Chapter 15- More answers unearthed and visiting the Garden of Youth's outskirts
Obi Wan, Quaoar and company continued to follow the surviving members of the group of rogue Talking Beasts that ambushed them and the King and his men and had attempted to kill the latter including the monarch in their Flying Saucer in cloaking mode. Their air vehicle continued gliding through the air like an invisible disc and Obi Wan and Gris carefully drove it to avoid flying the Saucer too close to the retreating Talking Beasts and alerting them. As they continued to follow these traitorous Talking Animals, Quaoar watched from one of the floor windows near to the rim with Caesium, Spock, Crasher Wake, Weywot and two of the Luminos. While they did that, Orchid and Heather went round treating the injured members of the group including two Meerkats who had suffered broken arms from fighting a rogue Talking Boar, one who was the captain of the warrior Meerkat group. As Heather set the Meerkat captain's arm in a cast, the Meerkat captain smiled.
"I'm in disbelief that you 'ave a bottle of fire-flower cordial, Heather," said he. Talking Meerkats often missed the 'h' sound off words that began with them. "That potion is 'ard to come by these days and is EXTREMELY expensive."
"One of the old queens who ruled during the Golden Age centuries ago had a bottle of the red cordial, didn't she?" said his underling. He grunted and gritted his teeth as the Gold-Fleeced Ewe medic tightened the sling holding his broken arm, making her apologise.
"Queen Lucy the Valiant sure did, Scuttle," said Heather, "But her bottle was larger than the one I have and she had received it from the legendary Father Christmas. The bottle I've got which is about half the size of Queen Lucy's, cost me half of the total wages I would make in a year in my job to purchase," she then pulled out her fire-flower cordial bottle and gazed at it. The two Meerkat casualties, Scuttle and his captain, flinched in UTMOST disbelief.
"You spent 'ALF A YEAR'S worth of WAGES from YOUR JOB on THAT LITTLE THING!?" Scuttle cried out.
"We knew that fire-flower cordial is VERY expensive but NOT THAT expensive," added the Meerkat captain. Heather returned her fire-flower cordial bottle into her first aid satchel.
"Believe me, you two," said the Gold-Fleeced Ewe seriously, "It may have cost me that amount in wages from my job but it was worth EVERY... SINGLE... lion," she replied with a stern look. The lion was the currency used in the country of Narnia and its equivalent to the cloud currency used in the Sky Domain and our world's English pounds and the dollar used in some countries like the US and Australia. However, Narnian country dwellers had trees in their currency and one lion equated to two trees. Heather continued, "But I cannot just use my fire-flower cordial as much as I want. The supply I have is only small. I reserve it ONLY for emergencies such as when His Majesty got injured by that Giant Eagle during that battle. I don't want to deplete it too quickly as I will not be able to afford another bottle of the cordial." (The Giant Eagle's equivalent in our world would be the massive Haast's eagle which is extinct.)
"It would be impractical to buy more of the red potion if you've spent THAT amount of lions on just one tiny little bottle of fire-flower cordial," said Scuttle, his captain nodding in agreement. Nearby, Orchid the Golden-Egg Goose came in. She had just finished treating Bentley's lower left leg of a scratch he had suffered from one of the rogue Talking Tigers who had managed to land a claw slash to that area of the Giant's leg.
"I could NEVER afford a bottle of that red cordial," said she, a slightly jealous gaze on the Ewe, "But Heather here is VERY lucky and blessed by Aslan to have found it and have enough funds to purchase it. She worked as a weaver for a few years before training as a medical nurse while her older brother Sol-Hoof worked as an assistant crop farmer for a human farmer to provide income for his wife and lamb who is also Heather's sister-in-law and niece."
"However, one day, Sol-Hoof fell deathly ill from a fatal lung infection and when that happened, income for his wife and lamb stopped as he could not work from the illness," added Heather, "and since Sol-Hoof's family lived in poverty, worry befell my sister-in-law and niece and they feared the future, especially since my sister-in-law didn't have much work experience in many fields. It was at that time I went to the market as I regularly did to do some regular shopping and as I did that time, I came across the bottle of fire-flower cordial in the medical supply stall. Since I didn't have enough money on me at that time to buy that extremely expensive thing, I hastily rushed back to my home and brought a bagful of lions from my savings and purchased it. Once I had got the fire-flower cordial, I immediately went to the hospital where my brother was and administered a drop of it to him, pulling him from the brink of death from the infection. Since then, I kept the little bottle as part of my medical kit for possible future use and I am SO glad that I did."
