I N F I N I T E S

The Lighteen

Tessra now turned around to face Frost who was still trying to process what had happened, and Fern who had finally gotten up from the ground. Her eyes seemed to tighten up as she looked at the two of them. Fern ran over to Frost and Brite.
"Hey you guys ok?"
"Y-yeah"
Frost said while snapping his gaze away from Tessra.
"That was something, we could've died."
"I felt like I did."
Fern said while rubbing his stomach.
Brite smiled as if to say, yeah. The three of them had not noticed, until she was upon them, that Tessra had walked up behind them. She loomed over them with eyes of fixated anger. Frost and Fern felt shiver's up their spines, and it was then that they realized she was behind them. Fern turned around with a frightened smile on his face.
"H-hey Tessra, ho-"
She grabbed Fern by the ear and then reached for Frost. He tried to run but she quickly swiped her hand and yanked him over by his ear. They both cried out in pain as she dragged them over to the side of the town center. She nodded with her head at Brite and motioned him to follow.
She threw them down to the ground and they sat next to each other in the dirt.
"What were you two idiots thinking!? You ran off and left me a letter saying stay here be back in two days. What if you got kidnapped or worse killed."
The two of them just stared at the ground in shame. Tessra then waved a hand at Brite.
"And who is this guy anyways."
Frost looked up at Tessra and responded with a worried voice.
"His name is Brite."
She turned around and met Brite's eyes. She put a hand on her hip and started to question him.
" Who are you, where did you come from, and why are you following them around?"
Brite didn't respond instead he just stood there and blinked. Tessra looked at him and sighed.
"C'mon don't just stand there, say something."
Frost got up from the ground and brushed the dirt off himself.
"He actually doesn't know how to speak."
Frost said quietly.
" What? You mean he doesn't know common."
"Actually we don't think he knows any language. He hasn't spoken any words besides his name."
Tessra looked back at Frost and sighed.
"And you wanted to help him. Ok he can come along. The old man put you up to this delivery didn't he."
Frost and Fern nodded in unity. Tessra put both hands on her hips and looked up at the sky.
"Ok let's get this done. You two lead the way."
Fern bounced up from the ground and let sparks fly from his claws with an excited smile reignited.
"Ok we just gotta get the delivery down to his shop."
Fern broke into a run only for Tessra to grab his shirt collar from behind and stop him.
"And you will WALK there."
She said with emphasis. Fern frowned and his arms drooped.
"But going there slowly is no fun."
"You will walk there unless you want to be my training dummy again."
Fern shivered and shook his head. Then Tessra let go and Fern started walking forward.
"Ok ok I'll walk, I still have a sore shoulder from the last time you did that."
"Good, now get going."
Fern and Frost started to walk to one of the roads diverging from the town center. They were talking amongst themselves. They had been discussing that the old man they were going to deliver the cloth wrapped object was going to give them something good. Although the old man did not specify what they were actually delivering nor what the reward would be.
Any other messengers wouldn't have taken this job due to how sketchy it was, but Fern and Frost were good friends with the old man and they knew that he could be trusted. He was the first person to offer them work when they had been turned down by so many others, so naturally they felt a sense of loyalty.
"Do you think he's gonna give us one of those cool swords he has?"
Fern said with his smile widening.
"I think it would be nice to have a protection charm."
"Don't you already have one of those?"
"Well yeah but mine hasn't shown any magical powers off yet."
Frost looked down to look at a small silver charm strung around his neck. It was in the shape of a cat's head and it had a blue tint to the metal. He grasped it with a closed hand. Fern put a hand around Frost's shoulder.
"Hey just because nothing's happened with it doesn't mean that it doesn't have any magic in it. I mean it was dad's after all, and he really only wore things if they had a use."
Frost looked up from staring at his fist.
"Yeah"
"Hey you two look up, We're here."
Tessra called from behind them.
They stood in front of a small wooden shack. The roof went up in a bent cone that covered around the cylindrical base of the building. It was old and smelled of damp wood and rope. There were no windows, only a door held in place by iron hinges.
Brite looked at the structure with confusion. He knew that they intended to go inside the shack, but it looked like it could barely hold three of them inside.
frost stepped forward to the front of the door.
"I got this."
He traced his claw along the door and made the shape of a star. At first nothing happened as he lifted his nail from the wood, but then the door started to glow blue where Frost traced.
The door made a deep groaning noise then the sound of locks clicking. The door creaked open and golden sunlight leaked through. Frost stepped through and Fern followed suite. Tessra walked forth but stopped before going through and looked at Brite.
"After you."
She said with a gesture of her hand."
Brite stepped through the threshold and his eyes were met with surprise.
The room seemed like it was entirely separate from the tiny shack they had saw before. The room was a cylindrical library with shelves of books stretching up high like a fortress tower. Grand windows stood in between the different shelves. They allowed the sun's rays to reach around and illuminate the entire building. On the ground floor there were tables upon tables topped with books, candles, and strange ornate contraptions. Crystals of various colors levitated in the air and caught the light coming into the room.
Tessra came up from behind the wide eyed Brite and smiled.
"Yeah I looked about the same when I first saw this place too."
Fern took in a deep breath and readied himself to shout.
"Hey Mr. Redrig we have your delivery here!"
A voice then responded from up above.
"I told you Fern it's Master Redrig not Mr. Redrig. I'll be down in a moment, just let me set a few volumes in order here."
About a few seconds after the voice said that a series of magical floating steps descended down. They were a kind of bronze metal and they seemed to have glowing undersides. They eventually halted at one point as they were all lined up in a perfect order. Brite looked up the onleading trail of metallic steps to see an old man coming down. His long blue robe dragged along the steps. Yellow lace lined the rims and buttons around the robe. Long sleeves led up to yellow shoulder pads that served more as decoration than magic armor.
His face was wrinkled with the lines of smile marks. He had a long droopy mustache connected to an equally long and droopy beard. His hair was gray and unkempt, but he still had plenty of it on his head. His eyes were covered by odd multilensed glasses that had gears that ticked and whirred.
"I trust that my delivery is in tact and with you?"
Redrig said as he stepped down from the stairs. Fern held out the cloth that held the delivery Item.
"Here"
"Ah yes, excellent work my lad."
Redrig waved a hand and the steps receded to fit in between the books on the shelves. He swiped the cloth away from Fern as he joyfully teetered over to one of the tables.
There he laid the cloth down and unwrapped it with a smile. He then took out the object to reveal it to all in the room.
"Behold lads, the finest drink in the world, Eldest leaf tea!"
Fern's jaw dropped in disappointment, and Frost's eyes widened in surprise. Tessra covered a hand over her mouth to surpress a laugh.
"We risked our lives for tea."
Fern whispered to himself.
Redrig took the tea and funneled it into a weird contraption that began to bubble.
"You can hardly ever find this kind of tea made anymore. It's leaves are barely grown anywhere, and it rarely is shipped out anywhere. It sure does put a pep in your step though."
Redrig turned back to Fern.
"Now then about your rewa-"
He stopped mid word when he saw Brite standing behind Tessra.
"Who is that?"
Frost spoke up to answer the question.
"I'm sorry master we brought him in without asking, but he helped us deliver the tea to you."
Redrig stepped past Tessra to get a closer look at Brite. He stared at his face inspecting his hair, eyes, and symbol. Then Redrig's eyes lit up. Tears seemed to well in his eyes.
"I- I ca't believe it. I saw the sky that night, I didn't believe it, but here you are standing right in front of me."
He broke down into full ears of joy, and hugged Brite. He hugged right back.
"The Lighteen, they're alive."