Marble

Sacridite Minerals & Ores Lay down a Sacridite shard somewhere remote and it will start growing as long as there is anyone living nearby making wishes. (KS-Sponsored by Darrin P.) 72

The Palace Written by Sciencemonkey

Infused Crystal Minerals & Ores This crystal pulses with an unnatural energy and strange shapes move within. One should not stare overlong into it, lest they begin to stare back at you. (Special thanks Artorias.) 80

Marble stared into the bottom of the chest drearily. It was littered with small shards of crystal, some sand and dust, and a single feather from his familiar. Marble looked back up, to his finished work, a large, ornate earring inlaid with various sapphires. I should get this over to Ms. Woolram, before she cuts off the deal, Marble thought to himself, already dreading the prospect of dealing with the irritable, belligerent peddler.

Marble turned, and stepped out of the tent, slipping the earring onto his arm. The air outside tumbled across the colorful tents and buildings, throwing sand across Marble's scales. Hopping across the tiles, Marble dipped and twisted between the everyday rush of customers. Tents, dragons, and buildings flashed by as Marble made a mad dash to Woolram's stall. He slowed as he approached, and slipped under the line of customers already piling up in wait. Jumping onto the counter, he placed the earring down and waited, while trying to ignore the various stares and grumbles of the customers in the line beside him. After around ten minutes of waiting, a large, irate obelisk stepped out of a door of the building backing the tent. Adjusting her glasses, the obelisk - Ms. Woolram - glared directly into Marble's eyes, sharply enough to make even the normally sturdy fae take a step back.

"Well?" Ms. Woolram griped, tapping her claws on the lower half of the counter, "What do you want?"

"My payment?" Marble asked, doing his best to glare right back.

"You took too long. I need more jewelry, immediately. So get back to work, and then maybe you'll earn your pay."

"Excuse me, I-"

"You think you'll get a better deal anywhere else?! Shut up and get back to work!" Ms. Woolram snapped, lifting herself up to glare even deeper at Marble.

Marble sighed, knowing full well that Ms. Woolram always did her best to run any other jewelry seller out of town or business.
"Even if I wanted to, I don't have anything left to work with."

"Well, I can't just give you materials. Go buy some."

"I can't afford that. You barely even pay me for my work!" Marble snapped back, crest rising along with his anger.

"Then leave my sight. I have no need of you." Ms. Woolram stated coldly, snatching the earring and turning to the line of customers.

Marble glared, before promptly being shoved off the counter by a customer who seemed rather stuck-up, even at a passing glance. Deciding that it would be a bad idea to attempt to retrieve the earring, he hopped away, dodging between hurried consumers' feet as he dashed back to his workstation.

Slipping inside, he punched a chest, shattering it into wooden splinters, before slumping over the workstation. Behind him, his familiar danced curiously, cocking its head, and attempting to make a soothing sound.

Staring into the moonlight, Marble sighed, having not found a single shard of usable crystal left in his workshop.
"What am I supposed to do, Dance? I can't fight her, can't gather food, I don't really have anything I can do beyond jewelry."
The spider chittered, uncertain.
"I guess we'll figure out something. We always have," Marble stated, petting his familiar absent-mindedly, as he contemplated his options.

The morning dew set across the city like a sticky, humid web, and the blazing sun was nothing more than a spark. An imperial wandered through the abandoned streets, an obelisk following close behind. The imperial slowly stuck his head into Marble's tent, his entire face beaming.
"Hello? Are you Marble?"

Marble rolled off of his mat, scrambling to his feet, only to run directly into the imperial's face. Stumbling back, he looked up, the imperial's smile practically blinding, filling his vision.
"Ow. Whut..?"

"Sorry to startle you! Are you Marble?" the imperial inquired again, tilting his head - and the tent.

"Er.... yeah? W-why?"

"Perfect! Would-"

"Slow down, Argentum," a voice rumbled, like waterdrops striking a block of stone. An obelisk slipped his head into the small tent, his mane blocking the entrance and whipping around, as he grabbed the top of the imperial's horns and unhooked them from the tent. The imperial - Argentum - smiled awkwardly, before retracting his head and taking a step back.
"Sorry about that. I'm Oasis. Argentum and I heard you were a jeweler?"

"Huh? E-er, yes, why?" Marble asked, stepping back.

