It was a shaky and bumpy trip. Eiden felt like they were sliding through a dark tunnel filled with syrup. The air seemed too heavy to suck through his nose. At a moment short of passing out, the ride ended and they fell onto the soft ground.

Eiden felt the wind knocked out from him, as something heavy fell on him, must be his friends. Arrgh. Get off me. That was his last thought before he lost consciousness.

"Ah," Eiden groaned. His head was pounding.

"Eiden, wake up," He heard someone calling. He struggled to open his eyes. First, he saw the starry sky. Millions of stars filled the sky. Then..

"ARRHH," Eiden let out a scream before realizing the dark shape that came into his line of vision was only Clade. Now both his heart and head were pounding.

"You okay?" Clade put his hands under Eiden's armpits and pulled him to a sitting position. But Eiden felt he couldn't hold himself together, and like a muppet, when Clade removed support, he slid down to the ground. He heard Clade growl and he was roughly pulled up again, this time a strong body supported him to lean against.

"Clade," Eiden mumbled.

"How long I was out, how are the others?" Eiden tried to look around but was restricted by Clade's arm wrapping around his torso.

"Woke up first, and you next. Others still out. Cissa opened his eyes. Fell back asleep a while ago,” Clade spoke while rubbing Eiden's back. He analyzed the surroundings. The air was slightly heavy with some unknown, but bad smell. Other than that, it wasn't lacking. He was missing something.

"The key, where's the key?"

Clade put his hand into the jacket pocket and took the key out.

"You heldvit tight. Thought it might be taking your magic, so I got it," Clade gave it to Eiden.

The moment Eiden touched the key, he felt a pull of magic. Very faint to figure out the direction. Finally, there was hope. He heard a pained groan.

"Cisaa is waking up." Then he saw Nub also moving.

"I'll get Cissa, see Nub." Eiden pulled Cissa up, and as Clade did, Eiden held Cissa until he regained strength to sit up alone.

"What happened?" Nub mumbled like in a dream.

"The portal travel zapped our strength, that's why we feel like noodles," Eiden said.

"My nose is itching,” Cissa muttered to Eiden's shoulder.

"The magic residue in the air is strong." Eiden patted his back.

"Does everyone feel well enough to move?" They started walking around to get their legs stretched.

"This place is very strange," Nub whispered.

It was indeed strange. The ground they stood on was soft and earthy. Around them was covered by a small plant, which had succulent small leaves, and it was completely red.

"Eiden, this plant is so red like blood." Cissa pulled one out.

The ground around them was uneven, there were bumps and indentations, but as far as they could see it was similar. However, the further you could see, the vision was blurred by a curtain of mist. The sky was unusually clear when eyes got used to the low light, it was possible to see around without light.

"Cissa your eyesight is better than ours, can you see what's far ahead? How can we locate your parents, Eiden?" Clade asked while looking around.

"I'm feeling the link, but very faint.” Eiden knelt to touch the ground and focused his magic on the ground. He closed his eyes and let his magic seep through the soft ground. In his mind's eye, he had a vision of vast dark waters. And...

"Ahh," Eiden took his hand from the ground so fast that it burned and fell flat on his back.

"Eiden, hey,” Cissa and Clade supported him to get up.

Eiden blinked and threw arms around the friends. He didn't realize he was holding them in a crushing hug, while his friends tried to loosen his grip.

"Eiden, what you saw?" Clade shook him.

"For a second something whispered," Eiden paused.

"Like, you're so powerful, in a sweet voice, but it's like fake." He looked at his friends with widened eyes.

"They know, we're here," he whispered. They stood in silence.

"Let's go," Clade finally broke the silence.

"There are mountains, I think behind the mist," Cissa said. Nub agreed.

"I think all around us is." She gestured around. Eiden, recovering from the unpleasant vision, took the key which was hidden under his shirt.

"I'll feel the direction of the link, and then we walk." He held the key in closed palms and waited for a clear direction. But, it was in vain.

