An hour passed and Boltuk led the team to an elaborate room, spacious and decorated with murals about Manticore victories. The light of the torches gave a rather spooky atmosphere. At the end of the room was a set of chairs with a Manticore sitting in each one. One was male and the other was female. Boltuk bowed. “My King and Queen,” he greeted, “these outsiders have passed the first five trials and wish to challenge you in the last one.”
“Do they, now?” asked the Manticore King. Arsha came forward.
“Your Majesties, I am Arsha Royana. I urge you, release the Sphinxes! Forsake Oyed!”
“Your demands are steep, Madam Royana,” remarked the Manticore Queen. “The fate of the Sphinxes now rests with you and your friends.”
“Tell me, what can you determine of the mural behind us?” asked the Manticore King. Arsha observed a picture of a Sphinx inside a bubble, both in green.
“…The barrier?” asked Arsha.
“The same,” answered the King. “Boltuk, make your way to the stands.” Boltuk bowed and left the throne room as a crowd gathered. The King then puffed his chest out. “I am King Velkor Blacktail!” he roared. His wife then did the same as he did.
“I am Queen Altun Blacktail!” she called.
“These outsiders have passed the first five trials!” announced Velkor.
“Now, the last trial awaits them!” roared Altun. “The Royal Trial!” Two pedestals then rose from the floor in front of the King and Queen. Each pedestal had a red diamond resting on it.
“Before us are keys!” explained Velkor. “One of them will lower the barrier and the Sphinxes will no longer be under our thrall!”
“The other will kill them!” continued Altun. “By asking us three questions, the outsiders must determine which key will free the Sphinxes!”
“Hold on!” called Arsha. “There’s no reason to bring them into this! You can’t have us play with their lives like that!”
“If you wish to have us as allies, you will have to complete this trial!” answered Velkor. “If you pick the wrong key, then we will consider you murderers!”
“And know this,” warned Altun, “one of us tells the truth and one of us lies.” Arsha was now panicking! Lives were now at stake!
“Arsha, the danger is not so great,” called Orthena. “I will complete this trial.”
“Orthena, I can’t risk anyone having that kind of blood on their hands!”
“Arsha, trust me! I know how the riddle works. You said so yourself one time, the truth-liar riddle isn’t your forte.” Arsha considered her next actions.
“…Very well. Orthena, be careful.” Orthena then stepped forward.
“Your Majesties,” she called to the Manticore Royals, “you said I need to ask three questions? You’re being too generous! I can solve your riddle with one question only!”
“A bold claim,” remarked Velkor.
“I must insist that you limit me to one question.”
“…Very well. One question for only one of us.”
“Thank you.” Orthena turned to Altun. “Your Majesty, if you were your King, which key would you say is the one that will lower the barrier safely?”
“…The key in front of my husband,” answered Altun.
“In that case, I choose the key in front of YOU!”
“…Are you sure?”
“Beyond the shadow of a doubt.”
“Then place the key in the mural behind us.” Orthena took the key in front of Altun and placed it into a slot below the Sphinx. They then waited a few seconds. Once they waited long enough, the bubble glowed red, and the Sphinx glowed green. Velkor and Altun then smiled.
“Very clever,” praised Velkor.
Over near the Regatim Oasis, Merrim was talking to Tursu, the Sphinxes’ Queen. As they spoke, a red line appeared between them, then vanished. Tursu blinked, then stepped into the area. She went further and further, then realized that her people were saved! “EVERYONE! WE’RE FREE! ARSHA DID IT!” she called to her people! The Sphinxes entered the Oasis and were greeted warmly by the Nagas.
“I told you Arsha became a miracle worker!” chuckled Merrim.
“Then she convinced the Manticores to see sense! Queen Merrim, you have allies in the north and west of the Caltem River!”
Arsha received a call from Aldarval. They had ceased the bombardment once they received news of the Sphinxes being freed. After ending the call on a high note, Arsha turned to Orthena. “Lieutenant Orthena Strongaxe, you’re a genius! How did you know she was lying?”
“I didn’t. I still don’t know who the liar is,” explained Orthena.
“…But…but she tried to tell you that the other key was the one.”
“Your Majesties, do you wish to explain, or shall I?” Orthena asked Velkor and Altun.
“You passed the last trial. It’s your right to explain, not ours,” answered Velkor. Orthena then grinned as she turned back to Arsha.
“I asked Altun what she would say if she were Velkor,” she began. “If she lied to me, then that would make him the truth-teller. She would lie about what he would say, so I could pick the opposite of what she said.”
