CHAPTER 16: A Thousand Points

The dredging vessel drifted lazily over the lopping waves of the Therean ocean, the smog-choked skies and pitch-black waters surrounding Shaydon finally scores behind the three escapees. Vino sat diligently, half-asleep at the controls, still embracing the thought of freedom. Orsel sat bored against the boat’s wall, having dipped the sharp end of his crookshank into the water to watch it cut the current as they moved forwards. Taking Jacob’s place was now a large, inanimate pile of dirt wrapped in burlap and mottled with glass shards. He was taking a well-deserved rest after exerting himself today, reducing himself to his base components while he slept, as all elementals do from time to time. Vino yawned.

“Alright, if my navigation is correct… At this speed, we should hit land in less than an hour.”

Orsel pulled his crookshank out of the water. 

“Thank goodness, I could use some shuteye. Jake here’s got the right idea.”

“I thought shayd stayed up at night.” Vino probed.

“I heard that we used to,” Orsel rolled over, “but once smog started filling up the sky, we couldn’t really tell the difference anymore.”

“So you’ve never seen the sun before?”

“Sometimes it peeks through. I hate it. It stings my body.”

“What about the stars?”

“The what?”

Vino nodded his head upwards

“Look up.”

As Orsel looked up, he was nearly knocked to the floor by the stunning beauty of Crux’s night sky, unmarred by the clouds he had known all his life. A veritable tapestry of innumerable points of light and streaks of celestial colors captivated his vision. It was paralyzing to think that throughout his existence, such life was hidden during a time he had always associated with rest and curfew.

“Is that real?” Orsel asked, still taking in the sights.

Vino chuckled at his response.

“It sure is. Constellations, spires, suns, and worlds— all spiraling about in the endless black void.”

“It’s incredible,” Orsel commented, “like a thousand cities stacked on top of each other with the windows lit up.”

“There’s a lot you haven’t seen, isn’t there?”

“I guess so. I had always heard stories of what was outside the walls back home, but I never assumed they could be this beautiful.”

Vino perked up as he looked back ahead.

“Well, here might be a good place to start. Look!”

Orsel made his way past the pile that once was Jake and ended up at the boat’s bow. Between the star-spattered skies above and gentle waters below, a thin sliver of land caressed the horizon in front of them. Vino turned back over to Jake.

“Jake, wake up!”

Jacob hastily reconstituted his body, the dirt and glass shifting into a shape that resembled his old body, as he took effort to keep his clothes on the outside of his massive frame. 

“Whahappun? We under attack?”

Vino pointed forwards with great vigor.

“Land, dead ahead!”

Jacob’s grogginess was soon dispelled by the announcement, he scooted up to the front of the boat with his partners, shifting it somewhat. His eyes filled with optimism at the sight of the upcoming destination. He slapped Vino’s back in celebration. 

“Haha, Nice GOING, petals!”

Vino coughed a bit upon being hit.

“Thanks, I hope we can find some water soon, though. I’m getting a bit parched.”

Orsel beamed (as much as he could) with happiness

“I still can’t believe this. We’re almost home free, and there’s not a thing they can do about it!”

CHAPTER 17: Acquisition

Searchlights blared into the shrouded skies of Shaydon, originating from a large building on another part of the continent’s shoreline. It is a monumental part of the city’s district of defense, and the recent developments have whipped it into a frenzy, causing a monumental ruckus. Within the metal dome adorned with fearsome markings and munitions, a large crowd of armored shayd brandishing boltcasters surround a podium occupied by Shaydon’s own General Rawth Egar. The troops move to and fro, filling various amphibious transports with supplies and weaponry for their upcoming manhunt. 

“Come on, you worms, MOVE! Every second we haven’t shoved off is another mile between us and them!” The diminutive general shouted.

One of the soldiers makes an effort to reason with him.

