"You refer to your companions as 'the others'?" Loradus broke into my thoughts. I squinted at him as he pulled another Tear from the sack I held. "I'm sorry?" "Just now--you inquired as to whether 'the others' could be healed." I sniffed. "You never did answer me." "I believe the answer is before your eyes." Loradus glared at me, pawing the ornate hilt of a dagger--the very same he had used to bludgeon Ewar earlier. I could not help gulping. He continued to glare at me as he closed his grip about the Tear; his arm shook slightly ere it shattered. Not quite so gently as before, he forced the remaining orb of energy towards Ewar's partially submerged form (apparently, the eagle had abandoned his efforts to pull himself up not long ago). It, too, disappeared into the water, in the region of Ewar's midsection. "How is it," said Loradus, his gaze now unfathomable, "that you are surrounded by friends who trust you, and yet you stand alone?" A fresh surge of anger boiled up inside me, and I spread my arms, allowing the sack of Tears to fall (it landed with a splash). "Are you suggesting--" "That's quite enough," Loradus cut me off. "I believe the mirror has shown you the truth." I clenched my beak, remembering all too clearly my indifference towards the others--my companions--when the mirror had been in my grasp. Even now, some part of me wanted to look into the mirror again, not caring if it came to make me hate the others (companions).... Or was that the mirror itself, exerting what control it had over me? I closed my eye and drew in a breath. If I failed to contain myself, I would pay the price. "Come, Rizzo!" Loradus bent to retrieve the sack I had dropped, lifting it from the water and urging me to follow him over to Eris.
I did so, swallowing a lump in my throat. I could still hear Gorzan sobbing somewhere behind; I assumed fright had immobilized Razar as effectively as the stone that bound Worriz, for he had not moved since allowing me to approach Loradus. I gave a start as Loradus forced the sack into my arms again; he already held yet another Tear in his hand. I then glanced down--and instantly wished I hadn't. Hurriedly, I turned my eye to the ceiling; but the sight of Eris's broken body had burned itself into my mind. I heard Loradus shatter the Tear. And I could have looked to see, at last, how the energies healed a mortal wound, but my head refused to tip forwards. That was when the questions began to pile up in the back of my mind, frustrating questions that I felt should have been answered long ago. "Why are you going to the trouble of healing us?" I asked, before I could stop myself. It was surprising how harsh and unsteady my voice sounded, even to my own ears. After being numbed by the mirror, my confusion and anger were at last catching up to me in full force. My vision became blurred with tears. "It must be so," came Loradus's voice, calm as ever, "and you still have your uses." I was so distraught I almost didn't hear him. And once I had made sense of his reply (or what little I could), I lost control. "You want us dead!" I shouted. "Dead, so that you may--" Loradus's hand closed about my neck, cutting off my outburst. At last I managed to tip my head back down all the way, uttering angry, choked words. "You are sadly misinformed," said Loradus, staring into my eye. "I believe explanations are in order. That is, if you are willing to stop screeching at me and listen." I lowered my brow fiercely, trying to spit on his arm; but I felt his hand begin to slide away, the claws digging into my neck; and so I abandoned the effort, cringing as the hand slowly withdrew. When it was finally over, both sides of my neck were stinging with terrible pain.
Roughly, I swiped the tears from my eye to see Eris lift her head, dripping, from the water. The wounds on her back had closed. Her wings were no longer askew. "Rizzo." Loradus spoke into my ear-slit. "Come with me." He guided me to a corner of the cavern, where a large, dark hole in the ground yawned up at us, the Chi water emptying into it. So this was how the water level in the cavern remained knee-high at all times.... "This answers one of your questions, I'm sure," said Loradus. I did nothing to confirm this for him, fearing a nod would cause me to cry out (for many reasons). "And if you are wondering, as I'm certain you are, as to where the Chi water goes from here--it simply flows down a tunnel and out of the Mountain." I clenched my hands into fists, taking deep breaths. My mind refused to function properly through the haze of confusion and pain. I stood, swaying, looking into the hole without seeing. Loradus reached out a hand (presumably to steady me), but I slapped it away. I longed to look into the mirror again, to dispel the whirlwind of emotions consuming me.... "Would you like me to heal you?" Loradus asked. "Then we can gather your companions--" "No!" I said angrily (or fearfully, it was difficult to tell). "I will heal myself--when I wish to." "Something is troubling you unnecessarily." "I--!" Loradus reached out and snatched my neck again, digging his claws into the already existing scratches. I let out a short, shrill cry, my mind further withdrawing. Tears of shock flooded my eye. Loradus then murmured something which I will not repeat here for reasons of my own, and to which I spoke a coherent response ere fully comprehending what he had said in the first place: "You speak of my father as if you know him." "I do." Loradus released me, more quickly this time; though it still forced a cry up my throat. "He is a wretched creature, to be pitied. Quite mad, if you ask me. Be glad you never knew him."
