{Mercy, what have I DONE?!}
Colin struggled to make sense of it, any of it, even as he let the battle rage on. Warc was baiting more and more Wilds to the site, and Shiro was doing a brilliant job of leading Colin's Comrades in wiping the forest floor with them all. This was how they typically leveled up on their own.
The Wilds here weren't the Sunshine Forest variety either. They were beyond squirrels and cats; most of these were Rhinotles, Stag Beetles, Growly Bears and furry brown spiders as big as Colin's bike and sidecar put together.
{Where ARE we anyway? Is this really the South Sunshine Forest? It's an entirely different zone.}
But whatever it was, his Comrades could handle the Wilds here, and Colin left them to it.
Meanwhile, he sat down on a rock and brooded. He crossed his arms over his knees, and looked at the floor. He frowned. Then he froze and went pale. Then he sweated a little. Then he went red. Then he shook his head, and started to get up, only to pause and sit back down again, half muttering to himself.
It took some time before Colin's Comrades exhausted themselves in battle. Shiro barked at Colin and wagged his tail beside the smallest of the growly bears. Colin took it as a sign that he should tame that one, and went over to touch it.
"What's your name?" Colin asked the half-grown bear politely, as always.
"Grraa." It replied.
Colin frowned. "Are you a boy or girl?"
"Grrl."
"Well, let's call you Gera."
He scanned her.
Tame
Abilities:
HP: 1/204
MP: 4/40
Str: 55
Sta: 47
Spd: 28
Int: 8
Wis: 16
Wit: 4
Total: 158
Traits:
Ursine Fortitude
Earth Essence
Territorial
Aggressive
Colin scratched his head. "Front line fighter, I'm guessing. Good physical attack and defense, but I wouldn't count on elemental attacks if I were you."
{Rall's a honey bear… not quite so strong physically as Gera, but he's got an advantage with Earth Bond as a trait, letting him use his strength to help his elemental attacks. Gera only has Earth Essence, which protects her against earth attacks, but she'll never pull off an Earth Barrier like Rall's.}
"Should I bond any of the others?" Colin glanced around. "The bigger Bears are stronger, right? And they'll get along with us, since they're bears like Rall and Gera…"
"Yip!" Shiro yelped, shaking his head violently. "YIP!"
"Okay, okay!" Colin backed off. "We'll leave them be. Too high level for me?"
Shiro nodded.
Colin sighed. "Then let's get going."
Shiro whined, sitting down with his head between his paws. His ears flopped down.
"You're tired, huh?" Colin looked around. "We'll rest inside the Chasm, okay?"
Shiro nodded. Colin's other Comrades were tired too. {And they can't get inside the Chasm. What's going to happen to them…?}
"Fine. We'll just go ahead a little way and rest there. I'd rather not wait around for these Wilds to recover. They might attack again."
"Yip." Shiro agreed.
***
They had rested up and was nearly at the border between fog and clear air when a powerful gust of wind and the flapping of great wings nearly bowled Colin over.
"Are you CRAZY?!" a familiar voice shouted. "Do you have any idea where you were about to step into?!"
"Huh?" Colin blinked.
White wings, edged with dark blue. That elegant, slender neck. The graceful form of a swan magnified into immensity.
{That's Rain! Kirin's mother! If she's here, that means…}
"Shinji!" Colin grinned. "How did you find us?"
"Ask me later." Shinji stepped out in silver armor with a winged helmet and wings on the shoulders. "Colin, do you know what this place is?"
"Um… not really." Colin admitted. "Where are we?"
"Right now, we're in the deepest part of the South Sunshine Forest, a third depth zone." Shinji said. "Some of the most dangerous creatures in the South Sunshine Forest roam around here… but that's nothing compared to what lies on the other side of this border!"
"Border?" Colin blinked.
"Yes! Colin, you're standing at the border between the Forest and the Valley of the Lost!" Shinji barked. "Do you have any idea, any idea at all how dangerous that place is?!"
"The Valley of the Lost…?" Colin blinked. "You mean the chasm with all that wind?"
Shiji stared. "You've actually been in there?!"
"Uh… yeah."
Shinji shivered. "Colin… our Comrades can't go in there. Once we step in, they vanish until the next night. And I mean, totally vanish! We're completely alone and defenseless in that Valley!"
Colin had it on the tip of his tongue to tell Shinji that there were four particular exceptions, but Shiro bit his trousers and shook his head urgently.
{So… this is a secret of Michi's breedings.}
"Well, I was running from the Green Men. I thought it might be a way through the mountains."
"You want to get on the other side of the mountains, you come with me." Shinji told Colin. "Abby asked me for a pick-up and delivery. My package is you."
"Me?" Colin blinked.
"You and your Comrades, no matter how many trips I had to take." Shinji nodded. "But I think we can make it in just one trip. Hop on. I'm bringing you to Maro Airport. You can make your way to J-Knight Headquarters from there."
"J-Knight Headquarters…" Colin trailed off. "I wonder where that is."
"It's in Maro City, not far from the airport." Shinji told him. "Come to think of it, I'm flying a swan, not a plane. I can drop you off at the headquarters lakeside."
"So… how {did} you find us?" Colin asked, as he and his Comrades climbed on board the rather large cart-like saddle on Rain's back.
