Chapter 36

The species was called a glass worm. It was generally not aggressive until its territory was encroached on. When we went into the Audine it was during the night so I couldn't see much. When we got into the main chamber of the Audine I used one of the abilities I received from Benzi, the Dragon of Light, to create a ball similar to the brightness of the sun. When the main part of the Audine was illuminated it was a sight that took my breath away. When I heard that it was a glass field I thought that it would have been a field. That was not what I saw in the main chamber. It was more like a forest made entirely of glass. Some of the glass was different colors. I remember seeing one of the 'trees' being a shade of amber similar to Enho's eyes. I was fixated on this tree and we camped at the base of it till the morning came. When the sun rose its light entered the Audine by a small opening in the roof of the cavern. The light shone through a large portion of glass that was the same shade of blue as the sky. The entire room was bathed in a light comparable to the glass the light shone through. The amber tree was surrounded by a halo of blue. The sight of it reminded me of the sunsets that I watched with Enho in the Krall Oasis. Shortly after everyone had woken up I had to leave that amber tree.

We went deeper into the Audine and I saw many more colors but none of the other glass formations were amber. The sun was starting to set and the light in the cavern began to darken. The colors began to blend with the dark blue light and eventually the light vanished from the cavern. I made another ball of light so that we could continue and not run into any of the glass that surrounded us. After a few hours of walking deeper into the cavern we decided to make a camp and sleep. I noticed that one of the glass trees was a shade of deep crimson intermingled with the only other amber tree I had seen thus far. The way the branches intertwined was indescribable in their intricacy and beauty. Before I finally went to sleep I overheard Raethien telling a story about how the branches of the trees intertwined. I will admit it seemed far fetched when I first heard it but I committed every word she said to memory.

"When the Audine was first discovered the glass formations were small and lacked any kind of beauty. When the first person to set foot on the glass in the Audine they heard a voice that called them deeper into the caverns. Eventually they stumbled upon the first and last glass witch. During this time they had seen many glass worms and detailed every aspect of them in their journal. The glass worms mindlessly followed the every whim of the witch. When the witch realized that something other than glass worms had found their way to her secluded cavern within the Audine. She shrieked and the glass worms began to move toward the intruder. He tried as hard as he could to run away from the worms because he had seen what they could do. Eventually he was caught by the witch who could travel through the glass in the Audine. She dragged him back to her secluded cavern and began to prepare a spell that would turn him into glass tree. As she began the preparations, he asked her why she lived alone with only glass worms to keep her company. She responded with a simple statement,"Because my fellow humans shunned me and cast me out because I could use glass magic". Shortly before she finished the spell the man asked if he could be granted one final request. His last request was to be allowed to be allowed to choose what color tree and retain his ability to speak. The witch was shocked by the request and agreed to grant it. Then chose to be a crimson tree and he retained his ability to speak. He stayed with the witch and while he didn't age, she was not so lucky. As she grew older the crimson tree noticed this and he was concerned because he had fallen in love with the glass witch. Eventually the crimson tree asked her if she could turn the rest of the Audine into a forest of glass. She was puzzled by this question and asked why he would ask her such a thing. His response was,"Because then everyone who comes here would be able to see the beauty of glass magic and you might be able to turn yourself into a tree so that we can always be together". The witch was stunned by the tree's honest response and she began to turn the Audine into a vast cavern of glass trees each with their branches intertwining and supporting each other. Eventually she herself became an amber tree whose branches intertwined with the crimson tree. It is said that any who hear the two trees whispering will be able to learn the lost magic that the witch used" Raethien told while illuminated by the ball of light that I had created.

The next morning I awoke before the rest of the group. I was woken by the sound of grating and hushed whispers. I followed the sound of whispers, using one of the abilities I had received from Draco to create an iron thread so that I would be able to find my way back to the group. I followed the whispers simply because I was curious.