Cypher 0X

Chapter 8 - Argentate

Bante fiddled with the dirty wrappings around her chest. They weren't doing much to help the three broken ribs she had gotten from foolishly joining her comrades in battle. She cursed the dragon and her own lack of intelligence while she attempted to fix the bindings around her. Although Bante was  angry, she was also thankful that her own ribs didn't decide to kill her. 

She glanced at the small box with bulbgrass seedlings in it that Shepherd had given her after their failed attack. They were tiny and fragile, just like her. Bante reached over and carefully picked a small bulb out of the box. Her movement was slow and pained, she could thank the metal beast that had broken her bones for that. 

Bante put the cloudy bulb between her thumb and pointer finger and looked through it towards the window. The light showed a seed that had one barely growing stem poking out of it inside. Halfway through inspecting it, Rille pushed open the door. It hit the crumbling wall with a slam, knocking loose more pieces of the small shelter. 

"They wouldn't take it!" Rille shouted, a silver tent spike in one of her flailing hands. The surprise caused Bante to jump and lose the seedling in her bed. 

"We'll just have to take it to an actual trade center then," Bante replied while she shifted through the covers to find the bulb.  Rille angrily sat on the bed, causing Bante to slightly bounce. 

"I'm tired of going to settlement to settlement with all the merchants saying the same thing! How hard is it to sell silver?!" The girls could barely hear the quiet knock at the partly closed door due to all of Rille's yelling, but luckily, a second louder knock came. 

"It's open," Bante retreated under the covers. She pulled them to her chin, burying herself. She didn't like anyone else but Rille knowing that she was injured. Being the smallest of the trio already made her stand out more than she liked, it also made her a target. 

 Shepherd pushed the door open some and poked his head in the tiny house.  He had a big smile on his face, but that was normal for him. 

"I found a buyer, but it's one of those weird kids from the volcano," he excitedly whispered. Shepherd was the quietest, for some reason he felt it disrespectful to shout. Although, he didn't seem to mind when Rille yelled across the plains and back. 

"A stingy buyer is better than no buyer," Rille hopped off the bed, and the water-filled bulb rolled onto the floor with a muted thump. "Come on Bante, it's better if we're all there, especially since you're the one that found it!" 

                                                                        ~~~~~

The agreed location was at the bottom of a large monolith that was strangely out of place. A crumbling sign made out the word, "Vilser." The rest of it had been unreadable or was on the ground.  So that's what it was called, Vilser. Some of the groups in the area believed it to be the birthplace of the Fire Goddess Xuhtli, or the Goddess of the Sun. 

When the sun was beginning to hide, a pale boy with ashen hair walked past the sign. A partly striped dog pranced happily behind him as he absent-mindedly fidgeted with his necklace. 

Spider looked around the area, searching for possible spies or scavengers hiding in the brush. Luckily for the three children standing behind the beaten altar, he found none. Spider blinked a few times before his brain registered the tiny one holding the silver spike. The people in his tribe were only that small when they were under five, but he assumed that the other two had brought the little one with to make her feel good about her position. 

Spider moved up to the altar and let his hands fall to his side. The tallest of the three stepped up and met him at the altar with confidence. They were about the same height, even though Sheperd was slightly older. The other boy turned a little to the left and held out his hand, in which the child placed the spike in. 

Shepherd gently put the spike on the top of the stone shrine. It was wrapped in a dark hide, one that still seemed to have the blood of its origin on it. He met Spiders blue eyes. The only thing that wasn't pale on the boy was his unsettling bright eyes. They seemed to be made of the purest waters. 

Spider moved the hide so that he could see the silver that was hiding within it. He gave a small nod as he reached for his gold pouch. His hands found empty air. Spider looked back up, his unerving blue eyes now filled with rage as he looked for the small girl. She was nowhere to be found. 

Shepherd was still smiling at Spider as the ghastly boy glared back. Spider quickly snatched the silver spike from the altar before turning and walking off. He muttered a curse under his breath, one filled with fire and poison.