"It's a mother-child swan thing." Shinji jerked a thumb to Kirin, who was nuzzling her mother happily, and Rain was nuzzling back. "What happened to my favorite resting spot?"
"Destroyed by Green Men." Colin said shortly.
"Next time I see one of those, I'm going to zap him with a lightning bolt." Shinji growled.
Gera growled too.
***
Flying on Rain's back was amazing.
"WOW!" Colin gasped as the great wings took them into the air with a single beat. It seemed they went shooting straight up like a rocket, and Colin felt a weird chill as the ground fell away and he floated in the air with the swan for a bare moment before the next beat of wings sent them shooting straight for the mountains.
"Kirr!" Kirin shouted behind them, flapping her wings hard and fast to keep up. "KIRRR!"
"Wark!" Warc went splat against Rall's furry chest, failing in her attempt match the swans' speeds. "Wuaakkk…"
"Does she have to go THIS fast?!" Colin gasped. "I'm worried about Kirin!"
"Kirin can fly easier because her mom's in front." Shinji called back. "Rain's actually going quite slow so that she can keep up."
{This is SLOW?!} Colin gulped, feeling like he left his stomach somewhere behind as Rain flapped her wings a third time and shot them over the mountain range.
He saw Granath town to his right on one side of the mountains, and a similar town on the other side. He saw the road leading down from that second town about twice as broad as the roads north from Granath. He saw thick trees below, planted in neat, exact rows. Orchards, he guessed. Definitely not forests.
The lands south of the Granath mountains didn't stretch too far. Colin wondered why it seemed so much busier here. He could see the sea off in the distance and to his left. He saw the airport, a huge sprawling complex with lots of long runways. He saw Maro City, a clump of buildings at least ten times the size of Granath Town.
"We're coming in for a landing at that lake." Shinji shouted back at Colin as Rain took a breath-taking, throat-clenching, heart-stopping dive at it.
{We're gonna CRASH!!} Colin's eyes were as wide as they could go as they plummeted, and the ground seemed to lunge at their faces. {We're gonna DIE…}
But of course, they didn't. With a majestic spread of her wings, Rain seemed to stop in mid-air, and all of Colin's Comrades were thrown almost face-first into the floor of their container box. Colin himself was thrown against the edge of it at the sudden brake.
Kirin didn't manage to slow down as gracefully as her mom did. Her attempt to stop in mid-air resulted in her crashing right into Rall and Gera.
"Raoolll…" Rall protested, flattened under her.
Gera growled.
"Mikik!" Meek was laughing at them from Coln's pocket.
{I wonder how long our flight took in total. One minute?}
The landing itself took about ten seconds, as Rain came to a stop with amazing gentleness on the small lake beside the J-Knight HQ.
As for how Colin knew it was J-Knight HQ, well, the J-shaped building around the lake had those exact letters erected over its roof.
Waiting to greet them was a familiar face.
"Satrox!" Colin waved at him as Shinji let them off. "How have you been?"
"Busy." Satrox said, looking serious. "I've been investigating the Green Men. What about you? I heard the farm was destroyed."
"I was already in the forest by then." Colin said. "Edward gave me enough warning to get my bike and escape. He sent decoy groups of his Comrades running in different directions so they never found us."
"Let's keep it that way, shall we? Shinji, I'll take him from here. Your payment's already in your account."
"Kirr…" Kirin tapped her beak to her mom's in farewell.
Rain nuzzled her baby one last time, then nudged her forward. Kirin fluffled over to join Colin and the rest with Satrox.
"Bye, Shinji!" Colin waved to the Wind Knight.
"Take care, Colin!" Shinji called back, and with a single powerful swoop, he and Rain vanished into the sky.
{I'm so glad they didn't do THAT while I was on board.}
"Let's move." Satrox said, walking quickly.
"Where are you taking me?" Colin asked.
"Right now? We're headed to the airport. From there, we're taking the first flight out of here to any other continent but this one."
"What? I thought…"
"Colin, they know you're a J-Knight. Katrin too." Satrox said grimly. "Foxtrot and Maggie were killed at Lynn Airport. Our hunters operating at Port Frichi faced both bribe attempts and interrogation at gunpoint before they died their way to safety. The entire area east of the Forest of Legends has been sending reports of Green Men activity for the past hour and it seems to be getting worse. They're really nuts about getting you and Katrin."
"How bad…?" Colin whispered.
"Sunshine Town is under siege." Satrox said simply. "Riverside and Granath have been blockaded. The towns north of there all the way to Frichi have been taking air bombardment from flying saucers. Lynn airport has been shut down entirely."
{Lynn airport…? Why does that suddenly ring a bell…?}
"We also need to set you up at a base, and quickly." Satrox observed. "Not a J-Knight base, since they'll be watching us, but at least a room for the day. Your Lynxmouse is about to give birth."
"Meek?" Colin blinked. She'd been heavily pregnant for nights now. "Uhoh… her nest at the Farm was destroyed …"
"We'll have to make do." Satrox said. "They'll most likely be watching the Comrade Homes too. At worst case, you'll have to fit a nest into your backpack."
"My {backpack}?!" Colin spluttered.
"We'll figure that out once we get off this continent. The Green Men are too active here." Satrox went on. "Hurry, Colin. The sooner we're off, the better."