When morning came over the island, Parker had all intentions of tracking down the tuftbulbs to fulfill the Gambler Request they had picked up shortly after arriving. However, from the third-floor balcony of their room at the Alta building, Parker saw something curious enough to derail their plans. A party of three Gamblers was walking down the main street of the bayside town, drawing the attention of everyone they passed due to the strange totem they carried with them.

  It was less of a totem and more of a heavy beam with five small corpses strapped to it like war trophies. It took Parker a few minutes of watching the Gamblers march down the street to realize what it was. The small corpses were a strange white-green color and knife-shaped ears protruded from pumpkin-shaped heads.

  Goblins.

  That answered Parker's question about Gambler-goblin relations. The curious part was that they were headed out of town. Parker watched as the party of Gamblers left the bayside town and started to head for the windswept cliffs.

  Parker wasn't the only one watching. More than just a few onlookers, a crowd had formed along the road as the party trekked on. No one seemed to follow them, but Parker couldn't help themselves.

  Watching for as long as they could from the balcony, Parker tracked the party's moves. It was enough that when Parker descended from the Alta building and exited to the streets, they were able to follow with their pack strapped tight.

  Even without any real training in tracking, Parker was able to recreate the party's path. Three sets of heavy footprints left quite a mark on the soft dirt path. Outside of the town, the path led up a rolling hill and into a chasm between two windswept cliffs. Just before going into the chasm, Parker looked down the grassy hillside to see a cluster of tuftbulbs. They would be back for those next.

  As Parker walked between the two cliffs, they realized it was less of a chasm and more of a cliff-bordered ramp. With each step, the incline grew a little steeper until Parker was doing a considerable lift to follow the path. The air grew heavier as they went but instead of finding it hard to breathe, Parker felt invigorated with each breath.

  It was nearly tangible elemental magic. This was the strongest that Parker had ever felt. Moreso than the faint sense that encompassed the island or the few bursts they had been exposed to before chasing this Gamble. It wasn't even actually magic, just hyper-condensed energy but it felt like magic.

  With each step, Parker could feel more in tune with the island. In the distance, the path grew tall enough to match the clifftops. Before then, a ring of flowers along the cliffside caught Parker's eye. They were growing like trail markers.

  Parker thought they looked placed at first, but when they inspected the stalks and stems of the flowers, they realized that wasn't accurate. The roots were desperately dug into the side of the cliff. Parker knew that they had taken hold there somehow.

  Closer to the top, there were even more flower rings. They blended colors of amber, red, and gold. Parker couldn't help but take the flowers as some message or warning. They had no idea what the message was though, so they kept walking.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  At the very top, Parker remembered something from the day before as they stepped out onto the flower covered plateau. They were just about where the map had labeled something called the "Air Altar".

  While climbing the ramp-like path, Parker had been sure that there were higher cliffs and that they had not hiked so high. Yet, standing on the plateau all Parker could see was clear skies stretching from horizon to horizon overhead.

  What had at first seemed like a chaotic, rampant growth of flowers turned out to be neatly packed rings of alternating blooms. The colors blended from ring to ring and Parker couldn't discern the pattern or the species but there was something to it. A sense of power radiated from the rings as if it were feeding back toward something in the center of the plateau.

  The path continued forward, a lone soft dirt trail through the rings of flowers. At the center, where the energy seemed to radiate like the tides, was a mess of figures. The three Gamblers from earlier, their pillar of goblin corpses, and a golden altar. From the distance, obscured by the other figures, Parker could not make out the entirely of the altar. One thing was clear though: a silver-colored crystal floated over the altar at eye level.

  While it hovered at eye level, it was still clear to see as it also loomed over the Gamblers at the altar. The silver crystal was easily twice Parker's size. It rivaled the beam with the five goblins on it and was probably just barely bigger.

  Parker felt like they were intruding on something intimate as they watched from a distance. Two of the Gamblers hefted the beam so that it was balanced on the altar. As soon as the beam was placed, the Gamblers backed away.

  A thrum of power struck like a chord from the altar across the plateau. The power reverberated outward, quickly bending the stalks of flowers toward distant horizons. When it hit Parker like a rush of wind, they closed their eyes for just a moment.

  When they opened them again, the air had settled back down. The three Gamblers were heading away from the altar seemingly empty-handed. As they grew closer, Parker realized that they hadn't left the beam and the goblin corpses behind. Those had simply vanished.

  The Gamblers noticed Parker and the leader of the trio shook her head in disdain. She said, "If you're hoping to poach some secrets, you're out of luck. Even with that haul, all we got was copper."

  Before Parker could ask what she meant, one of the others chimed in. "Excuse us. It has been a long hunt and we were hoping that would be our silver ticket off this island."

  Then the third Gambler jumped in as well. "Don't bother with this onlooker. Can't you see they're completely lost and helpless?"

  That last comment was directed at Parker in a pitying way as the trio passed by. Parker didn't bother replying or questioning them. Instead, as soon as Parker was alone on the plateau, they headed for the altar.

  The strange sensation grew that Parker was not alone the closer they got to the altar. Looking from horizon to horizon, Parker could tell no one else was there but they still felt accompanied.

  While the crystal loomed overhead, silver and rippling in the wind, the altar itself was exactly what it had appeared from the distance… pure gold. The design was simplistic, consisting of two golden slabs. One slab was slightly raised and that was where the crystal floated.

  The second slab stood between Parker and the crystal. This was where the Gamblers had hefted their haul of goblins. Parker assumed it had been a sort of offering. Even though the haul was gone, the altar was not empty.

  Golden tools of ritualistic purposes were laid out on the slab and at the center was a deep golden bowl. Engraved around the inside of the bowl, in dozens of languages, were fine printed characters. It took Parker a few moments to find a language they could read. It said: The pure Blessing of Wind can only be granted to a pure offering.

  The Gamblers had offered up a haul of goblins as their sacrifice, but they hadn't been happy with the outcome. The leader had mentioned a silver ticket, and the bowl referenced the Blessing of Wind. Even if Parker did not know the solution, they had at least found the riddle at the heart of the island's challenge.

  A pure offering was needed.

  Five dead goblins wasn't the answer.