Spawn of the Outworlder

Chapter 22-Tired of Wondering What

At the lower end of Shinedale, the miners and workers, as well as any other able-bodied individuals had begun collecting together the collapsed rubble and chaos that waited below. This was a somewhat familiar routine to the settlers. The Drake was known to depart at random, and with its departure, came the crashing and collapsing of the mountain's less stable elements.

The destruction blocked the mountain path downwards towards the rest of the Empire, the entryway that was intended for most who wished to see Shinedale, Light knows for what reason. Clearing the pathway was a task that Betsy Goldbeam had become quite familiar with, yet today, she was forced to watch in shame as the others worked without her.

"Where...do these...go?" Graham asked her, his breath strained and ragged. In his arms were held a rather large collection of boulders and wooden scraps. His shoulders shook from strain and his tunic was soaked through with sweat, the hot midday sun now beaming down upon them all. All except Betsy, who rested in her mobile chair in the cool shade of a local peach tree.

"Those are reusables," Betsy answered, pointing to a pile along Graham's left side. "They go over there, except for those two on top." She then pointed to a pile on Graham's left side, almost the exact opposite distance. "Those go over there."

"Got...it," Graham spat out, doing his best not to fling his sweat in Betsy's direction.

There was no actual difference between the rocks that Graham had collected on either side. It was all reusable. One pile would've done fine, but Betsy was quite upset with the Rucervus siblings, and this light rib caused no true harm. A small pang of guilt rang through the elven girl, knowing that Graham bore the suffering of both siblings when Luna was likely the more guilty of the two, but Betsy dared not go after Luna until her suspicions were confirmed.

Just makes too much sense, she thought. They show up, and she immediately cons everyone into followin' her. Has Dad and Mom wrapped around her finger. And I heard Dad tell Tommy to take her to Amos. No adventurer would be makin' moves like this. She HAS to be part of the Umbral Hand. But why is she here?

Graham returned to Betsy, his tunic now quite tattered and ragged from the broken rocks scraping along it. "What...next?"

Betsy looked over what remained of the destruction caused by the Drake. Saw the crumbled remains of Old Shinedale, the small settlement that had housed the very first miners to arrive to the Nightpeak Mountains, had been flattened once again beneath the sliding rocks of the mountain. Some of the other settlers worked away at moving the collected rubble up to the town mason, the rumbling of wheelbarrows full of the last of the sediment found ringing through the valley. A few others, Marianne and Adam, as well as a few other townsfolk she had only a passing familiarity with, took their focus to the massive stones left piled up along the path, far too large for any one person to dispose of.

"Hate to say it," Betsy said, looking over to Graham, "but I don't think there's much else you can do. Ya know any magick?"

"Well...not really."

"Then ya can't help," she said, placing a cold emphasis on the sentence.

Graham took her words in, looked over the environment and quietly replied, "No, I suppose I can't." As he did, Graham meekly moved towards the shade of the peach tree and took a seat besides Betsy, who did her best to convey her annoyance.

The two sat as the others began the necessary chants to cast their magicks. Complex spells, mostly dealing with levitation, lifting the boulders by mere focus. Others who lacked the discipline for levitation, casted rudimentary gravity spells, lightening the load of the stones and lifting them with relative ease.