You can't trust your eyes. You must feel it.

And I feel we are close.

LoG, 72

Drian was panting as he, Damona and Malik slowly advanced along the treacherous uphill path. He stopped for a moment, bent slightly forward, with his left hand resting on his knee. Then Drian was upright again, wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead.

This blasted rucksack is becoming heavier and heavier. Thank The Mind for The Dark Vision perk. At least I don't need to squint in the darkness or carry a torch.

Malik, who was leisurely flying above the duo, and Damona, in her antelope form, seemed to be able to see through The Dark easily as well. They were also gaining on him, just like during their trip across The Barrens.

Drian couldn't blame them. Having a pair of light wings and sturdy apt antelope legs always helped while climbing narrow winding footways.

"Where is Drian?" He heard Malik ask. If Malik couldn't see him, the two must have already turned around the corner. "Over here!" he shouted weakly to make his presence known but he wasn't certain whether Malik actually heard him.

Sure enough, the bird came to rest on his shoulder a moment later. Damona appeared as well, wearing a comic mixture of annoyance and comprehension on her animal face.

"Sorry. I just had to take a short break. I thought you said the cave was near."

"It is near, but as the crow flies," Malik cackled at his own attempt of a joke, which included the member of a bird species.

"Why don't you transform, at least partially? You would gain a lot of endurance, speed and dexterity." Damona gave him a piece of friendly advice. "I mean, now that we know you can do it and even adjust the percentage up to which you can Shape Change, don't you think it would be useful?"

"Cat defends," Drian pronounced each of the three syllables incredibly slowly, accentuating every one of them.

"So you will transform only when it's necessary to defend someone?" Damona began to understand his reluctance. "You have taken my grandmother's teachings quite literally, I see."

"I think that is for the best. I mean, it would be quite helpful to me right now, but it isn't really vital. My life is not in danger, and neither are your lives. I should be able to climb a mountain passage in a human form; don't you think so? It will do me good to exercise, too." 

Damona pondered it for a moment. Then she respectfully nodded in acknowledgement. 

Drian was surprised Damona actually understood his logic, and even more, that she was able to go along with it.

Malik seemed to be giving them a moment since he had advanced further than the two. Sure enough, they heard the charcoal-feathered mynah bird exclaim: "Haha! I knew it! I found the stone! Yikes!"

"That last he said sounded a lot like he got himself into some trouble." Damona reacted with suspicion, turning her head towards the source of the noise.

"Let us go and check!" Drian exclaimed, throwing the rucksack on the ground, running right behind the antelope girl.

I know this seems a bit ridiculous, but I will not be able to help him if I trip now and fall into the abyss. The giant cat night sight would come in handy, of course, but ... I don't know if it is absolutely necessary for me to change my form yet. I don't want to risk it.

As Drian finally managed to turn around the corner, his mouth dropped to the ground. The sight before him was at the same time hair-raising and ludicrous.

A slender girl of his age and height, as much as he could judge in The Dark, was sitting on the ground next to a giant circular stone. Her hair was tied in a bun, and she was wearing an easily recognisable uniform of The Kingdom of The Mountain.

Of all the usual questions that Drian might ask himself, such as "Who is she?" and "What is she doing here?" an odd one stood above all.

Why is there a vortex of yellow butterflies surrounding her body?

He realised that was probably what made Malik screech in fright; the girl seemed to mean him no harm. If anything, she seemed to be exasperated. Drian noticed Malik and Damona standing very near her, but not yet approaching.

They probably haven't come closer because they think it's more natural that I do it. I am the one in the shape of a human being.

When Drian came really close, he stopped in his tracks. Apart from the yellow butterflies, there was another thing that left him aghast.

The girl was glowing green.

To the accustomed eye of the painter, as he was, the nuance in question was a soft verdant colour. None of the lush, leafy, flourishing patterns were present in her glimmer. It was a timid, almost reluctant, gentle shine. Yet, it was there; it could not be denied.