Loradus was toying with me, trying to break me whilst my emotions remained unstable. That much was obvious now. I had to get away from him before he found reason to torture me further. But why was my mind so weak, so unresponsive? Yet again, I blurted a sudden retort without meaning to: "Do you wish you could say the same of your father?" Loradus' face contorted with anger, an expression of intense animosity that did not belong on such youthful features. "Do not speak ill of my father." I swallowed (cringing as I did so). "Your father loved you," I said, more softly. The rings of flesh about Loradus' good eye rippled as he slanted it. "My father...did not know what was best for me." Never have I heard words that sounded more hollow than these. Even the wind howling through a rotted log would sound more certain of itself. A bitter silence descended, and I clenched my beak very tightly indeed to prevent any more hasty replies from escaping. Long after the silence became unbearable, Loradus, still with a horrible shadow in his eye, held out a hand palm-up and twisted it all the way around at the wrist. My knees wobbled, the hinge on my false leg creaking and clattering. Loradus twisted his hand again, and I half-expected to hear it make a cracking noise (mercifully, it didn't). It was during the third twist that an oversized book materialized in his hand. A dark, dark bluish-green, the tome was as long as my arm and at least as thick as my head. The only time I could recall seeing a book of this size had been at the eagle library. Or perhaps-- "Move yourself," growled Loradus. "Your companions gather at the heart of this room. They are considering leaving--without you." "I--refuse--to play your game," I said bitterly, stepping aside to let him pass.
Still my mind seemed distant somehow. Could Loradus be confusing me with some spell? Possibly. But then what did he hope to gain? Searching my jumbled thoughts, there seemed to be a faint air of frustration about them, an urgency mingled with pain and anger. "Rizzo!" I turned on the spot; Loradus was starting to make his way towards the others, who had indeed gathered near the center of the cavern. "You would like to have things explained, would you not?" he said. Quite suddenly, I recognized the large book in his hands; it was the same one our company had found in an alcove not long ago. Why had I not noticed it before? Loradus, following my gaze, flicked his eyebrows strangely and began making for the others, taking long, swift strides. I began limping after him, pausing only to snatch a droplet from the Chi Fountain as I passed it by. I gazed into the droplet for a moment ere tightening my grip on it, and it shattered much more easily than I would have thought. But then, this wasn't Chi as I knew it. The sphere of pure, cold energy that remained in my hand did not feel solid; nor did it feel fluid. It stretched itself into distorted, rippling shapes, rather like a reflection on the surface of a pond. Dragging my eye away from it, I wondered what the book Loradus held was about, and why he had been willing to cause so much pain to possess it. Did it contain--? I fell to the ground (hard), the cuts in my neck widening; the pain flared up again, stinging and stabbing, and I gasped for breath. Somehow, the formless energy remained in my grasp. In looking up, I saw Gorzan turn about, worry creasing his kind features. His eyes were red around the edges (from weeping, I assumed). "Sorry, dude," he said, voice unsteady. "Did I bump you?" "I--" the words grated against the back of my throat. "I believe--it was the other way around." "It's all good...I would have moved...but..." tears began to flow down his face again, following previously made channels through the fur.
