Book 4 | Agent 34 and the Last Gem

Chapter 45 | The Last Gem

Agent 34 looked upon the sand sculpture with confusion. There seemed to be no other clue or gem in sight. He began to dig small holes around the city, careful not to hurt the city itself and damage the art before him.

A clunk was heard in the sand behind him. He turned around to see Venon had landed and found him. Ismara and Grime were climbing off his back, the elf nearly tripping over his own two feet as she ran after 34. She grabbed him and wrapped him into a giant embrace, whispering into his ear quietly. "Don't ever scare me like that again,"

"Look," Agent 34 told them quickly, pointing to the sand city. "This is what Fáolar meant by the city by the sea,"

The group's attention was diverted to the sculpture made out of sand. It was small and had many buildings scattered throughout it and reached to about their ankles.

"Where's the gem though," Venon asked.

"I don't know," Agent 34 explained. "I've been digging around the thing but I don't want to break something like that to search for the gem,"

"It may be under it," Ismara told him. "Seems most logical instead of being buried somewhere that doesn't have much to do with the city,"

Agent 34 sighed as he reached into the middle of the city, crunching a building with his fingers. The sand sprinkled to the ground, a pile where the building used to be.

The elf dug with his fingers, breaking up the sand from the rest and digging under he hit something. He found something, but it wasn't the gem. Agent 34 sighed because he assumed it was most likely another clue.

He ripped whatever it was out of the sand, brushing it off. It was a flat piece of wood, words being carved into it. Grime read it slowly for them all to hear.

"Congratulations, you have solved the puzzle. The gem does not lie here nor does it lie anywhere in Renya itself. The gem lies in a place only I know of and will give itself to you when the time is right. I poured more energy into it and made it powerful enough to aid you in your last fight. May the Gods be in your favor,"

They all stared at the wood with confusion with a slight hence of annoyance. "That was it?" Agent 34 asked. "We came all this way just to be told this was a wild goose chase and the gem will come to us?"

"Agent 34, he did this to keep the gem's secrecy. Braunick never would've had the patience to go through with this and uncover the secrets and clues," Ismara told him. "He said the gem will reveal itself to us when we need it most,"

"We really kind of needed it when Deathbringer tried to kill us. Or when Sarah attacked. Maybe even when we faked our deaths," The elf went on.

"You know what he means when he said it'll reveal itself when you need it," Grime said. "He means it'll come whenever you face Braunick for the final fight,"

"I'm not even sure that's gonna happen," Agent 34 said. "It seems impossible to dethrone the undethronable,"

"And it is," Ismara soothes him. "but we have proved that impossibility is never exactly impossible. Let's do that one last time,"

Agent 34 looked at the three of them quickly, studying their features. All of them had scars covering their body, a map of what had happened over the past two years he had been with the Zena. His own body had been covered in the most scars of them all, more than half from his own brother. He clenched his teeth at the thought.

"Let's go back to the Zena," He eventually told them.

They all climbed aboard the dragon, taking off into the air in the direction of their new home.

~ ~ ~

Sercon walked around the halls of the newly constructed Zena. The Ar'guals had managed to construct such a nice and elegant building in only around two months and a half of living there. It was both confusing and amazing.

He stopped whenever he felt the presence of someone familiar enter his mind.

Sercon, it's me, Venon, the voice said. I'm contacting you to tell you that we are returning to the Zena.

Did you get the gem? He replied.

Kind of.

What do you mean by "kind of"?

I'll explain when we get there. It's a long story.

You better hurry. Thad is really considering fleeing the country. I can't say anything without him suspecting something.

We'll hurry.

That was their last words together. Sercon went on his way, searching for Thad once again. He had told him multiple times that fleeing was not what the Zena was about. He hadn't been able to outright tell him "Agent 34 is working on finding the gem, keep your hope," without letting him find out that they lied about his death. Sercon would try to hold him back, but the dwarf was about to have the Ar'guals construct a boat to let them sail out.