The journey through the desert of Kyrasar passed in serious and uneasy feelings. Nofa was still shocked that someone who she wanted to be sisters with became a murderer. She would have wanted to converse with Yilka but he offered no ear and only focused on riding his mount. Yilka himself was thinking about the true danger that the power of the Grand Beasts have. The problems between Nofa and Yilka were secondary for both of them now, but not forgotten.
Once they had reached their ship, they were reminded of something that they had forgotten already. The soldier that they had captured was still tied to the mast of the ship. When Venamo boarded the ship, he didn't care one bit for the hostage, and Yilka uneasily looked away, not daring to defy his brother anymore. Nofa however gasped and hurried to the weakly breathing hostage and put her own bottle on the man's lips to offer fresh water. The man wasn't putting in any effort to drink, so Nofa tilted his head for him and poured the water down his throat. After swallowing, the man coughed a little and blinked, but still wasn't quite able to do anything harder than that.
"Waste your water at your own peril. He told us what we needed to know. That's all he's good for." Venamo said.
"I know he's one of the foes but letting him die of thirst here, tied under a mast right by the desert is no way to treat a human. He may help us if we show mercy." Nofa argued back.
"You can sacrifice your own water and time to take care of a foe, but don't expect the rest of us to do the same." Venamo said and took the helm.
"He might even know the seas better than any of us." Nofa quietly said to herself, not expecting Venamo to care.
And Venamo indeed did not care. He turned to look at Yilka who was sitting on the back corner.
"Go push the ship out of the sands and into the water." Venamo told Yilka.
"Alone?" Yilka asked.
"Witch! Tell that butterfly to drag the ship into the water!" Venamo shouted at Nofa.
"Only if you stop calling me a witch!" Nofa suddenly lashed out.
"If words get to you like that, how can I expect you to work together with us? Just give your pet the order. It's not hard." Venamo replied.
"Be respectful to Nofa! That shouldn't be hard either!" Varma shouted back at Venamo.
"Can't we just get the boat moving already instead of wasting time arguing?" Yilka complained alone.
"Fine then, good friend. Could you please tell Blueberry to drag the ship into the water?" Venamo asked with faked politeness.
"Thank you." Nofa replied with equally faked politeness and then gave the order to Blueberry.
And soon enough the ship was on its way east. They sailed past the shared city of Atalkor, knowing that they wouldn't be welcome there after the fight they had with the soldiers there. During the trip, the kidnapped soldier began to wake up. It was night, and the only one on the ship still awake other than him was Venamo at the helm.
"So you came back. Did you steal a lightning?" The soldier asked.
"That is nothing to you." Venamo replied.
"Why haven't you thrown me overboard?" The soldier asked.
"A matter of honour. The only way I'll kill you is in battle." Venamo replied.
"Or by leaving me to die of thirst. I can't really fight you if I'm tied here. But I do want to fight you after what you did to me."
"You won't fight me anytime soon. I have more important matters to worry about."
"Wouldn't it be nicer to shut me up for good?"
"I assure you, I'd love to do that."
"Then do it. Set me free and fight me."
"I'll set you free and let you get on land if you tell us how to sail to Haimana. But only when it's our time to sail there."
"And you think I'll give you the right directions?"
"If you don't, I may just throw you overboard after all. You do want to get out alive, don't you?"
"Not before I force you to swallow sea water."
"You'll get one step closer to that if you tell us what the forces of Vastusar have planned for the Crownmother."
"Ah. Well, I'll tell you that you'll have to work hard to protect her. The shores of the Lehrean islands are surrounded by tall and thick trees grown on enchanted land. Not even catapults can damage those trees and an invasion by sea is nigh impossible. But we don't have to invade by sea."
"Then how do you intend to invade? Do your comrades have wings now?"
"You'll see when the time comes."
"Remember who has the power on this boat." Venamo sternly reminded.
"You wouldn't throw your compass away just yet." The soldier reminded.
"I may not throw you overboard but I can feed you more saltwater. So you better start talking." Venamo reminded right back.
"Ugh. No more saltwater. Please. Fine. They can fly." The soldier revealed.
"Well. That does not scare us. Because so can we." Venamo said.
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Come morning, the visibility at sea had improved and Venamo could see what was ahead. Trees that were taller than any other trees he had ever seen. The trees were densely packed together to form a wall almost, and their height was about the same as the wall that separates the Uhmak lands. Venamo was the only one awake on the ship, but he did not announce to the others what he saw just yet. Once the ship was somewhat close to the wall of trees, Venamo left the wheel and pulled the sails down and made the ship slow down to a full stop. The trees were right at the edge of the soil of the island and indeed the trees were so tightly packed together that a person couldn't squeeze through them. The best way that Venamo could think of to keep the ship in place was to tie a rope to his sword and then stick the sword through one of the trees. And that is what he did.
