Harriot’s lore for August
Death Gem
Entry #140
“Would you move this sword now?” My grip tightened.
“Why involve me? If you have this then why involve me.” His eyes darted to Charlotte.
“Honestly, if it were my choice I wouldn’t have. Too many liabilities, but Charlotte vouched for you. So we tested you. You really think we need information when we have Charlotte?” Everything I once thought I knew about Charlotte was shattering before my eyes. Did he really know this whole time what they needed? I let out a sigh. Charlotte would have a lot of explaining to do later. My sword lowered, I hadn’t realised how sharp the sword was until I saw a faint red line trickling from his neck. I still didn’t trust him but at that moment in time I wanted this over more than ever.
“These drake eggs hold a special property. It’s almost ironic that the ‘death drakes’ are producing new life. Once refined, these eggs become super valuable.” As we approached one of the eggs the death drakes began to swarm us. I knew there was no way they’d let us take one without a fight. “Hold them back while I refine this egg. It’ll take a few minutes before the process is complete.”
Carlos and I took up a fighting stance, he was using a ranged weapon. The gun itself was odd like nothing I had seen any tourist with. It was almost midnight black and looked way over-amped. My sword was only good for close range stuff so while Carlos held them away from afar I got up close and personal with the drakes. They were almost too majestic to fight and, at times, I had to remind myself that they were trying to kill us. The only thing that snapped me back to reality was Elliot.
“Got the gem, let’s get out of here.”
Elliot ordered us to retreat and the turrets took care of the rest that had followed us. The Gem itself was green in colour almost echoing the colour of the egg itself. Charlotte and I couldn’t help but stare at it.
“So, you’re telling me that was one of those eggs over there?” I had no clue how such a big egg could form such a small gem.
“It’s no more crazier than Zeus, of all the gods, forming a gem.” Elliot wasted no time at all placing the gem into the medallion. There was one stone missing, and it was the biggest stone.
The Guardian’s Gem
Entry #141
In the translation Charlotte had given me, it mentioned something called a ‘Moonstone’. It was a stone that captured the essence of all 4 drakes into one. The original Moonstone was held by the guardian and broke into many pieces when he died. According to Charlotte’s translation it was gifted to the guardian by one of the original inhabitants. She added a side note
-Possibly an ancient one? Like the one we met, could create a new one.
Was this what Charlotte had been planning? To use me as a gateway to the ancient one we laid to rest. I was starting to think Charlotte didn’t stick around for me but to gather information to send back to Calypso.
Elliot seemed to examine the medallion.
“All that’s left is the Moonstone, if Charlotte’s theory is correct then we have a good place to try ‘invoke’ the spirits of Next Island. All that’s left is the vessel.” Elliot was sounding more unconvinced than when I told him we should ask Zeus.
“We need a crystal. From my years of knowledge, it needs to be something capable of holding all the power of all four drakes. Something capable of holding fire, ice, lightning and death.” Was that why Charlotte had been looking through my collection of crystals back at the house? I needed to talk to her alone. Something was off.
“Charlotte and I will go back to the house to look through the crystals I have, Carlos and Elliot should scout out the location.” Elliot was about to say something when Charlotte spoke up.
“Sounds like a good plan to me. We’ll meet near the ancient ruins.” Elliot let out a gruff sigh
“Fine, but any trouble contact me on this.” He handed Charlotte an old fashioned walkie talkie.
On the way back to the house Charlotte didn’t say anything. I had grown so used to her chatting nonstop that the silence was almost deafening. The moment the front door was closed I turned on Charlotte.
“You’d better start talking. I want to know everything. Starting with who Elliot and Carlos are.”
Charlotte had a worried look on her face letting out the longest sigh I had ever heard from her.
“I want you to know that what I’m about to tell you has nothing to do with our time spent together. And I hope you of all people will understand me better than anyone.”
Charlotte’s Story
Entry #142
“We are Relic hunters, we have a small team, just me Carlos and Elliot. I mean there was a 4th member but she died on one of our most deadly expeditions. We heard rumours of the treasures left on Next Island from the old world. Things people back on Calypso would pay a pretty penny for. We came here at first just to pick up a few items and scout the area for anything of potential value. But we didn’t foresee the land looking different to what we had been told. A dodgy merchant sold us that map. We had a tour guide but during that tour I thought I saw something in the corner of my eye and before I knew it I had been separated from the others. From what they told me, they had been chased away by a pack of very angry boars. And assumed I was lost or dead, our line of work death is a common occurrence. Without me and my research to guide them on the relics here, they left and travelled back to Calypso.
I had no way to contact them and frankly after meeting you I didn’t want to go back, thinking maybe I could start a new life here. They however, carried on our work back there. We still had a lot of relics we’d collected over the years and I guess they must have hoped I was still alive as they saved some of the money they had made aside for me. So when I showed up at our main headquarters there was a small fortune waiting for me as my cut.
