Over the next few days, the Avalorean delegation is guided through Vallestrella by crown princess Miguella and prince Diestáy. They are shown different vistas each day and are explained about the areas they visit, after which everyone returns to the Palace to stay overnight. Each time the humans arrive at a viewpoint providing a panoramic view of its surroundings, gasps of wonder and awe escape them as they marvel at the different parts of this magical realm and its colourful inhabitants. At some of these vistas, both royal siblings play a short game of hide-and-seek or tag with the humans.
All of the points of interest are reached by foot, which is decided by Verago, Zephyr, and Thunder. They concluded that riding jaquins to get around flying would significantly increase the risk of being discovered. To their knowledge, Chatana and Kizin are wandering Vallestrella freely and pose a threat to the members of the delegation. The humans thus move at ground level and in the cover of lush vegetation to avoid detection, albeit at the expense of traversing rugged terrain and moving around obstacles. It slows down travelling speed but it provides the generals with more time to scout ahead in search of any signs of an ambush or other hostilities, both of which would prove detrimental to the disposition of humans towards jaquins. Thus, the pressure is on for all three generals.
At one point, when arriving at one of the many vistas they're visiting, Alacazar has increasingly grown curious about Vallestrella. He ponders its renown with the Maruvian people who lived before the Avaloreans. He turns to the prince of the jaquins. "Pardon me for asking, Prince Diestáy. You jaquins grow far older than us humans, so I deem you'll have an answer for me. When I delved into the Maruvian texts in search of accounts on your kind, I never found anything on this realm of yours. It seemed as if it was avoided in writing. How come?"
Diestáy remains silent for a moment, thinking of a fitting reply. When noticing that Miguella wants to step into the conversation, he beats her to it and says: "That is a fine question. Though we surpass the age of 100 easily, I have never met any of the Maruvians. But Zephyr will undoubtedly have an answer for you. He is keen on our history and knows more of it than any other jaquin. I will have him join us."
After Zephyr has received the order and has fallen back to the delegation, the inquiry about jaquin history has him liven up. He scrapes his throat out of excitement and says: "Excellent question, Alacazar. The first time when we jaquins came through the portal and into the realm of humans, it was well before you settled those lands and became the Avaloreans you call yourselves today. The Maruvians had no idea what or who we were. At first, they believed us to be demonic beings. This quickly passed when they got acquainted with our kind and noble nature. Then they mistook us for alebrijes, albeit in a physical form, believing that we guided the dead back and forth between the realms of the living and the dead. You do understand that our realm was deemed that of the dead. They believed that speaking of our realm, especially in our presence, would bring misfortune. They also forbid the living from going there, because it would prevent one from accessing the afterlife and wandering the realm of the living as a spirit for all of eternity. Writing about our realm would pose the same fate. This belief, therefore, was carried over solely through oral tradition. That is why you were unfruitful in finding a single mention of Vallestrella in their texts."
Alacazar listens carefully to what Zephyr tells him. "Ah, truly fascinating. Did they ever comprehend the magic that this place holds? Pardon me for asking. I simply have so many questions now that I'm here…"
"I like your attitude, Alacazar. You will find that our realm holds imaginative and diverse landscapes of otherworldly composure. But rest assured that they pose no threat alien to you. Like humans, we too know of a vast array of hostilities that our surroundings offer us. And yet, like you, we find awe-inspiring beauty, wellness, and utilities within them. It is this delicate balance that gives meaning to our understanding of what you and I call "nature". But other than the landscapes of Avalor, ours are infused with magic, a mystical energy that flows through them like water does in a river. This energy gives shape to our landscapes and makes them both beautiful and treacherous. Perhaps it can be explained as the environment has, for the lack of a better description, an additional property… But other than our surroundings, magic also infuses all of its beings with a certain power. We even define Good and Evil based on the use of this magic, where good practices do just to all and bad practices favour only oneself. Only those capable of understanding and handling this mystical energy can properly use it and tread these landscapes, or guide those incapable of it. Therefore, it was a wise decision by King Raul and Queen Lucia to send you, their royal wizard."