"Our brother-dudes...and sister-dudette...they...they were dying!...Duuuuhuhuuude!" He burst into fresh sobs and wails. "But," I said, struggling to keep from tears myself, "The oth--our companions--have been healed. All--all is well." But as I finished speaking these words, I came to realize why my mind was so discordant. Watching the oth-- watching my companions suffer torturous near-deaths had been a terrible blow to my well-being. The fact that they had lived did nothing whatsoever to offset this--I was sick inside, and it seemed I could never be cured. "That's a pretty blossom you got there," said Gorzan, sniffling. It took me a moment to realize that he was referring to the droplet of energy in my hand. "It's--it's no flower," I said, my voice roughly akin to dry leaves rattling in a breeze. I shuddered as I felt tears roll down my feathered cheeks. "No," Gorzan agreed, "but it has the same vibes..." He closed his reddened eyes, taking a long breath. "Like a dandelion swaying on a sunny hilltop..." I glanced at the energy, swallowing a lump in my throat. Then I slowly brought it up to the scratches in my neck. "D-dude," said Gorzan suddenly, "why is your bad eye crying, too?" "Oh..." Tears were leaking from beneath my eye-covering. Hurriedly, I turned away, grimacing as my neck twisted in the process. "Dude?" "A mere nothing...don't worry yourself." I released my grip on the droplet of energy, and it remained in midair, floating before me. When I focused my thoughts on the pain in my neck, the energy began to drift towards me, eventually sinking into the skin. A familiar soothing chill entered the scratches there, and my mind calmed slightly. My legs ceased to wobble beneath me. I felt the scratches slowly heal themselves over, the pain diminishing. I took a breath. Then someone tapped my shoulder. "Um, Rizzo?" came Razar's voice. "Loradus wanted me to tell you--if you don't want to take the time to hear him, he can use it for something more worthwhile--"
"Quite, quite," I said quickly, brushing away my tears. "I'll be along in just a moment...." Bringing my hands to my neck, I felt where the deep scratches had been only moments before. I marveled at how completely the Tear from the Chi Fountain had healed me, my mind clearing, my senses sharpening, my limbs empowered. I instantly connected the chill spreading throughout my form now to the one I'd felt when Ewar had healed me not long ago. I also connected my current alertness to similar feelings I had experienced before: both of which had happened after I crushed (or otherwise destroyed) an orb of Chi. But how had I not made the connection before? Loradus' mirror fragment had tried to inform me of it, showing both incidents directly after showing the Chi Fountain; it should have been obvious right then. Despite my sense of control and calm, a sudden urge to look into the mirror gripped me again, and I forced it down, shifting my thoughts. My mind had been in a terrible state, but now it was almost frighteningly clear. Swiftly, it came back to focus on the present-- "He doesn't like to be kept waiting, you know," said Razar, his voice becoming nervous. "You should probably listen to him, yes? Come my friend." He took my arm, pulling me through the o-- the rest of our companions and towards Loradus. Once we were within three paces of him, Razar halted and prodded me forward. Loradus was peering down at a page in his oversized book, a crystal eyepiece in place over his good eye. "Here you are at last," he said, without looking up. "Time grows short." It suddenly struck me how calm and stable his mind must be. As Razar had dragged me past my companions, they had seemed to be in a state of muddled shock, unable to fully comprehend everything that was happening. And I had been very much the same not long ago....
"Time is important to you, is it not?" I asked. Magnified by the eyepiece, Loradus' good eye flickered. The very beginning of a humorless smile. "More than you know." He slammed the book shut, sending up a plume of dust, then swiftly removed his eyepiece, tucking it within his cloak. "My friends," he said, raising his voice, "I must now tell you--" "What about Cragger?" said Worriz, who had apparently been freed from stone (and had learned nothing from it). "Aren't you gonna release him now?" Loradus narrowed his eye and tilted his head. "He is not to be trusted. He'll stay where he is until I've finished with you." The lion then turned his eye onto me, and I stepped back, bumping into Razar. His eye bored into mine, and I tried to look away, but found that I couldn't so much as blink. Well? Loradus spoke directly into my mind. What are you holding inside? I swallowed, my external focus slipping. Everything I had ever failed to understand flashed through my mind, quite against my will. Dimly, I noticed that Loradus was smiling before me; then the flood of thought knocked me off-balance, and I fell to the ground. Loradus's presence left my mind. Scrambling, I swiftly regained my feet, backing into Razar again. "What is the deal, my friend?" he hissed into my ear-slit. Keeping my eye fixed on Loradus, I shook my head and sidestepped ere continuing to back away. The lion was still smiling slightly, sweeping his gaze back and forth. "I suppose it's only fair I explain myself... You must all be so frightened...." His smile faded almost entirely, and he produced the two pieces of a broken Valious, tossing them onto the ground one after the other. Apparently unable to contain himself, Laval pushed his way forward, coming to kneel by the shattered broadsword. Loradus' gaze hardened, then softened just as quickly. "How--how'd this--" Laval stuttered, lifting the hilt of the blade. "I had it on me all the time--"
"That's as good a place to start as any," said Loradus, cutting him off. "All Chi-powered weapons such as yours will be destroyed when brought into the halls of Emerotopia. And...you should watch your belongings more carefully." All around me, the others began to pull out their weapons--their Chi-powered weapons. All had been destroyed, and some were in worse shape than Laval's Valious. The haft of Eris' axe was badly mangled, the blade blackened and crumbling; the blades of Razar's halberd-like Thundax clattered to the ground at a touch; Worriz's Maulus had lost its teeth. (Ewar, Gorzan, and I carried no weapons.) It hardly seemed a coincidence to me that the only one of us to wield a more traditional weapon was currently immobilized in the center of a low-ceiling tunnel. "Pfff!" spat Worriz, hurling his Maulus to the ground. "How d'we know you didn't do that?" "I'm afraid you'll have to take my word," said Loradus evenly. "I'm not lying, you know." Worriz rolled his eyes. "But you said you were trying to help us! Look, if helping us means stopping us--" "Then I will do it." "Fine by me," Worriz grumbled. Loradus pulled the oversized book from beneath his arm and opened it to the first page, running a finger down it. "Some of you are upset that your weapons were destroyed. You are wondering why. Understandable. But allow me to begin at the beginning." Razar smacked a hand to his face. "Yes?" said Loradus (with a trace of stern impatience). Razar shook his head. "Nothing, my friend!" But I heard him mutter shortly afterward: "Bad for business...." "Enough time has been wasted on pleasantries," said Loradus loudly. "You have been kept in the dark for far too long. As a result, you are all, sadly, misguided. "Hear me now, and learn."
