A Pact to Live

by OblivionShadow

13: A Message sent

Nix held the jewel box carefully as he set it down on the tabletop. “Okay, so we are going to find out which Elemental these come from by touching each one? Right?”

“Yes. I think it will be the easiest way to ascertain where the majority if not all come from. That will allow us to know who they got past to access the Halls of the Dead.” Kahl replied.

“Great.” Nix cursed under his breath. “Okay, and the first one I touched before was this one.” He said as he levitated the one out of its place and set it on the table.

“That is from Mitsu’s line.” Kahl supplied.

“Okay, so one for Mitsu.” The stallion levitated a clipboard in their magic and added a check next to Mitsu’s name. “Next.”

Nix reached out and carefully picked up the next gem in line and braced for it to bite him as the first had done. When nothing happened he tossed it up from his hoof and held it in his magic for Kahl to check over.

“Ice.”

“Got it.” He added the check next to the name and he set the gem down and picked up the next.

“Mitsu.”

“Okay.” He set it down and picked up the next.

“Suki.”

“Got it.” He set it aside and checked the paper as his magic levitated the next one.

“Joren. He was my predecessor.”

Nix wrote down the name and set the gem aside as he picked up the next one and held it aloft.

“Predecessor to Suki, Lomen.”

Nix wrote it down and set the gem aside. He picked up all of the gems and waited as Kahl went through them. As time went by he wrote down each name and added checks to each one to show where the majority of the gems had come from. When they were done he set the gems back into their cushioned box and pushed them aside as he added up the tallies.

“Okay, so Mitsu and Suki are the ones that they come from the most. When was the last time you were around anypony else?”

“Over a hundred years ago.” Kahl admitted.

“Geez.”

“We are not required to meet often unless it is needed.”

“Can anypony summon the group of you together?”

“The dragons of our lines can and the Lord of Dragons is able to call on us if he should need us. But that is even rarer and uncommon of an occurrence.” Kahl replied. “Torch does his own thing and leaves us to our own devices. I think he called on us once in his reign so far.”

“How would they get past the guards you mentioned?” Nix asked. “Can one of you get past them?”

“I can get past mine if I wish to but the others I cannot. Unless I had the permission of the dragon they belong to then they would react to me the same as an intruder.”

“Great. Why can’t you guys get along like adults?”

Kahl barked a laugh. “We get along just enough to keep our natural elements in balance with each other. Beyond that is like asking oil and vinegar to get along.”

“Or just fire and water,” Nix grumbled.

“True. Now we are faced with the reality that Mitsu and Suki are the ones that have been robbed the most often. We have to tell them.” Kahl reasoned. “Our options are limited. We can either go to them in person or send them a message through the world itself.”

“And which is faster?”

“Without wings?”

“Yeah,” Nix replied. He still felt bad about Kahl not being able to fly anymore and tried to ignore the sound of longing in the dragons tone. “So a message?”

“Yes. We need a dormant volcano or an active one.”

“We aren’t to the point where we can use water or earth yet?”

“Unfortunately not. We are near to that point but we are running out of time. The longer we delay the higher the chance of more thefts.”

Nix cringed and nodded in understanding. “Okay, so a dormant volcano. I can ask Twilight if there is one close by. I don’t know the local geography.”

“That could work.” Kahl agreed.

Nix was quiet as he made his way to the basement stairs and closed the door behind him. His hoovers carried him through the front room and out the front door, which he locked behind him. The midnight blue stallion broke into a trot as he made his way toward the Library.

“Hopefully she’s home.” He muttered as he stopped at the door to knock.

His hoof thudded dully against the thick wooden door. The door swung open as Twilight smiled at the sight of him.

“Hey, Nix.”

“Hey. I have a geographical question for you.”

“Okay. Go ahead.”

“I need the nearest dormant volcano that is not the one Canterlot is on.” He explained.

“Do I want to know why?” She asked him with a tilt of her head.

“Research purposes.” He replied quickly.

She looked unconvinced as she motioned him into the Library. “Okay, so we need a geographical map and maybe a geography textbook.”

He nodded as her magic began to pull various books from the shelves. He said nothing as they were sat down on a table in the center of the room. The Unicorn mare looked at the covers of several books as they levitated around her and some were sent back to their respective shelves. A map was pulled out from the wall and laid over the top of the table and he looked over it as she brought over several thick textbooks.

“Okay, so this is a map of Equestria and has the mountain ranges in detail. The mountain that Canterlot is attached to is part of the main range. So within that range should be another volcano. Why in Equestria do you need a dormant volcano?”

He was quiet as he considered how to respond. “Kahl? Little help?”

“You need the volcanic rock to create a gemstone that might hold more magic than the ones you have.” The dragon replied easily.

