Mythshaper

Chapter 07: Forgive Me, I'm Late

The sun sank low on the horizon, signalling the end of playtime, but I didn’t even notice, completely absorbed in solving the cube once and for all.

I was on Layer IX now, after solving all the word, number, and maths puzzles that had come before. The final problem involved the runes, and solving them would hint at whether I'd be any good at rune magic. Two whole seasons passed for me to finally get here. Regrettably, the seasons weren’t autumn or winter, when I would have spent long days within the confines of our house, assailed by the ashen dust or snowstorms. I would have been twice as fast then.

The brat had called it an excuse the last time we went on a picnic together. It was untrue... The reason was that I simply didn’t want to spend all day solving a puzzle. Only the blighted tempests could force me to it.

However, after receiving a letter from my aunt a couple of weeks ago, I became desperate to solve it. Supposedly, the brat had solved hers, and I was still unable to, when mine was the dumb variation of her Arcane Knot in her opinion.

I implored Mum to push the date forward, before she sent the reply, hoping to solve the puzzle by then. I couldn’t let the little goblin gloat for too long...

Thankfully, I was on the right track.

There were thirty-six fragmented runes engraved on all six surfaces of the cube, while double that number could be revealed by spinning the edges and centre. I spun the edges swiftly, cross-checking if the chains of runic letters were in the right order every once in a while.

Almost... Almost! I clenched my jaw, gingerly manoeuvring one side to avoid any mistake that might undo all my progress. Each of the runic fragments was like a clockwork cog—any of them could fit with another, even when they didn’t make sense.

My task was to make them make sense.

“Come on!” I muttered, pressing my lips together. The runes seemed to line up correctly... but then... I narrowed my eyes, examining all sides of the cube, when the engravings beamed with golden light.

“Yes!” I jumped to my feet, punching the air. My eyes returned to the cube and found thin strands of smoke wafting out of it, accompanied by a mechanical hum.