Cleansing Pools

Two Guards followed, their tails wrapped around their waist like belts. A fascinating observation, Errit wondered if there would have been a panic and blame cast upon him if the flower had died instead of rooting.

Passing many strange auras in the forest, the guards shook their spears occasionally, startled.

"Is this place dangerous?" He was curious and so he decided to ask.

The Elder didn't want to give false perceptions and told him outright. "Very."

Silently they walked through the passageways and entered a large cavern. More strange lights.

"Over there" Whispering, the Elder crept along the edge of the room. "Hurry" the Elder waved furiously. A pocket of disturbed mud near the edge of the pool inside of the room marked where the Moonflower had once lain.

'I should probably plant this already, these guys seem nervous' Errit pulled the basket from his shoulders and lifted the Moonflower into the pool of muddied water. A reaction was instant, like starting a heart. The pool pulsed and illuminated.

"We make our own faith, but these caverns belong to the Creator, the Goddess of the Waters. We bring our sick here in times of need. The Moonflower is its source of power and longevity, our Village has guarded it for over 600 years. This secret you must keep. Saving it proves your worth to see its resting place, I pray to the Goddess that you keep this pact. You may wear our mask, but we all know you are new." His suspicious nature wasn't a fault, Errit saw the rationality in his words.

"So what do the waters do exactly?" Poking around the mud, he found a small box. "What's this?" It happened so fast, he opened the box. "What is it?" The question was on all of their lips. "Such a strong aura." Picking it out of the box, he held it up into the sky, placing the moon behind it for light. A crystal, a translucent green one with flecks of gold. It was a bit raw in its form, but it gave off a compelling aura. He felt the urge.. the urge to swallow it. The quail egg sized crystal felt just as alive as the Moonflower.

The Elder saw the stone in his hand, "Another rock. Its just a rock, thousands of them litter these caves." He took his walking stick and batted at the wall, a layer of mud fell away exposing a vein. Stones of every color covered the wall, but none matched the luster of the quail egg sized marble in his hands.

Waving his hand to decide which of the crystals he would like, some of them started to disappear. He watched the action closely each time it happened. He had been thinking about taking it, and each time it was gone. Then, he looked at the ring on his finger. A lingering bit of aura could be felt from inside the tiny band.

"??" Focusing only on the ring, a separate sense altogether came over him. He could feel an abundance of the crystals, and a number of other things. He reached out in his mind and grasped at one of them. A Sword appeared. It was broken, chipped in many places. Its hilt and scabbard stained with blood. It looked like a Murder Weapon the blood was still wet. "How did this.. where." Words were not enough to express his confusion and interest.

He sunk his concentration and focus into the ring again and started taking things out quickly. Some of them fell into the mud. The elder's patience was infinite, so long as harm wouldn't befall the Moonflower or its pool. Armor, bits of meat, seeds, daggers, three spears, a book, several scrolls and a lot of gold or shiny trinkets. Among the scrolls, he found writing he couldn't identify. The spears had fallen into the pond, the water changed its temperature around them, one was cold, one was hot and the other sank like a rock. Everything except for the Seeds had fallen into the water, its pulsing didn't alter but the glow around each of the objects increased, powering in the moonlit pool.

'Such a change' Studying everything he had come across, Errit had become interested in many things very quickly. One thing he was interested in was gaining strength, any change was interesting to him. He had an idea.

The Wall, covered in gems was struck by the hardened spear. Crystals fell, some the size of arms and legs. The digging commenced, half an hour later he had taken a sizeable chunk of the wall down, digging into the hillside, exposing more of the vein and lodestone. He sorted the crystals by color on the floor, looking for anything that looked like the small one in his pocket.

"None of them match." he turned, started digging on an opposite wall. Probing around, he looked for any similarities. The Auras in the room became a mixture of colors that swirled as he dug, the Mask marking them clearly for him to see. A wisp, anything close, he searched.

Threads of black, threads of white, bands of blue, bands of yellow, purple, red, orange, brown and green. Colors surrounded the walls like a palette.

"Beautiful." Errit was slightly stunned. He collected all the crystals into the ring then walked up to the pool and dumped them in.

The Glow increased. Brighter, bolder and vivid light consumed the cave for an instant, even as it dimmed it remained brighter than before. Revitalized.

"The Goddess." The Elder knelt in prayer at the pool, his eyes trained on the light as it blinked.

"Elder, I will continue." There was a feeling he couldn't shake. He started throwing every crystal he could find into the pool.

"What are you doing?" The Elder saw his actions, the glow of the Pond increased each time. He held his tongue and watched.

'Finally, he's come around.' Errit searched and grabbed one of each crystal color. He tossed them in and watched closely measuring the increase and peak of the glow, its timing and even paying close attention to the swirl of the auras. One by one, he threw them in.

There were some differences in the black and white veins, mostly with the aura, but the others all seemed to intermingle and intermix well. The objects in the pool glowed stronger, in unison. Errit had seen enough to verify his thoughts and placed the Marble from the box into the water next to the Moonflower.

A blinding light consumed the cave. A figure came into Errit's mind.

"Well done. Take the stone within, consume its power." the light faded, drawing closer to what it had been before he placed the marble down.

'So now what?' Errit didn't know what had happening, but he dug out the Marble and then a few more chunks from the wall and picked up the crystals in the Moonflower pool. "I will leave it as it was, but I believe that Elder should remember for me, what has happened on this day. When next you heal, place a crystal into the waters."

Tossing the Marble in his hands, he didn't have much reason to think it over. He tossed it into his mouth and swallowed it whole.