Goraldia: The Element Wielders

19: Where the Path Leads

Icarus, Max, Yrisi, and Trayc continue to search everywhere the entire day. Dieter seems to have disappeared off the face of the Goraldia. 

"What are we going to do, now?" Yrisi says.

"I don't know," Icarus responds. 

"Well we have to find Dieter," Max. "You said it yourself, we need him."

"No," Icarus responds. "I don't think we do."

"What does that mean?" Trayc interjects.

"He has possession of two of the essences we've collected," Yrisi informs him.

"The essences aren't necessary," Icarus responds to all of them.

"Then why did we stop to get them?!" Max shouts.

"Because it's still a very hard fight for us to win, but all the essences are are power sources! We don't need them to unlock the gates of the gods!" Icarus responds.

"Well," Max tries, pulling back a little, "what about his lightning beacons? None of us can do that. We know there are more out there."

"You're right, without all the essences we're gonna need all the help we can get, and there are still two new wielders missing. But we can try something else," he returns. They all look at him like he's a lunatic. Maybe they're right. "Fire is a propellent. Max, I really need you to try to make some sort of... fire tower. And Trayc, if you can create a funnel or something, maybe you can propel it further. Together, we can send out a makeshift beacon of our own." 

"Even if this works," Yrisi says, "why? Why are you so quick to abandon him?"

Icarus responds, "With any luck, we won't have to abandon him. He'll see the fire beacon, and know it's us. But if he doesn't. If he can't, then we have to move on, anyway. Time is running out. The weather patterns are abnormal. The day-night cycle is getting disturbed. As much as I wanted to stay in my patch of Earthen trees, I've explored and studied around. So I've noticed that the fauna and flora are doing things they wouldn't normally do. Because of the mass of new people that have come here, like us, the natives are freaking out, too. We need to try our hardest to stop them before everything gets destroyed. And at this rate, if we take the time to go looking for Dieter, we're dead. We just have to trust he'll be ok"

It's silent for a moment. They look at the ground, or the sky, or off in the distance. Anywhere that wasn't another's eyes. No one liked the plan, but they were weighing options and calculating risks, and Icarus was right.

"Ok," Yrisi says, quietly. No one argues with her decision. 

"Where next?" Max asks Icarus.

"There are two more essences," Icarus explains, as he pulls out the map, "but we only need to swing by them to grab 'em. We'll do that as we search for artifacts. These are what's required to enter the gods' palace. There are five in total. Like puzzle pieces. Once we get them all in the same place, we should be able to walk right in."

"What are the artifacts?" Yrisi questions.

"Yeah, what do they look like?" Max adds.

"I don't really... know. Gems, rocks, items. No one knows. One time there was a man who supposedly found one. He told everyone he could he had found it. All he said was that it was shiny and powerful. He hinted that it was spherical, but he was also insane. Went mad. Ended up dying, huddled in a corner, still muttering about the thing."

The three glare at Icarus. "And you want us to go near that?" Trayc points out.

"Yes," Icarus responds, bluntly. "I'm pretty sure it's because they never had this divine energy inside of them. We do."

"Ok, but," Max says, "how do we know they're there, if the only one that has potentially been found turned the guy insane."

"Weird things," Icarus answers. "Weird things start happening to the natives when they get close, so they have marked on maps where never to go." The crew thinks for a minute.

"Ok," Icarus says. "Everything appears settled. We're going to find the artifacts." 

Icarus continues, "For now, we can rest. In the morning it's off to where the path doesn't lead."

Drifting off to sleep, they hear something. Just a little scurrying. After investigating and finding nothing, Icarus guesses it was only an upset animal.

They fall asleep with Icarus on the first watch.