“But sir, we-”

This effort is immediately rendered ineffective as Rawth glares at him, and the soldier decides his time is better spent miserable, yet alive. The leader gazes at his fleet of ships, and towards his second-in-command.

“Kast! Is everything gathered?”

“Munitions, check. Survival equipment, check. Vessels are up to code and completely fueled. All soldiers accounted for. We are ready to move out.”

Rawth raised his boltcaster to the sky

“SHAYD! RALLY!”

The soldiers quit their meandering and stand perfectly still, awaiting word from their general.

“We have been tasked with an important mission direct from Edrip himself, the capture and retrieval of these 3 individuals!” Rawth shouted, pointing at a visual aid in the form of a poster displaying the faces of the three escapees. “This is no routine search, however! We have also been given explicit orders to return them back here ALIVE!” 

The soldiers, in response to this news, let out a dissatisfied groan before Rawth continues.

“Yes, while lethal force is unfortunately prohibited, this sort of situation is what we were trained for! We are adaptable, and we will overcome!” Eyve managed to slip in through the assortment of soldiers, clutching a small, black diamond-shaped object in her metal claw. “We will find this traitor shayd, and he will face punishment at the hand of none other than the great Thead Cronec!” After navigating the sea of determined shayd, Eyve finally made her way up to Rawth’s podium and tapped his shoulder, handing him the object. 

“We will… Wait, what? What are you doing here?” 

“Change of plans. We have a list for you.”

“A list? What are you talking about, list?”

“Well, as you probably know, Ven and I have some important work to be doing, and that work requires, for lack of a better word, volunteers.”

Eyve tapped the device with her regular hand, and it unfolded into a projector, displaying images of various elementals, some of fire, some of water, none of them shaydonian in nature.

“Yeah, I’ve heard this before. Look, our priorities lie with the traitor! Not in collecting any more lab rats for you and your sister.”

“There’s compensation involved.”

“Do I LOOK like Egred? Read my eyes— forget it.”

“There’s HEAVY compensation involved.”

Rawth stood for a minute, frowning. There was nothing more he would have wanted than to effectively hunt down the scoundrels who had escaped the city, leaving destruction in tow; but the prospect of leeching off some of the research division’s newfound funding was an idea he was simply incapable of resisting.

“The floor is yours.” Rawth gestured Eyve towards the center of the podium.

“Esteemed soldiers of Shaydon.” Eyve spoke, calmly and collected, to the masses. “While it is of the utmost importance that the traitors you’ve been assigned to capture be dealt with- Orsel Jino, The flauna, and the terrian- your loyal Chiefs of Research and Development have a small favor to ask of you whilst you are performing your duties.” She grabbed the object she had handed Rawth earlier and placed it on the podium. Its screen enlarged to inform and dazzle the swathes of shayd before it, cycling through a display of informational pictures of random elementals native to Crux.

“We have made a scientific breakthrough that we believe will strengthen our nation beyond its current limits, and in order to continue our research down this avenue, we require elemental cores. Lots of them. It’s no doubt that some of you have had some experience with the smaller scale abductions you’ve been tasked with, but at the moment, quantity is of the utmost importance. Whether they be ignis, aqueans, cryos, lithians, shattered, intact, in pieces, it doesn’t matter, we’ll take them, and for each pound of them received, we will reward your esteemed division of natural security a grandiose 1,000 STAR! Which I assume your dignified General Rawth will distribute amongst you fine fellows in a manner he sees fit.”

This generous amount generated some murmuring amongst the crowd, as well as a flurry of eyes to point upon the aforementioned general. He hastily prepared his response.

“Uh, that’s right! So, change of plans: You! The finest and mightiest of our people, are to fulfill this reasonable request. Tonight, we move out! In search of not only the traitors, but the cores of any other elementals we can get our hands on. After all, are they also not traitors? Those from beyond this land have turned their backs on us since the Umbral Incursion’s beginning! WHO IS WITH ME?!”

