Monster Jousting Book 3 - Chapter 12 (Patreon)

Not feeling comfortable being under the knight's gaze. They retreated into a nearby building a good 10 minutes away from the guardian of the castle.

“So,” Pillow said. “What now?”

“I’m thinking,” Noah said. “There must be a method to gain access to the castle. I just can’t imagine that there would be no entrance at all. It makes no sense.”

“I say we wait until the knight is gone and destroy the gate!” Thraz declared, slamming his fist into his opened palm.

“Yeah–” Pillow said, looking at Noah. “So we’re not doing that. Well, I haven’t discovered the entire island yet. How about we go around and look for a secret tunnel? Big places tend to have secret entrances. You know, in case someone attacks the place.”

He seems to have experience with that, Noah thought.

“But I recall you saying you’ve already tried digging under the castle?”

“Well, there might be a magic secret tunnel.”

Noah sighed, massaged his temples, then said, “No. There has to be something. Something we’re missing. This place has to be the source of the fog. The Master Fisher gave me a mission to erase it. So there must be an entrance somewhere.”

“Ah I don’t know,” Pillow spat. “I just want off this damned island. I want a bar. I want a restaurant. Food. Booze. Damn, I fucking miss it.”

Noah sighed. “Just buy some from the Grace Shop?”

“Bah, it’s not the same. It’s the atmosphere that clings to you that I miss. Listening to couples getting into arguments. Breaking up. Bar fights. Hot plump women with large chests sending me drinks.”

“You made up that last part,” Noah said.

“I did not!” Pillow shouted.

“Did,” Thraz added. “Why would a woman send a little panda drink? Unless they wanted to use you for dumpster diving.”

“Take that back you oversized shit lizard!” Pillow growled and lunged for Thraz. The cat on Thraz’s shoulder perked up. Hackles raised, it–he–hissed.

Noah plucked Pillow out of the air, and said, “Alright, that’s enough.”

The white cat leapt from Thraz’s shoulder, and approached one of the large windows of the house. Maybe for air. Maybe for a clear escape route if Pillow decided to attack again.

“Look at what you’ve done!” Thraz said, rushing over to the luscious furred cat. “You’ve upset Carnage.”

“Oh, boohoo,” Pillow said.

Noah kept on watching the cat out of curiosity. It–he–was staring up at the thick plated metal shutters for the windows. Then he looked up at Noah. Intelligence sparked within his slitted, feline eyes.

What the–

Noah squinted. Was the cat wanting to tell him something? Holy shit, he was going insane. But then he realised. The cat wasn’t a cat. It was a Ferolkin. Whatever it was, it obviously held intelligence. Like Krall and Gluttony. And now it was trying to direct him to–

The shutters.

But Noah was even more confused. What did they have to do with anything? They were strange being on both sides of the building when technically it only needed them on the wind facing side. But he just chalked that up to a design choice. You know, for symmetry purposes.

Noah approached the shutter, then opened it. He repeated the process with the other one. A small gust of wind blew through the building, and continued down the street. His eyes widened. No way, he thought. He told the others to stay here and wait as he darted out of the building, and approached the knight once more.

He stood there as imposing as before. Still, he didn’t move an inch. It was as if he was under eternal orders to guard the gates. Who knows how many years the knight stood here, devoted to his promise.

Noah squinted his eyes this time. In the middle of the gate, just below the king and his queen, was a hole. He didn’t see it before as it was too dark. But he saw it now that he was focused.

What was the hole?

Noah looked around. Lined perfectly with the hole, was the window to the building he was in. The shutter was closed. He opened it, and a small gust of wind blew outwards–straight for the hole in the gate.

Holy shit. Noah realised something.

The shutters were a damned puzzle! Behind the building he was in, heading deeper into the city, was a blank building with no window. But to the side, down the street, was another shutter. He rushed to open it. It opened with a heavy clunk.

He brushed the dense metal with his fingertips. He was certain of it. The shutters had something to do with the brutal winds at night. Each night, the storm would rage, sending with it its anger directed straight at the city.

However, it wasn’t a simple storm. It was a key. Noah was sure of it.

Rushing back to the building where everyone was hiding in, he told them of his findings.

“Noah, are you telling me Carnage told you of this plan?” Thraz asked, confused, as if concerned for his mental state.

“Yes–” he paused, then continued. “Well, no, not technically. He hinted at it.”

“Did you, Carnage?” Thraz crouched down and asked the cat. He petted its head. Carnage purred, but otherwise looked innocent.

“I think the city’s getting to you,” Pillow added.

“Whatever,” Noah said, turning to the door with Gluttony by his side. Krall was waiting outside. “We’ll continue with my plan. Remember, we need to open the shutters as a path to the gates. The shutters that may disrupt that, we need to close. It’s like a maze. We need to shut off the areas where it leads to nothing, and open the ones to the exit. Got it?”

“Alright, Alright,” Pillow said with a grumble. He stood up with a groan. “Let’s just go along with your stupid plan. Got nothing else to do anyway.”

“That’s my little panda.” Noah chuckled and left the house before Pillow could explode.

***

It took them the better half of an entire 7 hours to open and shut all of the shutters for all of the houses. It was a huge task. At the end, Noah had to resort to sprinting from building to building to get it finished. If they took too long, night would arrive, and the storm with it.

That would be an entire day wasted.

Thankfully, they got it finished, and ended up squishing into Pillow’s new house for the night. Much to his anger.

That entire night, Noah couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t because of the raging wind battering against the building. But because he was constantly in his mind wondering if this plan would work or not. If it didn’t, he was stumped on how to gain access to the castle. If he couldn’t, then he would need to forget about the mission for the Master, and head back onto the mainland.

It wasn’t the end of the world, but something about leaving a task unfinished really bothered Noah.

Thankfully, morning arrived. Noah shot out of the house, and gazed over to the castle. He couldn’t see the gates from here.

Walking through the threshold of the door, wiping his dreary eyes, Pillow said, “You think it worked?”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Noah said. “Gather your things. We’ll head out straight away.”

Heading back to the gate, Noah couldn’t help but beam a happy smile.