Uncharted

[Caira Ayryn]

Part Two, Continued: Between the Carrefour of Strangers

Caira looked at the rations Merik had packed and handed her the map with an over-pronounced notion of loyalty. “Sometimes there are stories of a bewitched cup lucky travelers find in their most crucial time of need, the cup refills itself with water and is bottomless. If we’re lucky though, we wont need it.”

“Things like that are either technology from Coruscant, or magic from the Mages of Dalaran, right?” the Prime was still fresh to the place, but was learning quickly and questioned Merik for new knowledge.

“No mystery there I guess? But there are certain items in this world, that are worth more than a hundred Secondaries' lives” he smirked to cover his disappointment as she didn’t take the bait he had dangled. Her lips remained a softened line, that turned into a tender frown.


They neared Carrefour on their camels and Caira thought it had a lighter feeling surrounding it, contrary to the gruff atrabilious tone of the Town With No Name. They allowed their camels some drink as Merik vanished from sight.

Cai waited on the outskirts of the town, which seemed very strange as people hustled with a fear infused in their step. Caira waited and would ask in concern about their manner (not to her knowledge, but apparently it sourced from the mention of an unruly golden king, a lightning god, and a strange brute.) The Camelot soldier began to ask a strange looking woman with an patch which spanned over her right eyebrow and covered the hollow below. The old hag was adorned with flowing robes and a beautifully colored red bird on her shoulder.

“Hehehe!” The parrot’s beak chattered with amusement. “Advice. Advice! That would be nice!” the parrot crooned, “Lo there! A lowly traveler, you are!”

The Prime’s burdened silver eyes moved to the bird, whom seemed to act as the old woman’s lips.

“Venturing far... To there, you are.” No gesture was offered as to where ‘there’ was from the bird’s swaying movements.

While the Prime agreed, “Yes, I’m heading across the desert. Do you have any advice for me on my travel?” it was sometimes the people whom seemed meek with words knew the most or could offer the best advice. Caira expected the red bird to chatter an answer, but suddenly a rasping voice came from the woman’s lips.

“Through the Endless Dunes, you go,
Off to travel, all that you do not know.
Foraging for treasure set in starving ruins..
Beware of the bandits for they will inhume.
Do not sleep at the lion’s gated smile,
Even worse than dead, you are, in this isle.
Cast adrift for a good while,
You must choose the best passage.. Young child.”

The old woman with a black cape suddenly erupted in a fit of coughing and keeled over. The parrot flapped its wings and remained at her shoulder as Caira jumped to catch her before she fell against the ground.

“Oh my!” the Prime said in a shocked voice, “She’s dead!”

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME MOTHER!” a loud voice erupted from a fellow that closely resembled a pirate sauntered over as his eyes captured the scene. “Ye kill her! Darn Primes think they can kill a helpless ol’ woman!”

“No.. I didn’t... We were just talking...”

“The parrot just repeats what it hears.” The pirate looking man clutched the dead woman in his arms.

“No, she said something about the desert.”

“WHAT? Me mother hasn’t spoken for thirty-five years! Get outta here Prime! Lies are horrible things to do to a grieving man.”

“But its true..”

“If that’s right, what’d she say?”

“Urm... Well it was.. See, it was like a poem, something about the bandits in the desert and a lion..”

“Tch!” Pirate man didn’t have an ‘arrggh’ accent, she noted, though much to her disappointment. “I’m ‘er only son and she don’ even talk to me.. I wasn’t even here for her passin’.. Then she goes and tells ye’ of the dunes...”

His voice whimpered with humming sorrow as Caira chimed in, “I’m sure she appreciated you, and would have wanted you to know she died helping someone.”

“EH? Primes don’ need help. They got money for that.”

“Money won’t pay off peril, and not all Primes have a surplus of Omnilium.” She reasoned.

Suddenly the male stood tall and lifted his fist as though he were going to punch her, and Merik broke in saying it was time to go. “Coming!” she said with a hum in her voice and quickly evaded the man’s wrath.

“Why d'ye kill her?” The gruff man growled.

Oh, he’s still on that, Caira justified herself, “I didn’t kill anyone.”

But she knew it was a lie.

...


Caira noticed he was towing a large boulder he had dug up on the borders of Carrefour. “Why are you bringing a rock with you?” she asked as he looked at her in a startled frenzy and shushed her.

Later, when they were out of sight from the town, departed and had made their way under the cover of dusk on their camels, he introduced the valuable stone to her eyes. It gleamed with flaming bits of amber though covered in dust, every ounce of color was lit with the hot rays of the scalding summer sun. “This here is a Desert Beetle.”

“Looks like a rock to me.” she said with a bored look on her face, as he dusted off the rough edges of rock around the beetle’s sleek crimson shell, proving her wrong.

“What does it do?” Caira inquired to its purpose. Surely if Merik had gone to such extents, it had to be worth more than what she thought she was looking at.

“Desert Beetles are a rare find. One in five thousand don’t die within the first five seconds they are summoned.” As he continued to brush away accumulated dust and sand, he revealed a ruby looking beetle about the size of a normal man’s hand. “They create water from sunlight. Remember those goblets you mentioned, technology or magic? Well these are the wild version. Bandits -particularly the secondaries- use them for water when they don’t create wells and must transport or live on the run. They are valuable, like desert gold, especially in this place, thats why they are disguised as rocks. Hell I’m lucky the one I stashed away before I was captured is still there.”

“How does it work?” She looked at the ruby, that had six legs protruding, three from each side, and it was quite evident the thing was not alive.

“Okay, well, after absorbing and hours worth of strong sunlight it creates enough water to fill a glass. You might think it's worthless but every time you need to summon water using Omnilium, is three minutes that could have been walked to get further through the dunes. She may not look it, but she's quite the asset, especially for the poor bandits, or just those who are lucky enough to find this lil' ruby hidden inside a rock. They tend to burrow much like a geode.” he spoke informatively and allowed her to touch it, suddenly its legs twitched, Caira looked at the rock creature in repulsion.

“Is it alive? Like a plant?” She asked if it operated in a way similar to photosynthesis.

“Yes. Sort of.”

“So, technically, are we drinking its..?” Caira's face coiled and she took a step away from the bettle.

“Well, it's water...” Merik gave her a strange look as though this was something everyone should know and took back his ruby beetle from her hands. “Anyway, valuable thing, saves time and energy and Omnilium. Prize in the desert. If anyone ransacks your stuff, you best save this. And raids do happen. More often than not.”

The girl gave him an unconvinced look.

“And if we are caught in a gunfight, shield it with your life, these things shatter and then die.” He coddled it in his arms as though it were more valuable than the sun itself. “Anyway, our schedule is as follows, we travel by night and only in the peak hours of daylight do we rest.”