Revival: Of Cethore ✔

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two: Stepping Back

All of that hard work turned up useless.

Upon returning to camp, they proudly presented their prize to Zoran. All it took was one look before he turned it down.

"It's not the gem."

Samari's lips pulled tight. She was more than a little frustrated; ironically, she was frustrated at the amount of frustration she had to go through for the wrong gem! They had also lost their spellstones, although Cy had made a pretty shilling in the pit.

"If you'd stuck around, we'd've known that already," Lorilie hissed.

Samari glanced at her, surprised by her reaction. In the club, she had seemed so calm about letting Zoran walk out, yet now she was releasing her disapproval.

So why did she stop me?

Turning his head, he gave her a dead stare. "Probably not. This stone is rich in ticon all on its own and seeing how I've never seen the real gem, I would not have been able to tell the difference."

Sighing, Samari sat on the bench across from him. She gasped absently at the stone in her hand, which was barely sparkling in the evening light.

"Then, how...can you tell that it-it's not the real one? It...looks...like it, to me," she commented.

"The gem is supposed to, 'shine like the clouds.' It quite literally reflects sunlight the way the clouds do, so yellow right now," he explained.

Both Sam and Cyrus turned their cases to the sky. Sure enough, the puffy summer clouds had taken the citrus tint of the sun against the blue sky.

So that's what it meant. Would've been nice if you had explained that, Sam mused.

The group dispersed, off to do their own work. Since retrieving the gem had been a failure, they had essentially wasted half a day on a fruitless search.

"Oh. So, what...s our next move...following them, or finding a new...lead?"

"It's unlikely that the Flames are not working for Viper. However, I also doubt that they have the real gemstone. There would be no need for them to have something similar, like this copy, if they had the real one," Zoran considered.

He picked up a stick and poked at the fire. His words were that of an investigator. She wondered if he had come to the conclusion or if he had thought of the possibility in advance. Either way, she was impressed he figured it out without even being in the meeting--although he may have been just as confused as she was.

Cyrus returned with a bucket of water. He set the pot on its hooks before pouring it in. Samari stood up to help, but he only shooed her away.

"I am cooking tonight. You can go to whatever," he commanded her.

Frowning, she replied, "Come on. I'm kitchen staff. I am okay...with...cooking every meal. I do it a-anyway."

He tutted and crossed his arms, shaking his head. "Don't be selfish. I want to cook. Besides," he waved a hand in front of his nose, "you need a bath. You smell worse than the pit."

Laughing, he jumped back before she could hit him. She went back over to the fire and sat by Zoran, huffing. Gazing around, she noticed that neither Lorilie nor Brad were near.

She started at the gemstone, its lopsided sides and points. She noticed a few knicks and scratches in the surface, proof that it had never been polished correctly.

"Want to know what it is?"

"Y-yeah," she answered, handing it to Charming.

Holding it gently, he rolled it around in his palm.

"It's a tracking crystal. You activate it by rubbing it on someone's possession. The long peak will then point towards that person. It keeps tracking them until you touch it to their skin," he explained.

Overall, it was a useful crystal. As long as someone stone the stone and their possession, they could always find their friend. Although if they never touch the person, they only have to set it once.

Upon thinking of it further, Samari found herself having more questions than answers. She wondered if someone might accidentally set it to track another person, such as by rubbing it against their clothes.

Curiously, she asked, "How does it w-work?"

Zoran smiled as he answered, "The crystal itself is attracted to different energy waves, like a magnet. When it comes in contact with drifting ticon particles, it shifts its point to lock onto the source of those particles. In this case, we use that to focus it on someone's ticon, since we all have slightly different energies.

"Ticon particles can't last more than a few months on the crystal, so if you want to track someone for longer, you need to recharge it or have a professional 'anchor' it. Sometimes charging doesn't work at all because there aren't enough particles on the object to get a trace. Usually, people who are not mages or minas don't leave a particle trail, since they don't often use their ticon.

"It's best to use armor or a weapon or a practice dummy to charge it, since those are getting ticon thrown at them constantly."

What's a practice dummy? Is it a dumb person you practice with to help them get better? she thought.

Zoran stood up, pulling his arms in front of him to stretch his shoulders. "I'll show you how to use it after I get permission from Nerok, but it should be stored safely for now," he informed her.

She nodded, watching him as he disappeared into the supply tent.

Glancing to make sure no one was watching, she took a whiff of her armpit. Halfway through, she held her breath, agreeing with Cy's taunting.

Quick as a dart, she dashed to the sleeping tent to grab herself a fresh set of clothes. It has been a while since she had been in a spring as they had been traveling and setting up camp the past few days.

Thinking of the water lead to her thinking of her nighttime swims. Shadow Knight appeared in her mind, how he would watch her from the shadows of the trees.

A smile formed on her face at the thought of him, only for it to quickly disappear when she remembered what he had said to her before they left. Next came the conversation she had with Lori, and all the glares she had received since.

Perhaps it was for the better that Shadow Knight was not there.

A/N:

Do you think the Flames are hiding the real gem? If not, who's gonna get it first?

Is Cy being a gentleman, or is he being rude by kicking her out of the 'kitchen'?

What do you think of the tracking crystal they got? Are they gonna use it?

Fun fact of the day: I have developed unique dialects for many of the clans. For example, Earthers tend to have a 'rural' slang, much like what people might think of as US Southern (with it's variety), yet they have British accents. Just imagine that the next time Lorilie is spouting off ridiculous contractions.

I may or may not have published this early because it is so short, like all the chapters lately seem to be, but what did you want me to do describe the walk over? Her bath? Their dinner? That's weird.

Next chapter: Gossip and Girls

Vote, comment, and have a wonderful week!