Chapter 37: CHAPTER XXV – Beyond the Stars

A heavy silence fell over them as they traveled back towards the Earth. Verakry kept Cekell out in the light in order to warm him, halting their return trip as they neared the moon as even pure and unfiltered sunlight would take time to achieve the desired effect.

“Now this is a scene to behold, it’s impossible to tell if the sun is rising or setting from here. The world looks just like a toy ball, who would have thought it wasn’t flat?” Shelly inquired as she slurped on her nectar that not once had she sat down from the moment I was gifted to her.

Rhystea eyed her curiously, but before she could say anything, Sphaere beat her to it, “Careful with yer words, ‘r yer gonna get us another spiel from professor know-it-all.”

“Wait, you both already knew the world was round? Have you been out here before?” F120 asked with a puzzled look.

“Not personally, but our people have long sought the stars and anything that might lie beyond them. If you’re interested, I can elaborate, but it is not my intention to give an unwanted lecture.” Rhystea replied as she brushed off Sphaere’s comment and adjusted her glasses.

“Maybe some other time,” Shelly remarked before taking another sip of nectar, “for now, I just want to enjoy the view. Would be a waste not to take all this in while we have the chance.”

“When I’s jus’ a li’l girl, I thought the moon was a special star. In reality, they’re nothin’ alike, in fact, the moon is waaaaay smaller than a star. Kowin’ thangs as they are cuts out some o’ the wonder, but the moon will always be special to me.” Sphaere announced.

“Oh? Why is that?” F120 pressed her.

“When I’s a li’l girl, I might have been uncomfortable with the dark, so Papa told me that the stars only shine at night cuz they’re watchin’ out fer us while the sun sleeps, an’ that each person has a star that’s watchin’ over them an’ no one else. I asked which star was mine, an’ ‘e pointed at a full moon an’ said it’s that one, cuz it’s the biggest, purdiest star in the sky; but, not unlike myself, sometimes it gets sidetracked an’ fergets ta shine fer me, but that it’s alllllllways there watchin’. Sometimes more so than others.” Sphaere reminisced.

“Setting aside your discomfort with the dark, which is just hard to imagine, how did your little brother react to hearing that the moon was all yours?” Rhystea giggled.

“’E got jealous!” Sphaere laughed, “But when ‘e asked which star was ‘is, Papa said ‘e got somethin’ even better, which made me jealous, but only fer a second. Papa eyed me up an’ down an’ smiled real big before goin’ on ta say that only first borns get a star ta watch over ‘em, an’ that what my brother got was a big sister.”

“Aww!” Rhystea gushed, “Is that why you were always looking out for your little brother? I wish I could have been a big sister!”

“Well that an’ cuz he needed it. Ya’d never know it unless ya made ‘im angry, but my Papa was a tough guy, an’ Kai was always findin’ that out the hard way! But as far as ya havin’ a younger siblin’, yer parents pro’ly didn’ have the heart ta make ‘em endure yer helicopter tutelage.” Sphaere replied with a mischievous grin and earned herself a sharp glare.

Before Rhystea could defend herself, F120 interjected, “You would give them a persimmato, and they would think you hated them.”

“Not everyone can have good taste.” Shelly added insult to injury, causing Rhystea to frown in defeat and Sphaere to burst into laughter.

Their attention was suddenly directed to Verakry and a commotion Cekell was causing, who apparently awoke in a frenzy. Snapping to consciousness, Cekell didn’t make time to take stock of his current situation, and without hesitation he impulsively lashed out at Verakry, who, while not expecting this, did not need to bother holding up any active defenses as Cekell lacked any means to truly wound the Umbralim.

In an instant, Cekell landed a flurry of ineffectual blows to Verakry’s chest and face before darting over to the barrier containing his sparks, keeping himself between them and Verakry before the realization that he was no longer in an altercation set in.

“Ya can take the dog outta the fight, but ya cain’t take the fight outta the dog.” Sphaere pointed out.

