[zapdragon555]

[Story contents - Jawan —> Nu'san —> Craiss]

[Aesop]
^[#1D72BE]

[Apisto] | [Astrochelys]
^{[#BD4136] | [#B094E2]}

The temple was pressed into the side of the summit of a mountain that towered over Nssylai with an imposing shape. The roads were too thin, about half way up, for any vehicles to manage—and so the three mages (sans Astrochelys who kept to their beastchair, a thing quite skilled at scaling almost anything, including thin jagged mountain roads, so long as the weather held up) road on the backs of some furry beasts of burden, their young guide chipperly pointing out the sights that they could see from high above.

[zapdragon555]

Apisto’s face was a sour one, which was quite normal. Aesop was busy being rather enthralled with the guide’s story, so the red mage was content enough to make smalltalk with Astrochelys behind him. “That thing is a marvel,” he murmured, with a grunt of appreciation for the beastchair’s steady clinging to the side of the rock wall.

Astrochelys, who sat perfectly sideways in the seat with the help of a minor gravity spell, smiled with some amount of pride. “It’s a faithful old thing. Doesn’t do so well in the rain or on slippery terrain, but it’s a lovely sunny day. In spite of everything, I think we should count our blessings.”

[zapdragon555]

It was nice to hear an ounce of complaining from someone other than himself. Apisto smiled unexpectedly, happy to at least have some of his irritation understood. ‘In spite of everything.’ That summed it up rather well. “You have a point,” he murmured, jumping slightly as the beastchair’s metal claws loosened a rock from the wall which tumbled down across his animal’s path, hooves shuffling nervously as that small rock launched off the side of the mountain and fell into oblivion. Apisto gazed after it with a look of dread.

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“Mm. I wouldn’t look down,” Astrochelys mused, slowing  down just a bit to walk a bit behind Apisto once more, rather than right beside him. Fewer rocks, fewer changes for Apisto’s animal to be spooked. “I can’t imagine it’s much further, though.” They tried to crane their neck to see up the side of the mountain, but a heavy mist blocked their view. A small, worried look crossed their face, unsure how their beastchair would fare up there.

[zapdragon555]

Apisto looked forward, his long ears quivering nervously. He tried to put his eyes on the back of Aesop’s head, watching as he shook with laughter or leaned forward with interest to the guide’s story. At least he was having fun… Apisto tried to distract himself with the sight.

“Really! So the monks truly used these animals to carry materials for the temple? All the way up this mountain?” Aesop gasped, leaning forward in such a way that the animal in question let out an irate snort at so much weight being pressed into its neck.

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“Mhm!” the guide said, by the sound of it a young man, though his face and body were shrouded in a deep red hood. Apisto supposed it was the garb of the monks. “That’s right. The foundation itself is all rock, but it’s rock that was taken straight from the top of the mountain. All other materials, such as wood and reeds and the like, were carried up the path long ago by these creatures. Remarkable stuff, truly. I'm rather young, so I've only heard stories, of course.”

[zapdragon555]

There was a sudden sound of a scrape of metal against rock, and Apisto was on the alert, whipping around to see Astrochelys with a rather uncharacteristic, nervous look in their eyes. Apisto’s eyes darted to where they were looking, and saw the telltale dampness of mist that had collected on the rocks. Instinctively he pulled back on the reins of his animal, grunting as it staggered and stopped.

“Something wrong back there?” the guide called over his shoulder.

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“Yes—ah…” Astrocheyls stammered, a bit sheepish. “My… my chair, it, ah… doesn’t do so well on wet surfaces. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Apisto griped in, more gruff towards the situation than Astrochelys. He wouldn’t have the botanist making themself small over something like this. “We’ll find a way. How about…” He glanced down at his animal, then after a moment, carefully moved to get off, on the side of the cliff. He felt his own heartbeat grow wild in his chest with anxiety over suddenly being on his own two feet, so high up.

[zapdragon555]

“A-Apisto…” the botanist began, hesitant, then seemed to fluster slightly as Apisto held his arms up.

“Here. Take my mount. Can you tell your beastchair to travel back down the mountain, or stay put, here?” Apisto glanced down the mountain once more, grimacing at how much progress they'd made. Would the chair even make it down alright...?

“Better yet,” Astrochelys murmured, carefully reaching down to lock arms with Apisto. “I can shrink it down and take it with me. I don’t usually have a use for it, as it’s often always with me, but…”

[zapdragon555]

With a grunt and their combined efforts and a bit of a clumsy tangle of limbs, Astrochelys was safely seated on the animal. Apisto fussed over making sure their feet were safely in the stirrups, fiddling with the straps that were there that he’d decided to forego, before.

“Sorry for the holdup,” Astrochelys tried to apologize once more, casting their soft voice forward to the guide as they began to write glyphs on a piece of crumpled paper from their pocket. Aesop looked forward from his brief moment of staring over his shoulder, and smiled at the guide.

[zapdragon555]

“We thank you for leading us up this way. We’ve got something important to do, you see, and—ow!” A feeling like hot cinders suddenly bit into the back of his neck, and Aesop squinted over his shoulder at a terse-looking Apisto, the tips of his fingers steaming slightly. “What?” he whispered, as he leaned down to listen. Behind them, the beastchair was suddenly shrunk to the size of a music box, and pocketed thusly with a small spell to draw it to their hand from where it had settled on the rock floor.

[zapdragon555]

“I just don’t think it’s wise to talk about a valuable, magic artifact with a stranger that might be at this very temple, while we’re up this high and on ground this unstable. Just a hunch,” Apisto whispered, his brows knit sharp with a serious expression. “Listen to me for once.”

Aesop seemed to understand, at least, with a small curt nod. He straightened up with a bright and sunny grin, laughing. “Well, we’re just incredibly grateful to you for helping us up the mountain. Ah, ready to go, back there?” he called.

[zapdragon555]

Astrochelys seemed nervous to not be in their chair, but gave a small, uncertain nod and smile. They blinked as a hand came to rest at their lower back, blinking down at Apisto, who wore a serious tilt to his brow. “Don’t worry. I’ll ensure you won’t fall,” he murmured, quiet so that the others wouldn’t hear. Astrochelys’ eyes softened, reaching over with a hand that Apisto could see was visibly shaking slightly to rest gently at the back of Apisto’s head, thumbing dark hair.

[zapdragon555]

“Ready,” Apisto called back, and so, their trek continued. The mist blanketed them in a wetness that had their cloaks clinging to them uncomfortably. Astrochelys’ mane of hair was frizzed out, too, and the poor botanist looked a bit miserable, a considerable change from their usual dreamy demeanor. Apisto was sympathetic. Up here in this kind of weather, his sort of usual magic was quite useless. He’d always been a bit jealous that Aesop thrived in such miserable conditions.

[Crystal Synthesis Complete]