After leaving the squig at the stables, Acantha’s still dripping in dog saliva, they went to a cluster of tables and benches underneath a ceiling of cloth spun between a group of stone buildings. They needed time to figure out what to do next and Jade proposed to have breakfast while doing so. The village was in the middle of the desert and despite the early hour, the sun was already burning and the sand was heating up the soles of their bare feet. In the shadow of the canvas it was nice and cool. Small groups of people were sitting about on the wooden benches, talking and enjoying food and drinks.
“So, the mountains,” Jade said as she put down a plate of food in front of them. On the plate lay three small breads and an assortment of stingy fruits. Jade sat herself down next to Acantha and looked expectingly from one friend to another. She smiled and Acantha raised an eyebrow at her.
“Yeah, what about them?”
“We need a plan.”
“We also need to know where to go.”
“Wait,” Jade’s smile disappeared, “You don’t know where to go?”
Acantha let out an annoyed sigh.
“We need to find Morpheus, I know what he looks like,” said Morn, “Good enough. We should go after breakfast.”
Jade’s mouth fell open and she quickly stuffed it with bread.
“We’re not going to find Morpheus walking around in the mountains. Aoda said that a group of Totems locked him away. Maybe you can ask Iris where he is,” said Acantha.
“Iris wants me to find Bito, not Morpheus.”
“Excuse me,” came from behind them, “I couldn’t help but overhear-” A light skinned elf had turned slightly towards them and elegantly stroked her long, sleek, black hair out of her face. “You are looking for Morpheus, right? Well, I happen to know where to find him.”
Jade swallowed her bread so that she could reply, but Acantha beat her to it.
“Who are you?”
The elf chuckled, her brown eyes twinkling with joy.
“I am Lumira,” she stood up dramatically and walked up to them. Her expensive looking blue robe rustled and fell open when she put her hand on her hip, revealing a grey tunic and blue pants, tight around her exceptionally muscled legs. “You’re in luck, because I am willing to guide you to the place where Morpheus is hidden.”
“Hold on,” Jade said, “You’re telling us that you know where Morpheus is.”
“How could you possibly know?” Acantha said.
“You ask me as if it were impossible! But no, not for me, I know a great many things and I offer you my knowledge. You have no reason to doubt me.”
Acantha shook her head as if trying to rid herself of a fly.
“You are not Truepath,” Morn stated.
“Ha, that is true,” Lumira winked, “I don’t need a fake god to protect me.”
“You’re a Sloan,” Jade said with a face as if she had just taken a bite out of a lemon. Lumira chuckled and stroke through her hair again, revealing a strand of pink standing out between the black.
“Ok, but why would you be willing to help us?” Acantha said.
“Ooh, good question,” Lumira bend forward over the table and in a conspiratorial tone she added: “There is something I want inside Morpheus chamber, a treasure. If I help you, I will have the opportunity to retrieve it.”
“What is it?” Acantha asked.
“A mere trifle in the hands of the unknowing. I will accept the treasure as payment for my services.”
Acantha’s jaw clenched and she looked as if she was about to throw the plate of prickly fruit into Lumira’s smirking face.
“Reasonable,” Jade said, “But, we require that you take a blood oath.”
“But of course! I expected nothing less. Let us discuss conditions.”
Lumira sat herself down, picked one of the fruits off their plate and started peeling it.
After their plate was empty and terms were discussed, the four of them took an oath. Lumira would bring them to Morpheus’ chamber and in return Morn, Acantha and Jade would protect Lumira on their journey. Bito’s annihilation had priority, so when they would encounter him, Lumira agreed that she would allow them to deal with the Water Serpent before continuing their journey. For the oath they cut a fine line in their skin of which the color would display whether the oath was being upheld. Lumira and Jade set out a route while Acantha and Morn got food for their trip.
“We’re trying to move around the battle zone,” Jade said, “According to this map, there is a tunnel moving up into the mountains. It’ll be a week before we reach it,” she pointed at the map that Lumira had laid out before them. “I think it’ll be the safest way, but we’re going to need a decent supply of food, because I don’t think there will be anything growing there.”
“How long is the tunnel?” Acantha asked.
“It will lead us from Chroma lands deep into Sndus territory, I estimate about two weeks underground.”
“Here’s the entrance to Morpheus prison,” Lumira pointed at the largest mountain on the map.
“If we’re lucky, we won’t encounter any Mikadosh shooting fireworks at us like last time,” Jade added.
“If we are lucky, we find snake before he finds Morpheus,” Morn concluded.
Lumira did not have a mount, but it quickly became clear that she didn’t need one, her long muscled legs were not just for show. The elf carried a lance in her right hand and a large book under her left arm. When they were resting, she would open the book and read while Jade searched frantically for food in the barren desert. Acantha had asked Lumira about the book, but after receiving nothing but confusing retorts and evasive smart-mouthing as an answer she eventually gave up and instead fantasized about the book and the knowledge stored in it. She looked at her own, wedge-shaped, book, which contained all the different ways of spelling of the word ‘wedge’, which by now she had found out was precisely one. There was no point in trying to pretend this book was ever going to teach her something, but still she held on to it because, who knows, it might prove useful some day.
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