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No longer, the endless cycles of cultivation with no guarantee of success, now this “System” would, at the small, small cost of changing...
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“Our… pact?” Matt said, as he tried to order his thoughts. He didn’t need the guandao’s insistent signals of danger to pick up the undercurrent of threat behind the Crystal Fae’s words and attitude. “I am unaware of any pact between us.”
“Humans! Stupid, ignorant and untrustworthy!” The small creature threw its short arms in the air, and Matt tensed when he noticed delicate filaments of power branching out from its hands, extending several inches into the air.
A moment later, the threads disappeared, and after another short pause, the creature spoke again. “Calm yourself down, human. I have already decreed that you have nothing to fear from us today. Are you so ignorant that you do not know that the word of the Fae cannot be broken? You should be happy that I am a reasonable person, or I might take your reaction as an insult. Relax your weapon and listen. Even as it pains me, I need to explain.”
Mariant turned to whisper something to another glowing fleck of light, who rapidly flew away and into the city beyond before they continued.
“We have a pact with you, humans. It has been several of your generations since your people last lived in the Caverns of the Lost, but that does not void our deal, and all this time we have kept up our side of the pact. The empty hallways and vast caverns still ring with the memories of those that have been lost to time. With your return, our obligations end.”
Another fae approached Mariant and said something that made them pause for a moment. Eventually, they turned back to Matt.
“I have little time. I have matters to attend to, so let us be quick about it. Do you have more questions, before you will accept the conclusion of our pact?”
Thor put a hand gently on Matt’s arm. “May I ask a question first, Sir Mariant?” Then added, “If that is the proper way to address you?”
“It would be, if this was a formal negotiation. And if you desire to make this a formal setting, I am more than happy to do so. What do you say? Shall we bring this conversation into the formal rules of parley?”
There was an unsettling eagerness to Mariant’s question. “Let us… let us avoid formality for now, Mariant,” Thor responded quickly, emphasising the informality of the name. “This is still just a conversation.”
“Very well. That was a wise choice. You are not entirely hopeless, then. As I was saying, and I will try to be brief, a deal was struck with the leadership of the humans who lived here before. In exchange for access to certain… items that we need, we promised to take care of the city while we waited for humans to return.”
Matt tilted his head. “Items? What items? And what do you mean, take care?”
Mariant answered with a small sigh of exasperation. “I cannot believe that you do not know this already. This pact, and its terms, has shaped the lives of my tribe for hundreds of years, and you just… Anyway. We of the Crystal Fae require access to magical essence. As the last humans left Sanctum Citadel, they allowed us access to their vaults. Vaults filled with essence crystals.”
Mariant looked over at a dead white lurker, and Matt followed its glance. Essence crystals… Like the ones we found in the monsters in the farm cave.
“Without the presence of humans, the natural supply of these crystals dwindled to near nothing. Now that has changed, and we have no further need for our deal. With your presence here, access to essence crystals will soon resume. In any event, the vaults are nearly empty.”
Mariant paused before continuing.
“So I ask you again, for your agreement to consider our pact complete.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Matt noticed Mia trying to get his attention. He thought he knew what she wanted and looked at her. Catching her eyes, he gave her an assuring nod before turning back to Mariant. “No. You do not have that agreement. Not yet, anyway.”
“You–”
Mariant looked furious as they began to speak, but Matt interrupted them and continued, taking a small step forward and squaring his shoulders. “Not yet, I said. We need to understand the situation better. I need to understand the terms of the deal that was struck, and the implications of concluding the pact.”
Mariant stayed silent as he spoke, but Matt picked up on a tightening in their expression.
Relaxing his stance slightly, Matt continued in a softer voice. “Once we have a better understanding, you will have our decision.”
“Very well. What do you want to know?”
Mia stepped closer and asked, “I understand you received access to the City’s stores of essence crystals. What did the humans receive in return?”
“I already told you. For all the long years since then, we have safeguarded and taken care of the city of Sanctum Citadel,” Mariant answered in a sharp tone, arms folded across their chest.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Oh… Matt spoke up. “What do you mean, take care of?” he asked, an insight forming somewhere in the back of his mind.
Mariant paused for a long time, and Matt was about to ask his question again when they spoke at last. “The Runes of Preservation. Surely, you have noticed the condition of the city? Of its buildings and interior, of its tools and plants and books? Pristine, as per the terms of our pact. Ready for your return. The evidence of the fulfilment of our contract is all around.”
Matt’s heart beat faster as he asked, “The Runes of Preservation… They are what has kept everything in perfect condition? Can you show me these runes?”
Mariant’s laugh was mocking. “Foolish human. You cannot see the weave, and even if you could, you would not understand. You could not comprehend the connections, the patterns.”
Ignoring Mariant’s dismissive tone, Matt asked, “The weave?”, suspecting he already knew the answer.
