Totrium

Chapter Thirteen: New Territory

He blinked. "Where does it come from?"

"I read somewhere once that Teptrite was found in Elderian mines. Alchemists created it for the purpose of counteracting magic and Hans Fox and his followers got a hold of it after entering Elderian with the purpose to eradicate magic users."

"Why would the Alchemists create such a thing?"

They shrugged. "Everything had to have a weakness, I suppose. I'm guessing not everyone wanted magic users controlling everything."

"Hey, do you see that?" Jacques interrupted, pointing to something beyond the ship and they all rushed to the side, joining him at the railing.

"See what?" Zuri asked, putting a hand over their eyes and squinting.

Adrian caught sight of a brief blip of blackness among the sand.

"I'm sure it's something," the leader said, quickly making his way to the helm. "Let's check it out."

Several minutes later, the four were descending the ladder of the ship as the two tall masts retracted. When they'd reached the bottom, Zuri pulled out a little remote-control device from their pocket and pressed a button.

There was a click-click sound, and a massive metal clamp that the inventor had attached previously, locked over the top rungs of the ladder. Adrian could also hear a distant locking sound coming from somewhere at the front of the ship.

"The fuck was that, Zuri?" Jacques asked, meeting the inventor's smug grin.

"Our new security system," they said, slipping the device back into their pocket. "This way we can leave the ship unattended and not worry about getting robbed. Not to mention, when it's turned off, no one can fly it except you, Jacques."

"Impressive," Adrian said, gazing up at the ladder in awe. "When did you do that?"

"Since we very narrowly escaped Caranadine, I've been working on this baby. You like it?"

"Yes! Did you use those parts you got in town?"

They nodded, beaming with pride. "That's right! Next, I was thinking of adding deployable spikes from the sides of the ship."

His jaw dropped. "You're serious? How would you construct something like that?"

"Well, I'm not sure, but it'd be a matter of some wiring and more steel parts and—"

"Okay, I need you two to focus," Jacques scolded, both hands on his hips. "I don't want to stand in the sun all day."

Zuri folded their arms. "Whatever. This is why we love Ian, 'cause he actually appreciates stuff like my hard work."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you can dote on him later." He was turning, heading towards the black object that was a hundred or so feet in front of them. "Ian," he called back, motioning for him to come forward without looking back.

Adrian stiffened at the command, trying to keep his composure as he sprinted forward to catch up with him. "Uh, yes?"

They walked side by side now. "You're the one who wanted to come and see this thing. Any idea how we're supposed to get in?"

He was rummaging in the bag at his waist now, pulling out the journals. "Not sure. If it's buried, then you'll need to uncover it like you did the ship. From there...well, we'll just have to see."

Jacques grunted in response as they closed in on the black shape.

From here, he could see the glint coming off the black glass poking from the sand. Quickly making his way over now, he knelt, placing a hand on the object that went up to his waist. "This is definitely it," he said, standing up again.