"Quite a huge sacrifice," said Scuttle.
"How did you make enough to buy that bottle?" asked the Meerkat captain.
"I used my own wool as a source for the materials in my weaver job whenever it was possible and prudent; I could not afford to use too much of my natural insulation or it would not have been wise during the winter months for obvious reasons," said Heather, "And it sold for a high price. Gold-Fleeced Sheep wool is hard to come by as we Gold-Fleeced Sheep are low in number and it is usually favoured by those in the circles of the monarchy including our King. I saved the excess of the earnings from the products I made with my own wool and it eventually came in handy in contributing to the VERY high price of that cordial for my brother."
"I reckon your brother repaid you dearly for saving his life, Heather," said the Meerkat captain.
"He indeed did," said Heather with a smile, "He helped me train as a medical nurse and covered the costs of building a basic medical kit, that kit I now have on hand alongside the precious fire-flower cordial, only it is more developed."
As she said this, Crimsonandil nearby was fussing over her flywheel discs.
"Something wrong, Crimson?" asked Orchid, Heather and the two Meerkats looking on.
"My war flywheel's been damaged," said the Vermillion Bird and with that, she showed the four her damaged weapon. The two stone discs were both chipped and broken. "I tried using it against one of the rogue Talking Falcons while it was assaulting the King's army captain but it dodged and struck a nearby rock along the Great River. Flywheels MUST be circular to function properly and normally, a few chips in them don't matter. But if one or both the discs are damaged like this, the flywheel is useless."
Orchid and Heather examined the remains of the flywheel and as they did that, Glitterwing went over to Quaoar as he continued to examine the fleeing rogue Talking Beasts on the ground.
"That Giant Eagle you managed to kill with that GC sword," the female Cherub said, "Ozone and I have managed to identify him while we were waiting in the Flying Saucer."
Quaoar turned to her. "You knew that Giant Eagle?"
"Yes," Glitterwing said with a nod, "His name was Eagle Sec. He was one of Kurama's higher ranking assistants who assisted in organising and leading hunting parties down here alongside Imhotep, the Sphinx minion. That group of Talking Beasts was definitely one of those hunting parties sent down here by Kurama."
Quaoar blinked and then formed a serious look on his face.
"Well, you've just clinched it and just provided us with the answer to one of our puzzles, Glitterwing," the Kitsumiho said, "You've just confirmed that these groups of murderous Talking Beasts are from Asgard Sky City and also Kurama's cult."
"I know that would be Kurama implementing his rancour for humans but the question is, why would he incorporate hunting parties as part of his Cult of the Lion?" asked Caesium nearby. Weywot, Crasher Wake and the two Luminos exchanged looks and shrugged. Then suddenly, Spock spotted something and alerted the others.
"Guys, look," the Pegasus called. Immediately, the small group went over to the Winged Horse and followed his hoof point. Moana and Aang also came in and looked out of the window. On the ground they saw that the fleeing group of rogue Talking Beasts had run into a group of more Animals, all of them also talking. However, one of them particularly stuck out.
"Is that Reptile who I think it is?" asked Moana. Glitterwing squinted her eyes and took in the Animal in question, a quadrupedal Reptile's details. This Reptile was clearly not a Dinosaur and neither was it a Crocodilian or a large Lizard like a Dimetrodon (for it had no back sail) or Dragon Lizard (the Komodo dragon-like Lizards). It was also not a Pterosaur, a Ropen or a Wyvern for these Reptiles had wings as their forelimbs. The Reptile was a Dragon and based on its lithe, serpentine body, it was of the elongated species (like the sort that appear in the mythologies of our world's Asian cultures like Chinese). Glitterwing then immediately identified the Dragon.
"That's Shenron," said the Cherub, "He, too, is one of Kurama's assistants. Ozone and I have only seen him several times before we managed to escape Asgard to find you."
As she said this, Ozone, who had to sit due to the height of the Flying Saucer's ceiling from the floor being under his height and that of Bentley, rolled to the nearest floor window and peered out. Sure enough, he also saw the Dragon and identified him.
