Night time had fallen and the temperature along with it. The travellers felt the need to find a place to camp and their only option laid right infront them.
They didn't have much food let alone any water, it was pretty obvious they'd have to settle at the village but because of it's positioning they had doubts of whether their safety was assured in a place like that.
Without any hesitation Theodochus marched right to the village gate and knocked on it, it was huge and made of wood strong enough to keep out large animals like elephants.
It was also painted oddly in a pattern of tiger like stripes with tar presumably to throw of any predators on the prowl, and sharp steel edges dosed with poison stuck out from the top of the barricade to prevent any uninvited wall crawlers from climbing in.
The whole fortress was evidently the result of years of hard labour and dedicated effort, the habitat wasn't exactly ideally situated but its security was certainly astute. Despite that, the rest of the travellers remained unsure whether to enter or not.
They stood back pondering about other alternatives, but neither could think of anything solid, their haste was understandable given their unknowingness of whether the residents of the village were friendly or not.
Antenela was less concerned about being hunted and killed by wild animals and more worried about the state of Elsie who was still strapped to her back unconscious.
She sought for them to set up camp so Elsie could rest properly and they could find a way to execute their plan before they were apprehended.
An opening emerged on the gate and the face of a person appeared, they couldn't make out whether they were male or female or even human because of a covering the person wore over their head similar to a ski mask.
It had a rather interesting design and was blue in colour, faint henna like markings were visible on the sides along with words written in a language none of them were familiar with.
After a brief exchange with Theodochus the large gate began to open slowly.
Once fully opened they realised that it resembled the open mouth of a Tiger, perhaps another intimidation tactic or these guys just had an intense obsession with wild cats.
A different man emerged, he was also masked and wore a cloak made from the hide of a tiger although it was different from that of the average tiger; for one, it was much thicker, richer and it was coloured blue.
Around their necks they wore necklaces entangled with the canines of the predator they so obviously admired, their boots were made of sturdy leather, and they wore grippy leather gloves as well as vests made of tiger hide.
Before they could come in, each of the travellers were searched thoroughly for any suspicious items and questioned vigorously, but they could barely answer any of the questions because of a failure to understand the language of the locals.
Ultimately the torn pages of the library edition book of silver thoughts they carried with them were confiscated and so too their weapons, much to Robert's agitation.
Fortunately enough their compass wasn't taken nor their sequence so they could carry on hunting for the actual book with the tools that they had. Bitter sweet, but it was just about to get more bitter as the men at the gate requested that they leave their transportation behind even threatening to shoot the wolves with arrows initially.
The much calmer man explained that it was the policy of their village which not only disallowed outsider weapons entry into their village but also strictly prohibited the entrance of wild animals, he spoke in a different language from the men at the gate; one that Theodochus could understand and translate to his compatriots.
After all necessary precautions had been taken, the guards let the travellers pass and the man in blue welcomed them in and introduced himself as Ayosha.
As he strut forward his cloak swayed majestically from one side to the other revealing a long sheath strapped to his back, presumably storing his main weapon - with a sheath that long it was surely a hell of a blade he carried with him!
'My apologies for the inhospitable welcome but the Erika tribe are a people surrounded by caution. If you would allow me, i'd like to prepare you some dinner over a born fire. Perhaps there we can discuss these pages and why you carry them with you.'
Theodochus answered with certainty, he sought to relinquish any suspicions they had hanging over them.
'Thank you for your kind offer but there will be no need for that, aside from seeking refuge in your abode for the night our intentions are to find The Book of Silver Thoughts and use it to protect our world from an oncoming danger.'
Ayosha's eyes lit up, his interest piqued but his face tensed up simultaneously. He knew something about the book that they didn't, but he also knew that he now had to take this encounter more seriously than he initially planned to.
'The Book of Silver thoughts? hm, i guess we will have to take a slight detour then.'
'To where?'
'The village chief's hut.'
Only the Chief of the village would truly know how to handle this situation, it was advantageous to the travellers because it was likely that the chief would know more about the book and how to find it.
The confiscated pages were arranged in a numeric order, Chapters: 7,9,11,15,21.
