Tobias began to wake from his deep sleep. He felt slobber on his face. No doubt from Onyx. Groaning in pain he held his chest and ribs. Still alive, that was for sure. It did not feel like they were moving at all. Had they even left Metlock’s in the first place? The slobber continued down his face. Thick slabs of drool slid down his shirt. That had been enough to wake him.
He was greeted with the gaping mouth of the vulture. Its tongues held his head firmly in place as it attempted to swallow him. His shoes kicked against the car trying to break free. With one free arm he attempted to open the car. The other swung up at his assailant.
“Get off me you damn turkey!” Tobias yelled.
As his fist connected, he felt cool metal. He blinked and realized his fist was firmly against the car's roof. The curled fist fell to his chest. That may have been a mistake as he instantly felt pain. As if the bones in his chest had been shattered. Lydon was ahead of him in the front seat. Blonde spiky hair poking through the headrest. Shoulder blades dampened to a dark red. The gauze soaked up all of the blood.
Maxwell had been staring at him, as he restlessly flailed. Gun in hand pointed at the ceiling. Finger off the trigger.
“Just in case. Those things were disgusting. I don't blame you.” Maxwell said. With a wave of his hand he tossed the gun back on top of John’s dashboard.
The rain had not let up. Water pounded the hood of the car. Tobias opened the door just a crack. His hand felt the cool rain against his skin. He simply gave Maxwell a nod. Onyx was in the seat next to him, watching with one eye open. He was relieved he had listened and not attacked. bird. He couldn’t stand to lose his buddy. Of course he was happy he did not perish with his friends as well.
Tobias could hardly get the words out. “What time is it?” He said.
“Two in the morning.” Maxwell said with the cap over his face.
Opening the door wider, he realized where they were at. His car was right next to him. The station was light-less saved for the one lighting the entry door. As comfortable as the new-age vehicles had been, a bed always triumphed in the end. Wanting to head in and get just that, Tobias moved his long black hair out the front of his face. Reaching over he gently shook Lydon awake.
Once out in the rain, the three of them walked like zombies. Onyx was the first one to the entrance. Lydon folded his glasses and tucked them away in his shorts.
“Have not been here in sometime. The extra rooms still in the back?” Lydon asked.
“Yes, they are. I am going to my room. See you guys whenever I wake.” Maxwell said.
His squeaky footsteps from the rain turned into faint echoes as he went up.
“Catch ya later, Tobias.” Lydon said.
Who took his leave. Under his own power. Grumbled words trailed off as he went for a room in the back.
Tobias turned around and went back outside, while Onyx looked at him, puzzled. Not wanting to go back into the rain, he turned and ran down the hallway. His paws almost matched the pace of the falling rain. Rain showered him as he looked into the dark. The light above only gave so much vision. They seemed to be safe. No shadows circled them or distant colors to increase anxiety. Was worth double checking. Just in case they were attacked again. None of them had been in any shape to fight back as it was. Whatever they had been seeing, and recently encountered was no nightmare. That was for certain. With no sign of any late night freaks or light shows, he slammed the doors to the station shut. Both locks shut tightly. He shook the water out of his hair like a dog. The door to the Annuals caught his attention. Made out of marble hundreds of years ago, it was still in perfect condition. With everything going on, it wouldn’t hurt to see if whoever was down there was okay.
Inside the underground library was dimly lit from a mix of torches and chandeliers. On the wall before the set of stairs, a large stone mural lay across it. It depicted the early settlers crossing a river with horses ahead of them and in tow. With a few trees in the back, wolves looking on. The stairs had been renovated to a sturdy oak. Much better than the last time he was here. No boards missing and pieces splintered off.
About halfway down the stairs, he caught a glimpse of a woman. She was at the lowest level putting something on one of the pillars. Not wanting to distract her from working, he took a quick look over the scrolls on the second level. Most of them were in other languages, so of course he had no idea what they said. In the middle various plaques sit collecting loads of dust. It was a shame, really. The first records showed different people had been here first Remnants dotted across Insmourn from old maps. Where they had first settled.
Language was also a key difference. It was not in the native Thara tongue. There was a chance they could have been a part of the Thara, migrating from the Desolation mountains at some point in their history. Most likely before the height of their prosperity. Efforts were, and have been made to communicate with the few survivors. First attempts by earlier people, such as Charles Fordund, famed for his many translations. At first the Thara were angered by his question. Perhaps they had been worried he would send others to hunt them down. Or alter their history. To a state of slander they would not be able to overcome. Over time they opened up to the questions. With no feasible way to translate, many early records remain, officially lost to time.
He went down the stairs, passing the rows and rows of bookshelves, statues and displays on each level. They seemed to stretch on for miles. He had forgotten how big it was. After not having the time to visit the past few years. On the bottom of the stairs he stopped.
“Hello, everything looks to be good down here. Are you all right?” Tobias asked, leaving the last step and walking towards her. Her long black hair with a little teal at her tips, turned around. Her eyes widened for a moment.
