Chapter 124: Safe Haven
Luster awake aching. He had crashed in what remained of his tent once Cattail had once again turned him away, and with all his pillows and blanket torn up, he had not comfortable bed to lie on.
Oh well. He had the opportunity to return everything to the way it was, and he had turned it down. He didn't have the right to complain. Besides, it did no good to dwell on the past anyways. He had to keep moving forward. That was the only way to stop your past from catching up with you: look forward to the adventures ahead. If he wanted any new fun adventures, Quartz would have to go, or else doom and gloom would reside over Windkeep Tower forever.
Besides, Luster may be a bad thief, but he was no coward. he would never back down until he had what he wanted, and right now, what he wanted more than anything was to return everything to the way it was before. Before Quartz and Banella took over and put a damper on Windkeep Tower's fun. Before Kipling disappeared. Before Rori got so grumpy and critical.
Well, there was no time like the present. It didn't do good to dwell. So Luster gathered up what he could scavenge from the tent, tucked it in a leather bag, and left. There would be no need to return for the rest until this war was won.
He did not look back.
Luster kept his head low as he slunk back to The Copper Lotus. It had begun to rain again, but it had been raining so much since the Wavecrest Saturnalia that Luster no longer cared. If anything, it was good to feel the cool water slide down his swirling scales. It reminded him that he was alive, that his heart was beating, and that he had a mission.
He did not make eye contact with anyone as he passed through the marketplace. He didn't even dare look over at Cattail's stand. His heart still hurt from her rejection last night. He would have to work on patching things up with her after everything,just like he was going to patch things up with Rori now.
Nobody else seemed to be meeting anyone's gaze either. A cloud of mistrust hung over the gathered dragons, bustling about doing their business separately. It hung heavily like the dark rainclouds above, amplified by presence of undead guards staggered around the tower. The crowd was thin, visitors and tourists had been few since the Saturnalia ended. He made it through the marketplace easily; nobody dared stop him.
Glancing over his shoulder to make sure no one saw him, he slipped into the pantry, ready to return to the hideaway. As he turned to enter the code, he saw a flash of movement in the corner of his eye. He swore he could hear someone gasp. He turned, trying to see who it was, but saw nobody. As he turned to enter the code again, he saw a flash of green from behind a pile of flour bags. Securing his bag on his back once more, he crept towards the pile. As he got closer, he saw a dragon hiding behind it.
"Hello? Can I help you?' Luster asked. Maybe she was lost. That was when he saw the three wind eggs she was curled around. His eyes widened. The coatl curled tighter around her clutch as she saw Luster's gaze.
"You're not taking them." She hissed, clearly trying to appear fierce. Ferocity however, was not her strong suit. her expression was too gentle to match her tone.
"Woah, I'm not here to take your eggs." Luster explained, backing away and giving the scared mother her space. "Do you need somewhere to hide them? I've got a little hideaway in here I'm staying in with my friends, we'd be happy to add one more to our group. Or four." He added seeing the eggs.
"No thanks. I appreciate your offer, but we already have somewhere in mind." The coatl said, shaking her head. Then she narrowed her eyes at Luster, tilting her head. She looked as thought she was trying to determine whether or not she recognized the mirror. "Are you Luster?" She asked.
"I am! How did you know?" Luster asked.
"The bounty call." The coatl explained. "For opposing Quartz and Banella. I'm Xaiya. I'm part of the underground resistance against our new rulers. My mate's family has a... history with Quartz and we figured it best for our children to grow up away from all of that before someone realizes who the father is."
"There's- and underground resistance?" Luster asked, perking up. Wait until he told the others! Maybe that's where Kipling had ended up!
"Do you want to help me with the eggs?" Xaiya asked. "There's a passageway somewhere here, leading to their base."
"Of course." Luster said, emptying some of his rescued trankets from his bag to bag room for an egg. Once he was sure it was secure, he turned to Xaiya. She held the other two eggs close to her body in a cloth sling. "You ready to go?"
Xaiya nodded, and began to examine the walls. Now that Xaiya mentioned it, Luster could see some sort of runes or markings indented slightly on the dirt wall. Xaiya traced one of the indents with a talon, smiling slightly at her discovery. Then she took a deep breath, and expelled a wisp of light magic. It glittered and took the shape of the runes, pressing itself to them. The runes glowed stronger and part of the wall disappeared, leaving a passageway the size of a coatl open.
"It's sensitive to individual magic signatures. Only those who's magic is registered can find the entrance." Xaiya explained. Luster nodded, for once at a loss for words. He looked around in amazement as he slipped into the tunnel. This was just outside his front door the whole time?
As soon as he was through, the entrance clicked shut behind them, leaving them in darkness. Xaiya blew another wisp of light magic, forming a small and glittering trail where they needed to go.
Back in the pantry, another mirror slipped in. Desertstone wasn't certain, but he thought he had seen a certain golden mirror sneak inside. To his disappointment, he found it empty. He wasn't on Quartz and Banella's side, per say, but Kaladin was an old friend, if he could call him that, and a little extra cash to fund his experiments never hurt.
