The crystals shimmered and sparkled, producing various degrees of static white noise. Finally, the frequency of the Ledomaritan console fixated one particular undulating sound. It resembled a song, wailing upwards and downwards with pitch.
Zetta, her horn glowing, turned and glanced aside. “This?” Her eyes narrowed. “It’s this, right?”
Dalen nodded somberly while two guards in the tight room beside him bowed their heads. “Xon lest dun Nag’un.”
She blinked. “Huh?”
“Shhh!” He hissed. “Do not break our reverent silence!”
Zetta’s face scrunched up. She glanced back at the console. After a few seconds, she stammered, “This is Nagu’n? This is the Xonan God?”
“Her Song permeates the cosmos and the depths,” Dalen said. “It is only fitting that she pierce technology as well.” He sighed, gazing pathetically at the apparatus. “Even if it was produced by abominable hooves…”
“Yeah, well, this ‘abominable machine’ has been picking this sound up for weeks and I didn’t know what the heck it was!” Zetta sighed. “Until now. No offense, but she doesn’t sound all that healthy.”
Dalen stood stock-still, his face long.
Zetta flinched. “Wow. I… k-kinda thought you were going to strike me for saying that… or something.” She gulped. “I guess I’m not far off.”
“The substance of Her Song is as mighty as ever,” Dalen said. “But the volume has been decreasing. Zytharros Xon-Nagu’n would give anything to be in Her presence once more, but this war has demanded him to be far from the Sacred Hold.”
“So, you want me to act as a goddess’ baby monitor, huh?” Zetta leaned forward. “To listen in on Nagu’n for you?”
“Provide us with your talents and we will provide your group with their provisions,” Dalen said, though his eyes narrowed intimidatingly. “As promised.”
“Alright, then.” Zetta cracked the joints in her neck and leaned forward towards the console. “I’ll give it a shot.”
“Be sure you give it more than that.” And Dalen turned around and exited the room, leaving the two guards behind.
Zetta sighed, frowning into the glowing sound stones. “It’s like trying to set a metronome to whale shrieks…”
“Baak suun reese Nagun’n, Ledomulian trent!” one of the guards snarled in response.
“Yeah yeah. Baak baak to you too, handsome.”
On the top deck of the Noble Jury, Bellesmith, Pilate, Eagle Eye, Ebon Mane, Props, Josho, Floydien, and even Simon all crowded around a glowing sound stone. The blind zebra held the item up while everypony listened in on the sound of Roarke’s voice.
”These Xonans are bringing the Lightning Bearer to a place called the Sacred Hold. From what I can tell, it’s a heavily defended camp where Princess Lasairfion herself is located. Not only that, but it seems as if this so-called Nagu’n is located there.”
“Nagu’n?” Pilate’s metal brow furrowed. “As in the Xonan deity, Nagu’n?”
“Ah jeez,” Josho grumbled, glancing aside at Eagle Eye. “I’ve heard that word thrown around a few times.”
“Really?” Ebon asked. “When?”
Eagle Eye shuddered as he said, “In the Xonans’ death throes. It’s obviously something very important to their culture.”
”I’m a bit mixed on the ‘it,’” Roarke’s voice said. ”But they certainly seem fixated on the ‘who.’”
“The legacy of the deification of Nagu’n goes way back to the races of the ancient caribou who lived on this continent,” Pilate said. “This is the first time I’ve ever heard about an actual concrete manifestation of the Goddes.”
“Or a supposed deification,” Ebon Mane remarked. “Just because these Xonans are hardcore about their beliefs doesn’t mean that they’re right.” He shifted nervously and glanced at the others. “Right?”
“Even so,” Belle said, “How could an actual flesh-and-blood Goddess fit inside a Xonan camp?”
”Maybe she’s been stocking up on diet oatmeal?! How the Hell should I know?!” Roarke’s voice grumbled. ”Listen, everypony, it’s like this…”
Inside the thin crawlspace of the Lightning Bearer, Roarke scrunched herself up against a wall. She had the sound stone positioned to her left and the metal paneling to her right, and she spoke in a hushed tone with her voice echoing lightly against the framework.
“They’re taking us to this camp. They’re taking Rainbow Dash to Lasairfion. And they’re taking the ship to be used as a secret weapon against the Ledomaritan campaign.”
”Boy is that gonna get something stuck in Seclorum’s craw,” Josho’s voice emanated.
Rainbow’s voice cracked from the other side of the wall. ”Who cares about Seclorum?”
Rainbow was leaning into the wall while Basso, with the help of two other Ledomaritans, used his large body to block the sight of the illicit conversation from the guards on the far side of the force field.
“What matters is getting us off this ship and safely out of the heart of Xonan territory!”
”Everypony except that she-witch who’s with you!” Belle’s voice broadcasted lightly. ”You can leave her to become a mana-slave in their trenches!”
“Ah, Doctor, still full of blood and sass as always,” Nightshade droned. A hoof slapped over her broken horn. “Augh!” She rubbed her head and frowned over her shoulder.
“Heh heh heh…” Zaid leaned back, lowering the offending hoof. “You know what? That actually feels good!”
”Well, if we’re to perform some sort of escape plan, we have to do it swiftly,” Roarke’s voice said.
“Why’s that?” Rainbow asked.
”Because there’s something about our destination that I learned about, and it disturbs me.” A beat. ”The Xonan’s Sacred Hold… is moving.”
Rainbow Dash’s red eyes twitched. “Did you say… moving?”