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"Don't be a wuss. We're almost there." replied Zàira.
"I really hope it's worth it!"
"Yes, do not lose faith. All we need to do is climb up that hill."
"Let's see who gets there first." yelled Xam as he was beginning to run.
Zàira chased him, trying to stop him in any way, but Xam, who was caught up in the speed, did not hear her coming.
She managed to tackle him at the top of the hill.
Xam, who was lying face down and was amazed, turned toward her:
"Why did he jump on me?"
"Did you notice anything?" said Zàira, pointing at something over the hill with her finger. "Do you want to dive in?"
"Wow, you were right. It is amazing!"
An enchanted landscape was stretching in front of Xam's eyes: a big canyon before them.
It was not very wide, but they could see the bottom nonetheless. The sides were decorated with bright, horizontal shades. The colour was fair and golden the closer to the tip of the canyon, whilst it was redder the closer to the bottom. It was split into two parts: the first one, which was farther away from them, was covered in amethyst crystals that would reflect the colour of the rock. The second was full of huge, bell-shaped flowers in which two people could have easily been sitting down. The bells were tirelessly moving like a bellow. In this way they would allow the plant to store more oxygen and would initiate a scenographic choreography.
Weirdly, Xam felt that his body was lighter than usual. He was looking around amazed, and all that walking had made him hungry.
"Well, this is a real nice spot for a snack. I really hope that you brought some food in your backpack."
"You always think about food." smiled Zàira.
She pulled out of her backpack a rope. She took off her boots and tied it to some bushes. After that she got closer to the canyon.
Xam did not realise what his friend was up to.
He did not even have the time to ask that he saw Zàira jumping in the void. Fear got the very best of and they ran towards the edge to see where she had gone.
He overlooked the edge and saw Zàira laugh and float in the air.
In that instant he would have wanted to kill her considering how deep she had scared him, but at the same time he felt relieved and happy to see her.
Zàira quickly floated towards the edge and landed close to Xam.
"Are you insane? I thought you hit the rocks! You could've warned me!" he said angrily.
"And miss out on your face? You should've seen yourself." she said laughing very amused.
"Well done!" Xam replied ironically, who felt teased.
"Sorry, I did not mean to scare you." added Zàira realising that she maybe had gone over the top.
"Never mind. Instead, what are you doing with those air supplies?"
Asked Xam with a big smile on his face as he was thinking that he could not hold grudges with her.
They were usual supplies that were commonly used on Oria to clean out tractors radiators that would fill up with sand.
"They give the final push that I need to jump back in. The compressed air helped me accelerate and exceed the small increase in the gravitational pull by the edge."
"How are you flying?"
"It's magic..."
"Come on! Don't take the piss."
"Okay. Actually, right on this stop the combination between a low gravitational pull and the updraft created by the gigantic flowers is what allows us to fly. Come on. Take off your shoes and follow me."
"Are you insane?" he exclaimed, but he knew that he would not resist.
"Just stay away from the crystals." "You're not scared, are you?" Zàira teased him.
Xam sat down on the edge, took off his boots and tied them with together with Zàira's. Straight after that he realised that they were floating in the air and without them he was feeling even lighter. He could barely keep his feet on the ground.
"Keep this in the pocket." said the Orian while she was pulling out of her backpack two supplies. "The first time we'll dive in together."
They walked to the edge hand in hand and they dived into the void without hesitations, like only teens could.
They flew together for a while until Xam became more comfortable. Then Zàira releaved another surprise.
She dragged Xam by one of the flowers, which sucked them in. They fell onto a soft carpet of scented stamina. The flowers, which were deep blue on the outside, on the inside were either yellow or light pink with huge, orange stamina. Xam did not even have the time to get amazed that the both of them were delicately thrown out of the flower. The two friends began laughing non-stop.
Zàira tried to explain, among laughters, that the insides of the flowers would release a laughing liquid.
At that point, Xam was ready to fly on his own and he let go of Zàira, who up to the moment before was holding him tightly.
The fun had peaked and Xam kept going in and out of the flowers.
Zàira tried getting closer: she had forgotten not to overdose as the laughing liquid would end up making him lose touch with reality.
It was not long before that was going to happen. Xam had lost his mind and was getting dangerously close to the prohibited area.
Zàira thought she had to intervene before it was too late: the sharp crystal would kill him. Xam, however, was moving at the same speed as her. Hence, it would have been impossible to reach him. She pulled out from her pockets her air supplies and employed them to go faster. She reached her friend, who was laughing and had not realised about the imminent danger and dragged him away a second before he could hit the wall.
She carried him away from the flowers and did not let go of him until they were on the ground. As soon as they had reached the right updraft, she made him return the air supplies. She kept him tightly in her arms as she was taking him in shelter on the canyon edge.
They knew that they had almost risked their own life, but they could not stop laughing. They lied down on the ground, shoulder next to shoulder side by side, and happily waited for the effect of the laughter fluid to wear off before going back home.
Third Chapter
The creases on its skin were revealing the creature's eyes and mouth
Now it was Zàira who was in danger and the distance between them and the top of the hill seemed infinite. A white dome stood out against the landscape. It looked like a beehive covered in hexagonal mirrors that would reflect the blinding sunlight.
The closer they were getting to the monastery, the more peaceful they were feeling deep in their hearts.
Xam, who was utterly worn out by the weight of his friend, kept walking until they found themselves in front of an arch that led inside the temple.