"We are planning to mine for gemstones, and we need someone to identify them. Would you want to join us?"

Marble sighed, the image of his empty inventory coming to mind.
"Alright-"

The second Marble agreed, Argentum swept him up, picking up Marble's familiar with his tail as he turned around. Oasis stared up at Marble, who was gripping one of Argentum horns with a death grip.
"Hey, anything I should grab from your tent? Argentum or I can carry it for you."

"Well... the chest would be helpful."

"Oh, good idea!" Oasis said, turning and snatching the treasure chest, then placing it on his back. He smiled, and dashed after Argentum as he walked away.

Marble looked down at Argentum.
"So... where are we going, anyway?"

Oasis' voice rang out, strained as he tried to keep up with the Argentum's giant gait.
"A mountain range in the west. Apparently there's lots of easy minerals over there."

Marble stared out at the sunrise, shaking his crest and wings of the morning dew. The cart rattled over the stones, held down by the sheer weight of its cargo, and driven by a 'small' flock of Golden Rocs, if any flock of Rocs could be called small. Oasis crept up behind Marble, slipping out from between Argentum, who had splayed out across the entire back of the cart in his sleep, and the creaking, wooden wall.
"You okay?"

Marble turned his head, stretching his arms and legs.
"Oh? Yeah! Just watching the sunrise. How long till we're there?"

"Should be today! Sorry it took so long."

Marble shrugged, turning back to the sunset.
"No worries. We're making good time, considering the distance."

"Yeah. Though we've only just reached the mountains, so it might take a while yet, to get to a dig site."
Oasis laid down next to Marble, stretching his arms out in front of him, and yawning like a cat. The cart continued to click-clack across the stones and up the mountainside, as they left the desert and foothills behind, stretching out before the sunrise's bright aura.

The cart rolled to a stop, and a Ridgeback - the driver - walked to the back, face unreadable as she looked at the trio. She threw back her thumb, pointing towards the front of the cart, where the sounds of metal on stone could be heard.
"Well, this should be your stop."

Oasis stepped out, bowing briefly.
"Thank you. Here's your money."

The ridgeback smiled, then sauntered off, waiting just until the trio had collected their belongings, then driving off.

Oasis let Marble and Dance climb onto his back, and strode towards the mine, Argentum following close behind. Approaching the mining, they could see the mountainside stretching down to flat ground, far below. On the sheer cliffs, many dragons could be seen mining, either creating tunnels to find veins further in, or attempting to break large, unusual crystals that seemed less like they were growing from the ground, but rather, attempting to attack the very sky itself.
A dragon in a large vest, with an overseer tag, walked up to them.
"Hello, I take it you're here to mine? Just pay the fee 'n you can keep what you dig up."

Oasis nodded, and gave a bag of treasure to the Overseer.
"Before we get to mining, what are these crystals?"

"No clue. You could always take 'em to an appraiser. But from what I can tell, they're big 'n valuable." The Overseer sauntered off, his tail flicking back and forth.

"Well, I guess we better get to digging. Hey, Marble, can you figure out what those crystals are for us?" Oasis queried, trotting forward, Argentum right behind.

"Sure, I was curious the moment I saw them anyway," Marble said, hopping into the air, and flittering over to a crystal without another word.
He analyzed the crystal, using both his skill as an appraiser, along with light magic, while in the background, Oasis hammered another crystal down with a single hit, Argentum catching it with silver vines, and carrying back to even ground, into a tent that he marked as theirs. Dance chittered, and scurried over to the tent, promptly hiding inside.

Their work continued all day, but Marble only focused on one thing: the giant crystal. No matter what he tried, he couldn't seem to identify it. At first, it seemed a deep red, almost berry colored, but when he applied magic to it, it would seemingly shift hues. Occasionally, it would change colors completely, unprompted, sometimes along with others on the mountainside. No matter what he tried, it avoided identification; it wasn't Garnet or Ruby, despite its color, nor was it quartz.
As night rolled over the mountains, the crystals seemed to glow, retaining a certain brightness to them that the nearby stone could not.
"Hey, Marble! Let's head back to the tent!" Oasis called out, lying down as Argentum carried him towards where they had collected all their various stones.
Marble jumped down from the crystal, gliding over to the tent with ease, and petting Dance, who rushed to him as he stepped inside. Oasis smiled, yawning as Argentum laid down, letting Oasis walk off his back.
"So, any clue as to what that crystal is? You've been looking at it all day."

