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It took Nox a few moments for his eyes to adjust and a few more to locate his spear that was partially trapped under one of the dead spiders. Cradling his freshly broken arm, he worked the spear free. The crystal remained attached and the spear thankfully undamaged. Using it to light his way he stumbled back over to where the strange creature had formed in front of him. The glow caught a black shape on the ground and Nox kneeled down beside it, holding out the crystal.
At first the shadows were too deep to make out much, but as he looked it over he realized it was a fox. A thousand questions spilled into his mind all at once. Where was the cylinder? Had the trio of eyes in his dreams been real? Had everything he’d just witnessed been a hallucination from the spider venom? Why was there now a ring on his finger? How was he going to sling his broken arm? On and on they flowed through his mind like a raging river. However, one urge pushed through. Nox had never seen a fox in person before, only pelts displayed by vendors and he always admired how soft they were. The fox in front of him was bigger than he anticipated and he’d never seen a black one before. He put his spear on the ground, reaching out a hand to pet the creature in front of him, wondering if it was even real or just a figment of his imagination.
A thought stopped him at the last second and he recoiled. This was magic. There was no doubt about it. He’d been so desperate to live that he’d resorted to magic and that would surely bring about his untimely demise. Sure he could claim ignorance, but that wouldn’t stop the Holy Knights from hunting him to the ends of Lycoris. They had ways of finding people who messed with the arcane arts. He’d survived for the moment, but even if he somehow miraculously made it out of the ruins, he’d be a dead man in less than a month. Especially if Captain Ragvir and his men had anything to do with it.
The creature in front of him began to stir, pulling him from his worries. Nox snatched up his spear and leveled it at the fox with his one good hand, preparing for an attack. He held his breath, watching the small body begin to shift. It uncurled and stretched out its front paws, toes splaying so that the claws clicked against the stone. The fox stretched out one back leg, then the other before it finally turned to face Nox, its gold eyes glowing in the darkness.
“Hello,” it said in a smooth voice, its tiny fox lips forming the words perfectly. “My name is Zykkodhora. Who are you?”
Nox didn’t move, the spear still hovering a few inches in front of the fox’s face.
“Can you hear me?” the fox asked, cocking his head to the side.
Nox nodded his head slowly, taking a small step back.
“Don’t be afraid,” he grinned, showing his rows of sharp teeth. “I won’t hurt you. You are the bearer of the clavis and therefore my master as well.”
What the hell did the little fluff ball mean by that?
“I can see you don’t quite understand,” the fox continued, lifting a paw to lick and clean his ear. “You wear the ring that I am bound to, therefore you are my master. It’s a fairly simple exchange.”
“Wha... What are you?” Nox muttered.
The fox looked down at his own body. “I appear to be some sort of fluffy woodland creature.” He turned his gaze back up to Nox, gesturing to his body in an oddly human way. “Do you know what this shape is called?”
“You’re a... a fox.”
“Hmm,” he hummed, pawing at his tail. “I rather enjoy the tail and the ears are exceptionally functional. Not a bad form to take I’d say.”
“Form?”
“Ah, yes. It is a little bit confusing,” the fox nodded. “You see, I’m not from... wherever this is.” He gestured about the cave with his right paw. “In fact, I’m not sure how I even got here to begin with. I remember being amongst the stars with my brothers and sisters and then I woke up here.” He stared at Nox with his golden eyes. “I had the strangest dream about these three pairs of eyes staring down at me. They are the ones that told me about the ring and my being bound to it now. They said they needed my help but they were a little skimpy on the details. Do you know what they need?”
“You’ve seen the eyes too?”
“Oh yes. I believe they were blue, brown, and ones that looked like they were full of stars.”
Nox couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Do you know who they are? I feel like I know, but I can’t seem to remember.”
“I have no idea,” Nox replied, shaking his head. He still held the spear at the ready. “Are... are you magic?”
The fox laughed at that, his cackles echoing off the walls. “My dear sir, everything is magic. What a silly question.”
Obviously the fox had never been in Lycoris where magic was being wiped from existence by force. Uttering even the word in a public place could get a person arrested.
“Are you going to kill me?” Nox asked, figuring it was time to get to the point.
“As I said, tall one, you are my master and bear the clavis, therefore I cannot harm you. Nor do I wish to.” He swished his tail back and forth over the stone, disturbing a few pebbles. “To be honest with you, I’m not much of a fighter. However, I do enjoy a good romp every now and then. Nothing like chasing the twin moons across a starlit sky in high summer. It’s quite delightful.”
Nox lowered the spear, his arm thanking him for the relief. He was at a complete loss as to what to do. Not only had he somehow turned a metal cylinder into a ring, but he also summoned a magical talking fox who was absolutely clueless. The fact that they’d both seen the triad of eyes was interesting, but not enough to make him forget the amount of danger he would be in if he ever escaped the ruins. Anxiety swelled in his chest as he sensed his mortality in a new way. Before he’d just been trying to survive, postponing death for as long as possible. But now that death was a quickly approaching inevitability and there was no way to stop it. Even that far underground it was possible the Holy Knights already knew that magic had taken place. Then again, if that were true, wouldn’t they have ventured in to get the cylinder already? He wasn’t sure. However, he was sure he’d be discovered as soon as he went topside again. Maybe he’d have to live in the Hollow forever, always running for his life and living on the edge of starvation. The only choice he had was to find a way to ditch the fox and the ring as quickly as possible.
