Kyrus and Peck traveled west, flying through the clear, cloudless skies for a great distance across the Great Green Sea, an impressive and extensive grassland that crisscrossed the entire center of the Adwar Empire. The area looked like a vast, endless ocean of green and yellowish grasses that the nomadic peoples of the empire called home. One folk that lived there were the Gyoros.

The Gyoros were nomadic people who rode in large groups across the plains, following herds of animals to hunt and revering this huge place as their sacred place.

The nomadic people were camped among the central hills when Kyrus and Peck met them. When they reached them, the Gyoros invited them to their festivities instead of treating them as outsiders and with distrust.

The music and dancing began at dawn, and even at dusk, men, women, and children were ready to continue their celebration. That day, festivities were in honor of the goddess Muory, a spirit who watched over the people throughout their long travels. It was a deity worshipped by many travelers in the eastern part of the continent.

The story of their people was told by an elderly man. He told the legends of his people to them and a group of children and teenagers inside the tent; his wrinkled face wielded a constant smile that seemed unperturbed, as well as heavy eyelids that made the man look like a man with closed eyes and a serene face.

Peck, unlike Kyrus, understood practically nothing of what the old man was talking about. The man must have been older than the girl's martial masters, and he spoke more slowly and stiltedly than they did. Kyrus, intending to listen to him, but also, because he had no choice, paid attention to many of the stories the people relayed through storytelling. At some point in the evening, the Infernal one noticed that his friend had slipped away like a mischievous child outside the place, perhaps taking the form of a mouse to flee or taking advantage of her stealthy nature.

The marked wizard sighed heavily at the absence of her friend but soon must have turned his attention back to the old man. At the end of the long narrative, Kyrus accepted the man's blessings and shared a moment in which he allowed himself to rest his head.

Sitting in front of a campfire inside the tent, white smoke rose from the center through a gap. The marked mage took an eye across the carved wood that stood like columns around the tent and paid attention to the old man's words and gestures with which he pointed along with a riding whip to the meanings of the riders and figures in the place. One of these figures covered a large part of one of the tent's cloths. It was a Narahal, sometimes known vulgarly as a land whale.

Outside the tent, the jovial and cheerful girl ran to where the celebrations took place. The girl was soon captivated by the bright clothes of everyone and the ornamentation and jewelry they wore. Peck stood out for just the opposite among the many bright colors because her clothes were simple and austere; while the men and women wore bright blues, reds, oranges, and soft flowing dresses, Peck wore gray and white, and his clothes were plain and unpatterned, but loose-fitting. The women wore chains, earrings, and rings, while Peck, the only ornamentation he wore was worn metals on his bracelets and metallic details on his traveling boots. Despite her clothes, Peck stood out with her huge pair of emerald eyes and the long brown braid she wore.

The girl was dancing to the rhythmic music of the nomadic people, always accompanied by the young women of the ceremony, when someone pulled her arm abruptly.

The girl smiled at the sight of Kyrus and took him by the hands to pull him into the dance, "Come on, dance with me!"

"I-I can't," the Infernal exclaimed almost whisperingly, tugging at her friend's grip. "I won't; I have things to do."

Peck rolled his eyes at that excuse but continued to urge him to dance, "You always have to do things, and you never have time to have fun."

Turning awkwardly at those dances, the marked wizard was hopelessly drawn into the dance.

Kyrus argued, "We don't exactly have time for this. Remember, Rawani is locked under our feet."

Peck danced a little slower as she held his friend's arms, whose height difference was somewhat noticeable. Perhaps that jolt of reality brought her back a bit to the situation they were going through.

The wizard gave a sigh and, turning his gazes to the inhabitants of those meadows, resigned himself with his words, "You can stay dancing, I'll make some preparations for the exchange."

"No, I..." interrupted Peck quickly, "I guess you're right; I shouldn't take this lightly..."

The girl stopped her dance, embarrassed by her childish attitude toward their situation.

"Peck," Kyrus called to her friend, who took her hand gently from her face, "You're still small, so you can do these things..."

The girl with the big green eyes tried to argue, "But if you and I have almost the same..."

"I'm not the one who entered this world as a newborn," Kyrus interrupted the girl. "Try to clear your head, but remember we have things to do."

The wizard took his friend by her shoulders, and as if water was draining over the girl's body, the colors of the girl's clothes were changed. Now her clothes were white, gold, and red, and the cloth steamed like that of the gyoros. The people in the place clamored in amazement at the spell, and Peck watched her clothes with a broad smile of astonishment.

"The trick will be gone in a few hours. Enjoy it."

The girl nodded and hugged her friend tightly.

With the sun about to disappear, the orange sunset was accompanied by the campfires and the chanting of the gyoros dancing around them. Some of them, belonging to the clergy of their clan, danced around the fire with clothes and ornaments symbolizing various creatures of the steppes.

Kyrus was removed from the situation and moved up his sleeves around some nomadic people. He was preparing a small ritual with rain dust and the barks of the slender trunk of a tree from the steppes.

"Do you play shaman, my friend?" a calm, smiling voice was heard behind Kyrus.

Eyes next to the infernal mage watched as an akajsi appeared out of nowhere in the blink of an eye.

"An offering for them," exclaimed Kyrus gruffly, focused on the ritual.

The rain dust disappeared in Kyrus' hands once it came into contact with the crust, and then he buried it in the earth on that hill.

"It will rain in a couple of days," the wizard indicated to one of the gyoros. "It won't be much."

"My traveling friend, even the smallest drop is welcome as an offering!" exclaimed the man with jet hair and piercings on his lips.

"May I steal my friend's attention for a few moments?" asked Xindal politely.

Kyrus eyed his friend, then the priest, "prepare your people, be sure to get them up here before the sun goes down."

The man nodded and, along with his companions, went down the hill to call out to the hundreds of men and women feasting.

"They look happy," Xindal pointed out.

"That's the way they forget they're hunted," Kyrus replied, rising from the ground as he re-buttoned his shirt sleeves. "Where did you take our friend?"

"Away," replied the Akajsi man, "Far away."

"How far?" asked Kyrus.

"Across the continent, near Soramel."

Kyrus raised his eyebrows in astonishment but soon shook his head, "I could have spared you that if you had let me..."

"Kyrus, my good friend," Xindal interrupted the scarred wizard. "Do not carry the hatred of another soul on your shoulders."

"It was part of Rivris' fist. I'd rather see them dead than walking and breathing the same air as us."

Xindal let out a sigh, a slight disappointment that Kyrus avoided seeing as he looked with his white eyes in another direction.

"It worries me when you think like that, my good friend," the akajsi wizard expressed.

"I can't help it. You know I'll always think that about them," the long-horned man pointed out as he buttoned a couple of buttons on his long bluish coat.

"What's on your mind right now?" the man asked curiously, "I saw you were doing a ritual and..."

Kyrus explained, "The gyoros know several paths leading to Dylort. The old man offered to help us in exchange for me helping them with the ritual they are doing down there."

Xindal watched the campfire, and among the dancers and priests, Peck was accompanying the younger girls in the ritual.

"That girl never loses her energy..."

"It's amazing..." exclaimed Kyrus.

With everything ready, the huge crowd left the campfires and climbed the hills where Kyrus and Xindal awaited them.

From the smallest Gyoro to the oldest, the entire nomadic clan climbed the slope with a breathtaking view of the plains of the Great Green Sea.

The nomadic elder leading the tribe said a couple of chants idolizing the deity. Kyrus, overlooking the plains, rubbed his hands together, waiting for the signal.

"What is Kyrus doing?" asked Peck.

Xindal put a finger to his lips to indicate her to lower her voice in respect for the Gyoro elder before explaining, "Watch, it will be amazing..."

In the middle of the Gyoro elder's sermon, Kyrus quickly brought his hands to the ground, and as he recited a couple of short, quick words, his eyes turned completely white and glowed like the moon.

Nearing the end of the old man's words, the ground where they all stood began to tremble, and wave-like ripples began to form on the green plains.

After a few moments, a loud but sweet shriek echoed throughout the hills of those steppes until, in a moment, an immense creature emerged from the Great Green Sea. Its size was colossal, yet it looked almost small on that vast plain. The beast was enormous, and its body appeared to be that of an animal covered with rocks and blankets of grass.

"Narahal! Narahal!" shouted men and women with excitement as the children jumped for joy at the sight of the animal most loved by the goddess Muory and those who were the guardians of those plains.

The Narahal emerged from the earth and plunged back into the steppes like its water kin, again causing a strong tremor and considerable ripples in the ground.

Peck opened her eyes and pranced along with the rest of the children, "Narahal! Narahal!"

Xindal watched Peck and then his friend, shaking his head and a disbelieving smile at what he had done.

Kyrus soon sat down on the ground, that subterranean call to a creature of that size had been somewhat difficult. However, with the pats on his shoulders from the elder and the priests in thanks, he knew it had been to everyone's liking. So at least the man could smile at his face.

A small gesture for them that put them a little closer to rescuing the orc woman.