Verakry merely received the assault with a fascinated smile, the Umbralim had no other reaction of any kind. Without offering resistance, Cekell would more quickly calm himself. Taking a moment to connect the dots, Cekell first investigated his sparks before craning his tendril towards Verakry, which drooped apologetically.

Without uttering a word, Verakry offered both the mana Cekell had lost, as well as a portion of highly dense dark matter that had been shaped into hand, one that would perfectly replace that which Cekell was lacking. Receiving his gifts, Cekell attached his dark hand to his nubbed left arm, then shoved the mana into his mouth. Without a word, Verakry vanished into the darkness.

Turning back to his sparks, Cekell concentrated for a moment to emit a faint light and transferred through his barrier, but had his new dark hand got caught on the outside. Yanking on it a few times in a feeble attempt to pull it through, he gave up and groaned as he reached his right hand out towards Rhystea, pouted out his lower lip, and squeaked pitifully at her.

A relieved Rhystea rushed forward to accept him, and gasped when they came into contact, “Woah, you are really cold!” And sank down into the water that was starting to become tepid, keeping close to the barrier that denied entry to Cekell’s dark hand. “What are we going to do with you?” She inquired, voice cracking as she fought off tears.

“Oh, now don’tcha go getting’ all emotional again, I think ‘e’ll make it.” Sphaere insisted.

“But, his h-hand!” Rhystea stammered, her voice cracking as she spoke.

“He had his mana returned to him, so he’s whole. What Verakry offered him was likely meant to help him learn to better control dark matter. If he can use that to recreate the nimble movement of fingers, he will be able to more precisely and swiftly exercise control.” Devose detailed.

“What a guy.” Sphaere sarcastically noted. Devose discontentedly groaned, spurring Sphaere to add, “I get it, ya wanna be the one that the space demon is focused on. I want Ceke ta be the one that speaks normally. Ceke pro’ly wants ta be the one that can keep ‘imself warm. We only want what we ain’t got. That don’ mean we cain’t get it, it jus’ means we gotta work at it. So chin up, an’ try harder tomorrow than ya did taday.”

“You make it sound so easy…” Devose argued.

“Do you think your brother found any of that to be easy? As much as you drone on about strength, I want you to know that Cekell never sought more might than what was necessary to protect what was important to him. He only found that power by doing what needed to be done. It doesn’t get more simple than that. Rather than focusing on a grudge or strength, why don’t you seek out what means the most to you?” Rhystea suggested.

“What if I’ve already lost what’s most important to me?” Devose spat out bitterly.

“Then I guess ya’ll be miserable an’ second rate ferever.” Sphaere shot back. Devose cringed up in her embrace, then quickly wrapped his arms and tendril around her neck and hugged her tightly.

“No one said you’re only allowed to have one single most important thing. I’ve got both of my parents, Cekell has both of us, and you still have a father. If you fixate on what you don’t have, you won’t be able to appreciate what you do.” Rhystea advised.

Silence swept over them, but was broken when Sphaere turned to Shelly and questioned, “Ya wanna keep gazin’ at the stars, ‘r we ready ta head back? This water’s coolin’ off, an’ after what happened with that stone snake monster, yer series might’ve sent someone out ta check up on us.”

“About that.” Shelly replied as she casually sipped on her nectar, “How do we get back? And for that matter, where exactly is ‘back?’”

Everyone turned to peer curiously at Cekell, then up to Rhystea. “Alright professor, it’s yer time ta shine!” Sphaere insisted as she cracked a smile.

Rhystea scoffed, glared at Sphaere through her glasses which she took a moment to fidget with, then turned her gaze down to Cekell and gently requested, “How about you take us back to the hot springs, this water’s getting cold and I can’t imagine you wouldn’t like that better. Also, I’m starting to miss my clothes.”

Cekell replied with a half hearted squeak, which Devose translated, “Which way to the hot springs?”

