Chapter 25: Farewell and Reunion

Will had spent the morning discussing his good fortune with the rest of his travel companions. He had four kruks. They now only needed two more in order to cross the desert. Will figured he would try to barter his red jewels, and possibly his medicinal herbs in an effort to obtain the precious animals. But he encountered difficulty in attempting to trade with the merchants and artisans spread out throughout Watermia. One coveted his travel pack and his jugs of fresh water, but eventually retracted the offer.

Morning turned into midday, and midday into afternoon. By this time, Kara had joined him in an effort to persuade people to be more forgiving to their plight. But even Kara's stunning appearance and personality couldn't get them what they wanted. It was dawning on Will that aside from maybe the shirt on his back and the shoes on his feet, he had nothing of value to trade. He wasn't about to resort to theft. Unlike other explorers, who sometimes resorted to larceny, assault, even killing, Will was a man of honor who would not stoop to such tactics. The sheer fact of the matter was that he had four kruks, and there were six people in the travel party. Four would move on, and two would have to stay behind in Watermia. Even though it was inevitable, the thought of leaving his friends behind made him sick.

He and Kara climbed up the ladder and into their living quarters, where the remaining members of the group were waiting. Neil and Erik lay on the beds in the corner of the room, while Lilly and Lance were sitting at the table, nibbling on the remaining bits of Lilly's birthday cake. Will broke the news grimly. "Well, there's no deal." There was a bit of silence as Will's words hung in the air. Erik and Neil looked down at the floor. Even Kara was despondent. Being of royalty, she was used to getting what she wanted. She had offered to reveal her identity as daughter of King Edward in order to threaten the traders and ram through a deal. Will did not allow it though, both on reasons of ethics and that such a move could send news of their location across the land and tip off the Jackal.

Neil looked up and spoke. "Well, I'm going to Euro for sure, since I know the location of the city. Will is going too, as he needs to find the remaining two ruins. It's down between you four. Kara, Lilly, Lance, and Erik, talk amongst yourselves. It's your call." Neil nodded to Will, and he concurred. They were about to excuse themselves from the room when Lance stood up. "Lilly and I will stay behind." He said.

"Wait Lance, no you don't have to do that." Erik said.

"Yes I do." Lance said. "My father is here, and he's still quite ill. I want to care for him and help him recover his strength. I want to continue on with you guys, but I also want to spend time with Lilly. Between her and my father, it's what I feel I need to do."

Lilly supported her newfound lovebird. "I think this all makes sense. When you think about it, not unlike Will, Lance's main reason for coming on the journey was to find his father. He's right here in Watermia. I think he should stay behind and help him recover his health. Logically, I should stay with him."

Will was shocked. He thought for sure that Erik, being the youngest and least courageous of the group, and Kara, who was clearly worn down from the constant adventuring, would be the ones to stay back. Not Lance, his resilient and strong best friend, and Lilly, whose courage and power were seemingly boundless. But they had made their case, and given the circumstances it all made as much sense as could be expected.

"I wish you all luck on the remainder of the journey." Lance said. "Especially you Will. I know your father is out there, you'll find him. To Erik, Neil, and you too Kara, may you stay strong and prosper. Someday soon, we'll meet again."

"May luck and happiness follow you, wherever you go." Lilly said.

It was late afternoon, and the kruks were all saddled up. After saying their final goodbyes, Will, Kara, Neil, and Erik rode out of Watermia to the east. The timing was perfect, as they were well rested, and they would be able to traverse the first stretch of desert under the cover of night, when the temperatures would not be so excessive. Neil took the lead and navigated the team through the swampy dirt, which quickly turned to a drier scrubland before too long. By the team the sun had gone down, they were in an area of dry, sandy brush, not unlike that of which they traversed through on the way to Nazca last month.

"Will, this trip has been a long time coming for me." Neil said.

"I'm sure it has. Will said. "Your parents probably miss you horribly."

"Heh, I'm sure. I've gotten so wrapped up in doing my inventions that I never really about family life, or about the distance from home at which I had perfected my craft. It was all about getting an airplane to fly, and about getting a camera to work in less than 30 minutes. Now that I'm on the doorstep of returning, it makes me think of how insensitive I've been. I didn't have to move away from Euro to do anything I've done. But, I guess the way things happened, it'll turn out fine in the end."

