25. II:9: Electric Power Building (1/2)

act ii: adolescencechapter 9: electric power buildingparty: ryu, nina, trinil

ryu looked up as nina exited the tent. the fire flared suddenly beneath his feet, making him flinch as nina called out to him. "ryu! he's awake!" he smiled, trying to pretend that he hadn't twitched at all and hoping that nina hadn't noticed. she didn't act like it, as she got to him and grabbed his hand in her excitement. "now you can ask him where the lightning temple is!"

ryu nodded. the woren race were the ascents born from donara, who ruled over the element of lightning. if there was anybody in the forest that could tell him where the temple was, the guy in the tent was it. that did assume that he helped them out, but ryu figured that since the woren had fought them once and lost, he could be convinced to help out, even if that help was just to point in the right direction.

nina sat herself by the fire, warming her hands. the air inside the forest at (what they figured was) night was much colder than the air on the plains. ryu continued to check the surroundings for monsters that could surprise them, and after only one circuit of the camp, the woren came out of the tent. he was obviously confused, but nina was indicating for him to join her at the fire. he hesitated a moment, but then proceeded to sit down. ryu joined them, and there was general shifting so that they were all facing the other two.

"uh, ryu, was it?"

ryu nodded. "yeah, that's me."

"i'm trinil," the woren said by way of introduction, before ducking his head,

inging him to the same level as the teens. "i'm sorry for… uh… earlier. i… don't have much control when ascended…" he trailed off, blushing lightly.

both nina and ryu were obviously rather disturbed by this revelation. "that's weird," nina said, "i didn't think there were any ascents that couldn't control their forms."

"i didn't either," ryu said. "i guess we were misinformed, eh, trinil?"

trinil didn't respond verbally, his face instead fading more and more away from yellow and closer to red.

"ah…" ryu tried searching for something to say, but didn't come up with anything that worked. the silence stretched well into awkward territory.

"perhaps you would like us to talk about something else, trinil?" nina asked kindly. she was rewarded with just the barest of nods, but it was enough that both nina and ryu felt like some of the awkwardness had been siphoned out. "what are you doing in this forest?"

trinil looked up at nina, obviously embarrassed about this question as well, but not as embarrassed, which seemed to be enough to allow him to answer. "i'm headed to the lightning tower. i… i am late for my test, but i heard that there was a dragon on pilgrimage, so i might be able to complete my test when the dragon gets there, and i… and…" he trailed off, noticing that his two hosts were laughing and desperately trying not to. "…what?"

ryu managed to recover first. "i'm the dragon. i guess that means we're headed to the same place."

trinil blinked, then laughed himself, though his smile didn't reach his eyes. "i guess so! something went right, then. go figure."

"do you know where it is?" nina asked.

"yeah," trinil replied. "once i'm able to figure out where we are, i should be able to lead the way there."

"alright," ryu said, nodding. "you get on that, but we'll be resting here for… a night, or at least as close to it as we can determine. you should rest too."

trinil nodded. "alright." he got up. "sleep first, locate later." he walked into the tent.

nina turned to ryu. "well, that seemed to work out pretty well."

ryu nodded. "i'm still worried about his transformation. especially if he can't control himself when he's in it. i mean, if the test is anything like i think it will be, he might be a liability rather than a help."

nina frowned. "not that i know any details." she got up herself. "wake me up for second watch." she also headed inside the tent.

nothing happened on any of the watches, and eventually all three felt relatively rested and decided to

eak camp. afterward, it only took trinil fifteen minutes or so to determine where in the forest they were to his satisfaction and confidently chose a direction in which they should head. unfortunately, the trip through the forest turned out to be much more eventful than the "night" before had. the combination of movement and the magical light that ryu was using to make sure they could see seemed to be attracting the more unsavory denizens of the forest.

trinil turned out to be rather useful in combat situations, using a staff to great effect. his focus was more on speed than anything else, having a somewhat limited spell selection. only the basic lightning spell was available to him, though thankfully jolt had a rather large area of effect. trinil's speed specialty was generally enough for him, however, being able to dodge and weave through as many as five or six packed enemies rather easily.

