“So you can control metals?” Pahhur was talking to Thorium.
“Yep, took a bit to find enough metal to convert to gold, but it was worth it.” He was holding a sack that was glimmering it looked like he had threaded it with gold. I was still irritated that he hadn't let go of the gold in most of his bags. Rather than leave it behind he just grabbed more bags and put the food in them. Now the food weight had been divided.
“If you can just make gold, why do you have to cart all that around? You could be doing something useful. Like carrying the food.”
“But... It's so shiny.” I rolled my eyes and gave up. But not long after I heard a commotion behind me.
“Oy! Stop that!” I turned and saw Pahhur holding one of the bags out of Thorium's reach. One gold bar was already halfway in her mouth.
“Yeg wright.” Pahhur said around the bar. “Igt thasts shigny.”
“Pah, don't talk with your mouthful.” I groaned. She nodded and swallowed what was left in one gulp.
“Hey, that gives me an idea...”
“No Pah. Don't you dare.” Thorium was still trying to stop her, but since he was heavier built and carrying several bags full of heavy metals, she was easily escaping his grip. Soon she had a few bags full and was up in the trees. After a minute I realized she wasn't coming down, and I moved up to let Raven and Vyrse know we were braking for lunch.
Thorium didn't join us, spending most of his time trying to coax Pahhur down; that or smashing the trees she was in. I decided to ignore the commotion and sat with Syndil, who was looking a bit lonely.
“It's so peaceful here.” She said suddenly. “You almost wouldn't think anything was wrong.”
“I guess.” I said. “I dunno, the lack of animals is kind of unnerving.”
“Yeah, but otherwise it's really quiet. You know, ignoring those two.” She motioned back at Pah and Thorium. Pah had apparently stolen even more bags.
“True. This might even be a pleasant place to live if we can reclaim it.” I was thinking now. Even if we somehow survived and reached safety, those Armors are still trying to kill us off. None of our problems will be solved. Wondering about that I picked back up the orb. After a few minutes I found what I was looking for.
“Neko?” Vyrse interrupted me. “I think we need your help.” I briskly returned the orb to a pouch and turned to see a group of trees tied together, and Thorium trying to climb up on top of them. Near the top the leaves had become black, so I assumed Pah was up there.
“We aren't making a fort Pah!” I called up to her.
“I know!” She yelled back. “I just need some solid footing for a bit. And I need him off my back!” The treetops were bending grotesquely. It looked like Pahhur had managed to get most of the gold from Thorium, he was only making half-hearted attempts to get up now. Then there was a rustling and Pahhur jumped down carrying something. It looked like some sort of wheel-barrel made primarily of gold.
“See, now he can keep his gold, and we don't have to carry more.” She patted it gently. It still seemed a little molten, since the ground under it was being singed.
“Maybe we should wait for it to cool some more.” Pahhur noticed what Raven was pointing at.
“Oh. I thought it felt cool... I mean... It's solid right? I can't tell you how hard it was to make it stay this shape once it started melting.” I was actually impressed she managed to do this at all. Thorium had made his way over and was appraising the vehicle.
“It's a little shabby, It looks like it'll roll unevenly.” He said after a few moments. He climbed under it and began to move the metal. “I guess I better make this some form of alloy now, since as a soft metal the gold won't survive long.” He began working on it, completely distracted from his prior issues. As I watched them I sighed, and returned to my seat.
“Just leave them.” I told Vyrse. “I've got something else to do.” I pulled the orb back out, quickly finding what I had been looking at earlier. In what looked like the southern area of the planet, there was a city of some sort. The density of red there was absurdly think. If we could destroy that, we might be able to reclaim what was left of the planet. All I needed was a plan.
Comments:
Yes Thorium didn't think about turning the gold into something useful earlier. Why should he? There's a simplistic beauty in a golden bar. But not when it's being eaten by a hyper-active fire spawn.
Speaking of, Pah seems happier now, I'd guess she's starting to get used to her body, and now that Neko knows her secret that's not weighing on her either. Still needs to learn to socialize with people though.
I'm still looking for editors to help clean up this and Metudo's stories to make them ready for the Kindle/Amazon/where ever else I can find to put it. Anybody that signs on will get a cut of the sales; since I can't actually pay anyone when I have no money. (Yes I will be putting up something like this all this week, since some people might not read all the stories that are posted.)
In other news, blah.
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