Unfortunately, Dean hadn’t thought of a way to politely tell Neva to go to hell, and that’s how he found himself standing in front of the barrow several hours later with all three of the elves beside him.

The barrow was located just past the eastern edge of the forest, on the foothills of the mountains. It was a large, grass covered mound with a small stone opening on the side. They slipped inside, one after another, into a small cavern lined with shelves and littered with broken vases and urns. There was a small pile of torches lining the doorway that Famor passed around. The only other exit to the room was a small stairwell set leading down into the barrow’s depths.

Famor stopped him at the top step, “There’s two levels filled with a couple monsters before we reach the puzzle.”

Dean drew his sword as he said, “Thanks for the heads up.”

Dean crept down the stairs with the torch held up in front of him. The stairs wound around as they descended, until Dean was certain he’d gone a complete circle before they ended at the beginning of a series of caverns. He waited for the others to catch up, scanning the area in case anything was nearby. He thought he spotted movement a couple of times but couldn’t make out anything in the gloom when he concentrated on it. Probably a trick of the light, he thought.

He led the way deeper into the caverns, casting his light about as he went, until he spotted a creature. It looked more like a xenomorph than a gremlin, with an eloganted head and arms, scaly black skin and saliva dripping from its fangs. It stood on its haunches and hissed at him. Nothing like the creatures he imagined, though to be fair, he thought, this thing probably didn’t spawn from feeding a mogwai after midnight.

Just in case, Dean scanned it.

Gremlin – Level 1

Health: 20/20

He glanced at the others, who looked back at him expectantly. Dean approached cautiously, sword held ready, as the creature stood up and growled at him. He attacked, leaping at it while swinging his sword. The creature didn’t dodge exactly, its body flowed out of the way, almost like it wasn’t made of bones, before straightening up behind his sword. He tried again to the same result.

The others burst out laughing behind him. Amelia snorted out, “You should see your face right now.”

“It’s priceless.” Famor bent over laughing, completely out of character. “You look like an El’forn caught by surprise.” He mimicked a shocked expression, his eyes wide and mouth hanging open. When he caught his breath, he explained, “We do this to every new warrior recruit as a kind of initiation.”

“It’s not funny,” Dean tried to hide his irritation. “What if it attacks? Isn’t it dangerous?”

Amelia walked up beside him as she fished out a coin from her pocket. “They won’t attack unless you try to steal their treasure.” She tossed it at the creature, who snatched the coin out of the air and disappeared down a crack in the wall. “Or corner them. Then, they’re vicious.” Dean stared after it, mouth agape. There was no way the creature could fit in there.

“Come on,” Famor said, still chuckling, “Let’s see if you can solve this puzzle.” Famor took the lead as they continued, now that the prank was finished, and tossed a coin at the two gremlins they encountered before reaching the third floor. As they entered the new room, Famor gestured grandly, “Welcome to the puzzle room.”

The room lit up as they entered as crystals on the wall, similar to those Dean had seen in the Spider Queen’s nest, started glowing. Aside from a door exactly opposite the one they entered, the only other object in the room was a chest high obelisk in the center with a stone sphere at its apex.

Dean followed Amelia to the obelisk, where she explained, “We think this is the clue, but don’t know what it means.”

“And these are what we have to solve.” Famor said. Dean glanced over as Famor turned a small crank and a portion of the wall, only a foot by a foot, rotated on a hidden wheel. There was an symbol on it, a sphere with a portion of its interior etched out. Famor pointed further down the wall, “There’s seven in total. And one on the locked door.”

Dean turned slowly in a circle. Now that he knew what to look for, he spotted four at the cardinal points, and another four halfway between them, including one a few feet above the door they’d entered with a corresponding crank at chest level beside the door. All of them had a circle on them, with various parts etched out. Idly, he asked, “Have you just tried every combination?”

“No,” Famor explained, “A wrong answer shuts the door and floods the room with poison.”

“So, no guessing. Got it.” Dean walked up to their intended exit and studied the one on the door, a circle with the inside completely etched out, before turning around and looking at the rest of the room.

“He’s not going to solve it,” Neva complained, “There’s no way.”

“Give me a minute to think.” Dean said, “The answer’s here somewhere.”

Alright, he thought, a bunch of circles. He started thinking about every fact he could concerning circles. They have no sides. They’re a basic geometric shape. Every point is equidistance from the center.

And yet, none of those made sense. He’s gaze fell on the sphere. Circles are a two-dimensional representation of a sphere. The sphere is the key. But what was it trying to tell him? Famor started walking around the room, casting a shadow across the sphere.

“Wait,” Dean cried out, “That’s it.” He looked at Amelia and Neva, “Go stand in corridor. Famor, come here.” Dean put out his torch as Famor walked over. Once Famor was standing next to him, Dean glanced at the sphere and at the symbol on the door. Since the symbol on the door was completely etched out in the center, light had to mean the etched out portion. “Famor, walk to the next crank.”

Once Famor reached the next crank, Dean looked at the sphere and at the symbol on the wall. “Famor, turn the crank until I say stop.” Famor started turning it slowly, while Dean waited until the symbol matched the light reflected on the sphere. “Stop. Next one.”

He repeated the process until every single one of the symbols matched the light reflected off the sphere. He asked Famor, “So, now what?”

Famor pointed at the door behind Dean, “There’s a lever beside the door.”

Dean found the lever. “You should probably wait outside, just in case.”

Famor asked, “What about you?”

“If I’m wrong,” Dean shrugged, “I’ll just respawn at the village.” He grinned, “But I’m not.”

Famor nodded doubtfully, “Still, I think I’ll wait in the corridor. Just in case.”

Once Famor was in the corridor, Dean took a deep breath. “Hold onto your butts.” It was such a perfect reference. Shame his friends weren’t here to appreciate it.

He flipped the switch and immediately heard the other door slam shut. A hissing noise filled the room and a green gas started pouring in. His lips started burning, followed by his tongue and the back of his throat. It worked it’s way down his throat and into his lungs. Each breath came in ragged gasps. He started coughing blood as his health bar turned purple and started dropping. He fell to the floor, his body wracked by convulsions. They stopped, finally, as a notification filled his screen.

You died. Respawn in 10 seconds