Nagith Chronicles: Discovery
Chapter Eleven

The next few days he walked about in a haze, all at once thinking of too much and not a thing at all. It was a very strange purgatory of the mind, one that he couldn’t quite say he had experienced before. He performed his tasks and answered when he was spoken too, little else. Really, he wasn’t sure what else he could do. The muddle of his mind kept him from breaking from routine or doing much at all. When he could manage a coherent train of thought, all he could do was remember his talk with Malochite. The realization, a declaration, that Tensombrek hadn’t made him.

Then really, what was he?

The weather today wasn’t that much different than the Nagith, really. He slogged through the muddy terrain, his hood pulled up around his head. The rain was icy cold and the wind seemed to cut into his exposed skin. Gray clouds smothered the sunlight and all the animals seemed to have disappeared somewhere. How they managed to do that, he wasn’t really sure, this area didn’t have too much in the way of trees, it was mainly grasses and bushes. Before the rain had come he had seen a number of small brown creatures dashing about on all fours, popping out of the ground then diving back in through their burrows. They had made the most adorable little squeaking sounds, but they had silenced when the rain came.

He didn’t mind rain, not really, it brought the smell of water into the air and on a hot or muggy day it was nice to feel on the skin. Though most of the time it was more like this, cold. Maybe he should just head back for today. It was just endless field as far as he could see and anything interesting seemed to be hiding from the poor weather. With a sigh he stopped, surveying his surroundings again. It had lightened to a drizzle, so it wasn’t as bad now, but unless the sun came back out he didn’t expect to discover anything new. Maybe he’d wait just a few more minutes; he wasn’t keen on going back just yet.

He pittered around for a few more minutes, the drizzle continuing but the clouds up ahead thinning out. To his dismay the rain increased intensity again and he considered leaving. Then, almost suddenly, the sun came back out. He winced a bit at the influx of light but more so he was confused that the rain continued. The sun was shining through gaps in the clouds but the rain was still falling. How odd! It was to his understanding the sun could never shine while it rained. Well, he smiled a bit to himself, it was a minor discovery but still one all the same. Then he saw it.

His eyes widened drastically, unsure if he was imagining the spectacle. In the sky, through the thinning clouds he saw...lights. Colorful lights, bands of color streaking through the sky! He fumbled for his journal, quickly attempting to sketch down the apparition. It was impossible to do it justice with black ink. It had color! All the colors he had seen here, all in one ray of light! In the SKY! A sky full of light was amazing enough but a sky that could conjure up color?! How?! It was light, right?! What was it? How did it get there? Was something making it? Was there some other light, like the sun, that shot colors across the sky? He couldn’t seem to locate a source of it. It was so vibrant and beautiful and- and it was fading. With a cry of dismay he frantically searched for it again, as if somehow he would find a way to hinder its disappearance. With a sigh of resignation he contented himself with eyeing the colored lights until they vanished completely. The sun was shining again and the rain had stopped, the little squeaks beginning to ring in the air again. It didn’t seem to hold much interest to him anymore, not after those sky colors. He would’ve gladly endured a million more squalls if he could see something like that again.

As if hoping the colored light would reappear, he lingered in that spot the rest of the day. The air smelled good after it rained, even after the place had dried, for the most part. As the sun grew lower he laid down on the ground, staring up at the sky. He took a deep breathe, his eyes closed as the scent of the wind filled his being. It didn’t matter he still didn’t know what caused the air to smell so good, he could still enjoy it. His eyes closed, letting the gentle breeze flow over his eyelids, the warmth of the sun bleeding through them. The grass felt like a cushion, it was so thick and soft, a little prickly in spots but not enough to deter him from laying on it. What a wonderful spot, what a wonderful world.

The sun was getting lower, night was approaching. He loved the night here; as much as he enjoyed the brightness of this world, even its darkness was full of splendor. Soon when the sun left, the sky would darken. Even still, it would not succumb to total darkness like the abyss of his own world, instead it would soothe itself into a dark, dark blue.

