Chapter IV.XX (4.20) - Soul Trance

  “Hand me those tweezers.” Kizu held out a hand to the side, not taking his eyes off of a tiny splinter inside the preserved tongue of a giant astral toad. The wood should have soaked up the necessary fluids to be potent enough for the trial brew.

  Kizu felt something cold land in his hand. Not the cold metal of tweezers, instead the cold dampness of wet cloth. His eyes flicked over to Ione. Only Ione was no longer there. In her place was a short, green, humanoid turtle with a dish on its head. It smiled up at him, holding his hand.

  “Ione!” Kizu called out. He looked back to the tongue and silently cursed, trying to relocate the splinter. “If you want a cure, you need to help, not nap!”

  “All I’ve been doing for the last hour is handing you shit,” Ione complained from over to the side of the room where she lounged. “I summoned a kappa. It can help you just as easily as I can.”

  “It just handed me a moist sock.”

  “Fine, fine.”

  In his peripheral vision, Kizu saw the smiling kappa dissolve as Ione released her control on the summon. She handed him the tweezers a few seconds later.

  “I think I’m almost finished with this step,” Kizu said once he relocated and removed the splinter. “I’m going to test it on myself first.”

  “What? Why?” Ione’s voice instantly sharpened.

  “This isn’t a lethal step for my soul stowaway. It shouldn’t cause any soul damage. And if there are side effects, I trust mine to defend me better than Chiame would you.”

  “That’s a needless risk, though,” Ione argued. “If it does cause you damage–”

  “It won’t. I also have my bond with Mort as a secondary line of defense for my soul.” Kizu began shaking the vial. The liquid inside changed from turquoise into a light green.

  “Kizu…”

  “Trust me.” He was confident in his brewing capabilities. He knew what he was doing. “All this will do is make the soul entity stir, and hopefully provoke him into a chat.”

  Uncorking the vial, Kizu down the contents in a single swig.

  It tasted surprisingly pleasant. A bit minty.

  The world swirled around him and his knees gave way. His consciousness gone before he met the stone floor.

  —

  Kizu stood in a vast desert on top of a dune. Sand swelled and fell as far as the eye could see. A gust of wind rippled through the desert, making the wasteland come to life like the sea. He wore goggles over his eyes and a scarf wrapped around his head. His pants were baggy and every bit of him was covered by cloth.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “You’re certain this is the site?” a woman’s voice asked. It was a familiar sound. He swore he could recall it from somewhere else.

  He turned to look at her. Like him, she was completely covered, concealing her features under tan cloth.

  “Yes,” Kizu said confidently. Despite his confusion, he didn’t feel worried. Everything felt so…right. “I spent all day studying the trajectory. Based on the astrological signs, it definitely should be right here. Within maybe twenty meters.”

  “That’s a lot of ground to cover when everything is buried.” Despite her complaints, she waved a bejeweled hand and a stream of sand burst up and sprayed behind them.

  But as she worked, the sand continuously collapsed inward. It was a slog uncovering even the space right in front of them. Kizu hoped that whatever was buried, it wasn’t too deep. Even with his body covered, he still felt gritty from the sand in the air. He took a few steps away to reposition himself upwind of the excavation.

  Kizu was nervous. He was disobeying by being all the way out here in the desert. He should be back in town, sparring with his spear or standing watch. But…he’d seen the sight of its fall last night. And confirmed it this morning. If he didn’t act quickly, the desert would consume the lead. Or worse. The Shades might locate it. Then they might equal the Dragons in power.

  A quiet part of Kizu was lost in a confused fugue state, dimly trying to parse what his mind was currently thinking. But the Kizu of the moment paid that no heed. Instead he simply scanned the sand intently. Searching for something. He didn’t know exactly what it might be, but thought he’d know it when he spotted it.

  The sand parted before his companion. She heaved up, raising a massive layer of sand. And, amongst the millions of grains, was a rock the size of his head.

  Kizu dove forward, not wanting to lose sight of the chunk of stone. It slipped from the magically suspended sand. It landed on the desert dunes and began to sink as the sand concealed it once again. He plunged his hands in and grasped the stone. Then he yanked on it, tumbling backwards into the sand, his prize clutched to his chest as he lay, staring up at the blue sky above.

  “You found something?”

  In answer, Kizu lifted the rock over himself with a grunt. It was obsidian black with veins of silver running through it.

  The sand stopped churning around him, now only the top layer stirred by the breeze. He let the rock fall back to his chest.

  “A rock?”

  “A rock,” Kizu agreed.

  “We came all the way out here for a rock?”

  Kizu couldn’t help but laugh. It truly was absurd. But this was their best chance. Their greatest hope.

  “We just need to find the right blacksmith,” he said. “This rock might have the potential to turn the entire world upside down.”

  “Well, I suppose now we need to figure out how to get it home. Are you planning to lug it back with you?”

  “You have the great artifact of the sands,” Kizu said. “I was thinking you might be able to—”

  “No way,” she cut him off. “First of all, I already helped get you all the way out here on a moment’s notice. Second, this artifact takes a toll on my body. You’re asking me to bleed myself dry for your convenience. Some of us still need to work tomorrow. And third, my rings specialize in sand and that thing’s not even earth.”

  That…was true. Like every other threat to the Titans, it came from the heavens above. Not for the first time Kizu wondered what might have happened if humans had discovered the last known gift from above instead of the colossal lizards. Would they now be soaring in the skies above instead? It seemed unlikely, but perhaps.

  Kizu frowned and glared at the big rock still resting on his chest. It sounded like he and it were about to become extremely well acquainted in the next few hours.

  He sighed and sat up, heaving the fallen star under an arm. She couldn’t see it under his scarf, but he shot his companion a smile.

  “Well, nothing left to it. Let’s head home.”

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