"Yep, that's Shenron alright," said the Cloud-Man. A moment of shock tore through the others but then they shook it off and began to examine the Dragon, which was of the Cardinal Azure species and a male named Shenron, Obi Wan and Gris carefully halting the aircraft to allow them to better examine the Dragon and his comrades. Shenron was accompanied by more rogue Talking Beasts and clutched in his forepaws was a massive bag. Moana glared angrily at the Dragon for this individual was her brother and released a hiss at what he was doing. However, the spotting of the bag in Shenron's paws was the least of the vexing revelations.
"He does not look well at all," commented one of the Luminos. Naihanchi also came in and took in Shenron's unwell looks.
"You suspected he's behind the selling of these Wish Potions down here, didn't you?" said Weywot. Quaoar didn't reply to begin with as her continued to glare angrily at Shenron, another epiphany having gone off in his mind, this time regarding the selling of the Wish Potions made from the apples from the Garden of Youth.
Initially, Shenron had been a handsome Azure Dragon and like all other members of the Cardinal Beast of the East with some exceptions like albinism, Shenron had possessed beautiful azure blue scales, a deeper blue furry dorsal spine running from the back of his frilled head to his tail tip. The tail tip's tassel had also been deep blue and Shenron's underbelly had been a sunny yellow similar to his sister Moana and his eyes had been a turquoise blue similar to his sister's also. However, the Azure Dragon had undergone a disturbing change in appearance and he looked like he had aged decades or even a century (Azure Dragons were long-lived creatures with an average lifespan of about 300 years). His azure scales had lost their Eastern Ocean colour and lustre, having faded to a sickly dull blue-grey colour like that of the sky on a day with miserable weather while his back spine and tail tassel fur had decayed to a dishevelled, tatty mess, their depth of blue having faded like an aged seascape painting. Shenron's underbelly had also lost its vivid yellow colour and his blue eyes had become greyish in colour. Shenron didn't just look aged and sickly. He also looked like he had been in a brutal fight with a wild animal such as a bear or large cat such as a tiger. A number of tiger stripes crisscrossed his face and upper body and Shenron even had on set running dangerously close to his right eye, the lowest stripe in the set just missing the seeing organ. Shenron's degenerated appearance sparked confusion in Quaoar and the others who gazed at him including Glitterwing, Ozone and Moana. The last time the Cherub woman and the Cloud-Man saw Shenron was when he was in his initial appearance before he decayed to his now-current appearance.
"I believe Shenron down there may have suffered terrible consequences for abusing his position as the Secondary Guardian for Aslan's Garden of Youth apples by making these illegal Wish Potions to sell for his own profits, or perhaps for his leader Kurama," Caesium said, "But why has he taken on such a depressing appearance like that and how has he earned those scars on his face and chest?"
Quaoar, however, had already deduced the possible reason why. Then the group turned their attention from Shenron to his companions as they continued to talk with the surviving members of Eagle Sec the Giant Eagle's human hunting party. To their UTMOST rage and revulsion, they saw that Shenron and his team had a few humans bound and gagged in their clutches and to their further rage; these humans were writhing angrily, indicating that they were alive and not dead. Glitterwing clasped her hands over her mouth and began to weep while Ozone flinched. Then after discussing further, Shenron, his front paws clutching the massive bag, began to lead the other Talking Beasts away, including the remaining members of Eagle Sec's team.
"Can you fly us carefully after them please, Obi Wan?" Quaoar requested, "I wanna see where they're headed."
Obi Wan did so and with that, the invisible Flying Saucer carefully hovered after Shenron's group and the remains of Eagle Sec's. Because the Flying Saucer was in complete stealth mode, none of them noticed they were being watched from above.
The Flying Saucer continued following Shenron and the others, the large bag and the kidnapped and bound humans in their clutches until finally, they arrived at their destination. Horror tore through Quaoar and the other observers except the pilots when they identified what they were climbing on. Bentley also peered through a porthole in the side of the Saucer.
"They're on that... pod to the Bifrost Transporter," the Giant said in a controlled and low voice or he would rattle the Saucer and everyone else's ears with his thunderous vocals, "With those live humans they had caught!" his voice, though controlled, was laced with UTMOST horror, knowing that humans and the Bifrost Transporter do NOT mix.
