Page 54 of Own To Obsess

As she washed her face at the stream, she tried to analyze what Kardos had said. He needed her to be here, but he couldn’t tell her why. And he said that Islanders used the mountains to learn things. Was this supposed to be some kind rite of passage, liked she’d heard about in the stories Kyus told her? Was the discovery some kind of journey. Was she supposed to discover herself? Discover a way out? One thing she did know was that she was going to freeze if she didn’t find some kind of heat soon. Her fingers already felt numb after using the icy cold stream.

She examined the gray rock in more detail, knowing it could produce heat, but not knowing how to get it hot. It had something to do with rotations and changing color.

Thankfully, this rock was smaller than the ones Kardos and his men had lifted. It took some effort, but she was able to tilt up one side to push it over onto a new side, but it didn't change color.

She rotated it again to a different side, then again to another. Nothing happened.

Sitting next to it for a moment, she examined the rock carefully. There had to be some kind of order to it that she wasn't seeing. She noticed that each corner of the rock had a slightly different shape carved into it. That had to be a key of some sort. She began to rotate the rock again, turning it using the shapes in the corner to measure what she was doing.

Finally after one rotation, the rock glowed an icy blue. Shaya grinned in excitement. It was working!

She tried a different side, but the icy blue remained. After a while, it began to fade, and she couldn’t get it back. Before she knew it, darkness was approaching again.

The next day was much the same; she managed to get the icy blue back but didn't make much progress.

The energy she used pushing the rock was the only thing that was staving off the cold, but she also wasn’t eating.

That afternoon, she sat down to rest, sweat pouring from her brow. She went to find the stream to wash her face, and after momentarily struggling to find the opening, she decided to feel along the entire cavern in case she was missing anything. And she was shocked to find another crevice. Inside sat a small bench with cups and saucers, and next to it, a hand rake.

Shaya stared at the items on the bench. Fevvoli tea. Unbelievable!

They couldn't leave her with blankets, food, or any other necessity, but bland fevvoli tea? She burst out laughing in a fit of hilarity, fully realizing that she was probably insane, but at least it warmed her up a bit. As she carried the bench and rake back to the clearing, she decided fevvoli tea was better than nothing, even if it was cold.

She filled the strange teapot with water from the tiny waterfall and made the tea slow and steady, with no pressure on her this time from anyone. As she poured, she was amazed that steam rose from the water and into her face.

She stared at it. And then examined the pot. How had it made the water hot? Thinking back, she’d never seen anyone fill the pot before. It always had hot water in it. Maybe the tea wasn’t so pointless after all.

Holding her face over the cup for a short moment, she sighed at the feel of the steam rising and hitting her face. However, when she took a sip of it, shock hit her hard.

The tea tasted completely different. Rich, warm, complex flavors burst into her mouth tasting almost like a meal. She took another sip, trying to pinpoint what meal, but it was difficult.

As she sipped the tea down eagerly, she wondered what made it taste so different this time when the other times she had it, it was bland. Maybe anything tasted better in a starved state?

She finished the fevvoli tea much quicker than she’d ever drank it before and immediately she poured another cup. As she sipped, she wished that maybe there was some kind of spice in the tea that provided desert flavors. Immediately, the taste on her tongue changed and became fruity and light. Shaya savored the tea in her mouth for a long time before she swallowed, her heart lifting she was able to finally taste something.

Clearly, fevvoli tea worked differently in the discovery mountains. She was able to make it taste like anything she thought about, whether it was something delicious or something she didn't like.

The teapot ran out of water as she was pouring her fifth cup, but she felt more energized now that she “tasted” so many meals.

She worked more with the rock, rotating it to its different sides and managed to get it to a deep blue, but the rock had to get to orange before it was hot… or was that red? The one in Kardos' bedroom was always a deep fiery orange….

After discovering the fevvoli tea, being in the cavern was beginning to sense. There were things for her to do here, things to discover, and maybe Kardos wanted her to do that. But why? Why didn’t he just tell her in advance why it was important to him?

He knew that this cavern would include darkness, and yet he didn't warn her about it. She couldn't understand his lack of communication especially since they’d made so much progress lately.

The emotions coming from him through their bond were confusing. A strange blend of pride, contentment, anxiousness, and worry revolved within it, and each one dominated differently per day. It didn’t seem like he was thinking about her at all.

Still, there wasn't time to focus on him right now. She would get her chance to ask him when she left this place, but that meant trying to get warm.

Using the hand rake, she dug into the soil to see what kind of plants were buried.

Deep within the soil were types of vegetables she hadn’t seen before. They looked like strange multicolored potatoes, but when she bit into they tasted like tomatoes, though some hadn’t yet ripened. On a hunch, she poured the fevvoli tea over a ripe tomato and bit into it. Suddenly she was chewing perfectly cooked roasted vegetables in thick gravy with tender roasted boar. Squealing with delight, she ate all the ripe tomatoes in one go and then fell asleep next to the rock.

However, upon waking she quickly realized her mistake.

There were no more tomatoes to eat until more were ripened. Also, sleeping during the day couldn’t happen, not if she wanted to be able to make progress on the rock during daylight when she could see the carvings.

And so, a pattern began to emerge.

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