Sedrik's friend lived in Isthdow, the biggest town inside the Diamond kingdom, and probably the most important town in the three inland kingdoms after the Palace cities. But even when the town was inside the Diamond kingdom, it was an independent town with no king or queen, but a council ruling instead. Along with the Safeheaven Island, Isthdown was a sanctuary and trade town where merchants from all around the kingdoms and provinces met without worrying about conflict of interests.
Its' location right at the border of the Diamond and Emerald kingdoms, and just a few miles away of the Ruby kingdom, and its' friendly weather made it the perfect place to do business. As opposed to the triangle that even when it was the exact place where the three inland kingdoms met, the high desert temperatures and dryness made it impossible for it to prosper.
The town was located on a small, artificial island, built by Terra and Aqua masters right above the Kine lake, at the mouth of Yuna's river. They were named after Kine Dease the god of the sun, and Yuna Deasi the goddess of the moon, respectively. Isthdow was, without a question, one of the most important places in the four kingdoms and autonomous provinces.
When we finally go back to the ground, I can barely feel my legs. I shake them trying to rush the blood flow to my toes. Kalen is doing the same.
"Don't worry, that feeling will disappear soon," Sedrik says walking by our side as if he hadn't spent the whole night mounted in a peryton, flying across the kingdom. "You just have to get used to it."
"Get used to it? " Kalen asks while stretching his body too dramatically. He is a really good actor, I have to give that to him. "I don't mean to burst your bubble, but I will never get used to that thing." He mutters as we follow Sedrik.
I look around to realize we had landed in a… unique stable. And I say unique because the structure itself was just big enough to hold no more than four people inside, and the rest of the area was a fenced meadow where you could find not only horses, but also griffins, manticores, and any type of chimeras. As I look at the creatures I notice there is something off with them; they are acting strangely as if they were oblivious of everything and everyone around them.
We walk to the room where the is only one person on the other side of the counter.
''Welcome to Isthdow stable where we take care of your ride no matter the kind.'' He says monotonously as we stop in front of him. ''My name is Embor, how can I help you today?''
His eyes move slowly, looking at each one of us without any interest. He holds his head in place with his hand and looks as if he were so bored, he could fall asleep at any second. I can't help but wonder how this person was able to take care of all the creatures without having any inconvenience, given the murderous nature of some of them and the nonexistent interest displayed on him.
''Hello there, I would like to board my peryton,'' Sedrik tells him at the same time that Atlas walks forward to us so now Embor can see him.
''Great,'' He says without any excitement in his voice once he sees Atlas. ''How long?'' he asks.
''One day.'' Sedrik answers.
Embor nods before ducking down on the other side of the counter. After a few seconds, he comes back up putting in front of us a big bottle full of a viscous, green liquid.
''It will be six shinies.'' He says.
Sedrik points his staff towards Atlas, and a second later a leather satchel flies towards him, lading in his hands. He looks inside it and takes out twelve pieces of gold which he drops on the counter.
Ember takes them and a second later he is walking outside the room, bottle in hand. He hands the bottle to Sedrik who takes it and walks closer to Atlas.
''We will be back soon,'' Sedrik tells Atlas caressing his neck, he looks back at him lowering his head. ''Drink this.'' He tells him, pouring the contents of the bottle into Atlas's mouth.
I wait to see what is going to happen. A few seconds pass and it doesn't seem as whatever the liquid was worked. I look at Kalen, who looks back at me as confused as I feel. He shrugs.
''Thank you,'' Sedrik tells Embor as he gives him back the bottle.
The guy mutters a ''you are welcome'' as he leads Atla's inside the fenced area.
''Come on,'' Sedrik says as he makes his way through the only path that opens towards the town.
''What was that?'' I ask him curiously. I have no idea what type of brew it was or what was its effect and I want to know.
''It is a velum brew.'' He explains. ''It is made specifically for animals and creatures to hide the essence of other creatures that might make them feel threatened or could be a prey. Without it, none of those creatures would be able to be around each other so peacefully.''
I have never heard of the velum brew before but that explains why all those creatures were acting strange. I wonder if something like that could be used in humans. I don't really know if I want to find out.
