6.46 - Shadow
The Great Shards were more than just giant crystals that looked pretty. They were massive lodestones that worked to stabilize the world’s energy. Without them, the ascendants could do whatever they wanted to rewrite the rules of the system. Bend them, anyway. They soaked mortal energy, preventing the worst of the dungeons from happening, and acted as a regulatory system. With them gone came the thrones, which was the system’s way of putting things into balance.
Xol’sa left Theo with the books, not willing to risk his life anymore. To pull the shards back, they only needed a snare and a beacon. The snare would allow the shard to travel through the void, and the beacon would tell it where to go. That part was simple. The next step wasn’t. Each shard was coded to a region. They would need to figure out which shard went where before even attempting to bring them back.
Which meant Theo had to go to the creepy elf world again. He shivered just thinking about it. As he had memorized the contents of the books, he left them there and descended the stairs. Xol’sa and Zarali were once again going over their plans. He almost didn’t want to ask.
“After the wedding, I’ll need your help,” Theo said. “I’m guessing you can make what I need.”
“Only after you determine where to put the damned crystals,” Xol’sa said, crossing out a large section on a piece of parchment. Zarali gave him a scandalized look. “We don’t need music.”
“We most certainly do.”
“If you can find a single man, woman, child, or monster within the alliance that can hold a tune on anything, I’ll concede the point.”
“Fine.”
Theo slipped toward the stairs, ready to head out. The couple argued, and he snuck away without issue. Breathing a sigh of relief, he headed through the portal and back into Broken Tusk. He counted the things he still needed to do off. Get the shards to save the world or whatever, save Xol’sa’s people, upgrade some buildings, and fix his alchemy process. He had no desire to travel to the creepy world today, so turned his attention to his buildings instead. Something fluttered in his chest as he leaned against the monolith for support.