According to Nyxis, manwari poop was pink.

Xanthy laughed at his face back then, claiming any normal bird couldn't have such colorful excrement. As they took off from Depandes, the birds started squawking. It continued until they were well above Elshire and its vast fields of multicolored canopies. Then, the birds crowed their loudest and a wet, splashy sound enveloped the sled. No one spoke. No one even batted an eyelash.

A bird just pooped while flying. Was there anybody who cared about the people below? Xanthy leaned half of her body out of the sled and true enough, she saw a pink goop dripping from the birds' legs.

Do these birds always do stuff like this together? Were they best friends?

Also, Nyxis said that manwari's poop was best for curing abdominal cramps.

Xanthy cleared her throat at his voice running through her head, reciting those useless facts. Gods. She's going crazy.

She shook her head, trying to imitate how nonchalant her friends were about this. Ravalee had her eyes closed, her legs crossed, and her hair tied up in a hurried bun. She wore a simple tunic and had discarded her skirt for trousers. It's a long trip, the brownie had said when Xanthy looked at her strangely before they took off. A thick, burgundy cloak hugged her shoulders nicely.

June picked at his bandaged hand, cursing its tightness. Xanthy had to slap his hand several times before he dislodged something Nyxis worked hard at doing. Reeca sat on the sled's edge with her legs stretched out and propped against a bench where she should have been sat. Considering her bandaged wings, Xanthy told her the first time to play it safe but the varichria shook her off.

Cyrdel sat across Xanthy, beside Ravalee. His hair hung in a loose mop on his head, disheveled and flecked with dust, ash, and bits of clay. Dirt was smeared across his cheeks in unflattering splatters. Dark circles ringed his eyes. In just a day, it seemed like he had aged five years.

"You should stay," Xanthy had said to him before they left Depandes. "You can help your people here."

The prince had shaken his head. "I must go. This is all my fault."

Xanthy shrugged. Technically, it was his fault but no one was blaming him (except his father, maybe, who currently laid in a cot among feverish brownies). Chance happens to them all.

When Cyrdel insisted on coming, of course, that meant Ravalee was, too. They're like the birds that were now driving their sled except that they didn't have pink excrement. Probably.

Xanthy crossed her arms and leaned against the sled's rim. She shouldn't even be complaining. She needed more people she could rely on in this crazy journey. Besides, these people looked like they knew the island inside out more than Xanthy did.

A sigh escaped her lips as she gazed upon the carpet of canopies floating over Diven and Flaron. Up ahead, the foggy mountains of Carleon formed the silhouette. What new experiences awaited her at Drodham?

"Xanthy," Reeca's voice interjected through her thoughts. She turned to see the varichria settle to the bench designated for her. "I need to speak with you about something."

Xanthy furrowed her eyebrows. That's odd. Reeca never speaks to her about anything. She nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"We're going to see the High Priestess, right?" Reeca glanced at the scenery combing below them as well.

"Yeah," Xanthy smoothed her trousers, periodically glancing at her friends. Okay, where was this conversation going? "Why?"

"I was hoping she could help me with something," Reeca scratched her neck. "It's about my mother."

Xanthy nodded slowly. "Okay...?" Well, that was personal. "What about your mother?"

Reeca's expression hardened. "She's dead," to which Xanthy's mouth curved into a small o. The varichria shrugged. "It's a long time ago. I just wanted to learn something from her."

Xanthy pursed her lips, her foot tapping against the sled's floor without a steady rhythm. "And you're asking me because...?"

"Because where we're going, Drodham, is where the Temple of Souls is," Reeca crossed her arms across her bark breastplate. "I need to speak to my mother's departed soul with the help of the High Priestess. I was hoping you could make some time for me to perform a summoning ritual."

"That's..." Xanthy scratched the back of her ear, craning her neck to glance up at the blue sky. Why was Reeca asking her when she's clearly the leader here and not Xanthy?

Still, Xanthy blew a breath and shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Go ahead."

When Reeca didn't speak, Xanthy narrowed her eyes at the varichria. "Are you shaking?"

Reeca flinched. "No," she hid her hands from Xanthy.

That's strange. Reeca didn't normally show any signs of vulnerability. Something's going on. Xanthy rested her elbows on her thighs as she leaned forward. "What's bothering you?"

"Why do you care?" Reeca glared at her.

A cloud of distrust hung around the two of them, making Xanthy inhale sharply. This has happened before, hasn't it?

