Although the sun lay behind them, where they now stood in shade, it didn't negate the heat. The realisation that the bleached salt plains housed so much of the sun's heat was formidable. The initial cooling effect of the shadows soon lost its grip to the all-consuming heat that the crystals emitted. Fas still breathed heavily, not gasping, but noticeably. He pushed himself upright in his elven form, crossing his hands behind his head as he took deep, steadying breaths.
"We can't stay here for very long. We may be shaded, but this heat is still too much."
SJ looked out over the bleak, open salt plain, seeing no shade in sight, and checked her display for the time. There were still a couple of hours before the sun would drop low enough to allow flight, and as SJ drank greedily from a waterskin and gave Kibble some, the heat was building.
"The sun will still be up for some time yet. We can't possibly fly in that heat," SJ said.
"I don't think we will have any choice. Those slugs were drawn to us somehow. I have never seen so many before in one location, and the fact that they stayed at the cave mouth, I believe, is more to do with the cave's history of housing Aletheia's brother more than anything else."
"Let's rest for a few minutes first before we move again."
"It must be brief. I believe those salt slugs will smell us. It isn't as though we are staying nice and cool," Fas said, pulling at his top, which was already soaking with sweat. SJ's dress clung to her, and the cooling cloaks brought some comfort, but not enough to combat the sun's powerful rays.
"Here... have some more powder," SJ said, removing the spice mix and handing it to Fas. Fas took the pouch and placed some under his tongue, nodding his thanks. SJ then carefully, once Kibble had finished drinking the bowl of water she had poured him, opened his mouth so she could place some in his. Thankfully, this time he didn't sneeze and zap her.
After letting the powder slowly dissolve and perform its task, which still confused SJ, how it could possibly help with cooling, she spoke again.
"That's a little better. So, what should we do? I can't see anywhere in the near distance that we could aim for."
Fas removed the maps from his inventory and unrolled them. After several moments, he then showed a location.
"Here. I believe we can reach this oasis. It's not heading directly back to the North and Killic, but it does get us out of the plains, and once there, we can rest until morning. It will be the safest option."
SJ peered at the map, seeing where Fas indicated. It looked quite distant from where they currently were.
"I'm not sure Kibble can make that distance in this heat." Kibble squeaked in response, standing upright, showing his defiance to the statement.
"No, I don't expect him to."
"Then how?"
"I will carry you all. I can cover a greater distance much faster if I do. I'm not worried about what is below and just want to reach an oasis for decent shade and cooler temperatures."
"You looked exhausted just after that fleeting flight, then. How do you expect to carry us all?"
Fas smirked. "That is my problem to bear, not yours."
"No. I won’t allow it," SJ said stubbornly. "Why should you put yourself in danger like that?"
"I'm your guardian. Remember that," Fas said.
"It doesn't feel right."
"Whether it does or it doesn't is irrelevant. That is what we are going to do. I am sure those salt slugs will soon sniff us out again, and I don't fancy dealing with them."
SJ resigned herself to Fas's statement, although not happy with it.
"Aletheia, are you okay?" SJ asked.
Aletheia was sitting, staring out over the salt plains. "Umm. Yes, that sounds fine."
It was as though SJ had disturbed her from some deep thought. "Are you sure you sounded distant?"
"Yes, yes," she smiled. "I'm fine, and it sounded like a good option for you."
"Okay then. Kibble, are you ready?"
Kibble squeaked and hopped toward SJ before climbing onto her shoulder.
"Right then, Fas. This is now up to you."
Fas nodded and transformed. As soon as he was in his dragon form, he lay down, allowing SJ and Aletheia to climb onto his back. His back was broad, and SJ wasn't sure what she should hold onto to secure herself.
"What should I grab?" SJ asked.
"Just grab the edge of a scale. They won’t come loose," Fas replied, and with that, he beat his wings as they lifted into the air. The speed he rose was dramatic, and SJ lay forward across his back. Kibble squeaked as she did and nearly lost his grip on her shoulder, his little claws digging in. SJ didn't notice the pain as she reached out, gripping Fas's scales as hard as she could. It felt as though she would fall at any moment.
The whole time Aletheia sat perfectly upright behind her, as though she didn't have a care in the world.
Once Fas had reached sufficient height, he levelled out. The hot air rushed past them as they flew. It felt like she was sitting in front of a hair dryer on full blast, the speed Fas was travelling was much greater than when they had flown alongside each other.