"This looks like a job for that butterfly." He said to himself as he looked up.
He then cleared his throat and prepared his voice.
"Wake up, everyone! We're here!" He announced to everyone on the ship.
"Are we there yet?" Varma asked from her corner while stretching her arms.
"We are indeed. And we need to get over this wall of trees." Venamo replied.
Everyone looked at said wall of trees and then looked up.
"Nofa, you have that butterfly. It can get us all over to the other side one by one." Venamo said to the wizard's daughter.
"That she can. Not sure if she'll like you, however." Nofa replied.
"Can we eat something first?" Varma asked.
"We ate last morning. You can survive a bit longer." Venamo sternly and impatiently replied.
"No we didn't. It was the evening before last morning." Varma quietly pointed out.
"In any case, we can do without." Venamo insisted.
"Sorry for asking. Guess I was greedy." Varma said as feelings of survivor's guilt came back.
"We packed bread when we left home. And I bet these islands are packed with all sorts of bounty. We can afford to empty our satchels of the bread a bit." Yilka pointed out.
"And she's a growing girl who needs to eat. The island isn't going anywhere." Nofa seconded.
Venamo blew air out of his nose and grit his teeth.
"Fair. Have your bread since we've got nowhere better to be." Venamo said and retrieved the satchel hanging from his mount.
He tossed a hard bread to each one of the travellers and took one for himself while he was at it.
Nofa got next to Varma as the girl was only looking at the hard bread without eating any. Nofa wiped hair away from the girls face and then put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"You're not going to eat after all? You're not being greedy. You were the voice of reason there." Nofa said to her.
"I think he may have been right. Everyone seems to be fine fasting a bit longer but I suggested we waste some of what we have. Now that I think, I could go a bit longer too." Varma admitted.
"You're feeling guilty again for eating others' share, aren't you?" Nofa asked.
"Well... a little." Varma revealed.
"We aren't going to go hungry because of this. And even if we did, it's still our own choice. It wouldn't be your fault. It was never your fault." Nofa reassured.
Varma only remained quiet and still didn't eat.
"What Venamo said really made you feel bad. I can tell." Nofa said.
"No, it didn't." Varma insisted with feigned certainty.
"Hmph. Just eat away. The more you eat, the less there is for him." Nofa told her friend and took a bite.
As Nofa munched on the hard bread, she noticed that Varma still wasn't eating. She swallowed and turned to the girl.
"You know, I think I'll eat another and another and another until we have nothing left if you don't eat even one." Nofa jokingly threatened.
"You really want me to eat, don't you?" Varma answered, and chuckled a little.
"Nooooo, I wish you didn't eat so I could eat all of them." Nofa replied and kept the play on.
"Fine fine. I'll eat then." Varma said and took a bite.
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Once breakfast had been eaten, Nofa gave the command to her butterfly to carry her over he wall of trees. When she had landed on the other side, all who remained on the boat heard as she gasped.
"What is it?" Yilka asked from the boat.
"You'll see when you get here." Nofa replied.
She then gave Blueberry the order to retrieve Yilka and Venamo as well. Once they had entered, Varma took flight on her own and got over the wall herself. When she had flown over all the dense trees and saw what was hidden on the island, she gasped as well. Trees taller than the tallest hills she'd seen were bearing fruit that were bigger than houses. Enormous waterfalls were bombarding a mighty river surrounded by an ocean of green vine where grapes the size of human heads grew, and it all looked glorious under the morning sun.
"Down here!" Nofa shouted up at Varma who had flown a little too high.
She awoke from her small trance and looked down. She saw the others standing by a big pond and flew down to join them. When she landed, she gasped again when she looked over to the pond.
"Birdos!" She whisper shouted to herself and gripped her hands on her thighs.
Ahead the travellers saw white aquatic birds with black heads and white cheeks. But what made these aquatic birds so unusual was that they were taller than an adult man and thick as an oak tree.
"And now what? We need to find someone to talk to?" Yilka wondered.
Varma immediately shushed him and kept watching the birds.
"The birdos will fly away if we're too loud." She reminded.
"I'm not sure if these ones would be scared of us." Nofa said.
"It's natural for birdos to be scared of outside threats. Just because they're larger doesn't mean that..." Varma was quietly explaining until she was interrupted by a freakishly loud quack from behind that scared everyone.
When they turned around, they saw one of these big birds standing over them and looking at them curiously.
"Umm. Hello, big birdo." Varma said while looking up.
"Does it want to eat us?" Yilka asked.
"Its beak is not designed for tearing flesh." Varma said back without breaking eye contact with the big bird.
"What is it looking at us for?" Yilka asked.
Varma approached the enormous bird slowly with her hand extended. She put her hand on the bird's beak and petted it slowly.
"We're just friends visiting." Varma gently told the bird.
