A Hand-Woven Universe 31 31. Tahmel...?

When he climbed to this point the day before, his clothes had been drenched in sweat. Overnight though they gradually dried off as he slept. All that was left was a cold spot on his back which he had been sleeping on all night.

After the sun had set, Noone put away the sun stone he had been using and enjoyed the sound of the ocean. Unobstructed by the needs of the eyes, he felt that he could make out more details in the world around him.

Noone had been so exhausted after the days' worth of climbing he had done, that it wasn't long until he fell into a deep sleep.

Now though, he was unsure how much time had passed.

"It doesn't really matter." Noone groaned. He began stretching out his fingers and toes, feeling the small muscles in his extremities awaken. No matter how much time passes, it will take as long as it will take.

Gradually he felt his own body, moving and stretching, getting a feel for his own condition.

The stiffest areas were the muscles in his shoulders and his hands. He repeatedly opened and closed his fingers into a fist, trying to return some sensitivity into them.

When he had spent time swinging picks in the mines, his hands had been very similarly stiff. Although back then, it had taken days of non-stop work to get to the point he was at now.

Even though his body was not in its most peak state, it was very close once he spent the time stretching everything out. For him this was very expected, the same situation had occurred in the mine. After a rest, his body would become a bit stronger each time. He would be able to go a little bit longer and strike a little bit harder.

Finally, he got up and collected his gear, preparing for the climb ahead. The sun had not yet peeked through the clouds above, but Noone slung the sun stone around his neck and didn't bother about it anymore.

He had not bothered to eat anything either. Although he felt some hunger pangs, once he slipped into his rhythm and let his body take over, he knew that whatever hunger he was feeling now, would be negligible.

He tied the cooked bird to himself, approached the wall and with some force of will, and started to scale the cliff again.

It took almost an hour, but gradually his breathing smoothed, and his movements became more fluid as his body naturally reached out to every hand hold and footing. There was barely a pause of consideration before each step as he moved upward with impossible finesse.

If one were to see his face at this moment, they would not see furrowed brows or grit teeth, but a calm expression. And in Noone's eyes, they barely glanced around, instead looking ahead as if already knowing where to go.

….

Adria's eyes became heavier as she read, closing and opening slowly as she forced herself to stay awake.

She had not left the room in the library for a few days now. Her hair was disheveled. Distinct finger-sized rake marks ran through her bangs. Her clothes too were covered in a gradual build-up of fine dust that even Liter would not have been able to keep clean.

Adria leaned back in her chair a bit too far, and the legs of the chair swept out from under her. She was left sprawled on the floor with a sizeable bump forming on the back of her head.

"Ow ow ow." She sucked in a sharp breath. Her hands came up to cover the bump and she rolled over onto her side, not even bothering to stand back up.

After a few days she had finally reached her limit. Ever since the moment she had shared with the elder, her resolution had been set anew. Even if the world above was desolate, she would do everything in her power to be prepared.

Which right now meant learning everything she could about the world before.

A lot of the descriptions were hard for her to understand. Things that their ancestors had obviously taken for granted, were left relatively unexplained. This made it hard for her to wrap her head around a lot of the concepts, things that have not been applicable to life in Tapestry for Eons.

Her one saving grace was a record which contained the thoughts and revelations of countless predecessors to her. Over time they had gradually explained the things which were becoming increasingly irrelevant.

Their foresight on this matter shocked Adria. If not for this record through time, interpreting the books of their ancestors with any accuracy would be unfeasible.

Especially one of her predecessors… Her hand gradually made its way to the top of the table she had been working at, and after searching around, pulled down a thin book, only 50 pages.

Adria opened it up and began to look through it while lying on the floor.

The entire book consisted of a basic definition of every term Adria had been misunderstanding. Even more impressive than that though, was the book contained a reference system for every other book that existed in the ancestral section.

No matter what Adria needed, this one small book contained all the information of where to find it.

Adria had looked through the book multiple times, wanting to know more about the individual who had spent all the time writing it. After hours of searching through some of the tiniest handwriting she had ever seen, at the very end of the book she had found a name. Signed onto the bottom corner of the very last page, in letters even smaller than the rest of the book.

-Eephie.

No last name. Or maybe no first name? Adria was unsure. But something about this book left her with profound feelings.

She would just have to ask Liter about it later.

….

Trisha woke up next to Tahmel, smelling the sweet scent of incense they had lit the night before. She continued to lay still for a moment, enjoying the serene atmosphere. It had been a long time since the two of them had spent time together like this, she considered whether the bug going around was a blessing in disguise.

Slowly she slipped out of bed as not to disturb Tommy and headed to the bathroom to wash her face. She reached out with her energy and activated the light stones, brightening up the room. In front of her was an image of herself in the mirror. She still looked young, and her hair was full and lush despite being well into her hundreds. She grabbed at her snow-white hair - pulling it back and tying it up with a string.

Since she was young she had hair as white as clouds. Upon her birth everyone knew what attunement she had inherited. She was the legacy of the soul attuned, and when she died, the bloodline would be passed on to someone else. Maybe of her own lineage, maybe not. Subconsciously she rested her palm on her belly.

The Common Heritage of the Ancestor was a vast and confusing thing. They knew it worked, and theorized about how it passed, but no one was fully certain even after such a long time.

She activated a water and fire stone in a bowl on the counter. Gradually, water filled the bowl and it began to heat up. A small amount of vapor was lifting from the surface.

Staring at herself in the mirror, she placed her hands to either side of the bowl and took a deep breath. Eventually when the water cooled down enough, and she submerged her face into the bowl.

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She lifter her face out of the water and took a sea stone in her hand, dumping the bowl into a drain and refilling it with cold water before repeating.

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BANG

There was a crash as her body was ripped from the bowl of cool water. She gasped a deep breath, eyes closed and unsure of what was happening. Water was spilt across the floor making the stone slippery. Before she could slip though, she was caught. Immediately she recognized the feeling of fingers gripping her skull, dug firmly into her cloudy hair.

In a moment of panic, she managed to glance into the mirror just in time to see Tahmel standing there. His face looked crazed and the muscles in his jaw were twitching wildly, mouth gaping open over Trisha's soft neck.

A tingling sense of dread shot up her spine as she looked at him. She didn't understand. What was he doing?

The second thing she felt though, was tired. Immediately strength began to drain from her, and any energy in her limbs was disappearing. Her eyes were wide with fear as she stared at her husband.

Through the fear, she noticed that the earthen power lines that usually run across his body… weren't there?

Chapter end