"We're going to have some fun." Will said. "If your parents are as rich and powerful as you say they are, they'll practically throw a party for the whole town when we arrive."

Neil frowned. Will smiled. He knew that one thing Neil did not like was excessive attention and grandeur thrown his direction. He didn't prefer to be recognized publicly. But this time, attention was going to be inevitable.

For the next two and half days, they traveled across the desert sands, traveling mostly at night. Neil continued to lead, while Will hung behind with Kara and Erik, both of whom were happy that their feet were getting a rest for this stretch of the journey. There was still a long way to go across the vast continent of Laurasia to find the remaining ruins.

Day 79 -

"Will, where do you suppose the remaining ruins are?" Kara asked. "Will I get to see them too?"

"You know Kara, I'm not sure." Will said. "I know the Tower of Babel is the end destination, but as for the stops along the way, I'm hoping that we'll find out when we get to Euro."

"You've never been to this area before on your adventures?" she asked.

Will responded, "My father and I have ventured to Babel Island several times. We've sailed the seas, and we've even seen some ancient cities along the coastline. But we're way inland away from the ocean now, and we're in a desert. Even well-rationed and traversed explorers would be foolhardy to travel to our current location, away from all food supplies and water."

"You could probably survive anywhere." Kara said.

"This area? It would be tough. You'd have to resort to drinking your own bodily fluids most likely." Will said. Surprisingly, Kara took Will's comment in stride. "Easier for you than me."

Will turned back at her, incredulous. The princess of Edward Castle had just cracked him back over bodily fluids. She had come a long way from not wanting to eat raw fish.

Day 81 –

By midnight on Day 80, they had passed the worst of the desert, and it was their first sight of vegetation in over two days. The grass began to get thicker and greener as they progressed. The darkness began to break early, very early on the morning of day 81. So early, in fact, that Will couldn't yet see the sun breaking over the horizon. Neil suddenly began to get very excited, as he suspected that the light was man-made. He was right. They continued heading east and a vast plateau was ahead, and at the base of the plateau was the source of the light. They couldn't really see it yet, but the city of Euro was sprawling out in front of them. They began to climb the hill, which wasn't especially steep. As the sun began to emerge, they reached Euro's eastern suburbs. Dirt and gravel pathways snaked through the mixture of homes, businesses, and scattered farmland. This seemed to go on for quite a while. But before too long, the buildings became more numerous, and they were so close together that they almost seemed to swarm. The road changed to that of a paved, marble cobblestone not unlike those of Freejia. Gardens and food stands lined the sides of the street, which had become quite crowded with merchants, craftsmen, and other workers headed to their places of work.

"Welcome to Euro" Neil told the others. Will and Erik's eyes wandered, as they examined the vast city.

"It's just like Freejia." Will said. "So large and well-built."

"You haven't seen anything yet." Neil assured them.

The traffic got heavier and heavier as they approached downtown Euro. In the modern world, it was called a morning rush hour. A controlled chaos in which thousands upon thousands of people clamored for position in a vast crowd to get to their places of work each day. In Euro, it was a given everyday fact of life in the city. Finally, they rounded a corner to the right, and stretched out before them was a bustling marketplace. There were food stands along the sides of the main road, then large buildings spread out just beyond them on either side. In the center of the marketplace was a giant fountain. And at the north end of the enclosed space was a mansion. The mansion was gigantic, nearly the size of Edward Castle. At the sight of the mansion, Will's mouth dropped. So did Erik's, amazing considering that Erik came from the richest family in South Cape, but even his house was nothing compared to what they now saw.

"That, up there, is my parents' home" Neil said.

Even Kara was taking notice. "What a palatial estate. These people must have even greater riches than King Edward."

"I believe we do. The Rolek Company virtually runs the city of Euro. All the businesses and transactions you see taking place right now, from the fish to the fresh fruit to the kruks we used to make the journey here, all of it is courtesy of Rolek."

Before he could continue with his sentence, somebody standing near the fountain recognized Neil. "Hey, that's the son of Mr. and Mrs. Rolek!" a girl shouted. "That's the inventor!" Within seconds, a huge crowd of spectators swarmed around them. "Send word to the estate that their son has arrived!" The rush of attention and people made Neil quite nauseous and claustrophobic, but the adulation was only starting to pour out on the young inventor.