Land of the Blades

30. Death

According to a weird mechanical clock that Shirou and Caster built, it had been three days since the meteorite fell. The sky were still too dark to even tell when the sun was up. And with each day, the temperature kept dropping. Everyone was tired and sluggish due to the lack of sunlight, but Caster was already trying to work on an alternative. Shirou and I had been the only ones patrolling the island, as we had been able to keep our energy by eating some of the fishes that ended up trapped on small ponds after the water receded. We even took some and kept them on the big pond in front of the school along with the jellyfishes.

It was really depressing to see how the island had changed. The grass survived for the most part, but almost all the threes had come down. Shirou and I were able to save some that hadn't been washed away by the waves by putting them back on their spot. The beaches had also changed their shapes due to the intense waves, and some parts of the island were still underwater. The cliff of origins was now on a separated small island, but one could still walk to it if they didn't care about getting their feet wet. There hadn't been any Sunspot activity during that period either, which I already expected seeing how they only appeared when the sky were clear. Caster had warned us that they might come to gloat about their attack anyway, so we couldn't let our guards down.

After covering almost the entire island we returned to the school, not entirely sure of how many hours we had spend on that expedition. It was difficult to tell the time outside of the school, as the clock was too heavy to carry and the clouds were still covering most of the sun rays.

As we approached, we saw Sensei waiting for us on the entrance.

—Good work to both of you —He said patting my head.

Shiro the dog also came out running and jumped into my arms, trying to lick my face. I told Sensei about the scarcity of news as we followed him to the inside. Due to the damages in the building, we had all been sleeping on the big hall next to our meeting "room" and the hole in the ground we used as a refuge. Everyone was sitting surrounding a glowing sphere, almost as if it was a fireplace. Another literal fireplace had been built just next to it, taking advantage of a whole in the ceiling to let the smoke go away. This one was being kept alive by Caster, who was cooking our dinner on it, after having been taught by Shiro.

—Hey, what is that thing? —Shirou asked as he sat next to the fireplace, pointing to the glowing orb.

—It is my greatest development yet, an artificial sun —Caster proudly said—. It takes mana from the surroundings and turns it into light and heat... though it's still just a prototype and it is highly inefficient, around 10% efficiency only. I'll keep working on a better model, but until it is ready they'll have to use that one.

—We are really thankful for it —Dia sluggishly said.

—It is really amazing —Shirou said—, I don't know how we could have survived this without you.

Caster smiled and blushed a bit. An artifact that was placed over the fireplace started puffing air, producing a whistle-like sound.

—Ah, the tea is ready —Caster said, pouring a brownish liquid from the "kettle" into three "cups", all of which she had found among the things Shirou made before remembering what they were for. The kettle was also made from wood, but apparently Caster had turned it fire-proof. Shirou smelled his cup and smiled.

—Is this cinnamon? How did you get it?

—Rutile had some of it among its things.

—Don't go grabbing things that aren't yours without asking —our doctor said, trying to sound angry, but it was hard to take him seriously when he was trying to monopolize the "artificial sun" by hugging it.