Chasing the Sky - Part 5
It was that voice again, alluring and warm. It was a warm blanket on a cold night, a soothing balm on an aching heart. It flitted through her dreams as she rested in her hammock, exhausted from a day of caretaking and rearing. She and Deryn had been in Elona for weeks now and had settled reasonably well into her camp on the far outskirts of the village. Their hatchlings were thriving, growing stronger every day and keeping both of their caretakers busy beyond measure.
“Shelby, I need you, please.”
It was more urgent now, more uncertain and fearful. That warmth seemed fragile, quick to shatter. Shelby mumbled in her sleep; the words lost as Deryn reached to touch her shoulder gently. Human sleep was so strange to him, how lost they could be amid it. Sylvari merely rested, a more meditative and restorative state in his mind than the slumber humans abandoned themselves to. It made him nervous to try and wake her but needs forced his hand.
Shelby startled, her eyes opening quickly as the jolt sent her hammock swinging slowly. Deryn stepped back, all apologies and concern.“The hatchlings, something’s wrong,” he quickly defined. Shelby stared through him like he had spoken in an ancient tongue beyond her comprehension. That voice…“What’s going on?” she finally asked hastily, working on getting out of the hammock as she hid how her cheeks flushed.“They’re lethargic, all four of them. I can coax a little food and water into them but they barely wake. It came on so suddenly, during one of those dry lightning storms. They seem so weak and drained like they did back in Dragonfall,” he answered, sounding every inch the worried father.“That doesn’t make sense,” Shelby answered, mind now focused on the problem at hand. “Dry lightning?”“Yes, dry lightning like I’ve seen on the desert elsewhere… Is that normal here?” Deryn asked with naïve confusion.Shelby didn’t answer with words. She bolted past him out of the tent to get to the hatchlings in their pen. It was a generous space they’d built. Patched awnings shielded it from direct sun but allowed the space to remain warm and dry for the growing skyscales. They were bigger than Krytan hounds now and took up as much space as several stabled springers. The air in the space was heavy and charged as she jumped the fence to enter the pen, the skyscales sprawled near to one another like they had not the strength to snuggle in their usual pile of scales and wings.“This looks just like branding. This feels just like branding” she noted with alarm as she began thoroughly checking over each of the young skyscales, frantically waving for Deryn to come closer. “Right there, look at his wing. Fuck’s sake how can this be?!” Shelby cried, showing the sylvari the sinister, shimmering purple spiderwebbing along the creature’s fragile flesh.
“I saw no beasts, though. Not a single thing like that and the smokescale has been prowling relentlessly on watch,” Deryn answered as he joined her in the pen, crouching beside her to study the skyscales. “The boys were here earlier to check on how we were doing and did some chores so they could have a chance to spend time with the little ones. They were all fine when the boys left. I fed them and settled them in while you slept and then…,” he gestured to the hatchlings, distressed and confused.Shelby furrowed her brow, caressing the ill skyscale’s head before she looked over at Deryn. “The last thing was feeding them…”“Their food!” the pair exclaimed at once. They practically stumbled over each other in their haste to get out of the pen, racing side by side towards where they cooked their own food as well as that which the skyscales required. Deryn went first for the jars of mashed meat and gristle while Shelby checked their dried and preserved meats.“Shelby…,” Deryn managed to say her name, the words shaking as he held out a half empty jar to her. “I did not see this when I fed them. I did not notice this. I never…,” he apologized before Shelby could even figure out what he was apologizing for. She went straight to his side, reaching for the jar to peer inside. Even in the low light of nearby fires she could see the faint sparkle of violet clinging to the contents.“Who would have done this? That… Where did they even get that? They poisoned them…,” Shelby realized, stunned and anguished. “How would you have noticed?! How many times have we fed them? And how many of those times do you remember looking into the jar for more than an instant? We filled them, we never expected them to be tainted,” Shelby went on, pained yet trying to remain calm.
