That night, as the Oracle had promised, Althea had no nightmares. What's more, she managed to talk to the Sorceress again.

"So that's why I'll have no nightmares? You'll visit me in my dreams?" She asked the Oracle and the woman standing next to the waterfall.

"Not just because." She replied, glancing at her briefly. "Get some rest, you deserve it."

Althea wanted to turn around and explore the land the Enchantress had presented to her in her dream, but before she could do so, she stopped, looking at it again.

"Can I ask you something..?"

The Oracle looked at her, and seeing her confusion, she stepped closer and nodded, waiting for her question.

"Why do I... have this ability?" She looked at her shyly. "Why do I have the power of the Water Tribe?"

The Sorceress raised her eyebrows slightly and then nodded, looking around the magically presented land. She slowly moved forward, nudging the glowing flowers, with Althea following closely behind her.

"In the past, more people controlled the Tribes' gifts." She said after a long moment. "Over time, however, the power seemed to fade..." She glanced at her over her shoulder. "People decided that the power of the Tribe is a gift only to their Lords, so they decided that only the so-called blue blood is a person worthy of the power of the element. From then on, people who had this power ruled the Clans, and when someone else was born with this gift then... well..."

"Then what?" Medic asked curiously.

"Then they were sentenced to death, but over time some decided to change the punishment and whenever a changeling was born who could control the element and was not from the royal family... was sentenced to exile."

"Huh? How is that possible?!" She called, devastated, which made the Oracle smile.

"Times have changed. Now it's rare for someone to be born with the power of their Tribe." She stopped and looked at the Healer. "You're safe, Althea."

The woman considered her companion's words for a moment.

"Are there still people in such exile...?" She asked uncertainly.

The Oracle sighed.

"Currently, the Clans do not send others into exile, because different people are not born, but..." She glanced at Althea. "The people who were exiled many, many years ago however, they really existed, and therefore..."

"Their descendants still live somewhere in Terman." Medic finished for her, to which she only nodded.

"Why do you ask?"

"I just.. wanted to know."

The Healer got up early in the morning. She felt rested, but her head was filled with thoughts not only about Najy, but also about the words of the Oracle and people sentenced to exile. She wondered if there was any chance that the people they met during their journey were descendants of exiles, or maybe just ordinary members of another Tribe.

Althea recovered slightly, changed her clothes and went to the kitchen, where she found Swaran. Their eyes met, and the silence between them was loud enough to ring in your ears.

"Althea..." Swaran spoke first. "Let's talk.. shall we?"

The Medic looked at him as tenderly as he looked at her. She nodded and sat down across from him at the table, not knowing where to start.

After a moment, Swaran sighed heavily, placing his joined hands on the counter.

"I'm sorry I behaved that way." He said, which immediately caught her attention.

"Huh? N-no, don't apologize." She interjected. "I am sorry. I shouldn't talk to you so badly..." She lowered her head. "Swaran..." She also placed her hands on the table. "I understand your thoughts, I really do. I've wondered about this many times too. What if we hadn't set out on that first mission at all... Najy would probably still be with us and running around the kitchen right now."

She smiled, feeling tears appear in her eyes.

"I also feel guilty about it, but... looking at it from the other side..." She hesitated while saying these words. "We made this decision together." She looked at her older brother. "Najy was happy about this adventure, he really wanted it. We couldn't... predict what would happen. One of us might as well die during an incordais attack on Magree..."

"I know that..." He sighed heavily, massaging his hands. "But I don't want to take that risk again, Althea." He looked at her. "This quest will be much more difficult than the previous one. This won't be a journey to one Tribe, but to all three. The Oracle is right, not every Lord there is as good as our Zubeen."

"I know that."

"And yet you still want to go?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"For Najy? Because it's his dream and not yours? Althea, what if..."

"I want to do this not only for our brother, but also for myself. From the beginning I felt that I had to do something, and now I feel even more that it is calling me to itself." She spread her hands. "It doesn't make sense, I know... But I still... don't want to give it up."

"I do not want to go." Swaran said confidently, looking into her eyes. " And I don't want you to go either."

"I know..." She sighed. "I'm sorry, big brother, but this time I won't listen to you." She said, even though the words themselves were hard for her to say.

Since they finally experienced true freedom, they promised each other that they would always stick together and that they would get through this together. Now, it wasn't long before they experienced this freedom and not only did they lose their beloved Warin, but now they also lost Najy.

Swaran shook his head and rested it on his hands on the table, hiding his face. After a moment, he took another breath and looked at his sister.

"Please..." He looked at her pleadingly. "I... I really don't want to go there."

"And I'm not forcing you to do it." She said gently.

"But..."

"Swaran." She interrupted, taking his hands. "This is my decision." She smiled palely at him.