He had never seen a person glow before and it made him feel uneasy.

Drian first thought he might be hallucinating. His travelling companions didn't comment on it, so he forewent remarking as well. "Hi." Drian cleared his throat.

She looked up abruptly. Her eyes bore the same mixture of awe and surprise as Drian's did. He wondered what that was all about.

"Are you okay?" was his next question. It was apparent to Drian the unknown girl was fighting tears the moment they arrived.

"Oh my Mind!" she exclaimed, coming closer to him, swatting the butterflies away so she could see him better.

"What? What's wrong?" Drian turned around, trying to see what she had noticed.

"You are glowing!" the girl exclaimed, waving her hands in the air dramatically.

"I ... I am?"

"Yes, you are glowing yellow! I've never seen anything like it before!"

"Well, I have news for you." Drian sighed. "You are glowing as well."

"Really?" She looked flabbergasted. "Oh, it figures. I mean, first I can't get rid of these butterflies and then, I am glowing. Fabulous. What a wonderful Light I am having! Oh!" She hit her forehead. "Is my colour also yellow?" She was curious.

Drian noticed that, apart from the childish demeanour, she appeared to be good-natured and she had a kind smile. "Uh-uh." He shook his head, confused. "It's green."

"Really? That's amazing! Green is my favourite colour. I mean, you know, not that I have wanted to glow. But if someone told me I had to emit a glow, I would have liked it to be green," the girl babbled on excitedly. Then she seemed to become aware of Drian's presence again. "Oh. Sorry. I digressed. I do that often, actually. Is yellow your favourite colour? Maybe this place makes us glow in our favourite colours. Maybe it is a special place," she went on extrapolating the conclusions feverishly.

"I don't care much for yellow." Drian waved off the comment with his hand. "By the way, my name is Drian."

"I am Nia," she replied.

He found it funny how she kept struggling to talk at the same time and keep her mouth semi-closed. The butterflies were flying dangerously close to it.

"You are from The Kingdom of the Mountain," Drian said it more like a statement than like a question. It was obvious, judging by the way she was dressed. His next question was going to be "What's with the butterflies?" but seeing how she hadn't mentioned them at all, Drian was reluctant to do so.

Maybe it was condition she had and him commenting on it would hurt her feelings.

"Yes, I am from The Kingdom of The Mountain." She nodded self-assuredly, almost too fast. "And in case you were wondering, these butterflies came in a package with the teleportation."

"Teleportation?" Drian couldn't believe his ears.

"Yes! You see, I was sent from my Kingdom with this map to find this cave because ..." Nia stopped as if she were thinking hard. "Because we heard there is a yet undiscovered source of water over here. So they sent me to come here and check."

Drian found that story highly unlikely. Wouldn't they send her with a group of people for such an expedition?

As if she had read his mind, Nia went on with her explanation. "I wasn't alone, of course. But me and my troupe ... We were caught near The Forest of Lug by The Monoliths. You know, those nasty Mind Worshippers."

Drian uncomfortably shifted from one foot to another.

"They barely gave us food and drink, and they kept us in filthy cages. They were taking us to a nearby village where they would perform The Desiccation Ceremony on us for sure! Some of my troupe members died of starvation. Others died after having been beaten up. I was the only one who survived. Maybe they went easy on me because I am a young girl."

"I am sorry to hear that." Drian genuinely lamented things Nia had been through.

"Eh, it's okay. I escaped anyway, and I left that behind me," she sounded optimistic as she clapped her hands. "What was I saying? Oh, yes. On my way to the cave, I had to pass through The Forest of Lug. The acorn men who live there were so hospitable! I slept there, had a nice meal; they mended my clothes ... And then they showed me this teleportation trick. I was all for teleporting, mind you. I follow new technologies, and I am happy that The Mind and The Etchers have come up with the way for us to tell the time, to talk to each other at great distances ... Teleportation would be an awesome addition too! But I can't say that I like this kind of teleportation much. It appears to have side effects." Nia sighed.

