Tyranny: Onwards

Chapter 151- Root Cavern

"I missed you Oswald," Heath sighs and turn back to me. "Do you mind if I keep this while you stay?" I give him permission and he goes off to greet Rin and retake his magically enchanted staff; though Rin appears quite reluctant to give up the last sign of Hester's existence.

Heath seems more comfortable and at ease having regained the sturdy staff; likely due to its importance in keeping Siron locked away. He ushers us all to go through the doorway, meaning I must part with the caribou. In parting, I give her a pat and careful stroke, regretting moving away from her presence so calming.

Genesis wags her tail as darkness slides us into its deep-pocketed envelope and the slope descends steeply so I just follow the staff light ahead. The Luzumi are hard to place with their light feet but I can tell where Rin is, right at the back. Soon, small beads of flame held in little clay cups line the wall to reveal roots wider than the height of a man weaving about us holding back the soil and we suddenly reach a rather grand, tall roofed, circular space much like a room.

It seems they have dug out dirt to make shelves which hold neatly placed books, glass and clay jars, and a few plates of clay that hold various herbs, berries and other resources I do not recognize. A pile of fern fronds with wide leaves and mosses are stacked in a rectangle I'm guessing is a bed of sorts. Numerous containers of glass hold some strange colored liquids that move unnaturally too.

In the center of the room is an enormous carpet of bright colours and intricate designs likely from a foreign place. A gigantic chandelier hangs above us made of antlers with the tips pointed down at us where tiny sprouts of fire sit happily to light the room surprisingly well.

To the one side, there is a long table that is very short and is also designed in a foreign fashion I admire and there are many little puffs of greenery, which I assume are chairs, in a different spot along the wall there are many 'chairs' in a circle perhaps for discussion. the Key glows in Heath's hand likely in nostalgia and longing to escape the confines of the Key.

"It's been too long since we were here, although, you can't blame us considering you never told us where you were going." Aegis gazes around while talking, grinning all the while and closes his eyes to absorb the smell of moist soil and clean roots with sap.

"We meant to tell you," Heath chuckles and so do the Luzumi. Aegis motions for Blaze to come forth to his side.

"Do you mind making sure Blaze is alright?" Aegis asks, sounding as an old friend sharing memories silently.

"No problem, you can all feel free to have a look around if you want while I check him up." Heath throws an arm wide to open the space for us while he guides Blaze the leafy bed, Dagwood tails of course and Aegis gives Blaze a comforting pat.

I immediately make my way to the shelves while admiring the carpet as I walk over it. If I am not mistaken, almost every book is in a different language, this makes me wish it was so easy to pick one up and I am awed by the fact these wizards must know tons of languages. The ones I can read are about a wide range of things from plants to DNA modifications, from toads to magic with the atmosphere and a few about legends or tales long forgotten it seems. Most of them are worn and must be handled with extreme care but are not dusty or dirty. I run my finger over the print on the spines.

"Do you like to read?" Phoneix asks me with the gorgeous and aware Phoenix still on his shoulder, as he too inspects the selection.

"Yeah, I much enjoy it," I admit, moving now to the mysterious clay and glass jars and plates. Some of them are labeled with messy writing in what must be charcoal but I don't touch or move anything. There are a few labels in different languages again.

"You can read them you know, he might even let you borrow or have a few, I've read them all." Phoenix prods some berries on a plate.

"You know that many languages?" I gasp.

"Eve actually taught me, we stayed here for a while trying to make a plan against Siron, many hundreds of Luzumi actually; this became our safest home but we thought they had left for good so we all left and never came back since that day. It's been decades since then so we all completely forgot where it was though I remembered it was the tallest tree." Phoenix explains and I get the impression it has been more like a century than a decade.

"You think you could read me some of them is we have time?" my hope is obvious and he does the trademark smile of his white teeth and closed eyes.

"Of course! I actually want to read them again too," I inspect a strange gold glittering substance and Genesis sniffs the lower shelved things next to me, eying the Phoneix untrustingly.

Aegis comes and grins at what is likely a memory associated with this room and these books, handling them as though they could wisk away like the dust of memory. Phoenix points out a few and they laugh at the stories of fun they remember, the memories they earned here as probably young children. Phoenix challenges Aegis by inquiring about all the strange things of the room and surprisingly he seems to know them all somehow.

I leave them to their memories and go to Blaze, Dagwood, and Heath. Blaze lays still on the fern frond bed, Heath and Dagwood kneeling at his side.

"Hey," I announce my presence and check up with Dagwood to see if Blaze seems okay so far. Heath announces abruptly that Blaze is doing pretty well and should completely heal without complication.

"It is time to go up in the tree now," Heath also informs us, "There should be food already prepped for us and nice beds high up, there is a set of stairs that weave around the trunk we made so the animals could join us we can use or a ladder," Heath explains and I already know we are going to be taking the stairs and I am not going to show any sign of discomfort because of them or weariness because then Blaze would feel to be a burden when really I don't mind taking the stairs at all.