You see, all those people found themselves changed. They were humans, now they were elves or dwarfs, centoids or any of the others. They were transformed into their new bodies but remembered their old bodies. What made it worse was that they also remembered whole lives in their new bodies. Many found themselves married and with children yet remembering another wife and other children. The Twins think the originals were fused with other souls, however that could happen.

Chapter 16 Sala

              “Another forest…” Sala said to herself.

              “What was that?” Mattaeo asked.

              Sala just shook her head then continued her ornery stare ahead. It seemed that she would never escape the trees that reminded her so much of the cage. Sala thought about how much she hates cages, then snorted.

              “Are you alright?” the human asked again.

              “I am. I was just thinking.” She replied.

              “About what?”

              “How much I hate cages.”

              Mattaeo followed her gaze, and it took him a few moments, but she was sure he understood her meaning.

              “I was raised in these forests. I find them comforting.” He told her. “What was your home like? Esseeo? Or…”

              “Essillo.” She corrected.

              “Essillo, sorry.”

              “It is alright.” She replied.

              Sala took a moment, imagining her home was always just a mess. It sent her far back and deep into the abyss of horrible memories. Sala had heard of people going through such trauma that their minds block out those memories. Sala couldn’t imagine others going through worse events than she, but that was another rabbit hole she forced herself not to ponder on.

              She felt the others drawing closer, their ears open wider. She had never spoken of her home, and only a few days earlier, she discovered that the incredibly few Scholars that have traveled the surface, spoke very little of their home. That surprised her; her people were highbrow intellectuals, for their namesakes, they were scholars. She could not imagine them not speaking of their lands. But they were also agoraphobic and xenophobic by nature. The few who left, who could leave must have different minds also, just like her.

              “It… it is beautiful.” She began.

              After a moment of silence TimTom spoke.

              “Where is it?” His deeply kind voice sent a few critters skittering around the trees.

              “South, in the Sea of Bas.” She answered.

              “What do you mean? Only a single city-state boarders the water.” Mattaeo asked incredulously.

              Sala turned to the lanky human. He was wearing his typical loose-fitting robes covered in intricate glyphs and symbols. His short black hair and terse attitude made her think that he should be a teacher rather than an adventurer.

              “You would fit well with my people. You know?”

              “I thought you said they cast you out or something. Aren’t they… bad?” TimTom asked.

              Behind the giant, she could see the stalwart Steff not looking towards the conversation, be she could see him leaning in to hear. Sala smiled at them.

              “I didn’t say by, I said…”

              “In.” Mattaeo interrupted. “But… how? That explains why most of the world sees Scholars as a myth than reality.”

              “When the Breaking happened, my land was protected in a void. Everything else fell away to be replaced by the sea. The magic knew what to do. A mile above the sea, stone roots grew from the ocean floor. They stretched up to support Essillo when the void retreated. It is not very large comparing it to… here.” She said with wide arms gesturing to the forest.

              “It isn’t just the Sea that isolates us. Only feet past the edges, the magical density drops to nearly nothing for about a mile.”

              “How is that… in a ring?” Mattaeo asked. “Around the entire land?”

              Sala nodded.

              “How is that possible?”

              “We think it was a gift from our mother.” She told them.

              “Mother?”

              “The goddess.” She replied.

              “What is she the goddess of?” Steff asked.

              Everyone turned towards him. The large elf shrugged and kept walking.

              “We see her of the Goddess of cognition and knowledge, but she is not like the other gods. She is like the Twins, you see. They don’t just embody a single essence.”

              “I see.”

              “Well, I came from a small village, Tuk. There were few towns like this, on the surface I mean. Most of the cities were constructed underground. The magic of the land was quite potent, you see, and being so high in the air…”

              “How could towns like yours survive such monsters?” TimTom asked.

              “Staying small for one. Most of the village folk were fishers. They traveled to the sea on an incredible lift nearly a hundred feet across every morning, where their vessels were stowed. But we had heroes. That was what we called them. They are highly trained people gifted with magic. They were warriors, the only warriors our people needed. They patrolled Essillo and protected everyone from the monsters.”

              Sala took a deep, shuttering breath before she continued.

              “I was training to be one. As a Wind Speaker, I could have protected everyone.”

              Sala looked up into the sky, luckily the tree’s canopies were not too dense as too obstructed her view. She could no longer hear them. She could no longer see their playful dance and jovial nature. She looked back down and saw that her hand had transformed into something more akin to a bird’s foot with talons tipped with blood red venom.

              Shaking her head, she forced her hand to morph back into its original form. A huge hand rested on her boney shoulder.

              “It is okay. They will return to you, once we remove that thing inside of your soul.” Timtom told her matter of factly.

              She nodded, and could see Mattaeo’s trepidation, but she didn’t say anything about that, she continued speaking of her lands.

              “It is mostly mountainous, only a single forest, that went from my town to the center of Essillo. This was mostly uninhabitable lands. I miss the sea. I used to sit on the edge and watch the Krakens and leviathans reach me. It sounds terrifying in know…” she said seeing their reactions. “But we were far off. Anytime one grew to the size to reach the surface, the heroes could handle them.”

              “Handle a Kraken? Is that… I’ve never heard anyone doing that, perhaps one of the kings?” Mattaeo asked himself.

              After a few moments of silence, Sala realizing that they were waiting on her, she spoke again.

              “It was beautiful, nothing but sea and sky. You know that feeling when looking down from somewhere high? The wish to leap off the edge but know you wouldn’t? You have no idea how strong that sensation was. I didn’t wish any harm to myself, but I knew back then I could fly. I mean, I didn’t know, but I knew… you know?”

              Sala snickered at that, and was glad to see the other smiling, except for Cameroon.

              “Stop!” Sala shouted.

              Everyone was immediately ready. Mattaeo’s beautifully carved swords were out in a flash, Steff called upon whatever power came innately to his people with orbiting balls of green flame in each hand, and TimTom just crouched ready to pounce. Sala turned to Mattaeo’s other side and saw Andrew hovering there, still unconscious.

              “Where is Cameroon?” Sala asked.