Terra, Caretaker of Earth and Rock
April 11th, 2006 by SalemChapter 35 - A large carriage moves to the shipping dock where Lady Slambrawn, the C’Tan and Stanza wait. The carriage pulls up in front of the three and the door is opened by Arian to let them inside. The carriage had plenty of room with the Mysterious Master, General Carcass and Captain Crellis. They all enter the large royal like carriage and sit just before Arian closes the door and sits next to the Mysterious Master. The carriage starts down the road again. “Your tasks have been completed in Lysts?” asked the Master. “We have done what you asked and all is ready, my master,” said Stanza. “We had a little trouble leaving the Lysts dock,” said Lady Slambrawn. “It is part of the plan for them to know you are here,” said the Master. What are we doing next?” asked the C’Tan. “The Twins and their Blade Masters should be with Terra by now. Terra will reveal a secret to them,” said the Master. “How do you know this?” asked Lady Slambrawn. “Our own Stanza has foreseen this, however his powers cannot see what the secret is. We do know where they will be after they have seen Terra and our spy will help us not only by telling us this secret, but also to gain an item we need in order for our plan to continue,” said the Master. “After they all have seen Terra, we can begin to kill them?” asked General Carcass. “Yes my good General. Just remember not to kill our spy, maybe hurt the spy to keep our ally out of suspicion but we still need the person for the last part of the plan,” said the Master, “But now the time has come for Stanza to tell us who our little spy is.” The group looked at Stanza as he looked up from what he was writing and said, “You will not believe the achievement I pulled off, our spy is!”
Salem looks down to watch the three male Blade Masters climb up the side of the mountain. The temperature has gotten cold at the top of the mountain and dark clouds were coming closer. Selene was resting on the ground with Vivien and Haiku playing with her HealthBlade. Christina was shivering from the cold wind. “Get Pawn to break out the coats,” said Christina. “Are you cold?” asked Salem. “Yes I am! It is cold up here, but you do not notice because you have Pawn’s warm furry body around your neck,” answered Christina. Jarody was already at the top with the girls and was shouting cuss words just to hear them echo. Emhril’s EarthBlade was digging into the rock at the top while Emhril was trying to keep up with the eternity chain as it slowly reeled him in. The tip of Zealot’s SabreBlade was also digging in as Zealot held on tight to the hilt as it also reeled him in. David is the only one using the climbing equipment to get to the top and had to find cracks in the rock to climb, “I wonder if this person we are going to see ever thinks why people don’t come by and visit very often.” “She likes her privacy and solitude!” yelled down Salem. Emhril was beginning to fall behind when Zealot and David began to race each other to the top. “Hay, lard ass!” yelled Jarody, “Get a move on it! A storm is coming and I want to get out of here before it begins to rain!” Zealot made it to the top first and pulled himself over the edge to lay flat on the ground, panting. David pulled himself over and laid on the ground also panting. Emhril was slowing down out of exhaustion, still about 20 feet away from the edge.
“Selene,” called Salem, “Emhril has run out of energy.” Selene gets up and looks over the edge. “Vivien, try what you can to help him up,” ordered Selene. “How about me?” asked Christina. “Your wings are made of metal. They cannot lift straight up, only if you were flying forward,” said Selene, “You cannot do that with the wall in the way.” Vivien flew down and grabbed Emhril by the arms. “I’m too tired,” said Emhril, “I can’t move anymore! Leave me.” Vivien begins to lift Emhril with great difficulty. Christina, Salem and Selene pull on the eternity chain still attached to Emhril’s wrist. David and Zealot tried to get up and help but they only fall flat on their backs feeling just how tired their bodies are. Jarody stands back to watch and be entertained by the struggle to get Emhril to the top. Haiku goes down to her father and tries to help Vivien pull her father up. A drop of water hits Emhril’s forehead causing him to open his eyes. Emhril was not sure what he was seeing. Shiori, his wife, was standing at the edge with a black cloud behind her. Another water drop hit his face. Is she crying? Why is she here? More water drops hit his face.
“It is beginning to rain!” yelled Christina as she and the twins pulled on Emhril’s eternity chain. The rain started to come down in buckets. Zealot and David felt strangely revitalized and jumped to help the girls. Pawn picked up his head and opened the ThievesBlade’s void to temporarily shield them from the rain. Jarody ran to take cover in a nearby cave. The group was able to pull Emhril up and over the edge. David and Zealot grab Emhril and the group ran into the cave following Jarody out of the rain. Pawn closed the void as soon as they were safely in the cave and out of the rain. The group rested at the mouth of the cave before continuing. Emhril felt bad about what had happened because of him, but Selene kept trying to assure him to make sure he was feeling alright.
The group rested in the cave. It had a slight slope inside keeping the water out from the heavy rain that seamed to last beyond all natural reason. Night had come and left but the sky outside was unchanged. It was just as dark in the morning as it was at the peak of night. The rain fell just as hard as ever. Fortunately for the Blade Masters that it was the cave they were going to venture down after the long climb anyway. Zealot kept his eye out to see if Fist was climbing up after them to continue the rematch. The small dwarf did not show with the storm as a good reason. The group had gathered their stuff and was heading up the slope deeper into the cave with Selene holding the LightBlade to show the way. Halfway in to the cave, the upward slope became a downward one but the cave itself did not make any turns left or right, it was the longest and straightest caves anyone had ever seen. The slope up then down was the only real turn it took. A light could be seen ahead but the sound of the storm from hell roared through the cave just as loud. “That couldn’t be sunlight, the storm’s still around us,” said Zealot. “That is not sunlight,” said Selene, “We are here.”