I had never been to Isthdow before, but I had a pretty good idea of how big and modern the town was. I knew they had the biggest port inland and, what excited me the most, the only rail transport system in the world.
I had learned about it at school. It was a revolutionary transportation system consisting of dozens of transports, which are several connected metal carriages propelled by an air pressure system created by Aer Masters. So, it doesn't come as a surprise when, the moment we get to the actual city, I ask Sedrik to lead us to the rail station.
''I don't need to remind you we are on a deadline,'' Kalen says as Sedrik leads us through the city. ''the Fire Queen won't wait until you have finished exploring around to do her next move.''
''I know,'' I tell him rolling my eyes. ''But who knows if we will ever have the chance to come back.''
What I don't say but we all know is that the reason we might never come back is that once we start our journey to defeat the Fire Queen, we might not come out of it alive.
''Come on, Kalen, enjoying the city for one day won't hurt anyone,'' Sedrik says putting an arm around my brother's shoulders. ''Besides, we still have to make a plan and get ready to confront the queen and unfortunately, that takes longer than just a couple of days.''
Reluctantly, Kalen finally agrees.
When we finally reach the transport station, I realize it is bigger than I would've imagined. There are dozens of people walking around getting in and out of the transports. There is a voice echoing everywhere, announcing the incoming and outgoing transports and their destinations.
Sedrik guides us through the crowd, to one of the transports that are not moving. The vehicle is so long that can't see where it ends. It is a silver color so shiny I can see my reflection in it. A woman is waiting outside the door of one of the wagons, as Sedrik had said those carriages were called. She is holding a square object that lights up and beeps every time a person touches it with a black and silver card. We walk straight towards it.
''Permit?'' she asks the moment we stop in front of her.
''They are with me,'' Sedrik says as he takes a black card out of his satchel. His is different than the other ones I've seen, the letters in his are golden instead of silver.
When the woman sees the card, she looks back at Sedrik with surprised eyes and bends down in a bow.
''Please come in, Sire.'' She says moving to the side and letting us in.
''Thank you,'' Sedrik says as we walk past her.
I look at the woman and then back at Sedrik. This is the first time I have ever seen anyone showing any sign of respect to him and it is bizarre. I know he is the Diamond prince, and probably the way Kalen and I address him isn't the most appropriate one and we are being disrespectful but at this point, we are way past that and if we are going to save the world together, we needed to get rid of formalities.
On the inside the transport looks just as big as the outside, it is so spotless I could've sworn it was brand new. There were dozens of sits placed in groups of four, above them, there were compartments that I figured were to put bags or luggage. At both ends of the hallways, there were two closed doors. Some people had already taken sit, waiting for the transport to leave the station.
''At least this seems safer than riding in the back of a peryton,'' Kalen says as he takes a seat, I sit right next to him.
''Atlas is not that bad. He almost killed me just once before. Maybe twice.'' Sedrik jokes sitting right in front of us. He laughs at my brother's expression.
I smile as Kalen starts asking Sedrik what he meant by that, I don't hear the answer, however. More people are getting in the wagon, but the one who catches my attention is a tall man. He looks about seven feet tall with a barrel chest and big figure, there is not a single hair in his whole head and face, his dark eyes find mind and for a moment my breath gets stuck in my lungs. His eye contact doesn't last long and as soon as his eyes move away from me, I can breathe normally again.
''Enia?''
Kalen shakes my shoulder a little bit. I don't know how long he's been calling my name but the look on his face tells me it was probably a long time and he was starting to worry.
''Sorry. This transport is amazing,'' I say trying to force a smile on my face. ''So, who is this friend we are meeting?'' I ask Sedrik avoiding my brother's questioning look.
''Her name is Cass.'' Sedrik smiles. ''She is amazing. You are going to love her.''
And once again my mind wanders away from them. Sedrik keeps talking as I can stop the questions in my head. Who was that man? was he even real, or was it just my imagination? The way he looked at me, and the feeling it gave me, I couldn't get rid of it. Who was he and why did he make me feel so uneasy? I just hope it's not more than that, just a bad feeling.
I should've known better than to ignore my instincts.