Stolen Scales

Chapter 30

Lyss' head whips toward Kyma. "When did you find this?"

Kyma gulps, feeling the force of Lyss' anger. "Yesterday, during the tour. It was buried in the sand. Will you please tell me why you are so angry, and fearful? I don't understand why this dagger is so important."

Lyss sighs, and glares at Alai. "Have you told her nothing?"

Alai's retort is scathing. "When would I have had the chance? Unless you think I should have discussed it with her in the middle of the city?"

Lyss lets out a burst of sharp laughter. "Tides, no. Fine, I concede. But we must tell her about it now."

Kyma pipes up. "Can you guys please not talk about me like I am not present? I'm right here, and I can hear your conversation just fine."

They both turn to her and speak in unison. "Sorry Kyma." Then they look at each other and fall into strained laughter at their synchronization.

Kyma sighs. "Can we please talk about this thing now?"

Alai nods. "Yes, sorry."

Alai and Lyss sit down across from Kyma, situating themselves in a way that makes the group a triangle. Lyss frowns down at the dagger in distaste and suppressed fear before raising her head to look at Kyma.

"May I?"

Kyma nods and passes the sheathed dagger over to her. Carefully, Lyss pulls the sheath off of the dagger to examine it, its mother of pearl handle gleaming even in the dim light. Suddenly, there is a sharp flash of light that bursts out of the dagger and towards the girl. As it hovers in front of Lyss' face, she winces and flinches back from the strange ball of light, her face drawn in pain. It turns away from Lyss and moves to Alai, who reacts the same way as Lyss did toward the light, but her reaction is stronger.

The orb's light grows darker, and Kyma gets the sense that it is angry. But how can light be angry? How is the light even able to act this way, forming itself into an orb? How did the dagger release this light? As the light orb nears Kyma, she shakes off the questions eddying and pooling in her head. The orb hovers just in front of Kyma's face, and she feels it probing her mind. Then surprisingly, the orb speaks inside her head.

"Who are you?"

Kyma internally frowns, not knowing how to respond. She gets a sudden moment of clarity and tries to say the words in her head, like she was thinking them to herself.

"My name is Kyma Tide. Who, or what, are you?"

The orb flares. "I ask the questions. You do not. Were you the one to find the dagger?"

"Yes."

"How?"

Kyma frowns. "It was buried in the sand, and I saw the glinting of it. So I went down and picked up the dagger, sheathed it, and also picked up something else." Kyma gets the feeling that the little bag she found is just as important as the dagger, if not more so.

"Was it a gray bag?"

Kyma hesitates. "Yes."

Kyma feels the orb retreat from her mind and the probing returns for another moment before it stops. Instead of turning away from her, like it had with the other girls, the orb moves forward, into her. She lets out a gasp as it enters her head, filling her with warmth, almost too much to bear. Pain flares at the orb melds itself into her head. At the same time the pain starts to retreat, she falls into darkness as she loses consciousness.

~~~

Kyma comes to at the sound of voices murmuring above her. She blinks blearily at the two figures above her, waiting for them to come into focus. Finally, the figures of Alai and Lyss appear above her, their voices worried. Kyma opens her mouth to speak, realizing that neither girl has realized that she has woken yet.

"What happened?"

The other two girls stop speaking in shock, before they both envelop Kyma into a hug. Alai pulls back first, her relieved grin still tinged with faint worry.

"The light from the dagger went into you, and it hasn't come back out. I don't know what it did to you."

Kyma shrugs through the tight hold Lyss still has on her. "I don't know either." She looks up at Lyss, who is still crushing her into a tight hug, leaving Kyma in an awkward half-lying, half-sitting position. "Lyss, you can let go now."

Instantaneously, Lyss releases Kyma's shoulders, prompting Kyma to fall backwards before she regained control of her body and sits up. With a shock of surprise, Kyma realizes that Lyss has tear tracks running down her cheeks. Kyma frowns and opens her mouth, about to question Lyss, but Lyss lets out a burst of words before she can.

"Kyma, you're alright!"

Kyma nods. "Yes, but why has this upset you so much? I can understand worry, a ball of light just entered my head and I passed out, but I don't think I was unconscious that long, was I?"

Lyss shakes her head, her braid swinging around her head as she does so. "You were only out for a minute, but . . ."

"What?"

Lyss sighs. "It's my job to protect you. You're my Princess. And I failed Kyma, I know I failed. Don't say otherwise, because that's the truth. I failed to protect you from this."

Kyma sighs. "It's really not your fault, Lyss. I don't think any of us were expecting a ball of light to jump out of the dagger."

Lyss frowns. "That's true, but after the light probed me for answers, I should have known that it would move on to you. And I didn't act, I just let it happen."

Kyma sighs in distress, knowing that Lyss won't let it go. "Lyss, stop dwelling on this, ok? What's done is done, and you can't change the past. Besides, you guys still need to tell me about why this dagger is so important and distressing to you."
________________________________________________________________________________
Who was expecting me to end the chapter when she fell unconscious? I honestly debated it, but I thought better of it, especially because that would have cut the chapter really short. What do you guys think the orb did? What's in the gray bag? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading, and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.