/ amethyst
620 words
There was a ringing tone emanating from the cave mouth. It vibrated up through the icy sheer ground and into Nickiya's teeth.
The edges of her vision fuzzed.
But she went forwards anyways into the coolness of the crystalline cave.
The amythest caught every color and swallowed them up, only reflecting back shades of purple.
"You dislike my taste in decorating?"
"No," Nickiya replied carefully to the shapeless voice hovering in the back of the cave "It's just a lot of one color."
It laughed, not unkindly, but in a way that still made Nickiya catch her breath.
"Dedication," it said "Is key. Now tell me, why is it you've come all the way here to my humble home. What do you want."
"I've lost someone."
"Ahh," sympathy dropped from the unseen mouth "I'm afraid I cannot bring back the dead child."
"What?" Nickiya looked around, startled "No I don't mean like that, I can't find him. He's gone missing not died."
"Oh, well then you should have said that. It doesn't pay, it doesn't pay girl, to be obtuse."
"It wasn't on purpose, you're jumping to conclusions," Nickiya pointed out as she crossed her arms.
The voice went quiet.
After nearly a moment of being deafened by the singing Crystal's, Nickiya was forced to admit defeat.
"Sorry, I was impolite. Will you please still help me?"
Another beat.
"Fine," it spoke condescendingly "Since I am kind and understanding I will still help you. Where did you loose this someone?"
"Vastreach."
"A tricky place." There was the sound of something scraping lightly against the crystal.
"A tricky place indeed. Full of holes Vastreach is. I suppose your someone fell through one of them."
"I don't really know what happened."
"Unsurprising."
From the darkness of the cave something metal clinked.
Nickiya tried not to stare.
"I do have a little something. It's not for you to keep though."
"I'll bring it back."
"I do not sense any guile in you, but I've been wrong before." There was hesitation in the voice.
"I believe I will need collateral."
Nickiya looked herself over "I don't have much."
"You have plenty. The only question being, are you willing?"
To get Raygaard back? She'd do anything.
She nodded.
The voice cackled.
"Hold still!"
A sharp cold pain dug into her right eye. Nickiya shouted and stumbled back. She threw her arms over her head, trying to ward away the attack.
But it was useless.
The natural sense of warmth in the eye socket was replaced by something cold and and imperfectly shaped.
Nickiya sank to her knees, breathing hard. She reached up to touch and felt smooth crystal beneath her fingertips.
Afraid to breathe, she blinked.
Her left eye was normal, untouched.
Her right eye was no more, replaced by a lump of amethyst.
Faintly, distantly, she could see through it, a dim cloud of purple but little else.
"What...did you...?"
Something clattered to her feet out of thin air.
"There you go," chirped the voice "Take the tracker to the last place you saw your someone. Turn it on there and not before. After you find who you are looking for, bring it back and I will return your eye."
Her breathing quick and erratic and her head spinning, Nickiya couldn't summon the words to argue.
She picked up the tracker and jammed it into her pack.
"Th-thank you," she managed to bite out past the sobs and the panic. Then she made her way out of the cave as quickly as her trembling legs could take her.
The outside hadn't changed much in the past few minutes.
But it looked a tad more purple than it had when she'd gone into the cave.
620 words
There was a ringing tone emanating from the cave mouth. It vibrated up through the icy sheer ground and into Nickiya's teeth.
The edges of her vision fuzzed.
But she went forwards anyways into the coolness of the crystalline cave.
The amythest caught every color and swallowed them up, only reflecting back shades of purple.
"You dislike my taste in decorating?"
"No," Nickiya replied carefully to the shapeless voice hovering in the back of the cave "It's just a lot of one color."
It laughed, not unkindly, but in a way that still made Nickiya catch her breath.
"Dedication," it said "Is key. Now tell me, why is it you've come all the way here to my humble home. What do you want."
"I've lost someone."
"Ahh," sympathy dropped from the unseen mouth "I'm afraid I cannot bring back the dead child."
"What?" Nickiya looked around, startled "No I don't mean like that, I can't find him. He's gone missing not died."
"Oh, well then you should have said that. It doesn't pay, it doesn't pay girl, to be obtuse."
"It wasn't on purpose, you're jumping to conclusions," Nickiya pointed out as she crossed her arms.
The voice went quiet.
After nearly a moment of being deafened by the singing Crystal's, Nickiya was forced to admit defeat.
"Sorry, I was impolite. Will you please still help me?"
Another beat.
"Fine," it spoke condescendingly "Since I am kind and understanding I will still help you. Where did you loose this someone?"
"Vastreach."
"A tricky place." There was the sound of something scraping lightly against the crystal.
"A tricky place indeed. Full of holes Vastreach is. I suppose your someone fell through one of them."
"I don't really know what happened."
"Unsurprising."
From the darkness of the cave something metal clinked.
Nickiya tried not to stare.
"I do have a little something. It's not for you to keep though."
"I'll bring it back."
"I do not sense any guile in you, but I've been wrong before." There was hesitation in the voice.
"I believe I will need collateral."
Nickiya looked herself over "I don't have much."
"You have plenty. The only question being, are you willing?"
To get Raygaard back? She'd do anything.
She nodded.
The voice cackled.
"Hold still!"
A sharp cold pain dug into her right eye. Nickiya shouted and stumbled back. She threw her arms over her head, trying to ward away the attack.
But it was useless.
The natural sense of warmth in the eye socket was replaced by something cold and and imperfectly shaped.
Nickiya sank to her knees, breathing hard. She reached up to touch and felt smooth crystal beneath her fingertips.
Afraid to breathe, she blinked.
Her left eye was normal, untouched.
Her right eye was no more, replaced by a lump of amethyst.
Faintly, distantly, she could see through it, a dim cloud of purple but little else.
"What...did you...?"
Something clattered to her feet out of thin air.
"There you go," chirped the voice "Take the tracker to the last place you saw your someone. Turn it on there and not before. After you find who you are looking for, bring it back and I will return your eye."
Her breathing quick and erratic and her head spinning, Nickiya couldn't summon the words to argue.
She picked up the tracker and jammed it into her pack.
"Th-thank you," she managed to bite out past the sobs and the panic. Then she made her way out of the cave as quickly as her trembling legs could take her.
The outside hadn't changed much in the past few minutes.
But it looked a tad more purple than it had when she'd gone into the cave.