“What if he were the liar?” asked Arsha.
“Then she would tell the truth about what his lie would be, so I would STILL pick the opposite. Understand?”
“…Not quite.”
“It takes practice.”
“Arsha,” called Velkor, “you and your team have proven that you are more trustworthy than Oyed and his cronies. We wish to join you so we may make amends for what we have done to the Sphinxes.”
“You should have killed those ineffective idiots!” shouted another voice. Oyed then appeared in a cloud of black mist, along with Dr. Borg.
“The Manticores no longer bow to you!” shouted Velkor.
“If you had any sense, you would!” answered Oyed. “You know, I just recalled a funny story on the way here! It goes like this; a Titan makes a deal with someone, that someone fails his end of the bargain, has the courage to admit it and accept losing his soul, only for that someone to fade in a flurry of maho-particles, then the son of that someone detects that the avatar was cast by his King! Where’s the real Toonsar?!”
“Dead! I won’t have anyone pull my strings!”
“Then this is your execution!” Oyed and Dr. Borg charged at the Manticore Royalty, only for Arsha and her team to get in the way.
“We defend them at all costs!” ordered Arsha. The team rushed at the two villains with Arsha, Malnar, Lardeth, Bashoon, and Delselii attacking Oyed while Falnii, Foresna, Gorfanth, and Patrica fought Dr. Borg. Velkor joined in fighting Oyed and Altun fought joined the fight against Dr. Borg. Velkor swung his tail forward, intent on stinging Oyed, but the Titan grabbed the tail.
“Nice try!” he snarled before slamming his fist into Velkor’s face. Arsha then decked him, making him spit out blood. “I don’t know how you’re able to do that, child, but it doesn’t matter! Your parents will die! Your lovers will die! YOU will die!”
“Sorry, not letting myself die until I hit 50,000!” hissed Arsha.
“YOU HAVE NO SAY IN THE MATTER!” Oyed then fired a stream of caustic mist at her. Arsha then used a fire spell to evaporate it and a water spell to neutralize the burning. It was then that she opened her eyes…only they weren’t their usual golden self. They were red like Mordek’s, even down to the lack of pupils! A red aura then surrounded Arsha, and she grabbed Oyed by the neck, then took him for a ride straight through the ceiling and into the open air! Oyed wiggled out of her grip and shoved her away. They then stopped and floated in the air. As Oyed caught his breath, a grin crossed his face. “So, that’s how you’re able to damage me,” he purred. “A Candidate’s Aura surrounds you!” Arsha then looked crestfallen.
“I can’t begin to tell you how it hurts,” she muttered, “to hear that I’m a potential Champion.”
“Oh?”
“That kind of power would elevate me too high! If I DO become your children’s Champion, I’d be hailed as a living god! People would look to me to solve EVERY problem and overlook my friends, lovers, and family!”
“So, you wish you never had a Candidate’s Aura? Then power down and serve me. I promise, I can remove it for you with no pain.”
“…Honestly, I’d rather die than serve a pasty white guy like you!”
“THAT CAN BE ARRANGED!” Oyed then charged up an energy attack. Arsha charged her own and they fired, engaging in a beam-clash. The resulting ball of mixed energies was moving between the two combatants. “JUST GIVE UP!” roared Oyed. “I AM OYED, THE TITAN! I WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED! MY CHILDREN WILL FALL! YOU EXIST ONLY TO SERVE ME, JUST AS YOUR ANCESTORS SERVED OTHERS LONG AGO!”
“…NOT…AS LONG…AS I…AM ARSHA ROYANA!” Arsha then poured more energy into her attack as she screamed her defiance at Oyed’s intentions. The energy ball then travelled back towards him and struck him hard! He fell to the ground, smoking and injured, but alive. He picked himself up as Arsha floated down to the ground. Dr. Borg managed to escape through the hole Arsha and Oyed made during their fight and approached her master.
“My Lord,” she panted, “the Manticores are overwhelming our operatives! The Sphinxes have crossed the Caltem River with a Naga company from the Oasis! We’re surrounded! We must retreat!”
“…Have our forces fall back to our Falchineve base,” ordered Oyed. “This time, let them find us.”
“…My Lord, why?!”
“Because I have an idea. Even if we lose the Gorgons and Gryphons, we’ll still cause a lot of damage in the long run.”
“…Very well.” Dr. Borg called all of their forces and ordered them to retreat to the Over-realm and let Realmfleet find them. Multiple small Realmgates opened, and the Realm Trinity Empire evacuated the Mid-realm.