Chapter 43

When Diya stirred, he expected to be bound and gagged. Instead, he woke in a swaying hammock with soft string instruments playing in the distance. No lingering pains plagued his body, despite the pain that had plagued him before everything went numb. It was Gwyneth. He was sure she had struck him with her lightning.

No injuries marked Diya’s back. Someone had removed all the garments covering his upper half. Only his trousers and boots remained on. A quick inspection failed to find any injuries. Diya guessed Gwyneth had healed the wounds she had inflicted. When he sat up, he found his axe, clothing, and pack lying on a stump a couple of feet away.

What in Gaia’s name is going on?

Head-sized spheres emitting azure or topaz light filled the near-endless cylindrical structure. Diya saw hints of movements far above, but from a distance, it looked like dull tarps flying in the wind. Rings lined the cylinder’s interior, but no walkways or bridges connected them. Diya walked to the semi-circular platform’s edge and looked down. His back stiffened.

It made sense why the captors hadn’t bothered with chains or manacles. Diya had nowhere to go. He could conjure ink vines to descend the cylinder, but the chances of making it far appeared low. Oddly-shaped individuals with domed blackheads and cape-covered bodies walked the platforms below. A few leapt off the edges and their capes spread around them, stiffening. They glided between the giant rings, elegantly flexing the fabric to change direction or slow.

“Oh, good. You’re awake.”

Gwyneth’s sudden arrival almost made Diya jump out of his skin. He heard a flutter as he turned around and saw a figure disappear over the edge of the platform. She grinned at him sheepishly.

“You attacked me,” Diya said, ignoring her current outfit’s revealing nature. Gwyneth wore two wraps. One around her breasts, and the other covered her from the waist to the knees. “If I weren’t so curious about where we are right now, I’d throw you off this place.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, approaching him with her hands up. Gwyneth’s eyes drifted past him and the platform before focusing on him once again. “You were deaf, and I had to do something. The Mothmin—these people are my friends. I was afraid you’d attack them, and then they’d kill you.”

“You’re friends with tower monsters?” Diya asked, raising his eyebrows. He glanced over his shoulder. Several caped figures had gathered on the ring above. He saw no eyes on the domed black heads but felt their gaze on his back.

“They’re more than that,” Gwyneth replied. “They’re us.”

“I’m not sure I follow.” Diya frowned, turning away from Gwyneth to study the Mothmin. “They’re human?”

“No, but they’re climbers—or were climbers. Gaia’s Ark went to their world just as it has ours. They entered the tower hoping to investigate it, but Gaia wouldn’t let them leave. The Mothmin’s built cities like these across several floors, trying to survive and find a way home. Some climb to the higher floors, hoping to find answers but those who left never returned.”

Their purpose is no different from Neer’s or mine.

“Arthur worked with the Mothmin since they’ve been around Gaia’s card longer than us. So, I grew up among them. They’re a peaceful people, Diya. You need not worry.”

“Why couldn’t you tell me this before?” Diya asked, facing Gwyneth again. The sheepish grin had left her face. She fidgeted and brushed back her wild ginger hair.

“I’m sorry,” Gwyneth said. “You saved me from the De Lawneys and joined me when you’re more than capable of climbing on your own. However—” She sighed. “I wasn’t sure whether I could trust you.” Gwyneth’s eye shifted between Diya’s face and the bark-like floor as she continued. “The concept of a race as intelligent as ours is absurd to most people. Most say that they’ve given up on religion but then yell blasphemy. I didn’t know how you’d react.”

“Do they understand Gaia’s runes?”

“What?”

“They’ve been in the tower for a couple of centuries, at least, right? Mothmin use cards just like us. So maybe they understand the runes.”

“They don’t, unfortunately,” Gwyneth replied. “They have the power to store and pass on perfect memories. It's hard to explain. They had magic before entering Gaia’s Ark. Then the tower’s aether changed—”

“So they have no need for written language.” Diya sighed. “I still think you should’ve told me. I can’t trust you if you keep things as big as this from me.” He paused. Diya hadn’t told her about his current quest or Explorer. He, too, had secrets. “Something like this can’t happen again.”

Gwyneth smiled. “So you’re not going to run off and tell everyone about the Mothmin?”

“No,” he answered. “I hope you got what you were looking for, though.”

“Unfortunately, not.” Her shoulders drooped. “The queen hid Arthur’s things in her treasury. Then last month, while out on a hunt, the Ansons ambushed them. She lost one of her guards and her crown. The latter is the key.”

“And we have to go get it?” Diya asked.

Gwyneth nodded.

Much to Diya’s disappointment, the Mothmin refused to let him get a closer look at their home. A large specimen picked him up by the shoulders, and a trio surrounded him as they descended. Diya only glimpses of their home but got a clearer look at the Mothmin. As the name suggested, they were giant moths. The fuzz covering their body and cape-like wings varied from dull grey to pale gold. Unique patterns dotted its interior, and six limbs grew out of their segmented body. Their black eyes almost blended into their domed heads, making them look like helmets.

