Fool
"Hold on now Haba the boy isn't druid" Hager said while coming in between us.
I had a handprint where he gripped me and the air still hadn't returned to my body from the slam that I took but I got up anyway and took some wide steps back.
'Damn he's fast.. and strong what in the hell are these people made of'?
"What Ooins beard is he then"?
"I know no child with tha' much mana and the little turd is still holdin out on us makin an already wounded man carry his load"!
"And to add flies to my shit he wants to be ferried"!
"Bah' these humans are all the same" he added while staring Hager in the eye.
Hager got close and whispered, "Ai the boy broke shackles when I found em, he knows not of the world but the cage... calm yourself man yer tryna beat an already wounded doe".
Haba clicked his tongue again while shaking his head and walked back.
"Snot ry Hager... ya know it well nough though" Haba didn't mince his words and turned to the water.
"Mere boyo' Hager said while placing his hand on his waste.
"Ya cannot leave others to pull yer weight boy"
"I know ya don't trust us but that will come with time behind a steady ore now come on" he raised his hand and beckoned me like a child.
"What do you call it when people lose their senses"? I asked not knowing the word for insane.
He paused for a moment taken aback by the suddenness of the question.
"Bewitched... why"?
"Well your all 'Bewitched', especially that one" I nodded at Haba while finishing dusting myself off.
"Bah! stop with yer whinin twas only him teachin ya a lesson, best learned now then when we're underway with the water cuffin us".
I shook my head, 'this is crazy' I thought to myself.
"Alright, let's go... but no more of this beating on me or I swear I'll jump ship".
He chuckled, "Stop the slackin and get tha job done no one will throw a look at ya".
We walked back to the Galley being held by Durin-son and Haba.
Hager took some long strides and then vaulted into the air landing right on top of the bow.
Durin-son took a few steps back and did the same while Haba walked right on top of the water.
My pupils instantly shown with the white light of mana as I tried to see how he was doing that.
Usually I would need a mana platform or large pulses of mana but he was doing this as if he was walking on the ground.
I could see small strands of mana coming from his feet like smoke rising.
A thin layer of shimmering mana coated his feet and he made his way over to the galley, pulling himself over with a rope that was hung off the side.
'How'? is the only word running through my mind.
"The boy spoke of Valhail" Hager muttered while walking on the still clean deck.
"Not possible" both druids responded in unison.
"Ai is what I though' as well but the what he spoke of after caught mine ear".
He told them quickly about the boys description of Valhail.
"Said it came in a dream... what say ya brooda"?
Haba stood on his tippy toes and peered over at the skinny human.
He stood at the bank staring at the ship, looking so dirty not even a beam would want him in its mouth.
"Keep the boy close for now, come tomorrow ask em a bit more" Durin-Sun said.
"Ya think Grisel the White follows the boy"?
They share a glance and a solemn atmosphere filled the deck.
A gust of mana has all three of them turn their heads and I landed on the bow, the exact same place Hager did.
"Pull the ropes"! Hager shouted and was met with the same words echoed by the two druids.
And so it began, the four of us moving quickly across the deck and all three of them screaming commands.
***
"How much"? Yuit asked the merchant garbed in a colorful robe.
He stood at the docks of the lake with a long white scarf that covered his head and bunched up further providing him shade from the neck upwards.
"She is a hybrid born in the south and trained for not just battle but for domestic needs as well so when I say two hundred and fifty silver it is really a deal" he smiled proudly his teeth white from leaves his precious wife picks for him daily.
Standing in front of the iron cage he further points down to the tail of the young girl who looked like a half mix of cat and human.
Yellow pupils and brown hair all over her body made her look like a large cat but once she stood upright the outline of a young girl in her early stage of growth can be seen.
"She is young and has twenty good years, even then you can shave and re-sell her and I am sure she wouldn't lose much value" the little girl winced at the word shave but she gripped her hands tight remembering the words of her mother who was sold in the same cage.
"Yuit, come on" Rumi shouted from a distance, the vendor was positioned in the very front of the ports exit which let off the sand riders and those they ferry.
The large sand rider was floating on water while a large wooden construct floated behind it, tied with a rope.
Yuit hurriedly chased after the group who from his angle looked like they are walking into a grey wall.
The mountain was just that huge, carved into it's side was a castle so large he couldn't even dream it up.
The ballista's and tall towers are all a separate carvings inside the mountain but when viewed from afar it looks like a huge castle.
Even still the mountain dwarfed it.
"Undia is famous for the resources it provides through the merchants that come from the fertile lands here" Rumi explained.
"It isn't just mana grass"? Yuit asked.
"No many other herbs and livestock get moved, this is the beginning of the merchant lines going west and is the center of those very same routes going south".
"Rumi, you speak too much" Alia said.
Those are not just merchant lines but also supply routes for the ongoing war efforts against the beast kin and Olim invasion in the south.
"Ai boy from here on you will see many merchants so watch your mouth and never let them know your a mage".
He waited a moment before whispering "They'll charge you more".
Yuit nodded in understanding wondering if it was the reason he got the price he got.
It was.
The merchant could tell from the identical robes and how they all got off together that they are mage acolytes.
He clicked his tongue in annoyance at the beast girl, blaming her for missing out on the sale.
The group of five headed towards the mountain while more and more people came into view tending fields of either mana grass or rolling logs on specially designed wagons that distributed the weight evenly.
Every step they took was going upwards, the backdrop revealed what looked like an ocean but was a very large lake which they came from.
"Undia has much to offer you can consider this the beginning of your journey" Alia said as she closed in on the mountain side.
They could view different shaped constructs carved into the mountain face.
The further they walked the more of them they could see until the vision was filled with large buildings the wide walls looked like cave entrances.
"It's like Luca" Yuit muttered while looking at the constructs.
Many different type of people could be seen.
The citizens are not just limited to the shade of the skin but many beast-kin as well.
Majority of the beast-kin is that of cat nature with feline hair covering their body.
Triangular ears sat on top of their heads the males and females are hardly discernable.
Everyone moved towards the large castle but slowly the mirage faded and the differences in the constructs can be seen.
"How long will we stay here"? Yuit asked the question that was on all three young children's minds.
"Long enough to resupply, the mountain pass must be crossed immediatly" Alia didn't mention the heavy tax that is imposed and if it isn't paid then one would be marked as a slave.
As they got closer the outline of the mountain pass could be seen, it is a shadow that extends all the way up, the separation could barely be noticed due to the optical illusion the mass created.
If the children could complain they would but instead they did what they have been doing since they started this journey, they sucked it up and adapted.
Going back wasn't an option, they would die.
Alia stopped moving abruptly and so did Rumi.
A beast roar could be heard faintly but it was getting louder and louder until Yuit and the other two children could hear it in their minds.
"What is th-" Yuit was cut off by Rumi who turned back and ran towards the water.
"Run you fool"! Alia said as she to picked up the pace.
High above Oskana patrolled the sky looking for the mana signature he knew would appear here.