Chapter 4 – Hept
As I got closer to where Lir was leading me, my anxiety grew. I couldn't completely trust the stranger, but he didn't seem like a liar. In any case, he might not have foreseen a situation where this palm tree might not "like" me. Maybe he was the only one who was so kind, and everyone else here wouldn't want any contact with me. In an instant, Lyr stopped. He raised his ears, listening to the wind. With my helmet on, I couldn't see what he might be trying to hear. After thinking for a bit, I took off my hermetic helmet. Feeling the nice breeze giving such a nice chill, I heard someone's quiet conversations. Apparently the sources of the sound were far away from us. I decided to approach my acquaintance, but he immediately turned to me with a rather confident face. – Wait for me here. I'll be right there. I sat down on the grass, wondering what the outcome of this story might be. Maybe it would go smoothly and I'd pass without being noticed. Or maybe they will notice me, but will not pay attention to it, or maybe they will go to spread gossip about it? Or will they be aggressive towards me? Would a slap on the wrist be enough or would I have to fire a warning shot? Either way, I'd better act on the circumstances. I'm good at improvising, so I'll get out of trouble here. For a while I just sat there without doing or thinking. I even forgot about Lir and the other creatures that could appear at any moment. But soon I grew bored with it all. Total inaction. At one point it even seemed to me as if the sun had frozen in the sky and was not moving at all. And I was so bored with all this moping that, catching just one small note of confidence, I immediately jumped to my feet, put on my helmet, and walked confidently in the direction where Lir was going. After walking for a while, I suddenly stopped. I still did not meet anyone on my way. Starting to look around, I tried to find my missing comrade with my eyes, but all my efforts were in vain. Only the wind was the answer for my eyes, which could not tell them anything. I was about to leave, but at that moment I felt someone touch me from behind. – So that's who you were talking about. He looks so strange! He's wearing dark clothes, he doesn't give off any light, and he's tall. Where did you find him? Turning around, I saw several Lir–like spirits looking at me with great interest. The first thing I wondered was how they had gotten behind me so quickly. Could I have been so inattentive? – Look at that! Is that his eye that big? He also has a huge tube for a mouth! He's so weird! – Actually, you'd rather have those things 10 kilometers above sea level, too. – Why do I need your 10 kilometers of altitude? We're happy here! Stupid, boring, tall and boring whoever you are. You're just like Lir. He, too, can't find anything to do all day long and does nothing but wander around his house and ponder the meaning of life. To be honest, I was surprised at the spirit's response. It was pretty cocky. He doesn't even know who I am. He also doesn't know about our weapons. Or our airplanes. In fact, he's too cocky. I'm gonna talk to him. – You're too easy, Hept. You and the rest of your company are always suffering from nonsense and asking for help. And not even from danger, but from boredom! – Okay, all right. Enough with the fighting. Lyr, I thought you were gonna show me a palm tree and some Saves. After saying that, the other spirits suddenly cheered up. They started grabbing my hands and asking me to go to Seive as soon as possible. All except Lyr. He was quite calm, unlike his brethren. – Don't you guys think we should start by getting to know each other? – You'll have time to tell us more about yourself! Introduce yourself to Seyve first! Some of the bolder ones started climbing on my back, holding onto my neck, sitting on my shoulders. I wasn't very comfortable, but I managed to pet all of them on the head. Lir was the only one who didn't really want to go. I stopped and walked over to him. He was in a bit of a bad mood, seeing that everyone else had abandoned him. I silently picked him up in my arms and, pushing the other passengers away, placed him on my neck. Not to say that I fully understood the situation, but it seemed that Lyr wasn't getting along well with the other spirits. Particularly with Hept, who was kind of in charge of this company. With these thoughts in mind, we headed toward the palm tree, which the spirits said was a ten–minute walk away and was about to show up behind the nearest hill.