"How far?" SJ bellowed, trying to be heard over the wind.
"Not very all being well," Fas replied, his voice sounding strained already.
The sun was unrelenting as it burned down on them, and the air, even at height, was so hot that it was almost unbearable. Fas's scales soon heated, and SJ ended up adjusting her dress so that she could use it as a buffer against the heat they gave off.
Fas missed a beat and dipped slightly.
"Are you okay?" SJ screamed.
"Fine," he gasped as SJ tried to peer ahead of them.
In the distance, the desert loomed. The vast open whiteness of the salt plains ended and broke as the ochre sands took over. SJ counted the distance down as Fas sped over the terrain below. This was much faster than she had ever travelled, and SJ was pretty sure that Fas may have been able to fly even faster if he had wished, although he was visibly suffering now. His beats weren't as strong, and as they continued, he slowly lost altitude.
"Nearly there," he hissed through gritted teeth.
SJ could see a vague spot ahead, amongst the ochre sands, a hint of life in the desert ocean. Fas now grunted with each beat as they soared towards it. As they neared, Fas stopped beating his wings and glided, allowing them to drop towards the oasis as it grew nearer. It was no different than being seated on an aeroplane as it came into land, the ground rushing up as they descended.
"Get ready. This may be rough," Fas said.
SJ gripped even tighter onto his scales and Kibble to her shoulder as he pressed in against her. Fas didn't slow his descent until the very last moment, flaring his wings. Aletheia let out a gleeful cry as SJ held on for dear life, nearly being thrown straight off his back. She had no idea how Aletheia wasn't affected by this.
As Fas's feet struck the ground, his rear legs first, followed by his front legs, he stumbled, losing his balance and crashing forward as he came to a stop. This motion was too much for SJ to cope with, and she squealed in shock as she was catapulted forward off his back. Kibble squeaked as he pushed off her shoulder, taking to the air as SJ crashed on the grassy sand by the oasis pool's edge. She rolled twice before coming to rest on her front. SJ pushed herself upright, salt crusted her lips, and she spat out sand.
Aletheia just beamed as she carefully slid from Fas's back.
Fas looked terrible. His scales looked darker than usual, and his breathing was heavy and laboured.
"You shouldn't have done that," SJ said as she clambered to her feet and approached him. "Are you okay?"
Fas grimaced, which, for a dragon, looked very foreboding. "I will be, I just need to rest for a while."
"Once we are in the shade properly, you can't stay in your dragon form."
SJ looked around the oasis, finding the shadiest location provided by several palm-type trees and other greenery. "Over here. Come on, you need to transform and get in the shade."
Fas, with significant effort and lots of cursing, transformed his body. Again, he rested on all fours for some time in his elven form before collapsing onto the ground, gasping for breath. SJ hurried over to him and helped him move to the shade, where Kibble had immediately headed. Once they reached it, he sat down heavily, still panting.
"You aren't doing that again," SJ said.
"I may have to, so never say I can't," he smiled weakly.
SJ just shook her head. "Thank you, although riding a dragon is rather terrifying."
Aletheia was still standing in the sun, her alabaster skin not appearing to be affected by its burning rays. Any other being with such fair skin would have burned almost instantly in its heat.
SJ removed a waterskin and drank heavily again, pouring Kibble another bowl, which he consumed with contentment. Fas had lain back on the ground and had his eyes closed. SJ moved to him and offered him her waterskin.
"Drink."
Fas opened one eye and pushed himself onto his elbows before drinking from the canteen. "Thanks," he said before again lying back and closing his eyes.
"We will stay here until the morning," SJ said.
"Yep. I'm not sure I could even transform again if I wished to," Fas said.
"SJ, can you hear me?" Dave's voice entered her mind. He hadn’t spoken since being down in the sanctuary.
'Yes,' SJ thought.
"Thank the gods. I thought I had lost all contact," Dave said, relieved.
'Why?'
"Well, currently, the system is flying blind. We are unable to see anything happening on the continent. Other areas of Amathera are fine, but this entire continent is no longer visible. Also, all communication with Legionnaires is down. I think I have only managed to contact you because of your neural realignment. I don't think it would have been possible otherwise."
'What's the cause?'
"There can be only one cause, Aletheia."
SJ looked at where Aletheia still stood, bathing in the late afternoon sun without a care in the world. She watched as Aletheia moved to a nearby plant and took hold of one leaf in her hand, slowly rubbing it between her fingers.