“The symbols, the energy. The lines and patterns of essence that weave the tapestry of life and death. The Threads of Destiny. We, of the Crystal Fae, can see them, just as they were never meant for human sight.”
Mia was rubbing the stump at the end of her arm with her hand as she asked in a soft voice, “And these Runes, they were your part of the pact?”
“To render their mark on all things, to fuel them, to maintain them. Those who lived here made this deal when they saw their doom coming. They paid with generations of accumulated wealth for us to maintain The Runes of Preservation on the city and the surrounding caves. And that payment has in turn preserved us. It was an equitable pact, but now–”
“These crystals, are they like this one?” Vic interrupted Mariant and held up one of the crystals they had found. “Is this what you need?”
Matt thought he saw a flicker of hunger in Mariant’s eyes.
“Yes. But that one crystal is just a drop in the ocean. We are many. We need… many. But now our time is up. If you will not conclude the pact today, we shall take our leave.”
“We…” Matt looked at Mia and Thor, who returned slight shakes of their heads. “We will need more time to consider the situation carefully before making our decision. But why do you need to leave already?”
“Our presence here consumes energy, and we need to return to our homes. We will continue this conversation later. Hopefully, you can dig yourselves out of ignorance before then.”
Mariant called out for another fae who was hovering behind.
“This is Verdant. I will leave her here with you. You may contact me through her when you are ready to talk. Until then, our access to your vaults remains. Farewell.”
As Mariant and the other coloured lights flickered out into darkness, a single dark, green crystal glow flew towards Mia. The wisp traced slowly before her face, before it flew in faster and faster circles around her head. Matt could see how thin tendrils of green glimmered behind the fae as they wrapped around Mia. Finally, the creature stopped right in front of her face.
A moment later, Mia smiled and nodded, before she said, “Yes, that is right. And yours too, I think?”
Another pause, and then Mia spoke again. “Not for long, just a few days. But something about it… Just feels right. How about you?”
Mia listened again and was about to speak when Vic spoke up. “Mia? Who are you talking to?”
“Who…? Oh,” she said, pausing for a moment. “Verdant tells me that… She can choose who can hear her. We were talking about… She has the same affinity as I do–Growth–she was just curious how long I’ve had it.”
“Verdant, was it?” Matt asked the fae, who responded by bobbing up and down. “What–”
She flew closer, stopping just a foot from Matt’s face, and interrupted him. “The threads. You can see them, can you not?”
“Erh…” momentarily flustered, Matt didn’t know what to say, or if he should reveal that information. “Why do you say that?”
“Of course, I understand if you want to keep your secret,” she said. “Trust is not yet established between us. But I saw the way your eyes lit up when you picked the blade of grass, the way you focused on the threads.”
Blade of grass? “You saw that? You were here the whole time, even before the white lurkers attacked?”
“Your presence drew us here, and we had just arrived. We were… observing you, when the monsters charged.”
“And you didn’t help until Vic was nearly killed?” Matt asked, anger in his voice.
“Mariant… He wanted to observe, first. I might not always agree with him, but he is our leader.”
“Mariant seemed certain humans cannot see these threads. Why is that, and why do you think otherwise?” Matt asked.
“Mariant can sometimes be so focused on his mission that he cannot see an obvious truth. It is true what he said. We have no memory or knowledge of humans seeing the Threads of Destiny. It was a… A point of contention, with the humans who lived here before. It made them dependent on us for so many things.”
If humans used to depend on the fae because they could see the threads… Matt felt distrust and a lingering anger at the fae, but it was mixing with a growing spark of curiosity. He sensed an opportunity to obtain answers and decided to be honest with the fae. “Yes,” he nodded. “I can see the threads, but I know so little. I can see the symbols, the patterns, and I recognise some, but—”
“It takes lifetimes to learn to read the symbols,” Verdant said, then added wistfully “But many consider it lifetimes well spent.”
“Why are you so helpful, Verdant?” Matt asked. “Mariant seemed to consider us… worthless.”
“Mariant has his duties.” The little fae looked thoughtful before continuing. “And those duties do not permit levity or friendliness. He is the Pact-Holder, a sacred task given directly to him by the Queen. Why will you not agree to end the pact?”
Mia answered. “Because… It is not just about us. Our responsibility extends beyond just the five of us, or even the city. Countless humans depend on us,” she said, and then lowered her voice. “Maybe all of them. We cannot make rash decisions, especially when we don’t fully understand them. And I still know next to nothing about this pact. I need more information… To start, I still don’t understand who you are–the Crystal Fae. You live down here? You have lived here for… A long time?”
“Since the first humans. Although we were much more then, than we are now. We are… How to explain this? Some of the ancient humans called us a byproduct of what they called their System, and what we call The Framework.”