Foresna and Arsha went to the quarry to see the operation continuing. They both said “hi” to Baldra, but something felt…off, for lack of a better word. They didn’t feel lucky. Yes, the day went on with no incident, but there was an odd feeling surrounding them. Falnii continued her research but noticed that Arsha and Foresna’s expressions matched Lardeth’s whenever the subject of Baldra came up. She approached Lardeth one day. “Something I can do for you, Fluffy?” he asked.
“It…might not be fully legal,” replied Falnii.
“…What’s wrong?”
“Princess, I think I need to use your family’s library, all of it, even the forbidden section. The usual libraries and databases are only turning up the legends surrounding Baldra.”
“Falnii, I’m not so sure I can condone that. That knowledge has been taken out of the public eye for a reason. If you really want to use the forbidden section, you need to take that up with Mama Pofomofo, Mama Jeefef, and Dad. They’re the ones who have the keys to that section.”
“…All right, I’ll see what I can do.”
Falnii called up Pofomofo, Jeefef, and Endram later in the day. The two Queens and their King cheered when their future daughter-in-law popped up. “Falnii, it’s great to see you!” greeted Pofomofo.
“I heard that Galnyar’s got a big industrial project going,” remarked Jeefef. “What is it?”
“They’re making their first railways,” explained Falnii. “The quarry in their Eastern District is producing a lot of stone for ballast. They intend to have the railways run on the ground AND through the forest canopy.”
“Well! That’s certainly an ambitious aim!” chuckled Endram. “But why are you calling us? Couldn’t Galnyar have told us?”
“He was gonna tell you tomorrow,” replied Falnii, “but something that Arsha, Lardeth, and Foresna found near the quarry have put them on edge and I felt I needed to do some research on it.”
“What’s that?” asked Pofomofo.
“Well, there’s a massive boulder sitting on one of the cliffs above the quarry that’s, and I’m quoting what Arsha once said, watching the whole operation. It’s supposed to be good luck to say hello to it, but we’re not so sure.”
“It’s watching you?” asked Endram. “How can that be? Boulders stopped having eyes when the living rocks all faded into the After-realm.”
“Well, Your Majesty, there’s something strange about this boulder. The locals call it Baldra and-”
“Baldra?!” yelped Jeefef as panic struck her, Pofomofo, and Endram. “Where did they get that name?!”
“Y-Your Majesty?!” gulped Falnii.
“Ambassador Loftanaf, where did the Fae get that name?!” demanded Jeefef.
“Jeefef, easy!” urged Endram. He then turned back to Falnii. “Falnii, describe the boulder.”
“Er, i-it’s spherical, almost l-like it w-was carved!” said Falnii. “I-It’s brown thanks to t-time, but y-you can s-still see s-some sort of red and black ore!”
“It has to be!” muttered Pofomofo.
“Falnii, get the workers to leave the quarry until we can get ‘Baldra’!” ordered Endram. “All nine of us are heading to the forest!”
“Stop quarry production?!” Galnyar protested when Falnii told him and the Quarry Manager the news. “With all due respect, the Plan’s at too critical a stage for that to happen!”
“Emperor Almaydia, please,” urged Falnii, “I know it’s unorthodox, but the Felomphas think that Baldra’s dangerous!”
“That quarry’s the only place where we can get the best ballast! There are rail lines all across the canopy that need to be built! I can’t halt production now!”
“May I intrude?” asked Lardeth as he peeked into the throne room.
“Lardeth, your parents know about Baldra,” explained Falnii as Galnyar waved him in. “They’re all on their way.”
“All of them?”
“And they’ve asked me to halt quarry production!” explained Galnyar.
“What?!” said Lardeth. “Okay, that boulder gives me the willies, yes, but that shouldn’t be any cause for halting production! I just saw that new machine you lot made!”
“New machine?” asked Falnii.
“It’s a rock collection machine that gets the really stubborn stones that managed to weather the explosives. The two drills on its front scoop the rocks out of the cliffside and onto the ground at its sides.”
“With all due respect to your parents, Lardeth, I can’t close the quarry so hastily,” decided Galnyar.
Something DID halt quarry production, though it wasn’t due to anyone’s control. Rain arrived in the forest. To us, it would have been just a light drizzle. To people the size of the Fae, though, it was a deluge. The quarry had to close so no one could get caught in the eventual flooding. While the rain came down, Arsha and Falnii visited the quarry as the workers were covering the machinery so it wouldn’t get damaged. Arsha was casting a shield so the large raindrops wouldn’t hit them. Velmar was relocated to higher ground to avoid flood damage, since her own shed would be washed out. The floods hadn’t come yet, so Arsha and Falnii stood on the tracks below Baldra. They stood away from the cliff, a good thing too, as a large slab of rock landed on the ground near them. The two women yelped in surprise. “Hoo boy,” gulped Arsha, trying to make herself the more stoic of the two. “We better get out of here. The rain’s loosening up a lot of rocks. Come on.” She led Falnii up a path, continually casting the shield. Falnii dared a look back at Baldra. She gasped in horror. “What’s wrong?” asked Arsha.
“There’s a-!” Falnii stopped as she pointed at Baldra. “…W-W-Well, there WAS a…a face in it!”
“A face?”
“Y-Yeah! A man’s face s-staring at us! Arsha, I think that rock slab was Baldra wanting us to go away!” Arsha tried to come up with reassurances that it couldn’t have been, but her efforts were in vain.
“Come on, let’s get out of here,” she said, finally giving up. “This place is giving me the creeps too!” The two women headed up the path and made their way to the Capital Tree.