On the Cursed Ship, Lana and entourage went to the forge, to see if Alex was finished. He was and he did his usual presentation where the scabbards were under a sheet and he presented them one by one. The siblings were grateful to have access to someone so talented. When they put the swords away, they could feel less energy bleeding off their weapons. They thanked Alex and went to find Sam.
In the command center, Lana explained her predicament. Sam let her know since she was under the Cursed, her people could go to any planet under them. Plus, Caladi had low-level beasts that beginning travelers from all over went to, so it was also an option. She thanked him then went to check on the children.
They were left in Peter's care but she wanted to make sure everything was okay. The teachers had not reported anything to her so she assumed everything was fine but she was here. Why not peak in? She discovered Peter was teaching the kids martial arts. She smiled and returned home. She updated Kattie to have the travelers go to the Cursed Planets and Caladi. She had magic symbols to learn.
She didn't keep track of time, just kept her focus on learning the symbols she felt she needed. Soon she was ready to cross the desert. Even though it was less dangerous having peace with the beasts, Lana still wanted to keep her party small. In this case, it was herself, Dobin, Shalt, Alto and the children. They would take Caser and the mount he now had, Synkara.
She met with the team in the evening to ensure they knew what to bring and have everything packed. They would be leaving before dawn. They stopped by the command post and checked out with the person on duty and were gone.
The trek across the desert would have taken three days on foot. With the beasts it only took two. While traveling, Lana wanted to search any caves they found to see if she could keep her promise to Minnie. There was only one cave in the desert along their route so Lana took a few minutes to rest the party and give it a look.
She wasn't sure what kind of beast lived in there, but it was empty now. There were bones littering the floor. She found a corner where the armor of the hapless victims got thrown before they became a meal for the previous inhabitant. She decided to look through it and see if the necklace was in there. All the armor was destroyed. She did find a few beast crystals in a bag, some light crystals, a journal, and a necklace matching the description she had been given. She flipped through the journal and realized the beast kept the humans alive until it was hungry. The strap to the bag was broken. She put the items in her own bag and was ready to leave.
As Lana turned around, she realized the others preferred to rest on the surface rather than follow her down. She chuckled to herself with full understanding. The peace they had was strange to the humans and she felt odd about it as well. She still wondered exactly who her mother was and what was the background of this sword that even demon-tier beasts feared it and its master.
And what were these Walkers her mother mentioned. Was the sword designed to fight them? That was a scary thought. As easily as the sword drew blood from the demon-tier serpent, how strong were the walkers and how was her father faring against them? Was he even still alive?
As she left the depths of darkness, her family stood up, ready to resume their travels. Soon they were in the rocky terrain that surrounded the desert. It was quite warm in this area and getting warmer as they traveled. They had just left the desert expecting it to be cooler but got the opposite. The rocks were black and porous.
Alto kept everyone supplied with enough water. Dobin formed earth shelters here and there. They had the dome shelter with them but it required flat land. This land had more of a …. Personality. An inhospitable one. One that had the feeling one would equate with walking into the fiery depths of Death's domain. Lana wondered how her mother made this journey without support. Perhaps that explained her condition when she arrived at the foot of that tree.
Lana decided to fly up and see if she could see a circle. The sun was going down and the temperature didn't go down the way it did a few miles back. She knew a circle wouldn't show to normal vision so she looked for an aura or the white energy. It was the white energy that enabled her to see it. They were close but were walking the wrong direction. By the time the sun was down completely, they were near the spot. Despite the heat, they would need to stay there until Lana got what she needed from the circle. She made copious notes of the symbols. She remembered the book had a circle exactly like this. The one difference was the location symbology. This was what she needed to be precise about copying. She needed to be able to get there.
Lana rested when she needed. Alto kept them hydrated. The shelter Dobin made oddly captured what little moving air there was so it was cooler inside.
"It's been a few days, Lana. How much longer do you think?" Dobin asked her.
She was going over her notes, "actually, I think we can head back home in the morning. I've checked this drawing three times against what I see and I can't see any errors I may have made. I think it's time we went home and I studied what they mean. We have also been gone too long considering contact is impossible out here and there are dalki on the planet. Let's rest. As soon as the sun is up, we leave."
"Do you know…"
Lana shook her head, "I didn't learn anything here, just the symbols on the circle that brought our mother here. Theoretically, they should take us back there. I don't know if that is certain. It means more studying."
Dobin nodded, not happy with the answer. Knowing there was a chance their father was still alive, he desperately wanted to find the way there and be by his side during these troubling times.
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