Ayuen
?????, The Grey Crown, The Grasping Isle
[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/926707024362885130/1045841100604186624/Ayuen-WayX.png]
A loud thud broke through Ayuen’s slumber, quickly followed by another, and another. She turned around on the cold floor away from the source, pulling her wings a bit tighter around herself. Couldn’t she sleep for a little while longer? It was rather rude for somebody to make such a ruckus at this time of the day. She frowned, her eyes still closed. Wait, what time of the day was it anyway? Then everything came rushing back to her. The circle, the light and how everything went dark shortly after. Her eyes shot open and she immediately sat upright with a yelp. The source of the thuds had become clear. Rove was trying to push the door open by ramming it with his shoulder, Trïeste lighting his way with the purple light of her light stone. How long had they been out? How much time did they have left?
Hearing her yelp, Rove turned around, wiping his brow. It looked like he’d been at this for a little while.
“Ah great, you’ve finally come to. Appears we got hit by some kind of... sleep magic? I’ve got no idea how long we’ve been out for, though.” He nodded to Trïeste, nodding to the door. “I think your idea would be best Trïeste. Set them up and we can get out of this forsaken bloody place.”
“Roger that!” Trïeste gave the bodyguard a resolute nod and walked to the door, rigging the top two hinges with what Ayuen assumed to be more of those explosive spheres.
“Right. Well, this is better than getting melted or worse.” She said, looking curiously at Trïeste. “How many of those devices do you carry around with you, Trïeste?”
“These are the last two. Let’s hope these do the trick.”
“At the least, it will weaken the door enough for us to break through, I’d imagine,” Rove said, shrugging. “Otherwise we’ll just have to scrounge the rest of the workshop for something useful. And if push comes to shove, we can try the kinetic thing again, and see if we can get out the way we came. Not ideal, wouldn’t be surprised if people are watching that forest.”
“Let’s not take that risk,” Ayuen said, scrambling up and dusting herself off. She probably should keep a healthy distance from that door. Didn’t want to get anywhere near it if the explosions in Tinkersong were anything to go by.
“I also wanted to ask you, Ayuen,” Rove said with a lowered voice, taking her a short way from the door and Trïeste. ”With your goal to revive your Chief? If we were out for a day or two, how would that impact your plan?”
“I’m not sure,” She answered hesitantly, her voice equally hushed. She didn’t tell Trïeste the full details yet and honestly, she didn’t know if she wanted to tell her in the first place. In her mind, it only meant more danger for the young alchemist. Not that Trïeste didn’t stir up any trouble herself, but there was no reason to add even more fuel to the fire. “When we entered the workshop, we were travelling for about a month. I think it shouldn’t impact things TOO much.”
“What’s the precise deadline you were working with to revive Baros? That was the leader of your clan, right?”
“Correct. Should have about two moons after his death. Let’s say sixty-one days in total.”
Thirty days, minus the time they lost in here, whatever that might be. It had to be enough. Although she had been holding back some information, this didn't feel like the time. Plus... well, Rove was starting to make her feel comfortable when she was around him.
The two of them turned their heads as a sniggering came from the door, followed by a giddy Trïeste holding the end of a long fuse as she walked towards them.
“Charges are all set and ready to burst’n’blow! Y’all ready for some fireworks?”
Ayuen looked around the room, scanning the place for a better place to hide, suddenly feeling rather worried. Regrettably, she didn’t find any good spots, but something else caught her eye. On one of the side walls, in the same type of mosaic as the floor, was a picture. A very familiar picture. Realization flooded into her as her hand wavered towards her neck. She had been so absorbed in escaping and exploring the complex that she had almost forgotten her original purpose.
“Delay setting off those charges for a second there, Trïeste. There is one thing we need to do still.” She resolutely stepped towards the mosaic, leaving Trïeste and Rove looking rather bewildered. Raising her light source, she took a closer look and noticed several things. The craftsmanship of art was stellar and much more detailed than its counterpart on the floor. Secondly, it was a perfect replica of the picture on her mediation. And third, below it was a tiny round indentation in the wall. Ayuen took her medallion out from under her shirt. Was this the next step she had been looking for? Carefully, she tried to fit the medallion into the socket. It fit like a glove. Slowly, like a mountain stream trickling down the high tops of the Grey Crown, blue light began to fill the cracks between the mosaic pieces. As it got stronger and stronger, the sound of crackling energy also became louder. Rove shouted for her to get back, Trïeste jumping backwards with wide eyes.