"Althea... I won't go with you. And if I don't go with you, I won't be able to protect you." He had tears in his eyes.

"You don't have to protect me, big brother. You've always done this. Now it's time for you to take care of yourself." She stroked his hand. "Stay and I'll be back before you know it."

Swaran kept shaking his head in disbelief.

He blamed himself all this time. He felt that as the oldest sibling, he had the task of protecting Althea and Najy, and now he had lost one of them, while the other was also getting ready to die, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't prevent it. At times he wanted to grab her and lock her up just to make sure she was safe, but he knew this idea was terrible.

So what was he supposed to do to stop her? Was there even any chance of stopping Althea from doing this? He doubted it.

The moment Althea had volunteer herself there in the square, he had thought he had misheard, in fact he had hoped so. But when he realized that those words had actually come from his sister's mouth, he wanted to sink into the ground. Why, despite such terrible events, did she still want to go deeper into Terman? They had just lost Najy... Didn't she understand that she could die too? What would he do if he lost them both? He tried not to admit this thought to himself, but as soon as he realized that it was really happening, that was the first fear that appeared.

"I can't lose you too." He whispered, feeling tears flowing down his cheeks. "I can't order or forbid you to do anything, but..." He looked at her tearfully. "Althea... I can't lose you."

The Medic, hearing these words, couldn't hold back her tears anymore, she let them escape and stroked her brother's hand again.

"You won't loose me." She replied gently. "Have faith, Swaran." She smiled at him despite visible tears.

The man sighed, wiped his face, trying to calm down, and then looked at her again.

"Promise me... promise..." He said, holding her hand tightly. "Promise me you'll come back." He added firmly.

Althea immediately nodded quickly.

"I promise." She replied, holding his hands. "I promise, big brother."

~.~

It was supposed to be Althea and Hamill's last day in Magree before their journey, so in the evening the countrymen decided to prepare a modest farewell party. The familiar smell of fresh rolls and cakes spread throughout the city, and despite everything, smiles appeared on people's faces. Everyone was perfectly aware of how dangerous this task was. Standing in their way are not only the incordais, but above all the untransformed people themselves, and sometimes they are the worst threat. They themselves couldn't find the courage to travel, so seeing the determination of these two, they decided to at least thank them this way.

"Althea..."

The woman heard a familiar voice, and when she turned around, she saw a depressed Randi.

"Randi..."

Swaran hearing his name turned and walked towards his sister. Randi looked down shyly as he met older brother's gaze. They knew he wanted to say something, but he was having a hard time finding the words.

"I didn't have a chance to talk to him..." He whispered, quickly wiping away his tears and looking at his siblings again. "If you don't mind... I'd like to know what his last thoughts were."

Althea looked at her brother, who put his arm around her, then looked back at Randi.

"He was thinking about you." He said, which surprised the boy. "We couldn't be there for him when... it happened... We didn't have a chance to say any goodbyes, it all happened... too fast." He said with deep sadness. "But one thing is certain, Randi... Najy was constantly thinking about you."

"He wanted to talk to you when we get back..." Althea interjected sadly, then looked at the boy. "Najy loved you, Randi." She said confidently and smiled warmly.

Randi, even though he had already guessed his friend's feelings, heard this confirmation from Althea's lips and felt his heart break, and tears immediately began to flow down his cheeks. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists as he stood in front of his siblings and simply cried.

From the moment they set out, the thought had been in his mind that he should talk to Najy again, but it was too late. He promised himself that he would do it as soon as he saw Najy back. The moment he saw his siblings and Hamill without Najy... he knew what it meant. Despite everything, he tried not to entertain this thought. He continued to look out from behind them for the boy he had been waiting for so much. He could wait and wait, but Najy never showed up. He couldn't accept it even when his siblings told him the terrible news. It wasn't real for him. How could Najy die? It's Najy, after all.

Najy didn't know it, but he was very brave for Randi. No matter how many times these bullies accosted him, he always faced them head-on, ready to fight, to fight to survive. He so bravely protected the medicinal herbs that he was to give to his beloved sister. He was always willing to help Swaran when they built something together or helped the blacksmith. And now, that ever bright ray of light was extinguished forever.

Knowing that not even his siblings had a chance to be with him during his last moments killed him even more. Was he scared? Was death painful for him? What was he thinking about? What were his last words...?

Althea walked up to him and hugged the boy, who didn't protest. He really needed it, they all did.

Both Hamill and the siblings knew that the residents wanted to throw this party to improve their moods, but it didn't help much. The situation was difficult, and fresh wounds would not heal so quickly. They were grateful for the idea, but they couldn't enjoy it.

~.~

At one point, Deron asked Atlhea, Hamill and Swaran to their Lord's manor. Zubeen felt much better, but he didn't want to talk about it all in such a big crowd.

