By noon on the seventh day, the island of Mayaladi could be seen from the deck of the ship. It truly looked like a tropical paradise from what Nirou could tell, with pristine beaches stretching along its length that were broken up only by the port town they were headed towards. A single mountain rose up from the canopy of jungle trees covering the island. The whole scenery made Nirou think of a postcard or some similar thing. Though there was some strange feeling he got about the shape of the island itself that he couldn't quite place.

Soon after the island came into view, the vessel pulled into the docks of the port town. It seemed as though this was the only such place on this side of the island, so it was appropriately abuzz with activity. Like the docks on the capital's river, boats were constantly being loaded and unloaded of goods. Though both the size and number of boats were diminished compared to Rajandra. Nirou also got the sense of a more casual atmosphere here, but he internally conceded that it may have been his bias at seeing all the locals so lightly dressed. After a few moments of sweating in the heat and humidity, he realized it would be stupid not to do whatever you could to keep yourself cool.

As Nirou fanned the neck of his shirt and stepped off of the ship, a giant figure broke through the water's surface right across from him. A giant lizard emerged from the sea and placed its claws on the dock, frightening Nirou like nothing ever had before. It was eye to eye with him in height, with legs as thick as tree trunks. He stumbled back and fell, just lucky enough to land on the gangway he had walked off of instead of in the water. Before he could panic any further, Nirou saw a man pat the lizard's snout and throw it several fish that it eagerly scarfed down. The man looked to Nirou and chuckled, amused.

"Relax, it's harmless." Captain Rashen assured Nirou from the boat. "Those giant sea lizards are called Odolanna. They live all across these islands. Most of them are tame, so you don't have to worry."

"I've seen illustrations, but this is my first time seeing one with my own eyes!" Laska announced, as she hopped right over Nirou where he lay and onto the dock. Her eyes were gleaming like a kid seeing dinosaur bones at the museum for the first time. Although this was much closer to seeing an actual dinosaur. "Nirou, this is one of the 'monsters' I mentioned before. A type of animal that's been modified by a spell. Someone on the islands here changed many of the monitor lizards to be both enormous and more receptive to humans. They can supposedly be trained very well, like a giant scaly dog."

Nirou was still wary of the creature, but if everyone else was fine with it then he should at least try to act the part. He leaned forward to stand back up, then got out of the way so the others could disembark from the ship.

"The traditional language used in these islands is related to yet distinct from the one used in Anjdrahm, so only a local or someone particularly well-studied would be able to tell you the meaning of this creature's name." Kishaldam said as she stepped from the boat. She stood next to Laska as she went on, enthusiastically laying out her knowledge of the subject as one of those well-studied people she herself mentioned. "Odolanna translates to 'guardian of the sea'. The main practical function these creatures serve is to deter Beastmen from sneaking through one at a time. They lurk in the ocean surrounding the islands and will snatch up any small boats they come across that don't have humans aboard. Without their presence, humans here could have easily been whittled away to nothing over time. The fact that only a couple of Beastmen represent a great enough threat to dispatch us here is proof enough. For this service, the Odolanna are greatly revered in these islands."

"Fascinating." Laska replied, not taking her eyes off the reptile. "Are they not used in war? I would think that they could be used against Beastmen in the actual invasions proper rather than only against the loners."

"Besides the matter of reverence, there's also population to consider." Kishaldam answered with her index finger raised, clearly enjoying this. "The sheer size of the creatures means that each one requires plenty of food and a large stretch of beach to itself. Supposedly by the counts of local officials, less than a thousand Odolanna exist. As such, they don't want to risk losing them in open conflict. Semi-aquatic Beastmen like otter or seal types could take them down fairly easily with enough numbers, and they often make up the vanguard in a true invasion."

"I see. No need to endanger such rare creatures, I suppose."

Both Laska and Nirou kept watching as the giant lizard took its claws off the dock and swam over to the closest stretch of beach. The creature then walked right up out of the water to reveal the full scope of its size. Its head came up to Nirou's despite walking on all fours, and it must have been at least ten meters in length by his estimate. He was pretty sure it was bigger than any actual lizard that had ever existed in his world. Dinosaur really was the more apt comparison.