The bird let out another quieter quack.
"Hihi. Quack to you too." Varma said to the big bird.
As she was starting to get along with the bird, she heard the tapping of several webbed feet coming from behind the big bird. Several smaller birds that looked like their mother came from behind the vines and started quacking at Varma and getting really close to her. Even though they were young, their beak could still reach Varma's knee.
"W-woah! Are these your little ones?" Varma asked and chuckled.
She sat down on the ground as the less large birds surrounded her and ran their beaks all over her to smell her.
"H-Hey now! I'm no one to be wary of." Varma said.
The smaller birds began rubbing their cheeks against Varma's feathery cloak and seemed trusting of her. In return she petted them on their heads and their backs and rubbed her finger on the underside of their beaks, which they really seemed to enjoy.
"Come cuddle up with aunty, little baby birdos. Mmm hihi, you too back there." Varma was mumbling while flapping her wings giddily.
She then sat down and let the smaller birds come cuddle up to her, which they did. Whatever bad feelings Varma may have had before stepping on the island were now out of her memory as she was petting her new friends that were rubbing their feathery cheeks against her and stepping on her lap.
"I'm sure she'll remember this for a long time." Yilka commented.
"It makes me happy to see her happy." Nofa added.
"We didn't come here to make friends with birds." Venamo commented.
"Well, that doesn't mean that we can't make friends." Varma replied and petted her new friends some more.
"Should we throw bread at them?" Yilka suggested.
"No! Bread tricks their belly into thinking that they're full when they're not! Those big grapes on the vines would do better." Varma said while getting cuddled.
"Oh these?" Yilka said and hit his cudgel against one of the massive vines to make some grapes fall down.
Nofa caught one head-sized grape in her hands and marveled at it for a bit.
"Thank you." Nofa politely said and smiled at Yilka.
Yilka only looked away from her, and Nofa frowned when she saw that.
"Well, this may have to be sliced in to a few pieces before they can swallow it." Nofa said and cheered herself up again by looking at the happy birds.
Right then another grape fell and landed on Venamo's head, bursting into bits and getting the grumpy man soaked in pulp and juice.
"Oh my." Nofa said and held back her laughter.
Venamo wiped his face clean and looked steamy and impatient.
"I think this is enough of this foolishness." Venamo said seriously.
Right then all the travellers heard soft spoken words from a direction where none of them were looking at. They all turned their heads to where the voice came from and saw a tall man with long white glowing hair, long white robes and a golden walking stick with white glow around it.
The strange man said something again but only Venamo understood what he said, being the only one who understands the Holy people's language.
"We are here for a good reason." Venamo told the strange man and wiped pulp away from his own beard.
"How have you gotten here?" The Holy man asked Venamo.
"We were carried here by a strong butterfly."
"A butterfly? I have not heard of such a butterfly. But that matters not now. You are of the Uhmak tribe, and you have a Rarhean with you as well. You clearly come from very far. Wherefore have you come here and who are you?" The Holy man spoke in a calm manner with a soft voice.
"I am Venamo Kinuei, and these are my brother, my cousin and... a member of the community, and we are here to let you folk know that the Crownmother is in danger."
"Danger? In what way?"
"All the other Grand Beasts have been killed, and we know that their killers are coming for the Crownmother now." Venamo told the man.
"We are aware that three Grand Beasts have fallen lately. This worries us. By no means was their time up. We did not know why they fell so suddenly. To know that they are being hunted worries us. How can mere pure people kill a Grand Beast? And how are they meaning to come here? On butterflies?"
"I only know that they are going to fly here. We do not know how. I intend to make our prisoner talk to find out. And are you aware that the Kingdom of Greater Vastusar can use Holy magic?"
"We are aware of that. Leri gave their king the power of Holy magic when she recognised him as a benevolent leader. We are aware that they are no longer ruled by the same king as back then."
"Are you aware that the current king Pushkrilleri has used the Holy magic for purposes of war? He has expanded his realm's territory by force by enchanting the weapons and armour of his armies, making them an irresistible force against any who they face." Venamo explained.
"Leri did not grant her blessing to the previous king so that he might expand his realm. How disappointing."
"Disappointing is not the word for it. It's outrageous. He's forced our tribe brothers under servitude, and we will take him down one way or another."
"It is most regrettable that only Leri herself can remove one's blessing. I suppose the current king would not let her do that to him. The Watchers did tell us that there is a great wrong happening in the created world that warranted calling Leri down to earth. They did not, however tell the rest of us what the great wrong was. I suppose we now know."
"Leri herself has come down to earth?"
"Indeed. You may have noticed that her bright golden star is no longer in the sky, because she is now down on earth. It does not happen often, but now she has gone on a journey across the created world to find worthy people to carry out what needs to be done and make the created world better."
