2407 Tull 03, Jyda

The wind drove Jona's dark green hair away from his face, its long strands flicking wildly in the air. He should've tied it back before he left Acosa. It's going to be hell to brush it later.

He snorted, earning a concerned chirp from Ixy, his ride for today and for all the days to come. Her bulging dark eyes stayed on the sky zipping past them, her red and orange wings the only things keeping them afloat as they soared through the early Dwanzeigian morning.

"I'm fine, Ixy," he said, reassuring the bird with a gentle pat against her neck. She gave another rumbling chirp and flapped her wings, taking them higher. He blew a breath and let himself flop back against the soft down on Ixy's back.

It had been years since he took Ixy in as an abandoned chick. Jona was just getting used to his duties as the Grand Royal—a direct aide to the ruler of all of Dwanzeig—and he came across an upturned parvade nest. His instructor had said it had fallen victim to its harsher predator, the efrasix. "It's the natural order of things," the youthful man already in his three-hundreds had patted Jona's shoulder and continued on his way. "Besides, it was a quick finish."

Jona still thanked Wikone for her divine intervention to this day, that she saved one, unhatched egg buried underneath a pile of mud, torn branches, and crushed eggshells. That was Ixy. Over the years, the parvade had grown into a beautiful bird with a painting of reds and yellows composing her feathers.

He wasn't an elika keiju and wasn't supposed to be able to take in familiars but Ixy didn't need that special bond to be attached to him. She had the potential to be bonded to a lucky fairy, being born to be a survivor, but it didn't look like she was looking for one. She appeared content to be by Jona's side, always at the ready for his call.

The Grand Monarch thought it strange, as well, when Jona brought it up to him. They had puzzled over it for such a long time and it was still one of the questions that remained unanswered until now.

As it is, Jona could glean Ixy was just grateful for the help she received from him for her to survive. She was doing her best to repay that kindness even though she didn't have to. His mission was to preserve nature and everything residing and benefitting in it and Ixy, along with countless flora and fauna, all fall into that criteria.

It just went to show that animals and plants have sentience in them, that they shouldn't be treated as inferior beings just because they couldn't communicate using words fairies use. As research in Komery has shown, familiars actually use a magical language to be able to talk to each other. That's what makes Wikone's creations special and worthy to be protected.

That's what got Jona out of his bed this morning. As the Grand Royal, it was his duty to keep an eye on everything throughout the cities of Dwanzeig. Yesterday, he had flown to the commerce city, Ansevir, and checked if the trades and merchants were still well. He had sent reports and copies of inventories to Acosa where the Grand Monarch resided.

Today, his destination was Komery, the stronghold of the elika keijuis—nature fairies who were more attuned to the animals—and tomorrow, it would be Telsbury. As a kaviste keiju, Jona felt more at home with all kinds of plants and anything growing out of the soil so he looked forward to tomorrow more than anything. Besides, the current family of Grand Regals overseeing it were some of his best friends.

He turned his head to one side, observing the crawling expanse of color and wonder beyond the haze of Ixy's fluffy feathers. Below them, the thick forests of Dwanzeig carpeted the mountains rising and falling in silhouetted shapes. From the distance, clouds swallowed most of the shadows of the ranges surrounding their territory, no doubt going as far as Zoriago in Desara and Xai-Ren in Peltra. It's amazing how even the borders couldn't defeat the might of nature. It would take a whole lot of magic to move mountains, anyway.

The morning fog rolled over the forest directly under Ixy's talons. Overhead, drafts of cold breeze and wisps of low-lying clouds tickled Jona's face and shuffled his hair despite the gel he applied in it to slick it back. Flights did have the affinity to mess any attempt at fixing one's hair. He learned that lesson countless times over.

He blew a breath, watching it crystallize and join the wind because of the cold. The altitude made it hard to breathe but he was used to it now. The dark sleeves covering his arms felt scant as they fluttered with every beat of the breeze. His thin, tight-fitting trousers didn't offer much to ward off the cold creeping past the fabric. The only comfort he had left was from his green leather boots with thick soles to help him trek the thick forests on his way to the reserve later on. Ixy could only take him so far.

He straightened, mostly to check where they were. A single tower jutted through the thick, multicolored foliage past his periphery. The palace. That's what it was. They're nearing the reserve, then.

"Hey, Ixy," Jona patted the parvade's neck once again. She answered with a light-toned chirp. "Take us down, near the tower."

The bird obliged, curving her body up in a dive before folding her wings near Jona's legs. Then, the earth's pull began taking them in. The wind turned into an uproar in his ears, whistling like a boiling kettle. The canopies became more and more defined as they neared their rim. Like all the times Jona rode on Ixy, it didn't take a long while for her to bend her talons forward, all four toes splaying wide, hungry for the first branch to latch into.

He was jostled forward as Ixy's claws closed around a dark branch. By habit, he locked his knees against Ixy's neck, though not hard enough to start hurting her. Only the experience of riding such a large bird for years on end prevented him from falling over and plummeting to his death. Even so, it didn't succeed in stopping his heart from beating wildly inside his chest. Each ride was a different experience altogether as there were a lot of things which could go wrong.