Rhystea turned and squinted through her spectacles at the Earth and quickly identified the continent they dwelled on, narrowed it down to whereabout the city should lie and pointed in that direction. “It shouldn’t be too hard to find, it’s night and the only light over a vast distance would be the city, and from there it’s just a short trip to cave town.” She discerned.

“Cave town don’ count as derogatory?” Sphaere asked in a curious tone.

“Impressive. Not only did you learn a new word, you can even speak it properly.” Rhystea sighed melodramatically.

“I also gained first hand knowledge o’ why booze were outlawed!” Sphaere shot back with a devious grin.

“Sometimes I really don’t like you.” Rhystea admitted with a callous glare.

“You two get along about as well as the Aves and Reptilia.” F120 pointed out as she cuddled up to her content pup. Rhystea and Sphaere pinned her down with perplexed gazes.

Cekell carried them all through the atmosphere and towards the only light in the direction Rhystea had pointed them in. It wasn’t long and they were headed straight for the barrier caging Hell’s Garden.

F120 noticed the lights from the city and asked about where Rhystea was from, who wasn’t sure how to respond, and gave vague and evasive answers to keep the questions from spiraling out of control. In her eyes, the city wasn’t all that different from demihome, where everyone worked together to provide a better tomorrow; with the main differences being that her people each had their own, smaller version of a cave, and fewer creatures that would happily eat them, and of course a nowhere near as much greenery.

Rhystea couldn’t help but notice Sphaere rolling her eyes and shaking her head at Rhystea’s explanations, as though she saw a very different world. Before Rhystea could explore her friend’s thoughts, they approached at the barrier.

“Not how I thought we’d come to finding out, but I guess we’re about to discover whether or not Cekell can get us through this barrier.” Rhystea noted.

“I gotta hankerin’ ‘e’ll get through jus’ fine. The real question is what do we do when ‘e does? Have ‘im take us home?” Sphaere inquired.

“I… don’t think that’s a good idea, at least not yet. Can you imagine him in the city? A car driving by too close to us? The wrong person discovering what he is capable of? I think everyone will be better off if we hide him away until, at the very least, he can communicate through speech.” Rhystea explained.

Cekell let out a discontent chirp, which only further affirmed Rhystea’s point. “Don’t give me that, it’s not only us that you need to be able to communicate with, and no one else is going to understand what your… noises mean.” She argued.

“Do we gotta hide ‘im way out here, though? Where there ain’t no showers ‘r even ‘lectricity? I feel like raisin’ ‘im away from the monsters would be in everyone’s interest.” Sphaere pointed out.

“Tell that to Verakry. Yes, he said this place wouldn’t contain Cekell for much longer, but that doesn't mean conflict wouldn’t follow Cekell to the city. You wouldn’t want to expose your brother to that, now, would you?” Rhystea lectured.

Sphaere groaned uncomfortably, but she understood the point Rhystea was trying to convey. “Well, we’ve come this far, mind as well see it through, eh?” She admitted begrudgingly.

“In for a penny, in for a pound. Besides, I’m becoming more and more intrigued by this place. Thanks to Cekell, we haven’t had to run screaming from everything that moves, so we’ve had a moment to open our eyes and look around. Not to mention we’ve finally got a lead on how to find the people running this place. Don’t you want answers? If you want to go home, I’m sure Cekell will take you, but if he wanted to, he could drag you right back. I want to go home, too, but more than that, I want those answers; and if there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that my parents wouldn’t agree to my gallivanting through this Garden of Hell.” Rhystea insisted.

Sphaere squeezed down on Devose as she bitterly spat out, “I wouldn’ mind runnin’ inta their dad an’ givin’ ‘im a piece o’ my mind.”

