The news that they were facing a copyette had its impact on the group. Dallion wasn’t that alarmed, but the others definitely were. It could be seen in their actions and behavior, resulting in a significant drop in combat efficiency. There had been several more ambushes as the group made their way towards the guardian chamber. At this point, no one bothered to count. Not that it mattered—the creatures were intelligent enough to merge into several groups before attacking.

Copyettes… Dallion had only the most basic knowledge about them. Up till now, all he knew was that they were one of the seven species of the world. The part about them being imprisoned, or even the fact that an entire species could be imprisoned, was absolutely new to him. It was also terrifying. So far, almost everything Dallion had seen of the world was much better than Earth—life appeared much simpler in a good way, as if he were living in a fairytale. However, now and then Dallion could see things that hinted of a much darker picture beneath the surface.

Because they had tried to take over the world, the copyettes had been cursed to be scattered and exist only in thousands of awakened realms as guardians. Dallion had no idea what it took to achieve this, but it sounded as outright terrifying.

Normally, a person would never come across a copyette. To face them, one had to enter the awakened realm of an area the size of a county. However, every so often one would appear in an ancient artifact. And now they had.

“There it is,” Arthurows broke the silence. “What’s the plan?”

Dallion didn’t reply at once. If the copyette was capable of magic, as the rest claimed, entering a as group would be a terrible idea. One even moderately powerful area of effect spell and the trial would be over.

“How many people have tried to complete this dagger?” Dallion turned to Vend.

“No idea. It was at level two, when the guild bought it. I’d say six-seven groups have tried after that.”

Six or seven groups, Dallion thought. Not much at all.

“We do it like last time,” Dallion said. “I go there alone, then the rest of you attack it from behind. Since it’s intelligent, it will be expecting a trap, so that’s what we’ll give it. When you charge in, it’ll probably do something to face you. Then I’ll attack. That’ll catch it off guard for a moment. Then you have to finish it.”

“That’s risky,” Cellano said. “What if it changes into you? How can we tell you apart?”

“I’ll target its head. We can see each other’s markers, so you’ll know which is the real me. Just be sure to target it as you charge in. I don’t want to wonder whether you’re you.”

“Are you sure it’ll talk to you?” Falkner asked.

“It will.” Dallion took the harpsisword off his back. “There’s always something to say.”

Dallion gave Vend a quick glance. There was no indication whether the echo was approving or not of his action. The only thing it did was to nod, expecting him to proceed.

Okay, here goes, Dallion thought. This was the moment of truth. Dallion’s immediate destiny depended on the outcome of this battle. Interestingly enough, he seemed rather calm about it. Rather, it was the opposite—he was looking forward. Unlike the rest, hearing about copyettes so much made Dallion curious to the extreme. What sort of creature would it be? Could a creature that took any form have one of its own? One way or another, in a few moments he was going to find out.

Halfway to the chamber’s entrance, Dallion looked over his shoulder. Everyone was there, in the distance, ready to charge. Falkner was standing a few steps in front of everyone else, looking intensely in Dallion’s direction. He was the eyes of the outfit. While Dallion was extremely impressed by the party’s growth, he whispered a quick prayer for them not to mess up. From experience, he’d seen that they tended not to do too well when facing something new, especially if it was something they feared.

The guardian chamber was quite different from what Dallion expected. The dome was smooth and perfectly shaped, like the inside of an eggshell. This was no mere coincidence—someone had gone through great pains to sculpt it in such a fashion. Large life-size statues of quartz stood motionless near the walls, arranged like chess pieces on a board. Any of them could be the copyette. A few seconds later, Dallion saw they weren’t—there was a large throne of white quartz in the middle of the chamber, a throne on which another Dallion was sitting.

“Hey,” the copy Dallion said.

“Hey,” Dallion responded. Not the best first greeting, come to think of it. Interestingly, the creature's clothes were the opposite color of Dallion’s, as if he was looking at a negative of himself… to an extent.

LEVEL 3 GUARDIAN

Species: Copyette

Class: Shadow

Statistics: 100% HP

“I’ve picked something to tell us apart for when the rest of your group charges in,” the copyette said.

Dallion felt a chill down his spine. He suspected that the guardian would be intelligent, but this was more than was comfortable.

“Don’t worry, I won’t attack until you do,” the copyette smiled from the throne. “After so much time, I’d love to chat. I rarely get to do that anymore.”

“Sure.” Dallion started circling the throne. The massive piece of quartz furniture turned in turn so as to always face him. “Are you really part of an ancient species?”

“No more ancient than the rest. But you already know that. Which is good since otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to talk about it.”

The phrasing sounded ominously familiar.

“You have a limiting echo?” Dallion probed.

“Close, but no.” The copyette’s smile widened. “Echoes aren’t the only curses one could suffer. I take it you have seen a similar punishment before?”