As Nirou observed the Odolanna lay down to bask in the sun, he realized that it was the first truly otherworldly creature he had seen since he arrived. Magic powers aside, he had only met regular humans and animals before this point. The stories of the Beastmen were just that, stories. Without seeing one, the reality hadn't struck him. But now he knew just how much he was going to be unsettled when creatures truly alien to him were clawing at his neck. Though maybe this was for the best. At least now he wouldn't be completely caught off guard. Just mostly.

"Enough gawking team, we have no time to lose!" Rashen declared, the last one off the ship. Before he continued his demands, he turned to the ship crew and switched tones. "Thank you for bringing us here so fast, you even shaved a few hours off the usual time."

"Of course, lad. We were glad to have ya." the ship captain put on a grin. "The pay was exceptionally good for the route, so would you consider hiring us for the way back as well? There's always cargo to move between the islands down here, so we don't mind contracting out doing that for a few weeks while we wait."

"Unfortunately, we have no idea how long this mission may last." Rashen admits. "We could get lucky and be done in a few days, or it may take us over a month. But rest assured that once we finish, we can rest here in town for a few days. If we see you around, you've got the job."

"That's as much as I could ask ya for, lad." the old man chuckles. "We'll try to pull into this port as much as we can, and if we don't see you in a month either we missed you or you missed us. Good luck with your work."

The crew broke off to go do something else, and Captain Rashen turned back to his team. "Anyway, as I was saying: No lollygagging! We've got a remote village to hike to!"

"But we just got here!" Ajandi threw his head back and whined. "Can't we at least get something to eat first? I want some real food!"

"Every minute we waste is a potential Beastman attack." the Captain insisted, crossing his arms to signal the firmness of his resolution. "We have to leave right now if we want to do everything we can to protect the people."

"Ya know Captain, marching on an empty stomach will only slow you down." Hamid added. Seeing her take his side made Ajandi's face light up with excitement. Apparently it was a good sign for him. "We'll get there faster if we prepare ourselves. By getting some lunch, that is."

"We would only lose a few minutes at most." Kishaldam went in for the killing blow. "And having to get by on preserved food alone while we walk may lower our enthusiasm enough to meet or exceed the time loss."

Rashen tried to keep up his tough front, but he could only do so much against the opposition of his entire squad. "Alright, fine! But we're getting something we can eat while walking, no sitting down and losing time."

The group left the docks and head straight through the center of town while keeping an eye out for a fitting place to grab a bite. It wasn't nearly as bustling as the capital, but it was a busy town nonetheless. There were people going to and fro about their business, so there were sure to be entrepreneurial types set up somewhere to feed them all. Sure enough, it was only a few blocks in that Ajandi caught a whiff.

"I smell chicken." the man said, sticking his nose out in front of him like a dog. "Captain, let's get that!"

Ajandi led the group to a stand not unlike the one he had patronized in the capital. It also sold skewers of chicken, though it seemed here they preferred grilling to frying. It also looked to come with some dark sauce to dunk the meat in. Nirou was interested to see the slight regional variations on certain foods. And to taste them, naturally.

The Captain bought everyone a couple of skewers, then made another declaration. "There! Now you can eat as we go, and I don't want to hear any complaining!"

"But Captaaain..." Ajandi pouted, the whining of his voice already breaching obnoxious. "You've gotta dip it in the sauce as you eat! It's not the same if you don't dip it!"

"You get one dip right now and that's it." Rashen insisted, not willing to budge any further. "Now hurry up and get moving."

Unable to make any more leeway, Ajandi relented and got to walking after a mere single dip of his chicken skewers in the sauce. Everyone else also got by on only that much, including Nirou who also came to wish he could have gotten more of it. From the bit that he tried, he could only assume it was made with oil from some kind of nut. By the time the party got to the edge of the jungle, everyone was finished eating and could focus on their journey.

"The village we're headed to is where the reports of the Beastmen were from." the Captain briefed the group during transit. "A little place called Sumayla Village. It's close to the center of the island, so our jungle hike will be all uphill. But as long as we follow this trail, we should be fine. We can even get there before dawn tomorrow if we walk through the night."

"Wait, what?" Nirou blurted out, after being content to stay silent most of the day. "Walk through the night? Like, all night long, keep walking?"