Rhystea let out a sigh of relief, and noticed Sphaere giving her a perplexed look, and quickly adjusted her glasses before giving a flustered response, “Well, er, you’re rather dependable, and, I guess I’d prefer it if you would remain at my side. Tomorrow we should have little issue finding Proto3 and getting some info on the observers, and we already have a path beaten straight to their front door. I see no reason we couldn’t have a nice relaxing shower before crawling into our own beds tomorrow night. We should shift our focus on introducing Cekell to society, and just maybe these observers can assist us with such an endeavor. They’ve been working with Verakry all this time, and…” She trailed off as she noticed the look on Sphaere’s face as her smile slowly widened. “What?”

“I thought ya’d be happy ta get rid o’ me an’ get back ta yer posh, prim an’ proper life!” Sphaere announced.

Rhystea released Cekell to remove and peer at her glasses, realizing she couldn’t clean them without a cloth, and slowly replaced them over her narrowing eyes before conceding, “I do have reservations, but I don’t think Cekell will allow us to part so readily.”

Sphaere’s smile only further widened, causing Rhystea’s eyes to further narrow. At an impasse, Rhystea finally prompted her to speak with, “What?!”

“Yer startin’ ta lighten up, an’ yer likin’ it! Ain’tcha?!” Sphaere berated her.

“I’m certain I don’t know what you mean.” Rhystea asserted.

“Oh yes ya do! Ya’ve had a li’l fun, an’ now ya want more! We’re gonna be friends, you an’ me!” Sphaere declared.

Rhystea sharply turned away and deflected, “Only for Cekell’s sake.”

“Aww!” Sphaere gushed, “Ya do wanna be my friend!”

Rhystea’s glare sharpened as she aimed it away from Sphaere, contrary to how she was feeling. When she didn’t say anything, Sphaere continued, “We’re gonna be besties!”

Rhystea couldn’t narrow her eyes anymore without simply shutting them. Fortunately for her, they had arrived at the barrier which let her change the subject, “Moment of truth!” She announced as barrier contact was made, but when they went to pass through, they were abruptly immobilized when Cekell’s new hand got caught, jerking him to attention and causing him to squeal sharply from both surprise and pain.

Witnessing this, Devose exploded into laughter, prompting Sphaere to dunk him underwater. An aggravated Cekell quickly placed another barrier over his hand to permit passage, before transporting them on back to the hot springs they had departed from. Sphaere directed Cekell to set them down towards the middle of the springs, wanting to keep the stones they were using as seats near where they had originally found them.

Setting them down and dispelling the barrier caused everyone to release a relaxed sigh as the hot water swept over them. Shelly tossed her empty nectar pod into the distance, and F120 headed to the shore to release Lucky, who darted off to relieve himself on a nearby rock before returning to his waiting master, who scooped him up and headed back to rejoin her companions.

“Oh, wow, this is so much better! With all the crazy things you can do, there’s got to be way for you to keep warm!” Rhystea announced after having lifted Cekell up to eye level, who certainly woudn’t argue with that and instead merely dangled from her grasp.

“I think ‘e’s found a great way ta warm up.” Sphaere alluded.

“How’s that?” Rhystea questioned. The only response she received was Sphaere eyeing her up and down with a growing grin. “Oh no, next time it’s your turn!”

“I got my mini monster, ya got yers.” Sphaere countered.

“How’s that fair?!” Rhystea whined.

“Ya’ll teach ‘im ta talk gooder than I will!” Sphaere insisted as she grinned from ear to ear. Try as she might, Rhystea couldn’t come up with a suitable response, so instead she just glared daggers at her friend.

A moment passed before Sphaere pointed out, “It’s startin’ ta get late, shall we head back soon?”

“That’s probably for the best. Hope our clothes aren’t too damp after Cekell caused an unexpected shower.” Rhystea sighed.

“Ah, even if they are, it’ll give us an excuse cozy up next ta a fire an’ brew us up some tea!” Sphaere suggested.

“You’re always looking on the bright side, aren’t you?” Rhystea noted as she stood up and headed for her clothes.

“Well, I don’ like mopin’ ‘round; ‘sides, that’s the best side ta look at.” Sphaere explained as she got up and followed after her friend.

