When he received the news of our plan, the army mage seemed almost annoyed that the argument was over. I honestly got the impression he was looking forward to more time spent shouting and pushing the boundaries of ‘debate’ more than he cared about winning or losing. Perhaps his love of conflict was what had driven him to join the military. Whatever the case, though, the various professors also agreed with the plan. At least as we told it to them.

Uké’el and Aara had both worried that there could be moles about. Perhaps not directly amongst the professors, but either in the town or the military forces nearby. As such, it was dangerous to let anyone not part of our party directly know about the possibility of a secret temple. If it really existed, and had really managed to stay hidden from Nemza all this time, then it would be reckless for us to let the information leak.

Also, if it didn’t exist, it would be far less embarrassing for us, and we could just quietly head down to the southern continents. Even though that would be seriously out of the way.

The plan in place, there was still one issue to attend to.

“So, um,” I started to ask Uké’el, as the others hurried off to gather supplies, “Is this the end of my lessons?”

She stared at me with her flatly undead eyes. Despite the deadness of them, there was still a judgement to be found there. “Of course not. I am going with you.”

“Oh… good. Good. I didn’t want to assume, but I was pretty sure I still needed more training,” I replied.

“Any training may be more apt. What you’ve managed barely counts as starting,” she said, shaking her head. “You simply have nearly limitless mana, so you can manage incredible feats with the simplest of spells. But you need to learn some proper spells to really make use of your abilities.”

That was perfectly fair and accurate, so I simply moved on to the next question.

“Do you know how to fly with your magic? It’s just… wait. Even if you can fly, I don’t know what we’ll do with Ne’avo. I doubt the pegasus could carry her and someone else,” I said, trailing off, before wondering if the pegasus we’d brought was even still around.

“Ah, we’re travelling by air? I will get an enchanter to dig out a float-carpet, then,” she said with a small nod.

“A floa—a flying carpet?”

“I suppose that is one term one could use for them, yes,” Uké’el said.

As I got to work gathering supplies, I found Kel practically clinging to my wing, he was following me so closely. The young boy had various ideas about what might be smart to bring, though the remaining townsfolk lacked most of them. A fair few of his recommendations also seemed somewhat less practical or viable than his young mind seemed convinced of, but I enjoyed having his enthusiasm around. 

Not too long after, I carried out what I’d managed to gather to the small field on the edge of town where the rest were waiting. Aara had managed to call the pegasus back, and it seemed quite happy to see her. Sukura was smiling and petting the winged equine, though Ne’avo seemed spooked by it, and was hiding behind Aara for safety. Which was rather comedic, considering how Ne’avo was roughly my height and Aara was firmly on the tiny side.

A few townsfolk were gathered about. Mostly professors. Two were working on enchanting a large carpet, while others were ready to offer us all sorts of advice on where to head first.

We did need proper food reserves, so I agreed we’d head east first. To where the lowlands were, and therefore the farmland. None of us mentioned that we were planning to head to the northeast anyway.

“Has anyone seen—Kel!?” Uké’el shouted, storming over to her son (still all but attached to my wing). “Where have you been?”

“I’ve been helping Miss Emily gather supplies for our voyage,” he replied.

His mother seemed slightly assured by that. Until she registered a specific word. “What do you mean ‘our’?”

“I—” he started.

“You are staying put, young man,” Uké’el said, with an authority only a mother could wield. 

“What? But… why? You said Emily was a good role model for me! And you’re going! Shouldn’t I stay with you, mum?” he asked.

Getting involved seemed a poor decision. I didn’t want to undermine Uké’el’s parenting decisions. Although I was also left surprised. I’d expected she was going to keep Kel with her.

Foolishness did not seem to occur to Ne’avo, though. She voiced what was on my mind. “Isn’t he coming with us?”

“No!” Uké’el replied in a sharp tone. “It’s dangerous. Besides, you have friends here. As well as other teachers. The professors can protect you as well as I could, and won’t be heading into danger… I’m not making this decision lightly, sweety,” she added, her voice growing softer as she knelt down beside him. “I want you to be with me. And with Emily. But it won’t be safe. Not for a while, at least. When everything is over you can be with us, though.”

Kel looked disappointed, but gave a small nod. His mother took his hand, asking for a moment before leading him off, out of earshot. I was curious, but respected their privacy, so instead focused on the vague pleasantries from the officials, wishing us a pleasant journey and all of them.

When Uké’el returned, the carpet was ready, loaded with supplies, Aara, and Ne’avo. Sukura hopped up onto the pegasus, and we set off into the warm afternoon air… in a slightly haphazard manner, as I, the pegasus, and the float-carpet all took to the air differently. At least we were eventually able to return to moving together once we were high enough to allow those of us with wings to glide. 

The pegasus didn’t seem to trust the carpet, however. Which, I supposed I couldn’t blame it for. It looked highly unnatural, fluttering along as it utterly defied the concept of gravity.

As we flew, we passed over a number of valleys within the plateau. Many held towns that had been burned, along with other signs of battle. It was hours before we reached the nearest military encampment of the Chuu-la imperial forces. The camp, slowly digging in to become something of a fort, had clearly been attacked recently.

We continued flying well past it, until the sun was starting to set and the air currents were growing more unstable. There was a village not too far away that we made our way down to. I tucked my wings in, to try to at least somewhat disguise my nature, though I wasn’t sure how well we’d be evading detection. A half gnoll like Aara probably wasn’t the most common sight in these parts and might be enough for any spies of Nemza.

