As more and more Gelfling seemed to be disappearing, and no one could tell the others where they were going, there was one Gelfling who was determined to find out why they were disappearing and where they had gone to.
This one, named Rian, was keeping an eye on the other Gelfling soldiers. When the Skeksis came to ask for some other soldiers' help, it made him suspicious. He dared to follow the Lords to see what they were doing. He kept to a higher floor, and watched from a safe distance.
One of the soldiers was Rian“s girlfriend, Mira. He spied through a hole in the floor of the laboratory.
Mira, along with some other Gelfling soldiers, were forced into some chairs in the lab. The Crystal was pulled downward and a blinding, bright power electrified it, bringing it to life. It sputtered energy and sparks, and then, needles were jammed into Mira's shoulders, along with the others as well. A blue liquid began to collect in the tubes.
"Ah, the essence." the Scientist beamed proudly.
"No! Mira!" Rian was shocked and sad that this was happening to his love. He had muttered her name quietly.
"Help, my Lords!" Mira cried out. Then, she was gone, the tubes dropping to the ground as if there had been nothing there to begin with.
Rian couldn't believe this. She was gone! And so were the others.
Only the Emperor was in here for this draining. He wanted that essence so badly! SkekSo eagerly drank some of it.
Rian couldn't help but cry for Mira. He had loved her so much. One of his tears slipped off his face and fell down, plopping right onto Tek's face.
"Gelfling!" Tek screamed in terror, understanding that the one above had witnessed everything.
"We can't let him get away. After him!" the Emperor ordered.
The two of them flew out of the lab and tried to find Rian.
Rian was fast enough to evade them and bumped into Gurjin, then the two of them ran. He explained to his friend what he had seen, although, at first, he didn't believe him. Rian pulled him along, there was no time to argue.
"We have to get out of here, Gurjin. The Skeksis drained Mira's essence and drank it. We have to warn other Gelfling of this plight, so they don't do this to anymore Gelfling. We have to tell as many as we can." Rian explained.
"How do you know this is a threat to us?" Gurjin asked.
"Because I saw it. Dreamfast with me." Rian said after they had arrived at a safe spot.
The two Gelflings dreamfasted together, and Gurjin saw the truth for himself. He knew Rian was right. He agreed to help him.
The Emperor and Scientist went back to the throne room to warn the other Skeksis that there was a Gelfling on the loose that had seen what they had done to one of his kind, and that everyone should be on the lookout for him. They had tried to find him, but couldn't.
"Do you know which one it was?" the General asked.
"No. A young one." Tek said. "With long, dark hair. One known to get into trouble."
"Sounds like the captain's son, Rian." the General replied.
"Make sure he doesn't escape. Seal off the exits." the Emperor ordered.
Other Gelflings were to seal off all other exits, and the Skeksis were to keep an eye out for him too.
Chamberlain couldn't help but feel like he wanted some of that essence too. His energy felt like it was going down again. He would plan to go get some of that essence later on, when he would be sure Tek was out of the lab. He knew he could convince many of his fellow Skeksis with his words to escape confrontations. He wasn't much of a fighter.
La hated to have to keep an eye out for the Gelfling that was causing trouble, but she was a Skeksis like all the rest and she received equal orders. If the word reached even her Gelfling servants, they would likely turn against her too. She didn't want to think of harming her own servants, but if they did, she would not hesitate to defend herself.
The other Skeksis split up and warned other Gelfling soldiers to be on the lookout for Rian. They would take their jobs seriously.
Rian and Gurjin were treading carefully around the castle. They had to get out and warn the entire Gelfling race of what the Skeksis were doing to Gelfling who came to serve them in the castle.
At one point, the Chamberlain went to the Scientist's lab to see if there was anything Tek was coming up with for a plan on draining the one that had stolen the essence, or to see if there was anymore he could have for himself.
Sil found a spare vial in a cabinet and grew determined to have it. Tek had instilled a locksnake on it. It hissed back at him. He gasped in surprise. "Sneaky locksnake!" he stated. Then he picked up a pendant from one of the pockets in his robes and waved it back and forth to hypnotize it into getting sleepy enough that it was distracted, and he was able to grab it in his hand.