The group exits the cave to find themselves in the largest indoor space they have ever seen. Luminescent stones all over the walls lit the large cavern. The group was on a plateau that looked to be about fifty or sixty feet from the cavern’s main floor, and sixty or seventy feet more to the top of the cavern. “Is this where we are suppose to find your friend?” asked David. “Yes,” said Salem, “This is the home of Terra.” Suddenly, Vivien’s jaw dropped as Zealot, David, and Emhril’s gasped in surprise. “Did you say, Terra?!” asked Zealot. “Yes,” answered Salem. “The last living Caretaker, Terra?” asked David. “Yes,” answered Selene, “That Terra.” “Caretaker of earth and rock?!” gasped Emhril. “I think we have established that that is the individual we are here to see,” said Salem. Salem and Selene just stood in place as the rest of the group looked around. “Um, where! Where is she?” asked David. “Have patience, she knows we are here. “Who is Terra, daddy?” asked Haiku. Selene turned to the child and bent down on one knee so she could be at eye level to her. “Terra,” explained Selene, “is the last of the Caretakers of this world.” “The children of Gin?” asked Haiku. “Yes,” answered Selene, “In fact, Terra was the first and only Caretaker who was born on this world.” “That is why she outlived her brothers and sisters who came before her,” said Zealot, thinking out loud. “So she was the baby,” said Haiku. “Yes she was,” said Selene, “Her father only got to see her on the last day before he had to go to his Sun Temple to wait for all of us to join him.” “Her father even made a gift for her before he left,” said Salem.
Suddenly, there was an echo of what could only be described as rocks breaking. Selene stood up to stand next to her sister again as the other Blade Masters looked around for the source of the sound. A section of the rock wall seemed to be moving to them. It was shaking and moving in broken movements. The wall got closer and closer until it was evident that the wall was actually a large old woman made of rock, walking to them. “Ah, girls. So nice to see you again,” said a booming but elderly voice that came at them from all directions. “Hello Terra, we are glad to see you well,” said Selene. “And who do we have here?” asked Terra. “These are other Blade Masters we have chosen to help us in the journey,” said Selene. “Hey baby,” said Jarody. “I already know your little Reaper. You just can’t hide who you are, no matter what body you’re in,” said Terra. “And these young ladies are Christina and Vivien,” said Salem. “I have something for you later, Christina,” said Terra, “However, how unusual is this? A vampire Blade Master?” asked Terra. “Her Blade has made her immune to the usual effect the light of the suns have on her,” said Selene, “Then here is Emhril and his daughter Haiku. Zealot. And finally we have a member of the Koror Family, David Koror.” All David could think of was a large fist coming down on him as payment for his family being the ones responsible for her brother’s death. Terra just turned her attention back to the twins. “Each one of us represents one of the eight main elements that make up this world,” said Selene. “But I count nine of you,” said Terra. “We had to take Haiku with us. The HealthBlade had chosen her,” said Salem.
“How can I help you?” asked Terra, trying to bring the volume of her voice down for the comfort of her small house guests. “You know we are not here just for a visit,” said Salem. “My dear, since when would a person climb up a mountain just to visit?” said Terra. Terra was doing her best to keep her voice low but it was still booming as if she was speaking through a sound system much like Ed and Joe used. “You are correct,” said Selene, “We are here to ask for your help.” “You see, the KingBlade was taken from it’s place of rest,” said Salem. “There was only one clue left behind,” said Selene as Salem had Pawn retrieve the pebble from the ThievesBlade’s void. “Let me take a look at that,” said Terra as she reached out with an enormous hand. Salem placed the tiny pebble on Terra’s finger. Terra closed her hand and just held it in her fist. “I see. Well this is new,” said Terra. “What is it?” asked Salem. “This is not a pebble at all. This is a byproduct of a Blade,” said Terra. “A byproduct?” asked Selene. “I’m sure you’ve seen Blades that change the size of their masters,” said Terra. “Yes, we have,” said Salem. “Ever wonder what happens to the minerals of the body that cannot be reduced?” Salem and Selene look at each other. “Blades cannot make root minerals smaller so when shrinking it’s master, it makes the excess into a stone like this one,” said Terra. “So the one who took the KingBlade is a Blade Master?” asked Salem. “What happens when the Blade Master wants to return to his normal size but does not have this stone of minerals with him?” asked Selene. It is very easy for a Blade that can change their master to find root minerals in the surrounding environment,” said Terra. “So the KingBlade is a loss to us. Our only clue is nothing more then a dead end,” said Salem. “The ShepherdBlade,” said Terra. “Great, We will have to find Calera again,” said Selene, “Thank you for the help Terra.” “If there is anything we can help you with,” said Zealot. “Actually, there is,” said Terra. “Anything, Terra,” said Salem. “You will have to sit for this one. What I am about to ask of you will have a great impact on your future.