As I woke up on the thirteenth day of travel, I stretched and saw everyone else down at the camp site. The morning routine that was awkward at first has now become streamlined and almost second-nature, as everyone knew exactly what to do an how to do it. I stayed, sitting on the tree branch before dropping down to help pack up the carts and fill in the fire pit.
"Hey Prez, get good sleep?" Maddie asked as she brought extra firewood to the carts
"Yeah, I did. Better than the last few days."
The thoughts that were spurred on by the encounter with the Royal Spidder Queen had become less dominant over my mind the last day or so, resulting in better sleep last night and the night before. Maddie and I continued our friendly chit-chat during breakfast and throughout the day, but eventually our talk devolved into discussing the weather, and after that we fell into an awkward silence, broken by Troy.
"Hey you two, what's up?" Troy's been trying the last few days to get to know us better. Maybe he feels left out or maybe he doesn't want to hang around the Voyagers as much. Regardless, as the only three non-Voyagers in the group, us talking feels natural.
"Hey Troy," I responded, "not much's goin' on."
Tension returned to the air, until I saw something small and grey in the distance. "Hold on," I said, pausing for a moment, "I'm gonna check something."
I climbed the nearest tree, making sure to avoid putting my hands in any sap, and once I got to the top, I couldn't help but smile. "Guys!" I shouted down, "The mountains are in sight!"
"How much farther." I heard someone, probably Mr. Smith, shout back.
I paused and took a breath before shouting back, "About 3-and-a-half days at most. We're close!"
I heard laughter and cheers as I descended the tree, and once I got down everyone was feeling very celebratory.
"I knew you'd get us there." Mr. Smith said, putting his arm around my shoulders.
"What a little compass we got on our hands." Diana said, scruffing up my hair as Troy looked on apologetically, but I briefly motioned it was fine.
Holly smiled and Jack gave me a thumbs-up, while Jake looked relieved. Bravo nodded approvingly, as Conner and Liam smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sorry to crash the party," Mrs. Smith said, "but we should get going or it'll take more than 3 days."
"You heard the lady, let's get back to it!" Mr. Smith said with gusto.
I continued leading the group with a little more speed and urgency as I navigated us through the trees and hills, and for the next few hours, nothing unusual happened. But just as the sun touched the peak of the now fully visible mountains, I felt something strange.
Of course, by this time I was used to strange feelings, with the creature in the bush to the Royal Spidder Queen, I've accepted that there is something different about me as the feeling ran up my spine. But unlike the usual chills up the spine, this felt warm and relaxing.
I felt myself drawn towards it for a moment, before resuming my original path and telling everyone we should set up camp for the night. Maddie was able to catch some rabbits and Holly made them into a stew along with some herbs and mushrooms. While we ate, Holly started to make a scarf out of the rabbit hide, only to be reminded by her husband to take a break and relax.
After we ate, I stayed up until everyone except Holly was asleep. I would've waited, but she was finishing the rabbit scarf, and I figured it would take a while, so I had to be even quieter than usual. Despite me making a decent bit of noise coming down from the tree where I pretended to sleep for a few minutes, she didn't even look up from her sewing.
After walking a minute or so away from camp, the warm feeling swept over me again, and I followed it to a patch of trees in the forest that seemed to be alive with light.
Walking through the patch of trees, the lights slowly floated towards me, none of them touching me, just staying in the air around me. I reached out to touch one and it landed on my finger, filling me with a sense of peace and the scent of willow trees.
Suddenly the feeling that drew me here became much stronger, and all the specks of light flew away, resuming their floating through the woods. Then a wind, carrying fresh leaves from the willow trees, blew from behind me nudging the lights out of the way before laying the leaves in a pile a few feet from me.
From the leaves, the same color light that floated through the trees glowed, too bright to look at. When the light faded, a beautiful woman with pale skin and green hair stood where the light was just a moment ago. Dressed in a gown of leaves, ending just before it would drag along the ground, her presence was the same as the strong feeling before the wind, and I stood amazed and speechless as she touched the ground and spoke.
"Hello First One," she said with a glowing smile, "I am pleased for you to have answered my call."
"Call?" I said monotonously, "What call?"
"Oh," she said almost covering her mouth with her hand, "you didn't know yet came anyway?" she chuckled lightheartedly, "I like you. I guess I'll have the pleasure of being the one to inform you of your place, First One."
"First One? Me?" I thought, before asking, "My place?"
"Yes, but for you to understand, I'll have to start from a while back, before the creation of this world."
This statement piqued my attention, fully snapping me out of my daze. "The old world? Where the Voyagers came from?"
"Voyagers? Ah yes, that's what He called them. The ones who survived and were brought to this new world.
"You see, this world was created in a day. The one you revere, Pyaira, was at his peak of power, having felled the last of those that caused the near destruction of the old world, Earth."
I stayed silent, content with listening to the story I've always wanted to know as she continued, "Seeing as Earth was beyond salvation, the destruction of the Akupi tainting the world he once walked upon so deeply, he made the choice to destroy and re-create the world.
"Before he did so, he could sense a few people skilled or lucky enough to survive the terrors. He appeared to them, creating a space called Arkyem, and guided them into it stating they will be the Voyagers to allow humanity to continue in a new world.
"After taking them off Earth, he used almost all his power, which rivaled even the gods of Time and Space, to destroy the earth, and would use the remnants of this destruction to create the world you stand on now, dubbed Pyaira.
"He knew it would take time for the dust to reform a new world, so he sped up time around the ball of dust until it became suitable for humanity.
"Finally, after a day of waiting, basked in a realm or His energy, he released the last survivors of Humanity to his world and, having lost much of his strength, retreated to Arkyem, where he slowly regains his power to defend humanity against any further threats."
After standing in silence, I spoke "This is what I've always wanted to know. The history of this world. Thank you so much for telling me this story ma'am," as I bowed.
"Oh no please straighten yourself," she said, "One such as you should not be bowing to me."
"Oh," I said, confused as I stood up straight, "I meant to ask, who are you?"
She gasped slightly, "Oh I realized I never told you First One, I am a Greater Nature Spirit, guardian of this Spirit Grove, referred to as a Dryad."
All these terms spinning in my head, and I had no clue what they meant. The Dryad sounds important, but I don't know what Spirits are, so as politely as I could I asked, "I'm sorry, but I'm not familiar with Spirits, could you inform me of these also?"
"Ah of course First One, allow me to bestow upon you knowledge of the Spirits, and knowledge of yourself, for you have earned it. You saved a denizen of the wilds from torment by the wicked mushroom, and you carry on the memory of the first Queen. Therefore, you have earned my absolute respect, and I will gladly answer any questions you may ask of me.
"Now as for the Spirits, they stem from the Elemental gods, and come in varieties of Nature, like myself, as well as Air, Earth, Water, Fire, and Lightning."