"So ... You can't seem to get rid of the butterflies?" Drian was amazed at the fact she was able to pronounce so many sentences in continuation without stopping to inhale.

"No! And I tried everything! Loud singing, swatting my arms around my face. They simply won't leave. And as if that weren't enough, I can't seem to find the entrance to the cave. By the way," Nia finally remembered she had an interlocutor. "Why are you here, in front of the cave?"

Because a mynah bird called Malik, my perpetually annoying spiritual guide, decided we should spend The Dark precisely up here, instead of allowing me to continue my journey home, to Bronze Cliff? Umm ... No. That's not the story I should go with.

"Well ..." it was Drian's turn to become creative. "It's a funny story, really. I am also on a kind of expedition. I come from Bronze Cliff, a village near Begi," he could have sworn that Nia tensed a bit at the mention of the name of the city.

If she cringed at that, it's probably better not to tell her I am ... I used to be an Abbot of The Mind. Drian thought. "My father has fallen gravely ill, and it is said that precisely in this cave, a plant grows that might heal him."

Nia suddenly looked terribly sad.

"As soon as I spend The Dark in the cave and find such a plant, I will be on my way home. Like you will be on your way to The Mountain, I presume." Drian congratulated himself on a well-thought-out lie.

Nia reached for the pouch tied around her waist almost imperceptibly, red in the face.

Malik chose that moment to land on Drian's shoulder and screech into his ear, drawing attention to himself. "Well played, Drian. Well played."

"Oh wow!" Nia exclaimed, coming closer. "What a gorgeous bird! Its feathers are so shiny! Is it yours? Does it bite?"

"I like this one already," Malik puffed his chest, proud of the compliments he had just received.

"No, it won't bite you, don't worry. It's a mynah bird. His name is Malik. They are supposed to be extremely rare and intelligent. They can mimic human speech. My father gave it to me as a gift when I was merely eight Big Ones old. It has been with me for twelve Big Ones."

The best lies are half-truths after all.

Drian could see Nia wasn't even listening to him.

She grabbed Malik into a tight hug, making it impossible for the bird to escape; she was now ferociously caressing him and cooing. "Who's a good boy? Who's a big, beautiful boy! Aren't you a good boy! Yes, you are! You beautiful feather thing you!"

"Help." Malik gritted through his orange beak, trying to get rid of her squeezy hug in vain.

"Um." Drian tried to pass his laughter away as a cough. "I don't think he likes it when you hold him like that."

"Oh! Sorry! I didn't know! He is just so adorable that I had to hug him." Nia finally released the mynah bird from her handclasp.

"Well, it was about time! She can pack a punch, this one. Who would have thought, she looks so cute and frail." Malik was literally gasping for air.

It was Damona's turn to make her triumphant entrance. She jumped from one of the higher rocks surrounding the cave, and positioned herself between Drian and Nia, bleating.

"Is this antelope travelling with you too? This is amazing!"

"Yes, it's just the two animals and me. We met the antelope on the road, and she had become very loyal to me, for some reason. She keeps following me around." Drian used an opportunity to sting Damona a bit, and she bared her tiny herbivore teeth. He thought it would have looked more frightening had she been in her cheetah form. This way, she looked even more adorable than ever.

"So ... Have you managed to discover where the entrance to the cave lies?" Drian decided to ask her since Nia was the one who was there longer.

"It's this stone," she sighed.

Drian approached to take a closer look, avoiding the butterfly cloud. The stone guarding the entrance, as far as he could see, was jagged and uneven, arranged in such a way so that it would be difficult for passers-by to spot.

"It looks heavy," Drian noted.

"Tell me about it," Nia groaned. "I tried absolutely everything, but it wouldn't budge. If I were smaller, I could squeeze between the stone edge and the cave wall but ..."

As they were discussing the possibilities of opening the passage, Malik positioned himself on top of the stone. He pecked at a tiny hole that was there. The entire massive, bulky boulder moved aside, showing a natural tunnel that led deeper into the cave.