The Seventh Stone

Chapter Four

The following morning, we leave the safety of our camp for a long, arduous trek along the trade route—which apparently is outlined by two dim, glowing lanes built in the dirt. Loki discovered them last night while it was dark, and evidently, this what he meant when he said he'd gone exploring—while I was 'indisposed.'

I'd venture to say that I'm more indisposed now than I was last night, what with stress and lack of restful sleep beating down my spirit... There's also Loki's dour presence to contend with, and he doesn't seem to be a particularly talkative character. But at least he's mindful of our basic survival needs. Just this morning, he brought us little pouches filled with water from who knows where, and I've been carrying it around all day. Granted, I splashed half of it on my face to make sure I'm not still asleep, but he didn't exactly have a look of genuine care before or after—in fact, he didn't even bother to ask why I did that.

But, of course, I continue to remind myself of what we discussed last night: he's not my friend. We're here for different reasons, and he's keeping me alive because I'm a means to an end. That's all. He keeps me alive to find the seventh stone, and I help him do that by staying close... At least until I have more information on how to survive on my own—and on what to actually do with the stone, after I've found it.

I haven't told him I'm still thinking about that last part, though. I doubt he'd kill me, but... if he doesn't, he may very well leave me out here for something else.

I've had plenty of time to think this over in the past four hours of hiking, with Loki ahead of me. The path eventually widens as we get further away from the black sand fields, and leads us under a massive root that stretches over our heads and plunges into the ground—almost like a threshold under the tree line.

The underside of the root, along with the colorful vegetation growing along its surface, are pretty much all I can see until we get to the opening on the other side—where a flurry of movement in the sky suddenly heralds an assault on all my senses.

My eyes bolt upward at the sight and sound of a multitude of spaceships zooming around above our heads, catching the occasional glint of sunlight passing through small openings among the branches of the nearest tree. Which are too high up and sparse for rays of light reach the ground.

I follow the zipping spaceships with my eyes as I stumble down the path behind him, until vibrant patches of electronic platforms catch my attention along the sides of the tree. Glowing veins of various colors snaking between the folds of the tree trunk—glowing and flickering as some of the ships land on the platforms, or simply fly by.

Loki props his hands on either side of his hips as he exhales sharply, looking up at it all.

"Alright," he faces me. "There's likely a settlement somewhere around here—"

He pauses, furrowing a brow reactively to what I'm sure is the the stupidest look on my face. I can't hide my amazement though—this is the stuff of comic books down to the mark, like it jumped straight off the page... And I would know, because I actually have friends who are comic book artists.

"This is incredible," I smile, and lower my gaze down to his unamused expression. "Isn't it?"

Loki glances upward, and shrugs with a glimmer of casual appreciation. "I might've said so, once... But this is hardly the strangest world I've seen."

I widen my eyes. "Seriously? You've seen other places like this?"

He nods. "I've seen many worlds, yes," he says emphatically, seemingly taking the opportunity to boast a little. "Like Midgard, this one is but a single grain of sand in the cosmos."