"What happens if those human hostages they have captured are taken through that warp teleport?" asked Weywot.
"Instant fatality," Quaoar bluntly replied, "And that's not all. Glitterwing's statement that the Giant Eagle and his group are from Asgard Sky City has backup evidence."
"It confirms it then," Naihanchi said, "Those rogue Talking Beasts are indeed from Kurama's cult."
However, when Quaoar saw that Shenron's group was about to activate the transport pod once everyone in the group was on it including the kidnapped humans in their clutches, he immediately turned to Obi Wan and Gris. The use of the Bifrost Transporter pod and the Transporter itself was not only deadly to humans but it negatively affected Flying Saucers as well and even Quaoar knew this despite having spent most of his LONG life on the Land Domain.
"Obi, Gris, get us out of here QUICKLY!" he barked, "They're about to activate that pod!"
Immediately, the two Grey Men pilots worked the controls and piloted the Saucer quickly away from the transport pod. The Flying Saucer flew away from the transport pod and managed to put a safe distance between it and the pod moments before a MASSIVE flash exploded from the crystalline device as Shenron and the others with him entered into the rainbow warp teleport. Then after a few seconds, the flash dissipated and what was left was an empty transport pod, Shenron and his comrades having disappeared.
"Good job in alerting us there, Quaoar," Obi Wan said firmly, "Blasts from the Bifrost Transporter pods when they are activated are bad for Flying Saucers as they cause their systems to short out and shut down when that happens."
The others also breathed sighs of relief from the dodge from the energy arrow but then Quaoar said, "Can you take us to the Utter West and the location of the Garden of Youth please, Obi Wan? I wanna get to the bottom of Shenron's dishevelled appearance. Hopefully a new Secondary Guardian and a more sensible one at that will have been appointed by Aslan to take Shenron's place after Shenron was driven from the position."
Obi Wan then set the coordinates of the Saucer to the suggested location and within moments, the Flying Saucer, now visible as its invisibility cloak was no longer needed, flew off in the direction of the west.
Quaoar's group had just solved two puzzles thus far. One was the illegal Wish Potions and the confirmation that Shenron who should have been the current Secondary Guardian of the Garden of Youth was behind the sales of these Garden of Youth-based drinks and the other was that the human-hunting parties of the rogue Talking Beasts were indeed from the Sky Domain, clearly Asgard Sky City as Glitterwing had pointed out. However, there were still answers to be found such as why Shenron was more dishevelled and degenerated in appearance together with the scars on his face and front. To unearth these, Quaoar and company had to go to the Garden of Youth in the extreme west of the Land Domain. They decided to investigate Shenron's dishevelled appearance before ascending to the Westernmost Skylands as directed by Xenon.
Some hours later
Quaoar, Obi Wan and their group finally arrived at the area where the Garden of Youth resided. On the way, they had a rest stop before continuing so that Ozone and Bentley can have some relief from being cooped up in the vehicle that was too small for them to fully stand. Now that they were at their destination, the pilots, Obi Wan and a Lumino who took over Gris's role as co-pilot to allow the Grey Man assistant to get some rest, lowered the Saucer until it entered its landing form once again once it was close to the ground. The Saucer's landing legs were deployed and made contact with the ground to support the black and silver disc. After this, the Saucer's side door opened and its tongue-like ramp extended to the ground. Once the ramp was lowered, the passengers disembarked the aircraft and headed in the direction of the Garden of Youth itself, covering the last few tens of metres on foot. Quaoar and company continued the approach to the Garden of Youth until finally, the closed-off area surrounded by tall green hedges emerged into view. Immediately, they accelerated their approach. Bentley and Ozone widened their eyes at the amazing sight of the Garden. Because they were tall, they were able to see over the tops of the hedge walls and into the orchard.
"Now I see why those exclusive apples are so tempting," the Giant said, "They look like glistening opaque glass balls and I reckon they smell lovely as well."
"They do," said Ozone, "I read in a book in the library in my and Glitterwing's home of Asgard Sky City that that place is solemn and restricted-access as it is one of the Sun Corona Feline (The Cloud-Men's common name for Aslan)'s nine areas, one for each Domain. Our Domain the Sky's equivalent to that Apple Garden is the Rainbowberry Orchard."