"Long ago, the mountain you know as Cavora rose...rose out of the heart of Chima and came to rest in the sky above. Certain animals, being curious by nature, ventured out of the safety of their jungle to investigate. "What they found was much more than they had bargained for: a strange blue liquid pooling beneath the massive floating rock." "You think we don't know the Great Story?" Laval interrupted. Loradus' eye flashed dangerously, and the other shrank back. "Some of these animals," continued he, more forcefully, "chose to drink the liquid, becoming more evolved. They named the liquid Chi shortly thereafter. "Then there were those who chose not to embrace a new form, in the hopes of preserving their old way of life. Much, much later in time, they came to be known as the Legend Beasts. "Together, the newly evolved creatures and the Legend Beasts brought their ideas and dreams together and built the Kingdom of Emerotopia. Experimenting with samples of Chi from the Mountain, the evolved creatures found ways of Travelling through space and time, though the latter was rarely practiced and grew lost to memory. They used their power over space almost excessively, however, Travelling up to the floating rock and transforming it into a temple. "They tunneled through the rock, carving out passageways and chambers. And on the outside, they widened the openings from which Chi water flowed, and carved likenesses of the six dominant species. "The evolved creatures decided from the start that they would appoint one of their own to rule alongside the Legend Beasts, who were considered by all to be fair and just, if not entirely kind. Before the Kingdom of Emerotopia was completed, a young eagle was appointed as ruler."
"And a better ruler could not have been chosen. This eagle was kind, merciful, generous...even the Legend Beasts were said to enjoy his company. And when troubles arose, as they inevitably do, it was through the folly of others. "Not long after this ruler was appointed, those tunneling through the floating rock above struck its very center, stumbling into this same, ancient cavern, perhaps carved by the Hand of Fate itself. They were fascinated by the Chi Fountain, especially the crystal droplets forming in pools walled by minerals. Not being the scholarly sort, these creatures gathered several samples of the crystal forms and hurriedly brought them back for study. "Along the way, however, one of the crystals ruptured; and the creature carrying it experienced something...remarkable. "A heightened sense of being, during which his reactions were impossibly swift, and he could see through solid rock at will. Or so he told anyone who would listen. Studies afterward determined that the crystal forms housed great power that had different effects on different creatures and objects. The one effect common to all things that absorbed this power was a burst of health and well-being. It could heal any wound, cure any illness, and, if used enough, stop one from aging. "These discoveries were the cause of great excitement throughout the new Kingdom, and, after holding many discussions with the Legend Beasts, the ruler granted permission to return to the crystal pools in the Mountain."
"Taking multiple trips, the evolved creatures analyzed the glowing sphere that was the source of the Chi water, as well as the mineral-rich walls of the pools into which the Chi water flowed and took form. They continued to test these crystal forms, and found that by tapping into their power, many amazing things became possible. "These evolved creatures presented their findings to their ruler, who was unsure what to make of them. He held many more discussions with the Legend Beasts, who were equally uncertain. "At length, he invited the group of evolved creatures to show him more. And they did. Eventually, they decided to demonstrate the full power of their discoveries by granting him a power of his own that they deemed useful: invulnerability. Any deliberate, and, more importantly, malicious, attempt to harm him would fail. This group of evolved creatures also gave him a supply of the crystal forms to lengthen his lifespan and watch over Emerotopia for ages to come. The ruler approved, dismissing them immediately after. "Then... one of the creatures--a lion, it was--became possessed by a new idea. Together, he and a raccoon strove to harness the power within the crystals for simply that: power. "They were soon joined by others who believed in such a cause, constructing the first machines and intending for them to be powered by the tear-shaped crystals. The experiments went terribly wrong, however, causing machinery to explode and several creatures to lose either their minds or memories. It was decided that these incidents would never reach the ears of their ruler, also that their current line of thinking was doomed to failure. A new form of crystal had to be created. "Carefully studying the minerals in the previous crystal pools, the lion and the raccoon devised a plan for a new one to be built in the center of the Kingdom, collecting the Chi water as it rushed down from the floating rock."
