The journey through the palace was more confusing than Krystal had anticipated. With winding turns, branching halls, and some paths that led to outright dead ends, Krystal felt that if Kyte wasn't with her to help guide her through the halls, she wouldn't have made it past the first floor.
"So, you've been here before?" She asked as she slowly made her way down a wooden ladder, the child perched idley on top of her head.
Kyte nodded in response to Krystal's question. "Mother has brought me and my brothers here before, to teach us about the history of our world. She's never taken us to the deepest chambers, but I have seen much of the palace."
"You have brothers?" Krystal asked as she jumped off the ladder to the floor, allowing the girl to climb down off her head and perch on her shoulder.
"Six of them." She responded as Krystal began taking the two of them down the next hallway.
"No sisters?"
Kyte shook her head.
"That must be difficult." Krystal laughed.
"Um… I-I mean, kinda. I don't… hate them or anything, but I, um… accept them."
They made a left turn and began to walk down another long hallway, supported by round columns that had beautifully delicate carvings etched and painted into their sides.
"Just 'accept'? What about love?"
"Well, no. I do love them. It's just..." She shifted on Krystal's shoulder uncomfortably.
"What is it?"
"I... don't think they return it."
"Why?"
"I... well I... I don't want to talk about it."
Krystal frowned in concern as she saw Kyte's troubled expression and sensed her apprehension. She decided not to push it any further.
"Are there other tribes on this world?" She asked, changing the subject. "Besides the CloudRunners and the SharpClaws?"
"Yes, there are many: The SnowHorn tribe, the LightFoot tribe, the ThornTail tribe, the EarthWalker tribe." She said this last one with a razor's edge in her voice, that made Krystal stare at her questioningly.
"I'm sorry." Kyte said. "But the EarthWalkers aren't... well... friendly to us."
"Are they in league with the SharpClaws?"
"N-no. I don't… I don't think so. They... well they... Something happened to my tribe a long time ago, and the EarthWalkers refused to help. We've never really gotten along since then."
She sighed and looked away sadly. Krystal cursed herself, feeling rather foolish for bringing up so many difficulties in the child's life. She tried to think of a more lighthearted subject to discuss. However, before she could open her mouth, her eyes caught sight of something far ahead.
At the end of the hallway near a right-hand turn, an odd, pulsating, purple light was being given off by a strange, floating being. As they drew closer, Krystal saw that it was some kind of squid-like creature, with dangling tentacles that seemed to end in spearheads of glowing gold. The creature was simple floating; drifting through the air as if it were completely weightless. Krystal wasn't sure what to make of it.
"What is that?" She asked.
Kyte looked up to see the strange creature. She seemed interested, but not surprised. "Mother called those things 'parasites'. She said they drift around Krazoa Palace, feeding on the energy given off by the Krazoa Spirits."
"Are they dangerous?"
Kyte shook her head. "No. Their tentacles are sharp, but they don't try to attack anything unless they're frightened."
Despite her words, Krystal still watched the being with a wary eye; those tentacles looked like they could cut through stone.
As they drew closer, the purple light emanating from the creature began to intensify in warning. Keeping as far away from it as possible, Krystal sidestepped her way past with her back to the wall, eyes glued to the ghostly squid as it hovered in the air.
"You don't need to be so scared." Kyte said as they began to walk away from the creature. "They're not going to hurt us."
"I don't know." Krystal mused. "It felt kind of agitated; as though something's been stirring it up."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know. It just felt odd."
Kyte smiled. "Don't be so gloomy, this is supposed to be fun! We're on an adventure, aren't we?"
Krystal laughed. "I suppose so."
They walked in silence for a moment, observing the beautiful, ancient architecture of the palace with nothing else but the steady tapping of Krystal's sandals on the clean stone. Soon, they came to two branching paths that each stretched far off into the distance.
"Which way?" Krystal asked.
"Um... I don't know. Let's try right: We can always retrace our path."
Krystal smiled as she started on the path to the right. This girl is far more mature than I first gave her credit for.