“Stay back!” Ayuen shouted, keeping the amulet in its socket. “I got this. And even if I do not, let’s not all get caught in a trap again.”
This was her mission, her responsibility. She would see this through. The light now ran through the entire art piece.
A soft and low rumble shook the room, strong enough to make Ayuen wobble on her legs. She gritted her teeth and stretched out her wings to keep her balance. With dust being thrown up around her, the mosaic began vibrating in place. A sense of excitement began overtaking her as she saw that the pieces were slowly shifting. Flowing around each other, forming new shapes and new pictures. The light played with the dust in the air, making it seem like she was enveloped by a storm of glimmers.
Ayuen found herself unable to do anything but stare at it, captivated by the dance of tiles and light. Things went on for a good minute, but the rumbling eventually died away, followed by the blue light dimming. The room returned to its dark state, the stones on their hands the only source of light once more. Before her, the mosaic was still once again, but it now painted an entirely different picture. Instead of the mountain, the cog and the river, it now showed a map of the northeastern part of what appeared to be the Grasping Isle. The image of the cog was still present, although it moved more to the south, and a road seemed to lead from their current location towards the northern coast, indicated by thin brown tiles forming a line. What was enough more interesting though was the appearance of a symbol which appeared to be some sort of low plant with vines and leaves curling around itself. A single fruit rested on top of it, with a golden drop rolling down from the object’s top. Excitement bubbled up from deep inside her core and burst out of her with a happy shout before she could stop herself.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“This! This has to be it! We’ve found it! The location of the Dawn!” She called out happily before she could contain herself, forgetting that Trïeste didn’t know their heading yet. Both she and Rove looked at Trïeste, gauging her reaction for a moment. Trïeste responded by giving the two of them a big grin and a shrug.
“Y’re lookin’ for somethin’ called the Dawn of Life, right? I’ve gathered as much from Prado’s men when I was in Tinkersong. Overheard them talking about it. Figured I’d just keep my mouth shut. Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. I’m okay with chasing after some fairytale.” The Vysari girl jutted a thumb at the mosaic. “Although it’s startin’ to seem less and less of a fairytale and more like a real thing.”
“Ah, so you already knew.” She felt rather stupid for not telling her now. “Why didn’t you mention it to us, when you already noticed that we were holding back information from you?”
“Now stop right there.” The young Vysari woman said, putting one hand on her hip and waving her question away with the other. “Both of you saved me from a whole lot of trouble back in Herhor’s End. I’m not a woman that does not repay her debts. You two are good people. I don’t need to know everythin’.” Rove got a little wink from the girl. “Call it naïve, call it dumb, but that’s how I roll. Better to just accept it. Plus, I want to be there when the tension gets too much.”
Rove rolled his eyes, but Ayuen could see a glimmer of respect in his gaze. The little things gave it away, the corner of his lips rising just a tad, the way he put some more weight on his left leg.
“Right,” Rove said. “It’s clear that I’m just not able to get through to both you and my client on some points. This is just one more thing to add to that little list. At any rate, we’ll get you up to speed properly once we bust out of this place. Can you live with that, miss Ayuen?”
“It’s not like I truly have any choice in the matter now, do I?” She replied, avoiding eye contact with either of them as she saw Trïeste stealthily wriggling her eyebrows at her. Her wings were quite interesting all of a sudden. “Once we escape from this heap of dust and debris, I’ll tell you everything you need to know. But for now, Trïeste, please do me a favour and wait a minute before you attempt not to blow us up.”
Ayuen took out her sketchbook and her writing implements. She took a deep breath, sucking on the back of her quill before she started sketching. The scratching of her pen was the only thing that reached her ears, so deep was her concentration. Every detail had to be just right, anything less was unacceptable. It took her quite a while to get everything down to a level she was happy with, but eventually, she managed. Nodding happily to herself, she pocketed the map and turned to her companions.
