“Once upon a time, Lisana spoke a tale.”

“Do you have to tell it like that?”

“Hush hush, not interrupting the storyteller is basic manners.”

“Haa…go on then, what is this story spoken by my sister?”

“Well, Lisana was a little girl at the time, that loved her big sister. Her sister was beautiful, strong, confident...”

“Skip it.”

“Tsk.” The storyteller clicked her tongue. “…But she had one weakness.”

“Uh uh?”

“The darkness of her dreams, the time when the sun was going down behind the plateau of the duchess.”

“Of the duchess now?”

“It’ll be its new name soon. In any case, the big sister had terrible nightmares. And most likely she didn’t realize how bad they were herself. But what to do? Lisana was just a little girl, she didn’t know how to help her big sister. But one night, hearing her squirm and cry, the little sister decided to lay down next to her big sister, and held her hand. And suddenly, her sister stopped squirming, peace was found on her face and demons had left her sleep.”

Nay didn’t comment anymore.

“The big sister woke a bit later, and asked Lisana what she was doing there. And for the first time, the little sister lied, a lie that she would keep for a long time. Do you know what she said to her big sister?”

“…I had a nightmare; can I sleep with you?”

See you soon.

The first part of the trip in the under-jungle was less horrible than Nay expected. She hadn’t imagined walking with a hundred people, all singing and playing musical instruments she had never seen before. The music made all the mysterious surrounding Rreicos leave, and with the many torches held by the Calis, it didn’t feel like she was going through the dark. The men were on the outside part of the group, patrolling, while the women and children were in the middle of the group, singing and playing those strange lutes and tambourines. The heat was still as exhausting though, even more so because she had been tasked with taking an extra package on her pack. Her own travel bag was already heavy, but the pack of clothes the Cali had bought in the railway campsite was making it slightly harder. She hadn’t been asked for her opinion on the subject, Cali tribesmen had given away things to carry to everyone, and Nay had not been exempted. The Calis had only stayed a day, in the end, and she had been smart in preparing her travel bag in advance. She had only been warned of their departure fifteen minutes in advance, through Horick telling her that the clan was cleaning up their stalls in the centre of the camp.

All in all, the first walk through the under-jungle was pleasant. She was still sweating a lot despite the special soap Trinne had bought her, but it made things a bit more manageable. After a few hours into the walk, surrounded by music the whole time, Lynn arrived to talk to her. She had a slightly hoarse voice because of all the singing, but her accent was still as perfect as before.

“How are things going?”

“No issues.” The many Rreico around her was almost calming for once. As the group was united in music, it made their life rhythm united as well. She wasn’t overwhelmed by different stimuli or emotions.

“We’ll arrive at a river soon, we’ll stop there to get more water. We’ll need to be silent though because of the Fhghghghg.”

“The what?”

“Ah sorry, I think they are called eyeless’?”

Nay rose an eyebrow. The name was familiar, the zoologist had talked about it. “A big reptile living in water? The animal with the two metres wide mouth?”

Lynn couldn’t hide the mocking smile on her face. “I never saw one that big, but the descriptions aren’t too bad. It is long and big, and if you see one, it’ll look quite lethargic. They are passive but react aggressively to noise. They eat fish, very rarely anything bigger.”

The Legio grimaced. She bet that the zoologist hadn’t even seen one himself.

“On that note, everyone is always talking about the banshees, but no one told me what it looked like, or why they were so dangerous.”

Lynn gave her a surprised stare. “Well, that’s normal. No one can know what it looks like. From the bodies, we know it’s between two or three meters high, that they walk similarly to lesardos, and that they eat their prey by crushing them. “

“What do you mean ‘no one can know what it looks like’?

“Banshees can’t be recognized.”

“You can’t see them?”

“No, you can, and it’s so scary that except for our experienced hunters, no one can look at them without being paralyzed. No, banshees are indescribable, you can make out their traits only on their dead bodies, but weeks after they died. And, well, at that time, it’s pretty hard to recognize what it looked like.”

Nay scrunched up her eyebrows. “I don’t get it.”

“Yes well, pray to Trayx it stays like that. You’ll probably understand only if you look at one, and without my grandfather near, it’ll mean you’ll be crushed and eaten. Don’t worry though, he promised he would protect you to the Imperatrix.”

Nay gave a glance at the old man three heads smaller than her, singing a bit further ahead. She had her doubts about Lynn’s reassurance.

