Blade and Poetry

The trees in the maze are towering into the sky, the vines are knotted, and the muddy path is very difficult to walk.We lined up vertically, Coleman leading the way with his long knife, and I at the rear.

Lan Duo, who had been holding the piece of paper, suddenly yelled, "There are words on the piece of paper!"

It was already dark at this time, and Ode chanted a spell, and a pale white light cluster floated on his hand.We looked around with the light, and saw the words written on the paper:

"I spread my arms and the sun floats on my armpits.

I put my hands together, and the star lamp is in my arms. "

Lando laughed at the first sentence.

"We should be near our destination," said Ord.

This destination seems to be exceptionally easy to find.We went on; in a moment the overgrown trees dwarfed, and were replaced by a mass of red flowers.The sea of ​​flowers seemed to be half the size of the Hoftas Colosseum, and the flowers probably grew to the calf of a person. The petals were wide and thick, and they were tightly pressed together, with only a small opening on the top exposed.The flower cup is shaped a bit like a tulip.We thought of the red color of Tinder in unison and nodded to each other.

"The first spark must be here—ah." Lando picked up the piece of paper, "Those two lines of small characters have disappeared."

"Looks like it's here." Coleman held the knife and looked around guardedly.

"But what is the poem trying to give us?"

"The emphasis should be on the 'light' mentioned in the riddle," Ord said. "The 'lamp' is in the crook of the arm, but what is the crook of the arm?"

I rubbed the back of my head, and Odd glanced at me: "Use the association function, Mr. Backup Edition Quanshu."

I thought back to those two poems: "Here is a day-night switch, sunlight to starlight."

"What do you mean... are we supposed to open our arms when it's daylight and tighten them when it's dark?"

"But the length of time required to verify this conjecture is unrealistic for a battle against the clock." Ord commented. "

Coleman also returned to the vicinity after making a round of inspection, "There are only the same kind of flowers."

"Maybe 'arm' and 'armpit' are both metaphors?" I said, borrowing Ord's train of thought. "So let's imagine—what would open in 'day' and close in 'night'?"

We all stared at the sea of ​​flowers closely, and our eyes swept over the tightly closed buds one after another.Lan Duo suddenly took a small step forward, and whispered: "Flowers! It's flowers! The petals open during the day, and at night they will—"

"Closed. The fire is hidden in the bud." Odd said calmly.

But a new problem appeared immediately: there are a huge number of flowers here.As I said before, they could fill half an arena.

"I tried it just now, and the light can make them open." Odd moved the brighter light ball in his hand to one of the flowers; The palm flew away.It's a pity that the light spot only flew in the air for half a second before it went out without a sound. "I need to draw a bright magic circle that can cover the sea of ​​flowers, let them bloom together, and the speed of testing the fire will be accelerated."

"Do you need me to stay with you?" I asked.

Odd shook his head at me: "One person is enough, hurrying is the key. After taking out the fire seeds, I will send them back to Sky City. They probably haven't found the five fire seeds needed for the city lamp yet."

Probably seeing my hesitation, he added: "Your technique is unstable."

Ask yourself, I will never hesitate again this time.Coleman Lando and I walked around this sea of ​​flowers. When I looked back, I seemed to see that the sky where Odd was located was lit up from bottom to top, and there was a projection of a human figure. Floating in mid-air, and that little bit of light flew towards his palm.

It was another walk in the dark, but because there was one less companion, the atmosphere was much duller than before. Only Lan Duo was still chatting and chatting, commenting on the changing scenery from time to time.

Several lines of small characters on the piece of paper reappeared.This time it reads as follows:

"They threw away their priceless jewels,

free up space,

A cage made of fire,

Prisoned the song of the birds. "

We didn't have time to analyze it too much - because the next moment, the vegetation in front of us was shaved clean along the horizontal line.The whole place suddenly became empty; not far away on the wet and soft ground stood a metal cage as tall as a person, with red flames burning on each railing.

"'The demon hid the spark in the fire, and watched as the frozen flesh scorched the flesh of those who came to entreat.'" I murmured.

"What?" Lando heard my whisper.

"It doesn't matter, I remembered a poem I read." I said.

I cast the Raining Charm and the Wind Charm, intending to put out the fire.Coleman released his Soul Saber, and the thin line of ice climbed up the cage bone, but soon turned into water vapor again.He slashed at the cage's joints—the solid cage didn't budge.

Both of us failed.

Lando thought about it: "Singing is mentioned in the puzzle. Maybe singing spells will work?"

I looked at Lando, and then met Coleman's gaze.He turned his head before me.

"I don't study well." I said sincerely. "Can't dance either."

And singing is not a compulsory item in magic.

Lan Duo made a grimace: "Then I'm the only one here at this time."

Coleman and I stood side by side at a distance, watching Lando raise his arms and spin his feet.Her voice is very beautiful, like the singing of the Kukai Mermaid mentioned in those poems. Even though I can't understand those ancient songs, I feel faintly touched by its rhythm.I suddenly thought of Coleman next to me, and looked at him; he frowned slightly, staring at Lan Duo's direction intently, with his right hand tightly clenched on the handle of the long knife at his waist.

"That's her family education." Coleman spoke before me.