"Yeah.... Despite what I try, I just can't pin it down. My best guess is tourmaline, but even that doesn't quite line up."

"Huh. Well, that's.... wait. Where's the crystal we broke down?" Oasis asked, whipping his head around. The crystal hadn't been small, yet it appeared to be nowhere in the tent.
Argentum looked up at them, and craned his neck over to where he set it.
"Should've been right there," he said, pointing.

Marble hopped over, and examined where the crystal should've been, while Oasis glared out of the tent, though nobody was around for him to glare at.
Looking down at the ground, Marble could see a small collection of shards, which seemed to be wasting away before his eyes.

"I.... I think it may have disintegrated," he said, warily eying shards, as they seemingly turned into wisps of magic.

"What? How?" Oasis said, turning his head back towards Marble.

"Well, when I was examining the crystal earlier, I would use magic on it, and it would contort it, as if enchanted or infused."

"So you think somebody imbued these crystals with magic? Why?"

"Well, it's possible the magic in the land made them change...."

"That wouldn't cause them to disintegrate," Oasis snapped.
Argentum raised his head, took one paw, and placed on Oasis' tail, then dragged him over.

"Hey. Don't snap at him, he's just trying to help." Argentum smiled at Marble wearily, as Oasis tucked his head into Argentum's chest.

"Sorry about that. He gets like this sometimes."

Marble nodded, turning to the gems and stones Oasis and Argentum had gathered. Examining each one, he categorized them, working throughout the night. A half an hour in, he was nodding off, his obsessive sorting of the gemstones' quality the only thing keeping him awake. Dance looked up from a light slumber, chittering at Marble, as if to telling him to sleep. Marble only flicked his tail in response, causing one of the gems to clatter to the floor. Argentum looked up at the noise, drearily.
"You're still awake?" Argentum mumbled, still half asleep. Marble didn't reply, grabbing the gem as silently as he could. Dance glared at Marble, and scuttled over Argentum, chittering at him. Argentum slowly opened his eyes again to find that the spider was pacing in front of his face, trying to wake him. Argentum raised his head above Dance, taking care not to wake Oasis.
Marble could barely be seen, the only light left in the tent, a small lantern flickering in the cold of night, obscured by his wings. Argentum stretched, half out of habit, half reaching for Marble, then stood, carefully placing Oasis on the ground. He walked over to Marble, and picked him up gingerly, carefully making sure he couldn't hurt himself struggling or wake Oasis. Carrying him over to Oasis, he nestled Marble between Oasis and himself.
Marble glared, but slowly fell asleep anyway, using Oasis' mane as a blanket.

Argentum stretched, and raised his head, watching over the other two as they woke. Oasis yawned, and rolled onto his back, waking Marble, who had been tossed head over heel across the room from hanging onto Oasis' mane. Marble groaned, and got up, shaking himself off, while Argentum rushed over to help him to his feet. Oasis slowly stood, and looked to the others.
"Er... sorry, Marble," Oasis said, plodding over to him. He picked Marble up carefully, carrying him outside, into the crisp morning air, with Argentum following close behind.
"Argentum and I will continue mining. Marble, if you would, please look into how that crystal vanished. In the meantime, we'll just avoid mining more of them. Too much effort."
Oasis walked off, to the cliffside, with Argentum following. Marble stared over at the crystals. He hopped to them, and started his studies of the crystals again.
Hours passed, and the sun was searing on Marble's scales. Oasis and Argentum were still taking a break after lunch, but he couldn't sit still, still wondering about the odd properties of the crystals. He was worn out though, and after only a few minutes, had draped himself over the crystal. Gazing absently down the cliffside, he could just barely see a glint at the base of the nearby mesa. After staring at it for several minutes, his interest had piqued, and he lazily glided down to the source.
The mesa loomed over Marble, the only reminder that he was above ground the blazing sun on his back. Glittering crystals jutted out of a crack in the mesa's stone façade, akin to an enormous geode. Inside, the crystals seemed to glow a brilliant, burning red, the same as the ones on the mountainsides above.
Marble cocked his head, curious. He turned, and flittered upward, resting every so often, to make his way back to camp.
Approaching Oasis and Argentum, who were now practically attacking the ground with their mining, Marble cleared his throat, and hopped onto Oasis' back.
"Hey.... You mind coming to help me examine something?"
Oasis turned his head so he could see Marble with the corner of his eye.
"Uh, sure? What's up?" he asked, motioning for Argentum to follow as Marble pointed to the mesa.

