Chapter 2 - Crossing the border
We follow the mustached man out of the building. Outside was a sleek, expensive-looking car. I unfolded the newly assembled map of Trengen. Apparently I had to cross the border between Paxemia and Trengen, then I had to trace the cave system of the mountains into the Forest of Divespar (what a depressing name), find my way out, get to Stoneben, find the Crystal, and come back home.
The prime minister’s voice jerked me out of my miserable thoughts. I got into the car with Sheera and Inaria and settled down, each one of us wondering what happens from now on. The trip was quiet, uneventful and seemed to go on forever. It was as though someone just died. When we stopped, I jerked my head up, surprised.
“We’re here.” The driver deadpanned. I stepped out of the car. The Prime Minister pointed out the border for me. It was a collection of steel cable towers, which the minister told me was run by a human supported by several fauns and a two-legged, man-eating lizard about seven feet tall called “swallowers”, because that would be just what they’d do to you or me. (Thanks a lot, minister, you just made me feel more confident about this whole thing. NOT), and just like that, he sped off. Coward. Oh well, he had a whole nation to run, anyway.
I turned to Sheera and Inaria, “So what now?” Inaria asked timidly. Sheera stared at him, “What now? We need a plan, of course! You can play good music, can you not, Inaria? Well play some tune to get them to leave their posts, then! The girl can get into the main booth and I will be lookout!” Inaria looked like he wanted to protest. I decided to intervene before any more of our precious time was wasted.
A few protests, angry fits and replaning later, we decided to go by Sheera’s original plan, despite Inaria warning that the more subjects he had to charm, the less effective the magic would be. The plan proceeded. Sheera and I hid behind a couple of bushes while Inaria slowly strode over toward a couple of fauns standing at the post. “What do you want?” One of them barked at Inaria. Inaria shuddered. Sheera had told me about Inaria’s penchant for talking too freely to strangers. I prayed he wouldn’t lose his head. He didn’t, he put a syrinx to his lips and begin to play a sweet lullaby.
After Inaria was done putting everyone but us to sleep (Inaria being very exhausted), we snuck into the main booth. I got very confused with all the controls. It took a while, but I managed to turn both the force field and the electric current off, but we only had a few minutes, and the guards were stirring. We raced through the checkpoint, dragging Inaria behind us. Just as we launched ourselves beyond the border post, the electric current exploded back into life.