Agatha started to walk again towards the forest, thinking, where the hell is Bracchius?

  “Bracchius!!”

  “Bracchius!!! Where are you?? In all the mess I had to go through, you did not help me at all!”

  Nothing, only the sound of the wind touching the crest of the grass.

  “Trada tush bum!” Bracchius jumped out of the meadow with his tongue out, excited.

  “There you are! Now tell me, little one, why you keep leaving me always in the most dangerous moments? Ha?”

  Agatha looked at Bracchius with a fierce yet funny expression. Bracchius did not pay attention to Agatha at all and simply went around her legs playing like a dog might do.

  “Fair enough..why do I pretend you understand me? You are just a creature from the Sky Mountains. It is already rare that you are quite calm and do not bite like the rest of the creatures around here..let’s keep going Bracchius! We do not have so much time left like I was expecting on this Island.”

  Agatha and Bracchius walked through the forest. The trees were not particularly tall, but they were quite dense in number. It was not hard to walk through, but there was a very small amount of light from the sun's passing. Bracchius played around with some woods and was not satisfied till he found the biggest one he could carry in his mouth, which led him to crash into trees from time to time, but still with a very happy attitude, while Agatha was trying to keep attention on the road.

  “So where should we go? I remember Redhis said to check the upper part on the right side..couldn’t he be more precise? Argh, what did he mean by that?”

  The island, after the forest, was dividing itself into four different regions; it might be easy to understand if they were all at the same level, but they were all at different altitudes. So which one was the “upper part”?

  Did Redhis mean the highest one on the right side, or did he mean the one most at the right side of the others? Agatha sat down on a rock, trying to figure out what to do.

  “I was so angry when I first met him, to then feel happy, and now I am again angry with him!” mumbled Agata.

  She kept thinking, and then she remembered; he had said there might be some fire libellulas..now, Agatha, remember your books at home, where do fire libellulas stay when the sun is about to go down?

  “Oh, for Lord Kloud! Yes! Fire libellulas get their energy from the sun, so the right side is where the sun will set until I arrive there. However, fire libellulas mostly eat Remansis flowers..which do not grow where the wind is stronger, like in the upper parts of the Sky Islands! Bracchius! We just have to run towards the right side, come on with me!”

  Agatha started running, facing the right side of Sky Island, which was also the lowest in altitude from the others. Bracchius kept his big wood in his mouth but could not catch up to Agatha, so at some point he spitted it on the ground and flew to her back.

  They ran for about 20 minutes till they reached the place they wanted to reach. That part of the Island was so different; the grass was no longer green and full of life, but rather yellow and kind of burnt. The air felt warmer and steadier. There they are! At the tip of some grass, there were some quite big Libellulas.

  “Come Bracchius, we need to be fast, we need to catch at least a dozen of them before sunset, or we might not be able to catch them anymore!”

  Agatha took a strange little wooden object out of her pocket. It looked like a little chest. She moved it towards her mouth to see it better, pushed some buttons, and voilà! It opened up and transformed into a butterfly net. She then made a sign to Bracchius to keep his head down and wait, then moved on all fours, crawling towards the first fire Libellula. She tried to be as delicate as possible and..zac! One in!

  “Yes! You know how much these things are worth Bracchius?” said Agatha.

  “Each one of them is a chair in my new upcoming restaurant! I still have to decide on a name for it.,what do you suggest?”

  Bracchius looked at Agatha without understanding anything. He just thought he was doing an excellent job, but staying down and steady. Agatha took a little jar and delicately put the libellula inside. The fire Libellula had black wings, but its body was transparent, and you could actually see how much sunlight it stored inside. It was actually very beautiful to see, but there was work to do, so Agatha got back crawling to catch another one quickly!

  She kept going for like an hour or so, the sun was just about to start falling down for the sunset, but she already caught almost twenty of them, so it was a good catch anyway.

  “Ok, let’s take a break before leaving Bracchius, what do you think?”

  Agatha sat down on the grass, then turned her head towards the upper part of the Island.

  “Oh no! No!” said scared Agatha.

  Up in the sky, next to the highest part, a mercenary Ship.