"Aletheia, have you done something to the system?" SJ asked.
She turned to look at SJ. "Nothing, why?"
"Oh. No reason," SJ said.
"She has to have done something," Dave hissed. "There is no other explanation."
'It may not be her; she may be the catalyst, but there is no guarantee she is the cause,' SJ thought.
"Bah. There is no other reason for us to lose our eyes. I can't see a thing you are doing, and I can't even hear Kibble anymore."
'Oh.'
"It's more than 'oh', I can't do my job without it."
SJ sat thinking for several moments, trying to come up with some justification or idea, but nothing entered her mind.
"Aletheia. I know you may not know, but do you project anything?" SJ asked.
"Project in what way?" Aletheia asked.
"A force or something. You said you can see mana lines or fields."
"I can, yes."
"You're not affecting them, are you?"
"I wouldn't say affecting them. I am reducing their waste, but that is something natural that my kind has always done. We will always provide the most efficient environment for mana from our surroundings. The patterns here are chaotic; there is no sense of order to them. They are fractured, all I am doing is bringing the pieces back together."
'Dave, did you hear that?' SJ thought.
"No, nothing. I told you, I can't see a thing or even hear Kibble."
'Aletheia says that her kind automatically realigns the mana fields around them to increase efficiency. Could that be affecting the system?'
"Umm. Suppose it were only local, then yes. However, I doubt that a local event near you would have such a wide impact. I will check with the adjudicators, though."
The cooler water of the oasis lapped gently at the sandy edges. Its tempting caress, trying to draw SJ towards it. She knew better, though, and instead pulled her cooling cloak tightly around her. It offered a small measure of relief against the heat still lingering in the area.
Aletheia still stood in the open before moving purposefully toward the pool. SJ called out to her. "Stop. Don't enter; it's poisonous."
Aletheia turned and smiled at SJ before stepping into the pool, her dress floating on the surface as she progressed until she was ankle-deep.
SJ just watched in amazement as Aletheia crouched and cupped some of the water in her hands, allowing it to drain back out.
"This pool is corrupted. It requires healing."
"What do you mean by corrupted?" SJ asked.
"The strands are broken. All things have mana, yet this pool has little. It has been allowed to deteriorate so far," Aletheia frowned.
As SJ watched Aletheia, she placed her hands into the pool, where she now crouched and closed her eyes. The pool's surface shimmered. It was subtle at first, and then as SJ watched, the dark water by Aletheia’s plunged hands changed colour. The darkness slowly ebbed away from them, being replaced by a faint blue. As SJ watched on in absolute amazement, she saw the entire pool's surface slowly recede from its darkened state and sparkle with the same intensity as the lake in Killic.
"There we go," Aletheia said, stepping back out of the pool. "It has been healed."
Fas hadn't witnessed the unbelievable act, as Aletheia had just purified the water through the alignment of its mana that it existed by.
"Can you do that to everything?" SJ asked in amazement.
Aletheia cocked her head. "Yes. It is my purpose. I believe I already mentioned that this world will turn back to its original form."
This was one tiny space in a vast world, where the system had changed and adapted the regions to its design. To watch the miracle unfold was almost too much for SJ.
"So, you plan to purify the world?"
"Eventually. It's not a quick process, and I can't do it alone. That is where I believe you will come in."
"How? How can I possibly affect the world?"
"The artefact wouldn't have led you to it if you couldn't. It holds my master's truth."
SJ had no explanation. Everything that had happened to her since arriving on Amathera as an anomaly was still unresolved. The truth behind her position and how she had become a pawn for a god. That she was now being linked to even wider, more unexplainable parallels.
"But how? I am just one being."
"Yes. One with a unique position. I told you I can see you aren't the same. You aren't as restricted as others. In time, you can make decisions that others can't."
SJ sat in silence, unsure of how to respond to this ancient, potentially more than godlike being. Fas snored quietly where he lay, and SJ moved over to him, making sure that his cooling blanket covered him. Kibble was curled up next to her, and she removed his blanket from her inventory, placing it over him. He let out a deep purr as she did.
After the problems that they had faced with the scarab beetles, SJ would not sleep. She would stand guard over her exhausted guardian, just as he had over her on their first night with the scarabs.
Aletheia walked around the oasis as SJ watched, mesmerised, as she approached and touched the various plants. Some she just held their leaves; others she caressed with her gentle palm. The transformation was undeniable, though, and as the sun continued to fade in the sky and the slightly cooler night air at last prevailed over the heat, those plants she had touched mustered a weak fluorescence, just as the plants in the cavern had. The scene reminded SJ of the forests in the film Avatar. Their colours varying and shifting as darkness ensued.