“Yes,” Dallion whispered. “You can’t tell me anything I don’t already know.”

“Close enough. Are you here to fulfill the item’s destiny?”

“No, I’m just here because of a guild entry test,” Dallion explained. His grandfather had been punished in similar fashion, so he knew that he had to explain as much as possible if he wanted to get any answers.

“Guild entry tests?” The guardian laughed. “That definitely explains a few things.”

“Have many groups got so far?”

“Two, but that was ages ago. Most of the newbies got wiped at level two. Personally, I wasn’t going to reveal myself, but since you know about me already, I decided to have a chat. Who’s ruling now?”

“How did you know I know what you were?” Dallion avoided the question, mostly because he wasn’t too sure himself. He knew that most of the known world was part of the Tamin Empire, though he had never bothered to look into who the current ruler was.

“I can’t tell you.” The guardian sighed. “So, what happens if you defeat me?”

“We pass the trial. Those who want can continue and clear the remaining two levels. The one that does best, gets to keep the dagger.”

“Interesting proposal. I’d suggest you don’t. Each guardian is tougher than the last, as are the creatures. You were lucky I took care of everything that was on this level.” The copyette winced. “I don’t like creatures scurrying about. As they say if this is to be my home, I could at least keep it clean.” There was a slight pause. “Besides, the dagger isn’t that special, anyway.”

“I was told that once I fulfill its destiny, it’ll acquire a new power or something.” Dallion stopped. He had already gone to the other side of the chamber. Now the throne had its back to the entrance, not bad for an advantage.

“I know, and I’m telling you the ability isn’t that good. You have a harpsisword. What do you need a stupid dagger for? Not to mention you can never improve it further.”

“I have something in mind.” Now it was Dallion’s turn to smile. “So, what happens to you when I clear the dagger? Do you die?”

“Aren’t you used to killing? You’ll have a very short career as an awakened if you aren't. There’s every chance that you’ll be drafted the moment war breaks out. I was.” There was a sudden chill in the air. “And to answer your question, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll wake up in another item, maybe I won’t. I didn’t have the skill to know any of the important answers.” Suddenly, the copyette turned to the side. “Your friends have started their charge. They should be here in a bit. A pity since I wanted to have a longer chat.”

“We can have a longer chat if you surrender,” Dallion offered.

“No.” The copyette stood up from the throne. “We can’t.”

COMBAT INITIATED

Falkner and Cellano came charging in, followed shortly by Bel. Dallion expected the copyette to turn around to face them. Instead, the copy of Dallion remained as it was, not even turning around to face them. With the massive throne protecting his back, there was some reasoning, though Dallion didn’t expect such a course of action.

The attackers split into two groups, charging along either side of the hall. No sooner had they done so than the quartz statues came to life.

“Then again, a few more words would hardly hurt,” the copyette smiled.

Crap! This wasn’t something that Dallion had foreseen.

There were no rectangles visible above the statues, but even so their fighting style was much more sophisticated than anything so far. It was as if two sets of awakened were fighting one another, each using similar tactics and approaches.

“Copies of the previous group that reached this far,” the fake Dallion explained. “They don’t have the health of your current group, but make up for it in numbers. Also, their technique is a bit better.”

“I take it, you don’t want to talk to them.”

Dallion gripped his harpsisword. Blue hues appeared all over the copyette’s body; not only the humanoid copy that Dallion expected the guardian to be, the statues and even the throne had blue spots all over them as well—excitement, joy, and sadness all mixed in one. The creature was looking forward to the battle.

“We fought you in the tunnels up to here,” Dallion said.

“Indeed, you did. As I said, I could have pretended to be some ordinary guardian.” The copyette waved a hand. “A colossus or something. But then I saw you and I changed my mind. I wanted to get a chance to have a chat. Thank you for which. I know you must have considered just charging in.”

“No worries, I was curious as well.” Dallion glanced at the strings. Three tones, three strings. The last time that he had played for an extended period of time, there had been painful repercussions. As things stood, he didn’t have much of a choice. Even with Falkner defeating one statue, two more had gone his way. Cellano was having serious problems with his, as was Bel. As for Arthurows, he still hadn’t entered the chamber.

“I have to admit, the last member of your group is quite clever. He knows that he’ll be at a disadvantage here, so he’s chosen to stay behind and kill whatever emerges from the chamber. Friend or foe.”

Dallion didn’t agree with the statement. He knew Arthurows was more likely staying behind to avoid any actual fighting. Thankfully, that had turned out to be a good idea for once.

“Won’t you send the throne at me?” Dallion asked.

“I could, but it would be such a waste. You allowed me to chat a bit, although you didn’t have to. In thanks I’ll face you in your own fashion.” The guardian reached for the throne. His hand sunk in the solid quartz surface, then emerged again, this time holding a harpsisword.

“Harp versus harp,” the copyette said. “You have the first move.”