Part C: Breaking Through
Date: Kapton 11th, 114 A.U.
The traitor moved swiftly through the night, running with the radio to a secluded place, where he quickly began punching buttons before opening up the back of the radio to reveal the secret switch: the switch that changed it from receiving radio waves to sending out radio waves. The traitor flicked it and quickly turned the dial to the right channel, taking a deep breath before beginning his call.
“Greetings,” the traitor finally said, holding down a button that initiated his voice. “This is the Traitor of the Xavier Team, Code Name 2352 calling in. Do you read me?” He quickly flicked the switch back to receive input.
“This is the Watcher, Code Name 2532 responding,” the voice came crackling through. “What do you have for me?”
The traitor flicked the switch back. “We have decided that the most plausible place for the Arglem to be is the Caves of Dragla,” he replied. “We suspect that the Sla’ad likely hid the Arglem there before covering it with a landslide, and then afterwards blaming it on the bombs that went off all around the capital city when the other forces attacked the city. We are planning on rejoining with the rest of the group tomorrow and using some of the miner equipment that we have in the ship to try and break through at a different point than the rock slide, where the cave seems close to the surface. Over.” The traitor flicked back the switch again.
“Your information confirms the information that we already have,” the Watcher replied. “Emperor Jaigran has received the same intel from a Sla’ad that he tortured for information. We are currently on route to the Caves of Dragla to intercept you and to take the Arglem before the rest of the Xavier Team can. I will do my best to arrange things so that we can reunite, and hopefully convince the Warrior to fall like his predecessor. Are you good with our plan? Over.”
“I am good with the plan,” the traitor replied after flicking the switch once more. “Once we find the Arglem, I will make sure to wrest it from them before they know what is happening. I will reveal myself once and for all that we might again reunite. The Xavier Team will crumble before our upcoming plan. And they have no chance of stopping it.”
It was three hours past midday and the machine was still laboriously working at the earth while Jroldin yawned. The mechanical digger was small and it worked slowly, mostly just being in the airship in case they needed it, as they wanted some backup if they had to dig, but they hadn’t packed one powerful enough to be able to do much good, given that a more powerful digger would have taken a lot more space. As is, they had made considerable progress in digging down into the earth in the past three hours since he had arrived with Reynyagn and Brother Tomas to show them the map for where they ought to be digging, but unfortunately it appeared that the Caves of Dragla were further down than they expected.
“So what’s going to happen when that digger finally breaks through the rock and hits the roof of the cave,” Jroldin asked, the question suddenly popping into his head. “How are we going to keep it from just plummeting into the cavern.”
“We’re not,” Monty replied. “We discussed this to some length before you got here with the map. However, we don’t have enough rope that would be strong enough to hold the digger in place so that it wouldn’t fall once it hits the roof of the cave. And so we’re just going to let it plummet into the cave. It’ll probably break beyond repair, but there really aren’t any other options that we have. Course—if we see when it first starts to break through and are able to turn it off before it breaks the ground apart too much, we might be able to save it, but if not, we probably won’t need it. I’m not sure why exactly we brought it in the first place, but am glad that we did, for the rare opportunity such as this when we’ll need it.”
“So will there be traps in it?” Jroldin asked. “I know if I was going to be burying some treasure that I’d be sure to put lots of traps around it so that no one else could sneak around and take it.”
“I’m not sure whether or not they would have, but I suspect so, following your logic,” Reynyagn replied. “Chances are they would have put traps in place that would be able to kill many an unsuspecting treasure hunter, but they may have designed the traps in such a way so that Sla’ad wouldn’t be hurt. We had a strong belief that our race was the race that would be the superior race able to overwhelm all others, quite similar to the belief that the elves now hold. And so I suspect they would have put the traps in place so that Sla’ad—like me—wouldn’t be harmed. At least, I hope that would have been the case.”
"So what do we do once we have this Arglem,” Astrid asked. “I know that we’re not quite sure how we’ll be able to use it to defeat Emperor Jaigran, but what’s our immediate plan? If we still have the traitor lurking among us, what are we going to do after we have it? Are we going to need to split up again?”
“I don’t know…” Augger said. “Although I’m hoping, although it might be quite irrational, that the Arglem may be able to shed light on this matter. In recent days, I’ve been beginning to ponder the role of the Priest-King in all of this. Although it would not be his only role, given that the prophesy told that there would indeed be a traitor among us, I’ve been beginning to wonder how Jroldin would factor into all of this. As the Priest-King, I wonder if he’d be able to do something to use his priestly powers to discover the traitor by some means or another.”
"Don’t look at me!” Jroldin said, uncomfortable by all the looks that he was now getting. “I have no idea how I’m supposed to be the Priest-King in general, so I have no idea how I’m supposed to be the Priest-King in specific. Maybe it’ll just come upon me in some way, I don’t know. But… I dunno. I can’t really control my power that much. I mean, sure I had that good idea about splitting up in the first place, but…”
“His time will come,” Brother Tomas replied. “But in the mean time we must press on and put our trust in the Great One to discover and reveal the traitor. For we can do nothing else.”
