After getting back to Tindow, Sydra went to the graveyard where the other parents were waiting with two small coffins. Kneeling on the grass, Sydra placed the two boys into the coffins before they were closed and lowered into the ground. Lorn then came over and said a few words, before leading Sydra away to let the parents say one more goodbye.
"Thanks again, for doing that for them," Lorn said as he and Sydra walked over to the blacksmith's forge. Sydra wanted to see how things were progressing with the nails he had asked for.
"Of course, I'm just sorry that they had to go through such a thing in the first place," Sydra said shaking his head. "By the way, I saw that the staircase seems to be going according to plan, it is getting quite high,"
Sydra glanced over at the massive pile of dirt that was slowly being raised up. It was already so high, that Sydra could see it from the opposite side of Tindow. Large piles of dirt continued to be moved towards the staircase before being hardened into thick bricks. These bricks were then placed upon one another while other people began placing large wooden beams on them to create the structure.
"Indeed, but it looks like we might need a lot more wood before we are able to finish it," Lorn said as he opened the door to the forge, allowing a the warm air inside to seep out. Stepping inside quickly, Sydra closed the door behind them to keep the rest of the warmth from escaping.
"You don't have to worry about the wood, I collected a large amount of it today. Tomorrow I will drop it off at the staircase, so they can continue the construction," Sydra said while planning to run up to the surface tomorrow and collect the rest of the wood that his spiders were processing at the moment.
"That's good. Hey Kio, how are things going so far?" Lorn asked as Kio walked out from the room where the forge was, with a large hammer thrown over his shoulder. Wiping the sweat off from his face, Kio walked over to another part of the room and pulled out a few crates of long nails.
"I was able to finish ten cases of these nails, so you should be able to get the staircase up to it's third platform with these," Kio said as he set the crates down in front of Sydra. Placing his hands on the crates, Sydra sent them into his Arbor Sanctum.
"You wouldn't happen to need more firewood, would you?" Sydra asked, hoping to get rid of some of the branches he had picked up today. Mixing the branches with a special substance allowed them to become hot enough that it could melt ores down into forging material.
"Actually, I do, I was going to pick some up after I finished the next five cases, but if you already have some I would gladly take it off your hands," Kio said, hoping to receive some free firewood. The place he normally got it from charged him an outrageous amount for it, as they were the only ones who sold any.
"Yup, where do you want me to leave it?" Sydra asked, looking around the cramped room.
"You can leave it out back, there is another pile of wood there that you can toss it on top of," Kio said, before Sydra and Lorn bid their farewell and he got back to creating nails. After leaving all the firewood he had collected that day on top of the pile, they headed over to the construction site.
Gazing up at the staircase, Sydra was amazed by the work efficiency of these people. He had only been gone a few hours, but the staircase was already halfway to the roof. Walking up the ramp, Sydra noticed that some of the people had brought over the light crystals and stationed them along the middle of the ramp.
"What are those crystals made out of? I noticed that they give off a warm glow that allows life to thrive in this place," Sydra asked, turning to look at Lorn who simply smiled.
"They are something that the Scorpedes brought with them when they landed on this planet. The Scorpedes told us that they are part of a planet that drifted too close to a star and gathered its energy, before breaking apart and landing on their planet," Lorn explained as he and Sydra reached the top of the staircase.
"Sydra, your finally back! What do you think of our staircase so far?" Robert asked as he jogged over proudly.
"It is quiet impressive, you have all done an amazing job" Sydra said as he complimented all the workers. Looking around, Sydra saw that Silf was still accompanying his group, as she was currently standing next to Cidre with the blueprints in her hands. "You haven't found her parents yet?" Sydra asked, turning to look at Robert.
"No... Its really odd, but I don't think were going to find her parents. Everyone we have talked to about her said that her family was very secretive, and the day she was taken away they disappeared. What should we do if we can't find them, should we bring her with us?" Robert asked, looking back at Silf who was waving at Sydra.
"I'm not sure yet, we should keep looking for her parents, and if we can't find them by the time we leave, we will talk to her about it. She might actually want to stay and work for Sophia, so there is also that option," Sydra said as he took out some of the cases of nails, before turning to look at Lorn "Hey Lorn, what do you think happened to her parents?"
"I'm not sure, as I hadn't even known that her family existed until the girl was born. Since the family always kept to themselves no one in Tindow got to know the girl either. Since she seems as close as she does with your group, if you could take care of her it might be for the best," Lorn said as he motioned for some people to gather the nails and start the process of connecting the wood beams together.
"I see, well it wouldn't be hard for us to take care of her, as I have a place that she can live in. But what if her parents return later, and Silf is off with us?" Sydra asked as this was the biggest worry he had.
"You don't have to worry about that, my parents aren't coming back," Silf said as she walked up and looked into Sydra's eyes.
"What do you mean? Why do you believe they aren't going to come back for you?" Sydra asked, wondering why Silf would believe such a thing.
"That is because before the Scorpedes took me away, my parents told me that they were going to leave Tindow and head to the surface. I wasn't sure if they had left yet which is why I haven't said anything yet, but it seems that they are already gone," Silf said.
"Is there a way to the surface already? Or did your parents leave the same way Sydra and the others came in?" Lorn asked, wondering if Silf's parents had found a way that led to the surface and decided to venture out on their own.
"I'm not sure, they never told me," Silf said, before she walked away, leaving Sydra and Robert to wonder what kind of parents would just let their child go. Most parents would wait at the place that their children would know where they were, so if they ever came back they could easily find their parents.
"Maybe while your out on your travels you can search for her parents..." Lorn said, before looking at the crystal in the middle of the town. The crystal was beginning to dim, telling everyone that it was becoming night time. "Oh, it seems to be getting quite late, does your group have a place to sleep?"
"Well, the other three do, but I will need a place to spend the night," Sydra said.
"Ah, in that case you can spend the night in my guest bedroom, but where will your group be sleeping?" Lorn asked, wondering if Sydra was planning on having the others sleep outside.
"Yeah, they will sleep inside my Arbor Sanctum, in the palace I have there." Sydra explained as he sent Silf, and the other guys into his Arbor Sanctum. He decided to talk to Sophia about Silf's situation, and what should happen to her. "I'll stop by the house later, I need to find the Queen first,"
"Okay, we will have dinner prepared for you when you show up," Lorn said, before walking off to help finish up some parts of the staircase. Walking over to the side of the staircase and looking around, Sydra saw that Sophia was walking down the street, carrying a package in her hands. Jumping down from the staircase, Sydra landed on the ground with a light thud before running over to where he had seen her.
"Sophia, wait up, I need to talk to you," Sydra said as he ran up to the queen.
"Ah, Sydra, I was wondering when you would come back. What can I help you with?" Sophia asked, stopping outside of a house and turning around to face Sydra. He could see that she had been crying for a little bit, as her eyes were still red.
"I was wondering if you would take in Silf as a worker in your palace. It seems her parents have left Tindow, and no one here can afford to take care of her. If you don't want to, then we will take her with us, but it may be a bit dangerous," Sydra explained, hoping that Sophia would take care of Silf. He wasn't sure that bringing a young girl with them on their trip was a good idea.
"Certainly, I would happy to take care of her. I'll treat her as if she was my own daughter," Sophia said, lighting up at the thought of having Silf live with her.
"That's good to hear, I'll drop her off tomorrow before we head out," Sydra said, before bidding goodnight to Sophia and heading over to Lorn's house. After eating dinner, Sydra passed out inside the guest bedroom from the long day he had. The next day Sydra woke up to find out that it was the middle of the day already, and that the people of Tindow had broken through to the surface.