Captain Kroy stopped shyning onto the scroll and placed it back into the sack in the corner. He bent over, this time digging much deeper into the sack, rummaging around blindly through its contents. He pulled a folded white robe from the sack and as he unfolded it my mouth dropped open. He was holding an Akylyte battle robe! I'd never imagined that I would see one in person.
"Don't worry, Kya has already given us everything we need to take on the Dravons," Captain Kroy said. His back was to me as he discarded the robe he'd been wearing. He turned around and looked at me. "We'll make quick work of them." He whipped the robe around him, fluidly slipping both of his arms into it. He grabbed the bright yellow belt around his waist and began tying the robe closed. Before he tied it, I caught a quick glimpse of all the Mark on his chest. It was the same as the other Marks that were scattered randomly across his robe; The Mark of the Akylyte.
He cleared his throat. "Enjoying the view?"
"Yeah. Wait!" I exclaimed as I realized that I had just basically watched him get undressed. "No! I mean, it's not every day you get to see an Akylyte's battle robe, you know? Just trying to take it all in."
"Right. Well, enough with the creepy stare. Don't you have somewhere more important to be."
Sage Syn is dead, the Dravons are possibly on their way to attack, and I'm pretty much our only chance at being ready for it. Of course I had somewhere more important to be. I just didn't know where that was, not that I wanted to tell Captain Kroy that. My first impression was already going pretty horrible; I didn't need him thinking I was incompetent on top of a voyeur.
"Yeah, you're right. May Kya's light be with you." I said as I walked towards the door, still unsure of just where I was headed. Just before I stepped out the room, I turned around and asked the question I'd been dreading.
"So, ummm, Captain Kroy, where exactly is this more important place that I need to be?"
"The Council, of course. They usually like to know when big things happen--and I think I'd classify a swarm of vamped up Dravons en route to the conservatory as 'big', wouldn't you? You already told me, so now you just have to inform Teros and Atria. Knowing Teros he's probably still at the Conservatory lounging around from this morning's illumination. Atria will be a little harder. She's probably at The Soaring Bluff meeting her new Nymbus recruits. I don't have to draw you a map, do I?"
Right. The Council! Of course, I can't believe I hadn't thought of that myself. Situations like this were practically the whole reason they group had been formed.
I shook my head, "No, I can find my way," and just before I walked out the room, Captain Kroy called after me.
"Leks!" I turned around and he was already behind me. "I know you're knew to this Sage stuff and everything, and I know it's a lot to take on. But you've gotta start thinking for yourself. Actually, you have to start thinking for all the Byx, and if they see you're not even able to handle something as simple as informing The Council of an impending attack, they're not going to trust you as a leader. So, you have to get it together, and unfortunately, you don't get the luxury of time. Oh, and stop calling me Captain Kroy. You're the Sage now, it's just Kroy to you." When he was done, he turned around and walked back down the path. I walked the opposite way, out of the mouth of Mt. Akylyte and into the safe embrace of level ground.
By the time I reached the path leading up to the Conservatory I felt pounds lighter. My lungs were burning, I had shed my robe and left it somewhere in the forest--it wasn't like I'd need it anymore. The entire time my body was running on its own accord, my mind consumed with the words Kroy had said to me. They'd angered me at first; it wasn't fair to expect me to get all this Sage stuff right on the first try. But as I ran, I began to understand. There was no room for failure or mistakes. I was either going to save my people or lead them to their destruction. There was no 'almost' getting it right with this.
I walked into the circular room of the Conservatory. It was back to normal, full of hundreds of flowers, vines, and shrubs, and almost completely devoid of Byx, save the few Shymn here and there. I walked up to one of them, she was carrying a small basket filled with various different types of flora and seemed very focused on the mysterious multicolored flower she was examining.
"Excuse me, could you tell me where to find Teros?"
"Yeah, he's over there, lying between the Lyasters and the patch of Nymfors." She smiled and pointed me into the direction, which I was thankful for. I hadn't paid much attention to the names of flowers during Watering Duty. I'd just given them all water evenly, a habit which Venhj often chided me about. Something about over-watering, but I mean they're flowers, they can never have too much water.
I found Teros lying on his side, his long dreads folded on themselves serving as a make shift pillow. On one side of him were large-stemmed budding yellow flowers that I guessed were the Lyasters, and on the other side was a perfectly square patch of fluffy white cloud-like flowers that I recognized as Nymfors. All the flowers in both groups curiously seemed to bend towards Teros, as if they were automatically drawn to him. It must have been a Shymn thing.
"Teros?" I asked, and received no reply. I repeated myself a little louder, but he was still sound asleep. I walked closer to him, bent down, and pushed his arm in an attempt to jostle him awake.
Two Lyasters shot out from behind me, wrapping their long stems tightly around my wrist and pulling it back, away from Teros.
"Wha?" I'd seen Shymns control flowers before, even use them as weapons, but never while they were sleep--it took concentration.
Teros sat up slowly, rubbed his eyes, and stretched out like a cat. When he saw me, the flowers instantly released their grip, and snapped back into an upright position. They weren't even leaning towards him anymore.
"Ah, Sage. I was wondering when you'd finally make it. Sorry about that, they get overprotective when I'm sleeping. I've tried to talk to them about it, but you know how stubborn Lyasters can be." He stood up, corralled his dreads and used one of them as a band to keep the rest in place.
I chuckled lightly. "Actually, I can't say I do. I've never really talked to them."
"So, Leks, are you here to tell me about Syn? Or the Dravons?" He said matter-of-factly.
My eyes widened. "How do you know about the Dravons? I've only told Kroy about them." Just what was with this guy?
"A few Vatisa trees saw them heading this way earlier and passed the word on. Nothing stays a secret in the forest, they all gossip. You should hear about the cross pollination between--"
"Wait," I interrupted, "you've known about the Dravons, so you already warned the rest of The Council?"
"Nope." He smiled. "I've been sleeping."
Okay, really, what was with this guy?
"Don't you think sleep is secondary to getting people prepared!? We're about to be attacked!" I exclaimed. Why was he acting like this was something that didn't matter at all?
"Yes. But, I was sleepy. Besides, I was waiting on you. You got here in good time, by the way, good job." He patted me on my shoulder and smiled again. I was beginning to hate this guy and his carefree attitude. There didn't seem to be any reason to dwell on the subject, so I thought I'd change it. Plus, I still had questions for him.
"How'd you know about Sage Syn?"
"You know, Leks, for someone who wants to get the word out so urgently, you're asking quite a few unimportant questions. Don't you think we should get a move on? Not everyone has the connections I do, ya know?"
He had a point. Wait--did he say 'we'? "You're coming with me?"
"Of course, I am your assistant now, after all. Since Syn has rejoined Kya." He paused for a second, then continued. "So, shall we go?"
I shook my head and we walked out the Conservatory and back on the path, this time heading for The Soaring Bluff. As we walked we talked about what him being my assistant meant. Basically, he was there to be like a guide, and personal adviser for me. I still wasn't too sure of his sanity, but sane or not, I was happy that I would have someone to actually answer my questions.
I looked up and through the canopies of the trees I could see the Conticurl. It was almost black and it was beginning to swirl faster.
"We don't have much time. It's about to be dark, are we almost there?"
"We still have a ways to go. It doesn't look like we're going to make it before it gets dark, let's just hope they're not too prompt."