9 AP marble + euphoria by Starai

Marble – the piebald Tyto – rested calmly near Eleonores feet and just randomly digged through some of the heaps of rubble, that were near her beak.The other two Strixes though still roamed the cave in search for something that could bring them out of here. The little seallady, that had accompanied them, was smiling calmly, as she watched the beautiful galyx coloured Hawk Euphoria and her own soil coloured Tyto – Potato. Those two hadn't found the one thing yet – that could get them all out of here.

For Eleonore it was similar, though she already knew where to find it. It would only take some time...

Euphoria roamed the faux sky in the cave and finally landed on the branch of the old tree, that was supporting the ceiling with mysterious strength. There had been something, that got caught in the corner of her gaze, when she was flying around. In one of the alcoves there has been a faint, soft shimmering glow. With great interest the snow based Hawk reduced the distance between herself and this little shining bauble that stuck softly between two branches. A little peck with her beak proofed, that this thing wasn't an egg, as she first thought. It was hard as an egg, but it was also kind of see-through and the sound her beak made when it hit the bauble was less hollow. Carefully she grabbed the glowing Bauble and looked at it from all sides. It was hard as a gem, but looked soft like blueish honey. The glow it emmited was similar to that of all the little fireflies and the bioluminescent mushrooms, that had been growing everywhere. She grabbed it again and flew down to Eleonore to show it to the stranger. This seallady might have been weird, but she seemed knowledgeable and might knew what Euphoria had grabbed here.

Eleonore had tried to clean Potato up a little bit. The little trashbandit honoured her nickname by digging through all the heaps of dust, sand and dirt – looking for something to bring to her rider. But she hasn't found anything yet, it seemed.

„Ah...“ Eleonore saw the bauble in Euphorias beak and smiled brightly. „That looks like amber, doesn't it?“ She touched the smooth surface and nodded again. „It seems like amber, though I've never seen anything like that at all. It surely is precious!“

Marble screeched and Eleonore looked up. The howling of the spirits of the wind has calmed down and the ruins seemed as calm as the sea. „I think you both found, what will bring you out of here...“ She got onto Potatos back and pointed towards the one path they had been coming from. „We should hurry though, since I don't know how impatient the spirits can get!“

Euphoria and Marble looked at each other and followed Eleonore and Potato towards the surface. It was weird, but they do felt the urge to leave this place – now that they have found the treasure they had been looking for... Somehow.

Getting back towards the entrance took a while and when they left the old halls, a bright orange sky greeted them warmly. The sandstorm had calmed down and instead, wisp like creatures sat beside the old stairs, that framed the plattform they were standing on. This spectacle made Marble quite uneasy, so she screeched towards her friend and both of them flew straight into the air.

„Don't turn around – remember! If you turn back, they will hunt you until the end of the world... Fly home and get back to your loved ones!“ Euphoria was as uneasy as her friend, but she didn't turn back. Together they hurried to leave the desert and get home.

It took them a while to realise, that Eleonore wasn't behind them. The little seallady wasn't able to leave yet, even though she had no desire to do so. Potato had told both stryx, what the thing was, that the tiny seallady needed from these ruins... And that was knowledge. The treasure that would bring her out of this place was the knowledge she seeked from those ruins. Ancient civilizations and the truth about the past.. Those were things she couldn't buy with any money in the world.. .And surely – as soon as she finished her documentation of the ancient city of gold – she would fly home to her beloved ones as well.