Date: Kapton 11th, 114 A.U.
The traitor moved swiftly through the night, running with the radio to a secluded place, where he quickly began punching buttons before opening up the back of the radio to reveal the secret switch: the switch that changed it from receiving radio waves to sending out radio waves. The traitor flicked it and quickly turned the dial to the right channel, taking a deep breath before beginning his call.
“Greetings,” the traitor finally said, holding down a button that initiated his voice. “This is the Traitor of the Xavier Team, Code Name 2352 calling in. Do you read me?” He quickly flicked the switch back to receive input.
“This is the Watcher, Code Name 2532 responding,” the voice came crackling through. “What do you have for me?”
The traitor flicked the switch back. “We have decided that the most plausible place for the Arglem to be is the Caves of Dragla,” he replied. “We suspect that the Sla’ad likely hid the Arglem there before covering it with a landslide, and then afterwards blaming it on the bombs that went off all around the capital city when the other forces attacked the city. We are planning on rejoining with the rest of the group tomorrow and using some of the miner equipment that we have in the ship to try and break through at a different point than the rock slide, where the cave seems close to the surface. Over.” The traitor flicked back the switch again.
“Your information confirms the information that we already have,” the Watcher replied. “Emperor Jaigran has received the same intel from a Sla’ad that he tortured for information. We are currently on route to the Caves of Dragla to intercept you and to take the Arglem before the rest of the Xavier Team can. I will do my best to arrange things so that we can reunite, and hopefully convince the Warrior to fall like his predecessor. Are you good with our plan? Over.”
“I am good with the plan,” the traitor replied after flicking the switch once more. “Once we find the Arglem, I will make sure to wrest it from them before they know what is happening. I will reveal myself once and for all that we might again reunite. The Xavier Team will crumble before our upcoming plan. And they have no chance of stopping it.”
It was three hours past midday and the machine was still laboriously working at the earth while Jroldin yawned. The mechanical digger was small and it worked slowly, mostly just being in the airship in case they needed it, as they wanted some backup if they had to dig, but they hadn’t packed one powerful enough to be able to do much good, given that a more powerful digger would have taken a lot more space. As is, they had made considerable progress in digging down into the earth in the past three hours since he had arrived with Reynyagn and Brother Tomas to show them the map for where they ought to be digging, but unfortunately it appeared that the Caves of Dragla were further down than they expected.
“So what’s going to happen when that digger finally breaks through the rock and hits the roof of the cave,” Jroldin asked, the question suddenly popping into his head. “How are we going to keep it from just plummeting into the cavern.”
“We’re not,” Monty replied. “We discussed this to some length before you got here with the map. However, we don’t have enough rope that would be strong enough to hold the digger in place so that it wouldn’t fall once it hits the roof of the cave. And so we’re just going to let it plummet into the cave. It’ll probably break beyond repair, but there really aren’t any other options that we have. Course—if we see when it first starts to break through and are able to turn it off before it breaks the ground apart too much, we might be able to save it, but if not, we probably won’t need it. I’m not sure why exactly we brought it in the first place, but am glad that we did, for the rare opportunity such as this when we’ll need it.”
“So will there be traps in it?” Jroldin asked. “I know if I was going to be burying some treasure that I’d be sure to put lots of traps around it so that no one else could sneak around and take it.”
“I’m not sure whether or not they would have, but I suspect so, following your logic,” Reynyagn replied. “Chances are they would have put traps in place that would be able to kill many an unsuspecting treasure hunter, but they may have designed the traps in such a way so that Sla’ad wouldn’t be hurt. We had a strong belief that our race was the race that would be the superior race able to overwhelm all others, quite similar to the belief that the elves now hold. And so I suspect they would have put the traps in place so that Sla’ad—like me—wouldn’t be harmed. At least, I hope that would have been the case.”
"So what do we do once we have this Arglem,” Astrid asked. “I know that we’re not quite sure how we’ll be able to use it to defeat Emperor Jaigran, but what’s our immediate plan? If we still have the traitor lurking among us, what are we going to do after we have it? Are we going to need to split up again?”
“I don’t know…” Augger said. “Although I’m hoping, although it might be quite irrational, that the Arglem may be able to shed light on this matter. In recent days, I’ve been beginning to ponder the role of the Priest-King in all of this. Although it would not be his only role, given that the prophesy told that there would indeed be a traitor among us, I’ve been beginning to wonder how Jroldin would factor into all of this. As the Priest-King, I wonder if he’d be able to do something to use his priestly powers to discover the traitor by some means or another.”
"Don’t look at me!” Jroldin said, uncomfortable by all the looks that he was now getting. “I have no idea how I’m supposed to be the Priest-King in general, so I have no idea how I’m supposed to be the Priest-King in specific. Maybe it’ll just come upon me in some way, I don’t know. But… I dunno. I can’t really control my power that much. I mean, sure I had that good idea about splitting up in the first place, but…”
“His time will come,” Brother Tomas replied. “But in the mean time we must press on and put our trust in the Great One to discover and reveal the traitor. For we can do nothing else.”
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