As Vanetin leads you through the door, you find yourself
in a dark passage, so dark you can barely see your hand in front of your
nose. You feel on your arm a pressure, and realize that it must be
Vanetin leading you as she says, "Careful, it's dark." A slight tug
on your arm urges you forward, and you hear her footsteps fall before your
own, and she continues conversationally, "We're passing into another world.
Don't be frightened; I just needed to build a place for the Drigus
I adopted." Okay, now you've heard it all. On top of everything
else the girl has done to you, she's come up with something new to show
you? Feeling your hesitency, she urges you on, "C'mon, it's not much
further."
Sure enough, you round a bend and see a glimmer
of a light before you. A few more paces, and Vanetin's hand falls
from your arm; You hear a slight grunting noise, and then the passageway
is filled with an almost blinding light, and intense heat, a sharp contrast
to the dark, dank hallway you just passed through. Shielding your
eyes from the light with one hand, though it doesn't help much, Van takes
your other hand and pulls you through, "It'll get better if you come out
more." Soon your vision adjusts to the light, and you see almost
what you expected: A desert.
However, something on this desert sparks your interest.
At first, it seems to camouflage, but as your eyes continue to adjust,
you see that it is alive! Looking incredulously to Van, as much in
surprise at seeing anything that could live in such a place as anything
else, she grins. You turn back to watch the animal, what did she
call it? Drigus? And you step forward, hesitantly, so as not
to scare it away. Not making a move, but watching you intently with
ever-alert eyes, you come to within touching range of it, but stop short
a few feet, in respect, and gaze at the creature.
Vanetin smiles as she joins you, and she says softly, "Her name is Aerintha. She is a blue Drigus, from Silver Unicorn. She was just recently Hatched." She explains a bit about the Drigus, "This is the type of climate the Drigetti are used to.. So I've created a home that, I hope, mirrors that of where her parents live." Feeling the intensity of the heat, you wipe beads of sweat from your brow, and Van offers you a canteen, which you sip at greedily. It sure is dehydrating out here. After you've had your fill of water, and given the canteen back to Vanetin, she nods back toward the portal entrance, "We should get going, especially since she's young. But you can come back, sometime, when she grows." A lilt of hopefulness tinges her voice, and she ushers you through the portal before tugging the door shut. Leading you back through in about the same manner as before, she leads you out to the room guarded by the Grifflet, so you can explore some more, then closes the door.