“I sense some unease in your general vicinity,” the fox piped up, jumping up to rest his front paws against Nox’s leg. “Is something troubling you?”
Nox took a few steps back, staring down at the unassuming creature. “Don’t touch me,” he hissed.
“My apologies,” the fox replied, his ears drooping. “Is there anything I can do to help ease your mind?”
“Yeah, you can go back to where you came from,” Nox snapped, his anxiety getting the better of him. “Do you realize what you’ve done? You’ve sentenced me to death if I ever get out of this hell hole! Magic is illegal and punishable by death in Rilaya. The Holy Knights will know about you as soon as I’m free of this place,” he cried, waving his arms. He clutched at his left arm, hissing through his clenched teeth in pain. “I’m dead if I stay here and dead if I leave. My life is over.” He sank down to the ground, resting on his knees. Tears formed at the corners of his eyes as he tilted his head down. “I promised her I’d stay alive... she needs me...”
The fox stood still as a statue in front of him, his golden eyes glowing in the dark. If he wanted to speak, he didn’t show it as tears of frustration silently fell down Nox’s cheeks. It was a few minutes before they stopped and Nox’s breathing became regular again. Only then did the fox step forward and rest a paw on his knee.
“I know nothing of this world,” he murmured. “And I’m sorry for any discomfort I’ve caused you. However, I will do everything I can to help you survive. The eyes said that the clavis would choose only the most worthy of people to open for and it chose you. Have faith in that.”
“Have faith in something neither of us understand or know anything about?” Nox scoffed, looking up at the fox.
“Why not? Nobody knows why the grass insists on growing or why the stars shine. Why should this be any different?”
Nox glared at the strange creature in front of him. Nothing made sense anymore.
“That being said, I do know a little bit about myself and what I’m capable of.”
The fox leaned forward, pressing his nose against Nox’s broken arm. At first he only felt pain as the fox made contact with his bruised skin, but then a strange warmth began to spread over it. Like a hot bath after a long day of scrounging, Nox felt the tension and pain in his body melt away. The heat grew intense at the point of the break of his arm, but never painful. After a few moments the fox pulled away, the warmth subsiding with him. Nox wiggled his fingers and flexed his arm. It was still sore, but it no longer seemed broken.
“How did you do that?” has asked, his voice soft and full of disbelief.
“Magic of course. The good kind.”
Nox looked at the fox suspiciously. He was thankful for the mending, but still wanted to stay as far away from the arcane as possible. The pain of a broken arm was nothing compared to what Captain Ragvir would do to him if he found out. The fox had to go.
“What did you say your name was again?” Nox asked, rubbing his newly healed arm.
“Zykkodhora.”
“Zyko... Zykordor...” Nox stumbled, trying to form the word. “Can I just call you Zyk?”
The fox smiled. “That would be most amenable.”
“I don’t know what that word means.”
“Yes,” he laughed. “You can call me Zyk.”
“Well Zyk,” Nox sighed, pushing himself to his feet. “We need to find a way out of these ruins.” He licked his dry lips, lifting the spear high to cast light over the cavern. “And find water soon.”
“By the gods!” Zyk yelped, staring at the mounds of spider bodies all around the cavern. “What happened here?”
“You did.” Nox bent down and picked up his still-clean dagger, the crystal’s light glinting off the steel blade. He tucked it back into its sheath and turned back to Zyk. “When the cylinder opened, it killed them all. They were about to eat me.”
“The clavis protected you. Intriguing. I wonder what that means.”
“Your guess is as good as mine. Those eyes didn’t tell me anything useful either.”
“This is all quite mysterious,” Zyk hummed to himself, prancing around one of the corpses. “How exciting.”
“Absolutely thrilling...” he said, rolling his eyes.
Nox bent down to retrieve his pack. Most of the contents were gone, lost in the rubble, and the bag was mostly shredded. He tossed it aside. Whatever water they found would have to be drunk, there would be no way to carry more. A desperate thought crossed his mind at that moment.
“Zyk, you can’t make water, can you?”
“I’m afraid conjuration isn’t really my specialty,” he replied, still looking over the corpses. “It takes an incredible amount of power to merely transform one thing into another, and much more to create it out of nowhere.” He sighed. “No, I’m afraid we’ll just have to find water for you the hard way.” Zyk lifted his nose into the air and began to sniff. “However, it seems my sniffer is extremely sensitive. I sense that water is nearby and I should be able to lead us there.”
Nox nodded. “Lead the way.”
Zyk bounded into the dark, keeping at the edge of the crystal’s light so Nox could keep him within sight. They wound their way around the spider corpses and down a long hallway before finally coming to the stairwell once more. It seemed the spiders had a second nest after all.
As they walked, Nox began to form a plan. Zyk was useful for the moment and had the kind of animal senses that might be able to get him out of the Hollow. Once they were out he planned to cast the ring into the nearest river and never look back. Maybe Zyk would be forced to follow the ring witht the river, or with some luck, he’d vanish altogether. It seemed almost cruel to use him in that way, but Nox had no choice, not if he wanted to live. He had to get back to Kald no matter what. There were people who were depending on him. Getting rid of the ring and the talking fox would solve most of his problems. Anything else he’d have to figure out on the fly. But what mattered most was returning to his mother.
“I don’t think it’s much further,” Zyk called from up ahead.
“Good,” Nox replied, a small grin spreading across his face. “I’m parched.”