The Erika tribe were illiterate so they couldn't read what was on them, but it was not out of blind fear nor mere suspicion that they had taken those pages.
They had a concrete reason and from the moment they were taken they acknowledged the possibility that they were in some way or form related to The Book of Silver Thoughts because of the unique patterns and markings on them.
Surrounding the area were small huts painted in tiger stripes dispersed all around. Some had tiny patches of farming land beside them but most huts had large hunting tools leaned against their walls.
It was becoming more and more evident that this was a village of hunters, but then again, there was still something peculiar about them that none of the travellers could put their noses on.
Overall, it looked like a fairly poor land which desperately made a living out of hunting animals in the wild.
A loud horn was sounded in the distance, it emerged from somewhere north of them, presumably it was the chief being notified that outsiders had arrived on their land and they needed to decide what to do with them.
As soon as the loud sound was no more, all the villagers immediately stepped out of their homes in anticipation of their guests, they did nothing but gaze at the outsiders with their large gloomy eyes like fish out of water.
They had rough blue skin and their bodies were covered in stripes, it was hard to tell whether it was just paint or their actual skin colour but the stripes were legitimate, in fact they were scars.
Each of them had funny looking orange coloured feather like hair, a ferocious looking set of fangs hanging outside their mouths and clothes made of the hide of various animals, as if the hunters needed further evidence that they were indeed hunters.
Given the inconsistencies in appearance compared to that of the security guards, it was safe to conclude that Ayosha was a high ranking member of their defence force.
The villagers began to applaud celebratorily for no apparent reason leaving the travellers baffled. Disgruntled, Ayosha remained quiet knowing the true reason.
He was being heralded, the villagers assumed that he had made a high profile capture and was taking the outsiders to be executed and serve as dinner for the rest of the village, because of this he defiantly ordered them to settle down.
After a lengthy walk they finally got to a secluded area were the grass was as long trees and there was seemingly no way to pass. Ayosha stepped forward and ran his fingers through the grass, he did this in a sideways motion and repeated three times creating something of a sequence which was only known to a select few members of the village.
The grass then parted into two revealing a pair of 8 foot tall behemoths of men with physical appearances resembling those of bodybuilders.
Beyond them was a large wooden house shaped precisely like the head of a tiger; the eyes serving as windows, the mouth as a door, and in the ears stood two men each with a bow and arrow that carefully watched over proceedings.
There was an open field within the borders of place, inside it were plenty of tree stumps that were cut in such a way that each of them had a remaining upright piece of bark which served as a back rest of a make-shift chair.
The place was an assembly point, just outside the chief's house.
Robert had been carrying Elsie in his arms since they entered the village, so he laid her against one of the stumps assuming she'd be more comfortable there, also because his arms had begun to tire.
'Please wait here while i notify the chief of your arrival into his premises.'
Ayosha went inside and climbed up the wooden stairs of the hut, considering the appearance of the rest of the village this area was pretty fancy. Perhaps the village chief was a greedy leader that hogged all luxuries to themself and ignored the needs/wants of their people.
The first thing Ayosha did was hand the confiscated pages to the chief without messing up the order, the chief then went through and attempted to deduce a meaning from the pattern.
At the same time, he tried to gather as much information from Ayosha about the villagers as he could.
A few minutes later Ayosha came back out and offered them some warm clothes as well as a fur blanket, only Antenela accepted it, wrapping it around her and Elsie.
'My apologies for the slight delay, but it seems the chief is busy with an important matter at the moment, but he will still see you. Can i make you some tea while you wait?'
They all agreed.
Some moments later, without saying a single word Theodochus stood up and Sage sheepishly followed. They walked right up to the two guards at the entrance/exit and initiated a conversation which effortlessly began to flow within no time.
'What are those two up to?' Robert wondered with a tone of distrust.
'Maybe they're just bored from waiting.' Franck replied.
Antenela remained quiet, with no one around them she saw this as another window of opportunity.
'It doesn't matter what they're planning, all that matters is that we out think them.' She whispered.
