7 - The Road to the Elemental Palace Is Full of Unknown Wonders
I was shaken awake by Paul and ushered through my morning routine still half-asleep—until the washcloth soaked in freezing cold water touched my face. That woke me right up!
“We don’t have the time to drag our feet this morning, so you’ll have to forgive me for resorting to such forceful methods,” Paul “apologized” without sounding the least bit apologetic. Once he’d confirmed that I was well and truly awake, Paul adjusted the water to a more pleasant temperature.
His “kindness” is so rough…
Before breakfast, I telepathically called Sol to say good morning and tell him we’d be visiting the elemental palace today.
“Oh, that’s today, is it? Those guys are eccentric, but I’m sure they’ll love you.”
If Sol was calling them eccentric, they must be seriously weird!
“Let’s go together next time!”
“If there’s another opportunity, then sure.”
Opportunities are something one makes for oneself, so he’s agreeing to go with me next time, right?! Sol, you don’t have to hide your tender emotions with prickliness all the time, you know! You’re safe to be honest and vulnerable with me…
After breakfast, Louis came to get us. The emperor was already waiting in the southern courtyard.
We can’t keep the emperor waiting! You should’ve gotten us sooner!
With me hurrying an unconcerned Louis along, we went to the courtyard, where Euche zoomed around happily in the sky.
“I’m so sorry for keeping you waiting!” I cried as I ran into the courtyard, but the emperor greeted me with a benevolent smile.
“There’s no need to hurry.”
Try telling that to everyone who would eat me alive if they knew I kept the emperor waiting on me!
“I’ll be in your care today!” I said, giving a little bow before the overly casual emperor could order me not to.
He rewarded me with a gentle pat on the head and the words, “I could say the same.”
I don’t know what he means by that… Is there something going on here that I’m not aware of?
“Now then, if you’re all ready, let’s get going, shall we?”
Kai had already transformed into his bird form and put on the bags. Their straps crossed over his chest, and one bag dangled down on each side of his body. Based on the four happily wagging tails sticking out of one of the bags, it appeared that Inaho was inside.
That can’t be comfortable, leaping head-first and riding upside down like that!
Originally, I’d planned to carry Inaho in my arms, but she was so fond of the bag and seemed afraid of water holy beasts, so I’d given up on that plan.
Seigo rode in the other bag, and I would carry Rikusei, who Inaho had displaced. Haku and Gratia clung on to Shinki, and Nox would fly most of the way himself.
“Spica, I know you’ll be lonely being left behind, but we’ll be back as soon as we can, so wait for us here, okay?”
Unfortunately, since Spica was a beastperson and not a monster, I had been told I couldn’t bring her. Although I’d named her, it didn’t create a binding between us as it did with monsters, so she didn’t qualify to enter the elemental palace.
“Yes, Lady Neema. I’ll be awaiting your safe return,” Spica said, but her drooping ears and tail gave away how disappointed she was.
Even when I’d been in my long sleep, she’d at least had Seigo and Rikusei with her the whole time. It must be hard having everyone leave without her…
Resolving to spend extra time lavishing Spica with attention after we returned, I climbed onto Sache’s back.
Or rather, Shinki picked me up and set me on Sache’s back…
Euche took off, and Sache quickly followed.
Kai flapped his wings and leapt into the air as well.
From time to time, Sache glanced back to ensure Kai kept up.
It was amazing just how different the two blue pegasi were.
Sache had a magnanimous personality and liked just about everyone, although she particularly favored my monster friends. Euche, on the other hand, was more temperamental and had absolutely no tolerance for anyone or anything he didn’t like. And he especially didn’t get along with Sol.
I’d never thought much about the holy beasts’ ages, but Euche seemed younger than the others.
We made good time on our journey through the sky, and before long, the elemental forest came into view in the distance. Even though it was my second time seeing it, I was still struck by its incredible presence.
Why do I get such a strong feeling that I shouldn’t get any closer than this?
Instead of flying directly up to the elemental palace, Euche landed a good distance away in a spot that was still technically part of Wildwood.
“We have to walk from here,” the emperor said. “If you stray from the holy beasts’ path, you’ll be lost for all eternity, so be careful.”
Whaaat?! That’s scary!
Fear won out over shock at the emperor’s sudden and unexpected warning.
With a chuckle, the emperor held out his hand to me. “If we hold hands, we probably won’t get lost.”
I wasn’t sure if I should be grateful for or disturbed by that offer. But I didn’t want to end up “lost for all eternity,” so I elected to take the emperor’s hand.
“Thank you.”
Apparently, Sache would be leading the way from here.
The emperor and I followed directly behind Sache, then came Shinki and finally Kai. Euche brought up the rear of our procession, presumably to prevent us from getting lost.
As we walked amongst the impossibly tall, sequoia-like trees, it looked like the path ahead was a dead end. The trees were so dense and close together that they seemed to form an impassable wall.
How are we supposed to get in?
Sache let out a high-pitched whinny, and the trees moved aside as if they were living creatures.
Talk about “open sesame!”
“This is one of the reasons humans can only enter the elemental forest with a holy beast. Only a holy beast is strong enough to control the highly concentrated elemental power here.”
Meaning even an elementalist can’t open this?
We slipped through the space created when the trees moved, and I was surprised to find it was brighter than expected. With how densely packed the trees appeared, I’d expected it to be dim.
While I was distracted by that unexpected revelation, something cut across the path ahead of us.
What was that?