A large river was flowing in the dark. Its sound was only broken by whispers of clan members, the soft slushing of the flowing water, and the soft steps on the fallen leaves of the flat under-jungle. The Rreicos under the surface were numerous, but only a few reacted when someone made a sound. Even breaking a twig was enough to make the creatures react, and they were sometimes metres deep under the water. When one of the clan members had a coughing fit, Nay felt the rhythm of life of one the animals reach for the shore. But the man was quickly pulled away from the river, and the dangerous Rreico returned into the depths of the large river. Nay wasn’t exactly reassured when she came to the water to fill up a bucket she had been handed over, but nothing happened. She brought it to a group of women who had started fires, boiling the water in a large cauldron. Everything had been done without a word, the women working in perfect harmony with each other.

They followed the river in silence for a hundred yards or so, before it disappeared in a cave under a hill. The clan moved away from the river, then climbed the hill. They stopped for a while on top of it to eat and drink. Finally, they were illuminated by something other than torches. The upper-jungle was still very dark, but it felt almost blinding after coming out of the lower floor of the Hymere. The rest of the day went the same way, singing during their walk in the under-jungle, silence when next to water, and breaks on top of mountains.

Nay knew that the sun was setting, even though she couldn’t see it, when they arrived at a large fence, just at the base of a hill. The clan sang again, but this song was different from all the others before.

Nay hadn’t been able to participate, as she couldn’t even mimic the sounds they were making, but she didn’t need to be a Legio to understand that this last song was a happy one, celebrating that they were home, safe and sound.

The village was rustic. Some houses had been built around or even up in the trees, but most were on stilts, made of wood and thatch. Everything was built on top of the hill, its very centre was rocky, and as they passed next to it, Nay recognized the remains of a large fire, and saw the shadows sculptures hidden in the rocky area. She would have liked to explore this village that resembled nothing she had ever seen before, but she was tired and drenched in sweat. The Calis separated naturally, with simple hand gestures and a word Nay assumed to mean good night. Everyone was going back to their homes. Lynn separated from her grandfather, uncle, and cousins though, and Nay followed her to the edge of the village.

“This is where we’ll sleep. It’s the house they gave me when I or other clan members that live outside the Hymere come. I live here a lot when I’m studying the temple. It’s big enough for eight, so I think it’ll be good enough for the two of us.” Lyn announced. She was pointing at a house, very similar to all its neighbours. The inside wasn’t anything special, and Nay didn’t explore. There were a few rooms, all little in decorations or furniture. It was quite obvious that this house was uninhabited most of the time. Fortunately, the village had received a Canna well from the God-Touched of the railway worksite, and so the house had a shower. Nay used it, and enjoyed it for a long time despite the tepid water, then went to sleep.

It took her some time to wake up fully. She had slept horribly, her dreams forgotten but clearly filled with nightmares. Lynn, who had slept in the neighbouring room, hadn’t seemed to notice, so the Legio assumed that she hadn’t shouted. The two women ate in silence. The young Cali had brought eggs, and Nay had proposed to cook a simple omelet. The only words spoken were Lynn complimenting her recipe. It wasn’t high cuisine, and Nay was too tired to answer with anything else than a groan from someone half-awake.

After the meal though, Lynn talked a bit more. “Are you ready for the second part of our trip?” Lynn asked after the meal.

“Yeah, just let me take another shower.” Nay wanted one, and she was going to get one.

“Of course. I’ll go see if my grandfather is awake and ready to leave in the meantime.”

Nay nodded, taciturn. She had slept too badly to smile. Lynn seemed excited though, and if the Legio understood well, it was because her work in Leïn was archaeologist, and that she was researching the Trayx temple for her thesis.

Nay had to wait one hour for Green Tree and Lynn to arrive, and that was after her long shower. Lynn seemed apologetic, but Green Tree didn’t seem bothered at all.

“My dear hello! Let us go, let us go! Or someone will ask me to handle Hrotir’s marital affairs, and I don’t think you want to see that.” The old man winked at her.

The village was still sleeping when they left. “When we’re back, I’ll show you Cali true hospitality.” The old man promised. “But after our day-long walk, our children are tired, and so are our women who carry them. Everyone will be much more welcoming after some rest.”

“You fed me and gave me a roof. I wasn’t asking as much. And you songs were beautiful; I was delighted to see such a snippet of your culture.” Nay was feeling a bit better since her shower.

“Aha! And you haven’t even seen our parties yet! We dance the whole night. Well, the younglings do, my knees can’t let me anymore.”

“Isn’t the trip going to be hard on you? Do we not need to take a bit more time to rest?” Nay was a bit worried about going in the under-jungle without any escort.