"The mesa seems to be a geode of these crystals. If we can get inside, we could learn more about them."

"What? Seriously?!" Oasis yowled, hurrying to the mesa, as Argentum followed behind the duo. Soon, the trio were in front of the crack in the mesa, huddled together as they examined the crystals. The afternoon sun had set in, and although it was hot out, the cool air from the cave kept them from overheating.

"Um..." Marble pondered, wondering how they were going to get it. Mere moments later, the ground beneath the crack seemed to part ways, as Oasis started digging. After about a minute, there was a large gap, just big enough for an imperial to enter.

"Let's see what's inside," Oasis said, taking the first steps inside the geode. Inside, the crystals took up most surfaces, though some various stone walls could be seen, beneath it all. The air was cool, but dry, and the cave was astonishingly open, despite the low ceilings and crystals jutting out of the walls. Various winding passages could be seen, but few were fully blocked by the crystals. Marble and Argentum walked in after Oasis, looking about in amazement.

Marble hopped over to a small cluster of crystal growth, examining it, while Argentum and Oasis simply looked around, admiring the way the light danced around the cave entrance. After several minutes of this, Marble spotted a peculiar phenomenon: the crystals' glow seemed to not only intensify towards the ground, but down certain paths as well. He hopped back to the other two, who were lying down and enjoying the cool air.
"Hey, I think I may have found a lead to the source of the crystals."

"Huh? Source?" Argentum asked, cocking his head, as both he and Oasis turned towards Marble.

"Yeah. These seem like they're radiating from somewhere. If I had to guess, something in this cavern created them."

"Odd. What about this lead?" Oasis queried.

"They seem to glow more intensely down certain paths. If we can follow them, we could find the source. If there's a clear enough route, that is," Marble jabbered excited, practically hopping up and down. He turned, and started down one path, motioning for the others to follow. Oasis and Argentum smiled, and slowly plodded along after him.

"Isn't he so cute when he's hopping like that?" Oasis whispered to Argentum, both hanging back, just out of Marble's earshot. Argentum nodded, barely stifling his laughter as Marble stumbled over a larger crystal. He quickened his pace and picked up Marble, who let out a yelp as the imperial lifted him. Oasis, meanwhile, jumped past the both of them and smashed the crystals ahead. The light of their destruction rippled down the tunnel, the other crystals lighting up as if crying out in response.

Marble chirped, startled.
"That's odd. T-they didn't do that before, did they?"

Argentum threw Marble onto his back, then drew his head back and his wings up, isolating Marble from the rest of the world, hissing at the crystals, while Oasis backed up from the broken shards. Oasis looked over to Marble, straining to look him in the eyes through Argentum's stance.

"Hey, Marble? We don't have to continue if you don't want to."

Marble shook his head, and clambered up onto Argentum's horns. "Just give me a moment, and then we'll keep going, if you're both still up for it," he stated, with only a hint of quivering. Marble turned his palms towards the ceiling, nearly touching the crystal covered surface, and let a soft light wash over it. The crystals seemed to pulse in response, the ripples pointing down the tunnel.

"Okay, let's follow that," Marble said, smiling as Argentum sauntered forward. The trio strolled further down the caverns, the pulsing crystal light calmly leading them further. Despite the unusual surroundings, they felt oddly calm, the crystals' light a comforting glow that seemed happy to guide them.


Meanwhile.... the point where the pulse originated, the crystals seemed to claw at the point... a stiff, grating presence permeated the air...... after a few moments of this, a burst of magic shot forth, creating large crystals that shot forth.....

....but no one was there to hear....


After some time of travelling down the twisting crystal depths, the crystal lights faded from above, leaving the trio in darkness. Marble reached up, and started another pulse. The trio travelled into the depths for hours, following only the dim lights of the crystals, and chatting happily. After several hours, the dim lights of the crystals seemed to grow, and the cavern yawned open lazily, a vast crystal-lined room gazing back at them...