"And the Narnian Moon's equivalent is the Lunar Mushroom Chamber in the Forbidden Cave of the Treasures of Vanity," said a Green Man as he walked alongside Weywot, "Each of the nine Domains has this special area containing these special fruits and substances. Combine them all and you get the powerful Nine-Realms Potion."
Suddenly, the group stopped, making Bentley and Ozone stop mid-step, wary of their smaller comrades, especially Bentley for he was FAR heavier than the lightweight Cloud-Man Ozone. A shout had exploded from nearby and had prompted Quaoar and the others with him to freeze. Quaoar and Obi Wan shot gazes around the area until Quaoar's eyes landed on a creature, a Reptile with azure scales, golden underbelly and a spine of deep blue fur running down its back to its tail which ended in a blue tassel like that of a Lion or Donkey, as it walked in. Its Reptilian eyes, coloured green, were laced with suspicion.
"I hope you've NOT come here to steal from the Lion King's Garden have you?" the Reptile, an Azure Dragon like Shenron and Moana and a male (as always for the Cardinal Beast in the Secondary Guardian post), growled sternly, "Unless you have a very special reason or the Lion King's permission, this area is STRICTLY off limits to common-folk visitors."
"Please," Quaoar raised a paw in a pleading gesture to indicate to the Azure Dragon that he and the others with him were not hostile, "We have not come here to steal ANY of those apples from the Garden of Youth."
"We have come to investigate why Shenron, who supposed to have been the Secondary Guardian of the Garden, has taken on a sickly appearance," said Moana, "I'm Moana, his sister."
The Azure Dragon who was NOT Shenron then came over to Moana and gazed at her suspiciously. He then took in the rest of Quaoar and Moana's companions including Crimsonandil. When he saw the Vermillion Bird, he said in a less suspicious and wary voice, "I believe you're Crimsonandil of the Vermillion Birds, am I right?"
"Indeed I am, Salamander," the red and orange Phoenix replied. Surprise ignited within the others.
"You guys know each other?" asked Quaoar. The Azure Dragon and Crimsonandil turned to the Kitsumiho.
"This is Salamander," said Crimsonandil with a gesture to the Dragon with the name, "He was one of my friends when we were young."
"I do believe you're the new Secondary Guardian of the Garden of Youth for the Azure Dragons of the East's turn, am I right?" asked Naihanchi. Salamander then formed a stern glare on his face once again and nodded.
"Yes," said he, "The Lion King, Aslan, has selected and appointed me to take Shenron's place after he banished Shenron from his position after he abused it to steal some of those apples from the Garden for his own personal and selfish gain," a FURIOUS glare then formed on the replacement Dragon Guardian's face, "Aslan does NOT tolerate thieves in his Garden of Youth. Visitors from the outside, be it intruders who jump those hedge walls or those on an important mission requiring those fruits who pass through the golden gates like they're supposed to, stealing those apples for their own personal gain is a serious enough sin as it is. But the CARDINAL BEAST who is SUPPOSED to be the Secondary Guardian stealing from that Garden," Salamander's face turned serious, "It is a HUNDRED TIMES worse."
"Shenron's being stealing from the Garden and has eaten some of those apples for himself!?" Crimsonandil blurted out in disbelief.
"You're kidding us," said Quaoar. Near him, Obi Wan exchanged looks with his Green and Grey Men and Lumino underlings while the Meerkats including the captain and Scuttle, their arms in a sling, flinched. Salamander, however, maintained his serious glare.
"Indeed Shenron has had the temerity to pilfer from Aslan's property," the replacement Azure Dragon said seriously, "But not only has he eaten some of the apples for himself, he has made some into some type of blended fruit drink for others to consume for his own heinous profits."
"Those Wish Potions," Naihanchi said, immediately recognising those drinks Salamander mentioned.
