INTERWOVEN ADVENTURES | Circadian Earth: Book 1

Chapter 37

Astrid flew as fast as she could. Having seized her opportunity with the confusion at the door, she'd managed to escape unseen. Her first objective was to find Berria, who was probably still waiting where she'd been left several hours before.

But, knowing how Chelsey and Melissa were when new arrivals turned up, she figured that Berria would be waiting for a while longer. And Astrid was fine with that. Her curiosity was spiking at the arrival of the two other Nasrics, given that Yellow was nowhere to be seen, but chose not to think about it.

She'd seen the direction they came from, so off she went... but she didn't have any other information. Nasrics rarely walked long distances, usually choosing to increase their energy usage to make the journey quicker. It was estimated that Nasrics spent almost a third of the time in the air, after all.

Of course, the trail went cold immediately. After a few minutes of sticking to the wall, she gave up and scaled it, heading back towards the centre of the city at top speed to get her bearings. As she approached, she noticed an opening in one of the buildings. And of course, her curiosity got the best of her, so Berria was forgotten once more.

Suddenly, a crimson streak flew out of the opening, trailing fire. Once it slowed down, Astrid recognised it as another Trialian, none other than the Ember Witch herself.

"Hey!" Astrid called at the top of her voice, flying upwards towards the hedgehog. "Ember Witch?"

Surprisingly, Emily took notice. "Get lost, I'm busy."

"You're about to be less busy once you hear what I know."

"And you'll be less sentient if you interfere with the demands of the leader." Emily scanned the surrounding streets for Cybal, not immediately seeing the magenta prototype.

"Is it true that you're one of the only two Trialians that this city tolerates?"

"No, there's one new member on the team. Are you done slowing me down, or do I have to use force?" Emily prepared a fireball, glaring at the teal Nasric.

"Calm down. I know of a secret Trialian community hiding out inside the city."

This made Emily pause. "What?"

"You heard me." Astrid smirked. "I hate Trialians just as much as the leader does, obviously with the exception of you and whoever your other Trialian team member is. And I'm willing to help you with information."

"If there were additional Trialians, we'd have already found them."

"So you're just letting them live in the underground tunnels?"

Emily let out a long groan. "If I play along and it turns out you're messing with us, do you understand that we will make sure your core is shattered?"

Astrid nodded. "I respect your team's goals. And I know what you're capable of, so I wouldn't risk myself."

Emily slowly nodded. "Fine." She grabbed Astrid before she could react, and made her way back to Amelix's building.

Amelix, however, wasn't impressed when she heard Emily's early arrival and found a completely different Nasric. "This isn't Stardust."

"What's more important?" Emily asked. "Finding Stardust, or ensuring that Layla and I are the only Trialians in Pronio? Because this one claims she knows something and is willing to give us information." She chucked Astrid towards Amelix. "Now I'll go and find Cybal. Oh, and if she's lying, please make sure that not even a new body will save her."

"Fine, now get out." Amelix turned to Astrid as Emily flew off once more. "You do understand that I have presence in every corner of the city, right? Any Trialians would be found very quickly."