"Then, with reluctance, they brought their ideas before the ruler, knowing they couldn't proceed otherwise. "They explained what they planned to do, which minerals were to be changed for things to work, and what the new crystals would be used for. The Legend Beasts were horrified, and the ruler asked many questions of the lion and the raccoon. "Once they had explained every detail to the best of their knowledge, the ruler denied them the right to build their pool, much to the Legend Beasts' relief. The eagle apologized, but said that the different combination of minerals to be used would cause the balance of nature to become unstable, resulting in storms and earthquakes simply because one crystal went unused. Besides which, it would be difficult to manage, most likely turning good creatures against one another. "The lion, for his part, argued that this was the way of the future. There were risks, yes, but these risks would most certainly pay off. "The eagle ruler still refused, dismissing both the unhappy lion and the indifferent raccoon. The latter of these abandoned the project, seeing the potential problems; but the former was beyond reasoning, and he intended to follow through with the plan that had been forbidden him. Working in secret, he began to fashion the unique walls of his pool, setting them in place under the Mountain by night, once everything had been finished. He also crafted new harnesses that allowed evolved creatures to use his crystals for enhanced physical power; he had made similar harnesses before, but all who had tried to use the Tears of the Mountain for such a purpose had completely lost their memories or minds, as I mentioned before. "This was the very fate he intended for his ruler."
"At last, after sleepless nights of painstakingly gradual work, it was done. Where once the Chi had pooled on the ground before evaporating, there was now a large, mineral-laced rock dish. The water from the Mountain was already beginning to fill it up, and once it was full, the new crystals would take form. "Not a single creature had seen it yet, however, as all had turned in for the night before both the first and final stones were placed. And this was how the power-hungry lion wished it. "In the meantime, he readied the harnesses and newly built machinery, then took a crystal droplet of the Chi Fountain and stealthily made for the current dwelling of his ruler. He strapped a harness onto the eagle as he slept, then forced the droplet into its hollow. Immediately, the droplet shattered, and the ruler of Emerotopia awoke, his mind emptied. "Then, calling upon the original powers of Chi for the last time in memory, the lion sent his ruler rocketing into the future, never to return."
Silence fell, and I assumed Loradus had paused. But as the silence grew thicker and more difficult to break, I realized his tale had come to an end. And I couldn't be the only one to notice... "You--you just made that up, didn't you?" asked Laval, sounding both desperate and hurt. "You're trying to put my tribe to shame. If all that were true--I'd--I'd know about it--" Loradus shook his head. "Some secrets can be kept all too well. I didn't know this myself until very recently." "But--but Loradus," said Eris, "How could you know that it's true? If you only just learned this yourself, it doesn't seem likely that it is. And our history--" "Much of your 'history' is a fabrication," Loradus interrupted. "Even you would be surprised by how much a story can change over time. Especially if someone doesn't want the correct version of events to become known."
More questions were piling up in my mind, but ere I could open my beak to voice even one, Ewar spoke up: "Is that really the end of the story?" Loradus gave the slightest of shrugs. "A fair question. When Emerotopia awoke the next morning, it was to the dawn of a new age. Perhaps as a sign of what was to come, the instant the new Chi pool became full, a storm struck. Lightning lit the sky. The winds howled. Earthquakes destroyed much of what had been built. The Legend Beasts awoke to find their eagle friend, and fellow ruler, gone. "When the storm ended, they searched through the ruins of the once-great kingdom, but still they could not find him. That was when the Legend Beasts turned their backs on the evolved creatures, leaving for the farthest reaches of Chima to preserve their way of life. That day would become known as the Great Division." At last things were beginning to come together. Any doubts I had held concerning the legitimacy of Loradus's story were fast in vanishing. "Again," said Laval. "How do we know this is true? Why should we believe any of it?" Loradus held out the book we had found. "This is a record of happenings in Emerotopia, the only one to survive. Strange that all of you should be the first to find it...." Something was amiss with his final remark, but I did not give it much thought, turning my mind to other matters. "Can I see that book?" asked Eris. "It must be very valuable," Razar muttered. Loradus opened the book in question to a page near the end, then looked up. "You are not to lay a claw on this book unless I tell you to. I learned all I have told you just now, and more, and still I have not finished." He looked back down at the page.
