Chapter 15: A Matter of Time
White and blue lights fluttered around the massive cavern, illuminating the machine's face as he stared in awe of a newly discovered city.
Everything was made entirely of stone. It was as if someone had carved the whole city into existence.
The path in front of the machine opened into what looked like a mountain village, except it was much larger. Rolling hills extended as far as the eye could see. Hundreds of rustic log cabins and thousands of evergreen trees contended for an open spot in the endless stone hills.
With fascination in his lens, the machine looked down to inspect the stone grass and pine needles. They crunched delightfully underfoot as he wandered about the forest.
The pines were a lot like the stone tree columns he saw before while riding in the back of the cart. These ones, of course, were evergreens and thus looked a lot different. However, they had the same meticulous level of detail to them. He could see stone pinecones tucked between the branches and even drips of tree sap carved into the surface of the trunk.
Reaching out with a claw, he curiously brushed along the side of a nearby branch. His gentle touch caused several stone pine needles to snap off and fall to the ground. They were brittle and inflexible, just as expected.
He wondered about the nature of this place. Surely it wasn't possible to carve so much detail from stone. Doing so would require a herculean amount of manpower and an astronomical amount time. It was much more likely this place had been petrified, as if it were caught in Medusa's gaze.
Looking up again, he saw the fluttering blue and white lights and couldn't help but think of snow. The lights danced over the stone city, their source unknown. They would spontaneously appear in the air, flicker about for a while, then disappear.
While gazing at the lights, the machine realized he couldn't see the roof of the massive cavern. He knew he was underground, but the fluttering blue and white made it look like there was nothing over the city besides a snowy sky.
The machine quickly selected one of the nearby stone log cabins and pressed against the door. It resisted at first, but soon gave way with a sharp crack. Turning on stone hinges, the door rumbled softly as it swung open.
The cabin's windows were simply sheets of stone fashioned to resemble the proper shape of glass panels within a frame, but they didn't let any light through as windows should.
As a result, he could only see a short distance ahead thanks to the reddish glow from one of the crystals he picked up earlier. Looking down, he again admired the beauty of the swirling red dust storm encased within the crystal. The other three he had picked up were still empty and produced no light.
Stepping inside, the machine placed the empty crystals down on the entry table, but held on to the the red one to use as a light source as he explored the inside of the cabin.
The machine moved slowly, carefully inspecting each room to ensure he was alone. The cabin was a large, two-story building with plenty of open space in the main room and kitchen and it took some time to open every door on both levels.
After making sure the place was empty, the machine relaxed a bit and returned to the only room that caught his eye, the study on the second floor.
A large, wooden desk stood in the corner of the study with stacks of dusty books lying on its surface. Two of the room's walls were lined with bookshelves while the others were covered with paintings of various landscapes. A bearskin rug was laid on the floor in front of a fireplace and there was a comfortable-looking chair with a small side table.
While the room looked cozy, the only thing of value to him were the numerous books. He felt excited thinking about what he might learn. With this many books, he was confident he could learn at least some of a written language.
Then if he was successful in learning the language, he would probably be able to read some of the books. What did they contain? Research? History? Maybe there were even some books on linguistics. There was no way to tell just yet.
Picking up the first book, the machine began his search for information.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Boss of the Jackdaw party furrowed his brow as he stared into the darkness of the tunnel.
"Are you sure it went this way?"
The party's tracker shook his head with slight annoyance.
"I'm not sure at all. It doesn't always leave tracks behind and there are many branching paths in these tunnels. The best we can do is search the first stretch of each of these tunnels until we pick up its trail again."
They had been following the tracks of the mechanical demon, hoping to possibly trap and kill it. However, the blasted thing had wandered pretty deep into a complex part of the cave system.
The worst part was that this place was too dangerous to split the party up for a long-range search.
The Boss scrunched his face as he remembered this area's dangers, causing his scar to stretch uncomfortably where it crossed the bridge of his nose.
They were approaching the territory of the noctic abominations, a ghastly type of humanoid monster thought to be the cursed remnants of a ruined city. They were thin and pale creatures with long, emaciated limbs. They were always hunched over, but still towered over normal people. They were known to move very slowly while hunting, but the Boss had personally seen just how fast those things could really move.
An unsavory memory played through the Boss's mind, causing him to shiver.
No, this wasn't the place to rush things. Impatience was not a safe quality to have in these parts of the dungeon.
The Boss grunted as he turned away and adjusted his coat, pulling it tighter against his shoulders. It was best to leave the trackers to do their work at their own pace.
He was confident he would find the demon, it was just a matter of time.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone