Dallion’s trip through the jingle continued for half a day. During that time, there were several attempts of creatures to kill him. Some relief on their camouflage, choosing to strike from the trees without warning. All, without exception, were capable of combat splitting, attacking with up to half a dozen instances. Unfortunately for them, Dallion had gotten into the habit of keeping twelve instances at all times, rendering their attempts unsuccessful.

The follow up was always the same. The moment the creatures saw that their initial attack had failed, they’d dart through the jungle, quickly getting out of reach and out of sight. That was a good thing, since several of them seemed to be slightly more than Dallion could handle. Dallion suspected the creatures were aware of the fact since they tried to attack, but wisely, none of them were willing to stake their life on it. After all, in such an environment, even receiving a serious wound would put their life at risk, making them someone else’s prey.

Several of the butterflies had been injured in the event. While their wings were much harder and more durable than the standard variety, they weren’t invulnerable. The jungle monsters had managed to crack a few wings. Thanks to his level up, Lux was going to be able to heal them without issue, but the kaleidervisto wasn’t nearby at present—Dallion had sent it to scout the area in search of other items.

“Don’t worry, guys,” Dallion said. After every encounter, he had made sure to take the injured ones and placed them in the bowl that was in his backpack. She had offered it, after all, and being a dryad had the ability to keep them calm. The only exception, as usual, was Ruby. The shardfly had gotten one of its wings chipped slightly, but insisted on remaining nearby.

Dallion could feel Ruby’s eagerness, as well as a desire to impress. “He’s just a kid,” Gleam has said a long time ago, back when Ruby had first started “drawing” on the walls. Dallion hadn’t been pleased, but listened to Gleam’s advice and let the shadfly be. Now, he could see that was the right choice.

The closer Dallion got to the water pool, the less sneak attacks there were. That was rather alarming, forcing Dallion to increase the number of instances he had through splitting. Even so, he couldn’t help but to feel anxious. This place was like a hurricane—the greater the calm, the greater the ferocity of what was to follow.

Gleam, Lux, anything on your end?

Yep! Yep! the firebird replied. I found two more towers! Not as tall as the three ones, and they’re a bit apart.

In Lux terms, that meant that it could take half a day to get from one to the other, or even more.

I didn’t find any more towers, but I found something else, Gleam said. It’s annoying, though.

What? Dallion asked.

Gleam didn’t answer. An hour later, she didn’t have to.

Coin? Coin? Coin? A flock of seagulls filled the air with their cries.

The news that Dallion was giving out silver coins in exchange for talking had quickly spread throughout the canyon among the seagull population. It was just as Nil had feared it might become. The only reason that they hadn’t descended upon him so far was mainly because the creatures weren’t suicidal and stayed away from the dangerous spots in the area. Also, the news had caused significant infighting among them. Furious flocks had fought one another for the chance of being the first to get their share of shineys.

Coin for talk? A seagull landed on Dallion’s head.

“Only if everyone’s quiet,” Dallion said.

The noise suddenly stopped. A strong sense of fear emanated from each and every seagull—the fear that they would do anything to jeopardize their chance of earning a coin. It was so close to human behavior that it was scary.

“Since you’re already on my head, you’ll start first. What is there that you can tell me?” Dallion asked as he took a silver coin out of his pouch.

Several big creatures have gathered at the pillars, the seagull said.

Dallion waited. So did the seagull. Apparently, it was under the impression that this much information was enough for a reward.

“What type of creatures?” Dallion asked.

Really big creatures! As big as half the pillars.

Thanks to his music skills, Dallion could tell that the seagull wasn’t entirely truthful. The creatures it spoke of no doubt existed, and they were probably quite big, but it was an outright lie that they were as big as half the tower. Still, it was a good idea to have it checked out.

Lux, go to the three towers and see what’s going on, Dallion said.

Coin? the seagull asked, although this time there was uncertainty coming from it.

“Are there others like me in the canyon?” Dallion asked. You sneaky bird, you’re hiding something, aren’t you?

Not now. There were others before. They come here a few times per year. They always leave trinkets behind.

Dallion had spoken to enough creatures in the wilderness to know exactly what that meant. Of the people who came here, a large part probably didn’t return. Since none of them had the ability to talk to animals, the only way they could leave something was to leave it to be picked from their corpses.

“Did any of them fly?”

The seagull flapped its wings, flying off Dallion’s head. Terror and hatred came from it, telling Dallion everything he needed to know.

Without hesitation, he tossed a coin in the bird’s direction. The prize was instantly snatched as the seagull flew off into the distance.

“Anyone else?” Dallion flashed another coin.

Seagull cries filled the air. As the flock transformed into a battlefield of feathers. It was starting to look like more than a few of them would end up dead. Just as Dallion stood up, however, the commotion suddenly ended.

Quite smart, aren’t they? Nil asked.

Isn’t that a good thing?

If something is smart enough to know how to take the greatest advantage of a situation, how long would it be before they figure out that it would be better to betray you and steal what’s left of your corpse? The old echo went on. Or haven’t you noticed that they only joined you after you managed to survive all those sneak attacks?

This is one of the few safe spots. Nil, Dallion sighed.

Is it, though?

“You,” Dallion pointed at a seagull that looked somewhat larger than its neighbors. “You’ll be next. Tell me something interesting and I’ll give you one coin and two more to your flock.”

This caused confusion. If the birds were anything like Nil suspected, they were probably calculating the odds right now. And just to prevent them from getting any more ideas, Dallion decided to add some clarifications.

“There will be no other coins for today, but there’ll be something tomorrow,” he added eagerness in his words. This was the first time he used his music skills to affect so many at once. The effort was considerable, but it seemed to work.

The initial confusion over, the large seagull flapped its wings, flying onto Dallion’s head.

The people who make their way through the jungle make their way to the temple, the seagull began. Nothing attacks them on the way in. Some of them make it out. Not like you, though.

“What do you mean?”

When they come out, they are different. Scarier. You’re the same as when you went in.

Dallion didn’t say a word. This was a place where cultists came, after all. Maybe it was a sort of pilgrimage, where the deceived went in search of power, but ended up being transformed into chainlings.

“And the flying ones?”

Several of the seagulls surrounding Dallion flapped their wings, though not the large one. Dallion could feel that the bird was prepared.

The flying ones come to fight, but they go far. They only continued to the point at which they see the northern mountains.

While Dallion didn’t know much about the Academy, that sounded like something they would do: test things out cautiously and never put themselves at risk. What were they hoping to find, though? And why keep it secret?

“How many of them were there?”

The ones on the ground traveled in groups. A few to whole packs. The flying ones always came alone or in pairs.

Dallion tossed a coin at the flock. There was a brief scuffle, at the end of which one seagull flew away, gripping the silver coin in its beak.

“Those on the ground. What places did they go to?” Dallion asked, holding another silver coin.

The large seagull didn’t answer. Displeasure emanated from it.

“Tell me, and this coin is for you. And one more for the rest,” Dallion said.

That didn’t diminish much of the doubt coming from the bird, but the greed increased to the point that it finally gave in.

They all went to the temple. I heard that in the past they used to also go in the stone circle, but not anymore.

I’ve seen some go to it. Another seagull squawked. It’s to the west of the temple, in the middle of the dunes.

“Anything else?” Dallion asked, playing with the piece of silver. “None of them went to the pillars?”

No one other than you went to the pillars. They are dangerous. Only the darkness creatures gather there.

That was a bit of a letdown. Dallion would have hoped that at least someone had tried. At the very least the Star should have come here. Apparently, that wasn’t the case, or if it was, he had managed to go there without being seen.

“Anything else I should know?”

Tell him about the nest! A seagull lost patience. There’s a monster nest near the pillars. The creature there keeps a lot of shineys. If you can, kill it, so we can have the shineys!

The coin flew up in the air. The seagull on Dallion’s head snatched it and flew off. Moments later, a second coin was tossed among the flock. This time, the fight was far more intense. The seagull that managed to get it wasted no time in breaking out of the fall of feathers and fleeing into the sky. All the other seagulls followed, determined to reclaim their prize from it.

It’s uncanny how similar to merchants they are, Nil said. Hopefully, you managed to get something out of it?

“Only what’s important,” Dallion said.

Now that the flock was gone, the spot was once more calm, almost empty. Looking at the water, though, Dallion was glad that he had filled up his water skins before the bird’s arrival.

“Seems this is where cultists go on a pilgrimage.” Dallion crackled his fingers. “Any idea what the stone circle could be?”

I’m not clairvoyant, dear boy. It might be anything. A monument, an altar for the Star’s chosen, a statue built in a fit of vanity…

Somehow that didn’t stand right. The more Dallion thought about it, the more certain he was that it was a place worth visiting. Of course, that was only if he had time after finding the dragonlet. So far, he’d learned two spots that he could find it at—four, if one counted the latest two towers Lux had found.

Lux? Did you reach the towers? Dallion asked.

Not yet, came the sad reply. I did get to the cliffs, though.

The end of the canyon? Dallion asked.

Yep! Yep!

How large is it?

Not too large! The pyramid is right in the middle. So, it’s a few times bigger than Wetie province. Maybe ten or less.

Measuring distance wasn’t one of Lux’s strong points. However, it had told Dallion one thing: the canyon was large enough to have been a kingdom. At some point, it probably was. Some giant spell had been used against it, targeting the Star’s pyramid. The blast had been strong enough to incinerate everything and bury the entire kingdom on the ground, transforming it into a crater so large that it couldn’t be seen. This was the second such instance Dallion had seen in this world.

Normally, all the buildings should have been destroyed as well. The only reason they weren’t, was because they had been indestructible. That’s why the broken tower and the pyramid appeared buried: they had been pushed into the ground by unimaginable force.

“Nil, is there a way to end indestructibility?”

You’re having one of your bad ideas, aren’t you? the echo grumbled.

“Nil…”

There’s always a way, though not anyone could achieve it. And no, you won’t be able to learn it.

“Whatever flattened this place didn’t destroy the buildings. However, something broke the tower. That means there’s a chance I face something that removed the tower’s indestructibility.” And somehow, I fear, it might be the last known dragon…