Turning to Stone 5: The Shadows Fall

Chapter 1: Future

Laskell felt someone poking her, shutting her eyes even tighter and shoving her head under her pillow. "Five more minutes." The Xyster mumbled, attempting to shove her friend away, but to no avail. Glowbe shone bright, his yellow color mimicking the sun and shining through her pillow.

"I'm up! I'm up. You can chill with the light." She yanked her head away, covering her eyes until the light dulled back to normal. "You're worse than an alarm clock, you know that?" Glowbe didn't seem fazed. Laskell had been his best friend since "practically forever", as she liked to say, and everyone was grumpy in the morning.

Laskell slithered out of bed, stretching like a cat. Xysters were the most interesting member of the Ghazt family tree. According to her research, Xysters were descended from a pair of Ghazts that made their way to Magical Sanctum many years ago, estimated to be around the same time that the Continent had split. They were brothers that had settled down on the islands, and the kids that they had with the monsters already there were the first in a long line that ended in Xysters being made.

She'd never left Magical Sanctum before, she had no way to, but she so desperately wanted to. There was no transportation to and from the island, and Xysters didn't have the portal-making abilities their Ghazt ancestors did. So she read a lot, all that she could find on the outside world.

There used to be a school once, on Tribal Island, but that no longer existed. The island itself had been destroyed many many years ago, and hostility between islands prevented a new school from being built. Monsters would learn on their own islands.

It was a shame, really. Laskell wanted to meet other monster species, to learn through experience. You could only learn so much through books.

Glowbe had vastly different opinions. Magical Sanctum was safe, there was no need to go exploring into potentially dangerous territory for only curiosity. "Curiosity killed the Ghazt", he'd warn, blinking in morse code. Laskell would roll her eyes and reply that she wasn't technically a Ghazt, but Glowbe wouldn't listen.

Maybe being made out of glass just makes him more fragile than me. Even her skinny tailbones were more durable than Glowbe's entire body. Despite their differences, the two stuck together through thick and thin.

Seasons didn't affect the pocket dimension, but time was still a major aspect of their lives. Right now it was apparently summer, and although Laskell had yet to feel the "boiling heat" she had read about on places like "Earth Island", Summer was still important. School wasn't in session, which meant more time to spend inside the library.

She slithered through the castle halls, passing by the occasional other monster and giving them a wave. Most of them knew her, even if she didn't speak much to anyone but Glowbe. Who needs other monsters? I have books, and books are good enough.

As she entered the giant library, she took a moment to breathe in the smell of old paper. "Apparently the smell of old books is called 'Biblichor'." Laskell told Glowbe. "You tell me that nearly every time we come here-" He blinked back, but Laskell was too busy looking at the books to notice her friend's flashing lights. The downsides of being completely silent.

The Xyster made her way to her favorite section of the library, the one she stayed in nearly every day. It was a reading nook in a corner of the library right where fiction turned into nonfiction, so there were plenty of options. Today, she had selected a book about "Seasonals", a special kind of monster known for celebrating holidays.

Glowbe hovered over her shoulder as she flopped down onto a pillow, opening the book and getting comfortable. Laskell didn't mind him reading over her shoulder, it was something he'd always done. She was used to it by now.