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F120 followed suit and carried her garm pup after them, but Shelly opted to stay in the hot springs until it was time to go. Rhystea groaned as she picked through her clothes as, sure enough, they were still damp. Looking down at Cekell, who was comfortably wrapped up in her arms, she frowned and decided against setting him down to dress herself. Before she would start, a cold chill ran down her spine as a presence made itself known, stomping through the darkness towards them.

“Oi…” Sphaere whispered forcefully as she squeezed down on Devose.

“Oh no, what now?” Rhystea grumbled quietly but sharply.

“I dunno, but whatever it is, it’s headed straight fer us. Stay calm, ‘r Ceke is likely ta freak out.” Sphaere urged.

Rhystea did her best to maintain her composure, but her heartbeat betrayed her, spurring Cekell to try and wriggle free from her grasp in an attempt to climb up to her shoulder, but Rhystea wrenched down on him. Instead of resisting her, he wrapped both her and Sphaere in their own set of barrier armor.

Leaping from the darkness, R208 landed on a sizeable rock in front of them sporting an excessively large blade in hand, and looked around to take in the situation. He clearly had expected confrontation, and Rhystea gave it to him as she screamed, charged him, and slapped him back into the darkness with Cekell’s barrier.

Realizing that R208 was likely not alone, Sphaere short forward and quickly slipped into her clothes, which fit over the skin tight barrier she was wearing. Witnessing this, Rhystea attempted to do the same, but not only did having Cekell in her arms slow her down, she was naturally clumsy. She went from bright red to dark red when A212 landed in front of her, who managed an entire word, “What’s-“ Before Rhystea sent him flying back in the direction he came from with a quick stoke from the back of her barrier bolstered hand.

“I SAID GIRLS ONLY!!” Rhystea screamed at the top of her lungs, transforming her embarrassment into raw rage. Not forgetting herself, she quickly threw her clothes on, managing to put her shirt on over Cekell, who didn’t seem to mind.

F120 let out a panicked squeal as she darted after A212, “Brother!”

Shelly erupted into laughter as she made her way out of the water, “I think they were worried about you, but it seems rather apparent they should worry about themselves, first!”

Dragging his sword behind him with one hand, R208 was panting for breath as he made his way back to the group, and could be seen in the pale light of Cekell’s barrier, nursing his jaw with his free hand. Careful not to get to close to Rhystea, he kept a wary eye on her, admitting, “I never would have guessed you could hit that hard.”

“I mean I’ve gotta temper, but ya’ve straight got anger issues! Maybe I should hold onta Ceke after all…” Sphaere teased, causing Devose to gasp and lock on to with a tight grasp.

“We heard a rumbling from this direction and then the ground shook, there was even an early rain. We clearly didn’t need to worry, but I’m not going to be sorry for checking in on my friends. I would like to assure you that it was not my intention to incur your wrath.” R208 insisted with his jaw still in his hand.

“Is it just the two of you?” Shelly asked with a puzzled look.

“Yea, we were working on the gate while you were gone, and as soon as the ground shook, we both took off in a dead run, although we did have to instruct the rest of our series to stay and keep working on the gate when they started after us. The Eminent won’t be happy about us venturing out at night, but I can blame it on A212 and say I didn’t want to let the new Aves Eminent come out here alone!” R208 explained with a hearty laugh.

“You couldn’t have been that worried about A212, but how did you manage to beat him here?” Shelly inquired.

“Actually he stayed close to me, and undoubtedly wore himself out running back and forth as he searched for threats. The closer we got to water, the wider the area he scanned.” R208 answered.

“That explains ya nearly sneakin’ up on us, I didn’ think ya had it in ya ta be that quiet fer that long!”

A212 finally made his way back to the group, leaning on F120 for support who had Lucky at her heels, expressed his surprise, “Fortunately, you were the scariest thing we ran into. You hit harder than Reptilia more than twice your size! Clearly you didn’t need us worrying about you.”