"And eventually, as payment for his sin," Salamander continued, "Aslan commanded the Guardian Phoenix, the Primary Guardian of the Garden who often sits in the tree in the middle, to viciously attack Shenron and drive him out of the Garden and away from it, never to return. Aslan has commanded Shenron to NEVER return to the Garden of Youth and its surrounding area or face reversal into a dumb Reptile Beast on the spot for Azure Dragons, like other Talking Dragons and Magical Reptiles, were formed by Aslan from ordinary Reptiles except the dragons formed from greedy individuals far out in the Eastern Ocean. It seems that Shenron has obeyed that warning but will now have to severely suffer for his sins in the Garden of Youth. A few days after banishing Shenron, Aslan selected me to take his place so I moved here from the Eastern Azure Dragon Kingdom area in the Cardinal Domain."
"We've seen Shenron on our way to here," explained Quaoar, "We're on our way to the Sky Domain to sort out a VERY serious crisis in Asgard Sky City, the main capital city in the Sky Domain as well as its largest."
"Kurama, a rogue Kitsune who is now Nine-Tailed, has set up a cult around a false Aslan and has turned Asgard Sky City into a base for it," Morla the Black Tortoise added, "and Shenron, however, has joined it."
"Ask Glitterwing and Ozone here if you don't believe us," said Thunderbolt with a gesture to the Cherub and the tall Cloud-Man who nodded in agreement.
"He may have even taken Quaoar's sister Siveth hostage," said Glitterwing, "She was supposed to be on her way to the Narnian Moon to be a teacher in the schools of the Domain."
"But her travels had been interrupted," put in Ozone to which Obi Wan and his group from the Narnian Moon nodded in agreement.
"But back with Shenron, he is still selling these Wish Potions, those drinks he has made from those Garden of Youth apples," added Naihanchi. An incredulous glare formed on Salamander's face.
"You're KIDDING me," he retorted, "It CANNOT be possible. Aslan has banished him"
"He may have not only eaten of those apples in the Garden of Youth," said Spock, "But has taken some of them as well before that."
"That could explain why those Wish Potions are still present," Quaoar said, before he turned to Naihanchi and Moana, "Naihanchi, show Salamander that flask one of the King's army captains gave you."
Immediately, Naihanchi stepped forward, pulled out a silvery cornucopia-like Ram's flash topped with a decorative stopper from her satchel and showed it to Salamander. The new Azure Dragon guardian took it and examined it.
"Do not, I repeat: NOT drink a SINGLE drop of those contents from that flask," Naihanchi seriously warned, "It's deadly. AND it is EXTREMELY tempting to take a sip."
"It's made a son of one of the King's men VERY ill," said Moana, "And we've been having countless Talking Beasts and Magical Creatures up and down our country including a Cheetah cub in our own community, buy and consume these."
"The effects are just like those Garden of Youth apples," added Caesium as Salamander uncapped the Ram's flask to take a look at the liquid inside, "They grant you your greatest wishes when you consume them but with terrible consequences alongside."
Salamander continued examining the liquid and took a sniff of it and immediately recapped it when his nose was struck with a pleasant aroma, heeding Naihanchi's warning and nipping ANY temptation to take a sip from the heinous potion in the bud. Then the new Azure Dragon Guardian glared UTTERLY indignantly at the curvy flask.
"THIS is a VERY serious insult to injury Shenron has inflicted on our species AND our Lion King Aslan himself," growled he before he glared angrily at Quaoar and his group, "Thanks for managing to bring that to me. I shall tell Aslan about this at ONCE. Looks like there's no turning back for Shenron now. He's as good as reverting to a dumb beast."
Quaoar nodded in agreement to this as did most of the other members of his and Obi Wan's group. Then Bentley tipped his large head to one side.
"I don't get it," said the Giant, "If Shenron has been banished from the Garden, how is it that he's still sourcing those apples to make those Wish Potions?"
"Like I've said," said Spock the Pegasus, "Shenron will have stolen some apples from the Garden of Youth before his banishment."
"It explains it then," Salamander said seriously, "Out of ALL the Nine-Realms Potion ingredients, the Garden of Youth apple is the one most able to generate offspring plants when planted in soil beyond the outskirts of this area. The Tree of Protection the legendary Son of Adam Digory Kirke who was the first individual in Narna's history to visit here on Aslan's command is one example."
"In contrast to certain Nine-Realms Potion ingredients like the lunar mushrooms in the Forbidden Cave of the Treasure of Vanity on the Narnian Moon, our home," said Obi Wan, "They will NOT grow ANYWHERE else except in their chamber of their cave."