Then, slowly but surely, the lights would appear. Oh how he loved the lights. He didn’t know what they were called, or what they were equivalent to in his world, if anything. Sometimes he got lucky and he got into a position where he could spy on the people here and jot down their words. Most of the time he had no idea what they meant, the strange scrawlings piled up on his desk with no means to interpret them. Still he would get lucky on occasion, and manage to piece together what words meant what. He had learned ‘orange’ that way, ‘flower’ the same. ‘Sun’ for the day’s light, ‘moon’ for the night’s.

Speaking of which, it seemed he would see the moon this night. Sometimes it wasn’t there, or sometimes it was in pieces or halves. The whole moon was out tonight, and soon its silver light would beam down on the land with its serene touch. It’d have those rays around it and the little lights would flicker into existence around it like silver licks of flame on countless wicks.

What could they be? Did they truly disappear during the day, or were they hidden? Were they too dim to see while the bright sun shone, and could only peek out in the dark? The moon seemed to be brightest when fewer lights shone, there had to be some correlation there… Maybe he would talk to Malochite about it, and see what he thought. Or maybe-

Maybe he could ask Tensombrek?

The thought struck him as so odd that his eyes flicked open, a frown creasing his face. Ask Tensombrek? It was strange he had never thought of it, but wouldn’t it make sense? Granted if he knew everything about this place, he wouldn’t have ordered it be explored; but he was the oldest thing in their world, surely he would have some better insight into all this? Then again, if he really didn’t know anything about this world, why was he so…defensive, about it? It was odd now that he thought of it. Maybe he was thinking a bit too much though? As Malochite had said, he had been doing a bit too much of that lately… Still, something didn’t seem to add up with all of this.

When had it begun? With the light? Or- no, before that. The first cal, the one Tensombrek had killed. The second one had lead him right to the light, would the first one have done the same if it had been given the chance? Why would it lead anyone there? Was it trying to, or was it just trying to get here? Why was it trying to get here? How did it know about here? Was it from here? If it was how come he had not seen a single one? Tensombrek had been so quick to destroy the cal, then so quick to secure the light, why? Was it just because they were different? That didn’t make sense either, after all, he was different but Tensombrek had kept him alive. Though that may have only been because he could be useful...was that why he had them studying this place? To see if it could be useful? Then why kill the cals?

At the very least he should at least ask Tensombrek what he wanted the intel for, that was an acceptable question, wasn’t it? Really if he wanted good intel if he told them what exactly he was after, he’d be able to get the right intel fast, right? He reasoned with himself that that inquiry couldn’t possibly be overstepping any boundaries, it was just a question about the details of his job here.

Even so, he couldn’t quite shake the uneasy feeling in his gut nor the prickling of the hairs on the back of his neck. It had been some time since he had had any sort of interaction with the boss that hadn’t ended poorly; though when he had been given this task he hadn’t really gotten in trouble, persay, but it had been all too obvious his master was not in any kind of a decent mood. He had countless examples of times where it appeared Tensombrek wasn’t going to lash out, only to be swaddled in bandages a few hours later. His master wasn’t the most…predictable, of people.Or…things.

With a reluctant sigh he got to his feet, brushing the debris off his clothes. He rooted about in his coat, slipping the black feather from its pocket. It always felt weird going back, though how it actually got him back to begin with he hadn’t the faintest clue. Maybe he could ask about that too, if he was feeling brave.

Charin held the feather over his eyes, blinding him to his surroundings. Just a second passed and he felt dizzy suddenly, swaying on his feet. He groaned and pulled the feather away, gripping his now throbbing head as the room came into focus. The black tiles became clear after a moment of swirling vision, confirming his location back at the citadel. It was more or less and empty room, which was a stark difference than the usual lavish furnishings. However it was situated directly adjacent to the room in which the light churned. That probably was why it had been cleared, the feather always returned him here so perhaps it was to prevent him or Malochite from appearing on something? Or in something, now that would be unpleasant.

He left the room, locking it behind him and making his way down the corridor. In his head he ran over how he should approach Tensombrek about his inquiries. What time of day, what room, the exact words he would use to phrase his question; it was vital to his success (and to a lesser extent, his well-being) that he nail down exactly every condition in his attempt. He continued to mull over his half-formed plans as he prepared himself for sleep. As eager as he was to get answers, it would have to wait. Charin knew very well that he’d need the rest to deal with his master. With that at the forefront of his mind, he drifted off into slumber.

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