  “What do we do Bracchius? We have a decent amount for us this time, so we should leave! But we must wait, they will see us if we go now towards the forest, unless they are busier up there catching something else. And what if they had already taken our boat? Naaa, I don't think so. If they landed there right when a blockade was in place, they must have known something beforehand. But if Redhis has already left, what is up for them? They are late on the menu, or maybe they know something else about this Island the Republic does not know?”

  Agatha started thinking..

  “What do we do Bracchius? After all, Redhis said, I am his assigned hunter; I guess I should at least check and make a report as soon as possible. You know what? I have an idea..let’s catch some more fire Libellulas!”

  Agatha took at least another ten fire libellulas; these had their bellies full of light, even bigger than the others.

  “Ok, let’s move my little friend..”

  Agatha moved swiftly alongside the edge of the Island, covered in part by the high grass, always checking the ship and the edge of the other part. No signs of anything. She made a turn and kept running softly towards the other edge, going up. She hid behind some trees, then again used bushes and grass to cover herself up until she heard some voices.

  “Are you suuuure Captain, this is the ancient temple?” said a very sneaky voice

  “Sure I am, coward!” said an even ruder and darker voice.

  “But they told us to go to the left upper part, captain, but left upper part of what?” said the coward.

  “Why do I still have you in my crew Radamast? Don’t you see these ruins? Do you see any other ruins on this Sky Island?” said the captain.

  “Uuuuh, I know Captain, I am at your seeeeeervice..but what if the temple is hidden elsewhere?” said the coward.

  “Really? And why don't you shut your mouth when I am the captain and you are a 4th-grade sailor?” replied the Captain.

  Agatha took her white bracelet and whispered on it, “Tingalien.” She then placed her hand alongside her body and moved it to face the ground. She gently made some pushes with her hand towards her feet, and magically, she was no longer walking on the earth, but little clouds emerged from it, allowing her to walk on them closer to the mercenaries. Every time she was stepping on a cloud, a matter of some seconds and the cloud was vanishing into the air.

  The two mercenaries were quite weird to see. Agatha hid behind two rocks but could actually see them very well. One was taller than the other, wearing a black jacket with black trousers, a rusty orange silk belt, and a large black hat adorned with red and white feathers, likely from Brenath. Not a very wealthy man, indeed, he also had a wooden leg, but a sparkly scimitar on his left. The other one was so skinny that he looked like he hadn't eaten for weeks. He had blonde hair and a blonde mustache and was dressed in blue, wearing a typical sailor hat of the sky mountains, which resembles a small tricorn hat.

  “My lord, my lord!” came another mercenary to the other two.

  “Captain Titus, Captain..how many times do I have to tell you you need to call me Captain!” said the captain

  “I know my lord, but there is a dead Gryphon down the hill!” said Titus

  The Captain looked at Titus with a grumpy and annoyed face. He put his hands on his hips, walked towards Titus, and smiled at him.

  “Good to know, Titus!” said the captain with his biggest smile, to then punch him in the face.

  Titus fell on the ground unconscious, Radamast got scared and put his hands towards his chest.

  “Come Radamast! Let’s see this dead Gryphon first..” said the captain.

  Radamast was quite skeptical, but then followed the captain, looked briefly at Titus unconscious on the ground, and continued walking..

  “Cap..Captain, don’t you think we should help him first?” asked Radamast.

  “Hmm? What? Let him be where he is; we will catch him later on” replied the captain.

  Agatha was quite astonished and also embarrassed on their behalf. Are these the infamous mercenaries? They look like it is already too much for them to even handle a teapot in their hands without spilling it.

  They must not be mercenaries from the biggest organisations, I guess these are a bunch of freelancing mercenaries.

  “What should I do with this..Titus here?” thought Agatha.

  “I guess I should tie him up and hide him somewhere..”

  So Agatha went to grab Titus, while Bracchius smelled his shoes and was disgusted. Titus was actually bigger than the others and also full of muscles. He had only a yellow gilè on him, a pair of white trousers, and blue boots.

  “Oh, for god Kloud! How heavy is he?” mumbled Agatha.

  She couldn't really move him, so Agatha looked at Bracchius.

  “Bracchius, why don’t you truly help me this time? Remember that time you created a wind that almost caused a tree to fall? Now, don’t you think this is the right time to use it, and not because I ate the last piece of cake like that time?” Agatha smiled at Bracchius and put her hands together, praying for him.

  She looked in Bracchius’ eyes, and they seemed to almost understand, but then a butterfly passed through, and he jumped on it.