“Oh that’s a good one. And not a total lie since that sounds like a good idea.” He replied and looked to the mare. “I need to get some volcanic rock that is deeper in the ground for testing.”

“Testing what?”

“I am wondering if I can make a gemstone that can hold more magic and be more resilient than the normal gems that I have been using.” He said to her with a shrug of his shoulders.

“That could be interesting.” She agreed and began to look over the notes and the map.

He nodded and leaned over the table to look over the maps with her. She suddenly pointed to a picture on the map and then began to flip through one of the books. “Here we go. It’s a bit of a hike but it should do what you need. I don’t see why you can’t use mount Canterhorn.”

“I will be using a magic spell to get the rocks from deeper in the cauldron and I don’t want to mess with the biggest mountain that could still go active anytime.” He replied quickly.

“Oh. What type of magic are you using that could affect a dormant volcano?” She questioned.

He could feel a bit of the blood drain from his face at her questioning. “Buck me.” He cursed to the dragon who he could hear chuckling.

“Inform her that you found a spell in some of the notes and you will be testing it.” Kahl replied through laughter.

“I found a spell in some of the notes and I will be testing it out.” He said to the mare and it seemed to assuage her.

“Hmm.”

He looked at where she was pointing and he pulled out a scroll to sketch out where she was pointing. He wrote down the details and the midnight blue Unicorn leaned back when he finished writing and sighed as he looked to the mare with him.

“Thanks for the help. I had no idea where to start looking. I did not do as well in the geography portion of the class.” He admitted with a chuckle.

She smiled and her horn illuminated as she returned the materials back to their places. “It’s not a problem. Anytime you need help just ask.” She said to him as he got up from where he was sitting. “You’ll have to let me know how that spell works.”

“When I get it right I will try to make it easy to use later on.” He said to her as he made for the door. “Thank you again.”

“Good luck Nix.” She said to him as he opened the door.

“I might need all the good luck I can get.” He replied to her with a laugh.

---

“Okay so how do we get to this mountain without it taking days?” Nix asked the dragon as he stood in the basement.

“We can use the flames to transport us faster if you wish to try them.” Kahl replied.

“They can do that?”

“Of course. If I did not wish to fly then I didn’t have to. I used the internal flames of the world to move from place to place.”

“Sounds pretty cool actually,” Nix admitted. “Okay, so how does it work?”

“You must focus on where you wish to be, similar to how you teleport. But instead of using your magic you will be using my flames alone. So first you have to push your magic back and use only the flames of the world.” Kahl informed him.

“Okay so push back my Unicorn magic and focus only on fire?”

“Yes.”

“Great. Okay, give me a second.”

Nix reached inward and pushed back his natural magic and brought the other half of their magic forward. He could feel the warmth of the flames spread over him as he called on it alone. He looked up as his horn was covered in fire and it crackled around and over him. His eyes widened at the sight of the flames around him and he breathed in to calm his own nerves.

“Okay. Now what?”

“Now it is my turn. You cannot call on the roads to open alone. Let me handle that part. I will need control for a moment.”

“Go ahead.”

He could feel his mind go hazy for several seconds and then he was looking out his own eyes as his body moved. He watched as a symbol was drawn on the ground and the earth opened ahead of him. Nix was quiet as the image went hazy once more and he was back in control.

“That was weird.” The pony related back to the dragon.

“I’m sure it was.”

“And now that we have opened a large hole in my basement?”

“Focus your power outward. You are reaching out to the world itself. By doing that you will be able to call on the inner roads of the world. Focus on where you wish to be and when you think you’re ready, fall forward.”

“Fall forward? Into a gaping hole with no bottom? Are you nuts?”

“Trust what I tell you to do.” The dragon reassured him.

Nix groaned as he closed his eyes and focused on the mountain that he had in mind. He could feel the world around him shift as he reached out to the fires within it and he slowly allowed himself to tip forward. His body fell forward and he shouted as he fell into nothing. He could feel warmth flow over him as he was suddenly in motion. The feeling of heat went over him in waves and he dared not open his eyes just in case. The heat grew on his skin and he managed not to cringe as he held onto his destination in his mind.

“Well done.” Kahl said to him as the feeling of movement faded and the heat faded.

“Did we make it?” He asked, his voice quiet.

“Look around you.”

He opened his eyes slowly and looked around to see the dormant volcano around him. “Holy shit I did it.”

“You did well. I admit I am surprised you took to it as easily as you did.” Kahl praised.

“You say that but I am pretty sure you had to help in the directions.”

“I might have. But for the first time, I am impressed you were able to put your fear of the flames aside as well as you did.”

“I kept my eyes firmly closed or you would have lost me. I can only assume the road we just used is made of it.”

“That’s true. But you were still able to focus and get us to where we needed to be.”

“Did it get hotter in there or was it just me?”