“All done?” Rove asked, the Herhor sitting down against the wall, Stormgrinder on his lap. Trïeste was rummaging through all the drawers of her new toy, putting some of her backpack’s contents in it as well.
“All done. We can get going now. Thank you for being patient.”
“No problem. You’re the one that pays my bills, after all.” Stretching his arms lazily, the Herhor stood up. Ayuen poked her tongue at Rove playfully. “Be careful or I might fine you for that sharp tongue of yours.”
“Yes, yes, ma’am. Got it, got it.” Rove let out a big yawn while he leaned against the wall.
“Well then, show us what you can do, Trïeste.” Ayuen stepped a bit back, taking cover in the corridor on the other side of the room. “Let’s hope they don’t turn out to be duds.”
“Excuse you?!” The response came, tone full of indignation. “I know full well what I’m doin’!”
With a little flick and a click of flint, Trïeste lit the fuse and sparks flew off the rope-like material as it slowly burned up the fuse. They all covered their ears and waited for the bang. It didn’t take too long for Trïeste’s contraption to do its job. A deafening roar of sound shook the space, almost deafening her despite Ayuen plugging her ears. It was followed by another one a few seconds later. After the explosions faded away, the sound of groaning metal reached her ears and she looked past the corner with hope bubbling up. The door took quite the beating, two massive charred spots marking where the upper hinge had once been. With the heavy metal door getting insufficient support, the door slowly keeled over a couple of centimetres before stopping, the groaning fading away as well. It looked like it could collapse by blowing against it.
“That looks promising. Good job.” Rove said approvingly, striding eagerly towards the door. “I’ll take care of the rest.”
The man stood next to the door’s frame and gave it a big kick, putting all of his weight into it. The metal began groaning once more, but instead of dying away, it became louder and louder. Rove barely had time to jump out of the way of the massive slab of metal before it crashed to the ground. A massive cloud of dust prevented them from looking further, but Ayuen was confident. They were free, and their journey would continue!
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Sometimes, it seemed to her that luck was spent in waves. You are lucky for a short while, which is then followed by a tremendous streak of bad luck. And it appeared as if they’d just run out of luck. Behind the doors, a pile of rubble greeted them. For a couple of seconds, Ayuen couldn’t comprehend the sight as blood turned to ice in her veins. She just stared at the new obstacle, feeling cold and empty inside. Rove, muttering a neverending stream of curses, walked over to the boulders and gave it a good kick. Some of the smaller rocks rolled down. By the looks of it, the boulders weren’t that big. Maybe they co-... The chilliness inside made way for adrenaline when she realized part of the rubble from the top of the pile was rolling down into the room. Which meant that the door wasn’t only keeping something in.
“Rove, get out of there! It’s going to collapse!”
“Oh, you got to be…” Again, Rove barely made it out of the way as the big pile of rubble rolled down into the chamber. It brought an even bigger cloud of dust with it, robbing them of their vision for a good while as they coughed and hacked.
Finally, Ayuen looked toward the opening. And was blinded by a ray of sunlight piercing the dust to shine directly in her face. Like a gift from the Arals, the way out greeted them with a glimmer. Without spoiling the moment with words, the three of them hastily climbed out, taking their first breath of fresh air in what could easily be days. The exit led to a slope littered with rubble, a portion of the rocks having rolled inside when they forced the door open. Below, to their right, Ayuen could just see the lake beside which Tinker Spring was built as a speck of azure against the grey and green.
Oh, it was good to be out of those dusty ruins. The sun had just peeked its head over the mountains of the Grey Crown, indicating it was somewhere in the morning. It was chilly, but Ayuen just smiled as she pulled her wings around herself. Below them, the mountain’s slopes stretched for a few kilometres. It would take them quite a while to get down, but that was alright. They had the entire day left to get to Tinker Spring.
[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/876104022833127448/1076816716199370852/CW_13.png]
Art by Fantastical, Fantastical Art Licence