"Father, I'm back now, and I brought someone from the surface," Clark called out as he led Sydra through the house and into a study. In the middle of the room was a large brown desk covered in books, and along the walls were bookcases with even more books on them. Sitting at the desk was an older gentleman who was deeply immersed in the book in his hands. "Father, we have a guest," Clark said, noticing that his father hadn't heard him before.
"Huh, what was that, a guest you say? Is it the Queen, oh my, I am not prepared to meet her yet," The old man said as he shut his book and tried to stand up, before stumbling over and knocking a few books off the desk. Rushing to help his father, Clark picked him up and sat him back down in his chair.
"No, the Queen said she had something to do before coming here to meet with you, but I did bring someone from the surface. His name is Sydra, and he came here to talk to you about brining everyone back up," Clark said as he began picking up the books that were on the ground and setting them back on the desk.
'Where is this man you speak of, I can't see without my glasses," Clark's father said as he began rummaging around his desk for his glasses. Stepping forward, Sydra picked up the glasses that had fallen to he floor with the books and handed them to the old man. As the old man slid the glasses up his nose he let out a light gasp.
"It's you..." the old man said, staring deeply into Sydra's eyes, his face full of recognition.
"I'm sorry, do you know me?" Sydra asked, wondering how an old man that had supposedly never been to the surface would know Sydra, who had never been here before.
"Ah, forgive my rudeness, my name is Lorn, and I have grown up reading a book that my ancestors left me that mentions you. Your the nature spirit of the Ascending Cloud Tree that used to sit in the middle of the ten settlements. In the books my ancestors left me were stories of the surface, and in one of them was a story about a humungous tree that had a unique aura. The book also explained what the aura of the nature spirit born from that tree would resemble," Lorn said as he stared at Sydra with a gaze of respect.
"I see, may I see the book that explains all of this?" Sydra asked, incredibly curious about the book that could describe his own aura to such a degree that a person he never met before could tell who he was.
"Certainly, Clark, help me find the book that our ancestors left us. It should have a red cover on it, with a golden tree on the front of it," Lorn said, looking around the room for the book.
"It is right here, in front of you," Clark said as he picked up the book that his father had been reading before they entered and handed it to Sydra.
Flipping through the pages, Sydra skimmed through the book to find the part that talked about him. Most of the book was about the history of the ancestors, and what they had been trying to accomplish when studying outer space. It also explained how they managed to slow the meteorites descent and keep it from destroying the planet. It seemed that it had taken only two people to accomplish the feat, one of wish was a gravity user, and the other one was someone who could change the size of things.
"Ah, here it is," Sydra said as he stopped on the page that talked briefly about his tree that was directly in the center of the ten settlements, before the Emerald Sea Forest was released. There was only a brief amount written down, and it just went over how the tree had a unique aura that resembled the trunk of a tree flipped upside down with the roots reaching up into the sky. The reason this was unique was because most living creatures had an oval aura around them. If they had more than one power, that could be seen by them having more than one aura around them as well. However, Sydra had multiple powers, but instead of having multiple auras around him he only had the roots, with each root a different color.
"Now do you understand how I was able to tell who you were when I saw you?" Lorn asked, watching Sydra's face change to one of understanding.
"Almost, I heard that the people in this settlement only have the power to control earth, but it seems that you have the power to see other people's auras. Am I right?" Sydra asked, setting the book back down on the table. He had already figured out every thing he needed too, and the book didn't say much about what had happened in the war against the Emerald Tree group.
"You are indeed correct, but no one else in this settlement except my son knows about this, so please don't tell them about it," Lorn requested as he motioned for Sydra to sit down in a chair across from him. "Now then, what did you come here to discuss, I'm assuming it has something to do with us returning to the surface?"
"That's right, currently there is no war going on, and I believe if you or anyone in Tindow wishes to see the surface now would be the time. If you do wish to do so, I can draw you up a map of how the outside world now looks, and point out places that towns have been established. I can also give you a way to cut down the trees that the Emerald Tree group released. They seem to have the ability to regrow overnight if not cut down with axes forged with plasma. Considering the distance from here to the outside, if your group wishes to stay here in this settlement they have already lived in for their entire lives, but also wishes to reconnect with the surface my group can provide materials to create a staircase that travels from here up to the surface," Sydra said, bringing up the ways he had thought of, for Tindow to reconnect with other villages and towns.
"Since birth, everyone in this settlement has heard tales of the surface, and the blue sky above. Because of these tales, we are all very curious about the surface, and how things have progressed over time. That is why I believe we should go forth with the staircase idea, that way my people won't have to leave their homes, but they can still see the world above. How do you plan on making this staircase?" Lorn asked, wondering how a staircase could be made using mostly earth controlling power. Although the entire cave was made out of dirt that everyone in the town could control, no one in the town had enough power to raise the dirt all the way to the cavern ceiling.
"Please gather everyone in the town and I will let you all know at that time. Oh wait, your son said that your legs do not work properly, do you mind if I see them? I have a healing type power that may be of some use to you," Sydra said, standing up and swirling the green lightning in his hand.
"I would be extremely grateful if you could do something about my legs. Not being able to walk around has been a nuisance as of late," Lorn said as he swung his legs out for Sydra to take a look at. Bending down, Sydra placed his hand that had the green lightning in it on top of Lorns legs and began sending it into him.
"It seems you have damaged your spine, which has led to your lower half being paralyzed. Hold on a second, and I will have you good as new," Sydra said as he circulated his lightning up and down Lorn's spine. Seconds later and Lorn began to wiggle his toes, before being able to completely move both his legs back and forth.
"Dang, that is such a useful power, it's to bad that everyone in Tindow was born with the earth aura. We'll except for that girl, Silf, she was the first one born with a different aura since I was born. I wonder how she is doing now, I heard she was brought to work for the Hive Queen," Lorn said, as he slowly stood up and began to walk around the room.
"Actually, the Red Coats that worked for the queen betrayed her fifty years ago, and ever since then they have been doing human experiments on the children taken from Tindow. We were able to save Silf, but the children that had been taken before her were all dead," Sydra said, causing Lorn's face to become clouded in grief.
"I see, a dear friend of mine had his son taken six months ago... Do you know if the bodies of the other children are still intact?" Lorn asked, hoping to return the bodies to their parents to be buried.
"Sadly, it seems only a boy who was taken ten years ago, and the one taken six months ago are the ones that the Red Coats had not already disposed of. I can bring the parents of those children to their parents while the rest of the town is working on the staircase if you want," Sydra said, thinking that would be the best course of action to take.
"Yes, please do. They deserve to say goodbye to their children," Lorn said as he led Sydra and Clark outside and over to a raised platform next to his house and in the center of the settlement. Everyone in the settlement had gathered in front of it, and on the outskirts of the crowd was Robert, Cidre and Erich, who was carrying Silf on his shoulders. They hadn't been able to find her parents yet, and the queen was still off looking for someone. The crowd became quiet as Lorn walked up onto the stage, many of the people in shock and waiting for someone to tell them what was happening exactly.