Fortuneteller Beginnings
Þ First.
Alike that prophecy there was a hundred other entries engraved upon the stone walls of the ruins, most of which were by the same ancient character, Eva. The abandoned hallways of the temple along with the eerie inscriptions on the walls gave off an atmosphere that made the place seem much colder than it actually was. The ruins, though low lying, covered a large portion of the dying jungle they inhabited. It did not seem to disturb the growth of the parasitic flora of the forest, as their roots ran like veins across the walls and the floors, gripping the very place with a death hold as though it was determined to strangle the breath out of the stones themselves.
The writing itself was in an alien language, to the greatest degree, that was composed of scratches and marks that almost appeared to be naturally occurring forms of erosion. The name Eva was scribbled often—sometimes her own writing or sometimes another’s that was citing her. It was amazing to be able to use the language that Dmetri had been taught by his mother when he was growing up, and even more amazing that he had remembered it all this time.
His mother had been from this place, she had been born here, although she was made to leave when she was picked up by a human space craft after being stranded there only long enough to learn how to stand. She had taught Dmetri everything she knew about the Naski and their history through bedtime stories and songs, and implied that he should visit the ruins himself someday like she did later in her life. But him ending up here was not by his own decision, it was purely a weird twist of fate that he stood inside the very building where his mother had been born, before the very remnants of the species he descended from.
Yaamefli, Dmetri’s mother, had alluded to Eva often herself, implying that the Naski gave a light to Eva similar to that of a goddess, or a prophet. But she was a Naski who existed a very long time ago, even though her premonitions held loosely through many years.
Dmetri paced through the corridors, ultimately bored by all the useless scribbling, he stopped reading it and just began looking around. Some of the walls were falling apart; others had been taken apart by the forest. The most peculiar thing about the walls and the floor though, was some of them were simply cracked looking as though it were being wedged apart by invisible sources.
The room Dmetri came upon was showered with a single ray of light coming from the ceiling. There were roots entangling the structures within the room, going in and out of the walls through cracks and then branching out into the open looking like they were reaching out for a hand shake. The floor, however, was of more interest.
The floor of this room was cracked, and whatever was cracking the walls was seeping out into the open. It was a clear crystalline substance, looking slimy with its green shine, overflowing from the crack in the floor and covering most of the floor. For the most part, it didn’t look like it was intended to be there.
Dmetri had seen this mentioned before, it was the kraranasha xiya (in English: conqueror crystal). The Naski had blamed their descent from the poisoning this xiya brought as it overtook their cities and destroyed their population. There was no reasoning provided as to why it had invaded their cities, or as to why it was only present in some of the Naski ruins when practically all of their kind died out. Dmetri could only assume it was hazardous. The very existence of the crystal in this room seemed forewarning; it glazed the floor and was spreading outward from this wound in the stone. The ruins themselves were fighting a losing battle. A white crystal glazed the floor; it almost looked like it had just been dug out of the ground. It was not ice, as it shined green in places the light from a hole in the rock ceiling. There were no roots entwined in the walls, but the white crystalline substances ran its way mimicking the roots all across the room from its little nest (it’s heart). The shards of it sticking up, as though it could have been growing there recently. The crystal was not flat, but it did cover the walls with veins.
Þ Trying crystal: Second.
The entire floor had a huge crevasse in it, the cracks of it extending out to greet the walls. Dead leaves that had floated in from the opening in the ceiling covered the floor along with pieces of decaying vines and roots, almost camouflaging what lay underneath embedded within those cracks breaking the room apart. But Dmetri didn’t have to step any closer to see what was under the leaves, as it lay shining in the speckled light flying in from above. It was a clear crystalline structure overflowing out of the crevasse and glazing the entire floor, trying to take a hold on the walls from its heart in the cracks. It had been mentioned in the writings on the walls before this room in a fashion similar to that of a warning, it was called the kraranasha xiya, or conqueror crystal. The Naski had lost to it, and so the ruins themselves were succumbing to it. There was no reasoning provided as to why it had invaded their cities, where it had come from, or as to why it is blamed for the Naski’s disappearance when it is only present in some of the ruins around the planet (i.e.: what had really caused the Naski’s demise).
There was no way to cross the room without stepping into it.