"I can't feel a clear direction. Let's pick a direction and walk ahead," he said, concealing the key again.

"Eiden," Nub sounded a bit scared.

"Stars are all wrong."

"By lord!" Cissa exclaimed. Eiden couldn't even do that. He thought there were too many stars when he first saw the sky. But it was not just too many, but the sky was totally alien.

"True. Can't recognize them either," Clade said gravely.

"Oh," Eiden gasped at the realization.

"Guys, this must be like Papa's world, remember the shadows lived on the night side of the planet. Let's find some clear stars, and remember them."

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The next few minutes, they spent watching the night sky and finding a few brighter and larger ones, and getting a rough idea of direction. They decided to leave in line with one very bright and lonely star, which was easy to spot.

"Watch the ground. It's uneven." Clade said when Eiden stumbled over a clump of red plants.

They walked for hours, mostly in silence, the ground was the same, and the surroundings too, making them feel melancholic. They sat on the ground and opened up the packs to get food.

"We should ration the food." Nub divided some dried meat into four parts for each, and they munched silently.

"Is it only me or is the star still in the same place?" Clade asked, looking at the sky. They looked around to locate the stars they earlier noted.

"I think it's the same, probably this place stays still,” Eiden said.

"I honestly can't understand how it works, it's a pity we didn't have much time to learn from Papa," he added, cursing why didn't he bother to ask that? Nub moved closer to Eiden, to see their small paper chart of the direction telling stars.

"Eiden, when we go back home, and find the old city, can I stay with you for a while? There will be so many books, and all of the magic is wonderful." she leaned on him. They laughed at her eagerness.

"What, with Eiden, poor Ivar," Cissa purred. Nub hissed at him, annoyed by the jokes, but blushed as they mentioned Ivar.

They got up again and started walking along the barren land. The land didn't change, but they started feeling that they were going downhill. Eiden however was feeling uneasy, as his peripheral vision seemed to be unusually crowded, yet when he looked around, there was no one walking beside him.

Cissa and Nub both were feeling restless too. Somehow, Clade was the least affected among them, Eiden thought it might be his reptilian ancestry similar to the black dragons making him more immune than others.

The red succulents were highly abundant and crunched beneath their feet, and they hadn't seen any other plants around. Feeling hungry and tired after what seemed like hours, they stopped to set up a camp for a long break. Since it was only night, they had no idea about the time. Also, Eiden's watch had been acting strange, and they ignored it after trying to figure out its new time.

"I think we should sleep on our mats," Eiden said when Cissa checked the ground and curled up.

"Why, it's soft," he asked sleepily. They decided to sleep in pairs, so first Nub and Cissa then Clade and Eiden.

"Because of the whispers." He finished unpacking the small grass mats they used for sleeping while traveling. He spread them on the ground and Cissa and Nub went to sleep on them.

"Clade," Eiden poked the silent boy who was looking at the stars, and marking some on their crude map.

"Why?" Clade turned around.

"Aren't you feeling something is watching us?" he asked.

"Kind of. Keep feeling unusual movements of the ground. Like many people walking with us," Clade said, looking into the endless red landscape around them.

"Many people, that's what I feel too, Clade, it's scary." Eiden shivered.

"Yeah. Feel a strong link?" Clade pointed to Eiden's chest.

"No, not localized, very scattered." Eiden put his hand over his shirt and felt the key close to his heart.

They fell silent, and except for an occasional remark on a star they found, they didn't talk about the invisible crowd following them. When Eiden began to nod, and couldn't keep eyes open, they got Cisaa and Nub to wake up and keep the watch.

Eiden felt a soft touch on his hair, a warm breath was brushed over his cheek. He heard a whisper like a loving caress.

"Eiden, I miss you."

Eiden was confused. But, he felt some familiarity and strained his ears for more. Instead, he felt something touch his chest. Startling into awareness, he saw Cisaa beside him. He gave out a cry and pushed Cissa and stood up lighting fast.

