13 AP Marble + Euphoria by Starai

Which path should they follow? Neither the beautiful galyx colored Hawk nor the piebald colored Tyto knew the right way. Insure the tiny Tyto turned her head around and tried to look either way... But both paths just take a turn and it was impossible to know, where it would lead them. The brown plain Tyto that had digged through the dirt shooed again calmly, before she rubbed her head against the little Sealladys body.

Eleonore – the treasure hunter – petted her own Tyto calmly, while she waited for the two Dracostryx to decide. If they want to get out of here, they would need to find the one treasure their own heart desires the most. Even if Eleonore would have known the savest or the shortest way out of this trap deep inside the deadly desert, they would have still been trapped inside here. As long as they didn't find this one treasure, the spirits of the winds wouldn't let them leave either way.

It was the beautiful Hawk called Euphoria, that took it into her own Talons to choose a path. With a determined screech she turned around to face the one way, that would lead them to the old orchard. Marble didn't oppose. Turning around to face the other path was wrong, that was what she felt deep inside her heart. 

Eleonore nodded her head slightley and smiled again. No one of this little group wanted to stay for long in this old place, where the howls of the beasts was echoeing fiercefully through the halls.

„Where did I stop with my story?“ Eleonore was walking with them through the dark hallway and took another sip from her waterflask. „As I told you this place was once thriving with live thanks to the blessing of Daius, the plenty natural resources and the willingfull trades with caravans, that would take their rest in this city of gold. We will probably reach the orchard soon. It is said, that this orchard was one of the divine blessings of this city. Countless fruits growing in the sand... A place where elsewere no life can bloom. But here their harvest was almost unlimited.“ She smiled, while her soil Tyto called Potato scouted their way. They had been following the path for a few minutes now and they had taken quite some turns. But after the next turn a gigantic cave opened up in front of them. It seems as if the orchard was once built upon a stone fundament, that supported the trees and kept the waters from draining too deep below the sand. This fundament was built upon the ceiling of this cave and after the roof collapsed, it crashed down here. Now the broken parts of the fundament are slowly swallowed by the sand, that had formed an eerily looking „lake“ with debris and strange forms all over the place. 

The hallway the little group had come from had been separated from the fundament and was now nothing more than a hole in the rest of the building, that was about to sink down as well... It wouldn't collapse immidiately – at least that was, what Eleonore was telling herself the whole time. But to get down to the rest of the orchard, she had to get onto her Potato Stryx and she was quite uneasy with the thought, that the three Dracostryx would fly underground. But as always Potato was quite calm and even Marble and Euphoria didn't seem to sense any danger. Marble was quite sensitive and even as the spirits of the wind howled through the ruins, this place wouldn't crumble within the next decades. So it was rather save to fly for them. 

With a few flaps of their wings, the three birds leaped from the hallway into the giant cave and Eleonore took her time to look around. 

It was Marble, that firstly realised something strange. With a sharp turn she changed directions and  landed gracefully of one of the broken pieces of the fundament. Here she looked around until her friend Euphoria and the stranger reached her. 

Another shoo of her and even Euphoria realised it. This cave wasn't as dark as it should be. Eleonore had thought, that there was a hole in the ceiling, where sunlight came through... But the light that softly iluminated this cave wasn't warm as the rays of the sun, but blueish and eerily. 

The galyx Hawk decided to inspect this further and flew up in the sky again... And as she reached the ceiling she suddenly scared off millions of tiny fireflies that had rested there. This swarm – now startled by the agile Hawk -  fled by flying through the cave. „Wow...“ Eleonore blushed a little bit, as this display of light in this dark cave illuminated a paradise for insects of all kinds. This desert has allways been rich with life, but she didn't know it was so beautiful. Thanks to the dance of the little fireflies, the whole secret of this cave was slowly unlocked. The old trees, that had once beared thousands of fruits, hadn't been crushed by the fall. They got swallowed with their fundament and found a place, where they could grow unlimited by the rules of their tenders. Along the walls and the ceiling grew gigantic tendrils that had closed the gap, that was left after the orchard had sunken into the cave. The trees itself formed a thick net of roots, tendrils and branches, that formed its own tiny ecosystem down below here. „Its beautiful!“ the sealmorph gasped silently, while Potato and Marble joined Euphoria in her dance with the fireflies. 

After a while the insects got tired and seeked refugee in the foliage of the underground trees. They hid themself behind some leaves or tried to find a little nest in the roots of the trees. Here there were countles mushrooms growing between the trees and the old debris, that had formed this eerily oasis. 

The three Stryx were mesmerised by this display as well, but they didn't forgot what they came here for. They started to look through the roots and the rubble to see if they could find something interesting. Eleonore herself stayed on a giant root and looked up to the ceiling of the cave. It was dark and as the fireflies had calmed down, it seemed as if she was looking deep inside the nightsky with countless of stars blessing this place. „I told you, that this place got crushed for its hybris, didn't I? The inhabitants of this city got greedy by the power they had over all those who wanted to cross this desert. They started to demand gold and riches from the travellers, so those could stay here. The water that they had shared once freely, was kept and they would have given it away only for a really high price. It is said, that the riches they have gathered by screwing over the people that depended on this water, dragged them down into the abyss of this sand. And that the spirits of the wind are the souls of those, that lost their life due to that.“ Eleonore smiled sadly, while Potato dug through the sand and the other two birds waddled through some thicket. „But with its inhabitants gone, it seems as if all the wildlife had come to life together in harmony! The fireflies provide these plants with the light they need to grow, while those trees provide nutrition, savety and a place to live. And if you even look closely, you see that some of those mushrooms glow as well...“ 

A little knock on the ground and Potato flew towards her. With a happy smile she got into the soil birds saddle bag and got an old looking notebook. A pen followed and so she sat down to write down about this place, while the Dracostryx scavenged through the place. Maybe what their heart desires would be hidden beneath the roots and the giant fruits of this place. Potato knew, that at least Eleonore had found, what she was looking for... Though it might take a while for her to get every little piece, that she needed, to leave this place. 

Marble herself was drawn to a little pile of rubble, that was nested in a small alcove. She started to dig through it and shooed again and again, until she freed a little neclace from the dirt. It was dusty and dirty and must have once belonged to one of the caretakers of the orchard. It had a golden pendant in the form of a flower and it even smelled like citrus somehow. Marble grabbed it with her beak and looked around. The sweet smell was calming her heart in this place of chaos and even though she was scared a moment ago, she now felt save and sound. Maybe this was the one thing she was really looking for and now she could help her friend find the treasure too. With a gentle shoo, Marble bowed towards the pile of rubble to thank the old caretaker for this gift, before she flew towards Eleonore to settle down there for a moment and simply watch the scenery.