Chapter 52: The Day After

It was early morning and the sun had spread its golden light across the vast ruins surrounding the ancient temple city deep within the jungles of Alanca. Kora was the first to wake up and started to cluck noisily as she watched her surroundings slowly getting brighter. She rose from where she lay against a moss-covered wall and flapped her wings before finding a wet spot on the ground. There, she started to scratch and peck at the soil for worms and snails.

Lankko woke up when he heard Kora clucking and noticed the brightness in his bedroom. He opened his eyes and saw the tall trees towering over the moss-covered walls of the shelter where they took refuge the previous night. He blinked several times to make sure that he was not dreaming, wishing that he was still inside his bedroom at the fortress. When his surroundings did not change, he was saddened with the memory of his family staying behind in Alnoc. Still, he had to accept the fact that it would probably be a long time before he