The Mothmin carried the pair out of the giant cylinder. It didn’t surprise Diya to learn the creatures lived in a giant tree. Its bark was dark, but the leaves and fruit growing from it glowed with the same bioluminescence as the gold and green orbs inside.

As they flew, Diya watched the glowing forest underneath. He saw bat-shaped shadows scurrying through the skeletal canopy and larger monsters, too. In the distance, he saw a fiery glow surrounded by several human-made buildings. The orange-yellow glow illuminated a flag displaying two interlocking shields—the De Lawney sigil. The Mothmin dropped them close to the sight.

As the Mothmin took off again, fiery projectiles flew at them from the De Lawney encampment. Gwyneth held her breath as they flew away. She watched until the group were out of the attack’s range and safe.

“They have scouts looking out for the Mothmin,” Gwyneth said. “I know this place like the back of my hand. We’ll sneak in, get the crown and run.”

“What does this crown look like?” Diya asked, summoning his coat. He rubbed dirty on the outside, hoping it would mask the gloss. The dark shade would help it blend into the darkness.

Gwyneth pointed at the fiery glow’s source. A melon-sized rhombus sat on a pillar near the little settlement’s heart.

“Are you mad?” He spotted three patrols, two watch towers, and more people sitting around fires beyond them. “Even if you get us in, there’s no way we’ll successfully escape after stealing the…. Crown.”

“What do you suggest, then?”

Diya didn’t have an answer for her. Instead, they snuck closer to the settlement until it was just over a hundred feet away. Since Gwyneth struggled to traverse without making noise, he had her perch on a vantage point while he circled the De Lawney outpost. After two loops, Diya counted two dozen armed individuals. He couldn’t tell whether more waited in the buildings, but observing the patrols and people in the watchtower helped him identify blindspots and possible weak points.

A row of cages in the settlement caught Diya’s attention. They housed giant rodents and jaguars with black velvet fur. Much to his surprise, the creatures didn’t make a fuss. Instead, they appeared focused on the fiery diamond. After climbing a tree, he also saw a pit full of bat corpses. Some appeared skinned, while the rest were mangled. On the outpost’s opposite end sat a wooden shack with a cross over the entrance. Diya spotted movement around the entrance but not much else.

When he returned to Gwyneth, he had a plan. She set off to work on her half while Diya focused on what he did best—trapping.

Keeping low, avoiding the well-lit areas and the obvious pathways proved sufficient to avoid the watchtowers’ gaze as he crept closer. Once Diya found the perfect spot, he used the Mole’s Claw card and got digging. He didn’t go deep enough for a pitfall trap. Instead, he dug a trench. Diya started in the bushes and worked his way across the nearby pathway. The spot sat in the shadows just beyond a mound. It gave him enough cover to work without checking over his shoulder every couple of minutes.

Once done with the trench, he used his Ensnaring Vines card to fill the space. Diya was tempted to use the vines slotted in his journal too, but since they were going up against superior numbers, he wanted to conserve ink. Besides, they didn’t need to kill anyone. Diya worried that fatalities would put a bigger target on their back. Instead, he hoped the obstacles would slow pursuers while they fled.

After some thought, Diya assembled a handful of tripwires. Once done, he gathered clusters of especially bright bioluminescent mushrooms and dotted them around the site. Their positioning ensured no light fell on the traps. Diya hoped the lights would draw the eye.

It took him a couple of hours to finish the work and snack on the fruit Mothmin had given him. Diya was considering settling in for a nap when his eyes drifted to the crown. Even though the fiery rhombus’s contents appeared volatile and dangerous, there was something mesmerising about it. Suddenly his eyelids started to droop, and his body felt heavy. Diya’s body relaxed, and he craved the warmth of a bed.

Then a familiar screech ripped him out of his daze. Diya rubbed his eyes and sat up straight. Loud zaps and thundercracks punctuated the cacophony.

The settlement stirred. The patrols rushed towards the sound’s source, and projectiles flew from the watchtowers in the same direction. Heads of older women, children, and a handful of men peeked out of the buildings. The guards yelled at them, and all retreated. Shutters went over windows, and secondary doors with metal bars closed over entrances. Only the creatures watching the crown appeared unphased.

It took Diya a couple of seconds to get his thoughts together and identify the source. He returned Mole’s Claw to his deck, summoned his gauntlet and slid his pen into the barrel. Diya drew his axe, too, and crept to the rendezvous spots. The racket got louder, and the De Lawney’s yelling only added to the chaos.

It was Gwyneth. She had returned, and a swarm of bat monsters were on her tail.