She thought back to some of the things the young princess hinted about in her life. Well, it does sound like she's gone through a lot. And I suppose she still is going through a lot, what with that vile general attacking her planet. I hope she wasn't forced to grow up too fast.
Kyte's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Hey, uh, Krystal?"
"Yes?"
"Um... can you... well..." She seemed to be trying to think of the right words.
"What?"
"When... when I was trapped on the ship, just before you and Tekamus saved me, I... um..."
"Yes? It's alright."
"I... heard a voice. In my head."
Krystal smiled, an amused shine in her sapphire eyes. "Oh, did you? Are you sure you weren't going crazy?"
"I-I… um, well… I thought..." She shifted again, clearly embarrassed.
"Now now, I'm only teasing." Krystal laughed. "It was my voice you heard, wasn't it?"
"So, it… it was you?"
Krystal smiled and nodded. "It was me. I was trying to contact you to figure out where you were being held, but it didn't go as planned."
Kyte smiled. "I... actually was worried I was going crazy." She paused. "So, you can talk to people with your mind? For real?"
She nodded. "It's difficult to actually talk with anyone, but yes, I can."
"And, you can sense their emotions? Like, what they're feeling, right?"
"Well, yes, I can. I've been able to do that since I was a child."
"And, did you learn how to use it better? I mean, did you learn how to control it to read people's thoughts and talk to them and stuff?"
"Why all of the interest?"
"Oh, um... It's just, interesting. I mean... you know." She shifted uncomfortably.
Krystal smiled, sensing clear unease in the girl. She's hiding something.
"Yes, I did have to be trained to hone my abilities, and I still don't think I've mastered it to its fullest potential. But I can't deny that it's been a great blessing in my life. I can't imagine myself living without it."
Kyte's eyes fell away to look down at the floor, in thought. Krystal could sense that the girl was deep in thought, while also feeling just a little bit uneasy, as though she wanted to say something but couldn't find the words.
"Kyte, are you alright?"
"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Um, how close do you think we are?"
Krystal looked up as she recalled their mission. "I don't know. Frankly, I was hoping we would have found the messengers by now."
"Do you think they're okay?"
"I certainly hope so. I mean…"
She paused.
"W-what is it?"
"It's just… what that evil general said before. About this whole planet being in peril. I suppose I'm wondering… if anything I do can really make a difference..." The vixen shook her head and sighed. "Ah, it's nothing. Just idle worries."
Kyte didn't seem convinced. "I think you can make a difference. I mean… you saved me, right?"
"I suppose so." She said with a smile. "And I'm glad I did. I don't like the idea of you being a prisoner of those savages. A child shouldn't have to go through something like that."
"Well, it wasn't…" She paused. It was clear she was about to say 'It wasn't that bad', but had stopped herself. Even still she shook her head and tried her best to put on a confident face. "It was okay. I'm tough enough to handle those dirty SharpClaw boneheads!"
"I don't doubt it." Krystal responded with her own smile. However, this smile began to drop as a strange feeling suddenly tugged at her chest with a surprising force.
"Krystal?" Kyte asked in concern as the vixen suddenly stopped and fell to one knee, closing her eyes and clutching the bridge of her nose. "What is it?"
"I... I think I feel them."
"What?"
"Pain." She gasped. "Someone is in terrible pain."
"Is it them? The people who sent the message?"
With effort, Krystal straightened her back and nodded. "It's likely."
"Can you tell where?"
Closing her eyes, she began to mentally search the palace around her. "Somewhere that way." She pointed. "I think."
"Come on!" Kyte cried, suddenly leaping from Krystal's shoulder and taking flight. "Let's go!"
Krystal nodded and began to follow the young CloudRunner through the stone halls. With the round columns and blazing braziers flashing past as they flew and sprinted through the halls, Kyte slowly began to increase the distance between her and the huffing vixen.
"Hold on Kyte!" She called as the princess began to fly farther ahead of her. "You don't know where you're going!"
"Don't worry!" She called back. "I think they're this way!"
She made a sharp turn and began to fly down another long corridor, while Krystal lagged far behind.
What does she think she's doing? She's going to get herself hurt!
