A Stumble

Garrett said nothing as he walked towards the room with the tiles. Iadre said nothing as well, though she was beginning to come to her senses about what was happening. Blood dripped from his sword as he walked, echoing in the dark cavern. Eventually, the two of them reached the room with the sun and moon mosaics. Garrett placed Iadre's cage on the ground, then sat down next to her. He looked at his sword, then tossed it aside. He clutched his hand against the tightness in his chest and clenched his teeth. His breathing became more labored and his throat tensed. Tears welled up in his eyes until, finally, everything boiled out.

With all his strength, Garrett screamed and cried out. He wasn't shouting anything specific. Just a pure release of tension and grief. Tears hit the ground as they ran down his cheeks. The tightness in his chest only continued to eat at him as he shouted more and more. At this point, he didn't care if any of the armored men heard him. He didn't care that Iadre was sitting mere feet from him. He just wanted the pain of the weight of everything he had been carrying to stop. He kept shouting until his throat went hoarse and he collapsed over in exhaustion.

"There wasn't any other choice." He stared over at Iadre, still in her cage. Her face was a mixture of sadness and terror. She was clutching her marble closely like a child would with a blanket. "Those men were far worse than any other monster. Monsters, in fear, act on instinct. Those men, in fear? They act upon rationalization." She looked over to Garrett, tears down her face as well. Her voice was breaking at the seams. "It's sad, yes, that they were doing this. It is a tragedy that they left no other choice." Her lips quivered as she talked and her eyes were red from losing the fight against her tears. "I understand how you feel right now. But you are no monster. You saved me. You are a hero to me."

Slowly, Garrett took deeper breaths. After a few moments, he stood up and looked at himself in his shield. He wiped away his tears and turned to Iadre. "Thank you." He bent down and looked at the lock that was holding Iadre in her cage. It was small and easily breakable. Garrett stood back up and got his sword. He bit his lips as he watched the blood drip from it before mustering himself. "Get back." With a nod, Iadre moved as far back from the lock as she could. With a mighty swing, Garrett brought his sword down, breaking the lock and opening the cage.

It took a few moments for Iadre to take steps towards the opening as if she was questioning if this was all a trick. Then, Iadre flew out, spreading her wings with joyous glee that replaced the mournful sorrow. Her purple glow was back to the brightness it was before as she flew around the room before coming to rest in front of Garrett's face. She gave him a curtsey and a smile. "Thank you for freeing me. Tell me, what is your name?"

"Garrett Bates," he said, still feeling that warmth as when he first saved her.

"Thank you, Hero Garrett," she said as she came to rest on the ground. She twiddled with her fingers a little, looking at the cage, and then up to Garrett. Her joy from before was slowly replaced with confusion and conflict. "Why did you choose to save me?"

Garrett half-expected this question, but was still caught off-guard by it. He couldn't quite tell her the truth. Even if she worshipped an ancient cosmic being called a World Feaster, telling her about the reincarnations and Otris would be too outlandish. So, he opted to lean into the heroic angle. "Well, it's because you looked like you needed someone to save you."

With a chuckle, Iadre's confusion and conflict were dashed away. "Well, I am pleased to meet such a wonderful hero." She fluttered up in front of his face. "May I accompany you then, as payment for saving my life? I am quite the chef and I am useful in battles."

"Well, what kind of hero would I be if I left you alone?" Garrett said, causing Iadre to smile widely.

"Thank you so much! I am Iadre, a pixie of the Felsins Clan." She bowed again.

Garrett chuckled, trying his best to feign ignorance. "A pleasure to meet you, Iadre. So, you're a pixie?"

"Yep, that's right," Iadre said, fluttering and showing off her wings to Garrett.

"Then can you help me read this?" Garrett brought her over to the cold metal door and pointed to the Faen writing.

Iadre flew over and quickly shivered. "Why is this door so cold?" She took a look at the writing. "Okay, so, it says 'Key to Warmth.' Seems a little ironic, isn't it?"

"A key?" Garrett said, looking over at the warm stone door. "Well, that door is the warm one, but I didn't see any kind of keyhole or anything of the sort to open it."

Iadre flew over to the warm door, giving it a nice hug to warm up. "So, this one is written in Dracon. I don't know what it says. But there's definitely no keyhole. Maybe it's a magical key? Like, you put it against the door and it'll magically open?"

"Perhaps. What do you think the sun and moon have to do with this?" Garrett asked, still avoiding walking over any of the tiles.

"No idea," Iadre said, still enjoying the warmth of the door. "So, Hero Garrett, what do you wish to do? I mean, there's still the rest of this pathway. Maybe there's something there?"

Garrett turned his attention to the metal door. "I already know what's down there. Sadly, nothing that would help us figure this out. I think we both know what we'll have to do."

"Ugh, you can't be serious? Look at us," Iadre said, gesturing to their outfits. "Neither of us are prepared for something that cold."

"We're going to have to try." Garrett walked over to the metal door. He pulled out the coin pouch from his bag and stuck his hand into it. "Alright, I'm going to open the door. Be prepared." Iadre nodded and fluttered onto Garrett's shoulder. Using the coin pouch as a makeshift mitten, Garrett opened up the metal door. The door flung open and a rush of frigid air spewed forth, causing them both to shiver.

Slowly, they peered inside.