Chapter 39: Caiyi
Kinbasket lake. Kinbasket lake. Where had I heard that before? This place certainly wasn't in the U.S, as nobody would name a lake "Kinbasket", and the only lakes I was aware of were the 5 Great Lakes.
No, I was pretty certain "Kinbasket Lake" was in either Canada or Mexico. Definitely somewhere here in the North Americas. Trouble was, I wasn't really sure exactly where in Canada or Mexico Kinbasket Lake was in.
I flew higher and higher, rising into the sky. Over the horizon, I saw with my keen eyesight the colorful roofs and general air of... people. There was a town over there. A small town, yes, but still a town. Where there were towns there were people- and where there were people there probably were modern conveniences such as... the internet.
Great. I thought to myself. New plan. Do a Google Maps search on Kinbasket Lake and find out where on Earth this lake is located. Hop in, eliminate suspicious people, maybe save Ruidi and Tim. I paused for a moment, feeling like I was forgetting someone. Oh, right. And Charlie, too.
I could even search up this Shadow Vortex thing while I'm at it. It sounded like a good plan in my head. But what use were plans in your head if you didn't even act on them? I gave my wings an extra flap and speeded toward the horizon.
I landed in a tree, a little ways off from the village gate. It wasn't the best landing, but I can't exactly land in plain sight on the ground. Folding my wings behind me, I climbed down the tree and walked, attempting to appear casual, toward the gate.
My jaw dropped when I saw that gate. I mean, it was this huge, iron-bar gate that looked like it had sat there for centuries. The wall that loomed up over the landscape was made entirely of a whitish-grey stone, with moss and vines growing all over it. The view looked very different from the way it had when I was aloft and had a bird's eye view. The roofs of some of the taller houses could be seen slightly over the wall. It looked like it belonged to the Middle Ages.
Tentatively, I walked up to a guard standing alert with a spear at his side. I thought it a little bit strange that he would have a spear- normal guards have machine guns, not old-fashioned spears. I dismissed it- almost everyone at camp had some sort of sword, spear, bow & arrow, or some other sort of old middle-age weapon. It wasn't that unusual at all- the guard and his medieval weapon just seemed to belong here, with the big iron gate and the dense forest surrounding it.
"Excuse me, can I come in?" I asked the guard.
The guard didn't even blink an eye at me- this kid who just walked out of the forest from nowhere. He gave me a curt nod and waved me in.
When I stepped inside, a tall man, dressed in a strangely designed brown shirt greeted me. "Stranger, what brings you to these parts?"
I desperately searched my mind for an acceptable lie. "Ah... Well, that-"
Just then, a random old lady popped up and said, "Young'uns prob'ly here for the festivals. Draws them like moths to a flame, it does."
The tall man grunted and said to me, "Alright then, do as you please- but don't stir up any more trouble. We've already got enough trouble here."
Trouble? Seeing my confused look, he sighed and explained, "The wild boar. Hundreds of years ago, a hero came and slew it, but now it's back from the dead and wanting revenge on us all." The tall man nodded toward the thick stone walls. "That's to keep it out of the city."
… Not the end.