Adventure of Runty 2

The company has barely entered the ravine when ancient marks along both walls flicker, one after another, and go dark. Runty still cradles one luminous egg; Vaelith bears the other three within their living cradle, while Mara and Oren keep close and the wardens remain behind in the mountain.

The egg in Runty’s arms suddenly turns cold, its emerald glow shrinking beneath his hands. Vaelith stops, her tail drawing protectively around the cradle as the ravine’s silence deepens.

Mara turns toward the darkened marks, searching the stone for a pattern. Oren moves to the ravine’s mouth, watching the western slope while keeping his weapon sheathed.

Another ancient mark gutters out farther down the ravine. Vaelith’s three eggs pulse unevenly, answering the cold egg in Runty’s arms, and every face turns toward the narrowing passage.

Runty lowers his gaze to the ravine floor, then traces the darkened marks upward across both walls. Fine black motes drift from a high cleft overhead.

Reads Wards reveals the motes are not ash but fragments of failing magic, pulled along an invisible current toward a buried seam beneath the narrowing passage. Oath-Bound makes him check every line twice, wary that any conclusion might endanger the eggs.

The repeated pattern resolves: the drain begins in the high cleft, travels through the ravine walls, and descends into the stone below. The falling fragments mark its path.

His prolonged examination costs precious time. Another wall-mark fades while he studies the final junction, but the cold egg’s dim light does not vanish.

Runty climbs beneath the high cleft and studies its edges without touching the stone. Oath-Bound slows him, forcing each possible danger to be tested before his hands proceed.

Reads Wards sharpens the fading traces into visible currents. The black motes enter through a hairline crown-shaped fissure, where an unseen enchantment draws the covenant’s light from the ravine.

Runty follows the current with his eyes and finds its true source: a small stone seal lodged inside the cleft, marked with a deliberate inward-pointing rune rather than natural damage.

The seal is not merely failing. It is being used as a siphon, pulling light upward from the eggs and sending it through a buried channel toward the mountain’s outer slope.

Runty studies the siphon seal from every angle without touching it. Oath-Bound slows his inspection, demanding that he test each possible reading against the promise to preserve the eggs and covenant.

Reads Wards reveals the enchantment beneath the carved lines: the inward-pointing rune is the siphon’s intake, while a nearly hidden crescent mark curves outward along its lower edge.

The two signs resolve together. The crescent is the closing rune, designed to reverse the current and return the stolen light to the ravine without breaking the seal or disturbing the eggs.

Vaelith’s tail tightens around the living cradle, shielding the three eggs. Mara watches the cleft in silence, while Oren keeps his attention on the ravine’s heights.

Oath-Bound weighs Runty’s request against his promise to protect every heir, making him state the danger plainly rather than command. Reads Wards confirms that Vaelith’s living cradle can safely brace the returning current.

Vaelith coils fully around the three eggs, her scaled arms crossing above the root cradle. Green radiance gathers along her body, forming a quiet ward between the heirs and the cleft.

The three eggs’ uneven pulses settle behind Vaelith’s shield. The crescent rune brightens beneath Runty’s waiting hand, its outward curve now clear and safe to trace.

Runty traces the crescent rune with one careful finger. Reads Wards guides the motion along the returning current, while Oath-Bound forces him to pause at each curve and verify that no part of the eggs’ protection is disturbed.

The rune seals beneath his touch. Emerald light rushes down the cleft, reverses through the siphon, and pours back into the ravine walls without striking Vaelith’s ward or the living cradle.

The cold egg brightens against Runty’s arms, its warmth returning steadily. Across the ravine, every darkened mark reignites in sequence, restoring the covenant’s failing chain.

As the final mark flares, the stone beneath the cleft shifts aside, revealing a narrow stair descending toward the buried channel. The restored current now illuminates its way.