“Yes I am fine and thank you. And who might you be?” She said.
I am Tobias, and you are?”
“Eralar, nice to meet you. I would shake your hand but I have so much material on my hands. You definitely do not want any of it.” She said, smiling.
“That’s alright. I’m sure, after the day I’ve had it's safer to not.”
“That bad huh, you do look awful to be fair.”
He still had a hand over his chest in pain. The dust filled library took away some of the pain. It was safe inside here.
“Yes, that bad. Just came to see if you were alright and nothing crazy happened. I am going to sleep and it looks like everything is normal down here.”
“Okay, I am going to sleep soon too. Going to sleep down here still have some pillars and things to pat together.”
“Alright I am not sure if we get a signal down here, but if anything weird happens let Maxwell or I know. Lydon too, he is the one with spiky blonde hair. He always has sunglasses on. Can't miss him.”
“I don’t think anything will happen. Just dust and old fables to keep me company. When I finish down here I will let you guys know before I leave.”
She was still smiling and did not have the slightest hint of worry. With hands on her hips, she looked ready to take on one of those creatures.
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“Sounds good, we will still be here. On the third floor most likely. See you then, goodnight.” Tobias said.
“Goodnight.” She replied. She reached down into a bag on the floor and took out a small lamp. Then went back to fixing up a cracked pillar.
Rain, rain and more rain. Pounding against the station in the early hours. Tobias rolled on his side and stared at the small window. No nightmares, monsters, necklaces, or blood. That was a great start to the day. Onyx was not in the room. That traitor was probably still hanging out with Lydon. The Holoframe showed a single message. As luck had it, it was from Grant. It read:
Hey where are you at right now? Have you seen Solace? Knew that he wasn't feeling too good. No response back yet.Tobias wrote back:
I am at the station with Maxwell and Lydon. Had one hell of a night meet us here.
The holoframe read it was already one in the afternoon.
“Holy hell did I ever need that.” He said. The whole chest and stomach were sore. The pain was lessened. More manageable than before. A visit to the doctor, or Lydons lab was definitely needed. The third floor door to Maxwell's office/room was halfway open. Maxwell and Lydon were talking between themselves. One Holoframe was spitting out pictures of the places they had been. Many images of yesterday hung up on the back wall. Eralar was standing to the side of the door.
Tobias noticed past the yellow sleeves of her shirt, that she had some strange markings on her palms. It had to have been from whatever she was using to repair things downstairs. She turned as he stepped inside.
“Good morning everyone. You all sure slept in.” She said.
“Morning, surprised you did not take off yet.” Tobias said.
“I would have but still needed to check in. Seems you guys have woven yourself into quite a bit of trouble.”
“Well, yes. As you can see.”
Tobias turned to Maxwell and Lydon and shrugged his shoulders.
“Too late to hide all the evidence.” Tobias said. He went over to the pictures of the docks. It was still hard to believe the destruction the creature had caused.
Her voice rang out through the air. It was a little too pleasant for Tobias.
“I have seen things like this before in my travels. Not on this scale though.”
They all just watched her.
“Did I say something wrong?” She asked. Her voice toned down.
“No. It’s just, how did you survive? Where did you see these exactly?” Tobias asked. The crew all held onto their aching bones as she filled them in.
“I am from Duneweave. While It wasn’t these exact same creatures. I have seen those similar color patterns scurrying about the sands and the low tides.”
“There are more besides these freaks up here? That's just great!” Lydon said.
“There haven’t been any the size that you all have seen. Just of a beetle. Those are harmless and have not done anything for years.”
“Years!” Lydon said, mouth agape.
“Yes, years. There have also been a handful of other attacks. Most of the creatures were about the average size of a human. Mostly as I said, giant beetles, Land sharks, crabs, birds, even seaweed that attacked people.”
The three men stood there baffled.
“So, uh, how many years has it been. Since you have seen these creatures.” Tobias asked.
“As soon as I became interested in Duneweave’s history. I started to work on preserving our culture five years ago. She said.
“Before we had our encounter. How interesting.” Tobias said.
“We have recorded attacks of the bigger ones, which we call Sar-ywnjir, or sand stalkers.” She said. The pictures of the desk caught her attention. She brushed her hair over her shoulder and examined them.
“Have you seen these first hand Eralar? You seem to know quite a bit about what is going on.” Tobias asked.
“Not exactly. I have seen drawings and etchings of them. May have seen them lurking in the distance. Not sure if it was a mirage from the sands, or something else.” She replied.
“How do people down in Duneweave deal with this?” Maxwell asked.
“Normal equipment. You know guns and the like.” She said.
She put her hands out and traced a finger along the marks on her palms, most likely a tattoo.
“This is also how!” She said happily.
“So, is it some kind of ward that they hate?” Asked Lydon curiously.
“I might tell you, but I think you guys can see for yourself if, when we run into these beasts.” She said. Still with a big smile across her face.
“When we? You don’t plan on coming with us, do you?” Tobias said.