Ixy's eyes moved around in their sockets from both sides of her head, no doubt looking for a space in the canopies big enough for her to squeeze through without having to deal with protruding branches. She didn't want to risk breaking off a branch. It might have a nest in it. Of course, Jona agreed without any issue.

He could go down himself but the parvade was insistent on ferrying him to the forest floor every time. Being the bigger bird, Ixy would always get her way after a long debate of beak clicking, wing flapping, and angry cawing. Over the years, he learned to just go along with what she wanted. It took a long time to even convince her to let him walk to the reserves and palaces they visit and he only succeeded with that because he claimed she would get mud stuck to her claws and both of them knew she hated that.

Finally, Ixy spotted a clearing and Jona's fist closed around the feathers of her scruff as she launched herself at it with renewed speed. They punched through the undergrowth, with minimal leaves and branches slapping and poking him in all the uncomfortable places. Finally, Ixy flapped her wings one last time and closed her talons around the lowest branch thick enough to hold her weight.

"Thanks, Ixy," Jona said, swinging his leg to one side before sliding off. His boots slapped the branch, his added weight making it bob up and down a bit. He gave her a smile as he drove his tangled hair away from his face. "You can go. I'll call you when I'm done. Go hunt for some lunch, if you will."

Ixy chirped again, turning her head and focusing one eye on him. It always made him laugh. If anything, she was more of a mother to him than a friend. "I'll be fine," he touched his chest in a solemn gesture. "I promise."

She clicked her beak as if to say she's going to let it go now even though she wasn't convinced. Jona chuckled. "Well, I'll go now," he said. His magic leaped to the surface of his skin before curling around the vines draped over the branch they were in. He tested their strength and when he deemed them enough, he used them to swing off the branch and into the ground.

It was a smooth landing.

Keeping his grin to himself, he turned back to Ixy who was still perched on the branch, her beady eyes watching his back closely. He raised a hand in a wave before stalking off in the direction of the reserve. He didn't need to look back to see if she took off. Judging from the rustle of leaves and the heavy flapping sounds, she did. The wind stirred a little too.

Jona hiked on foot after that. He passed the same forest he tackled in all the times he had been here. The Regals in charge of Komery had been doing a good job at taking care of the plant life as well. Looked like the exchange program he had suggested years ago paid off.

The morning fog had turned into dew as the second hour of the first quarter rolled in. He lost count of the times he had to wipe off his sleeve or dust his hair free from the droplets of water from the canopies. It wasn't even raining nor did it rain the night before.

Colors flocked every inch of Jona's periphery. Even the horizon boasted enough distinct shades. Belonging to all kinds of trees, bushes, flowers, and vines, they dotted the space around him in random splotches. He spied several bushes of erphine and colonies of raven fir with their mischievous flowers that refused to be corralled even when their hair was already getting all over the place.

Bunches of arisdema jutted from tree barks, no doubt looking for the most efficient way to scatter their spores to guarantee their reproduction. The dark blue leaves of levier complimented the white flowers of porgon and he couldn't have asked for a better view.

All around him, various calls and animal noises rang from the distance, through the thick undergrowth, and down on the forest floor. As the nonexistent trail sloped upward, countless critters had surged between his legs or skittered through the branches above him with a series of clicks, hisses, and screams. Crimon, with their leathery wings and piercing shrieks, flew from canopy to canopy, their claws most often filled with bunches of berries and an occasional insect hive.

He watched it all unfold around him. No one gave a hoot about his presence and he was largely ignored. It was in places like this where he felt truly alone and small. A humbling experience, at the least.

Soon, the trail stopped rising and came into a fairy-made grove complete with tall walls, barbed fences made of dried thorns, and a wooden gate made to seal the animals in. Jona had made it. He craned his neck up, his view of the sky obscured by the canopies as always. Pockets of sunlight had made past them and now shone upon him in little streams, making the dark, forest floor look dappled.

He neared the gate and was greeted with the guards posted at either side. He flashed them a smile and, without a word, they opened the gates for him. The hinges shrieked and whined with the motion, disturbing at least a few animals resting inside.

Jona nodded at the guards to acknowledge and thank their gesture before striding inside. He was immediately greeted with cobbled paths, glass-paned enclosures, and a spacious landscape of green grass, benches, and lamp posts.

Inside the lamp posts sat the contained cultures of irjade, providing the bright multicolored light. The ranium glass making up the panes focused these colors to provide what they referred to as white light. He blinked at the artificial light pouring throughout the reserve. It rivaled the sun but removed the warm sepia tinge in the air. Either way, he wouldn't complain considering these types of engineered light was important to calm some animals in this reserve.

Vyre Elra, a well-known researcher for Dwanzeig, was the first one to express the need for reserves such as this. In fact, it was thanks to him they were still able to save several species on the brink of extinction due to several factors like over-predation, habitat destruction, and the ongoing problem of infertility and increased rates of young mortality.

