[As his companion risks life and limb in combat against one of Zenith’s most steadfast zealots, Liem digs a hole. He digs with his bare hands, not having any better tool at hand, and not wishing to risk damaging the wing in any case. Fortunately the soil is the soft, damp soil of a garden plot, and he is quite small, so scooping clods of earth out of the way is less difficult than he might have feared. He digs as quickly as he can, shoving clumps of soil against the other, innocuous supplies filling the tent, each passing second dragging on interminably.
Relief sweeps him when he finally glimpses a bit of wilted leaf wrapping, and realizes that the faerie wing was buried just enough to get it out of sight. Fortunately for him — and rather foolishly for the Zenites, he thinks — no one buried it far enough to keep the wing actually out of reach of snooping visitors. Burrowing a little deeper, he drags the leaf-wrapped piece of wing out from its hiding place and tucks it under one arm.
He knows without unwrapping it that it’s the same wing he came here seeking. Having got what he needed, Liem rises to his feet, the package fading to translucence as he does, and he heads back the way he came.]
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Relief sweeps him when he finally glimpses a bit of wilted leaf wrapping, and realizes that the faerie wing was buried just enough to get it out of sight. Fortunately for him — and rather foolishly for the Zenites, he thinks — no one buried it far enough to keep the wing actually out of reach of snooping visitors. Burrowing a little deeper, he drags the leaf-wrapped piece of wing out from its hiding place and tucks it under one arm.
He knows without unwrapping it that it’s the same wing he came here seeking. Having got what he needed, Liem rises to his feet, the package fading to translucence as he does, and he heads back the way he came.]