The promise that she had made to Tekamus nagged at the back of her mind, and she began to increase her strides.
"Kyte, please!" She cried. "Wait for me!"
She either didn't hear, or was so caught up in the moment that she couldn't respond, and continued to increase the distance. Soon, she turned again down another branching hall, and flew out of Krystal's sight.
"Kyte!" Krystal yelled. She began to sprint even faster, despite her chest beginning to burn from the strain. Almost slipping and falling as she turned, she began to follow the young princess down the hall, just as she disappeared down another hallway.
"Kyte, for the love of the gods!" She screamed, starting to get rather distraught. Dashing past another one of the floating parasites, she madly followed the young CloudRunner, worried that she would lose her and be unable to find her again in the maze-like halls of the palace.
Fortunately, her fear was in vain, as she soon found the young princess sitting at the foot of a tall door that blocked off the hallway she was trying to follow.
"Kyte!" Krystal yelled. "What were you doing?"
Kyte didn't seem to hear the distress in her voice. "They're past this door! C'mon, let's open it!"
"Kyte, I don't know what you were..." She stopped as she suddenly realized the child was right. Pushing her mind past the door, she could feel that the person in pain lay just beyond it.
"How..." She muttered, staring at the energized child.
Kyte misunderstood the question. "I think it has something to do with these crystals."
Krystal looked up at the door and saw what she was talking about. Embedded into the center of the door were five glistening gemstones, that were arranged as to be unusually prominent on the otherwise unadorned door.
"What do you mean?" Krystal asked.
"The ancient Krazoa liked to create puzzles and tests all around their homes, to test the worthiness of whoever ventured there. Once we solve this puzzle, the door will open!"
Krystal chuckled softly at the authoritative attitude Kyte had taken on. I definitely misjudged her maturity.
"Well then," she said. "Let's solve it, and quickly!"
She stepped up to the door and gently rested a hand on it, trying to observe every detail. The five gemstones were arranged in an X, and each one sported a unique color: Red, blue, purple, green, and white. Krystal took hold of the white one in the middle, and gently pulled on it. It didn't budge. She tried pushing on it like a button and, though nothing happened at first, she was surprised when the gem sunk down into the door.
She stepped back, almost expecting the door to open. However, the white gem slowly pushed itself back out to its previous position, and the door remained where it was.
"Maybe it's a combination." Kyte suggested. "Try pressing the other ones."
Krystal nodded and pressed down onto the blue gem. At first, nothing happened again, however, as the gem slid back to its first position, Krystal noticed that a subtle light began to glow inside the gem. Brighter and brighter it glowed until a beam of blue light erupted from the gem, shooting past Krystal and stopping at a stone panel that hung from the side of a pillar.
"I think that's right!" Kyte exclaimed. "Push the other ones!"
Krystal followed suit and soon, four lights of shimmering color were emanating from the locked door. However, it didn't show signs of unlocking.
"What now?" Kyte asked.
"I'm not sure." Krystal mused. "Perhaps..." She pressed down on the white gem in the middle once again, but to little avail.
They both frowned in thought. "Maybe... um." Kyte shook her head. "Maybe it's something to do with the lights?"
Their eyes both followed the beams of color to see that each ended at four, identical stone panels that hung from the pillars supporting the hall.
"Let me see." Krystal walked over and observed the stone panel that stopped the green beam. Upon touching it, she noticed that the panel was able to swivel on its support, allowing free movement.
"Hmm." She mused, trying to understand the significance. Upon spinning the panel completely around, she discovered the solution to the puzzle; framed into the stone was a shining, beautifully polished mirror.
"Ahh!" She sighed. "We have to redirect the light."
Positioning the mirror so that the green beam reflected off the polished surface, she began to carefully aim the light back at the door.
"Aim for the white one!" Kyte suggested.
Krystal nodded, and soon the green beam was shimmering perfectly in the middle of the white gem. Within minutes, Krystal had redirected the other three beams of light with the polished mirrors directly into the center of the white gem. As she directed the purple beam into position, she expected the door to open instantaneously.
However, it didn't seem to make a difference, and the door remained closed.
