"Yes, yes, we have to go! The others are already waiting for us!"
"Boom! Bam! The enemies won't know what hit 'em! Come on!"
Daneel blinked groggily as several high-pitched, yet enthusiastic voices entered his ears. Blinking the haze of the dream world out of his mind, he looked around and saw that his cavern was now filled with young dwarves who were all whispering between themselves excitedly.
The way their eyes lit up as soon as they saw him was truly something to cherish. A smile came to his lips before he even realized that it was on the way, and getting to his feet, he stretched, causing popping sounds to appear from his hands, legs, and back.
"Whoa! Cool!"
He laughed as all the children tried to imitate him, contorting their bodies into impossible positions that did nothing except make them wince, annoyed.
Shaking his head and realizing already that he was going to miss them, he asked, "What's up? Where are we supposed to go?"
"Follow us! Follow us!"
They seemed to somehow possess the remarkable ability to sync perfectly when the situation called for it. Even their footsteps had a rhythmic tone to them, and as he was led outside to the dining cavern and then onwards, he saw others also join in and somehow fall exactly into the pace set by those that had been in his room.
After marveling at how this almost looked like a well-disciplined army marching to its enemies, he started to study the places they were going through and soon saw that something was different.
Where before he had mostly seen the dwarves just casually living their lives, there now seemed to be a general air of tension and nervous anticipation to the whole place. Dwarves could be seen everywhere, scurrying to tasks he didn't know, bustling around to places he hadn't seen. Even now, the cavern he was heading through seemed to be one he hadn't gotten a chance to explore, yet, as it was completely different from all those he had been to until now.
He had only gotten to the one where he had seen the army training before being knocked out. As he was led to the cavern that lay beyond, he saw that it seemed to be an armory, of sorts, but surprisingly, most of the steel boxes were empty.
He turned to the ones leading him to ask whether there was a shortage of weapons, right now, but he gave up, knowing that such matters did not lie in the purview of the children. They kept going onward, and when they reached another cavern where there were neat rows of dark dots in the walls, it was obvious that they were the quarters of the soldiers which were empty, now, too.
His curiosity grew with every step, but he found no one who could satiate it. Hence, he could only wait, impatiently, as they reached another cavern that had nothing except a gigantic, empty bed, and then passed it to enter a large, open space that was three-sided, with the fourth being a dead-end.
Here, he finally found those he could speak to, but he hesitated, finding that the atmosphere of the entire place was somber and serious. He hadn't really studied it as his eyes had fixed on Reese and the old steward who stood nearby, so when he finally looked towards the spot where all of their gazes were fixed on, he squinted, then raised his eyebrows, more out of a surge of inquisitiveness than shock.
At the end of the cavern, just in front of the bare wall was a podium above which was a large crystal formation that completely consisted of clear, translucent stalactites.
It was the height of three people standing on each other's shoulders and as broad as five lying down. In the base were only small, hand-sized crystals, and behind them, in layers, they grew and grew until the largest was at the very center of the formation, dwarfing all those present, looming over them serenely like something that had stood there for millions of years, unchanged and untouched.
If it was just this, he would have dismissed it as another teleportation device like the one he had stepped into in the Refinery. Only… there was one aspect that separated it from everything else he had seen in Graiton until now, and it also seemed to be what had captivated the gazes of all those present.
An orb of light, separated so that a part of it was present in each and every shard, yet still holding a vague, circular shape was pulsing in front of them, like the heart of some ephemeral being pumping life and power incessantly, never ceasing, never tiring no matter what came in its way.
Despite the nervous excitement he had been feeling ever since he had woken up due to what was to come, he felt himself slowly being lulled into a state of peace and harmony. The muscles of his face relaxed, his heartbeat slowed down, his very blood flowed slower through his body and his mind became devoid of all useless thoughts.
'System… What's happening?'
[Responding to host. No conclusion was able to be formed using skills available to system.
Please unlock world analysis skill by completing the given mission to facilitate successful analysis.]
A slight hint of frustration bloomed within him, but it was instantly muffled by the serenity in his mind. Resolving to think about it later, he just let himself be swept into the aura of tranquillity that the rest were a part of, but after just a few minutes, he was disturbed by something he felt from his legs.
Looking down, he noticed that the ground… was shaking.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
Like the din of impossibly large drums that he couldn't see, a stead sound reached his ears… and then, a shadow covered his entire body, making him look back and witness something he had never thought he would see.
The dwarf king was on his feet. In the city, all of the entrances to the caverns were incredibly high up in the air, and now, the reason behind this became clear.
He ducked into the cavern they were in, and as he straightened his back, his impossible size was once again put on display. Daneel realized that his first estimate had been wrong. The man's head was at least 30 feet up in the air, brushing the ceiling that had seemed unnecessarily far away from the floor. He suddenly felt as if he was an ant while the king was a normal human, but the feeling faded when he looked all around and took solace in the fact that he was much bigger than almost all the others in the room.
Even the king's face looked solemn as he walked forward to the crystal. He looked at it for a few moments then turned around, and as he addressed all those gathered, his voice rumbled in the cavern, amplified repeatedly by the closed area.
"It is our custom to always pray here before setting out on any difficult endeavor. What we embark on today is more important than almost everything of what we've been doing for many years. For those of you who do not know what this is: we cannot give you a full explanation as it is a secret guarded by those who came before us, but we can tell you this-- if the spirit of what we want to do and what we wish for ourselves and the honest folk above was given a physical form, then this is what it would be. Please… join me in prayer."
Turning around again, the king clasped his hands together and bent his head, eyes lowered reverently to the base of the crystal formation.
The explanation had left Daneel none the wiser about what the thing in front of him was, or the reason behind its effect on all those near it. Yet, feeling an urge to mimic all those who had taken the same position as the king, he inclined his head, and prayed for luck and success.
For a moment, all was still. His mind emptied itself of everything, and the whole world seemed to consist of only the pulsing orb, and his heart.
Of only his heart, and the pulsing orb.
Of only his…
'Thump. Thump. Thump…'
They both echoed as one, connected, melded into a single being, and to Daneel, it felt as if he had learned the true meaning of the word 'at peace'.
It left him when the dwarf king spoke again, but what the man said set his heart beating quickly again, as all the emotions returned and he prepared to finally embark to fulfil the promise he had made so long ago.
"It's time. Brave warriors of Graiton...begin to depart!"
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login