Miguella smiles upon hearing Zephyr speak at length and with such vigour. "True words of wisdom, Zephyr. You are clearly wiser than me and Diestáy put together." she says through sheer benevolence.
"Hah-ha. Well, wisdom comes with age they say. And make that apparent from the tufts of hair that grow around my neck. One day, much like your father, king Corona, I too shall have a mane of my own. And I shall wear it with equal pride…' Zephyr says heartily with a beaming smile and adds, 'Well, so far for my lengthy insights on our realm. If I may offer a piece of advice, princess: twilight is upon us so let us return to the Palace for the night."
Both Miguella and Diestáy nod in unison, after which the former orders everyone to head back.
On day five of their visit, the delegation finds themselves out of rations. All that walking, instead of flying, has unintentionally prolonged their visit to Vallestrella. They're generously offered food and water, resulting in a hearty breakfast before they set out again.
Half a day later and having travelled southwest, all members but Alacazar start behaving oddly. Their sense of direction and supervision has deteriorated. After a while, both men and women are acting noisy, sounding brash and loud. They wander around aimlessly, moving in a loose and ungainly manner. It seems they no longer make calculated decisions, nor care about their surroundings. Instead, they're focused on each other and are having a great time together, while chanting incohesive and poorly articulated lyrics.
Bewilderment strikes Verago's mind. This is not how he'd expected these humans to behave, certainly after four days of showing genuine interest in Vallestrella. Those past days went exactly like planned, yet now their behaviour has radically changed. "What nonsense is this?" he thinks out loud in confusion.
"Let's 'ave fun, jaquin!" one of the men says and pets the black-and-green jaquin inconsistently on the shoulder.
Verago growls softly of agitation. He notices how the man's eyes seem hollow and his mind weakened, as if under the influence of something. The jaquin general remains clueless about this situation. He shoves the man away with one wing as he looks at Zephyr. With fury in his eyes, he states: "We cannot have this. Not now. Chatana is still out there and Quita Moz has spoken foreboding words. I do not know about you, Zephyr, but I have a bad feeling about this."
Zephyr's observing glance at the humans gives way to a firm one. "With regret, I must say that I feel the same way… I am unable to determine how this strange behaviour came to be. Perhaps this magic has taken the better of these people somehow now that they have been here for quite some time."
"Then we must convince king Corona to waive his decision to allow humans this far into Vallestrella. Something has been affecting them. Hrm. It must have started after they ate and drank from our sources. They were fine when consuming their own foods and drinks… Whatever the cause, I deem their behaviour dangerous to all of us."
"Even so, I am afraid king Corona cannot be bartered with. He was, after all, utterly firm in his decree. I doubt we can change his mind, Verago. Let us hope that neither Chatana nor any of her minions find us for as long as the humans remain in this peculiar state."
Verago snorts audibly in frustration. He clearly feels that something bad is bound to happen…
While he remains in a discussion with Zephyr and Thunder is plotting the round trip back to the Palace with Miguella and Diestáy, three men have separated from the delegation as they give chase to a group of peabunnies. They're willing to pick up the adoring and little bunny-looking creatures even though they're in no condition to run properly. They find themselves unable to get any closer to the peabunnies, who maintain a safe distance from the intoxicated men, and unknowingly move away further from the rest of the delegation. The men persist in chasing the little critters and suddenly hear them outing calls to each other. The ungainly running men see the peabunnies dive into lush vegetation and out of sight. They search the bushes but the creatures seem to have disappeared.
The intoxicated men start acting unfriendly to one another. They even call each other names for their failed attempts at catching the little and funny-looking creatures. However, none comprehend the other's insults as their talking is nothing but mumbling and incohesive sentence structuring.
Then… silence.
All of a sudden, the men stopped swearing and shouting. Stupefied gazes are locked onto each other. They heard something. Something sounded nearby yet far away. None can determine the origin of the sound. "Di' you hear tha' too?" one of them mumbles to the others.
"Wai', wha' wer' we hearin' in the firs' place, Fer'inan'?" the second one asks in confusion.