It meant that the oasis was bathed in a continuous light, and there was no requirement for SJ to consider lighting a torch or starting a fire. The night breeze now carried the caressing cool air from the water across the oasis, it no longer held the same impending threat as before. It made SJ consider the spice that Floretta had given her and its lack of use, once the world was healed. The changes Aletheia's healing could bring were immeasurable.
'Dave, I wish you could see this,' SJ thought.
"See what?"
'What Aletheia has done. She is healing the land.'
"Healing?"
'Yes. She is aligning the mana that the plants and the pool at the oasis are constructed from. It has caused them to change. The pool now looks as though it is the purest water I have ever seen, and the plants... they are the most vibrant.'
Dave didn't reply immediately, but when he did, it sounded distant, almost a whisper in comparison.
"I think I may have found a way..." his voice cut out again.
SJ waited patiently; her surroundings were now beautiful. An absolute wonder amongst the desert dunes. The implications that Aletheia brought to Amathera were unimaginable. This ancient being had the potential to change everything. Purify and remove the stains of evil, perhaps. Not that SJ had ever considered an oasis a stain of evil, if anything, she had always thought of them as lifelines.
Aletheia's presence appeared to radiate outwards from the oasis, and this ancient being was travelling with them as a companion.
"Aletheia?" SJ said.
"Yes," she replied, not turning from where she was stroking a palm like a tree.
"What else can you do?"
"Such as what?"
"You said you had no skills, yet you have corrected the mana flow and, in your words, begun to heal the oasis. You can also borrow skills of others at your will, never mind that you managed to update the system code."
"I didn't really update its code directly. I just opened a mana path to it and made a suggestion."
"Can you do that again?"
"For what purpose?"
"My companion from the system cannot see currently," SJ whispered.
Aletheia thought for a moment. "I see you have a neural link."
"Yes," SJ said, glancing at Fas, who still slept soundly as Aletheia walked over.
Aletheia approached and crouched, reaching out and placing her palm on SJ's cheek. Her hand felt cold and smooth, not painfully cold, but refreshingly so.
"Let me see."
Aletheia closed her eyes as SJ felt a pulse of energy flow into her. It felt slightly uncomfortable as it appeared to creep into her skull. It wasn't painful at all; it was just unnerving and strange. Aletheia opened her eyes, their vibrant green so close to SJ's that she couldn't help but stare back, transfixed by her gaze.
As SJ sat there, she felt the strange energy coursing through her synapses. It felt as though every fibre in her brain was being looked at.
After several moments, Aletheia removed her hand, smiling gently.
"That should have helped."
'Dave?' SJ thought.
Silence met her thought for several moments before there was a buildup of static. This continued until Dave's voice came booming through as though on maximum volume.
SJ winced uncontrollably.
"What on Amathera just happened? My whole pod depowered, which I can tell you is not something that should even be possible, and then it came back online, and I can see again."
'I don't know. I asked Aletheia if she could do anything.'
"Well, whatever she just did... I have never had such a clear image. And what's all that glowing?" Dave asked, confused.
'I told you the plants that Aletheia has touched now have a vibrancy; they are luminescent.'
"Holy troll's snot. This can't be. I have seen readings on most things before, not that I usually pay attention to plants, but the mana from those plants..."
'Plants have mana?'
"Yes, everything has mana levels that can be read, but these plants' readings are off the charts. Everything is constructed of mana, whether the smallest particle or the largest mountain. It’s all from the same fundamental building block of basic mana. Yet somehow, these now have more mana than they should ever possibly be able to hold."
'Is that what is causing them to glow?'
"Pff. This is unheard of. The purity of it..." Dave sighed in awe.
'At least you can see again now.'
"I can, but others still can't."
'So, it's only helped us?'
"Yes. I also have adjudicators with me, and they cannot see what I can see. This is uncharted water. Do me a favour, please don't let Aletheia touch you again. I have no idea what she did, but to depower and reboot my pod... now that is scary, I thought I was going to lose my data."
'You're telling me this is uncharted,' SJ thought.
It was then that SJ's communication stone vibrated in her inventory. There was only one being who could contact her, and that had to be Cristy.
"It appears Cristy's signal is hazy," Dave said as SJ called the stone to her hand.