"Find worthy people? A Holy lady gave me my blessing and called me worthy. Was that... Was that Leri herself? Why would she give her blessing to some villager like me?" Venamo said and showed the mark on his forehead.
"You do indeed have Leri's blessing. Leri does not resolve conflicts of the pure people, but she will intervene in ways that help steer the conflict the way she favours."
"Removing the blessing from the King would have steered the conflict in our favour but who am I to question her choices?"
"I do wish you will get to speak to her yet. Clearly you've been chosen for a great duty due to your benevolent character. It is most pleasing to see that you are dedicated enough to travel all the way over here for it."
"You mentioned something called the Watchers earlier. Who are they?"
"You may not see them, but they are always here and there. I shall not reveal more than that."
"Fine then. Shall I ask my prisoner how the enemy intends to fly here?" Venamo asked.
"Though we would not approve of you taking prisoners, it is a good thought to ask." The Holy man replied.
"Witch, tell that butterfly to fly me back to the boat." Venamo said to Nofa.
"You will not need to do that?" The Holy man said to Venamo in the Uhmak language.
"Suppose we should have guessed that Leri's people can speak all languages." Yilka commented.
The Holy man gestured at the wall of trees and bent the trees to make an opening wide enough for several people to walk through and the boat came to everyone's sight. The captured soldier tied to the mast looked baffled and scared when he saw the trees bend and his captors returning to him with an actual Holy one. The travellers stepped onto their boat along with the Holy one and surrounded the captured enemy.
"A bountiful life is yours if you tell us how your allies are intending to fly here." The Holy one said to the soldier.
"Come again?" The soldier replied.
"We do not lie. Tell us, and you are welcome to stay here in the island where nothing has to kill another living thing in order to survive." The Holy one said with a calm voice.
"I don't believe that." The soldier insisted.
"We can't leave him here. We need him for directions still." Venamo said.
"Where do you need to go after you're done here?" The Holy one asked Venamo.
"We need to sail over to Haimana after this." Venamo replied.
"Then follow this when you're at sea." The Holy one said as a dove made of near blinding golden light came out if his hand and flew to the sky.
"What is that?" Venamo asked.
"I told it where to lead you. Follow it and you will get there."
"I thank you for this. This will be handy." Venamo said in return.
"You truly are the Holy people." The captured soldier commented.
"You are here in Leri's land and you did not believe?" The Holy man asked the soldier.
"But after what I've been a part of, would you show such kindness to me as to offer me refuge here? I have no family to return to. Not even a home. The army is all I have, and I do what they tell me to do, not matter what. Even if it's waging war against Leri's creation. Why would you offer me something so good as that?" The soldier asked.
"Because I can tell that you are telling the truth. You are not a threat to any living being here." The Holy one assured.
Venamo used his sword to cut the ropes that bound the soldier into the mast, and then sheathed his sword.
"Now will you tell us?" The Holy one asked.
"They have ships. Ships that are carried by balloons filled with hot air and powered by burning cave moss. They can fly over these trees easily, and they can fly faster than any bird I've seen. They can carry twenty crossbow shooters in each ship." The soldier revealed.
"The Crownmother is a stationary target. She'd have no defense against shooters in the sky. This is not good." The Holy one commented.
"Varma. You'll have to fly and shoot some balloons down." Venamo said to his cousin.
"Why? Who does that help in any way? Are they going to fly with balloons in here?" Varma asked, not having understood the conversation that was being had.
"That they are. And they'll have crossbows with them. So be careful." Venamo warned.
"I'll do what needs to be done then." Varma replied while her bird friends were still around her and looking up at her.
"I trust that you will. And to help you, have this." The Holy one said to Varma and touched her bow to give it an enchantment.
"Ohh nice! I mean, Vena could have given my weapon this all along but never did. Nice to have it now." Varma said and glared at her cousin.
"You are ready now." Venamo said unconvincingly.
"Before they come, I must tell others on this island and the other islands, and we must be prepared." The Holy one said.
"Do we have the time for that?" Venamo asked.
"We do if we do it like this." The Holy one said and spawned another dove of light from under his sleeve.
He told the dove to carry the message to all the islands, and off the dove flew.
"And I'm just free to go wherever I want on this island now?" The now freed soldier asked for confirmation.
"You are free to go." The Holy one confirmed.
"If they come down to the ground here, I will do anything I can to fight them. Even if I have no weapon. I owe you that." The now former soldier promised and stayed put.
"Though we never wished to use them, we do have weapons for defense. I must go join my kin and we shall arm ourselves." The Holy one said and stepped back on the island where he then briskly walked deeper into the vines.
"I think we should follow him. There is strength in numbers." Venamo told his fellow travellers, and then said the same thing to the now freed soldier as well in his language.
They all stepped out of the boat and onto the island, Varma gave up her new friends back to their mother, and the whole party followed the Holy one into the vines.
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