The image of Mira-Wen faded from Eldion’s eyes and he saw himself speeding through what seemed an infinity of space and time. There were small points of light that appeared everywhere and started to rotate around him in ever quickening spirals. He had to close his eyes in the brightening light just as he thought he saw indiscernible shapes and shadows emerge through the thick white veil that suddenly covered everything. Then, he heard a constant hum as if made by bees that were placed close to his ears along with the strangely regular beeps of a small bird. He saw different shapes take the form of white hazy figures that kept moving around him and heard their whispers, but try as he might to listen, their words remained unintelligible.He realized that he was lying down and there were four bright points of light above him. He still could not see clearly but was able to discern a figure detach itself from the others. It hovered over him until it blocked the light. Everything was still t

“Mira!” It was Wen’s voice that Mira heard inside her head. “Don’t say anything, but did you see how Casser reacted like he already knew?”Mira looked at Casser who did not seem to mind what Remuel just said. That does not mean anything, she thought.“I just thought it curious that Casser did not care at all that his cart just got ransacked. It was like he knew what already happened to it,” continued Wen.Mira could not speak to tell her sister, but she wondered why Wen would be too suspicious of Casser. Why should it mean anything if Casser was able to hide his anger from the rest of them. Perhaps his material possessions at the cart did not really matter to him as much as they thought.Mira dismissed the thought from her mind and approached the men who were still conversing near the entrance to the cavern.“At least you still have some of your goods there, my love. Don’t worry, it’s just money. We’ll recover them in time,” Mira told Casser as she held on to his arm.Casser looked at

Sela sobbed uncontrollably and Mira and Eldion could not do anything to console her. Eldion looked at Mira as if to ask her what he should do. He felt guilty thinking that it was his fault. After all, it was he who asked the question that finally made the Sela cry. At first, Eldion thought that the woman was a tower of power and quite immovable. At that moment, however, Sela seemed vulnerable and was the opposite the tough exterior that she had shown to the newcomers.Mira saw Eldion look at her, but she also did not know how she would act. Back at Thunka’s Entertainment Palace, she had been trained on how to deceive people by acting and making up stories that would capture her target’s sympathy. Mira learned how tears could do wonders in getting an upper hand on targets that were quite difficult to crack. When presented with an actual situation where a woman cries in front of her, Mira was quite clueless on what to do. She wondered if Sela was just acting just as Mira was able to let

“Are you sure about that?” asked Casser trying to recall the feather bag that Mira-Wen had always kept with her. “I thought it was just some fashion accessory,” said Casser, rubbing his chin.“Ha! What do you know about women’s fashion?” asked Remuel, raising an eyebrow.“I don’t!” said Casser. “I’ve never been a woman before, but I do know someone who had become a fat woman for a time.” Casser laughed loudly.“You got me there,” said Remuel, admitting defeat.There was a pause before Casser spoke. “About Mira’s feather bag though, I don’t think those are melsip feathers. Melsip feathers are quite rare and are as rare as the magical birds themselves.”“Yes, I know. The birds could turn themselves invisible at the first hint of danger and it would take powerful magic to be able to track them in the jungle,” said Remuel. “I haven’t really come across a lot of them, but I’ve seen one or two and I think that bag was covered with melsip feathers.”Casser was quick to reply. “Nah! Melsip fea

Remuel chuckled as he took the chicken from Mira.“Ha! So, you already know. Beats me how were you able to know whose chicken this is,” said Remuel.“Mira recognized the chicken,” answered Eldion.“You recognized this one from so many others? I thought all chickens looked alike,” replied Remuel with a bit of sarcasm in his voice. He looked at Mira and produced another smile.Eldion, hearing what Remuel said, suddenly turned his face to Mira and smiled as well. “I told you they all look alike,” said Eldion.“Men,” said Wen’s voice and Mira imagined her sister rolling her eyes. Mira merely shrugged her shoulders ever so slightly.“Where are you taking it?” asked Sela. “I was just about to cook it, but Mira stopped me.”Remuel turned to Mira and said, “Oh, did she?” Remuel turned to Mira. “I’m glad you stopped Sela. She can b