“Yea, she’s a real brute!” Sphaere laughed as she turned to see Rhystea trying to conceal her embarrassment by fuming over the situation, and added, “Although, she did specify girls only. ‘Sides, we got Shelly, an’ she helped us take down a stone snake.”

“You’ve got a who?” R208 asked, before choking out, “Wait, took down a what?!”

“Er…” Sphaere tried to recall Shelly’s series designation, but faltered.

“R248.” Rhystea answered for her, “Helped us out with a stonescale.”

Both R208 and A212 turned, dropped their jaws and gawked at R248, who stammered, “I… just…”

“She was with us in the thick o’ it! Never left our side, never even flinched!” Sphaere interjected.

“A Reptilia never abandons their charge.” Shelly insisted, “Besides, the wee one did most of the work.”

“What’s left o’ the thing’s right over here!” Sphaere pointed out as she started walking towards the stonescale’s remains. “I was thinkin’ that tail’d make fer not only an awesome trophy, but a nice whompin’ stick. It’s fangs could be used fer a pretty sweet pair o’ knives, too.”

Their two recently arrived companions followed in disbelief, even as they stared down at what was left of the creature. R208 lightly kicked at it’s head, and everyone jumped back when it snapped at them. R208 brandished his blade, A212 readied a rocksplosive, Rhystea’s heart jumped and Cekell let out a perplexed squeak as if to ask, ‘Really?’ The creature couldn’t be any more dead, not that such a thing had stopped him from obliterating the light arachnophage.

“Where’s the rest of it?” A212 questioned.

Sphaere smiled and spun a tall tale, “Ceke twisted it’s head off an’ ate the rest. It’s tail must o’ been too hard on ‘e’s baby teeth, cuz ‘e spit that part out.”

“The things he can do are beyond crazy, but that takes the cake. I bet after eating all that, he takes a massive-“ R208 shut up when Rhystea’s gaze whipped around and silenced him.

“Don’t be dumb, they’re clearly exaggerating.” A212 scoffed, before adopting a doubtful tone and questioning, “…right?”

“I dunno what else ta tell ya, we’re not hidin’ it.” Sphaere asserted herself as seriously as she could in an attempt to add plausibility to her story.

“But…” R208 fumbled his words as stared at Sphaere in disbelief, shifting his gaze then to Rhystea and finally to A212, who peered back at him in similar fashion. “But…”

Taking a liking to the more reverent attitude they had taken, Rhystea jumped on board, adding, “He’s a growing boy, he’ll be hungry again in the morning.”

A212 and R208 swallowed hard in an attempt to dislodge the knot growing in the back of their throats, but offered no further questions, even as they wondered how he could possibly fit it all down.

Breaking the imposed silence, Sphaere inquired, “Ya said yer crews were workin’ on the gate, they gonna be at it all night?”

Without taking his eyes off of the bulge in Rhystea’s shirt formed by Cekell, R208 replied, “Uh-huh. Everyone’s got as much meat and nectar as they want, and with the light sources you’ve provided us with, we can see what we’re doing. We’ve got the Aves scouting the area for threats. Everyone’s spirits are high, so it’s going smoothly.”

“No ones ever put down a stonescale, just wait till they get a load of this.” A212 added.

“Well, ‘fore we head back ta a nice warm fire an’ show ever’one that stone snakes bleed red jus’ like the rest o’ us, how ‘bout we make a slight detour?” Sphaere requested.

Rhystea offered her a puzzled look before pressing her for details, “Did you have something in mind?” Then her eyes narrowed as she added, “Or are you just wanting to go on a joy ride?”

“I’d def’nately be down ta feel the wind in my hair, but, ‘member all that coffee in the transport we took shelter in?” Sphaere recalled.

“Oh, goodness.” Rhystea sighed, massaging her temple with her hand that wasn’t wrapped around Cekell.