“Psh, you may not see a thing down there, but the ground is flat. I’ve done the trip to Ghtythrilljghtn when I was six. I have no problem doing it at sixty-six! It’s a leisure walk, nothing more. And imagine that we didn’t even have those great boots from the capital back then, I did it with rope shoes! »

They went down the hill, and the further they went, the darker it became. When they arrived next to the big fence, the old Cali’s jovial expression became more serious. “We’ll be three to travel through the under-jungle. Three is a good number, but it is different from one-hundred and twenty-four. We do not sing; we do not talk. A banshee would hear us and see us as prey. I am the one holding the torch, Lynn stands ready in case we need to change it. You, miss, you follow, and if I say something you listen, yes?”

Nay nodded, a bit taken aback by his sudden tonal and Rreico shift.

“The banshees hate the temple, so we should be safe from them the closer we get, but something else paces the heart of the Hymere.” He gave her a bag, the Nay immediately recognized as being kitchen salt.

“Erm?”

“Spirits not accepted by Trayx stride around his temple. And only the worst criminals, the most monstruous monsters are not welcome in the Ghtythrilljghtn. You don’t want one of those spirits to take an interest in you. If you suddenly feel cold, throw salt in the air. Spirits hate salt.”

Nay accepted the pack of salt, still a bit puzzled. “I wasn’t told about spirits around the temple.”

“They have always been there though, but their numbers have been rising, and they have been more aggressive lately. Probably the prospect of the war.”

“Don’t they have a name? Something in Hymerian?” Maybe the zoologist or the Imperatrix had told her about it, but she was quite certain that no one had talked to her about salt though.

Green Tree looked at her, severe. “They have been rejected by Trayx, they deserve no name.” Then he smiled. “You can trust me, I could do this trip without any light, I have done it before.”

Nay didn’t hear a lie in his voice, and Lynn was calm. The Legio nodded, and they finally exited the village to delve into the under-jungle.

The trip to the temple of Trayx was much worse than the one to the Cali village. The silence was heavy on her mind. Nay was hearing their footsteps, their breathing, and the crackling of the torch battling against the dark, and nothing else. It was like a shadow wanting to devour them. From time to time, there was like a pillar of light falling from the sky, breaking the monotonous black, and Nay could hear the chirping of birds from the opening above. But in the end, travelling with Lynn and Green Tree was a big help, because neither was anxious nor scared, their Rreico calm. Lynn was still excited as well. But Nay welcomed their stop on the first hill with open arms.

As Green Tree told her an unbelievable story, that his family was supposedly this lucky because one ancestor had drunk the blood of a Hytorrrrrtatii, which meant dragon. The Legio looked around. They were close to the heart of the jungle now, and the closer they were getting, the more Nay felt like the Hymere itself had a Rreico. The air was pungent in energy, the trees were even more tortuous and strange, the branches weren’t the only ones twisting and bending now, even the gigantic tree trunks weren’t going straight anymore. The Rreicos of the animals were even weirder, the sound of the birds even more out of this world.

When they packed to go back in the under-jungle, Nay felt a rhythm of life unlike anything she had ever felt. It was half-there, half-not. Her eyes went to the north-east. At first, she saw nothing, but then spotted a stag. It was bigger than any stag she had ever seen, even though the stags of the Unbroken Ones were supposed to be the biggest in the world. Its antlers were absurd, impossible, because they were moving. They looked just like the tortuous branches around, but it was as if they were creating images, as if they were going deep into your head to…

Green Tree blocked her view, putting a hand over her eyes. Nay stumbled back, she hadn’t felt his action. When her gaze went back to the threes, the stag was gone. And now that she thought about it, it couldn’t have been there. The ground it had stood on was only ground in appearance only. A beast that size would never have been able to stand on the fake floor of the Hymère jungle.

“It is not recommended to look at a Ththy for too long.” The old men seemed discontent.

“What?” She hadn’t dreamt then, if he had seen it as well.

“A Deeream.” Lynn translated the foreign word. Her expression was worried as well. “Seeing one is a bad sign. They are Trayx’ servants, he sends them to us to warn us in advance.”

Nay remembered her lesson on the deeream. Big, could kill a man in one strike. That’s what the zoologist had said. He hadn’t talked about anything mystical, or about the superstitions around the animal. After seeing it, Nay couldn’t understand how he had forgotten that. She wasn’t the religious sort, but this stag was not natural.