As soon as they got inside, Zàira's body began floating away from Xam's arms, who did not oppose that force as he knew there was no danger.
She was being carried towards a long corridor until she disappeared.
Hundreds of thin columns were sustaining an immense transparent vault that was overlooking the entire Universe, as if the monastery were floating in the space. Ulica and Xam noticed a weird-shaped creature at the back of the aisle.
The cylindrical, grey-purple body was composed of a head and four other sections, each with two legs. What looked like a nose was shaped like a trumpet and took at least half of the face. It almost looked as if something and someone had pushed it outward. Finally, the creases on its skin were revealing the eyes and the mouth of the creature. The body was not taller than a bag full of flour.
"I can feel a positive energy. I apologise for dragging you in here, but what your companion did surprised me."
"What our companion did not surprise us. We are conscious of her generosity. We should have not involved those harmless creatures. We have wasted too much time wandering in the jungle, which allowed Mastigo to realise where we were headed. So, he led his guards to that mild and peaceful place. Such an unforgivable mistake of us." explained Ulica.
"It would have been impossible for the Tetramirs to get this far without dragging those poor creatures in a battle."
"How do you know who we are?"
Ulica Tried asking, but Xam stopped her abruptly as he instinctively reached for her forearm:
"Where is Zàira?" he asked to the monk, although he could feel that nothing bad was happening to his friend in that place.
"Do not worry. She's safe. She's recovering. She'll be reunited with us very soon."
That reply was vague, but he could still feel that feeling of peacefulness and well-being.
"How do you know who we are?" Ulica asked again, who wanted to understand who they were dealing with.
"My name is Rimei." uttered the creature, without even addressing the girl's question. "I'm here on a meditative retreat. Your souls and actions, even the beauty of the Eumenide whose name I don't recall." it looked as if it was chuckling being satisfied with its mischief. "have all have caught my attention, even after 300 years."
"Ulica." her sweet and delicate face was unimpressed with that compliment.
She was thin and tiny and was conscious of her looks and she did not hide it. The ethnicity to which she belonged was not inclined to courting, but they would not hide their opinions and emotions. They would reproduce like butterflies in a cocoon that carried the colour of the unborn child. Eumenides were in different colour, all in pastel shades.
Ulica belonged to one of the latest generations: they all been created genetically. On the planet an odd occurrence during that last big war had caused a change in the axis of the planet which resulted in environmental and magnetic imbalances, causing the extinction of the male population. Even the most expert geologist in the world could not find the reason behind this occurrence.
In order to avoid the extinction of the whole species, the Eumenides resorted to the multiplication in vitro of the male genes to be used for artificial fertilisation.
They would genetically create only the female embryos in order to prevent other males to born and therefore die. They were not willing to accept a defeat. They were searching in their DNA for the same gene that allowed them to survive and implant it in the male DNA. In this way it would be invulnerable to the new environmental traits.
"You have not told me yet how come you know who we are." insisted Ulica.
"Because I see many things. I have been waiting for your questions for a long time."
"What questions?" asked Xam, who looked confused as he was caressing his thick, black, curly beard.
"Your questions on the Kirvir." Ulica anticipated him. "What were you talking about before?" she asked to the monk. "What can you see?"
"I can see all that is happening on the planets, but unfortunately sometimes the information stays in me for a short amount of time.
"Define short."
"It depends. Sometimes they linger forever, some others fade away after a day or a couple of hours."
"What can you tell us about the Kirvir?" asked Xam.
"The Kirvir is everything: it surrounds us, it puts us together and sets us apart. If it is triggered, it turns into something else. It looks like it can be governed but the truth is that it is fleeing. It can be wise or extremely dangerous."
"You are not saying anything new to us." commented Ulica.
"There is nothing new to know. Everything is already surrounding us." replied the monk. "All you have to do is letting it carry you in the right direction."
"If you can actually see everything, then you already know our aim. Help us control it. It would restore the balance." stated Xam.
"It's obvious that it wants to help." underlined Ulica. "Or it would not have led us here. The issue here is how."
"Do not be hasty, dear. I have waited such a long time for this moment. It's been three hundred years since I talked to someone. Do not take this privilege away from me. Time is a dimension for all those creatures that do not belong to the Kirvir. After all, I gave this a lot of thought."
"But we live our time and we have a responsibility for those like us. The war is coming." claimed Xam.
"You will stay up here as long as it is necessary, if you do want answers to your questions. It is not up to me. It will be the Kirvir to assess how much time it needs to show you the way."
After a few minutes, or at least that is what the Tetramirs felt, they spotted Zàira appear from a long, illuminated corridor.
Xam quickly walked toward her, trying to hide his emotions.
"How are you feeling?" he asked her.
"What happened?" asked Zàira.
"You've been hurt. Don't you remember?" said Xam, giving her his arm as a support.
"I'm fine. Do not worry." assured the Orian, accepting his help. "Yes, I do remember. But where are we?"
"We're inside the monastery. On the floating island."
"How did we get up here?"
"Your gesture impressed the monk, who brought us here in a whirl."
"Then, Xam carried you up to the monastery." added Ulica.
"Thank you." replied Zàira staring right into Xam's eyes, who awkwardly looked away. "It seems as if it's been months since I got shot in my back."
"Exactly." Rimei intervened boldly. "You were fixed and cured in the time chamber so that we could accelerate the healing process. You will only feel a few months older than you actually you are."
