“Where are my friends, Alex and Melodi? What happened back at the warehouse after Aylynah attacked us?” Cypher decided to just go all out, there was no sense in beating around the bush. Syntinnial sighed and leaned back against the wall.
“I’m afraid I don’t know where your friends are, and I can’t tell you anything about this Aylynah person or any warehouse. Truth be told, I was scrying you. That is, I was watching you from afar through that puddle over there.”
Cypher looked at him with even more suspicion as Syntinnial pointed to a nearby puddle not far from where Cypher had woken up. Syntinnial sighed again, and he continued speaking in a slow deliberate manner.
“Then out of nowhere, you suddenly appeared in a bright flash of light. I can only guess that whatever was happening there caused some kind of rift to open which brought you here. As for your friends? Well, if I had to guess, I’d say they were pulled into the rift as well. That said, there’s no telling where they ended up.” Syntinnial finished with a shrug of his shoulders.
As strange as Syntinnial was, Cypher wasn’t getting any bad vibes from him. So far, he had done nothing but speak the truth, even if he was a bit roundabout in his answers. Cypher pulled his saber back into his ring and lowered his guard. He had been considering the man before him for a while now.
If he was a normal mortal, he wouldn’t be a threat at all. Cypher was sure he could simply run away from, or ignore the man at that point. But if he was a Conductor, and Cypher felt certain that he was, then he was hiding his power for some reason. In that case, Cypher could only assume that the man was much stronger than himself.
Normally, if one was hiding their power, it was for a few different reasons. Survival, espionage, courtesy in the presence of royalty, and many others. However, in a case like this, the reason would be that this old man was indeed stronger than Cypher.
If Cypher were in his shoes, he would want to get rid of any doubt that he was a threat. He would talk slowly, and openly and he would refrain from approaching in a threatening manner. Syntinnial had done all of those things and wanted to speak with Cypher for some reason.
Still, this man had to be several orders of magnitude stronger than Cypher for his presence to be completely undetectable. That worried Cypher more than the possibility of being attacked. If this guy wanted to, he could probably erase Cypher with little more than a flick of the wrist.
Besides, if his life wasn’t in danger, then he could focus on the more important things right now. If what this guy said was true, and he was in fact pulled through a rift, then Alex and Melodi were as well. Rifts could be caused by the clashing of powerful magicks. They were unpredictable and could lead literally anywhere, because of that they were quite dangerous.
In fact, Slingates were just controlled Rifts and usually stood at locations where natural ones occurred. If he and his friends had been pulled through one, they could indeed be literally anywhere in the world. With an unpredictable teleport like that, the chances that they would all be separated were fairly high.
He couldn’t know for sure, but Cypher let out a sigh of relief. If they had been pulled through the rift, then the Order didn’t have their hands on them anymore. That was good news as far as he was concerned, but it was still something he couldn’t verify.
“So,” began Cypher after coming out of thought. “Are you gonna tell me how you know who I am and why you were scrying me? Or should I just leave now?” Cypher felt like he could trust this guy, but if he wasn’t willing to share that much, then Cypher would simply leave and find his way toward a Slingate in order to return to Dellorim.
Syntinnial frowned and sighed. He scratched the back of his head and played with his robes, obviously reluctant to say. However, when Cypher then turned to leave towards the light, the old man spoke up at last.
“Alright, alright fine. I knew your father, Fenix,” he said. Cypher turned and raised his eyebrow in a questioning glance.
“Anyone who knows my name would be able to fabricate a similar story. I’m going to need a little more information than that if you really want to earn my trust,” replied Cypher.
Syntinnial sighed and threw up his hands in frustration, “FINE! Kids these days… can’t let an old man have his fun… I knew your mother Serenade too! I also happen to know that she’s still alive and kicking! As a matter of fact, she’s the one who tasked me with keeping an eye on you. There, you happy now?”
“Cypher turned to face him again and nodded, “Yeah, that will do. For the moment.” Anyone who knew that Serenade was still alive was either an ally or an enemy. If this guy was an enemy, he would have attacked by now. Cypher was also interested to hear about why his mother had come to this old guy and asked him to watch her son.
“Look,” began Syntinnial. “I promise that soon, all will be made clear to you. For now, you should follow me to my cottage. It’s just up the road. I’ll make us a nice meal and we’ll talk more there. After all, this cave is a bit dull and boring, cloaked in all this damp darkness. It would be much better to sit in the light and comfort of my humble home, wouldn’t you agree?
Cypher nodded, and he turned to leave for the exit when Syntinnial placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. “I wouldn’t just barge out of here like that. I may have forgotten to mention a little problem brewing outside. I mean, there’s a reason I’m in this cave after all.”
Cypher sighed and dropped his head in a display of annoyance, “What now? Whatever it is I’m sure we can handle it,” Cypher replied. Syntinnial made a strange expression and pointed toward the exit.
“You will have to handle it on your own, these old bones of mine aren’t exactly up to the task at the moment. My mind, on the other hand, is still ticking just fine!” said Syntinnial.
“So what is it then? You’ve seen it right? How powerful could it be if you’re still in one piece?” asked Cypher.
“Uh, hmm. Well, you see it’s a bit complicated. I needed a place to scry you and this cave was perfect since nobody would see or be able to detect me on account of the Anzephanite. Funny stuff, Anzephanite, great for increasing the gain on scrying spells but super annoying to get ahold of.
“I’m sure you know full well how troublesome it is to get a Drudge Worm to leave its den without destroying it.” Syntinnial ran his hand along the wall and in the light the hovering orb of light Cypher could clearly see the Anzephanite, or as it was more commonly known, Drudge Worm oil, dripping from the old man’s hand.
Cypher checked his own hand and sure enough, the slick substance was clinging to his skin. It wasn’t harmful, but Cypher couldn’t help but feel a bit disgusted by it all the same.
“I was able to safely force the beast out with some crafty pieces of magick, but… Well, now it’s pretty pissed off and I’ve maxed myself out for the day,” continued Syntinnial.
Cypher felt better knowing it was only a Zightbeast he had to worry about, especially one as weak as a Drudge Worm. “So how strong is it?” he asked.
“Oh, well it’s just a Rank-Three in the lower tier. You should be able to handle that right?” answered Syntinnial. Cypher could only let out a frustrated sigh as he turned and headed toward the exit. Drudge Worm or not, it was still a Rank-Three. His centers of power were still sore from the last battle and that would make this a tough fight.
Still, if he wanted to get out of this cave, dealing with that thing was going to be the first hurdle.
‘Alright,’ thought Cypher, ‘Let’s do this!’
