The Shoyru Spy

      Zara grabbed Sylas’ arm and pulled him towards the back exit of the Second-hand Shoppe. “What, you mean we have to leave right now?” Sylas tried to pull his arm back, but it was no use. The mysterious Aisha was stronger than she looked. “But I haven’t even said goodbye to my friend!” “There’s no time for that now, we need to get going before it’s too late!” “You keep saying that, but what do you mean by too late? Too late for what?” But the Aisha didn’t reply, she just dragged him out the door, across the road to the Defenders of Neopia headquarters. “The Defenders? But I thought they weren’t active anymore? No one has had a quest for them in years!” Sylas said. “Oh, well that’s just a front. It makes it easier to do the actual hard work of keeping Neopia safe if everyone believes we’re not really here, paying attention to every little thing that happens.” Zara opened the door and pushed him through it. “Don’t mind the cobwebs, it’s part of the disguise. Careful, don’t step there!” Sylas was just about to put down his foot on a tile that looked just like all other tiles. “What’s wrong with stepping here?” “It’s one of those trigger tiles, step on it and you’ll open up the floor and we’ll fall down into the dungeons. Here, follow me. You put your right foot here… and the left one there…” Zara jumped from tile to tile in a seemingly random pattern, across the open lobby and towards a… janitor’s closet? “It doesn’t look like much, but it’s bigger on the inside.” Through the door, down a spiral staircase, and Zara was right. It was definitely bigger on the inside. “Alright, you got me here. Now what?”

     In the days that followed, Zara did her best to try and bring Sylas up to speed on everything he didn’t know about his parents, and what their jobs actually consisted of. She told him stories about their travels, previous missions, and how Silas’ father once shorted out a missile timer with nothing more than a paperclip. She showed him how the Defenders’ surveillance system worked, and how to send coded messages through books left out in the open. They bonded over their shared love of spy glasses, particularly the kind that has night vision, and Zara tried to teach Sylas all he needed to know about the deep underground spy network that was the current iteration of the Defenders’ work. “This training is all well and good,” Sylas said eventually, “but what about the secret code we’ve already found? ‘When shadows lengthen and the obsidian eye opens, the heart of Neopia will fall silent. Seek the island's lost relic before the last eclipse, lest all be lost to the Order's embrace.’ We still don’t know what it means, or where to look for answers.” “Yes, you’re right. I would’ve liked to see you a bit more progressed in your training before we start gathering more information, but time is of the essence. I guess this will have to be enough for now.” Zara replied with a slight shrug. “Grab your things, it’s time to get going. First stop, the library.”

     Once at the library, Zara headed straight for the history section. “I thought we were trying to find more information about the island mentioned in the code, shouldn’t we be heading towards where all the maps are?” Sylas was already halfway down the corridor in the opposite direction. “Shh!” Zara snapped, “not so loud. You don’t know who’s listening. No, I think I figured out which island they were talking about while you were studying, there aren’t really many options if we’re talking about ancient lost relics. However, I need some clarity on which relic it is we’re talking about. I have a fear that it might be…” Sylas didn’t quite catch the last part of what Zara said, as she had bounded off again towards the history books and left him standing alone. A shadow flickered across the library floor, but Sylas paid no more attention to it than did the fly slowly making its way towards the window, ending its journey in a slow thud, thud, thud, as it tried and tried again to escape the dusty halls of the library. Sylas’ gaze followed the fly while he started walking in the direction of Zara. “Poor fly,” he thought, “stuck here with no way out.”

     He eventually found Zara, her nose deep in a dark velvet red book, one foot patting excitedly on the floor. “I think I found something!” she exclaimed, barely even looking up. “It’s as I suspected, we must head to Mystery Island. This book tells the story of an ancient artefact used by a long-forgotten mystic to control his followers.” “Mind control? Is that a real thing?” Sylas said. “Yes,” Zara replied, “we didn’t have time to go over that in your training, but it very much is a real thing. And a very dangerous one at that. Whoever gets their hands on the artefact, if it is in fact this one, can control any of the Neopets in Neopia!” “Well that just sounds like a horrible time for all. But how will we get there? It’s not like the giant Walein does detours on his way to Faerieland.” “Don’t worry about that, the Defenders have a small boat just for such an occasion.”

     Making land on Mystery Island, Sylas took a few wobbly steps on firm land. He hadn’t had the nerve to tell Zara that he easily got seasick, as he didn’t consider it fitting for a spy in training to not be able to take whatever transportation necessary. “Where should we start looking?” Sylas asked, starting to get his bearings. Zara bounced off the boat on her tail, seemingly having had no issue with the journey. Even the whirlpool over Maraqua hadn’t made her face green, she had just steered the boat around and around and - best not to think about it, thought Sylas, or he’d soon start to feel faint again. “On the northern side of Techo Mountain, there’s supposed to be a lost city filled with ancient ruins, called Geraptiku. Legend has it the old mystic used to live there,” Zara said. “Alright, sounds like a good place to start. How do we find it?” Sylas replied. “It shouldn’t be too hard, after all the island isn’t that big. And I heard that there are quite a few adventurers heading into the ruins to find strange Petpets. Watch your head!” A beach volleyball flew over their heads, a Mynci running after it with a Turtum stuck to its foot. “Sorry about that!” it shouted, picking up the ball and running back towards its friends. “Let’s get going before it gets too late,” Zara said, slowly waving towards the Mynci.

     Reaching the ruins in the early afternoon, they quickly started on their exploration of the area. Having gone through several of the abandoned huts and coming up empty-handed, they decided to head into the deserted tomb. A plaque next to the entry read “If you value your life, it’s best to stay away.” with a skull and bones scribbled under it. Not heeding the warning, they lit torches they’d bought from the tiki tack stand next to the harbour and headed inside, while the tropical bushes rustled slowly in the wind. Sylas threw a quick glance over his shoulder before the entryway disappeared from his view. “I must just be paranoid from all the spy training,” he thought, “no one knows we’re here.” Catching up to Zara, they then made their way through the winding maze that was the inside of the deserted tomb. The torches flickered, casting long shadows over the walls, while the floor made crunching sounds underfoot. Whether it was from the small remains of ancient bones or just snacks adventurers had left behind, they didn’t know nor cared to find out. They were on a mission, and thinking too deeply about what they were stepping on wouldn’t have made a difference. “Here! Look!” said Zara, and Sylas could hear the excitement in her voice. “What is it?” he asked. “It’s the artefact, silly!” “This thing? But it’s just a… well, what is it? A metal orb?” “I think it can be opened up, I’m just not sure how,” said Zara, twisting the artefact around in her hands. “At least the Obsidian Order didn’t get to it before we did,” she continued, handing the orb to Sylas. “Take care of this, will you? Let’s make our way back, maybe we can find out more in the library back in Neopia.” “Back to the boat, then?” Sylas said, barely able to disguise his reluctance to endure another journey across the sea. “You’ll be fine. The hard part is over now!”

     They had barely exited the deserted tomb, eyes trying to adjust to the light outside, when Sylas was hit over the head from behind. “Sylas!” screamed Zara, but her voice soon became muffled and distant, the sound of her feet being dragged away on the mud pathway. Someone bent over Sylas, grabbing the artefact from his hands. His eyes were blurry, he could barely make out an outline of the figure. But somehow it was still recognisable. But it couldn’t be, could it? “Luna?” he whispered, eyes closing and the world around him fading away.

To be continued…