“It did the deeper you went. None of the paths are straight and they follow the path of the fire that flows through the world.”

“It’s never that easy.”

Kahl chuckled in his mind as the stallion shook his head. “Of course not. It would hardly be worth doing if it was always easy.”

“You have a point. Okay so how do we send a message?”

“Now to send a message we will need to open the earth once more.”

“You need me to back off for that?”

“No. This time you can accomplish it without me. All you need to do is place a hoof on the ground and let my power flow into the ground and it will open for you.”

“Okay.”

Nix did as instructed and set his hoof on the ground. He pushed Kahl’s power through his body and into the ground under his hoof and he felt the mountain around him shudder and he went still.

“Keep going.” Kahlo assured him. “I will warn you if the mountain is becoming unstable.”

“Got it.”

Nix went back to his task and began to push more power into the ground as the mountain shuddered once more under his hooves. He paused as pressure built under his hoof and began to raise from the ground.

“Mold it into the image you wish it to be or it will mold to what I use.” Kahl advised.

Nix swirled his hoof as the earth rose up under his touch. He pushed pieces out as he moved it and then pulled his hoof away as it stood at his height. In front of him, a dais stood, though rough in its design. The top of it resembled a compass while it stretched tall in front of him.

“That will work.” Kahl said to him.

“Now what?”

“Now we will need to use the blood of the world to send the message to the others. Call on the living flame from the earth through the dais you made and it will carry the message. I will channel through you to it to assign it to reach each of the others. While you and I share one form the power to address each of them needs to come from me, or they might ignore it.”

“Understood.”

Nix could feel Kahl’s spirit within his mind as the dragon began to use the power he had to begin addressing each of the other dragons. Nix began to call out to the lava in the world and he looked nervous as it bubbled up through the dais he had made. It swirled like liquid metal in the center of it and he watched it, fascinated by how it didn’t melt what he had made.

“Nix?”

“Right.” He startled and began to form the message in his mind. “Okay. So just let them know that the Dragons Tears have been found outside of their tombs?”

“That’s blunt enough to get their attention.”

“Yeah, but will they believe it? I mean I don’t think the same way you do so the message will be different.”

“They will recognize that it is me since I am adding my signature to the messages. Do not worry about them ignoring the message.”

Nix gave a slight nod and went back to the molten lava. He knew that it should have been giving off enough heat to burn him but he didn’t feel any pain from it and he knew that he had been changed more by their Pact than he thought. He formulated his thoughts into a clear message and he watched as the lava moved in an easy circle as he inscribed his message onto it.

“Okay done.”

He could feel warmth flow over him as Kahl came forward and his vision went hazy for several seconds as the dragon sent the messages. When his vision cleared he leaned back on his haunches as the dais melted and returned to where it had come from.

“All set?” He asked the dragon. “How will we know if they have anything to say about what we told them?”

Kahl was quiet as he seemed to consider what the stallion has asked. “They will send a reply directly to us.”

“So a tornado could show up in Ponyville?”

“No. Suki is far too subtle for that. No, he will send a whisper on the wind. Mitsu will send a small quake most likely. One that is barely felt if at all. You act as though we have little control over what the Element we control are able to do. You know better than that.”

“That’s true. Sorry. And Ice?”

“Ice will send a chill of cold at least. He might send out hail just to be an ass.”

"Lovely,” Nix replied, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

“I did warn you about him.” Kahl replied.

Nix shook his head and sighed as the dragon spoke. “Will they notice that I sent that message? I mean that it was sent by a pony and not a dragon?”

“If they wish to analyze the message they might.”

“And if they did?”

“You might end up with three dragons landing in Ponyville.”

“Oh, Goddess.”

“That is if they choose to check into the message and where it came from. Otherwise, they will reach out in the ways I have mentioned.”

“Great. Just wonderful. So worst-case scenario is I have three dragons landing near Ponyville, which might lead to us being found out by everypony.”

“That is the worst that could happen.” Kahl agreed.

“Wonderful. I assume we get back home the same way we came?”

“Yes.” Kahl informed him. “Can you get us back easily?”

“Ha-ha. You had to help last time. I’m a quick study but not that quick.” Nix replied.

“I helped out some. You are more than capable of the return trip, but I will help as needed.”

“Careful. You’re in danger of sounding thrilled.” Nix teased,

He heard the dragon huff at his teasing and he began to call on the earth flames to take them home.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the long delay. Thunder gave me this a while back but due to other things I did not get it put in until now. So here we go onward to the next part of the story. Thank you for reading and please enjoy!

Comments

[Fireeaters]

I have caught up now, I guess.

[Fireeaters]

9895761
Nice. No problem, my guy.

[OblivionShadow]

9895809
Thank you for reading. I'm glad you're enjoying it.