Eight Intertwined

50 - Ruby

The manor at the edge of town continued to tower over Noblecourt as the party drew nearer, and Therion glared at the peaks of the building as he walked in its direction. At the very least, he was glad that Barham had been willing to help him, and he could say that he at least had one other person on his side outside of his current traveling party. He would hardly say it had been worth the difficulties that came with Noblecourt's general existence as far as he was concerned, but it was a step in the right direction given all the frustrations the town had offered him before. 

Orlick was bound to be yet another irritation in a long line, and Therion would have been lying if he said he was at all looking forward to seeing what was going to come of this next. He could tell that if Orlick was firm enough in his ideals to toss out his research partner, he wasn't going to be letting go of the dragonstone quite so easily. In other words, it seemed like it was just a matter of time before Therion was forced to raise his dagger in combat. At the very least, this wouldn't be a fight to death, and after what had happened with Rufus, that was an improvement. It did leave Therion wondering just how awful his life had become if he was glad to not have to fight for the right to continue breathing each time he marched off to combat, but he knew there wasn't an easy way to answer that question. In the end, he decided that finding a solution to the problem wasn't worth it and would only serve to add another layer of frustration on top of everything else Noblecourt seemed intent on doing to damage his sense of self-esteem. 

Cyrus wound up falling into step alongside Therion as the mansion continued to get closer, and Therion glanced over in his direction. "I'm glad you're not like Orlick," he muttered under his breath. He wouldn't say that he knew much about Cyrus given how different they were as people, but at the very least, he could say with confidence that the scholar he was traveling with was far from being the same as the one who was holding the ruby dragonstone with such feverish obsession. 

Cyrus perked up at Therion's words with a small smile on his face, though Therion couldn't quite read what Cyrus was trying to get across. "The pursuit of knowledge is a difficult path to traverse," he said simply. "One must always walk a fine line so as to not slip into obsession. Orlick... It seems as if his passion has become his downfall."

"If he's not going to hand over the dragonstone easily, then we're just going to have to take it," Therion told him. "I hope you're ready to take him down, because I doubt he's going to just roll over and let us take the stone without any consequences."

Cyrus nodded. "Of course. I refuse to allow his actions to bring harm to any of us," he assured Therion firmly, and once again, the thief felt a sensation that seemed a lot like foreign belonging rise in his chest. It was odd to have someone looking after him, and Cyrus was hardly the sort who Therion would have expected to say such a thing. 

Therion was so stunned by Cyrus' words that he didn't seem to realize that the scholar had started to speak again until a few moments later. "I wonder if the dragonstone has any qualities that could contribute to Orlick's shift in behavior," he murmured. "When we were around the sapphire dragonstone in Bolderfall, I couldn't help but notice how oddly captivating it was... The dragonstones hold great magical power, and perhaps it can act as a poison if someone is around them too much."

That caught Therion off guard, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized Cyrus probably had a point. The dragonstone had been in a secluded corner of Ravus Manor, and the guards that were meant to look after the stones were stationed a small distance away. It would make sense if that was because Cordelia and Heathcote were trying to ensure nobody fell under the influence of the mysterious power contained within the gems. "So Orlick getting so close to the jewel..." he began to whisper. 

"It could be doing something to taint his way of thinking, yes," Cyrus finished for him. "It would hardly surprise me if his sudden shift to obsession had something to do with the dragonstone itself. After all, the gems are endlessly powerful, and a strength like that... It would be more than enough to catch the attention of anyone interested in the arcane arts, and from there, it would hardly be a stretch for them to fall under the influence of the stones."