"I hear' nothi'. Stop bein' stu-pid." the third one states dismissively.
"No! You are stoo-pid, Vic-tor." the second yells as a response to feeling offended.
"Tha's not how y-you say it, stu-pud."
"That i' not how 'ou say tha'. I's 's-stup–" the second man attempts to correct Victor while glaring at him.
"Hus' hush. Sshhhh!' Ferdinand shushes the two arguing men while losing his balance and drops to his hands and knees, 'Ther' i' twas again. Tha' soun' is back."
"Wha' ar' you doin'?" Victor asks surprised.
"Shut 'p and liss'en. Listen!"
Then all three hear it: a sort of low growling and reverberating sound. It comes across as muffled and nearby but they cannot locate its source. Ferdinand crawls back to his feet and wanders around with uncoordinated movements. Hugo and Victor follow him and hold on to each other to keep their balance. The men have forgotten about their quarrel and together explore the area.
One moment later and waddling around aimlessly, they stumble upon a heap of purple rocks and crystals. They examine them but their perception is impaired and no longer of any use to them. Hugo tries to lift a rock to show off his strength but it proves too heavy. He groans as he drops it. "Wow. 'ugo, you'e soun'ing rea'y weird. Ha-ha! Do tha' again." Victor says slowly with a certain amusement in his voice.
"Hey! T'at wasn' me, al'ight. I can lif' t'is 'tone when I'm feelin' bett'r." Hugo defends himself using slurred words.
The moment he's done talking, they hear that same deep growling and reverberating sound again. This time it sounded closer. "See? Tha' wasn' me! Wait… i-it came 'rom o'er ther'. Behin' t'at bunch o' rocks." Hugo says as he waddles towards the heap of rocks.
Close inspection, which takes him considerably longer than normal, tells Hugo that it's blocking the entrance to a cave. The sound seemed to originate from behind those rocks. "Hey, 'ou guys! I-I t'ink t'at soun' is comin' f'om insi' there." he says with dull excitement.
"W'at is in t'ere? Some ot'er cri'ter? Can we pe' tha' too, you t'ink?" Ferdinand asks curiously.
Victor scoffs. He points at Hugo and says: "Hah! I dare 'ou to 'emove t'ose 'tones. You coul'n't lif' a si'ilar rock ea'lier."
Ferdinand goes to stand by Hugo's side and slowly says: "I wanna fin' ou' too! Com' on, 'ugo! I'll 'elp you."
Together, Ferdinand and Hugo start removing rock by rock in an attempt to clear the mouth of the cave. Victor remains acting noisy for a while but ultimately joins his friends. All three intoxicated men remove debris for an hour while occasionally hearing that mysterious noise. They're curious to find out what's making that odd sound, as well as show off in having plenty of brawn.
After a while, the men stop removing the debris. They're exhausted. They fall on their backs as they try to sit down. While panting due to the exertion of lifting rocks, Ferdinand, Hugo, and Victor watch the clouds in the orange sky. The strange thing about them, however, is that they don't drift by peacefully as expected but seem to move in oscillatory motions and make a rumbling sound. They sit upright and look at one another with a stupefied glance. The men themselves move in an oscillatory motion as well, even though they're sitting on the ground idly. Despite the intoxicated state they're in, all three of them realise that this has never happened before and doubt whether this is even possible.
Just as Ferdinand wants to inquire about this peculiar situation, the remaining rocks in the cave's mouth are suddenly flung away with a huge burst of energy. Dust and small rocks fill the air and Victor dodges a rock to avoid being hit. The roaring and reverberating sound heard earlier is now clear and ear-deafening. Lying on the ground, Victor realises he's finding himself in the shadow of something. Something huge… Slowly, he looks up. Ferdinand and Hugo follow Victor's example. Their eyes find nothing but four huge legs before finally, a gargantuan silhouette comes into view that's standing before them. Unfortunately, with all the dust that's settling still, they cannot make up whatever they're looking at.
The creature then starts moving and walks away from the cave, creating deep footprints and making the ground shake with each step. The men watch in horror as the silhouette disappears behind the trees and out of view…