As Rawth raised his fist, a roaring applause erupted from the soldiers as they piled onto their respective ships, the navigation systems set to travel throughout the waiting world of Crux. Rawth continued barking orders amongst the roused rabble. 

“Alright then! Man the ships! Redirect navigation to anywhere we can set anchor! I want to be swimming in cores by this time tomorrow!” Eyve smiled over at Rawth, who was quick to turn away from her, scowling.

“You had better know what you’re doing.” He muttered under his breath.

CHAPTER 18: Salt and Sand

The hours at sea eventually melted into one another, the shoreline inching its way closer and closer to the fated group, revealing a long-forgotten lighthouse and dock awaiting them in the distance. The time was spent either getting in some shut-eye in shifts or playing cards with part of a deck found in the engine compartment. Since there were so many missing, some improvisation was required. Eventually, they were close enough where the promise of land was mere inches in front of them. Orsel leapt off the bow onto the sandstone dock, attempting to guide the boat into a good spot for anchoring.

“Alright, bring it in nice and steady.”

Vino finangled with the controls.

“It’s uh, not slowing down. Wait, crapcrapcrap-” The vessel screeched against the side of the dock until crashing with a loud THUD towards the stretch of dock in front of it. Some smoking and bubbling began to emanate from below the boat’s deck as the two remaining passengers felt their means of transportation begin to sink slowly under the water.

“Well, that’s not good.” Jake observed.

“I suppose we’re not going to need it where we’re going.” Vino added, hopping out of the boat.

Once the three had evacuated the pathetic sinking of their ship, they took some time to get their bearings. Vino inspected the masonry of the docks, while Orsel’s curiosity drew him towards the abandoned lighthouse.

“We have to keep moving,” Vino explained. “They’re not going to give up easily, so we need to find a place where we know we’ll be safe.” 

Jake surveyed the dunes up ahead. 

“So, where are you thinking, Lum?”

“It’s the closest place I can think of. At the very least, we’ll know we’re alone.”

Orsel began to scale the side of the lighthouse out of boredom. 

“We’re going to Lum?” He responded, a twinge of excitement in his voice. “Where is it?”

“It should be a decent hike through these dunes,” pointed out Vino. “I hope they have some water there, I’m feeling a little light in the head.”

“Probably that slop Eyve and Ven were feedin’ ya.” Jake pointed out. “In any case, let’s get movin’. We need a place to rest."

Orsel, Vino, and Jacob carved out a path in the bluish, star-lit dunes, their tracks swept away at the hands of the gentle breezes that inhabited these parts. As the time went on, Orsel decided he’d break the silence and take the opportunity to learn about this brand-new place he was going to.

“So, Lum. What’s it like there?” He pondered.

“Well,“ Vino responded, “back in its heyday, Lum served as the cultural beacon of Crux. Since the Lumen desert is such a barren place, they had taken to importing goods and ideas from all around the world and making something new out of them. Needless to say, they were also big fans of colors and light.” These concepts intrigued Orsel. Maybe this escape wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“How’s it doing nowadays?” He asked.

Jake and Vino looked at each other with concern. With some initial silence, Vino spoke up.

“Well-”

“It’s a damn ghost town,” Interrupted Jake. “First place the Umbral Incursion hit, and it got hit hard.” 

“Yes, unfortunately it remains a relic— hallowed ground, if you will. Still, I’m sure the spirits won’t mind us staying for a couple days to recuper—.” After failing to finish his sentence, Vino fell face-first onto the sand in front of him, and began to slide down the dune the trio was climbing.

“Vino?” Orsel asked, descending the hill. “You alright?” There was no response from the flauna.

“What did you do?” Jake asked, shoving Orsel away from Vino.

“I didn’t do anything, you saw it yourself! He just fell down.”