"What now?" Krystal asked, starting to become disheartened.
Kyte didn't share Krystal's disappointment. "Now we've just got to press the white one!"
And before Krystal could respond, the young CloudRunner ran up to the door, flew up to the white gem, and, bracing herself against the door with her beak and wings, pushed the gem into the stone with her feet.
As the two stood back a ways and observed the door, a deep rumbling began to sound from inside. One by one, the beams of light emanating from the colored gems snuffed out, and the white gem in the middle began to glow with a blinding light of its own. Slowly but surely, the stone door began to rise up, revealing the room behind.
Krystal and Kyte both observed their handiwork with extreme satisfaction, massive smiles on both of their faces. However, these smiles melted from their faces as the door opened completely and they saw what lay beyond.
"Oh no..." The young princess muttered.
The large room ahead of them looked to have housed a fierce battle. Bodies of huge creatures littered the stone floor, along with scattered weapons and armor that Krystal recognized as SharpClaw armaments. Slowly, Krystal bent down and picked the young CloudRunner up, holding her gently in her arms.
"You don't have to look Kyte." She muttered sadly.
"I..." She seemed to be very distraught at the sight. "I'm okay."
Step by step, Krystal began to make her way into the horrible battlefield. She observed the bodies of the strange creatures as they passed. They were large reptilian beasts, with flat crests on their heads that gave the appearance of a crown, along with two long horns that protruded from their skulls, as well as a shorter horn that stuck from their noses. Most of them wore battered and cracked iron armor slung over their backs and strapped to their legs.
"What are these?" Krystal asked softly, bending down and resting a hand on one of the slain creatures.
"They... They're... um, sorry." Kyte stuttered. "They're EarthWalkers. I... don't know why... um..."
"It's okay." Krystal said softly, very worried for the child's emotional state. She doubted that the young princess had ever seen a sight such as this, and she could feel the mounting distress on her mind. "It's okay." She repeated.
Tears began to well up in Kyte's eyes. Quickly, she wiped them away. "I'm fine." She said shakily.
Slowly, Krystal climbed to her feet. "One of them is still alive." She muttered. "I can feel him."
"Where... where is he?"
Krystal looked out over the dead bodies of the EarthWalkers, looking for any sign of movement. Suddenly, they heard a cough, followed by a weak voice. "Here..."
"Come on!" Krystal cried and dashed over to the direction the voice came from. Lying limply on the floor, covered in wounds and blood, was an EarthWalker who was noticeably smaller than the rest. He wore a jeweled headdress on his bony crown, and had other such jewelry adorning his body, unlike the obvious armor the other EarthWalkers were wearing.
"You..." He coughed. "Got my message?"
Krystal nodded, gently resting a hand on his nose. "I came as fast as I could."
The EarthWalker began to laugh softly, despite the pain it obviously caused him. "Who could have known that an outworlder would come to our aid rather than our own people? Such are these confusing times."
"What happened here?" Krystal asked, looking around at the carnage.
He groaned. "The treachery of the SharpClaws knows no bounds. They came upon us; massacred us."
"But why? What were you doing here?"
"Searching... studying..." He began to cough violently again. "We sought an end to the war. We searched for them, pleaded for them to help us. They didn't. They can't… I can't..."
Krystal frowned. The poor thing seemed to be having difficulty keeping his thoughts together. "Please, be at peace. Tell me everything."
"We..." He groaned and closed his eyes.
"K... Krystal?"
She turned around to see Kyte standing a good distance away from the injured creature, watching the two with wet eyes.
"Can... Can you comfort him?"
Krystal bit her lip at the child's humble request. "I'll try."
She closed her eyes and reached out to the suffering EarthWalker's mind. Slipping by the broken barriers, she tried her best to take a portion of the pain upon herself. Though she gritted her teeth as she felt vague yet very real pain coursing across her skin as she began to feel the injuries that he felt, it thankfully seemed to work, and misery began to fall from his face and his mind.
"Th... thank you." He muttered.
"Now please." Krystal said. "Tell us what you were looking for."