“I do.” She said. Like last night, hands on the hips of her yellow dress.
“Do you not have family, or anything back home worth staying for? It is going to be dangerous. You can obviously handle yourself it seems. We can only repay you with some dials and our thanks of course” Tobias said.
“This is rather personal between the six of us.” Tobias said. He thought of all the soldiers getting killed yesterday. Their bodies were melted away by that unknown substance. Other innocents stuck under debris. He did not want that to happen to this seemingly innocent woman, repairing history.
“It's okay.” She quickly replied.
“There is not much back at home worth mentioning. Right now I just help keep libraries and ancient wonders from collapsing.”
“If that's what you want, no objections from me.” Tobias said.
Lydon nodded in approval.
“Maxwell?”
“All the help we can get is great, welcome aboard. I do have questions, of course, about what you have run into. Right now we have a lot on our plate. Let’s take care of that first.” Tobias said.
“At the moment we need to figure out our next move.” Maxwell said. “Metlock will be here shortly and ran into a delay. Those shots he fired got the CGA checking on him to see if he was alright. We gotta send him some dials for the meal, and a hearty tip for the unwanted visitors. That reminds me, Grant is on his way over. Not sure what is going on with Solace. No news on his side.”
“Guys I do have some news, not sure if it is going to help us at all.” Lydon said.
“My side-kicks back at home have analyzed that box we found. It was heavily favored being made in Ovoroth. Ninety five percent to five percent, which seems to form pieces of the starlight impact.
Tobias took out the sword hilt and examined it. He thought of the chief's words.
There would be time to use it. Power to cut through the beast also lay within the hilt. How though? Where was the rest of the sword? Tobias thought. The granite was sleek and shiny. Just like the box. Time had done no damage to it. Must have been why it was so special. Why was it buried out here? In this ritual-like state.
“Well I got some bad news.” Maxwell said. He slapped three fingers on his desk.
“Grengraw would like us to follow the beast. They managed to fire a tracker into it. The council is worried there could be more than a single creature. For them to be this far from Archveil, and close to us is trouble.”
“Of course.” Lydon said. He flexed his shoulders. Skin seemed to hold. The gauze had finally dried.
Overnight it seemed to circle around the archipelago. The tracker either lost power or got destroyed.
“Can't wait to go play hide and seek with that freak.” Lydon said.
“I wonder if it has any children.” Eralar said.
“Why would you ask such a thing?” Lydon said, wide-eyed. His mouth in a blank line.
“It could be a nest, or maybe just its den.” Eralar shrugged. Sunlight hit her bare, white shoulders.
“Neither of those are going to work for me.” Lydon said.
“Well that's what the planetary council is afraid of.” Maxwell said. He went to the window where he saw the wolf. All clear so far.
Tobias holoframe sent out a vibration. Grant had arrived.
“We got one of the boys at the gate, Maxwell.” Tobias said.
“Great, I’m sure he is going to love this news.” Maxwell said, heading downstairs.
Grant's immediate attention fell on the monster that they had just ran into, projected on the back wall. With the scenes of the pier in shambles.
“What in the eighth freaking hell is that ugly ass critter?” He said.
Tobias walked up and smacked Grant on the shoulder.
“That my friend, is what we are going after. It made quite the entrance yesterday..”
“Is that so now?” Grant said. He ran a hand over his bald head. His dirty gloves from the forge leaving smudges across it.
“Yes, I'm afraid so.” Tobias said.
Grant pursed his lips, closed his eyes and shook his head.
“We will make a solid plan after I have a quick chat with Maxwell.”
Eralar continued looking over pictures. Tobias couldn't help but look at the marks on her hand. They looked more like hieroglyphs.
Back down on the second level, Tobias sat on one of the old desks covered in dust. He collapsed his fingers together and took a deep breath in. Maxwell stood there with hands in his pockets.
“What's up, man. Not going to lie, you are starting to freak me out.” Maxwell said.
“You will be, once I gather myself.” Tobias said.
“All right well, lay it on me.”
“Will make this as fast as I can so we can return and make plans.”
“Does not sound that bad if it is not going to take that long.”
“Back at the Hangar, we talked to one of the CGA members.”
Tobias paused for a moment. Maxwell spun his hand around as he waited.
“I heard Feyanna’s voice. Her voice was distorted but it was definitely her. She called me Tobi as well. At first I paid no mind. Onyx was too comfortable around her too” Tobias said.
Maxwell stopped swinging his hand around, as it stopped dead in its tracks.
“WHAT?” He yelled. So loud it could have stirred a grave open.
Tobias got up and grabbed his shoulders. “Brother, keep it down. I know.”
“SHE DIED, TOBIAS! We have searched for so long and NOW is the time we get a lead on her?”
“I know you treated her as your own child.”
“Sorry to add a ghost to this mess. She is still out there though. Keep your head up. She said we would meet again. We will know somehow. Don't be so down. Feyanna would hate to see you like this.” Tobias said.
Maxwell stayed quiet solemnly looking down.