Zora: Shadows and Magic

Part 5: Unlikely Friends

Chapter XII: Tryston

      He just couldn't see how anyone would touch the stuff. Even ignoring the fact that the way to procure it was appalling to the level of revulsion, he just couldn't see what attraction there was to drinking such a thick fluid that he knew contained vast quantities of other living things, he could practically see them swimming around, eating, mating, and defecting in the viscous material. Tryston's stomach turned and he quickly put the clay jug of milk back into the strange stone box.

Tryston spent his time alone getting his hands on every free moving thing he could find in the vast underground lodging. He had spent a significant amount of time with several weapons he found in a barracks that was connected by a hall to the main room. He was amazed to even find a dirt pit with a large wooden circle enclosed within it. A space he found to be perfect size for him to maneuver the weapons freely. He even kept a weapon he found to his liking; A solid steel rod, though much lighter than it looked, that was the length of a long sword. One end consisted of a thick blade running parallel to the staff, much like an axe, but longer and thinner, and on the opposite side of the staff ran two needle like spikes. The rod itself could also be broken into two separate pieces, one being a solid shorter staff and the other a hand-axe. When he had time, he also tried to sort out his feelings when it came to Zora and Malay, hoping to have a clearer picture of his relationship with them by the time they came back.

It was turning out to be a lot more complicated than Tryston ever imagined it could be. He was sure it was not because of all the fun distractions he kept finding everywhere (he had found a room filled with countless mechanical gadgets and structures that he was confident he had seen before in one of The Orders labs that he had been held at) but because it was just hard for him to focus on something so knew and important.

Tryston continue to peruse down another underground hallway, this one also turned back into the main room but following it in the other direction took him to another barracks type room. Instead of holding weapons though it held a great number of tightly packed bunks. Along the entire length of the opposite wall was a thin silver shelf and on the shelf sat a row of the glowing glass orbs, similar to the one they found in the room with the pool, but these were much smaller.

Tryston, after looking to make sure no one else was around, reached his hand out to touch one. It fit perfectly in his hand and was extremely warm. He gently pulled it and after exerting a small amount of force, it detached itself from the shelf with a small click. The orb had a small metal knob attached to it and that knob looked to fit perfectly into an equal sized hole in the shelf. Tryston grasped the knob of the orb, feeling the large copper colored prong, then he observed the empty socket in the shelf. He couldn't find anything extraordinary about the small pit but his attention transferred back to the glass orb in his hand when he finally noticed that it had continued to shine. And, in fact, was beginning to glow far brighter than any of the others still on the shelf.

The sight shocked him so much he dropped the orb, the light when out the moment it left his hand, but before it broke upon the floor he snatched it with his other hand. The orb began to glow immediately upon his touch. He looked more closely at the glass ball, trying to find what could possibly be the source of the invisible flame. As Tryston concentrated harder on the orb, the light shone more intensely, until it became as bright as a small star, dwarfing all other lights in the hall. Then the orb exploded.

Tryston shouted out as glass shards small as rain drops shot out in every direction, reflecting the existing light so it appeared for a brief moment as if the room were covered in rainbow colored snow. Tryston heard a ruffling of feet behind him, forcing his attention back towards the main hall.

"That's interesting" said the beggar woman standing with a hand on her hip. Ironically from her tone, her expression suggested she wasn't that surprised at all.