Short Story 3: The Spy's Ring (Part 2)
A few days later, word came back to the Ultros that Keledone, the golem representing Vulcan, was now in possession of some of Vulcan's completed item commissions--including Langlicia's Spy's Ring. When she heard the news herself, she immediately dropped what she was doing at the time and went to speak to the golem herself.
"It is you, the Unseen One. I am returning your item to you." the golem said with recognition, and a small ring with a jet-black gem on it appeared at the top of the golem's trans-dimensional Bag of Holding.
As she took the ring and put it back on her finger, she looked up and asked, "So were you able to unlock the mind-protecting abilities of the ring at last?"
"I consulted with one of my colleagues from the Kingdom of Aresia and learned that this ring, as it is now and as it was when you recently sent it to me, requires no further enchantment for you to fully use its capabilities."
Langlicia paused for a moment. This is not what she expected to hear. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I'm a bit confused. You're saying you've done nothing?"
"I have done nothing but re-inspect the item and confer with its makers. There is, undoubtedly, no issue with the ring itself."
"Then . . . why is it not working as intended?"
"According to my colleague, the fault lies squarely with you. By having me tamper with its available capabilities previously, you've inadvertently skipped past some of its normal protections against premature access but not all of them."
"So . . . where does that leave me? How do I acquire complete access?"
"My colleague would only give me this message, and he sounded quite confident--smugly confident even--that you would understand it: 'The Shadow Master says that you must go beyond merely using the weapon, you must become the weapon.' That is the entire message, word-for-word. He refused to say any more."
Langlicia stood for a moment and thought about the message she'd been given, but nothing from her previous training came to mind to explain these cryptic instructions. The message was not composed using any code that she recognized, nor would it make any sense for them to use a code she didn't know to send a message intended for her. "I'm . . . afraid I don't understand." she finally said, hesitantly.
"Then that is a problem that you must face on your own. There is nothing more I can do for you. Also, thank you for the coin. It was instrumental in facilitating contact with Aresian Intelligence." After that, the golem went silent.
"Well, that IS where it originally came from, after all." she thought to herself while walking away. "Now, . . . what exactly does it mean to 'become the weapon' . . . ?"
TO BE CONTINUED