"Eiden, what the..." Cissa cried as he fell on his back. The sound woke up Clade and he sat up drawing his knife for a strike.

"Eiden," Nub called him. She was sitting beside Clade. Eiden was shaken. He checked the key first. And sat up on the mat. Others were looking back and forth at each other.

"Cissa, I'm sorry," Eiden patted Cissa's hand.

"What made you do that?" Clade's voice was hard.

"We need to move fast." Eiden looked at Cissa and others.

"Something is trying to influence me, I thought Cissa was going to take the key. Because I felt something touch my chest," he touched his chest again.

"I heard voices in my sleep." Nub flattened her pointy ears and hugged herself.

"I thought it was a dream." She rested her chin on her knees. Cissa got some food out and Eiden prepared tea. The hot beverage gave some warmth.

They started walking again in the direction of the "lonely star" as they named it on their map. The 'second day' was similar to the first, they were still walking steadily in red and bumpy barren land. When they stopped for food, Eiden decided to feel for water. This time, he felt it clear, they were close to water, running water he knew.

"On my left, there's water,” he announced.

"Should we change the direction?" Eiden asked others. They agreed and started walking towards the direction of running water.

"Think I feel water too." After a few hours of walking, suddenly Clade exclaimed.

"The smell of the air is different," Cissa sniffed.

They felt excited about the change of scenery and walked with renowned enthusiasm. The ground was becoming more and more dry, and sandy. They were surprised by this fact, if there's water nearby, shouldn't the ground be wetter? A slight wind, dusty and dry was sweeping around them.

"Stop," Cissa suddenly said.

"What?" They stopped.

"There are mountains behind us. Don't you think Nub," Cissa pointed behind.

"I think so." Nub sort of agreed as she said she had seen some dark shapes clearer earlier.

"The way ahead of us is too clean, I think there might be mountains, but far away," Cissa said.

"What are you trying to imply?" Clade sat on the ground. They didn't bother to spread mats, as it was too dusty.

"Ground is level and dry. Farsight is clear, what do you think?"

"Oh, you mean we might be on a cliff or something?" Eiden asked.

"We need to be careful walking then, I don't want to fall from a cliff." Nub took another ration of the food. They had a long rest, and Eiden kept having unsettling dreams. But, at least he didn't attack friends.

"You're right." Eiden hugged Cissa tightly.

They were staring down from a cliff.

On the third day, the landscape varied like a step ladder. They knew there was water somewhere close by. But the ground was very difficult to walk as there were many ups and downs. Finally, they came to the edge of a cliff, and now staring at a river in the depths of the cliff.

"It's crazy," Clade frowned.

"Should we go down to the river?" They were huddling in a pile sitting on ground far from the cliff edge.

"Eiden, try the key again," Cissa urged.

"I need to concentrate deeply, hold on to my hand Cissa. It can anchor me."

Eiden took the key on his palms and closed his eyes. He dived deep into the magic of the key, looking for the link. He saw a very faint silver thread. Coming out of his trance, he took a moment to steady himself.

"It seems to point to my right.” he pointed in the direction.

"And, I think, there's a lake or sea on that side."

"Then this river must be flowing in that direction." Clade guessed.

"But, there are more cliffs, the river must be flowing through cliffs, like a canyon. Grandfather told me about a big canyon in the Moonstone mountains. But we have never visited there before," Eiden recalled.

"You got everything, and you just stayed home. Like a frog in the well." Cissa gave a shoulder nudge to Eiden.

"Clade, Cissa being a meanie."

Cissa laughed at pouting Eiden.

"We walk along the cliff to go right, too dangerous,” Clade said, catching their attention.

"You mean we need to go down and follow the river?" Eiden asked after pushing Cissa away, who was muttering 'the royal baby'.

"Or go back to the flat area we walked on the first day. And go to the right." Even as Clade said they knew that's going to be too much of a waste of time.

"No, teleporting is not possible, the plains look very similar everywhere. Let's go down." Eiden made the final decision.