Li opened up a small pocket of space in the chrysalis, letting Tia put her small hands out and take the grey scale. The scale looked huge in her hands, appearing like a solid plate of metal almost as large and even sturdier looking than a metal breastplate.
The scale was a light, faded shade of grey littered with scratches – the marks of time. However, there was a faint gleam about its surface that shone even through the age. A light blue shine that flickered like cold flame.
"Impressive," said Li as he inspected the scale in Tia's hands.
"What is it, seer?" said Mercer, ever more curious than his brother Mason who even now stood silent and wary, overwhelmed by the sheer scale and speed of events that had just transpired. "That you would deem anything impressive is rare indeed."
"Aye, it is hard to impress the lad," said Old Thane. He smiled. "Makes me curious about this scale, too."
"Nothing too much," said Li. "Are any of you familiar with how rock hydras or mountain drakes strengthen their scales?"
"I do recall reading something about it." Mercer scratched his head. "Alas, it has been too long since my expulsion from adventuring curriculum."
"Not that you were ever one for the books anyway," said Mason. He nodded, remembering. "If I recall correctly, is it not true that earthen dragonkin fortify their scales by sleeping on precious ores?"
"Or consuming them," added Asala.
"All correct," said Li. He pointed to the blue gleam that flickered off the scale. "That scale is infused with adamant, though the scale itself has grown softer from centuries of decay, even if this black matter slowed it down. Tia, if you consume that, I have no doubt you will become far, far stronger."
Tia looked down at the scale pensively. "Feels wrong. This scale…not me. Was for him."
"And now, he has given it to you," said Li. He knelt down and put a comforting hand on Tia's head. "It will surprise you all to hear this, but there was once a time I felt much the same as Tyr.
Sometimes, your head is the worst place to be, the easiest place to get stuck in, and that stops you from ever moving forward. It keeps you in the past, sinking and sinking until you feel like there is no point to anything.
And sometimes, the only way out, the only way up, is to let go. Let go of the past. My suffering was nowhere near what Tyr is facing now, but I can understand what he is trying to do. He gave away that scale because he wants to face the present, and to even begin to do that, he needs to move on from the past.
Tia, that scale is for you and only for you. Tyr has let go of it, and for the better."
Tia nodded and looked up to Li with saddened, big eyes. "Papa, are you still sad?"
Li shook his head. It sounded so silly, but the time he was at his worst, his most cynical, was when he realized his dreams were never going to be fulfilled. No matter what he did, he would never live the life he wanted or walk through a green and blue world. He could have been the greatest genius of his times, but even then, society would never have allowed him to break the status quo.
That realization crushed him. But finding Elden World let him face the reality of his life better and gave him the strength to compromise on his dreams. In a way, it sounded quite sad, settling on his dreams like that, but trying to keep yourself living to dreams so high they were always out of reach was quite possibly the most exhausting thing anyone could put themselves through.
Settling for virtual reality gave his mind some peace, and with that peace, he made friends and happy memories. It was not perfect, but then again, what ever was?
"No, I am fine," said Li. He looked at Tia's caring face and smiled. "Never better, in fact. Don't worry about me. Take the scale, Tia. You will get stronger with it, and the more you fight, the more you carry on the memories entrusted, and the more you will help to ease Tyr's heart."
"Okay," said Tia quietly as she looked down at the scale for one lingering glance before opening her mouth wide, her double rows of vicious teeth fully bared, and chomped down. The scale was soft enough to chew, though its metallic sturdiness made ear-splitting wrenching sounds as Tia's teeth cracked and warped it.
Everyone except Li, Zagan, Tia, and Asala covered their ears.
Tia finished eating the scale, tearing it up chunk by chunk, and as she gulped down the last of it, a blue light swelled up in her chest, visible through her clothing. She blinked several times, her eyes widened in surprise, and her breathing began to shallow.
Li came close to her side, a little concerned, but she smiled to show she was okay. The light faded from within her body, and as it did so, she blinked hard. When she opened her eyes, a flash of green light erupted from them, blasting forwards in concentrated rays.
Thankfully, Tia was in enough control of herself to face away from everyone, and the rays crashed on the chrysalis, absorbing into the sturdy magical construct without damaging it. She blinked several times again, her eyes a little watery, and she raised her arms to her eye level, looking at faint patches of blue tinted scales forming on her skin.
"Interesting," said Li. "It looks like you've inherited powers from when Hildr was both an oculon and a rock hydra."
She had evolved, gaining new abilities and several levels.
Tia rubbed her eyes before yawning. "Tired."
And like before when she evolved, she was drained of energy, though it seemed not to the same degree as she had been when she was a wyrm and gaining strength at breakneck pace.
Li hugged Tia and raised her up in his arms. "You're long overdue for a rest. A well-deserved one, too."
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The mass of black flesh latched around the chrysalis propelled it up at incredible speed, and it did not take long before the party was past the shattered remnants of the Helgat. Here, as Li watched sitting down with Tia in his lap, he figured they would stop, but the flesh construct continued to move them up.
It formed an ever-elongating pillar beneath the chrysalis, snaking it up past the many bridges and broken pieces of dwarven civilization. They moved above the tunnels they had entered the mountain through, leaving instead through a domed gate at the top of the mountain.
A tendril of black flesh shot out from their platform, digging into the heavy gate of fortified and enchanted metals. The malleable, alien flesh did not pry the gate apart with force, but instead snaked its way into its crevices and locks, operating its opening mechanism to slowly roll it apart, revealing the sunny sky above.
As the sunlight streamed it, it revealed countless perches of rock carved into the walls of the mountain's innards, and each perch had a rune inscribed detailing two names. The name of a dwarf and their draconic mount. This must have been where the dragonkin riders rested and entered and exited.
In a way, it was symbolic that Tyr sent them out through here. Like he was giving his dearest friend one last flight.
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