Reaver Chronicles - Overtribe

Overtribe - Ch03

Cynther? Now, where did she go off to? Aw, dross, she stung me, didn't she? Whatever, I'll just pick back up from where I last remember. Hopefully, there aren't any inconsistencies.

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I opened my eyes. At least I think I did. It was pitch black in the room, or wherever I was. I flicked my tongue out for a quick scan and could smell Cynther's familiar scent laying next to me. I arched my back in a long stretch. My spine popped, and my claws scraped against the stone floor.

I groaned, my tail ached and throbbed. I must have slept on it wrong.

Cynther grumbled. "You slept all day..."

"Whose fault is that?" I chuckled. "Thanks for the best sleep I've had in moons, by the way."

"Just fix the lights." She yawned, her teeth clacking together loudly at the end.

I stood up and fumbled to one side of the cave, slowly, feeling my way towards a square trunk. It creaked as I opened the lid. I fumbled around inside gently so as not to break any of my crystals or experimental gear until the back of my claw brushed a specially leaf-wrapped crystal. The dried leaves served their purpose by crinkling in response and confirming I'd found my mark.

I pulled the loadstone out and rubbed my claw around it, the leaves disintegrating and flaking to the floor. I ran a strand of mild raw mana into the stone to confirm it was charged. It glowed a faint red hue, a side effect of being charged with fire elemental energy. I used the light to find a pentagram drawn in white bone ink on the wall. I reached up to remove a dark stone sitting within the hole at the center of the pentagram and replaced it with my spare loadstone.

The magic within the stone flashed outwards through the star and the circle's edges. In response a stalactite on the ceiling of our cozy cave flared to life, flooding the room with enough bluish-green light that our night vision could function easily.

"You know, you should grow up and solve your own problems." I teased her with a smirk in the dim light. "I won't be around forever to take care of you."

She hissed at me. "It's impossible for me to touch those things, you know that!" She ended in a humiliated grumble. "Today was miserable. I lost so many points because you were too busy napping to keep my power in check..."

"Not like I had any choice you poisonous prick." I glared at her.

She deadpanned back. "That was an awful joke."

"I know."

"You should be ashamed."

"I am, but, still, you started this." I sauntered over to a wooden table at one end of the room. Six clear scalenohedron crystals sat on it. "I need to get to work. We have evaluations in seven moons."

"Not yet, you have some chores to do." She looked almost relieved, even taking a deep breath and exhaling. "While you were so blissfully napping, I may have lost control of my powers... a little."

"Yeah, and you didn't see that coming?" I milled my claw through the air prompting her to continue.

Suddenly, Cynther let out an odd squeak.

I turned to see her staring at my tail. A look of shock was clearly painted all over her face.

"What's wrong?" I looked back. My tail looked fine to me.

"Nothing!" Her head snapped back and forth between my tail and my eyes frantically. "I just noticed your tail, why would anything be wrong? Is there something wrong with admiring a tail? I mean it's a very nice tail. Nothing wrong with that..."