'What are you saying?' asked Franck. 'Do you think we should strike now?'
'No, frankly that's impossible given the circumstances. What she wants is for us to fine tune our plan, in fact, if possible she wants it to be executed as quickly as possible - isn't that right foreseer?' Robert answered him.
'Your deduction is on point prisoner. I feel as if we need to be prepared for an outcome where Sage and Theodochus see through our plan and it fails, in fact i want us to assume that they're watching us at every moment, even right now.'
Franck was dazzled, but Robert remained calm and listened closely to Antenela's deduction.
'They've tracked us loosely up until this point, they allowed us space to ourselves while we traveled and now they're allowing us this opportunity to speak privately among ourselves, don't you think that's a bit odd Franck?'
'Not at all Mademoiselle, quite the opposite actually. If they did all that doesn't it mean they should be free of any suspicion?'
Robert stepped in.
'That's what they want us to think, the foreseer is right. We have to assume that they've somehow been keeping track of our movements since we left the swamp.'
Throughout their conversation they had been whispering and speaking in a low tone. But even if they spoke loudly, it would not be audible enough to be heard by those at the entrance gate who were now seemingly having the time of their lives as they danced to the sound of Theodochus's flute.
The area was surrounded by tall grass, but the place was situated right at the edge of the village. This meant that if anyone somehow managed to exit the surrounding grass at the back yard they would find a barricade which lead directly outside.
It too would be covered in deadly blades as was the front, but one would only need to stand outside to hear what was being said inside, and at that particular moment anyone standing there could easily eaves drop on their conversation if they spoke loudly enough.
Although the sound from the flute alone ensured that they wouldn't be heard unless they actually shouted.
This was just another factor which fed into Antenela and Robert's suspicions, they felt the Faun was intentionally creating barriers which would prevent himself and Sage from keeping tabs on them in a manner any usual captors would, thus creating something of a diversion which would mask their ulterior motives and instead construct a false image of trust allowing them to listen in on their conversations using their magical abilities.
'You think they may have bugged us?!' Franck panicked.
'Something along those lines, if they truly are the malicious duo we've perceived them to be then there's no reason they wouldn't spy on us. I mean you saw the man change his wild dogs into giant monsters using only dust, what more do you think he's capable of??' Robert answered.
'The prisoner gets it, and if they have been listening in on our conversations until now that means they may have postponed their initial plan to get rid of us immediately after they found the location of the book, instead they may wait for us to take action first.
But, i think i may have found a way to counter act that.' She posed thoughtfully for a second before she continued.
'If we could somehow have a decoy conversation that would completely and entirely play into their hands, they could be thrown off.'
Robert understood the intention, but he didn't understand how they would initiate a conversation that would catch the pair completely off guard without raising any of their suspicions.
Antenela Realised this and as such was prompted to emphasise.
'Maybe if we could begin talking about our deepest desires right now that would stifle them.
By that i mean what each of us would wish for if circumstances were entirely different, what is it that your hearts would want regardless of anything else? Think as selfishly as you can, spare no thought for the collective good - we'll have to be audible too.'
The two were both bamboozled now, even Robert didn't understand this part of the plan. Before they could even think to question her strategy, Antenela suddenly spoke audibly.
'Listen, before we go any futher there's something i need to tell you guys, and please, don't tell this to Sage or Theodochus.'
'What is it?' They nervously asked.
'I don't think we'll find The Book of Silver Thoughts.
Our cause seems irredeemable at this point, Nymph Sheyla reported to me earlier that the Artuna region had been seized but i chose to keep this information to myself so as to avoid hampering our motive to save the world.
I'm truly sorry...
Although, i'd like to add; if we do happen to find The Book of Silver Thoughts by chance, my true desire is to return to my father's arms and i feel it's only fair i let you know that.'
Without breaking character, she carried on.
'The reality is that this world is doomed by fate and has been for a while now, because of that, i am prepared to overlook our primary objective in order to satisfy my personal desire if i get to the book first.
But that does not mean that i will completely forgoe our collective goal, i will continuously hold it close as a second option. I certainly will not judge either of you if you do the same.'