“The closer we’ll come to the temple, the weirder the things we will witness. Better not to think about it, I have seen men go mad trying. Just let it flow, let it flow.” Green Tree explained.

Nay caught her breath. Her heart was beating fast. To let it flow? She could do that. It was good that Trinne wasn’t with her, in the end, she would have hated that recommendation.

“Yeah, right, it was just an impossible stag.”

Green Tree gave her a slap on the back. “Exactly!” He laughed. “We aren’t a third of the way in, but you’ll manage it no problem. My long experience as a guide to the temple screams it.”

Nay smiled. “Thank you.”

She may have been warned, but the further they went, the weirder things became. Many things she would not even have begun to know how to describe, and was even told not to try, but one even stood out from the rest. The moment when the under-jungle wasn’t dark anymore.

There was still no light at all, but for something like one hundred yards, she saw perfectly all around her. She saw insects the size of her hand fly around in buzzing frenzy, she saw a mousling playing or hunting in the dead leaves, she had no idea what it was doing, really, and she also saw a gigantic snake-like thing, thirty meters long but very thin, sleeping…in the air, well above their heads. Then, the phenomenon stopped, and their surroundings went back to being lit up by the sole torch in the old Cali’s hands. All the animals disappeared in darkness.

She really wanted to say something then, but Green Tree put a finger over his mouth. If she had been the only one seeing through the dark or not, she could not say, but she honestly didn’t know if she had been reassured by being able to see. She was clearly looking above her head more now, that was for sure.

They stopped at a little creek to fill up their water, but waited to be on top of the second hill to boil it.

“We are almost halfway there. Is everything still okay?” Green Tree asked.

“Did you see when the jungle lit up?” Nay didn’t answer his question.

“Yes, it happens. But the things you see are not always really there when it happens. You do still have to stay silent in case…”

“Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.” He was interrupted by a bone-chilling scream.

Everyone grimaced.

“It’s still far away.” Lynn noted.

Nay turned to face the dean of the Calis. “I thought the banshees were avoiding the temple.”

“Normally. But this would explain Trayx’ warning. We shall need to be twice as careful. If the shout becomes weak, it means it’s getting closer. And if after it becomes weak it becomes strong again, well either it is further away again, or very close and has spotted us.” He answered, his smile gone. “Our best bet would be to run towards the nearest hill. You would need to follow the light of my torch. This is a worst-case scenario though, as long as we’re going towards the Ghtythrilljghtn, we should move away from it.”

Nay wasn’t convinced. If this banshee wasn’t following the rules, she didn’t see why it would be repelled by the temple as it should.

There wasn’t anything strange happening on their next trip through the under-jungle, as if the powerful scream of the Banshee was keeping all the weirdness of the Hymere at bay.

Nay was surprised when Lynn and Green Tree suddenly stopped dead in their tracks. And she noticed immediately why. Hundreds of red spots were breaking the dark. She shivered, recognizing them as eyes. The Rreicos were just as numerous. She put a hand on her sword, but Green Tree stopped her.

“No, only one thing we can do. Copy my movements as best as you can!” He said out loud despite his many previous warnings. But what bothered Nay the most was that contrary to his panicked tone, his Rreico was just filled with playfulness. As was Lynn’s.

Despite it, when the old man rose a foot in the air, she did as he did. Then he turned ninety-degrees to the right, and Nay had to use all her training to keep her balance in check as she reproduced the movement. He put a hand up in the air, and she copied it as well, but she was staring at Lynn not doing anything, just standing there with a dead fish-like expression.

“Ulululu! Ulululu! Quick, sing with me!” The old man commanded.

Nay put her foot back on the ground. “You’re making fun of me.”

The two Calis suddenly burst into laughter. Lynn went into the darkness alone, straight towards the red eyes. When she came back, she had a small critter in her hands.

It’s a temporary flying mouse nest. Terrifying creatures, nothing ever bad is near when they’re there. Their evilness cannot house anything else in the vicinity. Look at how it’s trying to devour me.” She said.

Green Tree brought his torch closer. The little animal looked a bit like a mouse with bird wings, its feathers looking extremely soft. Its face was a mixture of moat cat and rat, and it was currently ferociously ravaging Lynn’s finger. Except it had no teeth, so it was a bit more like suckling than biting.

“By Lebe this has to be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.” Nay forgot completely that she had been made fun of.

“Never try to eat one though. It is the most disgusting thing you could ever put in your mouth. My daughter tried once to prove that she was more courageous than her brothers. She vomited for hours, just because of the taste.” Told Green Tree with amusement.

