I smiled back at them and nodded a few times as we approached the gate. We exited the tower and I glanced back at the doorstep. At the people waving at us and finally voicing their goodbyes and farewells.

The walk to the western outskirts of Zakara was short and even though we didn’t speak to each other, I could feel the excitement of adventure getting the better of us all. As soon as we crossed the west town gates, Man being properly saluted and all, we each used our summoning devices to bring forth our magical steads.

There were all sorts of magical beasts in our warehouse that could be used as rides, though this time we decided to remain as inconspicuous as possible. And so we each had a whistle able to summon a horse.

A black mare for me, a white mare for my sister, a black stallion for Man and brown stallions for Krysha and Kard. The horses were of the same size as normal ones but of course, they had the advantage of not becoming tired, nor were they in danger of damaging their legs or slipping on uneven terrain, which was exactly what we needed.

“I thought we should go with a story you are familiar with,” Man said, as we jumped on our horses.

“Are we merchants again then?” asked Kard, who was already on his stallion, ready to gallop away. “We don’t have anything to trade or sell though.”

“There’s no reason to trouble ourselves with extra baggage,” Man replied. “In Leka An, and more generally in the lands south of the Endless Sea, it is not easy for me to travel without people noticing. For this reason, I am not going to pretend to be someone else. I’m simply going to be myself.”

“What about us then?” Krysha asked, impatient to get going on her brown stallion.

“You are part of my expedition to establish new trading routes,” he replied. “Of course, few people will question our motives or where we are going and why, but still it is good to have a solid plan in case we are asked.”

“So this means,” I started asking, “that we’re traveling to the jungle city of Yubna in order to see what is worth trading? Haven’t people already done that?”

“Of course there are trade routes to and from Yubna,” Man replied, and he raised his hand as he was about to present his counterargument. “But things have changed. Elysia’s magical reserves are running out and we need to find a new source for magical items to trade.”

With that statement, he directed his stallion to a slow gallop. He knew what he was doing, of course, piquing our interest just enough for us to run behind him asking for more. I saw my sister smile and roll her eyes and we all galloped to catch up to him, on the road leading to the west of Leka An.

“Can people in Yubna also create magical items?” a visibly intrigued Krysha asked Man once our horses were next to each other again.

“They do not do it for commercial reasons,” he admitted, “but I have received my fair share of magical gifts from their shamans.”

“Shamans?” Kard asked. “Is that what they call priests on this side of the Endless Sea? I thought the people of Leka An were all manaless and didn’t believe in The Divine.”

“The Divine?” Man exclaimed with a laugh. “Kard, the world is much bigger than you think it is. Citizen merchants of Leka An do not believe in gods per se. We do business with all sorts of people after all. Rather, our people are free to believe whatever they want.”

“The people in that area of Leka An,” my sister started explaining, “believe in the Jungle God. Their shamans are gifted with powers imbued by their deity. However, they use their powers in a very different way to people in Elysia. Their god’s power is directly related to the vast jungle spanning over the whole western part of Leka An. All of their magic is focused on keeping the jungle alive and healthy, and this is the way they worship their god.”

“I’ve heard about other gods, but I never believed I would meet any of their followers,” Krysha said, in a way that reminded me a lot of my sister when she was explaining the courses she’d studied at the university.

“Well, if we make haste, we might be able to reach them by noon tomorrow,” Man said and galloped even faster.

He didn’t have to say more to convince us to ride hard. The sun had risen a couple of hours ago, but we could still smell the morning breeze mixed with the ocean air.

***

We traveled along the shore for quite some time until the terrain gradually transformed from sandy beaches into rocky cliffs. The first stop we had was on the top of a cliff with a perfect view of the Endless Sea as far as the eye could see.

Continuing along the cliffs, we did not meet many merchants, though those we did meet took their time with pleasantries aimed at the son-heir of Leka An.

Sometime during the afternoon, the terrain changed again from rocky cliffs to thick trees, reaching right to the end of the precipices. The road gradually took us further away from the sea as the forest became yet thicker, vines and large leaves replacing the thin branches we had seen on the trees so far.

I hadn’t ridden such a long distance for more than a year, but my body did not feel sore at all. I guessed all these months of exhausting training had really paid off.

The night found us more than half-way to our destination and we decided to camp on the side of the road, since Man told us that these routes were as safe as a road could be, while sleeping in the jungle would introduce us to a whole new host of problems, many of which would not be dangerous but rather annoying. The biggest culprit being overprotective fleets of mosquitoes.

Even though we took turns keeping guard during the night, I spent much of my off-time talking with Kard and Krysha who were also too excited to sleep. This felt a lot like our earlier days of traveling, yet it was different. Back then we were running away. But not now.