"The... The spirits of the ancient Krazoa. We were sent by our queen to gather these spirits, then plead to the Krazoa God to deliver us from the tyranny of the SharpClaws."
"Would that work?" Kyte asked, inching closer to the injured EarthWalker.
He nodded. "I believe so. I have faith that he would show mercy on us."
He sighed and closed his eyes. "But the SharpClaws were waiting for us. They could not open the gates to the sacred shrine, so they forced us to. They must have thought to take the spirits for themselves."
He growled in contempt. "Foolishness. Only the pure of heart can take on the power of the Krazoa Spirits. All they succeeded in doing was scattering the spirits."
"Where?" Krystal inquired.
"All across the planet." He responded. "Fleeing back to their original abodes. Places of safety."
He groaned again as the pain began to wash over his body once more.
"What can I do?" Krystal asked.
"I… I am dying. I have... failed. But you... you can... do it..."
He began to cough violently again. "Please... find... the spirits... release them... stop this war and… save my world..."
With effort, he raised his head and pointed to an open door on the opposite side of the room. "There... is the first... take the test... stop..."
He let out a pained sigh, then rested his head back upon the floor. As he closed his eyes, Krystal could feel his mind slipping away into darkness, never to wake again.
She sighed and tenderly touched his face. "Rest easy." She muttered.
"Is... is he..."
Krystal turned to see Kyte looking just as distraught as before. She was staring at the EarthWalker's body as though she thought her eyes were deceiving her.
"Yes. He's dead." She said sadly.
Kyte lowered her head, tears beginning to drip down her face. Krystal watched the crying child for a moment, before she stood up and walked to her. "Kyte..." She said softly, bending down to her level.
The young princess looked up at her, wiping her eyes clean.
"I'm..." She paused. "Let's go."
Krystal took one more glance at the fallen EarthWalkers before she slowly nodded. Side by side, the vixen and the young CloudRunner walked away from the battlefield; both their hearts deeply weighed down from what they had seen and heard.
The two had followed the path that the EarthWalker had pointed them on in complete silence. Neither said a word, each deep in thought and raging conflict. Krystal was considering the weight of what she had been told by the dying EarthWalker, while Kyte was struggling with the simple fact that she had never seen death such as that before. It made for a very solemn journey. However, Krystal soon broke that silence in concern for her young friend.
"Kyte?"
"Y... yes?
"I'm so sorry for what you had to see in there."
"I..." Kyte said quietly. "I'm fine. I just... I don't know."
"That's not an easy thing to witness." Krystal said softly. "Especially for a child."
"I... I never thought I'd feel that way... for..." She stopped and looked away.
"An EarthWalker?"
She nodded.
"What happened between your tribes?" Krystal asked softly.
"We... we were..." She shook her head. "I still don't want to talk about it."
Krystal sighed. "That's your choice. I just think you might feel better if you did."
They remained silent for a moment, before Krystal asked the young princess another question. "Do you think it's true?"
"What?"
"Do you believe these spirits can stop that general's war?"
Kyte nodded. "Yes. Or, I hope so at least. I don't think there's another way."
"Well then, it's a good thing someone was able to tell us about the spirits."
Kyte nodded, still looking awfully somber.
Krystal smiled. "You know, you don't have to be so gloomy; we're on an adventure, aren't we?"
The young CloudRunner allowed herself a small grin at the irony. "I guess."
"And you know," Krystal continued. "If you look at it a certain way, this adventure kind of turned out to be more important than we realized. If we really can gather these spirits, and if they're as powerful as they're said to be, that could mean we would be stopping a planet-sized war."
She thought for a moment. "Yeah, I guess you're right. We'd be heroes, wouldn't we?"
"Saviors of the whole planet."
The words brought a smile to Kyte's face. "That would be kinda amazing."
"It would."
"So, does that mean you're going to be staying with us?"
Krystal nodded without hesitation. "Scales was right: This world is in distress. And I'm not going to leave until everyone and everything on it is safe."
Kyte beamed with returning joy. "Oh yeah!" She exclaimed. "We're going to save Dinosaur Planet together!"
"Of course we are. After all, where would I be without my guide?"
The young princess giggled softly.
