Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 3

Slip of the Tongue

The crystal city glowed in the light of a noon day star sending thousands of glimmering facets of light like shattered glass out over the ground before them, speckling walls, and roadways with their luminance. Adam only realized his mouth was hanging open when a bug flew inside and he spent the better part of the next thirty seconds trying to scrap it off his tongue and spit it into the bushes.

Then together the two of them turned to look at lord Avex in awe.

He narrowed his eyes, "What did you think, That we lived in caves? We aren't the burg you know."

Adam rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah sorry.... Sometimes I forget just how advanced you guys are supposed to be."

Amelia for her part, didn't seem all that impressed by the crystal city standing below them, or if she did she was good at hiding it. her eyes rested on the center of the city, not moving away to look even as the rest of their attention was turned to a bright blue light at the edge of the city. Adam flipped up his eyepatch and zoomed in with his mechanical eye, falling upon a circular platform with a glowing blue symbol at it's center. As they watched a large group of the citizens stepped onto that platform. The intensity of the blue glow began to sharpen, and a blue field of light seemed to appear around the group of citizens.

As they stood, they slowly began to hover off the ground before they were slowly accelerated into the air.

Adam's mouth swung open again as the blue beam of light shot them through the air, and out across a nearby river to where the city continued distantly on the other side. It wasn't long before even his mechanical eye could not make out their shapes, leaving him to stare after them in confusion and awe.

"Sky bridge." Lord Avex said with the kind of nonchalance that can only come from someone who finds the topic of interest boring, "Every city has one, the capital city has several. My father ordered them installed when he came to power for ease of transportation."

Sunny frowned and rubbed her head, "Your father didn't strike me as the kind of man who would care about infrastructure."

Lord Avex snorted, "Than you do not know my father." He turned and hopped slightly down the trail as the other three followed after him, Sunny bringing up the rear and crouching low as to not be so noticeable, however with the bright blue foliage and colorful metallic rocks, she probably didn't stand out half as much as Adam and Amelia, who were both Drab in comparison.

"My father is a warlord, yes, but all Celzex understand that in order to rule soemthing, there has to be something around you to rule. If he didn't help to maintain infrastructure, than there would be no city, and if there were no city there would be no citizens, and if there were no citizens, he would be the lonely kind of a moss covered rock shouting into the void to be heard by no one." It was rather surprising how nimble lord Avex was despite his size and lack of hands. He hopped down the crystal lined pathway like some sort of demented mountain goat. "In fact, the city has only become this glorious since my father came into power. He believes that civic projects are the most important to keeping citizens satisfied."

Amelia tripped over a rock causing her to pitch forward slightly, but with Adam's sharp reflexes he caught her easily. Sunny bristled only slightly as Amelia lingered from pulling back , her hands resting against Adam's chest as she smiled. Adam hardly reacted, "Watch out." He ordered setting her back on her feet before turning away.

'Again.... I can't say that is what I expected.

Lord Avex snorted, "Of course you wouldn't, you think my father is nothing more than a tyrant and a killer, yes perhaps he is a convenient tyrant and even your friend sometimes, but you do not understand what he really does."