“Yes! Scaleheads plus coffee equals mayhem, purdy sure that’s a math miracle ‘quation! I cain’t wait ta innerduce ‘em ta each other!” Sphaere’s enthusiasm was palpable.

“Mathematical… Ugh, I give up. They are our hosts, and leaving all that to rot would truly be a waste… If they burn down the forest though, that’s all on you.” Rhystea capitulated.

“It’ll be a fair trade fer all the tea we want, too!” Sphaere noted.

“I already regret this.” Rhystea replied.

“Kaw-fee?” R208 repeated the word as though he were unsure of the way it rolled off his tongue.

“Coffee!” Sphaere reiterated, “It’s like tea, but it don’ taste near as good. It’ll kick yer ass inta overdrive though, sleep deprived ‘r not!”

“Kaw-fee.” R208 again repeated the word, this time with confidence and curiosity.

“Oi, Ceke, how ‘bout a ride?” Sphaere requisitioned a barrier, prompting a squeak from Cekell who happily complied. “Don’ ferget the spoils o’ our battle! No one’ll believe us without ‘em!”

R208 excitedly but warily picked up the severed head in a manner that if it lashed out, it would be away from him, managing to cradle it alongside his bulky blade. Shelly retrieved the tail and was unable to resist the temptation to shake it in an attempt to emulate the threatening sound of the stonescale. With their trophies in tow, they made their way to and climbed up on the barrier as Sphaere and Rhystea had before them.

A212 had recuperated from receiving Rhystea’s barrier bolstered blow and climbed up next to F120, who had scooped up her pooch and could barely contain herself as she awaited lift off. “Flying is sooooo much fun! Hopefully Rhystea will let us go fast this time!” She urged.

Sphaere held back a laugh as Rhystea sighed dejectedly, “Why am I the bad guy for wanting to be safe?”

“Fun hater! Ya should really try enjoyin’ yerself sometime, ya might even like it!” Sphaere suggested.

“What if someone falls?!” Rhystea aired her discontent.

“Ceke, ya wouldn’ let anyone fall wouldja?” Sphaere queried.

Cekell chirped back in affirmation, and unable to tell if that meant he would indeed let someone fall or he would meet expectations to retain all riders, both Sphaere and Rhystea’s eyes landed on Devose, who rolled his eyes and replied, “So long as I don’t let go of you, I’ll be fine.”

Being as the transport wasn’t far from the hot springs, Cekell had them there in moments, but had managed to clearly whet the appetites of both A212 and R208 for soaring through the skies, they were every bit as excited as F120, who started to tell them about her travels through space, but was quickly silenced by Sphaere, who insisted such remain their little secret, at least for now.

Cekell set them down next to the transport, to which Rhystea promptly approached, identified the unit filled with coffee and drinking utensils, and finally interrogated Sphaere, “How do you plan on getting all this back to cave town? Yes, I’m calling it cave town. Ooh, or Caveton, how about Caveton? Are we just going to bring a sample back? A few boxes, perhaps?”

“Oh Ritsy, fer having that big beautiful brain, ya shore do thank small, an’ those glasses really don’ help ya see any better, do they?” Sphaere stated smugly before turning her attention to Cekell, who Rhystea had pulled out from under her shirt in transit and tied him back up in an embrace, and requested, “Oi, Ceke, this tin can ain’t too much fer ya, is it?”

Letting out less of a chirp and more of a yawn, Cekell effortlessly lifted the entire transport with his gravity field. The makeshift stairs comprised of a leaned shelf fell away, but not before grating across the steel unit, causing everyone to grimace at the sound. Rhystea responded with a less than impressed, “Hmph.”

“Oi, Ritsy, help me uncouple this unit, we don’ need all o’ this brought back ta hole-in-the-ground-town, do we?” Sphaere announced with a self satisfied smile.

“Hole in the ground town? Seriously?” Rhystea chided her friend. “Why not at least something memorable, like the Underworld?”

