We decided to resume our travels just before sunrise and it was not long after, that the path on which we were traveling stopped skirting around the jungle and went directly through it. Man told us this was a sign we were getting close to the jungle city itself, which in turn made us ride our magical steads even faster.

A few hours and a short rest later, we were finally in the vicinity of the jungle city of Yubna. The sight was something taken directly out of tales usually shared around the hearth.

The town was loosely built in and around a giant gorge, completely covered in trees and thick plant life. On both sides of the gorge, many houses made of dark wood were placed so that they blended well with the natural slopes. The two sides of the canyon were connected every so often with giant bridges made of vines and small wooden planks.

Below them, even more houses could be seen, camouflaged in the color of the jungle, most of them occupying space along the river flowing through the middle of the ravine. The river was loud and fast and when I followed it with my eyes, I could see that it sprang from a giant stone structure in the south of the village.

Once we were done taking in the view, Man introduced us to some of the locals and he briefly left us to meet with his informants. The people of Yubna offered us fruits and a place to water our horses, even though we told them they did not need water. They then left us to our own devices and returned to their daily routines.

They seemed happy to see the son-heir had visited them but at the same time the fact did not seem to have the impact I would have expected from a prince arriving in one of the cities under his rule.

The individuals here were so different from anyone I’d seen before. Granted at first the people in Zakara had looked different to me as well, but not as much as the men and women of this city. Their clothing was made out of plants and was generally lighter than ours, probably due to the higher temperatures.

What made the biggest impression on me though, was that every one of them had some kind of small monkey on their head. They didn’t pay them attention as they went on with their lives, which surely meant this was something normal for them.

Once Man returned from his meeting with the informants, we slowly started walking toward the merchant district of the city.

“My people say they have seen a young female spellcaster with short red hair and blue eyes visiting the city every now and then,” Man said in a conspiratorial tone as we walked through the market.

“Did they catch her name, or where she was living?” Kard asked, in the same quiet tone Man had used.

“She went by the name of Brie,” Man replied, “but she never had anything delivered to her place, nor had anyone follow her there.”

“Was she ever seen with someone resembling Kai?” Krysha took her turn in asking.

“My people said that every once in a while a child of brown eyes and hair, around the age of Kai, was with her,” he replied. “But they never saw this boy do anything magical.”

“Does Leka An keep tabs on spellcasters?” I asked, curious as to the unlikely discovery of Man’s men.

“Indeed, all spellcasters who are not yet full citizen-merchants of Leka An are monitored,” he explained, “for the safety of our kingdom.

“Man, why do those people have monkeys on their heads?” asked Kard, who seemed fascinated by this strange custom of theirs.

“That’s not just any monkey, Kard”, Man replied and prompted Seika to explain.

“The monkeys are manifestations of the Jungle God,” Seika said. “Once children grow old enough to walk, they are brought within the temple of the Jungle God and left in the sacred altar for a night. Their parents wait outside of the altar for them to exit with their new companion. All children entering the altar at night, alone, exit at dawn with a monkey manifested by their god’s power.”

“So it’s their form of liturgy?” I asked, suddenly very interested in these little creatures.

“Well, yes,” Seika replied, “I guess you could say that. Though the monkeys do not give them magical powers but live as their companions for their whole lives and die with them.”

“Are these people manaless?” asked Kard, obviously deflated that there was no magic in these parts.

“Kard!” Krysha scolded him for his rudeness, but Seika smiled and waved her hand indicating it was ok for him to ask something like that.

“Kard, you have to get rid of this way of thinking,” she said to him. “Not everything is about mana in the Apocosmos. Not even in our own world. These people live with their godly companions, but they do not have magic. The shamans of the Jungle God are powerful spellcasters but they do not use their powers as we do. They protect the land and their people and that’s pretty much it.”

“I see,” Kard replied and I could see in his face that he was trying to comprehend how different the world was outside of the few lands we were used to.

“Okay, I think we should divide ourselves up in order to cover ground faster and speak to more people about Myriam and Kai and whether they know where we can find them,” Man started, laying out his plan. “Mind you, we do not open any of our discussions with this question. We are here looking for business opportunities and Brie is an associate of ours.”

We all agreed to this and spread out across the city with the promise to rendezvous in the same place in three hours. I decided to descend into the gorge and started walking to the south side of the city, parallel to the river.

I saw young men and women on the riverbanks, shooting arrows which were attached to their bows with strings. Once the arrows found their targets, their monkey pulled the strings back, retrieving the fish which would probably serve as their meal.

The people rarely paid me any heed when I wasn’t walking on paths with shops. Even when they did notice me, their reaction was simply a smile, perhaps accompanied by a short waving of the back of their hand, before resuming what they were doing. I soon realized this was their way of waving hello so I started returning their salutes.