I remembered the information about the Murray family and nodded.

"She seems to enjoy the singing process, and she does it very well," I said. "The talent of the Morrie family has been passed down from generation to generation-does she have any ambitions to become a bard?"

"I don't need her to be anything," Coleman said out of question.

"That question wasn't directed at you." I hissed. "I was asking what she wanted."

He stopped answering my words, with a sullen side face and a straight back.

Lan Duo's singing gradually faded in the wind.The flames clinging to the cage hadn't completely disappeared, but the gap between the railings was clearly discernible.

It looked like a dense darkness inside the cage, with a little red light wafting around in it - which wasn't quite right, since we couldn't see behind it at all through the cage, even though it was night.

We decided to venture into the space inside after the magic couldn't do anything about it.I tried to drill in through the gap, but the remaining flames still touched my shoulders, and I shivered from the heat.

Lando pulled me back out.

"I guess only my figure can do it." She rubbed her cheeks and stretched out her arms to poke inside. "It's like the void was tailor-made for me."

I looked at Lan Duo, who was bent over, hesitant to speak.

Coleman said curtly behind me: "Trust her."

He reached out and tied up Lan Duo's long, curly chestnut hair to prevent it from getting caught in the flames.He wasn't very skilled, and to be honest, he was tied up in a mess, but Lando seemed to be in a happy mood, and he went into the cage with a chicken coop on his head.

Due to her petite stature and flexible movements, she has an innate advantage in doing this kind of thing, and it only took a moment for her whole body to enter the cage without any danger.There was no sound in the cage, not even the sound of her footsteps, until a red spark flew out of the cage, held in the palm of Coleman's hand, and put it in his waist pocket.

Lando didn't appear after that.We waited anxiously; after a few breaths, Lando's voice came out from the darkness.

"Coleman, Vicente, it's dark inside, and I can't see the outside from here. I tried all kinds of magic inside, but it didn't work." She seemed to be crying, "I can't seem to get out."

Coleman tried to insert his hand through the gap in the cage, but failed - he was blocked by an invisible barrier.

"Did you see Coleman's hand just now?" I also tried to get in, but the result was the same as Coleman's.

"No." Lando's voice was blank, "but it's getting brighter here gradually. I seem to be in a comfortable room, which is full of bowls of food and water."

"Is there anything similar to a door?"

"There's no door or window—ah! But there's a little skylight. Wait until I figure out how to jump into it."

After saying this, Lando was silent for a long time.

We waited with bated breath for several minutes.I couldn't help calling her for the first time, but I didn't get her answer after repeated calls.

Although we knew it was a stupid move, Coleman and I kept silent at this time, repeating the previous practice: formations, incantations, slashing, trying all clever and stupid methods we can think of.Coleman didn't stop until I was exhausted.He waved the knife in his hand non-stop, letting it clang against the railing of the cage, making harsh frictional noises.

"Don't cut it." I saw the right moment and grabbed his wrist.His inertial downward swing made me ache.

"I'm standing at the skylight." Lando's excited voice sounded again at this time, as if it was right in front of our eyes, but our eyes still couldn't penetrate the darkness in the cage, "There is no glass, there is a small opening, only Enough for me to stick my hand out—why did they leave such a small opening?” she muttered.

"Put out your hand," Coleman said suddenly.

"By the way, I still want to give you the piece of paper." Lando responded, and then stretched out an arm from somewhere in the cage frame, holding a piece of white paper with "Earth" written on it between her fingertips.She continued: "I'm fine. There are only three of us in total. We have to hurry up and find the remaining fire seeds. I can always solve the key here."

Seeing that Coleman was standing closer to her, I didn't bother to make fun of it.He didn't pick up what Lan Duo was holding, but he seemed to be still, his eyes fixed on her arm without moving.

"Can you see my hand? Hello?" Lando said uncertainly.

She didn't know that Coleman was close at hand, so she shook her palm slightly.

I urged Coleman with my eyes.He kept that posture on the spot, but at this moment he knelt down silently, gently held up Lan Duo's hand, and pressed his lips on it.

"... Coleman?" Lando's whispering suddenly faltered.I seem to hear a tremor in there.

I couldn't help but feel very puzzled - I thought they were just a low-key couple, although the whole academy knew it well, they had no intention of walking in pairs.

Coleman let go of Lando's hand after lightly touching it.He stood up, said nothing, just handed me the slip of paper.

I put my face close to the cage: "I will send a butterfly letter to Ode. He is much more proficient in magic than I am, so he must have a way to rescue you."

Coleman slowly slammed the knife back into its sheath.

"Aren't you together yet?" I asked him after we had walked away.

"Not yet," Coleman said. "But one day it will."

This is the first time I've heard this confirmation from Coleman's mouth.

The faint singing came from the woods behind the birdcages, accompanied by our journey, and disappeared as we gradually moved away.The singing voice was beautiful and crisp, vaguely like Lan Duo's voice, but with an indescribably sweet sweetness.

"They threw away their priceless jewels,

free up space,

A cage made of fire,

Prisoned the song of the birds. "

"Don't look at it," I woke up in my mind, and tugged Coleman who turned back, "This is a sacrifice and an exchange of equal value."