  “Oh god!” Agatha tied Titus to a rope, then went to a tree to try to lift him and pull him. While she started pulling hard, suddenly, there was no more weight to pull..Agatha turned her head back. Titus was floating above the earth into her direction.

  “Oh yes! Yes! I knew it! I knew you could do some stuff! Thank you, Bracchius! Thank you so much!”

  Agatha went straight to Bracchius to grab him and hug him. He started to lick her face and acted very happy. Agatha put Bracchius down and, with the rope, carried Titus for about a ten-minute walk till she found a good spot to hide him. She tied him up and covered his mouth.

  “Good, what an adventure today Bracchius, don’t you think?” said Agatha.

  She then moved back on, following the other two mercenaries. She did not need to hide too much this time; those mercenaries seemed not to pay attention at all to their surroundings. She just followed the footprints left and finally stopped closer to the hill. Right in the middle of the hill, there was a Gryphon. He was dead. Multiple signs of battle, it must have been for sure...

  “The Humerian Army for sure..” said the captain, “well..I do not think they came here just for a gryphon. We know they are not tameable creatures, despite their value being high, not so high for the Humerian Army. They do not need to make a blockade for just a gryphon; the rumors of the ancient temple seem to be the cause. Well, I guess we will go check the temple, and if we don't find the sword, we can still take the gryphon.”

  The captain and Radamast looked at the creature for a while; they almost seemed human and kind in that moment, as if they were sad for the beast, but once they turned their head towards the way they came from, they again looked like damn mercenaries. Agatha was well hidden, a skill that was essentially her best asset as a hunter. So, she just looked at them as they passed again to the other side, this time following them again using her air bracelet, creating tiny clouds when needed.

  The three of them arrived again at the spot where Titus was supposed to sleep.

  “Captain, captain! Where is Titus?!” said Radamast.

  “Apparently, we are not alone on this Island. Who is responsible for this miserable trick?” said the captain, calm.

  “Captain, we need to search for Titus! That is terrible! What if a beast ate him? Look! Look! There are no signs of steps or where they carried him! What if a gryphon took him from the sky?”

  “Calm down, Radamast!” said the captain, slapping his face..”He is alive, don’t you see? There is no blood anywhere. Let’s go check the temple first, maybe if someone is here with another team, they are trying to distract us from the real treasure..let’s run, fast, follow me!” said the captain.

  They both started running towards where the ruins were supposed to lead. Agatha followed them again, this time more aware of a possible fight. They all slowed down, and there was a cave. The cave was huge and sculpted from grey stones and marbles; it looked so beautiful and kingly that, in fact, any of those stones would have sold for a fortune.

  “What is this place?” said the captain astonished.

  “I do not know....captain.” replied Radamast.

  The sculptures were quite old, dating back centuries or maybe thousands of years. You could see sculpted on them humans and what humans call the Zenishans. An ancient civilization that seemed to live in harmony with humans millennia ago, they are taller than men, larger than men, with faces that resemble those of men, but you can see they are not men. Their faces resemble those of a man and some creatures from the sky lands. Zenishans are no longer recorded in history due to a memory that remains unknown to this day. Their existence is no longer in the Sky Mountains. Some say they moved to another sky, some say they moved to earth, and some others say they had to sacrifice themselves to keep us safe in the clouds.

  The two mercenaries entered the large hall in the cave, where they watched the sculptures with great curiosity, and then made their way to the center, where a ceremonial stoup was located.

  “Mmmh..if there was something, it was probably inside here, those tricky soldiers..” said the captain

  “But I know my soldiers do not search profoundly..they feel entitled to any Island and they do not know the sky is freedom!”

  The captain turned his head to the floor and saw that there were some canals coming from the stoup. He followed them and arrived at the center of the large wall, the one full of sculptures.

  “Now..do you see Radamast?” asked the captain.

  “Eeeeugh..I seeee...I see what, captain?” replied Radamast.

  The captain slapped Radamast again, this time on his head..

  “Ouch”

  “Shut up, do not make too much noise! Look better, you idiot..” said the captain.

  Radamast watched closely..

  “I do not see anything, Captain. What do you mean?”

  “For Lord Kloud’s sake! Don’t you see they are all praying to what?” asked the captain

  “Ooooh, well to a sword!” replied Radamast.