When they heard about my time on Next Island they showed me the relic that they had found before leaving Next Island. It was that medallion, there was an inscription on the wall where they had found it. It was more like a warning that instructions to reform it. There was a part that Elliot didn’t want me to give you. It said ‘He who seeks the Drake King of bad intent would perish by his hand, but he who seeks to restore his power shall be rewarded in eternal glory.’ I have a feeling Elliot has a bad intent towards the Drake King. I thought the medallion with the 4 stones would be enough for him but now he wants the moonstone. Which can only mean one thing. He intends to seek the Drake King and take whatever treasures he holds dear to him in that chamber.”
The Power of Crystals
Entry #143
Charlotte looked like she had more to say but I didn’t push it further. My mind was trying to take in all the information she gave me.
“So you hunt for relics, I guess Ancient Greece to those unsuspecting is a treasure trove of relics. And people actually buy that junk? sorry ‘relics’. I mean don’t get me wrong they are interesting to look at but surely they aren’t worth that much?”
“One man’s junk is another man’s treasure, but this time it’s different. Next Island objects hold powers unbeknown to us. Who knows what would happen if someone got hold of them” A small chuckle escaped my lips.
“Sorry you just reminded me of someone.”
“What do you plan to do about Elliot?” Charlotte was quiet for a moment.
“There’s no evidence to prove anything just yet. Our group has grown up together like brothers and sisters. For now, I think it’s best to follow his plan. But the reason why I wanted you involved is that the ancient one entrusted the protection of Next Island to you and I guess in part to me. The time I’ve spent with you I have grown fond of Next Island and if you’ll let me I want to stay when they leave.”
We spent the afternoon going through my hoard of crystals.
“It’s interesting, these crystals here have similar properties to those on earth, I can see where they got their names from. If I didn’t know any better I would have said these were brought over from earth. This one,” Charlotte held up a Quartz Crystal. It was a clear crystal that when the light hit it it spilt into a rainbow pattern all over the walls “it’s called a Quartz Crystal. Have you heard that back on earth they use this in all kinds of electronic devices as its good at withstanding electricity. But there are some that believe crystals hold a certain property and well Quartz is said to be useful in revealing a person’s true identity, not that I believe in that stuff. Maybe though, it would be a way for the medallion to detect your intentions and alert the Drake King, not that he’s real, on your intentions.” It was a scary thought, I didn’t even know what my ‘true identity’ was and if it could detect my intentions or past wrongdoings then this would not end well for me.
“So you believe this is the crystal we need?” Charlotte stared for a moment as if lost in thought.
“If it’s not this crystal then I don’t know what else it could be.” I took a deep breath.
“Well I guess it’s time to put that thought into practice, let’s get this over with.”
The Moonstone
Entry #144
Ancient Ruins was just as creepy as the last time I had been here. Elliot and Carlos seemed to have been waiting a long time for us, there was a look of fury on both their faces.
“What took you so long, we thought for sure you’d been eaten by wolves or something.” Charlotte glared at me
“Wait, there are wolves here?” I shook my head. She was far too gullible.
“Is that the crystal we need?” Charlotte seemed to perk up
“Yes, you see, I figured out that…”
“There’s no time for a lesson on whatever you discovered we’re losing the daylight here thanks to you two taking your sweet time.” Elliot placed the Quartz crystal in the middle of the medallion. Unlike all the other gemstones this one didn’t mould into the medallion. Elliot stared at it for a moment as if something was supposed to happen.
“If you had let me finish talking you would know that placing the Quartz in the medallion wouldn’t work. We need to take it to the ‘ancient one’, only they can harness the power of all four drakes into one.” Charlotte gave me a glare as if I knew what she meant by it. “This is something only me and Harriot can do.” Charlotte gracefully removed the medallion from Elliot and grabbed my hand as she ran towards the ancient ruins. I shiver ran down my spine. The atmosphere in the ruins just got creepier over time, even more so now that I knew it was a burial ground.
Charlotte placed the medallion in the spot where we had laid to rest the ancient one, she had the same stare that Elliot had, expecting it to do something. When nothing happened Charlotte seemed to whisper under her breath. “This was the spot right…”
“Can we go now, this place freaks me out. If the ‘ancient one’ doesn’t want to rise from the dead, that’s all the better for me.” At my words a bright blinding light seemed to shine from the Quartz. It looked as if the Quartz stone was sucking the life out of the other gems. They turned pale in colour while in the place of the Quartz shone a multi-colour oval gemstone.
-I leave you with a warning: the Drake King is not a creature to be trifled with.
The ancient one’s voice was much fainter than before but it was clearly the voice of the one we had brought here. A longer cold shiver ran down my spine
“Well you heard it from the ancient one let’s just pretend like it didn’t work” I tried to remove the gem but like all the others it was stuck fast.