Maybe I was just being paranoid, though. The villagers were quite kind, and happy to offer us food. Uké’el made sure to pay them something for it, but hearing we were from Guuji was apparently all they needed to shove food into our arms, insisting we needed proper meals. They also quickly offered us a shed to stay the night. Not the most amazing accommodations, but the best they could manage.

It was shelter, and that was good enough for me. We gathered some wood for a small fire and quietly cooked dinner. Nothing amazing, but everyone who had been trapped in Guuji was glad to have something other than Dwarven mushrooms. Ne’avo… I wasn’t sure what she’d been eating, but it seemed like it had probably been even worse with the way she dug into the dried meat and simple gruel. 

“You’re not usually away from him, are you?” Sukura asked, while looking at Uké’el with a soft expression.

The older woman took a moment to process that she'd been spoken to, though had clearly missed the details. “Pardon?”

“Kel,” Sukura clarified. “You’re worried.”

“Yes,” Uké’el said, in a quiet voice. “I’ve always worried about him… Still, I trust the others to look after him. I’m friends with most of them, and can at least respect the others. It’s safer than where we’re going.”

Waiting for thermals gave us a good amount of time to run through training the next morning. Ne’avo was still roughly hopeless with her sword. Though she at least seemed to vaguely understand what good form meant. She also kept whispering ‘I got hips… use them’ to herself, even if she wasn’t quite managing it. For my part, I ended up focusing more on magic than bladework, since Sukura was so busy with Ne’avo.

Eventually, however, the sun had risen and flight seemed practical once more. We made sure to get away from the town, so I could bring out my wings in privacy, and then we set off. The plateau led into another mountain range, but we started higher and these mountains were much smaller, so it was easier to get above some of the lower peaks and cross over towards the northern coast of Chuula. The lowlands here were dryer than they’d been on the southern coast, but it was still dotted with fishing villages far below. 

We followed the coastline for the rest of the day. That evening we made a camp on a small island near the mainland as the sun was setting. Then repeated the process for much of the next day, until Uké’el directed us towards the north. Out across open waters, no land in sight. 

There was still no sign of land as the sun set, though Uké’el promised it shouldn’t take too much longer to reach our destination. I was struggling to stay awake, occasionally dropping in the sky and terrifying myself back to alertness, when a small rocky shape poked its way out of the dark waters below.

It wasn’t the easiest to see in the gloom of near midnight, but I’d gotten used enough to watching the unchanging ocean to notice the slight change in the darkness below us. Any tiny variation excited my stimulus deprived neurons.

Landing was tricky, not able to see the landscape very well, but we managed. Uké’el had explained that this was the closest land to where Trazeg wanted us to search, but it really wasn’t much. There were no obvious caves, and barely anything one could call a tree, but it was warm enough at the low altitudes we didn’t need much of a fire.

With nothing else to do, I passed out rather quickly, having apparently found out I did need sleep after pushing myself so hard these past weeks. I simply needed much less than I used to. 

The next morning meant more training for most of us, while Aara spent it sitting in the shallows, communing with the fish. I had thought it was just for her own peace of mind, but, by late morning, when we were thinking about setting off in search of the mysterious temple, a number of sea creatures brought a surprising amount of driftwood ashore for us. 

That proved very appreciated, as we did not, in fact, find the temple that day, and had to return to the island. While the search area had looked rather small on a world map, it was quite massive in person. Thankfully Aara had prepared some food for us when we returned. She’d stayed behind after insisting she wanted to sit somewhere she could feel the grass beneath her feet after so long in the high altitude deserts, and we had no reason to argue with her.

“I do think it’s out there,” she said, as we ate.

“Oh?” I asked, being seated the closest to her.

“The seabirds and the whales both say there’s something out there, but it’s far enough across the open waters that they’re not giving very good directions,” Aara explained. “They also can’t say if there’s a temple, not being knowledgeable at recognising such things, but the maps make no mention of any islands, so it is probably what we are looking for.”

“Good to hear,” Sukura replied, before grabbing another clam to eat.

“Also, would tonight be good for me to visit Kris or Lena?” I asked. “I… I really do think I should let them know before I go and get married.”

“It’s only marriage adjacent, no?” Uké’el asked.

“Still… doing something like that with people I’m in a relationship with… and without my other girlfriends,” I said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“Well, I will also be included, so that should help?” she replied.

A reply that led to all of us staring at her. I was quite confused, having sworn—was I just getting to used to people falling for me now?

“You’re… not in the relationship?” Sukura asked, concern in her eyes.

“I thought for sure,” Aara added. “Especially with how you were talking about her and Kel. It seemed like you were fully committed to being a family.”

Uké’el made a face that, if she’d been alive, likely would have been accompanied by growing flushed. As a lich, I wasn’t sure if she was capable of blushing, but she could clearly still get flustered. 

“I… that is to say… oh… perhaps you are right,” she mumbled, eyes drifting into a middle ground of realisation. “What I have done with Emily, and the happiness that has come with it—well, it certainly seems adjacent to romance. I have simply never thought of a woman that way.”

“If you need help sorting things out, the rest of us are here for you,” Sukura offered, secondary motivations practically written on her face.

Uké’el gave a thank you, but withdrew into thought for the time being.