Once their ride finally made its way out of the forest, Midas spent his time quietly observing the region around them as they spent a great while seemingly encircling the outskirts of the forest. Doing so seemed fishy to the youth—their driver had assured them that doing so was needed since there was no road leading to the northern edge of the Luvious forest, mostly because of the rugged terrain around the hills that surround Cascrender—continuing north.
The sun began to set as the conglomeration of trees and cliffs eventually grew more distant from them, a sign that the ride now truly headed straight north—towards the plant kingdom. Their elevation slowly but surely sunk with every moment. Midas was able to feel the weak tilt of the ground beneath them—Javelin and Uteli seemingly unphased, as the long-haired girl corrected Javelin's pronunciation of single words the youth had already memorized.
Listening to her pronouncing a single word over and over again reminded Midas of the lessons they took in the university—having someone his age teach him seemed to be much easier for Javelin, as he usually kept to himself instead of working with a teacher on the other end of the classroom. Besides the more prominent squeaking of the wooden wheels of the carriage, Midas was able to pick up a distant murmur from the direction Jihid headed into.
Bored from sitting around practically all day, Midas stood up—his backside slightly aching from the hard wood, despite having a slim cushion to sit on. Passing by the two of them as they quickly glanced up to Midas passing by, he stopped at the side of Jikith, seeing him hold onto the leather straps with a blank expression. The flat grasslands in front of them seemed to dip down—the river that flowed downwards from their east was split up by low-lying hills, the water surrounding them seemingly shallow.
"Why risk driving through this swamp...?"
"Relax, this is not a swamp... It's merely a wetland; this tiny flooding won't harm us too much. Besides, this route is much faster than taking the main roads built by the kingdom—also saves me paying tolls... There is a friend of mine I have to pick up here, since he has some business to do in the capital just like you—I'm sure he will let us stay the night."
Midas quietly sterned his brows, growing weary of the friend Jikith mentioned. A few slim trees sprouted in between the flooded grassland—a slim layer of water flowing westward, reminding him of his time at the ruin in which Graf was stuck inside. Soft splatter sounds came from the wooden wheels as the carriage made its way through the shallow waters, getting from one piece of dry land to another, as the hills they passed through were barely high enough to avoid being flooded as well.
"Sometimes I cart more wealthy folk from the midlands of the water kingdom through here... They always marvel at the fact that one river starting on the northern edge of the plant kingdom makes its way through this place..."
Midas glanced at the high-reaching grass that covered the edges of the hills the ride passed over; even though their base was surrounded by only water, their light brown stems seemed almost dry. Distant birds floated on top of the shallow streams, tipping their flat yellow beaks into the water as they drifted with the soft stream. The setting sun made the weak ripples of the flowing water glisten—the darkened silhouettes barely visible, despite their white feathers.
Slightly shook as the ride made its way off of another hill, Midas found himself quickly surrounded by the unfamiliar terrain as the vast land that seemed to stretch far away seemed cut off to his left, ending on the horizon as the river fed into a larger body of water. Unable to keep himself from awing at the sight of himself, the youth looked down onto Jikith again—as his words made him seem much more familiar with water kingdom volk than anyone else he had met, especially for someone that was given a southern-sounding name.
"There it is."
Jikith's announcement made the youth look forward to what they were headed to, seeing wooden planks and cut logs—skinned and warped—put together to form elevated walkways that led up to a crude set of stairs, leading into an elevated wooden hut, much tinier than the house he was brought to by Uteli. Weak, yellowish light flickered out of the doorless entrance—the only light Midas was able to pick up in the quickly darkening scenery around them.
The ride was parked on a hill right next to the makeshift building. Javelin slowly turned to Midas as his confused glance mustered him—the three of them watching in silence as Jikith bound the two Fahin to a nearby tree. Seeing him nod with his head from a distance, the three of them moved away from the carriage—the wooden planks squeaked under Midas's step, and the stair they took to go up onto the hut was steeper than he anticipated.
"Jikith... you came."
"Of course, Guan... I will always help you when there's work for you to do."
Holding onto the handle of his leather bag, Midas watched from the distance as their driver shook his hands with a pale, somewhat short man. The youth was able to see his wrinkly skin from across the crammed room—the shade of his almost white skin somewhat red around his nails. Missing a tooth, he gave Midas a grin as he raised his hand out at him.
The floor had some holes and cracks, not large enough to fall through, but wide enough to let coins slip through the planks. Midas noticed the opened window right over a makeshift stove while shaking hands with Guan—fried herbs sat on top of the seemingly cooled-off stone slab, supported by wooden beams, having been charred by the tiny fire underneath, as its rests remained on another thin rock.
Guan was clothed in torn cloth pants supported by leather straps that wrapped over his shoulders, holding them up as he missed a belt. His hair was thin, his top already thinning—revealing an almost grey scalp between torn black hair. As Midas moved to the side of the room, the hut now filled with five people, he saw his rib bones through his skin as the man crouched down to examine the pieces of coal left.