Deryn was devastated. Distressed etched lines in his leaf-made features, his coloring seemed greyed as he trembled. Shelby set the jar aside and reached for his hands to hold them both as she looked up at him. “Deryn, look at me,” she said before she brought his hands up so they could hold her face. “Look at me. This isn’t your fault. We’ll find out who did it later but for now let’s figure out how to help them, okay?”“Can they be helped?” Deryn asked brokenly, his hands falling to Shelby’s shoulders, his grip shaky as he held fast.“We were told they’d die before we even got them here. If they could survive that I have great hope they can survive this,” she answered, putting on the bravest face she could manage. She placed her hands atop his. “And I can’t do it without you. I need you to be strong. We need you to be strong. Go take care of them. Make sure they stay warm, dry and keep trying to offer food and water. If they won’t take the latter remember how we got them to eat early on and drip water into their mouths. They’ll swallow. I’m going to get some help.”Deryn mutely nodded, his hands falling from her shoulders as he turned to go set himself to the tasks at hand. He hesitated for a moment and turned back. “I would never hurt them, or you,” he said, his voice wavering. The ghosts of Mordremoth haunted them both.“I know,” Shelby answered. “I do,” she reiterated as she raced to her tent.
Communicators did not work great in the highlands. Reception was always sketchy at best but if she could just get Hemlock’s help, they might get the call through that they needed. The springer was easily called into service once she had the communicator in hand, happy to follow the lure of sweet carrots as Shelby climbed on his back and began the leaps needed to reach the top of one of the stone spires. It was a familiar path for them both at least though when done under fear and strain it seemed to take forever.“Cynric are you out there?” Shelby called into the communicator. “Please, please be out there. Cynric, we need you. I need you. Are you there?”
Again and again across the communicator Shelby called out. Finally, a crackle of static gave way to a confused reply.“Shelby? I can hear you. It’s Talira.”The Elonian’s voice startled her and left her tense and uncertain for several moments before she spoke onwards. “I need Cynric. Is he not there?” Shelby answered, desperate yet polite.“He left a couple of days ago, said he needed to do something. Are you alright? You don’t sound well,” Talira answered through fizzing static.
“We have a problem. The hatchlings. They’ve been poisoned. It looks like someone put branded crystal into their food. One of them is already showing signs of branding. It’s like we’re being sabotaged. I don’t know who did it but I need to know how we can undo this. Can it be undone?” Shelby replied, the words spilling out in a rush of fear and distress that overwhelmed any misgivings she might have had about Talira.
“You are in Elona, yes? I will need a few minutes. Let me consult with a few other members of the Priory and come back with some ideas. Just a few minutes, okay?”“A few minutes, alright,” Shelby paused, tense but drained. “Thank you.”The communicator clicked loudly as Shelby and her springer were left in silence. Far below she could see Deryn in the camp carefully moving each skyscale into the tent he and Shelby each shared half of. They’d be safest there, she realized. It was a smart move. The sylvari moved with a patient grace, cradling each skyscale like the precious child he seemed to view them as. Sylvari weren’t known for their kinship to younglings and yet Deryn seemed enamored with his role raising the foursome. The thought of losing any of them was a heavier burden than Shelby could consider. She could only pace for now, chewing her nails and checking the communicator like staring at it would make it speak again.The crackle of the communicator coming back to life almost startled her off her feet. “Shelby, one of the researchers here said that if you can find prismatic crystal you might be able to help them. Ideally you would bring them directly to Aurene but we don’t have access to her. I don’t know anyone with that kind of clout. They suggested you go to—”“I know where to go,” Shelby interrupted, her eyes wide as she stared west. “I know where to go,” she repeated, her voice a little stronger. “Do I need to bring them with me?”The communicator crackled and static reigned until finally Talira’s voice broke through again. “I don’t think so. You need to be able to shatter the crystal to get pieces. Grinding them will be the easy part,” she paused before she went on. “Will you be alright trying this? Do you need help?”“Deryn’s here. I have people who can guard the skyscales. We’ll go as soon as we can put kits together,” Shelby hesitated, uncertain. “I’ll bring this though. Thank you. I appreciate your help.”“Take care out there. Please,” Talira urged.“I’ll try. Thank you again,” Shelby answered before she put the communicator away and got back on Hemlock’s back. The springer chirped and hopped easily down from the stone tower, bouncing them back into the camp as dawn broke over the horizon. “We’ll save them,” she said to herself as she climbed from Hemlock’s back. “Won’t we?”