Nay grimaced. “Why would anyone ever try to eat such a cute thing?” She brought her finger closer to the critter, who stopped attacking Lynn, suddenly very still. Its head was more feathers than fur, and as Nay stroked it, the flying mouse stopped fighting completely, even looking like it enjoyed the petting.

“Oh, it likes you. That’s rare. You’re a Trayx God-Touched?” Lynn asked innocently.

Nay enchanted expression vanished on the spot. “Sorry?”

The joyful look on the Cali woman disappeared as well. Her hand let go of the flying mouse, and it flew back to the darkness among its peers.

“They only like God-Touched, and almost exclusively those touched by Trayx. And well, it would explain why the Imperatrix sent you here. The pilgrimage is rare, but not unheard of.” She explained.

Green Tree as well, seemed to understand that things had become grave.

Nay looked at them. She needed to be convincing. “Listen to me well. The fact that I’m a God-Touched is a state secret. A state secret.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t…” Lynn began.

“No problems, no problems. Hyn and I are friends it won’t…” Green Tree said at the same time.

Nay stopped them with one gesture of the hand. “No. Listen. If Hyn hears about this, she will silence you. Whether an old lover or a good Empire citizen, it won’t change anything about her decision. It wouldn’t have mattered if you had questions, or doubts, but you knowing is too dangerous. She could even ask me to kill you. I would refuse, but it would weaken my position and you would still be dead.”

Green Tree didn’t believe her. “Nonsense, she would never do that. What’s the issue of her goddaughter being God-Touched? Her own son is the greatest Touched in the Empire.”

“Green Tree, please, I beg of you. Do not speak of this, do not even act as if you know. My secret is part of a strategy to win the war. I am not exaggerating. Now, if you know Hyn, ask you this. If it was your life in exchange for the Empire’s safety, what would she choose?”

This brought a big pause. The silence only broken by the weird noises of the flying mouses close by.

“I…it would explain why she was so insistent about your safety in her letters. But, I don’t understand how…” The old Cali said out loud.

“And it’s better that way. Can you both give me your word, that you will not speak of this to anyone. Not your lovers, not your family, no one.” Nay looked at them intensely. If one of them lied, if she felt it in their Rreico…she would speak with Trinne first but…the solution would be horrible for everyone.”

“I…if we’re talking about the safety of the Empire, I will say nothing. I promise. The Empire has been good to us.” The dean of the Calis swore.

“Same here. I swear. I am a citizen of the Empire, and have no wishes to see my life destroyed by barbarians.” Lynn promised as well.

Nay sighed in relief. They were serious, and they had understood how important this was. “Good. Very good. Thank you. Also, don’t worry too much, it is extremely important right now, but the Imperatrix will probably reveal that I am a God-Touched during the war, this is not a secret you will have to carry to your death.”

The smile came back on Green Tree’s face. “No problem. And thank you for warning us. The fact that you are Touched is good news though. You will be able to perceive the spirits much better than…” The conversation was suddenly halted by a very big crack above their heads, and by the flying mouses all flying away simultaneously.

“Branch!” “Iii” “Get away!” Green Tree screamed a warning.

Nay jumped to the side, and the two Calis did the same. A second later, a gigantic boom crashed just next to them. Rotten pieces of wood exploded all around, and the torch suddenly died out.

Nay was breathing hard. She couldn’t see anything anymore.

“Fffrrthhhh jghh hiyi!” The Cali dean shouted.

Nay tried to get back on her feet. She succeeded. She hadn’t been touched. A long second of utter blackness passed, until finally, a big spark lit up the jungle for a short instant. Then, the ground under the spark, littered with rotten wood, burst into flames.

“Biach!” Lynn swore. She was fortunately fast enough to stop the start of the fire with furious kicks. Night came back once more, but then came another spark. This time though, it was a torch that lit up.

“Grrrrpppp? You okay?”

“Kk Kk. Nay?” The old man asked.

“Nothing wrong, I think.” She answered.

“Good, good. Well…this was close.” He pointed to where the large branch, which was more like a small western tree, had crashed. There was a big hole, and some of the wood had planted itself deep into the ground. Where they had stood moments prior.

“By Lebe’s caver…” Nay held back the swear. She put her hands on her knees, a bit surprised to be still in one piece.

“The flying mouses are gone. We need to be silent again.” Green Tree announced.

Lynn nodded, and with a bit of a delay, so did Nay.

When they continued on their way, Nay had calmed down a bit.

She was still worried though. She had the bad feeling of having missed something important.