He lifted the tightly grasped snake high in the air, then began to eat it, live and all. He was hungry all the time, more than usual. The locksnake would give him some needed protein. Then, he was able to get into the cabinet without trouble. He grabbed a vial that happened to be Mira's.
"Just a taste." he said lowly. He was about to have a sip when Tek's voice interrupted him.
"Chamberlain!" Sil gasped and turned around, putting his other hand on top of the vial.
"Explain this nefarious intrusion." Tek demanded.
"I came looking for you." Sil said.
"Is that correct?"
"Yes. The Emperor sent me to know if there were any updates with missing Gelfling and more essence." Sil explained.
"There will be more soon. And no, not that I've seen from the troublesome creatures." Tek replied. Then, he heard a creak from his cabinet. He looked down and he saw the vial in Sil's hands.
"Thief!" he exclaimed.
"Who is thief?" Sil asked.
"You are! Explain yourself, SkekSil!" Tek grabbed one of his hands, bringing up the exposed vial. "I was saving that for further study."
"NO! I need some! Need energy! Feel so drained!" Sil yelled back.
"If you steal from me, you don't deserve it! You've had more energy lately than all the rest of us combined. What could be draining your energy? You'll only get essence when you earn my trust back!" Tek declared.
"NO! I need it now!" Sil refused. He tried to wrestle his hand away from Tek's grasp.
"You will give it back now, or I will see to it that you are punished!" Tek warned him.
"NO!"
Then, two Gelfling ran by. It was Rian and Gurjin.
"Traitor Gelflings!" Sil stated.
"We must get them!" Tek got the vial back from Sil this time and their feud was forgotten for the moment. Tek put the vial down in a hurry and ran after the two running Gelfling."We must get the Gelfling!"
Some other Gelfling had been chasing them and stopped when they saw their lords come running out of the lab and taking over. Sil and Tek split up.
"I think we lost them!" Rian stated, but Tek appeared right around a corner.
"Gotcha!" he yelled. He had a knife in his hand.
Rian and Gurjin began backing up. They didn't know that Sil was sneaking up behind them. Something he was good at. Sil grabbed onto Gurjin.
"Agh! Rian!" Gurjin screamed in terror.
"We need that vial, Gelfling! Give it back, please? Please!" Sil pleaded desperately.
"Rian, get out of here!" Gurjin urged. "You have to tell them!"
Then, afternoon's sunlight came through the window like a blinding beam. Gurjin took that moment to use his knife. "Go, now!" He stabbed Sil in the right leg, making the Skeksis cry out in pain, but he didn't manage to have him release his hold.
Rian took that moment to run. "Blasted sneak!" Tek tried to get a hold of him before he could get away, but Rian escaped. He even got past Sil, who had managed to grab a piece of his clothing on his talons and tear it off as he ran past them both.
Rian ran to and jumped out the window. He yelled in fear as he fell downward and landed in the water. He began to swim to safety. He wished he could have wings like the female Gelflings.
Chamberlain was limping as he and the Scientist went to the window to see where Rian had ended up. They looked down and saw the escaped Gelfling in the water. He couldn't stay underwater forever. He had to come up to breathe sometime.
"You'll never catch Rian now!" Gurjin was sure.
"We shall see." Sil said.
The two of them went back to the lab where Chamberlain put Gurjin in chains to make sure he wouldn't get away and would be held for interrogation later on. After that, Sil had to have a look at his right leg.
He went over to a chair and pulled his robes up. He had blood trickling on his calf and dripping down to his ankle.
"Let that be a lesson to you, SkekSil, for stealing from me." the Scientist stated.
"Are you going to treat this or not?" Sil growled angrily.
"I wonder why I should." Tek exclaimed as he got some medicine, thread, and a needle. He cleaned the small wound. It was deep. Sil whimpered in pain while Tek stitched it up.
Chamberlain knew he would have to take it easy on that leg for a bit, to not tear out the stitches.
The Scientist put the stuff away and he went to tell the other Skeksis about what had happened. He would make sure the Chamberlain paid for trying to steal from him and then letting the Gelfling get away.
Sil's leg was still in a lot of pain. He sat there for many minutes, trying to catch his breath from the stinging pain from the wound. He looked at the injury. Tek had sewn it up nicely despite how angry he had been with him.
At the same time, Sil knew what Tek was off to do. He had to catch up to tell his own version of the story.
