27.5 Happy Stories

Day 424

Onyx leads us into the Imperial palace, meticulously contained within anti-decay magic. Lyssa and I bed down in an opulent guess chamber with beds sized for dwarves...lying sideways together.  

Day 425

15 hours later I wake to find Lyssa reading a book beside the bed - a history of the founding of this nation. Only the dwarvish writing prevents me from being miffed that someone started reading a book without me.   As she goes off to prepare some food I take the time to answer the slew of letters that have arrived throughout the night and the long conversation with Onyx. Alder, Mystery, and Miriam have all written. Mystery's letter makes my heart ache but I know that she is safe and well and that she needs my memory more than she needs me to come find her and comfort her.   When she returns with snacks Lyssa and I lie entwined on the bed and muse about Thalien in the Dreaming. We both miss him so much and I wish I could share my hopes with her but am equally nervous to tell her anything about it. Instead I remark that if he chooses to stay in the Dreaming I'll introduce him to the Celestial fae after he's done flitting about tugging at threads in my service. Privately I can hope that I'll drag him back to the Waking world before that comes about.   After another hour lounging in bed we finally emerge to hunt down Onyx. Before I can give Lyssa any answer on how long we have together I need to confirm a few things with him. We find him far on the Southern side of the city with all the streetlamps lit up. He's working on a magic circle with a few crystals suspended above it. Clearly this has been a workstation for a while - there are desks, books, magical components scattered about and some covered in dust. He's working on the aforementioned experiment to draw ores out of the ground over several months. The vibrations involved seem like a potential bridge to me between my arcane motion magic and elemental earth magic. Certainly a better bridge than freezing blood.   He agrees to accompany me to the ruins East of the Grotto to meet with Tira and Haze in two weeks' time when the experiment is finished. He and Hue are apparently friends and visit every so often so it will be fine for him to visit the Grotto and collect me en route or meet me there.   With this settled we turn our attention to preparing a proper meal. The four of us head upwards to hunt wyrmlings and I have the luxury of watching these three competent warriors handle the hordes of scrawny beasts as I strum my instrument and twist in the air, casting out waves of quickness and encouragement to them. My sword remains at my side.   In the palace Onyx and Kaide track down some dwarven ale, spirits, and mead that has been aged beyond what any of its makers might have expected. In my own explorations I come across a humid atrium filled with crystals that glow and release light that transition through a full day's cycle. The garden is full of beautiful flowering plants and decorative trees along with some fruit-bearing ones that I recognize - kiwis and plantains. There are also some nuts that I don't recognize but collect anyway. When Lyssa sees them she glows with excitement and insists that we go back to collect many more. They're a dwarven nut (cashew) and she eagerly incorporates them into everything she's making - a crushed coating for the wyrmling meat, creamy nut butter, cookies, and a pesto. I'm almost embarrassed about the quick plantain chips I quietly prepare to snack on late at night. I'm not an accomplished chef.   The meal is delicious and full of happy stories. Onyx tells us about Yulé and her children, all her great deeds. She was remembered as one of the nation's greatest rulers. Of her dozen children a few left to pursue love and crafts outside the kingdom and settled far to the South (perhaps in the Valley?) but many stayed and were remembered also as great people. Kaide tells us about her craftswork here and the things she made for people both honourable and not. In particular, a piece she made to cry out for protection if it ever was activated and saved someone's life. The wearer was a particularly obnoxious and demanding dwarven noble.