Now Sheba, the beloved of the Sphinx, had catalogued and experimented with all the strange plants, berries, fruits, saps, leaves, barks, minerals, and essences that they had once, not long, collected on their travels. She had distilled and extracted, separated, and fractioned, boiled and sieved, added and subtracted all the strange participant bits of the natural world, until eventually she held up in her hand a glass vessel full of the smallest constituent parts of all things. This was in the form of a dust of parts which were almost of invisible and as yet had no names.
I shall call each one a Mota, because it is like unto a mote of dust but more small and special and precious, also so small that it is almost unseen and sometimes not there.
Then, when she made experiments upon each single part of Mota, it seemed that when she made a machine that cut one Mota into two pieces, then enormous amounts of heat and light might come forth. Such that during a few times the experiment table was all but burnt to a cheese and onion crisp. Also, when the heat came forth, it release from the Mota its song of life which was wonderful and terrifying but could not be recaught or contained and was lost forever. Sheba needs must wear ear covers to make the experiments and also wear hard gloves and a hard hat to survive the hot. She looked quite amusing. This now was a new line of thinking and not to be trifled. The powerful releasing situation results became a fascination and in passing time Sheba became all-knowing of the ways and powers of the Motas that she had discovered.
The making of great heat was a thing in and of itself most unsettling as it could become a great asset or a great weapon that might.
This then she could understand might be and must be kept secret and safe, like the ring, away from those who might use its power to destruct and force. She made a plan with her beloved, the Sphinx, to take the Motas to a hidden place where they would be hid, away where no people came. Sheba wrote down her recipes and experiments, the amounts of this and that, the temperature of that, the confinement, the stirring and dilution, the sieving and filtration needed to find the Mota, in her book of experiments which was a plain black moleskin which she favoured.
Then, in full secret (or so they hoped) Sheba and the Sphinx set out in darkness from the side gate of the City of Az, near the Hostel for the Homeless of the Darkest Knight. And slipped away into the night, hopping to discover a safe harbour where the Mota and recipes could be safe in keeping.
On travelling through a scrubby place, they were attacked by ruffians who were rough. The Sphinx tried to explain that she could make them relent with one paw behind her back, and even offered to let the ruffians try and take her, but Sheba said no, we must get on. Then Sheba gave to the Sphinx one Mota and the Sphinx took one Mota and split it with her everlasting eternal claw, such that its life song was released and frightened Miss Muffet (the head ruffian) away. But that is a separate battle or story.
They travelled fast for two months and a day until they came to the land of the great cliffs and rocks, known as the Heralayas, a huge and who were friends to the Sphinx. The Sphinx lifted up a rocky mountain there and scooped out a cavern with one mighty clawed paw. Sheba set her book, cover in waterproof and hard covers upon the stone floor and the Sphinx replaced the mountain. Here also was placed a casket of Motas most precious here. They marked the mountain with a tiny cairn of four red stones which could not identify only to those in the knowing. They called this place the Well Well Well, and returned two months and a day home to the city.
Now, when the Motas were trapped beneath the mountain, they became sad and sang their song of life all day every day to keep up their spirits. This song was so strong that many creatures and some acute people of sensitivity could hear the song upon passing the mountain. The song, being the song of life itself, seduced and beguiled those who heard, and they soon became enthrall and must return to hear the song regular. In a year, a mystery of stories abounded about the song in the mountain and many wise sourcer ers and esses worshipped there.
There was much argument and indeed discussion in the nature of the music, variously, by twangling harp, beguiling voice, sighing fiddle, lonesome flute, mighty drum, casual whistle or full orchestra with chorus and soprano. Each hearing as they were able. Soon the music became and all the people must hear it, so wonderful, in hearing there was a joy. I cannot describe it, it is music to my ears.
The Guardians of the Cave 