  “Now, my little genius, look here!” the captain pointed the handle of the sword.

  Radamast tried even harder to look, almost closing his eyes..

  “Aaaaaah! There is a Keyhole here!” said Radamast.

  “Keep quiet, you fool..”

  Right in that moment, Agatha, who followed them till finding out about the keyhole, made a misstep.

  “Craksh”

  The two mercenaries turned and saw Agatha behind a rock.

  “It appears we have been followed..” said the captain, taking off his scimitar and going towards Agatha.

  “Oh, not again..not twice in a day..” mumbled Agatha to herself, already prepared to use her air bracelet.

  Radamast took out a dagger he was hiding in his jacket. The three of them moved simultaneously towards one another, faster and faster. The captain raised his scimitar, Radamast changed dagger position in order to throw it, and Agatha started to whisper the spell..”Mi-O..”

  A blast of light right in the middle, so dense and white that you have never seen. All three of them got knocked out on the ground, and weapons fell too. They all could not see.

  “Seems I have been following all of you..” said a voice in front of them

  “Aaaargh, what is this sorcery? Who the hell are you?” shouted the captain.

  “Captain Zeniat, you still go around playing with kids?” said the voice.

  “Who the hell are you?”

  “I am someone you are used to know, but not today..” said the voice.

  The vision started to come back slowly, first appearing as grey images. Agatha was on the ground; she listened to it all but knew she could do nothing in that moment, hoping for Bracchius’ help. Why is he never there when he is actually needed?

  The voice pointed the scimitar at Captain Zeniat’s throat.

  “Orders from above, my dear friend, now please leave before you see me, or I should cut your throat?” said the voice.

  “You are damn right, boy! We are leaving Radamast..Radamast? Radamast?! Where the hell are you?”

  Radamast was just next to him, but still in pain from the fall.

  “Come you..you..”

  Radamast was not ok, he probably broke a leg. The Captain took him on his shoulder and left.

  “Thank you, Captain..” said Radamast.

  “Shut up, you idiot, you owe me a dinner when you recover..”

  “Ah, Captain Zeniat!” said the voice, “Titus is already on your boat..”

  Agatha waited for a while, tried to follow the voice, then the steps. The steps were so light, how possible?

  “Bracchius!” shouted Agatha

  In that moment, the whole cave started to tremble, and a fierce wind came from all over. The sound of the wind was covering any person talking. Agatha could not hear anything and kept shouting Bracchius with all her strength. After a while the wind was over, Agatha could only hear these words:

  “...aaaah, it is you?”

  The vision returned, but it was still blurred; she saw someone kneeling to pet Bracchius, who was approximately ten meters in front of her.

  “Well, well, seems destiny is a real deal..ahah!” laughed the person.

  The vision returned almost fine. Agatha could see in front of her a boy, who was probably around the age of fourteen or sixteen, with blonde hair like hers and vivid green eyes. He had a tunic on him made of fine gold silk motives. He had such a warm smile.

  “Hello Agatha! My name is Roud, I know it's a weird name; my mom loved it, so this is my horrible name, ahah, but nice to get to know you!” said Roud. He kneeled towards Agatha and offered his hand to help her get up.

  “Roud? Who the hell are you, you maniac bomber! How dare you shoot a bomb in the middle of a fight? We could have all died straight!” shouted Agatha still in shock

  “Oooooh, I do apologize, miss..but this is the way I am”, replied Roud while laughing and scratching his head

  Meanwhile, Bracchius was having fun moving around Roud’s legs.

  “And you? What are you doing? Do you think it is necessary to trust enemies just because of a gentle pet?” said Agatha to Bracchius

  “Well, how to explain Agatha..” said Roud.

  “And how do you know my name is Agatha?”

  “Well, you see..ehm Bracchius? Told me.” smiled again Roud.

  “How do you know each other? I found Bracchius alone on an Island. Does he have a family? Is he the only one left?” asked Agatha.

  “Weeeelll..where do I start? Ehm..” said Roud.

  “You'd better start right now, Roud!” replied Agatha angrily.

  “Ok, let’s say you see that keyhole? Well, we need to open it..and to open it we actually need a Phantom..and basically..I mean, technically or maybe ideally? How do I tell you this..I know I am a little boy, but I am actually the Wizard of Light.”