“Under-a-rocksville?” Sphaere rebutted.

All of their demi human companions groaned uncomfortably in unison at the comparison of their home to such a diminutive dwelling, prompting both Rhystea and Sphaere to stow their conversation as both knew it would undoubtedly be revisited.

The caretakers of the warborn made their way between the transport units to investigate the coupling mechanisms that bound them together, along with their animal people entourage. Even after a few minutes of attempting to discern the connections, they had made little headway, but it didn’t take Cekell long to figure out their aims and sever the couplers, nearly scaring something tangible out of everyone in the vicinity.

First the nearest coupler was scythed through with an effective and sharp dark ‘key’ which more or less unlocked the units from each other, permitting the majority of the transport to slam to the ground – right next to the caretakers and their cave compatriots; followed by the coupler on the other end of the coffee unit to receive the same fate, allowing the rest of the transport to crash down to the ground.

There was a short pause preceding Sphaere and Rhystea both snapping their attention to Cekell, who merely chirped questioningly at them before quickly erecting a series of barriers for everyone to climb atop the unit that was still hovering a short distance in the air.

Shaking her head, Sphaere ascended and issued instructions, “All aboard the espresso express!” And the rest of her group followed warily after her. With everyone atop the unit and waiting for whatever came next, She turned her attention to Cekell and specified, “Alright ya li’l booger, it’s good ta see yer gettin’ back ta yer feisty self! Now, take us back ta the gate. We can set this down nearby, an’ if they don’ finish tonight, we can have ya block off the entrance with this, an’ ever’one’ll sleep soundly knowin’ the front door’s secure. Also, ya might be innerested in knowin’ that Ritsy will hug ya tighter if ya get us there really fast!”

Before Rhystea could finish saying, “Uh-oh…” Cekell had looked up at her with a devilish chirp, fastened everyone’s feet with a barrier, and left several screams and even a sharp yelp from a startled pup behind as they launched forward. R208 attempted to keep both his blade and the stonescale head within his grasp, but managed to retain neither. Cekell caught them in a barrier, much to the Reptilia’s relief.

Rhystea wrenched down on Cekell as though her life depended on it, who thanked her with an excited chirp that no one heard as the rushing wind stripped it away. Sphaere poked F120 to get her attention, then yelled out in excitement to show the girl there was nothing to worry about. Together, they cast their concerns away and howled at the moon.

Shelly chomped down on her surprise and grit her teeth to prevent any part of it from escaping. Having a hold of the stonescale tail helped console her, with everything she had just experienced, what could there possibly be to fear? Her discomfort quickly faded as she found herself enjoying the ride. Enthusiasm welled up within her, and she roared in true Reptilia fashion.

R208 noticed Sphaere and F120 howling at the moon and added his voice to the rising chorus in a display that would make his brethren proud. A212, being not only lighter than his scaled companions but also covered in wind catching feathers, was having trouble not being bowled over by the windshear, at least until he instinctually leaned beak first into it and spread his arms like wings. Even he couldn’t help crying out from the thrill.

Seeing how much fun everyone was having, Rhystea decided she couldn’t be a killjoy. Expelling her discontent in a sigh that was ripped away by the rushing wind, she threw her free hand up in the air and tried to just not care. She reluctantly made a mental note to thank Sphaere and admit that the majority of her concerns paled in the face of Cekell’s sheer capability.

It wasn’t long until their cries died down with their speed as they approached the gate. Several lights could be seen among the trees as the demis prepared fresh timbers to patch their gate. All work ceased as no one missed Cekell’s arrival and craned their necks to watch his approach.

Cekell dispelled all his barriers as he set the unit down gently near the gate, out of the way of the workers but conveniently placed so that in a pinch, it could be moved to deny an enemy incursion. There was no rush to repair the busted gate, not that anyone was truly in a hurry. In fact, all the light sources that were being used to help procure fresh timbers, were converging upon the unit to see what was amiss.

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