"A shell?" Pounce echoed the following morning.
Moonlight Band had been brought back to the dining pavilion where Seamist had announced the price for their stay.
"You're joking, right?" Night Shade stroked Taru's head who was currently pressed tightly against her side. "Seriously--you kept us here to help you find a shell?"
"There are lots of shells here," Fern pointed out, looking just as bewildered as the others. "Why do you want another shell?"
Griffin remained quiet, hoping the little blanket of magic that he had wrapped around the Elder object would help conceal its tell-tale aura.
Though she might not even know how to see magic. Griffin crossed his arms as though contemplating Seamist's demands. He could feel the tiny, horn-shaped shell dig into his chest under the weight of his arms. Better to be safe than sorry.
"It's not just any shell," Seamist replied calmly. "It's a special heirloom of the naiads created by the ancient Elders' magic and it is said to have been hidden here in Merneya."
"What does it look like?" Ash questioned, gold eyes roving the shell-cobbled roads.
"Is it pretty?" Solar asked.
"And big?" Cyanus added.
Seamist hesitated, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
"You don't know vat eet looks like," Celadon realized.
"No," the naiad admitted guardedly, "but there's a way to find things without normal sight."
"Veiled sighting," Griffin replied.
The Sea Band leader's eyes shot over to him. "You know it then. But can you do it? Very few Elder have learned the concentration to see an object's magic exactly without it blurring with the rest." Her voice had dropped its normal bite of skepticism. Her eyes now scrutinized him with hope.
"I can do it," Griffin confirmed. "The shell is the only thing you want, right? No other hidden prices?"
"Only the shell," Seamist agreed, her gaze almost desperate now.
Griffin veiled his eyes and began roaming the ruins, scanning the twinkling blue lights of naiad magic hidden within the shells. I need to find something big. Something that will convince her it's the shell. A new thought occurred to him. Or create an illusion...
The spriggan halted, pretending to have just caught sight of something like a wolf catching an important scent. Seamist noticed and visibly stiffened, eyes wide, waiting.
"That house," Griffin murmured. "That house made of shells that says 'Em nön~Merneya' on it. I think that's where it is."
"Follow me."
Seamist grabbed Griffin's wrist and took off at a fast-clipped pace, face dead-set in concentration. Griffin's heart shuddered inside his chest, beating frantically with the fear that she would discover the real shell. The two Elder reached the towering building and Seamist marched inside, hands still clasped tightly around Griffin's wrist.
"Search," she demanded, yanking him forward and releasing him.
Griffin glanced at the waiting naiad, beads of sweat trickling down his temple. I'm so dead if she finds out I'm trying to trick her.
Swallowing hard, Griffin scanned the musky rooms. A dull gleam pulsed from what must have been a bedroom at one point. It lacked brightness, but the amount of light surrounding it was big. Griffin entered the bedroom and pushed aside the splintered remains of the bed. The shell was buried--he could tell.
"Did you find it?" Seamist asked tensely, hovering just within the bedroom door's frame.
"Maybe."
Griffin sifted through the rubble, unearthing a large shell. It was a scallop shell, with a rounded, fan-like shape and wave-like ridges across its surface. The thing was just shy of the size of his hand and its colors were striped black, brown and tan like a tiger. Impressive, but the glow was what was important. Griffin studied the naiad magic inside the shell, frowning slightly in concentration. It certainly had quite a bit of magic in it, much more than many of the other shells in that room. But it wasn't incredibly bright, even after wiping off the rubble and sand. Griffin snuck a glance at the waiting naiad. He was going to have to find a way to convince her.
"This is it," Griffin announced, standing up.
Seamist carefully accepted the shell, turning it over in her hands as she inspected it. "How can you tell?"
"Can you use the veiled sight?"
Seamist nodded. "A little."
"Go ahead and veil your eyes."
Seamist's eyes went unfocused for a second as she concentrated on the task, then turned to glance at the spriggan. She blinked, momentarily surprised. "You're completely black!"
"Thanks."
Griffin lifted the shell from her hands and walked over to a corner of the room where a small mound of shells had accumulated. As he knelt next to the mound, Griffin discreetly sent a film of his magic overtop the tiny shells, effectively dimming their light.
"See these shells?"
Seamist nodded slowly. "Yes, but I can't make out the individual lights. It all blurs together."
"That's okay. Notice how bright they are?" Griffin placed the scallop shell next to the mound. "Now look at this."
Seamist gasped. "It's so bright! Even brighter! That's the--you found the--"
"Yup. It's the naiad heirloom, alright. If it's shining that brightly, it's gotta be it, right?"
The naiad snatched the shell from Griffin, holding it close to her chest. "Your debt is paid. You may go."
"Thank you." Griffin dipped his head, trying not to tremble as he walked past the naiad. Had she seen the glow from inside his cloak?
But the naiad didn't seem to notice. She was instead focused on the shell cradled in her hands, eyes fixated on her newfound prize.
YOU ARE READING
The Land of Green and Gold Part II: Silence
Fantasy*On hiatus until the rewrite for book 1 "Flight" is finished. Also note that chapters 1-19 are being rewritten and will actually form the final part of book 1* Long ago there were humans and a magical people called Elder. The humans despised the El...
