The sun began to set over the Nuanderran oak forest of Mirato-Kwoburuë, where the meeting of the friends of Oranderra's had lasted for the rest of the day. It was clear now that Liana was supposed to be part of an operation in Kavanderra, probably on the following day, and depending on what they’d find the future of the survival of her own kind might depend on it. A much more mundane implication was that she couldn't go back to school at the moment, and she would have no justification for her absence there, but somehow she cared much less about things like that now. She'd also breathed the air of the oak forest for too long now to long for school or her classmates, let alone for the dull import routes of South America and formulas of nonlinear functions. This place was bursting with life, and everything seemed more real than her own world, and so also more important than school had been. Even after just a few hours here the memories of her ordinary existence in Oranderra began to fade a little, and something made her feel as if she’d always been in Nuanderra, in this beautiful oak forest full of life, always meeting people about important wars between worlds and the future of her own world, which had always been was called Oranderra. In fact, of course, she only had heard of that word for the first time very recently, when she had first seen Inaya. And so much had happened since then.

The way she was treated as an important visitor still felt strange and a bit frightening even at times. It wasn't because she'd made the leap between the worlds that she was kind of a powerful person in her own world. She still had no clue what had happened. And maybe she was only representative of her world that was present here, but that was pure coincidence, and it didn't make her special. But here she was simply regarded as an equal to a venerable yam-healer -whatever that even was, it was unclear to her- and a so-called councillor of the Council of councils of a whole world, which seemed all wrong. Sure, the councillor in question was only her new friend Inaya, the otherworldly girl with the white hair and purple eyes who had made her feel at home as a friend from their first meeting, but still…She also didn’t know what to do with the idea that the Council of council seemed to mostly trust her, as did most but not all of the members of the Council of Nummerfa from this oak wood, but she was warned that ordinary people might look at her very differently, and still see her as the dangerous Gorchbold-demon that could destroy the balance of the worlds, and be hostile to her. The Onnobolda weren’t the only ones who wouldn’t be happy if they knew that there was an Orranderran in their midst.

After the meeting there was dinner, which was provided by Akhina and Lun and served on a sort of picnic blanket. Tables to eat were apparently not very common here in the tree homes of the Nummerfa. They sat on a large rectangular cloth woven artfully of a sort of colourful textile that Liana couldn't identify, because eating on the floor indoors was the custom here. The food included some sort of pancakes apparently made from acorn flour, a salad made of all sorts of unknown leaves, and an unknown type of small boiled beans. Very pure spring water was served in a carafe with the crystal glasses she’s seen already. Most of the flavours were more or less recognizable, but they were combined differently, and the spices were different. Still, it was a tasty meal that made her feel kind of at home somehow.

After the meal, Akhina took out a strangely shaped bottle, which was a bluish colour with some sort of orange blotches in it. It contained a strangely coloured liquid and had bizarre characters on it, both letters in the style of those she'd seen on the ceiling of the in-between world and strange squiggles arranged in squares of nine. Lun looked delighted and approving. “That is the pride of my people, what have we done to deserve it? Wine of golden brambles!” Akhina shrugged. “Inaya had asked me to provide a bottle of wine from Nuanderra for our guest. Since the wine made from orange raspberries from Tiliande is the only one that is available in some sort of glass bottles, I chose it.” The fruit wine was served in a new kind of high crystal glasses that widened towards the top, on which strange mythological creatures were depicted, and it was unlike anything Liana had ever drunk. Not that she had that much experience with alcoholic beverages at her age, but she knew automatically that this was a very different category of wine than the one she had experience with.Her grandfather would certainly have been delighted if he had tasted it, she thought with a hollow feeling in her stomach.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Everyone was silent as they sat on the picnic blanket sipping their wine, but it wasn't quiet here. Slowly it grew dark as the sounds of the forest changed again. Several types of cricket-like insects filled the night with chirping, and a songbird whistled in between. Liana thought about what they were going to do. Entering a dead alien world called Kavanderra to search for people -not quite humans, but still people- who wanted to conquer her own world or had worse plans than that for her own kind. Because all humans were evil destructive demons.

In her last meeting with the highest rules of this planet the Council of councils had sent Inaya out to find out what they were doing there. Nothing was said about what they were going to do if they encountered the so-called Onnobolda though. Liana looked at her, sipping bramble wine relaxedly, and then at Lun and Akhina. Why wasn't she even scared? Was it because she was in another world now, outside of all the rules of what was ‘normal’, or was it her strange confidence that everything would always be okay that reared its head?

Finally Inaya broke the silence, and with it Liana's thoughts. “Tomorrow we will make our last plans and then leave, but now we have to sleep. I have a sleeping bag for you, Liana.” Sleeping in another world was something she hadn't even thought about yet, but indeed it would be necessary if she didn't leave for mysterious Kavanderra until the next day. Should she stay there too for more than one day, she wondered. She usually slept badly in a bed that wasn't hers, but she didn't feel like she would have much trouble falling asleep now. This whole world radiated a kind of tranquillity that she wasn’t used to, an all-encompassing friendliness that seems to come from the trees itself.

Liana didn't realise how tired she was until she finally laid herself down. Not only was it true that travelling between worlds took a lot of energy, but all the impressions afterwards had also been very intense. The strange arrival in the in-between world, and all the panic that had come with it, and then the arrival of Akhina with her weird wooden portal had been only the beginning, after all. The whole explanation of the war between the worlds and the way it had been incorporated as a matter of course hadn't made it much better. And then there was her doubt about her own identity, the identity of her species, and her world even, and then her strange gifts. Had she really made that trip to that weird in-between world herself? She still couldn't believe it. And what else could she do but that she didn't know? How many of her strange memories of her dreams had been real? And how dangerous had the things she'd done really been? What risks were there? What else could go wrong? And then there were those strange Onnobolda they were looking for. What did they want? And what would they do to her if the mission failed? Besides, what were they planning that Inaya and Lun feared for her world and her species? So many questions, too many even, and Liana was too tired. Finally she fell into a dreamless sleep.