Crystal Bloodlines

Chapter Six: New Flower, New Life

They were instantly reminded of the cold as they left the warmth of the runed pathways leading into the woods. They were grateful that it wasn't as prevalent and devastating as the previous night, but they still had to throw in as many layers as they could and still stay agile to be even remotely comfortable. the sun almost stung their eyes as it reflected off of the white banks of snow, forcing them to don the protective eyewear that luckily doubled as sunglasses.

"Cyrus. We should have sold a bar of copper and tried to find a map" Dell groaned after a half hour of roaming around almost aimlessly.

"We should wait for a bigger town to get a map, probably get a better bang for our buck, besides why don't we ask Ice Cube, he seems to be blood houndish" ,to which Dell simply shrugged quizzically towards Ice Cube, who simply bobbed up higher then usual as if exited and zoomed off in a seemingly random direction.

They followed Dell's spirit companion for another ten to fifteen minutes before leaving the dense woods and finding themselves in a clearing with a lake in the middle, "it's frozen" they said disappointedly, almost in unison.

"Hey, better luck next time Ice Cube, better luck next time, at least you found a lake." Dell cooed comfortingly at the spirit.

And so the spirit sprung forth again and zoomed away in another direction.

"What is it with your pet and forcing us to run?", Cyrus jokingly said after a few minutes of lightish running

"I don't know, but it's better then slowly walking and taking forever to reach a destination, besides, I can already see a lake up ahead"

"Bro, it's frozen again"

"This was your idea, and at least we're finding lakes now, let's give him one more chance."

That last chance was also a bust.

"Okay, so, it definitely makes sense that an ice spirit made out of ice cubes would have an easier time finding frozen lakes. Actually, I have a better idea" Dell said before turning to Ice Cube, "hey buddy, can you point out all the frozen lakes nearby?"

And so he did, pointing out a lot of direction, "well, lets go this way" Dell said while pointing to one of the few directions the spirit didn't point out, and back into the dense area of trees they went, going in as straight a line as they could through the forest as they could for roughly 30 minutes before stumbling upon another clearing with a lake, one that was not frozen, and on the farthest edge they could just barely see some blue lilies swaying in the winter breeze.

As they made their way around the lake's edges and got closer to the blue lilies some extra details that an image on a page could convey. The petals seemed to glisten and almost glow a deep blue in the light shining from up above, and from below it from the light reflecting off of the snow.

As they got even closer they got even closer, close enough to lean over the flower they were able to notice how the deep blue petals seemed to be woven in crystalline patterns, and yet was clearly organic in nature. It was easily the most beautiful lily that they had ever seen, possibly even the most beautiful flower they had seen as of yet, and for Dell it radiated something that touched what felt like his core, causing him to turn to Cyrus, "Cyrus, do you feel that?"

"Yeah, it's a very beautiful flower"

"No no, it feels like something more than that"

"Like what my friend?"

"I don't know, it's just a faint feeling I'm getting from the flower"

"Well try not to dwell on it too hard, we need to collect the flowers and return them for coin"

And that is what they did, collected all the ones that they could, and made way for the trek back into town.

And then three more weeks passed by, as they continued to hunt for more herbs, learn their surroundings, and actually sleep in the only other inn in town as opposed to the stable of the first one.

After getting paid for their hunt of the day the pair and spirit companion settled into their nightly routine of buying the cheapest drinks, cautiously sipping on them to not attract attention, and listening to the gossip of the townsfolk to learn more about their surroundings."You know Cyrus, the atmosphere in here seems different then usual, like somethings going to happen, and we're the only ones out of the loop."

"Probably because we are out of the loop Dell, isn't that why you wanted to play spy?", to which Dell feigns mock offense,

"My dear friend, your words mock me, but yes, we should be able to find out what's going on with some time as the booze flows through our new neighbors and the lips loosen if we play spy", Dell said in hushed tones while air quoting around 'play spy' before taking another calculated sip.

And so the silence settled in for the pair once again, a comfortable silence as they tried to sift through and absorb the information being spilled willy nilly around them.

For the most part they simply heard more of the trade routes on which this town's economy ran. From what they had gathered as of yet was that there were two trade routes that ran through the town and feeding its economy. The oldest one, and the one that was most expansive was a waterway based trade route along the Flumen River. It was incidentally what the trade route and town are named after, the Flumen trade route and the township of Flumenkarta respectively. 

   The other trade route was landlocked, and while not as large or expansive as th water way due to its relative newness, it was by no stretch of the definition small.

There were also plenty of other things disseminated through the crowd, most of it was of petty matters and things that didn't really aid in their understanding of the town or world. Some of it was interesting gossip, but once again had the same flaw as the petty matters. Then there was information pertaining to them, or well a lack of information that is, as it seems the town had finally stopped talking about the two stange young men who camped out in a stable.

They learned little more that night besides rehashing and refining old knowledge. The pair made small talk from now to now, but were comfortable in conversation and in silence, until a new tavern goer waltzed in and joined one of the closer tables, his friends were clearly saving a seat, "did you hear? The taxmen are coming into town" he said excitedly, "yeah, everybody knows that, where have you been?", one of his friends teasingly retorted as Dell and Cyrus gave each other a look and Ice Cube tried not to look excited or dramatic.