Lily showed off Hilton town. We had seen some of it while travelling to the Variaries quarters but the town was much bigger than we thought.
We were taken to the area of the houses. The palaces were huge and pretty. There was crowd even in morning. People looked at us and understood that we were travellers. They hadn't known that we had saved their town. (Yes, I am proud of myself) Master Polwern was maybe keeping the announcement a secret till the night when all the people showed up.
We then left the town behind and continued to the plains. It was a huge area, full of grass, some cows around and not a sight of a single person. It extended to a large area till we watched a tower right at the horizon. "That will take some time." Oliver said. "Unless I have an idea…" Lily grinned.
She ran somewhere in the plains and we followed her. We couldn't understand where she was headed to. Then she suddenly went up to a hermit.
Hermits are horse-like animals. They look fierce with sharp teeth edges sticking out. When seen a human, they either get out of the area to avoid them or just attack them straight on. They are not easy to tame which was surprising, seeing the hermit doing nothing to Lily who was so up close. It did not flee, nor did it attack in rage.
Lily placed her hand on the hermit and it made a nice sound. It was clear that the hermit knew Lily. "This is Sounge, my pet hermit. We know each other since childhood." Lily smiled, remembering the old days. "You mean to say that we'll travel on a hermit." Oliver guessed. Lily nodded. "Only two people can sit on one hermit so we will need another one." She said it in the simplest way as if they are not harmful at all.
"Sounge has his friends as well, don't you?" Lily asked and Sounge immediately made a deafening noise. I couldn't hear much after that for the next two minutes. A hermit came rushing towards us. I don't know how I was still standing with courage, seeing two hermits looking as if they would tear me apart.
"Mr. Flames and I will be taken by Sounge. You both will get the other one." Lily said, jumping on the back of Sounge. Rock Flames hesitantly sat on the back as well. "We will meet you at the tower, boys." Rock Flame declared and off went Sounge with its racing legs.
We both were left, frightened, with a hermit glaring at us. Oliver slowly tapped on the back of the animal. I jumped on its back and Oliver came behind me. Soothing the hermit, we started riding it. Compared to Lily, I was a very bad rider. The hermit was just walking. "If this goes on, we will reach there tomorrow morning." Oliver whispered. The next moment, the hermit got a sudden boost and it rushed forward, making it difficult for us to hang on.
We were soon right beside Sounge, chasing the horizon. That is when I felt for the first time that this quest was not a mistake. But then, as usual, an explosion took place.