With the wyrm's scale recovered by Blue’s newfound powers, Elwin had been able to create a ‘compass’ that supposedly pointed to the location of the final Labyrinth Trial, needed to lift the final seal on the entrance to ADAM’s Labyrinth beneath Al Dherjza. He had worked all throughout the night to create it, and upon seeing it function as intended, had promptly fallen asleep in an exhausted heap.
He had awoken in the late afternoon, joining Phee and Blue on the upper deck. They still hadn’t reached the final trial. The compass only showed the direction in which they had to travel, and gave no indication as to the proximity. So the three of them were forced to wait in nervous anticipation.
When questioned about the true nature of the Wrights’ book she now held, Blue’s explanation was quite simple.
“It’s a dictionary.” The priestess had said.
“A dictionary?” Phee had asked in puzzlement.
“Yes. A dictionary, a list of valid words to use at any given time. Do you see how these runes fluctuate and change? It is a two-fold cypher, of language and time. In other words, this book is only useful once you can both read the words, and have their sequence memorised to the extent that you know what form they will take by the time you speak them. I imagine that it would take a Wright years of training before even the most basic utterances can be used in any meaningful way.”
“…So, what can you even do with this power? I mean we saw how you summoned the scale that I dropped, but what do you think is really happening when you speak?” Phee asked.
At this question, Blue furrowed her brows and pursed her lips in deep discomfort. “It is quite simple. Too simple to be denied, despite how I may feel about it; My words are shaping reality as I see fit.”
“Really? Then with such a power, wouldn’t the Wrights be unstoppable?”
“Theoretically, if they could completely master the art of it, then yes. But the issue isn’t simply recalling the right words at the right time, you also need to have the creativity to say words that apply to the context of the situation.”
“Hmm.”
“The part about this that bothers me most is: who would invent these books? Who would seek to commandeer ADAM’s power like this?”
“…Ulberich.” Blue said after a pause, answering her own question.
“…Ulberich.” Said Elwin simultaneously, having been listening to the entire conversation.
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“Who?” Phee asked.
“The greatest mage of all time. He abhorred knowing that we lived under the providence of a greater being, and so sought to become all-powerful.” Elwin explained.
“What happened to him?” Phee asked once more.
“We don’t know. It was a thousand years ago, but every trace of him just… disappears from the history books.” Elwin told her.
In the early evening, as the sun was beginning to dye the blue sky in shades of orange flecked with pink, Elwin’s compass, held by Blue, suddenly stopped working. The needle spun in place.
She looked up, and her mechanical eyes saw something far above them. It was large enough to be easily visible by the naked eye, provided one knew what to look for. It was like a tiny cloud, slightly darker than the rest of the wispy clouds in the evening sky. A floating island.
“Lower the sails; we have arrived.” Blue declared.
Phee and Elwin turned their gazes to the sky, squinting to make out what they had expended so much effort to find. There were no other floating islands in sight. If the compass was right, this was the one. Elwin checked his creation for any defects, just in case they had been led astray. Everything seemed to be in order.
But now they were faced with another issue.
“How are we gonna get up there?” Phee wondered aloud.
“From my estimations, the floating island is nearly eight hundred meters above us,” Blue noted.
“How does that compare to Ellenia’s Prime Moontree?” Elwin asked.
“Over twice as high.”
Elwin’s eyes widened in disbelief. “How in the Broken Stars are we going to get that high?”
Blue seemed to be contemplating something. She shrugged as if she had nothing to lose.
“Elwin, drink that Potion of Toughening that I gave you. I do have an idea that I think will work…” she advised.
Elwin obliged, downing a small glass bottle of amber liquid.
Then, Blue began to speak once more.
“On desert sand does the wyrm’s prey boil
Crafted by hand, once tall fruit of the soil
Come here to eat, of grainy estate
A splintery treat, for hunger to sate!” she uttered.
Halfway through Blue’s poem, Phee realised the crafty elf’s intent.
“Wait wait wait wait! Are you serious?” Phee asked, aghast. “Did you forget about what I said about destroying the skiff? This thing is our lifeline!”She ran to the port side guardrails, looking over the side of the boat at the desert below.
“Shh, wait. Do you feel that?” Elwin asked, pointy ears a-perked.
Phee could hear only silence.
But then came a low rumbling from deep within the land. Grains of sand on the surface of the desert twitched and tumbled ever so slightly.
“Get ready,” Blue warned.
Phee got off the handrail to face Blue as she spoke rather angrily. “Don’t you think we should- OOF!“
Phee was interrupted as all three of them were violently slammed into the deck as a wyrm flew into the hull of the skiff from below. Numerous parts of the boat splintered and broke as it was tossed high into the air. The deafening sound of rushing air filled their ears.
If not for the potion he had drunk just seconds earlier, Elwin may well have been killed by the abrupt impact. Scrambling to right his dizzy self onto all fours atop the darkened, uneven, jagged wood of broken planks. He looked around, gasping as he saw rows of gigantic, two-meter-long sharp teeth all around the sides of the skiff. Even as he watched, the jaws tightened, crumpling the deck even more.
“What are you gawking around for?! Let’s go!” Phee shouted from behind him, barely audible over the wind. She grabbed Elwin’s wrist as she ran towards the stern, dragging him along.