That was when he caught a whiff of magical energy. He had trained himself to pick up the slightest sniff of elemental magic, and someone had most certainly been here. That was when he noticed the pile of discarded trinkets on the floor.
So Luster had been here. Desertsone grinned as he gathered it up. Perhaps he could get a bit of an advance on his bounty.
At any rate, he knew where his next experiment would lead him. Something fishy was going on, and he was going to find out what it was.
"So, you say Eclipse has gone to get help and find better training?" Winterstone asked. Rori nodded, almost forgetting Kipling had been resting on her head and causing the fae to roll down her snout a little ways before he caught himself. India had shown her the way to the Underground, and she was all to happy to have found her best friend and have a better idea what was going on.
"Well, that is certainly good to hear!" Winterstone said with a smile. "We might stand a better chance than I initially thought! I don't know much about moon warriors, but perhaps they are powerful enough to be of help against the undead. And if Eclipse can learn ore about them, maybe we can make more."
"That's a great thought, but I think only shadow dragons can become moon warriors." Kipling pointed out. "I'm actually not entirely sure. There is so much we don't know yet."
"Well, at any rate, it sounds like Eclipse made the right decision." Winterstone nodded. She opened her mouth to say more when the door opened and a coatl barrelled in excitedly.
"Xaiya's here!" Wayuin exclaimed excitedly, more lively than Rori had ever seen Winterstone's mate. That said, she had never spent much time with him. Perhaps he was just shy.
"And the eggs?" Winterstone asked, her voice strained with anxiety.
"They're safe." Wayuin confirmed, already returning to his usual calm state. "Totally safe. She found someone to help her. A golden mirror. I didn't catch his name."
Kipling leaped, confirming he and Rori had the same thought. "Luster!" They exclaimed in unison.
"Well, let's go make sure Xaiya and the eggs are settling in nicely." Winterstone said warmly, making a move towards the door. "You two are welcome to come if you want, or go do elsewhere. We'll resume this conversation in the evening."
"We're coming!" Kipling exclaimed. "Or at least, I am. Rori?"
"Yeah, why not?" Rori asked, feeling a pang of nervousness. She had to admit she hadn't been the kindest to their friend in the past little while. She had let her stress and worry get to her too much, and now guilt wracked her heart. Perhaps that's why he hadn't come home last night.
They made their way through the halls until they reached a room Rori had never been in before. It must be near the cliffs, because there was a small crack in the wall, too small for a dragon, letting a sea breeze in. In the center of the room was a nest made of grass and bolstered with bamboo. It was right in the direct path of the breeze, so the eggs would get the elemental nourishment that they needed.
Tending to the nest was Xaiya, ensuring that the three eggs were comfortable and secure. She barely even looked up see the new dragons entered. The onlt thing that did cause her to look up was Xinskarr dashing in.
"Xaiya! You're here! They're here! Are they safe?" Xinskarr said, kicking up a bit of dust as he raced over to his mate and nest. "They are beautiful!"
"Yes, they are safe." Xaiya soothed, wrapping herself around her mate. "They're going to be alright. Luster's going to make sure of that."
At the mention of his name, the mirror poked his head up from where he had been hiding on the other side of the nest. He was clearly making sure the bamboo was secure. At the sight of his friends, however, he leaped up and raced forward.
"Kipling!" He exclaimed as the fae fluttered down to meet him. Then he turned to the imperial. "Rori! You're... here already..."
"Where have you been?" Rori asked. "I was so worried when you didn't return home last night!"
"You were worried- about me?" Luster said, clearly taken aback. Rori was hurt at his surprise. She really hadn't been a good friend lately.
"Of course you goofball!" Rori exclaimed. "You're my friend!"
"Of right, that's what we're calling it." Luster said, but despite his words, a big grin was on his face, "Come here you!"
Rori rushed forward and gave her friend a hug. It was good to be back together as a trio again. It felt like a piece of them had been missing. Of course, with Eclispe gone, it still was, but they had scarcely spent any time together the four of them. And Eclipse would be back with time.
"Ah, the infamous Luster!' Winterstone exclaimed, stepping up beside the trio. "We'll have to talk later. I'm Winterstone. I'm excited to finally have you aboard!"
"The pleasure is all mine!" Luster said, sinking into a playful bow. As he did, the filigree on his head fell off, clattering to the floor. Luster stared at it in horror for a moment, then quickly put it back on. "You saw nothing."
Rori couldn't help it, she burst out laughing. It wasn't long before the whole room was filled with uproarious laughter. Even Luster joined in, once his embarrassment had faded. It was good to finally have something to laugh about.
@CleverDual @Alwaid @zzzhorses @Amezrou @ScrivenerRook @Kizzan @clarax @lilastar @tigressRising @Disillusionist @Aetherstorm @rainphee @RiaFire11 @Tirtouga678 @catmeow1 @ShinyDecidueye @AlchemyFox
I didn't have the chance to update yesterday because it was a pretty busy, nonstop day and I was exhausted by the time I got home, and it was far too close to rollover to start a new chapter. I might post another, smaller chapter later today to make up for it. I want to stay on track with this project.
You may or may not recognize Desertstone way back from my introduction arc, but if you don't, do not worry. It was good to have an opportunity to bring him back.
