I moved to the front of the group to stand with Jilly and Nushi, but I wasn't really sure what to expect. I wasn't a Jeopardy guy, and I would never make it past the fifth question on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire without using all of my Life Lines.
"Pst!" Nushi whispered to me and then pointed at her book. ??
At first, I had no idea what she was insinuating, but then it dawned on me. This was a proud creature, and there was no way that it would hold back the answer if I got it wrong.
I nodded, and Nushi's horns grew back to full strength, but I wanted to get some things straight before we started. It wasn't like the Sphinx had to answer me, but I would try to bait her into it.
"You must be pretty good at asking these questions. Does it matter if I ask some else? You know, considering it's most likely going to be something that I have no idea how to answer, right?" I asked in a casual tone.
The creature looked me up and down, and I tried to dumb down my expression. The Sphinx looked bright but maybe a little too smart for her own good.
"Yes, I can see that you are a lower breed of animal, so I can't see why having these other mouth breathers helping you is a problem," the Sphinx said haughtily, turning her nose up at the girls.
"Good, so, what do you have for me? What kind of question is it, oh great Sphincter?" I asked, holding a straight face; two can play underhanded ball.
"What did you just call me?" The Sphinx asked, glaring at me.
"You were about to ask me a challenging question, right?" I asked back, and the glare squint tightened on me.
"Fine, I won't hold back then! You measure my life in hours, and I serve you by expiring. I'm quick when I'm thin and slow when I'm fat. The wind is my enemy. What am I?!" The Sphinx asked with a tone like she had already won.
I looked over at Nushi, and she mouth the word candle, and I thought about it, and it made sense.
"A candle," I said plainly, and the Sphinx reared up in excitement before the answer had left my mouth.
"Wrong! It's a… candle, wait, how did you know that?" The Sphinx asked as she came back to the ground, starting to glare at me.
"Made sense," I said as I started to look around, trying to look bored.
"FINE! But you will never get this one!" The Sphinx said, but I put up a hand.
"Hold on. I am not familiar with the rules of this game, but there must be some, and I don't think that you get to keep asking, right?" I asked, giving the beast a severe look, and the girls nodded at my words.
"HA! Now, who is the stupid overgrown catbird? Bwahahaha!" Jilly asked and then burst out laughing maniacally.
"Wait! That's not fair! There is no way you got the answer so fast! You must have cheated!" The Sphinx raged, but I had enough and pulled out both my weapons.
"Since your game is done, I will give you a choice. Stay here, and we will all find out what you taste like. Or, you can leave to spin another riddle; we have places to go and things to do before it gets dark," I said calmly as I ignited the flame sword.
The Loose Leaf Dagger was in blender mode again, and I hoped it would calm down a bit if I had to fight this thing. While it might be big, now that it was struggling to gain ground, the idea of it being a treat had disappeared.
"You have not seen the last of me! We meet again, Skin Walker! The Sphinx raged at me but then turned and stormed off the path.
I watched her go but motioned for Jilly to start walking. This was wasting time, and we had a long lunch break.
"So what is a Sphinx anyways, so I know for next time?" I asked as we walked along.
"She is a monster that feeds off people's thoughts, but because they are so powerful, they have a restriction placed on them. They have to ask you a riddle, and if you fail or don't ask fast enough," Nushi explained.
"How long is too long? Do I have thirty seconds or a minute?" I asked.
"I don't know the answer to that. Anyone who has experienced a Sphinx encounter is left one of two ways; alive or drooling with no thought in your mind to move your body. You will end up either getting eaten alive or starving to death in a puddle of your own excrement," Nushi explained, and a cold shiver ran through my body.
"Well, I will have to make sure and avoid that creature at all costs, or that will be my fate," I said, but then I noticed the smoke coming up from the lava lake, and I looked up at Jilly.
"What do you know about Lizy, the Magma Spider?"
"Hmmm? Besides that, she is a food and man-stealing slut? The witch is a glutton that fucks and eats more in one day than I could in two!" Jilly said with disgust.
"I guess that you two had some problems in the past?" I asked curiously, but Jilly became closed-mouthed and wouldn't talk about it.
I also got a head shake that said no and a hand slice across her neck to signal that it was a sore subject. Thankfully, the bushes ahead started to russell, and I got myself prepared to attack whatever came out, but it was only a rabbit.
I let out a sigh to the cute little creature and was about to start moving, but Jilly darted forward and grabbed the rabbit. Before I could open my mouth, I watched in horror as Jilly stuck the squealing creature in her mouth, and I almost puked at the sound she made.
"WAAT?! I AM A STWESS EATER!" Jilly shouted at me with a mouth full of the whole half-chewed once adorable rabbit, and I sighed again.
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