Like always, he veered left and took the road lined with bushes of felmisa. He kept away from the plant's sensitive leaves. As much as they helped with security, the screams they made when one brushed against them was quite horrendous. It didn't help that none of them knew how to switch it off. There weren't any buttons or magical spells to make felmisais shut up.

Something whizzed past his periphery that made him pause in his brisk walk. He turned to the trees lining the grove behind the felmisa line. Their bright red leaves were always a sight to behold but his eyes fell into the spot in the trunk. White rings tainted the dark trunk. They seemed to cave inside into the tree, causing the trunk to shrink into itself. That's strange. It wasn't like the usual parasites or infections they deal with in Komery. This was...something new.

"Grand Royal!" Melthra's voice bled in Jona's ears. He turned to find the researcher tramping closer, his arms raised high in a frantic wave. He braced his knees as he caught his breath when he stopped by Jona's side. Had he been running? "Thank Wikone you're here. There's something you need to see."

With that, Jona tore his eyes off the wilting tree and followed Melthra through the throng of cobbled roads. More than once, he spied the same white rings in other plants, not just the tree with red leaves. It was everywhere—in bushes, vines, shrubs. Even some of the felmisa had them. What's going on?

A metal gate creaked open as Melthra led Jona inside one of the numerous enclosures inside the reserve. Jona recognized it as the one where they took care of the caddix, Dwanzeig's most important species of bird. Sadly, they were chased out of their habitat by the invasive species of nimba, a reptile with no legs and covered in scales all over. The nimba would poke open the caddix's eggs and use the membranes to feed their own young. Soon, the caddix dwindled in number and they had to be separated from the wild to get their population up again. It didn't help that some hunters like to shoot the poor birds for their colorful bones which was one of Umazure's illegal collector's delights.

Inside, the number of caddix they have been taking care of tumbled into view. Jona spied one of the couples, Luce and Grione, perched on their usual spots atop a single wooden stick stuck into the pristine stone floor. They preened each other's feathers and picked at each other's crowns. Others flitted around in their cubicles or slept inside their glass houses.

Something felt off. Unlike the past few times Jona was here, it was silent. None of them twittered in greeting even when Melthra, their companion for the longest time, had stepped near them. More often than not, Jona had spied several birds resting on the floor, their feathers ruffled and unkempt.

"What's happening here?" Jona asked aloud, his voice sounding hollow and cold against the sadness hanging in the air.

Melthra brushed his auburn hair off his face and pushed his red-rimmed spectacles up his nose. "We're not sure, Your Grace," he said, flashing Jona a guarded look. "The animals have been lethargic for quite a while and we have been figuring out why."

Jona tucked his hands behind him. "How long has this been going on?"

"Quite a few months now," Melthra cleared his throat and pursed his lips. "It wasn't just the caddix. The other enclosures are having the same problem."

"Is the Grand Regal aware of this?" Jona tilted his head to one side, studying the researcher from head to toe. Apart from the slight rumples in his tunic, there weren't any signs to convey Melthra was having trouble keeping calm.

Melthra nodded. "We brought it to her attention a few weeks ago," he said. "It's almost a blessing your rounds brought you to us."

Jona exhaled through his nose. "I will make a report to the Grand Monarch directly," he said. "Along with the wilting I've observed, it seems like something we must investigate and take action on."

"Wikone's blessings upon you, Your Grace," the researcher ducked his head. "Would you like to see the other enclosures?"

Jona opened his mouth to speak but his answer was drowned out by the felmisa's scream, ringing throughout the entire reserve. Melthra cursed—a string of colorful words to rival the landscape before them. "An apprentice brushed against them again," the researcher said. "Wait here, Your Grace. We'll figure out how to turn it off."

Jona smiled and jerked his chin towards the direction the shrieks were coming from. "Yes, go," he said. "I'll wait."

He watched Melthra stalk off, the research muttering under his breath about accursed assistants. A small smile crept to his lips. When his eyes grazed the trees around him once more, his initial amusement vanished. This infection...

Then again, it didn't look like one. Because if it was an infection, how in Umazure was it able to infect each and every plant species in this reserve. What's more, it seemed like the animals were sensing something shift in their surroundings, causing them to lose their energy at an alarming rate. Jona had spent a lot of time in this place to know that animal behavior were useful indicators in the condition of the world around them. What they're conveying now wasn't good.

He craned his neck to the sky once more. The barbed ceiling shielded his view of the canopies and of the sky beyond them. As much as he was against trapping animals in, these fences were necessary in order to keep the protected animals in and the predators out.

A sigh heaved off him, his shoulders sagging. The sooner he could report this issue to Acosa, the better. The Grand Monarch should be concerned considering it seemed to be affecting everything growing from Wikone's essence. Who knew what awaited nature fairies such as them and, ultimately, the rest of the fairy races in Umazure?

The felmisa's screams didn't do anything to calm Jona's nerves. Rather, it brought images into his mind, showing him what could happen if they weren't able to get to the bottom of this the fastest they could.

It wasn't good.