Draiks and Angels: Twins

26 - Takalonia

The boat ride from Laxos to Takalonia was frustrating for both Satiya and Tadeas. It took way too long and there was nowhere for them to sit. Why would a boat need wing-enabled seating when winged people could just fly over the water? Near the end, Tadeas got the bright idea to conjure a stool. It was only marginally successful, as the type he conjured was too slippery on the deck and he had to use his feet to keep it from sliding all over. Satiya thought it was funny, but wanted to save her magic and opted to keep standing as the captain said they were close, anyway.

When they arrived at Takalonia, they all took a minute to recover their land legs. There were more trees already visible than on Laxos, hiding the interior of the island. A path led from the dock into the trees, so they followed it. When the path split, Satiya told them to go right. The trees thinned and soon they saw stone buildings up ahead. Before they reached them, however, a set of blue-grey tents on either side of the path appeared and a sign proclaiming the area an archaeological site. Apparently hearing their steps on the ground, an elderly man came out of the largest tent and stood in the middle of the path, facing them.

"Fritnat! Didn't expect to see you here," Daniel said genially.

"Kinter. What brings you to my site?" the man asked evenly.

Ignoring the question, Daniel turned to Satiya and Tadeas, "This is Chad Fritnat. We went to school together back when I met your mother. His specialty is..." Daniel turned back to the man.

"Linguistic Anthropology. What are you doing here?" Chad asked again.

"I have a proposition for you. I've heard you also have chambers you cannot enter, here. If we can open them for you, will you let us take any artifacts that look like silver cubes?"

"That's awfully specific."

Daniel shrugged and Chad frowned slightly.

After a moment, Chad replied, "There are two chambers with doors that will not open. If you can open one, we'll see about the other."

"And the artifacts?"

Chad nodded.

Daniel raised his hand in a twisting gesture, "Lead away!"

As they followed Chad through the buildings, they saw many human men inspecting the structures. Satiya counted at least thirty and those were just the ones she could see. They were not college students, either. Did Chad have the money to hire help? Soon they reached a small, rectangular building with a door similar to the ones they saw at Daniel's site.

Chad stopped next to the door and folded his arms. Tadeas walked reluctantly forward and picked up the pull ring in one hand. Making sure there were no stones or pebbles in the way, he swung the door wide, cast a flame over his hand and walked inside. Chad stared at the door for a moment then whipped to look at Satiya and Daniel.

Satiya held up her hands in peace, "Sorry, you should have gone in first, but he's checking for danger. We've, uh, had problems with that."

"After you," Daniel gestured with one hand.

Chad walked into the dark room carefully, as it was only lit by Tadeas' flame. Satiya then threw more flames around so the whole room could be seen. Not unexpectedly, the room was empty except for the writings on the walls. Daniel stood politely in the middle of the room with Satiya and Tadeas, hands behind his back, as Chad inspected the writings.

After only a few minutes, he turned to them, "My team will begin cataloging and translating these writings as soon as we are done here. I agree that you may try to open the second chamber as well. Follow me."

Chad turned and strode out of the room.

Satiya leaned over to Daniel, "Is he not going to translate the writings now?"