Cythera Chronicles: Quest for the Shard (I)

It was a crisp morning, and Cythera was abuzz with the sounds of assorted birds. Talm lead a party of three through the thick brush in middle Cythera.

The three of them - Talm, Velgen, and Melia - were being followed by a Wolflizard. It showed no signs of aggression, though - and it wore a leather collar. Hitched to its back was a small backpack, Talm’s excuse for having it along.

Velgen thought having an unpredictable animal along was asking for trouble, but Talm wouldn’t have it any other way - family pet.. might be useful in a fight... someday I'll figure out how to extract its poison... all excuses he’d heard Talm spout whenever the issue came up.

Personally, Velgen had no like of ‘wolfie’ - and the feeling was mutual. Whenever he was alone with it, the lizard would hiss and be generally unkind to him. The little monster would always be very affectionate when Talm or Melia was around, trying to make Velgen out as a liar.

Melia, behind Velgen, carried her long wooden staff, covered in notches signifying victories in battle. It was marked with names of creatures - Hydra, Polyp, Asp, Gator, Titan... Wolflizard. Each name carried several adjacent marks.

She watched as ‘Wolfie’ took up a position in the lead. Melia had no dislike of the critter, but she knew how Velgen felt about the issue. Velgen was outspoken about many things, and it was no secret that he didn’t care for how Talm ran the expedition. He was bound on his honor to serve for at least another six months, and she believed that was the only thing keeping him from taking off and leaving.

"Solar Shard. What tripe." Thought Velgen. How had he ended up this way, babysitting a wannabe scientist and his pet rat? Trudging through the forsaken woods, being sobered on, poked by various underbrush, and nearly devoured by more than one Hydra. And that woman, Melia - showoff. She saved Velgen from a feral gang of polyps, and he knew he’d never live it down. At the end of this quest, he figured that he’d have wasted six years of his life - for what? He’d been tricked, that’s what it was. taken in by a admittedly clever and compelling speaker... Talm, filling his head with notions of a lost fire-crystal. Pure nonsense, that’s what he thought it was. Oh, well, when it’s over, he'll have a story, if nothing else.

The group continued on, heading south.

---------------------------------------

Talm and the others were siting down, eating lunch. Velgen munched eagerly at his meat pie. Talm, who’d proclaimed he wasn’t hungry, sat writing in his journal.

May the eighteenth

I fear dissension in the group. Velgen is getting more outspoken about my alleged lackings as a leader, and I sense that Melia doesn't care for Velgen.

I’m having doubts myself, I worry that the Solar Shard might just be a myth. I’ve spent almost every obol I have financing this mission. If nothing comes of it I’ll have spent six years of my life chasing some fictional heat-producing crystal! On a lighter note, my Wolflizard seems to be growing to really like Velgen - I saw it go up to him while he was sleeping this morning and give him a lick. Velgen doesn't seem to agree with my research that the lizards communicate a sense of belonging among their pack this way, and threatened to run Wolfie through with his sword if the lizard licked him again.

Talm finished writing, and closed the journal.

(To be continued)

[This message has been edited by moderator (edited 12-11-2001).]

Ambrosia Software Web Board: Cythera Chronicles: Quest for the Shard (I) - Ambrosia Software Web Board