“Hi, Endya. We were looking for you, we haven't heard from you since yesterday.” The large man in the doorway, followed by a group of three people, has a thick mustache surrounding his mouth. He speaks to Endya in a friendly tone, although Sely senses its concern.

Have they been looking for him since last night?

Sely is hiding in the other room, but peeks from the edge of the door. Those humans are much older than Endya but dress in equally simple clothes: shirt, and trousers of coarse fabric. They wear wide-brimmed hats to protect themselves from the sun – decidedly strange in such a cloudy place – and carry belts with knives and tools of various kinds.

Sure, they are explorers, their faces hardened by the elements, the tools... I'm not wrong, they remind me of Mom in every way.

“Sorry,” Endya bows his head. “I went up to get some herbs, but the master asked me to wait for him to return.”

Liar!

Sely would like to intervene, by nature, she can't stand lies, she doesn't understand the meaning of them...

… but these are human things, better not to intervene.

In any case, even the group of explorers does not seem convinced.

“Hmm…” the mustachioed man raises his hat, “where is Master Toslevi right now?”

“I-I don't know… he didn't tell me anything specific.”

“Ah! Typical of that weirdo. Listen, what happened? You're covered in mud and you smell like goatmantis feces.”

The men following burst into laughter.

Sely looks at Endya, all submissive.

He's probably thinking of other lies!

But what a complicated thing, if he had been honest, he could now say everything with his head held high, without problems!

“Nothing, I collected some herbs for the master. I have, at home...”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Hmm… OK, didn't you go to the plateau? You know you're not authorized, right?”

“I know, in fact, I didn't go.”

Liar! Liar! Ah! Stop that! I'll intervene now, yes sir. I'll intervene at the next lie!

“OK, champion” the man's tone changed, annoyed. “Your parents want you home right away. Let's go?"

Endya raises his head and gesticulates. “Er, eh, e-here… the master…”

“He'll take care of himself. Your parents have already given me gifts for my trouble. Do you know what that means?”

Endya bows his head. “Yes, I know.”

“Great, let's go.”

The man and his small group move away from the doorway. Endya sighs and, before leaving, he turns towards the other room.

Sely sees him and it doesn't take him long to notice her.

“Stay here,” he whispers, “I'll be back soon.”

Liar!

⁂

After a few minutes of silence, Sely emerges from her hiding place in the next room. Nothing is interesting there, equipped only with an old mattress, and dirty clothes.

I'm alone again...

Too bad, he's a nice guy even if lying... ugh when I see him again, I'll investigate!

The clouds have cleared and the morning light comes in through the open door. It's past noon and Sely is starting to get hungry.

She takes some stale bread and dried meat out of the bag, goes outside, and starts eating.

The light sea breeze moves her hair.

Hmm… what should I do now?

Dad should live here if Endya didn't lie to me too...

But from the way they spoke, he didn't seem like he was very present…

Once finished eating, Sely goes on an exploratory tour.

The plateau has no particular points of interest, while the building is completely in ruins.

Walking around it, Sely discovers that there are no other entrances but there is a staircase at the back. It is metal, and rusty and allows her to reach the ruined antenna.

The girl climbs up and sits on a protruding grate. From that point, she can see the horizon very well. On one side the dark and rough sea, on the other the forest. The dark green and dense foliage extends as far as the eye can see.

However.

Surprise.

Wonder.

Even without the telescope, something is visible very far away. A large structure rises beyond the forest. But no matter how hard Sely leans in, she's too far away and can't be understood well. Surely black smoke comes out of the tower. So much so that it looks like a cloud.

Looking back downstream, the city of Vanoge is there. So small from that vantage point. People are busy and as Sely concentrates she can hear something: hammers banging on anvils, shouting. Everything mixes.

I can't wait to get closer.

It's a real shame that…

…all this is about to end.