"How do we deliver the Hourglasses once we get them?" Hamill asked, crossing his arms and looking expectantly at the Oracle.

Seeing his look, the sorceress sighed in irritation and then crossed her hands together, as if she wanted to create the shadow of a bird on the wall, and after a while, a sparrow appeared from the hands covered in fog. The bird rose in the fog, spreading its wings wide, then flew across the room and stopped, landing on Althea's shoulder.

"This bird is supposed to help?" Hamill called.

It seemed to be a normal sparrow, but there was a mysterious aura radiating from it. When it moved its wings, thin streaks of mist appeared, and its feathers seemed to shimmer delicately in the light of the fire.

"How should we call it?" Althea asked, amused by the sparrow's play.

"With the help of this." The Sorceress showed a small whistle, which she easily hooked onto a string. "Whistle and it'll come. Simple, I guess, yeah?" She looked at Hamill, who just rolled his eyes and nodded. "Start with Rednce, the Fire Tribe." She said, looking at Deron.

"What should we expect there?" Hamill asked, also looking at Deron.

"Certainly not a warm welcome." He replied, looking at Hamill indifferently. "Recently... a lot has happened there." He said and Zubeen gently stroked his arm. "The people of Rednce are not as nice as those in Magree, and the Red Queen..." He hesitated.

"Will she help us?" Medic was curious.

"Maybe... not right away." He said hesitantly. "There are many rumors about her, but... don't compare her to that wicked witch from the Air Tribe." He snorted.

"Is that one worse?" Hamill interjected. "How much?"

"Very." Zubeen said slowly. "Calair, the City of Cold, is something completely different. There they are governed by completely different laws and this is where it may be most difficult for you." He said with concern. "However, even despite this, I believe that you'll succeed. In Rednce, it is important that you reach the Queen." He approached Deron. "When she stands by you, people will also follow you."

Althea looked carefully at Zubeen and Deron, feeling that they weren't telling them everything.

"Master Zubeen..." She said after a while. "Master Deron." She also looked at him. "The more we know, the better we will do. We'll know what to do, what to expect... right?" She glanced at Hamill, who nodded.

Deron sighed again.

"What is the Red Queen like?" She asked carefully.

"If I had to describe in one word..." Deron began after a while. "She's... lost. She hides more than she says and pretends to be someone she is not. She played several different roles for so long that she finally lost herself in it. However..." He hesitated at the mere mention of her, and then immediately looked at the Medic. "Althea... don't give up on her right away." He said in a gentle voice, which surprised the others. "You'll understand when you see." He looked into the Healer's eyes and she nodded in understanding. "Can you promise me that?"

Althea nodded again.

"I can. And I promise." She said honestly.

Deron smiled faintly and then hesitantly but approached Althea.

"If you can't reach her, if anything's missing... mention my name to her."

"I-is that enough..?"

"Maybe yes, maybe not." He replied with amusement. "But it'll definitely wake her up." He lowered his head in deep thought.

So they already knew their first goal. With the next sunrise, when they wake up in Magree, they'll have to travel to the neighboring Tribe. To Rednce, the Fire Tribe.

Althea and Hamill will only now be able to learn what the real world of Terman is like. It is not the long kilometers of road itself that are the biggest problem. Hesitation appeared when meeting people they had heard about but had never met in person before. Only now was this about to change.

Rednce, which is their target, is a place completely different from Magree, as Water and Fire itself says. While Magree is cared for by the warm and generous Zubeen, Rednce is the Red Queen's territory.

What face will she wear when they first meet?

When in Magree there was mourning for loved ones, it was most visible, but in Rednce, despite the departure of Alvora and Fashan, there was no trace of any mourning in the city. The whole place returned to its former self.

The Red Queen sat comfortably on her throne, placing her hand on the side of the throne and resting her chin on it, looking boredly at the soldiers kneeling before her.

"My lady, we must... "

"My Queen." She corrected him. "My lady?" She repeated in a cold voice, laughing. "Have you already forgotten who I am?" She looked at him hostilely.

"N-no, Queen! P-please forgive me..." He fell even lower on his knees in front of her.

"Get out of my sight." She snorted, shifting more comfortably on the throne. "How boring, I wonder what's going on in Magree now..." She wondered. "Karyan, will we hear any news?" She glanced at the man standing next to her, who was always by her side.

"Yes, Queen Ishat..." He said, bowing to his Queen.

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Thank you to everyone who made it to the end of this story. This is the first part of the saga, the second one will soon appear, in which we'll again visit Rednce, the Fire Tribe. What could happen there? ^^
If you have any guesses as to what might happen, feel free to write in a comment, as always, I'll be happy to read it. Did you know who would be the queen of Rednce or were you a bir surprised?
Thank you very much again!
Have a nice day/evening!