worens were like wyndians in that neither could pass themselves off as a human at all. trinil was no exception, having yellow fur covering most of his skin. not to mention a rounded furry tail. his coloring and patterns of fur matched that of the wildcat that he could transform into. ryu figured that he wouldn't even be able to hide with a hooded large cloak. even his face was too obviously not human. all the better that they hadn't met up with him in tantar. that might have been just too hard.

the three managed to deal with the enemies that the forest was throwing at them with little difficulty. the only real trouble that came was in the form of zombies, which apparently never bothered those who remained on the path. ryu's spells were especially effective against the undead, making him the best at dealing with them. they seemed to have little in the way of other weaknesses, much to nina and trinil's frustration. ryu also didn't want to always be using his spells, as he needed to make sure he was never out of power when he desperately needed it.

it took them something in the realm of a half of a day to reach the tower, though this was a guess based on the sunlight that they could finally see when they emerged in a large clearing where the tower stood centered. it was the first and only

eak in the canopy they had seen since entering the forest, and nina in particular reveled in the sunlight. the monsters that dwelled in the forest refused to enter the clearing, apparently afraid of the sunlight. noticing this, ryu suggested that they rest for a while before entering the tower. this was deemed a good idea by both of his companions.

that evening, ryu, nina and trinil entered the lightning tower.

the light within was an eerie yellow that contrasted with the golden color of the sunset that nina closed the door on. there was a lot of metal, and were a lot of wires. trinil led them in, having been there before, but didn't solve any puzzles. "i've already been through the tower puzzles, after all," he remarked when nina asked him why he wouldn't help solve the puzzles. "ryu needs to do it now in order to earn the right to enter the lightning shrine." ryu took the lead after that.

none of the puzzles were particularly hard, though they did take some time to complete and were required in order to get to the staircase that led to the floor above. the enemies were slightly more of a nuisance, though trinil could shrug off a hit from any of the lightning spells that they were throwing at the party. neither ryu nor nina's spells were especially effective, so most of the time all three resorted to their armaments to dispatch the electric bugs, floating spheres and other assorted strange creatures.

there were ten floors to the tower, each one containing its own puzzle. the tenth floor didn't contain a puzzle so much as a blockade. there were no obvious signs of a blocking of the path. the floor was a single featureless room. the unnatural yellow color of the walls was the only light despite the windows that were on this floor, as night had fallen. however, that light was plenty to see the door that was situated across the room from the staircase down to the ninth floor. it was obviously the same kind of door that led from the fire temple to the fire shrine: it looked just as out of place in the tower as it had in the volcano. the only difference was the symbol was not a flame, but a lightning bolt coming from a cloud.

ryu made to cross the room to the door, but trinil called out suddenly. "stop!" ryu obeyed. "i… i feel a presence," trinil continued, cautiously passing ryu. "a presence of a powerful lightning creature." nina stepped off of the top stair; instantly, the staircase was blocked off by metal sheeting that was glowing with the trademark yellow. the clamping shut of the opening to the floor below echoed in the chamber. "i feel it stronger now," trinil said softly.

ryu and nina were warily searching for signs of the creature. nina spoke softly: "just like the salamander in the fire temple, ryu. what's the lightning equivalent?"

as if on cue, the center of the room was suddenly alive in crackling electricity, revealing a bird with the wing span of ryu's shoulder to fingertips. it was a similar yellow to the chamber's glow, but not similar enough that it was impossible to see against such a background. trinil was using the appearance of the threads of lightning to recharge his power, though how he would use it against such a creature, ryu was unsure.

"i'll be of little use here," trinil said, confirming ryu's thought. "i'll act as support. only your magics can damage an animikii!" the bird had at this point collected its lightning threads into itself and called out a challenge to the party. ryu and nina readied their weapons, while trinil prepared to try to take as many strikes as he could. he also had a trick up his sleeve. "speed!" he cast the spell three times, allowing the party to move fast enough to meet the incredibly quick attacks of their foe.