Uriel didn't share dusa's excitent about the device nor did he have a clue of its inner workings, but the mont Atsa said it was ant to keep evil inside his interest was piqued to say the least.
"If it helps keep the evil inside, then I'm inclined to help you fix this chanism this one ti. But then you'll have to figure out a way to do this on your own. It's not our duty after all." Uriel looked Atsa in the eye this ti to emphasize his point.
It was a disrespectful thing to do, especially to an elder, but it wasn't like Uriel had much care about respect to begin with and the only reason he'd been so polite until there was because the old man shared his knowledge freely.
"Ti is against us." Was all Atsa replied and the group began moving, leaving Bella on her own still holding the stone in place. It wasn't a difficult task, but one she now knew was of the utmost importance.
Due to her heightened senses dusa had no issues following the sa path the kinetic energy conveyors did below the ground, but that was only possible thanks to the grinding sound they emitted constantly. Had it been electricity or thermal power she would have been helpless as they were much more difficult to notice.
"Over there." dusa pointed the way despite being blindfolded.
"Huh, you said we were supposed to go to the central island, but that goes back to the castle on top of another floating island." Nika explained thinking dusa made a mistake.
"I'm sure, that's the way."
"Eagle, do you know if the devices are inter connected?" Uriel asked.
"Like most people, I don't know how does a device work. I simply use it." Atsa shook his head, the fact that he was able to keep up with the rest of the group despite his old age went over their heads due to the rush.
"We should split. Nika, Luna and I will go to the remaining castles, while Eagle and dusa go to the main island to see if there's anything she can do." Uriel commanded, though Atsa shook his head once more.
"Instead, you and I should go while the rest of you take care of the chanisms."
"I'm not an engineer, even if we find the source of the problem there will be nothing I could do to fix it."
"I don't know what an engineer is, but this might be dangerous. You are a hunter and I am a doctor." Atsa explained his reasoning.
"Cool, because I'm not moving anywhere until you heal my foot." Nika crawled up from Uriel's shadow only to drop in the ground with her arms crossed.
Atsa grabbed his herbs and began chanting, though what had seed like an intelligible murmur to Bella was actually a song Uriel could easily understand.
"Those aren't magic words, it's just a song about soone having a nice day!" Uriel jotted down the lyrics as he heard them while doing his best to translate them. Reading ancient languages and speaking them were entirely different matters and although he could make sense of most of it, the aning of so particular words escaped him.
"I didn't say it was magic, but other people call it like that. When a doctor successfully cure soone of their ailnt is always a miracle from god, magic or just luck, but when a doctor fails and the patient dies it's always their fault." Atsa sighed dejectedly.
"Professor Lamar says the sa." Luna nodded.
"He sounds like a wise man. I'm afraid this is goodbye, blood of my blood. Let give you this to rember your origin." Atsa took off a leather thread from which a single wolf tooth hung and handed it to Luna. Other than being warm to the touch, there was nothing note worthy about it as even the fang looked to be ordinary.
"Thanks, grampa." Luna rubbed her nose in the man's clothes before parting towards one of the floating islands to perform the sa task Bella was currently performing, holding a circular stone in place.
"Guess I'll do the sa." Nika rged with the shadows.
"I... Uhm... would it be safe if I take off my blindfold?" dusa asked at a random direction as both Uriel and Atsa had one thing in common, neither of them emitted any presence of flux energy signature.
"Sure, our friends know better than to get the jump on you. If soone cos near you, don't hesitate to turn them into stone." Uriel shrugged showing no regards for the life of others which seemingly shook dusa.
It wasn't that she didn't expect that answer, but the complete care of emotion displayed by Uriel reminded her of the ti where they were together as a couple and It wasn't a fond mory.
Uriel made his way across the golden city paying extra care of his surroundings now that he knew there could be enemies waiting for them, but they reached their destination before anyone showed up.
Before the golden city of Cibola appeared inside the dungeon the island where the throne was located had nothing but a few standing pillars as evidence of a marvelous past. Now, however, a tall wall made of sothing similar to gold but completely impervious to damage and so smooth it couldn't be climbed stood tall in front of them.
The gate, if it could be called as such, was also higher than even a hunter could climb as it had no footholds. The only reason why Uriel knew it was a door was because of the arch on top of it.
"This is it..." Atsa pointed at a circular stone embedded on the wall, though this ti there was also a writing on top of it, though it made no sense to Uriel and he promptly asked the elder by his side.
"What does this number an?"
"You can read the old scriptures?" Atsa directed a questioning look at Uriel, though the question called for no answer. The old man cranked the stone to the side like he was twisting a door knob and the grinding of gears preceded the opening of the gate.
If the city outside the castle was marvelous, the inside of the castle was disappointing to say the least. Granted, it was realized in the finest marble and its polished walls gave it a luxurious look emphasized by red carpets and purple tapestries hanging from the sides, but there was nothing of value.
Atsa entered the castle like he owned it showing that he knew the halls and rooms like the back of his hand. He paid no mind to Uriel's evident disappointnt at the castle and continued on his way to a corner, moved the purple tapestry to the side and opened a concealed door behind which the entire chanism of Crockett's legacy could be seen, though it was by no ans what Uriel expected.
Four gears connected to tal bars moved along a sphere that was actually comprised of concentric rings that spun so fast they looked solid. Its movent fed kinetic energy to each the gears that would, in turn, provide energy to the devices on the four castles in its surroundings.
"What's making this thing work? Does it run on fuel?" Uriel asked as he drew near the center of the device examining it as thoroughly as he could. Uriel was by no ans an engineer, but at least he knew of the law of conservation of energy. "Those gears are massive, there must be a generator sowhere inside that sphere."
"Your guess is correct, but also wrong." Atsa shook his head.
"Why are you so enigmatic all of a sudden?" Uriel looked him with distrust.
"I'm not, but just because I'm all it doesn't an I have all the answers. I didn't even know this machine could do that." Atsa explained as he pointed at a corner where the tal had beco red hot." I didn't build this machine, I'm just the only one who knows of its existence."
"That might not be the case anymore..." Uriel muttered as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck bristle in the very familiar feeling of impending danger.
He looked around briefly trying to identify the source of the ominous flux energy he felt and it wasn't long until he noticed it was carried by the very air he breathed. Atsa seemingly noticed too, though instead of covering his mouth he rushed to cover his ears.
"It's outside." Uriel spoke without caring if the old man could hear him or not and left the room, running across the halls to find the source of the dense and malevolent atmosphere until he made it to where the throne room was supposed to be located at.
Uriel hesitated before pushing the door open to a slit and gaped at the sight in front of him as he noticed a strange ceremony was being carried inside the throne room.
It was the sa throne Swallow chief used, the sa place where the animal pillars were located and the exit to the third world. It was also the sa place where Uriel witnessed Sam's marriage ceremony, but the ceremony being celebrated now was of a completely different nature.
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