"Do you mind if we stay the night...?"
"No...! Of course not, I could never turn down my friend Avernil..."
Having sat down onto the floor, Midas raised a brow at the name Guan called out; the chance of speaking about another person related to Jikith was low, as he held onto his shoulder while speaking to the young man. The only person he could think about at the sound of the name, making the youth feel even more puzzled, as he was sure Avalon didn't originate from this continent.
Laughing it off, Jikith combed back his shoulder-length hair with his fingers and sat down on the edge of Guan's bed, the only piece of furniture besides a single stool that seemed weathered and out of place from the rest of the wood used to craft the makeshift residence. Uteli and Javelin made their way to sit beside Midas; the three of them huddled into the side of the room—their backs against the wall.
"Why did he call him Avernil...?"
"Maybe that's his family name...?"
"I don't think that's his real name."
The three children whispered among themselves, their faces close to each other as they exchanged glances that eventually halted on Midas. Javelin put his furred hood over himself again, looking at the youth as he slightly balled up on the floor. Briefly glancing at the two men—seeing Guan examine the three of them briefly before vanishing behind the wooden doorframe with Jikith—as the voices that halled through the thin walls of the hut suggested they were moving towards the carriage, Midas spoke.
"The two names completely oppose each other; just pronouncing them alone makes clear they don't belong to the same language, which means our driver is actively hiding something from either us or Guan..."
Javelin stood up, making his way to stand beside the bed, a few steps away from them, as he peeked through the loosely held-together planks that acted as walls. Pressing his eye practically into the opening between the wood, he was able to see two figures travel through the dark marsh, holding candles in their hands as they vanished into the ride.
"They entered the carriage... Are you sure we can trust this guy enough to spend an entire night here...?"
Midas clung onto his leather bag as he listened to Javelin's worried words—his tone slightly raised in stress. It was a good idea to not leave his belongings behind, as his trust in Jikith began to dim with every moment he interacted with him; the altering name was yet another reason for the youth to become more wary. The man most likely didn't work with the knighthood, however, as he completely missed the gear of a knight, not even carrying a sword with him, from what Midas saw on his clothes and in the ride he owned.
Being unlikely the partner of the corrupt set of knights, however, didn't change much about the question of who their driver really was; the marsh they were surrounded by was almost perfect for making multiple people vanish without a trace—especially a set of boys from the desert and an orphan to go with them. Besides being sold for money, however, Midas wasn't able to find a plausible reason for Jikith to go to this length just to sell them off, as working with the knights sounded like a much easier job.
"I don't think they want anything from us... We shouldn't interfere with things that have nothing to do with the health of your sister—our best option is most likely to stay wary and keep quiet..."
"Are you serious...? What if they are currently preparing to attack us while we sleep...?"
"How though... There was nothing under the benches beside old bread and water. Jikith has no weapon or stone on him that would allow him to bend... plus, there were no locked compartments or secret stashes anywhere—I even checked under the rug on the floor."
Midas returned calm replies, contrasting Javelin's almost hissing whispers—even though both of their glances were equally stern as the youth looked towards the entrance. He was able to feel a cool wind blow through the planks that held up the structure, making clear how makeshift the dated hut really was. Uteli was the only person able to form a smile, keeping her fingers wrapped around her axe as its head was set on the floor. Midas faced her, knowing she understood him as he spoke in Water Tongue to both of them.
"When did you do all of this...? I only saw you sleep on your seat when I looked at you."
"Well, you were busy with Javelin all of the time—of course you didn't notice much of me. I grew bored of sitting around, so I took some time and looked around the carriage—that's when I noticed that Jikith didn't carry any weapons..."
Midas's obvious tone made Uteli slightly turn away, her trembling grin slightly noticeable between her long strands of loosely braided hair—eventually covered up by her hands as she hid her face inside of them. Javelin quickly closed his mouth again at the sound of squeaking wood, making the three of them face Jikith as he placed his candle down onto its original position, returning their only light source for the night.
"I and Guan will stay at the carriage; one of you will have to guide the entrance since there is no door for this frame... I have some things to speak to him about since I haven't met him for quite a long while now. I will come by in the morning and give you some food for the day..."
While Uteli was busy hiding her face, Midas and Javelin froze at Jikith as he spoke to them in a dismissive tone, grabbing some of the fried herbs as he made his way out of the hut. Midas exchanged glances with Javelin as he sat down beside them again, tucking on his hood to cover his ears.
"We just have to go through this... I will keep watch; you just make sure Uteli is alright."
Javelin gave an affirmative sound at Midas's offer, seemingly accepting the youth's choice of staying quiet—not digging any further than they had to. Midas rubbed his closed lids, spending another night without sleep—even though the makeshift shack was a major improvement compared to the split-up log he was forced to sit on.