Xanthy exhaled from her lips. "You're the one asking a favor from me," she tucked loose strands of hair that escaped from the bandanna used to tie her hair low before she hopped into the sled earlier. "Might as well know what's going on."

Reeca clenched her jaw. "I met Kymalin Iaro."

Xanthy's eyes widened. Kymalin, or Kym, as Elred had said, was one of their enemies that were working for Cardovia. As far as Xanthy knew, Reeca was friends with the banshee. When Xanthy first met Reeca, the varichria had invited Xanthy and June to Kym's house.

Kymalin Iaro was also the one behind how Erin got a hold of the flintlock used to kill Jarvik. A shiver sped up Xanthy's arms. What a small world it was.

"Tell me more," Xanthy didn't bother to mask the ire from her tone.

"I met her in Asopus as I was trying to weed out the other flintlocks I made," Reeca glanced at her wings as if that somehow brought back the memory. "Then, Kymalin said something about 'just in time for the action' right before I escaped."

Xanthy drummed her fingers on the sled's wooden rim. Splinters sank into her nails which she flicked into the open air. "Do you think there's something happening in Drodham right now?" Xanthy said. "Kymalin seems to be planning something."

"How would I know?" Reeca ran a hand on her golden hair. "I was supposed to go there the moment I left Asopus. But then insolent poachers brought me to Depandes instead. Then, I met the thief and then, you," she spread her arms. "Now I'm here. Finally on the way to Drodham."

Xanthy leaned her head against the sled. "Everything worked out in the end, didn't it?"

Reeca nodded with a smile. "Yeah, I guess so."

It struck Xanthy that this was the first time Reeca genuinely smiled at her. What did that mean? Nothing, perhaps.

They flew in silence after that.

Once the foggy mountains took on more detail, the birds crowed and dove down. Xanthy gripped the sled's edge, her knuckles turning white as they shot past the clouds and sped towards the green-flecked spires.

What seemed to be a scenery filled with the trees' colorful crowns, normal-sized birds flying with their colonies, and Flaron's city built atop a hill blurred together in Xanthy's periphery as they neared the ground. Xanthy's hair escaped their bond and flapped across her face several times. With her hands locked against the sled's rim, she had to endure eating locks of her hair as long as the wind stayed turbulent around her.

The sled skidded to a stop. The scream on Xanthy's throat died without being let out. Her head spun. Xanthy stood with shaky legs before jumping out of the sled, equipped with her bow, arrows, and satchel.

June stretched and stared at her like he was seeing a bush for the first time when she came by his side. Xanthy frowned at the whirlwind of khaki around her head. That blasted wind. She worked so hard in combing her hair!

Before she could process it, June had shoved his fingers into her locks and began smoothing them. He found Xanthy's bandanna stuck at the ends of her hair and used that to secure it back in place. Xanthy had a moment to blink before her brain registered what had transpired.

Reeca raised an apprehending eyebrow when Xanthy felt blood rush into her face. Ravalee giggled and Cyrdel blinked before smiling as well. June finished his show and walked off, leaving Xanthy to fend for herself.

Xanthy clenched her fist. Was June going to sneak moves like that all the time? If so, she might have to break his fingers on one occasion. That should teach him a lesson or two about personal spaces.

Cyrdel strode to where the manwari had settled. He hailed the birds with his whistle and thanked them for their service with a curt bow. The birds twittered with delight and rushed off, taking an empty sled with them into the sky. A few seconds later, they were gone. Cyrdel stuck the whistle inside a pocket in his coveralls.

"That's the farthest they can take us," he trudged back to their gathered group. "They don't like flying over foreign skies."

"What now?" June turned left and right but all around them only trees were in sight. A flourish of twitters and caws accented the flap of wings and the crunch of leaves as nature went on with its ways around them.

The birds dropped them in some ambiguous part of the forest between Carleon and Penleth. Xanthy craned her neck to gauge how high this new wall of green sloped.

"We're at the foot of the Wryshia Mountains," Cyrdel shut a device's lid which made a distinct click before tucking it back to a breast pocket of his coveralls. He craned his head up as if attempting to see further than the mountain before them. "We could try skirting around the mountain to Lifver, see if we could find a way up the Temple in a steady trail."

"Going around the mountain takes too much time," Reeca clicked her tongue in place of an incoming curse. "We're also not sure if there's even a stable path up the Temple," she pursed her lips and regarded them. "I know a way, but it isn't pretty."

Xanthy turned to Reeca. "Which is?"

"The Pilgrim Road," the varichria said.

The wind blew quietly.

