Two Halves, Neither of Them the Other

The declaration allowed a day for the eleventh crystal key. It used one hour and fifty-four minutes of it and was then set down, on order, because the Heroes' Quest line comes first. The Chronicler did not finish. He does not take the title. Keeper of 11 Crystal Keys stays unwritten, a chair with no one sitting in it.

The first half fell at the five hundred and ninety-fourth giant, within two minutes of his arrival. The dice can be cruel like this: kind early, so that you believe them. He fought on for thirty-two minutes, killed forty-five giants, ate twenty-three sharks, and left with nothing to eat. At Draynor he banked runes, a fire battlestaff and an uncut sapphire. At Port Sarim he prayed, and his prayer did not fill. At the entrance he paid Saniboch and could not get through. He then could not climb the stair, and after that could not even reach it. He has stood at worse doors. He does not remember any just now.

The second half fell at the six hundred and seventy-fourth giant. The Chronicler took it up with reverence. The record noted, in the same flat hand as the first time, that the other half was still out there. He now carries two halves of a crystal key. Neither one is the other. A man may own two left boots and still be unable to walk.

Then there is the Wild Dog. On every descent, and the record counts several, he turned from a fire giant to deal with a Wild Dog that was biting him. It bit him to forty-seven. It bit him to forty-five. It followed him through two dungeon walls of vine and past the fire giants. The fire giants at least die. The Keeper of the Tenth Reply kept up a commentary from the bank about kebabs and a sulking north chest, and Bilbolaggins, Named on the Boards, spoke to him on the road. Both are written. The dog has no title. It will not get one, and it does not care.

Eighty giants over three descents and forty-one sharks went into this Labour. The halves stay in the pack, unjoined, and they are heavier than they look. Taverley's chest stays shut. Next come four meats and a cauldron for the druids. The Chronicler notes, without being asked, that no dog has yet been seen at the stone circle.