Chapter 5

The convention was huge. Vennoa and the two rangers had no idea how to start looking for the secret VIP entrance, so they wandered around somewhat randomly. Tempest was still nowhere to be seen. He was either still floating in the air, or probably landed face-first at another part of the convention. Vennoa hoped that he had better luck finding the VIP entrance.

“Hey!”

A familiar voice called out. Vennoa turned, and spotted Tempest in the distance. He looked extremely happy, so his return to the ground must not have hurt much. He was carrying a number of items in his arms, and he hurried over to the party.

“I’m glad I found you,” he said.

“Looks like you’ve been pretty busy,” Vennoa said dryly.

“There’s a lot of stuff for sale here,” Tempest said. “Also, the shopkeepers are much more willing to chat after I’ve bought something from them.”

Tempest fumbled around, and pulled out a candle. “This,” he started. “This is no ordinary candle.”

Gaerril snatched it away from Tempest’s hand and looked at it intently. He put it near his nose and sniffed.

“Ah,” the ranger said. “Let me guess, explosive?”

“You got it!” Tempest said excitedly.

“Now why would anyone buy that over an actual explosive?” Gaerril asked sarcastically.

The sarcasm flew past Tempest, and he said, “Because it looks like a candle, but it’s not!”

Vennoa shook her head. “So,” she asked. “Did you find out anything useful about the VIP entrance?”

“Not really,” Tempest said. “But! I found that Beholder that Magolyn was talking to. He probably knows where the entrance is.”

“Finally,” Barkas said. “A lead.”

Tempest led the group to the Beholder staff captain. The Beholder was seated at a bar looking exhausted. It was drinking mug after mug of ale. Tempest headed towards the Beholder, but some armed guards blocked his path. Vennoa looked closely at the armed guards. They appeared to be full plate armor, but without anyone inside. So they must be magic somehow.

Tempest called out, “Hey! Staff Captain!”

The Beholder looked up slowly from his drink. The big eye and all the little eyes turned and looked at the party. It sighed, and said, “Oh, it’s you lot. What do you want now? I’ve already given the VIP pass to Magolyn.”

Vennoa replied, “Magolyn wants to know where the secret VIP lounge entrance is. We figured that you should know where it is, since you are the staff captain and all.”

The Beholder put down its drink and floated over past the guards. The guards automatically withdrew their weapons to let him pass.

“Look,” the Beholder said. “Just leave me alone will you? I’ve had enough to do with Magolyn today as it is.”

“We don’t want to bother you either,” Vennoa said. “But if we don’t find this entrance for Magolyn, you know he’s just going to come and bother you. No one wants that!”

The Beholder sighed. “You’re right. But there isn’t any secret VIP entrance. The lounge is that way,” it continued, and pointed with some of its tendrils. “His VIP pass should give him access.”

“What about through here?” Tempest asked, pointing towards the passageway and bar that the Beholder had come from.

“That’s a staff resting area,” the Beholder said. “But obviously we should have put it somewhere else to actually get some rest.”

“And there’s no other way to the VIP lounge?” Vennoa asked.

“Well, the staff area has a backdoor to the VIP lounge, but it’s hardly a secret or anything. It’s just down that way,” the Beholder answered, pointing towards the bar.

“Can you let us in that way?”

“Of course not,” the Beholder said. “That’s a staff area.”

The Beholder kept silent for a while, and then continued, “How about this? If you beat me in drinking, I’ll let you into the VIP area. If not, you leave me alone, and get Magolyn to leave me alone!”

“Sounds like a plan!” Tempest replied excitedly, before anyone else had a chance to think about it.

“Good, follow me,” the Beholder said. It approached the armed guards, who automatically withdrew their weapons. The Beholder floated in between the guards, and said, “Go to the bar.”

The party walked through the opening, and the guards did not react to them. As they walked to the bar, Vennoa noticed that the staff entrance to the VIP lounge also had two guards protecting it.

The Beholder floated back to its seat on the bar, and the guards closed the entrance with their weapons again. It glanced at the party. “So, how many mugs of ale do you want to challenge me with?”

“Five!” Tempest declared.

The bartender poured five mugs of ale and set them on the counter. Tempest picked them up, and downed them all quickly.

“Good!” the Beholder said. It nodded at the bartender, who poured six mugs. The Beholder drank all six mugs in a gulp. It then looked expectantly at Tempest.

“Five more,” Tempest said. He seemed a little wobbly but persevered.