Cyrdel scratched his cheek. "You mean we all have to go there?" he pushed his glasses up his nose. "That place is a horror."

"It's the only way we can get to the Temple in less than a day. The trip to the mountain's peak alone takes four days. So unless you want all of your race to die off, you'll take the Pilgrim Road," Reeca crossed her arms and leaned her weight on one foot. "It's the fastest way. We wouldn't even be entertained in the Temple without our souls searched."

"The way you say it makes it all the more interesting," June grinned before picking at his bandage once more. "This is too tight."

Xanthy had to slap his hand away once more.

Reeca turned towards the south with a serious look on her face. "Let's go and be pilgrims."

The Pilgrim Road, as it turned out, was a network of dark, smelly caves.

Xanthy ran her hands along the rough walls as they entered a cave by the base of a mountain. Reeca had claimed it would take them to the Temple by sundown. That leaves them with just two days before the doom of the brownies.

Xanthy ground her teeth and folded her hands together to contain the jitters. The air around the cave smelled musty and carried a heavy and wet feeling. Rocks skidded against their soles as they trudged forward. Some pebbles they managed to kick as they walked thumped against the cavern's compact ground in a series of shrill ticks that echoed into the darkness beyond.

When light faded out from the outside world, June flicked his wrist and a bright ball of magic appeared on his palm. "Try it," he turned to Xanthy with a smile, the light illuminating his pale face.

Xanthy called her magic to the surface, spoke the word, and soon, a ball of sparkling energy hummed softly above her splayed palm. Shadows resembling Xanthy and her companions flickered according to the movement of their light. Xanthy scrunched her nose up. What would happen if those shadows disappeared? She didn't stop the shiver that sped down her spine, making the spell tremble in her palm.

The cavern stretched for what seemed like forever. Her shoulder stiffened from carrying the satchel. That meant they were walking this path too long. The bowstring dug into her chest and her quiver seemed to have doubled the number of arrows inside it judging from just its drag on her hips. Her stomach rumbled; her eyes grew heavy upon realizing she hadn't slept a wink since yesterday.

"Welcome to the Road, pilgrims," a voice shook the cavern.

Xanthy shrieked and the light in her palm died. She bumped into June, who lost his balance and in turn, his control of own spell which flicked off with a hurried snuff. They were plunged into darkness.

"Xanthy, the light!" Reeca yelled somewhere to Xanthy's left.

A throat cleared itself. "Pilgrims, a little order will be nice," the new, deep voice said.

"Who said that?" Cyrdel grunted from behind Xanthy. Boots scratched the rocks and then, a thud ensued from the darkness followed by a weary "Ow."

The cavern flashed blue and Reeca was standing beside Xanthy. June and Cyrdel were both on their haunches, rubbing their foreheads. Xanthy counted under her breath. Four people other than herself. So who called them "pilgrims"? That couldn't be Ravalee, could it?

"Pilgrims, do you wish to enter the Path?" the new voice rumbled through the cavern once again. Xanthy whipped here and there. Where was that voice coming from? Even the voice's gender was inscrutable.

Reeca dusted her bark armor. "Yes," she said into the empty air. "Who are you and why can't we see you?"

"I am the Guardian of this path," the voice answered. "I guide those who seek entrance to the Temple of Souls. I protect this Road from malicious souls, seeing and testing their very motive in entering the esteemed Temple."

"Yeah," June brought his unbandaged palm up. "A name would be nice."

The Guardian chuckled in an almost similar manner to how people laugh. "I have not a name, pilgrim. I am but a humble spirit called to service by the High Priestess to guard the Path to the Land of Wonders. Without me, the dead have long invaded your shores and eaten your young."

"The dead do that?" Xanthy asked. She should get out of here while she could.

"No," the spirit quipped. "Now, you wish to enter the Pilgrim Road, correct?

"Yes," Reeca said once again.

The Guardian hummed. " Before I grant you access to the Temple, you must undergo tests for me to see into your soul. Each of you should get at least one cup of water from any of the seven waterfalls available in this cavern. Once you do, you will be ushered to the Temple of Souls itself."

"Wait," Cyrdel raised his hand. "You mean we came here to see waterfalls?"

The spirit seemed to be smiling. "Yes," it said. "If you fail, you'll end up mad. Or worse, dead. But we prefer either since Pidmena will claim us all someday. Best wishes, pilgrims."

A distinct clap ensued from the darkness. Before Xanthy could realize what was happening, the ground liquefied beneath her feet. The ground didn't let her scream as it rose to swallow her whole.