Legend of Kataria (Draft Version)

Chapter 24

"So, if this is Shield Cove, where exactly are we going?" Greeny gasped, chasing after the girl, brutally aware that she wasn't even slowing down for him to keep up. He supposed her short supply of generosity had worn out the evening before. 

"It's not far," Pinky replied, walking ahead of him. "But, while we are waiting, why don't you explain your plan for rescuing the others once we get Kataria?"

"Um..." Greeny faltered. "I haven't actually...come up with a plan yet." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as Pinky snorted, not sounding exceptionally surprised.

"All right, well, we should probably work on that." Pinky gazed past him toward the sea. "How much of a plan have you come up with?"

Greeny paused to think. "Once we get Kataria, we'll contact Morto and pretend like we're going to make a trade. Then, we'll create a diversion, rescue Blue and Red, and get out of dodge as quickly as we can."

"So, you haven't thought this through at all, then," Pinky deadpanned, massaging her temples anxiously.

"Well, no," Greeny confessed. "But that's because I've been a little distracted with the whole stopping-an-evil-maniacal-king-from-destroying-the-universe thing. I was going to work on a plan. I just...hadn't gotten there yet."

"Okay," she sighed. "So let's just say your whacked-out and terrible plan is somehow successful and we set up the meeting with Morto. What then? Without a foolproof plan, we will be sitting ducks for whatever the king does. And you've seen what he is capable of. You know he'll have something up his sleeve."

"Yeah, I have. So, how do you think we should stop him?"

"The old-fashioned way," she replied. "We'll find the weapon and then make a decoy to trade with Morto while we hold on to the real Kataria for the resistance. Chances are if he doesn't know where it is, he also doesn't know what it looks like." Pinky paused and looked around. They'd come a long way from the dock and had curved back around the beach to a more reclusive shore. The last of the tourist's voices disappeared behind the cliff and died to the wind. "Okay," she added with no more context, coming to a stop in front of a large slab of rock and cliff, "this is the place."

"What?" Greeny looked around, confused. He didn't see anything immediately fate-altering. Just a lot of sand. Sand and rock. "Here?"

"Well, what were you expecting?" Pinky rolled her eyes. "A four-star resort? Maybe a fancy castle? The locket was hidden so no one would ever find it. It's not going to be sitting out in plain view for just any idiot to stumble upon. Now, come on. Keep up. I don't like being out here in the open." 

"Is there something specific you are looking for?" the Telek inquired, watching as she ran a hand along a jagged piece of stone. Seaspray dashed the cliffs just to their left and Greeny shivered, stuffing his hands into his pockets and hurrying up to stand beside her.

"Tapushian is a hard language to translate," Pinky replied, moving down the wall without so much as a glance his way. "And there are many meanings to what a saying may actually contain. However, there is one thing that positively differentiates it from Griffionese--and that is the use of symbols. Symbols like these."

When she moved aside, Greeny could see what she'd been gesturing to; a series of markings carved into the stone. They were strange, to say the least, looking more like sticks and tallies than writing. Greeny squinted, but he couldn't make hide or tail of what they might mean.