machine work. About ten minutes in scratches sounded from the below. I ignored them.

“Mia, just believe in me. And don’t lose focus.”

Not trusting my concentration levels, I merely nodded in response. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Lore heading to the attic entrance. He closed and locked the hatch.

The machine started to dim as I lost focus, so I stopped watching my partner and used all of my concentration on just painting the damn room.

Only fifteen percent concentration, my ass.

Near a quarter of an hour passed and deep growls made the ground vibrate like a car’s too loud base. Something below us hammered on the attic entrance, begging to be let in.

A few minutes later and everything grew quiet. A chill ran down my spine, but I kept painting.

Lore grabbed my free hand and turned me so I could no longer see any of the windows. “I have this. Don’t lose focus and trust me.”

I bit my lip. If there was anyone I could trust in this violent game, it was Lore. Hell, in my life I couldn’t even trust my guardian, but I had this feeling like I could always trust him.

The windows behind me squeaked. A soft breeze let fresh air into the room. Lore squeezed my hand once then released it.

The device’s glow wavered badly but I kept my focus. Kept stepping where I needed to.

Paint, damn it! Paint! There were only a few square yards left.

My partner’s enchanting voice echoed through the room, “You should know that bards have alternative ways of dealing with enemies, right?”