Isobella walked through walls upon walls of books. She and Drasna decided to spend their final day in Vulcarose at the Pyramid of Knowledge. The library was easily five or six floors with sections dedicated to magic, medicine, and even how to fight dragons. The library was spotless with soft cushy seats neatly placed around polished wood tables. There was also an assortment of artifacts sealed inside glass cases. Isobella took her time to marvel at everything, until Drasna seemed to vanish.

  “Drasna?”

  “Hey Izzy, I just found the prettiest thing ever! Come take a look!”

  Isobella walked towards the monk's voice, with a touch of excitement in her step at what Drasna found. She rounded a corner and found the monk standing next to a mirror. Isobella held her chin in her hand confused.

  “It looks like a normal mirror to me, what's so pretty and special about it?”

  Drasna smirked, “How could it not be special and pretty look at who's in it?”

  It took Isobella a moment to put everything together, once it clicked she felt herself grow flushed. She attempted to fan her face while Drasna snickered. After she calmed down, Isobella smirked as well.

  “You find too much joy in teasing me!”

  Drasna crossed her arms and laughed, “That’s because you look good in red.”

  Isobella rolled her eyes and began to scan the library for anything particularly interesting. She passed on books about gardening and hospitality, she felt she was good enough already. She peeked over at Drasna on occasion, sometimes finding her buried in a book about campfire cooking or combat tactics. After a couple hours, her eyes locked onto a strange artifact. It wasn’t encased in a glass box like the others, it was with several other hands on exhibits. It was a polished wooden box with runes carved and burned into it, there were brass hinges and a few knobs in odd places. Curious, the noble brought it to the information stand where an older bearded man looked at her with a gleam in his eyes.

  Isobella inquired, “May I ask what this artifact is or does?”

  The librarian stroked his beard, “That young lass is a puzzle box, if you can figure out how to open it, not only can you keep what's inside, but you can keep the box too.”

  Isobella raised an eyebrow, “I like to think I’m pretty clever, I think I shall give it a try.”

  Drasna wandered closer, “Oooh, got something fun for us to do?”

  Isobella nodded and walked over to a table, “Help me open this box.”

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  Drasna smiled and hurried closer, “Sure! I’ve solved a few puzzle boxes before.”

  Isobella turned the box in her hands, she recognized the runes, but couldn't quite make them out. It was as if they were intentionally faded to make it easy to misread. The noble concentrated and her eyes began to glow purple, making it easier to read. She frowned as it was written in the orcish language. She turned the box around a few more times then held it away from her.

  “Drasna, punch that knob, and for heaven's sake, don’t hit it so hard that it flies into my face!”

  Drasna laughed, “Now that’s my kind of puzzle!”

  Drasna took a fighting stance and focused, she didn’t want to knock it out of Isobella’s hands, but didn’t want to throw a weak punch either. In a swift motion she threw a fist into the knob, it landed with a thud, then a click, and finally a tink as a skeleton key fell out of the bottom of the box. Drasna picked it up and showed it to Isobella with a proud smile.

  The noble took the key to examine it, while giving the box to Drasna to hold. The monk took the opportunity to examine the puzzle for herself, she noticed two sets of three holes on two sides of the cube. She slid her fingers into each hole and turned her left hand clockwise and left hand counter clockwise. To her and Isobella’s surprise another side of the block popped out to show two key holes.

  Drasna giggled, “Hey look I did a thing! Oh, but we only have one key?”

  “Interesting, there must be another key hidden somewhere in the puzzle, there's only one side left, so it must be there.”

  Drasna placed the puzzle on the table and looked at the final side. Meanwhile Isobella noticed an imperfection in the box, she thought it might be shoddy craftsmanship, but the rest of the box was perfect in every way. She looked at the key and noticed it had a lone and thin tooth. She angled it and pressed the tooth down against the imperfection. It turned out to be a button. Once again a compartment opened up with a key inside.

  Isobella handed the key to Drasna, “Looks like we’ve solved it.”

  Drasna took the key, “I guess so, c’mon lets open it, I wanna see what’s inside!”

  The two placed the keys inside and turned them with a satisfying click, which popped the hinge allowing the box to finally be opened. Inside were two signet rings and a letter. The rings were made of bronze with the symbol of a puzzle piece on the ring. Isobella opened the letter and read it aloud.

  “Dear Isobella Torchwick and Drasna Giathel, congratulations on solving my puzzle box. My name is Xander, I’m a wizard and the founder of Puzzle Society. We are a group of puzzle lovers, I send out new and strange puzzles to all members every month. As you both have solved this puzzle I’d like to cordially invite you into our club, simply take the rings inside and hide the puzzle somewhere new, it will reset itself.”

  “Whoa! That’s cool, it must be magic or something. What do you think Izzy, should we join? You don’t think those rings are cursed or anything do ya?”

  Isobella picked up the rings, “They are magical to an extent, but nothing we should be worried about. I suppose I wouldn’t mind befriending another wizard, and having a puzzle to solve with you every month will be pleasant.”

  Drasna slid the ring on her finger, “I agree, maybe you can keep it at the chateau and see if anyone can solve it.”

  Isobella, “That sounds like a wonderful idea!”

  “I wasn’t too thrilled about going to the library today, but that was super fun! I’m glad you convinced me to come!”

  Isobella gave the monk a happy hug, “I’m glad to hear it, I don’t really care what we do as long as we can share it.”