Jake picked Vino up by his roots, shaking him gently upside down. His limp body flailed around as his eyes remained closed. “He’s not dead, is he?” Orsel asked innocuously. Jacob held Vino up to the side of his head in silence, with his eyes widening in realization after a few seconds.

“He needs water.”

“Why?”

“How do you— he’s a plant! An or-gi, uh, organic.” Jake explained, fumbling over his words. “They don’t have cores like us, they need stuff like food and water to live. Matter of fact, he was talking a lot about needing water during the trip.”

“Wait— the ocean’s made of water, why didn’t he just—”

“No, no, that water’s too salty for things like him. Plants and flauna need fresh water.” Jake said, slinging Vino over his shoulder like an empty sack. “Let’s just hope we can find some. Keep moving, and stay in front of me, where I can see you.”

“Uh, alright.” Orsel said, leading the way forwards.

 The two conscious members of the group continued their journey to safe harbor, bathing beneath the light of the stars and the gentle, caressing breeze of the desert.

“So, when you say Lum got ‘hit hard,’ Orsel said, “How hard are we talking, here?”

“Everyone that used to live there is dead.” Jacob answered, bluntly.

“Oh.”

“Yup, I meant it when I said it was a ghost town. Course, Shaydon had a bit of a history with this place even before the incursion,”

“We did?”

“Well, yeah— didn’t they teach you any of that stuff?”

“Hey, my life was spent either working in a factory or working on a construction site. I never really cared about stuff like that, anyway. After all, all you really need to know is to listen to anyone higher up than you.”

“Like Thead?”

“Well, he’s our grand, who doesn’t look up to that? Anyway, what were you saying about Shaydon and Lum before the whole war thing?”

“Well, Lum had a grandess by the name of Hope, and from what I hear, she and yer Thead were pretty close. So much so that she managed to get Shaydon out of its shell to start doing stuff like trades and diplomacy with the other places around Crux.”

“Sounds nice— so why’d Lum get the axe?”

“Nobody really knows, I mean, shayd are—” Jacob held his tongue and cleared his throat. “It could’ve been anything, really. Maybe something pushed him over the edge, or maybe he was planning against her the whole time.”

“Probably. I can tell you one thing, though— I don’t care how close Lum was to it, I want to put as much distance between me and Shaydon as possible.”

“I don’t think that’s gonna be a problem— look up ahead.”

Before the two, in the distance after just ascending a dune, lay the ruins of a long-forgotten nation— the walls and towers that once surrounded it cracked and blending into the sand it lay upon. Everything within its borders looked absolutely devastated— fading colors blending into one another, swept away by years of neglect and sand-saturated winds.

“That’s Lum?” Orsel asked

“No, just another unrelated city stranded out here in the desert.” Jacob smirked.

There was some silence as Orsel contemplated the prospects of another city being out in these wastes.

“Well, it seems as good a place as any for us to hide. Let’s go.”

“Alright— oh, and Orsel? That is Lum. I was just joking.” Jacob explained, pointing ahead.

“Oooh. Okay.”

  With that awkward exchange out of the way, the still-moving members of the escape party traveled beneath the grand archway that was once the gateway into this regal place. Considering how much damage the wall had taken, there were now a multitude of possible entrances, but this seemed like the most proper way into the city. They found that there were no remnants of a door or gate in place in the archway to close off the wall or defend against would-be intruders. As good a metaphor as it was for the former nation’s acceptance of outside ideas and people, it was sadly nonfunctional in terms of defense. The ground was lined with finely-carved sandstone, dyed all manner of colors, faded to time and sand. Orsel thought the place could use a good sweeping— his contemplation interrupted by a glint in the corner of his eye, coming from the top of the palace at the city’s center. He turned his head to take a better look at it, only to find that it vanished before it could truly enter his line of sight.

“You see that? That light, up on that tower!” Orsel asked Jacob, pointing to the top of the enormous building, but as Jake looked up, he simply shook his head.

“Afraid not. There hasn’t been light here in a long time.”