"That's right. We're lucky that the moon is so close to full, we shouldn't have much trouble seeing." Rashen kept talking while blowing off Nirou's disbelief. "We'll get there as soon as possible and be ready in case the Beastmen attack again. Sure we'll probably end up having to search for them anyway, but there will be much less danger to the villagers while we're there."

Nirou sighed heavily. He was a bit used to walking by now because of all of it he did on the way to Rajandra, but it still took a lot out of him. At least he still had Laska's amulet. He could feel it hanging around his neck. Without it, there's no way he could have kept up with a lot of things up to this point. He'd thanked Laska for letting him use it many times, but it couldn't be overstated just how useful it had been.

"Sorry Nirou, that's just how the Captain is." Ajandi chimed in, after witnessing Nirou's exasperation. "We've had to stay up for long periods of time to make trips before, you get used to it. That's why you gotta use the time you get to relax to the fullest!"

"The Captain just spares no expense for the people. In fact, there's more than one story we could tell about that..." Hamid let the sentence trail off as she fumbled around in her head for one such tale.

"Come on, can't we just focus on the mission?" Rashen pleaded, clearly desperate to maintain any image he could in the minds of the new arrivals. Nirou wasn't sure what could reflect badly on the Captain in a story about sparing no expense for the people, but the Captain himself seemed to have a good idea.

"So this was a couple of years back." Hamid begins, stifling her grin in order to tell the story properly. "We were on our way back from a mission and passed through this little village. Figured we'd stop for lunch, right? Well the Captain started walking around to scope out the place like he always does. And he catches wind of some trouble. Apparently some kid was in a bad spot just outside the village."

"Ah. This one." Rashen visibly winced. "Normally this one would be told in a way that reflects well on me, you know."

Nirou glanced toward the others. Ajandi was already holding in his laughter just thinking about whatever this story was, and Kishaldam was fighting off a smirk.

"Now I was only lucky enough to catch the whole thing 'cause I'd also walked off to do my own thing." Hamid explains, continuing the story. "But the Captain asked about the kid and got told he was hiding in the base of a tree from a swarm of wasps he had angered. We went to look, and damn was that a swarm. Wasps as far as the eye could see. Too many for either of us to handle, so I wanted to hold off. Let Kishaldam take care of it, probably. The Captain wasn't havin' it, though. He dove right into that cloud and starting punching in every direction! Like he was gonna knock out the wasp swarm!"

Nirou could hear the laughter from Ajandi now, and even Kishaldam let out a giggle before stopping herself. Laska was also letting herself be entertained by the story, smiling at the thought of their current superior engaging in hand-to-hand combat with a mass of bugs.

"From the start, he was getting stung all over." Hamid went on. "But he was wearing enough to protect some of his body. So you know what he does as soon as he gets to the kid? He takes his shirt and pants off, wraps the kid up, then carries the bundled up kid through the wasp swarm mostly naked!"

Even Hamid can't keep her composure at this point, cracking up at her own tale. Despite his best efforts, Nirou also lets out a slight chuckle. It did sound pretty funny.

"The two of us only arrived as the Captain got to safety." Kishaldam adds, motioning to Ajandi as well. Kishaldam had managed to get serious again, but Ajandi was practically hunching over and holding his stomach remembering the incident. "If he had just waited a bit, then I could have taken care of the situation. But he's ever the stubborn fool."

"There was no time to lose!" Rashen insists, trying to save face. "Another minute and that boy could have been a pincushion. It's what the General would have done!"

"We had to spend until sunset pulling all the stingers out of the Captain after that!" Ajandi shouts, putting great effort into muscling past his laughing fit. "They were everywhere, and I mean everywhere! I'm the only other boy, so I was on butt duty!"

Nirou watched the group reminisce over the event. While the three of them were laughing at what happened to their leader, he didn't get the impression that they had any ill will behind it. Even Rashen seemed more embarrassed than anything. This was probably just one of many things they joked about all the time.

With conversation lightening the mood of the trip, the night walk through the jungle wasn't nearly as bad as Nirou had anticipated. It was pleasantly cool compared to the heat of the day, so while he did get tired it was manageable. Eventually the group could see the first rays of sunlight peeking through the canopy, and shortly afterwards their destination came into view.

They were finally at the village where the Beastman attacks had taken place. Though before dealing with that, Nirou was hoping the Captain would at least let them get some sleep first.