"At least they will not have any offspring mushrooms that those with heinous intentions can use," said Salamander as he clutched the silver horn containing the illegal Wish Potion liquid seriously, "But for the certain ingredients for the Nine-Realms Potion that can such as the Garden of Youth apple, any offspring tree that Shenron has managed to cultivate MUST be hunted down and destroyed as SOON as possible. And as for this false Aslan cult group this Kurama Fox has set up, it needs to be shut down and SOON as well."
As Salamander said this, Weywot asked Quaoar for the DV communicator and the Kitsumiho took it from his tails and gave it to the male Insect Rabbit-Dog. After this, Weywot went away to contact Xenon.
"That's what we're on our way to the Sky Domain," Quaoar replied after giving the DV communicator to Weywot, "But unfortunately, we cannot enter Asgard Sky City directly."
"Kurama has COMPLETELY sealed the city and its surrounding areas off from the rest of the world," put in Obi Wan, "We investigated it during our descent from the Narnian Moon where Siveth, Quaoar's sister, was supposed to go, to here in our Saucer."
"And he has stationed dangerous guards around the area as well," said Ozone, "Glitterwing and I have been blessed by the Sun Corona Feline Aslan to have managed to slip by those guards and descend to here."
"Our families had urged us to find help," added Glitterwing, "And we DEARLY worry for our them and our friends," she then turned and shot Weywot a look as he spoke to Xenon over the DV (distance-verbal) communicator a few metres away, "That Insect Rabbit-Dog and one of Obi Wan's assistants over there is talking to the only surviving member of the royal Cloud-Man family and telling him what we have uncovered."
"His name is Xenon and he is the nephew of King Lightning-Bolt," said Ozone, "However, the rest of his family had been killed by Kurama during his takeover of Asgard Sky City."
"You two, that sounds VERY, VERY serious," Salamander replied alarmed. Then the new Azure Dragon Guardian turned VERY serious as well. "You'd better get cracking with your journey up there, get to Asgard Sky City in ANY way you can and get that egregious cult shut down and that Kitsune arrested ASAP before he does ANY more harm..."
"We're off once Weywot has finished talking to Xenon on that distance-verbal communicator over there," Quaoar said with a nod to the Insect Rabbit-Dog and as if on cue, Weywot ended the conversation with Xenon, pressed the button to shut off the communicator and returned it to Quaoar. As Quaoar returned the device in to his tails' fur and the group got prepared to return to the Saucer, Salamander gazed once again at the silvery Ram's flask half-emptied of the Wish potion liquid.
"You get yourselves off while I report this to Aslan," said the Azure Dragon, "And once I have done that, I'm gonna destroy this bottle so that it does not fall into anyone else's hands or paws with deadly consequences," his face then formed a FURIOUS scowl, "It is clear that Shenron has NOT learned his lesson from his banishment from his role as Secondary Guardian by Aslan and because of that, he's gonna pay DEARLY for his actions," Salamander then gazed at Quaoar and company as some of them made their way back to the Saucer, "But having said that, I believe Aslan's judgement has already come upon him. As we all should know, eating of Aslan's forbidden fruit from the Garden of Youth comes with deadly consequences. Remember the warning engraved in the golden gates to the Garden: 'Come in by the gold gates or not at all, take of my fruit for others or forbear, for those who steal or those who climb my wall shall find their heart's desire and find despair' and it is ABSOLUTELY true each and every time to thieves that consume those apples for their own selfish gain, and Cardinal Beasts are NO exception."
"When we saw Shenron, he looked HORRIBLE," said Moana.
"He looked as though he had aged at least 100 years, honestly," put in Naihanchi.
"I'm not surprised," said Salamander with understanding, "But a physical degeneration in his appearance won't be the only consequence he'll be suffering as a result of his thievery of Aslan's apples."
Then as soon as Quaoar and company were ready, they all began to return to the Saucer to start their ascent into the Sky Domain, but not before thanking Salamander for his help. Then after seeing the visitors off in their Saucer, Salamander left with the silver Ram's horn flask to report what Quaoar and the others had told him to Aslan. And as soon as he had done this, he had in mind to dispose of the illegal flask responsibly and carefully.
