The Shoyru Spy

     Knocking the guards out proved easier than expected, and after Luna picked up the keys to the dungeon from one of the guards’ pockets, Luna and Sylas quickly made their way to the dungeons. “Mom!” shouted Luna, running towards one of the cells. The keys jangled as she hurriedly opened the cell door. “Luna!” she replied, “What are you doing here? Won’t the guards come back?” “Don’t worry about it Mom, we took care of them. Sylas, this is my mom. Mom, this is Sylas. He’s a friend.” “Oh, this is Sylas?” Luna’s mom said with a smile. “I see.” “MOM. Not now! We need to hurry, there’s not much time.” Luna hurried over to the other, still locked, cell. “Zara? Is that your name?” “Yes,” Zara answered, walking over to the cell door from the small, stone bench she’d been sitting on. “I… what’s going on? Sylas? What are you doing with HER?” Sylas blushed, but quickly regained his composure. “She’s a friend. Zara, meet Luna. It’s a long story, but we can trust her. She’s going to help us stop the Obsidian Order, and take back the artifact.” “But she kidnapped me!” “Yes, and now she’s freeing you. Try to keep up, Zara, we don’t have much time!” Sylas said, echoing what Zara had said to him when they first met, just a few days earlier. Zara frowned, but said nothing. “So what’s the plan here?” Sylas said, turning to Luna, as the cell door swung open.

     “They intend to do what?!” Zara said, looking incredulously at Luna. “I know. I thought it couldn’t really be true, but they seem to have figured out how to increase the power of the artefact so they can control everyone in Neopia at the same time, not just a single individual. I didn’t really want to help them, you know, but they had my mom and -” “Nevermind that now!” Zara said, waving with her hand as if to say that it’s all forgiven. “We need to focus on stopping them! Do you know where they’re keeping the artefact?” “No, not exactly. But I know where they’ll gather to release its power.” “In the clearing beyond the Carnival of Terror?” Sylas interrupted. “No,” Luna replied, “That was for gathering items needed to improve its potency. The gathering is to happen at midnight tonight, on top of Edna’s Tower. I couldn’t leave the actual place as a clue, in case they were watching my store and reading my notes. Sorry about that.” “Don’t worry about it,” Sylas said, a little annoyed with himself that he didn’t realize that leaving hidden messages probably wasn’t done at the top of someone’s desk. Or at least you should probably be wary of what you found, as a spy. He still had much to learn. “The important thing is that we’re on the same side now,” he continued, “but how are we going to outsmart a whole gaggle of… well, what is the Order, exactly?”

     Meanwhile, at Edna’s Tower, cloaked figures were moving up and down the staircases to the top of the tower, moving things around in preparation of the coming storm, the orb sitting in a glass container, starting to crackle…

     Making their way towards Edna’s Tower, Luna told the story of the Obsidian Order. The Order had once been a group of historians, researching old myths and legends, working for the Neopian University. Until one of them stumbled upon the myth of the magician and his mysterious orb, while researching the history of the deserted tomb of Geraptiku. The historian had gathered his colleagues, told them about the orb, and what power it could afford them. That’s when they invented the Order, marking their commitment to each other by cutting their fingers with a shard of obsidian. From what Luna could gather, their initial idea had been to use the powers for good, to make a better society for all. But power corrupts, and soon the ideas took on a darker form. What had started as an idea of simply controlling a select few key individuals, to make them choose the correct path forward for the greater good, was twisted into controlling everyone at all times, just to make sure people didn’t end up reverting back to their old ways. A temporary, albeit not really moral, solution would be turned into a permanent dystopia for all but the members of the Obsidian Order, who would be the only ones retaining their free will.

     First sneaking into Edna’s Tower through the underground tunnels connecting it with the Haunted House, Sylas, Zara, Luna, and Luna’s mom then made their way through the tower’s creaky corridors, and up the winding stone staircases towards the top. They communicated by using hand gestures to avoid making too much noise, and narrowly avoided getting caught by the tower’s guards by making use of a secret passageway that opened when Sylas accidentally knocked over a book. Edna may be a bit strange, but her way of making use of every little inch of that tower proved useful in avoiding capture.

     At the top of the tower, they stopped just behind a stone pillar to watch the mysterious figures of the Obsidian Order, and the preparations being made. They could hear the patter of feet moving quicker and quicker, increasing the speed as the clock drew nearer to midnight. The crackling of the orb grew louder, and there appeared to be a bright purple light emanating from the cracks. The cloaked figures gathered in a semi-circle, seemingly waiting for something, or someone. “What should we do?” whispered Sylas, “It doesn’t look like we have a lot of time left.” “I’ll take Mom with me and go around the other side. You two stay here,” Luna said in a hushed voice. “Just watch them, when we’ve created a distraction you take the artefact.” Sylas looked at her, his hands starting to shake. “I don’t know if I can do this. I’m not brave like you two,” he said, looking at Luna and Zara. “It’ll be fine,” Zara said, “What’s the worst that could happen? We fail and the whole world is ruled by power-hungry people? Hah! Never going to happen. Go on Luna, we’ve got this.” She smiled at Luna, and as Luna and her mom disappeared into the shadows, she turned to Sylas. “Don’t forget you’re your father’s son. You have the power within you to do this.” Feeling his hands steadying and his breath slowing, Sylas watched closely as another hooded figure came out of the shadows from the opposite side of the tower. It must be their leader. “Luna, hurry up! They’re about to -” he didn’t have time to finish his thought before he heard a loud thud, and the sound of metal clanking down a staircase. As the hooded figures turned towards the sound, Sylas rushed over to the artefact and picked it up. The crackling was deafening so close, and as the purple light escaped the orb and swirled around his hands, he could feel its power tempting him. It would be so easy to just - With all his willpower, he pushed the orb closed, and ran towards Zara. “Hurry!” she hissed, “get inside!” She motioned him to the secret passageway they’d gone through earlier, and just as they shut the hidden door they could hear a scream of despair from the cloaked figures. The clock struck midnight, it was now too late for their plans to rule Neopia.

     Meeting up with Luna and her mom in the underground tunnels, Sylas and Zara heard the story of how Luna had knocked an old knight's armour over, letting it fall all the way down a staircase. That had proved a good distraction not just for Sylas, but also for Luna’s escape. The cloaked figures had assumed she went down the staircase, and rushed down them, while she escaped out a window. They made their way back to Neopia, and after leaving the artefact for safekeeping at the Defenders’ headquarters, they all gathered in Sylas’ house, sitting in his library in front of a crackling fireplace. Exhausted, but at peace, they could finally rest. Zara’s eyes caught the glimmering of the gold leaf on the cover of the book that started the whole series of events. “So who was it that left the mysterious code in the book?” Zara asked. Sylas looked confused. “What do you mean? I thought you were the one who did that? When I went back to the Second-hand Shoppe, you were waiting for me there. I just assumed you were the one who hid the code in the book for me to find.” “Nope, wasn’t me. Actually, I got a message too, just before you did.” “Really? That’s strange. Well, I guess it doesn’t matter anymore, Neopia is saved and all’s well that ends well.” “Yeah I guess,” said Zara, “I’d still like to know who’s out there, helping us. I want to know if they’re a friend, or a foe with temporary mutual interests. The handwriting seemed like something I’d seen before…” “Maybe someday we’ll have a chance to find out who it is,” Sylas replied, grabbing the book from the table and putting it into his bookshelf under A, for Adventure.

     The End.