Eight Intertwined

167 - Emerald

Therion couldn't tell if he should have been relieved or not when he didn't immediately find the dragonstone. 

On one hand, he had expected something that valuable to stand out to him as soon as he entered the cave. He had imagined he would catch a glimpse of something shining and green and immediately know he had found what he was searching for. The ruby and sapphire dragonstones had both commanded the attention of every person in the rooms where they were found, and Therion had known as soon as he saw them that he had come across something valuable. After such obvious run-ins with the other dragonstones, Therion had been expecting he would find the emerald jewel right away. So far, he had no such luck. 

However, Therion couldn't bring himself to be too upset about it. After all, it was probably for the best that no one had put the emerald dragonstone out for display yet. That meant there was still a chance someone didn't know the truth of its value. If that was the case, then Therion may have been able to steal it without anyone noticing. There were all sorts of valuable treasures in the black market, and if no one thought the dragonstone was particularly special, then he would have no problems with taking it. 

While Therion wanted to hope this would be a painless heist, he already had the sneaking suspicion it wasn't going to be quite so easy. The ruby dragonstone had been so hard to take because of its strange aura of domination. It knew how to take control of the minds of those around it. Heathcote had said during the group's first trip in Bolderfall that the dragonstones could grow almost toxic when they were left on their own, and Therion had seen it firsthand with Orlick. He wouldn't have been so defensive of the stone if it hadn't been practically luring him in to be infatuated by it. The emerald dragonstone was up for sale at the black market, and while that meant no one had fallen for its spell in full yet, that also opened up countless opportunities for passersby to end up obsessed with its green glow. Therion didn't know how easy it would be to steal as long as someone else had decided they would be taking it home no matter the cost, and he could only hope he didn't need to ask that question in the first place. He would just have to wait and see, he supposed, though patience had never been one of his great virtues. 

"Look at all the amazing treasures in here," Tressa muttered. She hadn't reached out to touch anything yet, but Therion could tell she had been tempted at least a handful of times. "I never thought I would see so many incredible things in one place... But it doesn't feel right to be here either."

"Because it's a black market?" Therion finished for her. It made sense that Tressa would have the same morality problems with their current location that Cyrus did. The two of them had a bit too much faith in the world for Therion's taste, but it was such a refreshing contrast to his cynicism that he couldn't even care. 

Tressa nodded. "All of these goods should be easily accessible for the people who need them," she declared. After a moment of pause, she shrugged. "As much as any person can need a jewel. As pretty as they are, I guess they're not strictly necessary to anyone's livelihood."

Therion cast her a frown behind his mask. "Didn't we go to all the trouble to find the eldrite because it's a precious treasure?" he countered. It certainly would have been easier for him if they hadn't gone after it. That would have saved him a lot of trouble with having to fight another monster out for his blood when he had enough troubles fighting beasts as it was. 

Tressa floundered, one hand instinctively moving to her bag where the eldrite was tucked away safely. "Well, yes, but..." She looked around at the goods of the market before shrugging. "None of these questionable treasures are really essential for anybody. I guess people are buying them just because they like them."

"And liking something can drive people to do a lot of things," Therion finished for her. Orlick had certainly grown to like the ruby dragonstone too much for his own good. He couldn't have emphasized enough how much he was hoping he wouldn't have to deal with that again. A single toxic dragonstone infecting those around it was bad enough. Therion was certain he could take any obnoxious noble who decided to pick a fight with him over it, but that didn't mean he wanted to have to fight them. He would have vastly preferred to not have to fight anyone at all and to keep his heists as clean as possible, but as long as that wasn't an option, Therion would just have to deal with bringing the crowd of travelers along as reinforcements.