A large crystal growth seemed to hover in the center, suspended by various crystal bolts. Inside, a small dragonoid form lay, limbs and wings fully extended, as if yawning, or roaring with magic.

A small crystal statue of a fae stood in the open, just before the grand crystal. It seemed as if it was guarding the crystal, a timeless, immortal watcher.

The trio stared in stunned silence, watching as the small statue seemed to glow, pulsing with a light that rippled across the room, through all the crystals.

After a moment, the statue began to hiss, and its eyes opened, a brilliant purple color cutting through the light to stare directly at the trio.

"What are you doing here. Get out," growled the fae, staring at them, eyes unblinking.

"Er, we-"

"Out."

"Uh-"

"Out."

Argentum stuttered and pouted, lying down in front of the crystal fae. Marble glared from his back, while Oasis yawned aggressively.

"I said-"

Oasis raised one paw and smacked the fae, pinning them down. The fae squeaked, and started to squirm.
"There. Now you can go look around, Marble," Oasis said, smiling widely. Marble hopped down from Argentum, and flew over to the crystal in the center of the room. The crystal fae, meanwhile, kept thrashing against Oasis' paw, until Oasis felt a sudden pain. He lifted his paw, his palm bleeding, and the fae with a sword drawn. The fae flew over the Marble, screeching.

"Stay away from him!" the fae screamed, swinging the sword forth in a blaze of light, which ripped past Marble, slashing his left wing. Marble fell to the ground, barely recovering enough for a landing. In the background, Argentum roared, shaking the whole cavern, to the point Oasis took a few steps back.

Silver seemed to seep out of the ground, through the crystals, and onto Argentum's claws. He leaped forward, leaping just high enough to swipe at the little fae. The fae dodged, and raised his free paw to cast a spell towards the floor, crystals rising up like spikes to strike the imperial's chest. Marble raised his own paw in response, aiming a soft bolt of light at the fae. The bolt rippled off the crystal, the fae unscathed.

"What in the wastes?!" Oasis yelled, limping forward, "We don't want to fight you!"

The little fae simply threw another spell in response, slamming Oasis with crystals. Argentum leaped again, but couldn't hit the fae, who kept slinging more crystals from both the floor and ceiling into the pair, ignoring the injured Marble.

Marble whimpered, watching as the duo were slashed and battered with crystals, though Argentum seemed far from slowing down. Argentum jumped once more, and slapped the fae out of the air, towards a wall. The fae landed without harm, and threw another blade of light from his sword. Argentum deflected it with his now-silver claws, and rushed forward, slamming into the wall and the fae in one. Slumping over, he kept as much pressure as he could on the fae.

"If I let you up, will you at least listen to us?" Argentum asked, through gritted teeth.

After a moment, the trio could hear a groaning mumble. Argentum stood back up and the fae jumped up, gliding to the top to the large crystal in the center of the room.

"What is it you want here?" the fae asked, sword still drawn, poised to strike at any hint of movement.

"We wanted to find the source of the crystals," Marble groaned, holding his injured wing.

The crystal fae's eyes narrowed, and they leaned forward.
"Why? To harvest it?" they inquired.

Marble shook his head, wincing at the pain in his wing.
"N-no. We just wanted to figure out what these crystals are," Marble said, stumbling over his words as he tried to focus through the pain.

The other fae stared for a minute, then slowly lowered their sword.
"It's....... their magic," they stated, motioning back at the dragon in the crystal. Their face was unreadable, but they loosed their grip on their blade, placing it back in its scabbard as they leaped down. Still glaring at the trio, they spat out one word.
"Leave."

Oasis gingerly walked over to Marble and picked him up, careful not to hurt Marble's wing or incur the wrath of the other fae.

Argentum shielded the two under his wing as they walked back through where they entered, only glancing back to make sure the crystal fae wasn't following.

After a couple of minutes, he turned and reached over to Marble with bandage, and set to doctoring the wound. Once done, the trio carried on, Oasis taking special care not jostle Marble too much.

As the trio wandered back up into the evening light, a cool breeze struck their forms, a bitter welcome back to the surface. Shadows sprawled across the cliffs, weaving between the trees as the mountains engulfed the setting sun. Argentum spread his wing over Oasis and Marble as Oasis laid down, Marble curled up in his mane, and drifted off to sleep.