Two days had passed since Olivia had made the decision for both of them to continue their journey with The Walking Dreamers.

In that time the routine had boiled down to getting up early to make the most of the sunlight, resting every so often to stretch their legs and then stopping before sunset to set up camp and eat dinner.

Silas and Olivia traveled inside the wagon driven by Gorwan, who sat next to Deema, while in the back the two new members were seated with their children Celestia, Elyssa and the distrustful Alder who had kept quiet all the time, just like Silas, although, in his case, it was because he had no interest in participating in the cheerful conversation.

In contrast, Olivia's situation was very different. She had become friends with the two sisters since that first lunch, and they hadn't stopped gossiping since.

It was hell.

There wasn't a topic they didn't touch on, from all the plays in which the three siblings, even as children, had participated, novels that Olivia had read, each one worse than the last, in Silas' opinion, dresses, fabrics, music, celebrations and festivities to which the actors had been invited to participate with their show, as well as anecdotes of the roads and towns they visited, which usually included some kind of unrequited suitor.

“Maybe we'll be lucky and there will be a party in the village as sometimes happens after the performance,” said Elyssa at one point, full of enthusiasm.

“Do you remember that time, Elyssa, when that baker ended up offering to marry you?” Celestia asked laughing. “I'll never forget your face!”

“Don't remind me!” exclaimed Elyssa, covering her face with her hands. “I've never run so fast in my life.”

“Alder almost killed him with his wooden sword!”

“And rightly so!” replied Alder, always with crossed arms and an angry look. “Any man who troubles my sisters deserves death,” then he looked at Silas. “And if it happened that he wanted to elope with one of them, I would chase him to the end of the world.”

“Oh, Alder, leave him alone, you are such a pain,” Celestia rolled her eyes. “You may find my brother very unpleasant, but he's a good person. If it wasn't because you're engaged to Silas, I'd make you marry him, Olivia.”

“Ah... thank you...” laughed Olivia looking at Silas uncomfortably, but he did nothing but sigh in boredom.

“He's very overprotective,” said Elyssa pinching one of Alder's cheeks, and he squealed for her to leave him alone.

“I don't have any siblings,” said Olivia sounding a little wistful. “Although... I do have a half-sister who I don't know very well...”

“You see, Alder?” complained Celestia. “Don't make our friend sad. It's been a long time since we could travel with someone our age.”

“What about you, Silas?” asked Elissa. “I'd like to hear you say something. Do you like theater?”

Silas didn't feel like pretending to understand any of it.

“I've only seen one play in my whole life... so I don't know,” he answered.

“Which one?”

“The Legend of Terrarkana.”

“Ah... but everyone knows that one! Now that you're with us, we'll show you everything we can do!”

From then on, the two girls continued to describe everything that their repertoire included. Not only plays but also singing, dancing, puppetry, shadow theater, acrobatics and juggling. Silas had a hard time understanding what everything was about so Olivia had to explain it to him later when they were alone. Luckily for him, the sisters were so enthusiastic that they didn't notice his ignorance, although Alder kept looking at him, perhaps attentive to any of his movements and words.

He didn't blame him. He would have acted that way too if that was his family. In fact, he was the one he most resembled in the group. The rest were almost all like Olivia, talkative and giggly as if they had taken some sort of potion that made them feel happy all the time. In addition to chatting, they also spent their time singing, while the wagons were moving, while they were setting up camp, and even after dinner, before they all retired for the night. It was unbearable.

But not for Olivia, who seemed to move like a fish in water and had taken almost no time at all to learn the songs they had taught her. She hadn't seemed this comfortable even when they had joined the sirenians' party.

Meanwhile, Silas and Alder were the two sullen ones of the group and it wasn't long before someone noticed their funny resemblance, even though they didn't seem to get along at all. There even came a time when the two agreed to go chop wood for the fire on their own to get away from the raucous group.

Silas felt grateful to have those little chores to distract him from lamenting his failed journey across the gulf. He still didn't understand what he had done wrong. He had been so fortunate to be granted a new form, and not only had he lost that ability, but now he couldn't even transform into any other animal, as if all his past efforts were worth nothing.

He had been careful, just as the sirenians had told him, but apparently not enough.

Or perhaps the Sirenians had tricked him, knowing that he would not last long in that orca form and that it would be a matter of time before he would end up drowning, and thus end the problem of the chimera that had escaped from the mountains. Although none of them had counted on Olivia traveling with him thanks to Numi's power.

Still, he didn't dislike the actors, they were just loud, and, despite that, it had been a peaceful trip. Olivia hadn't gone through another episode either, or at least she wasn't acting weirder than usual by Silas's standards. With humans one never knew.

In any case, Silas did not understand why she had to invent such an implausible story that unexpectedly, at least for him, the whole group had bought into so innocently, except perhaps for Alder who seemed to be the only intelligent one, and Silas respected him all the more for that.

Well of course it was obvious that they were no couple. That could be noticed from far away, but he wasn't going to lose his dignity by pretending such stupidity. Olivia was the guilty one, let her take it upon herself to keep lying to the rest.

He felt so frustrated that whatever he was asked to do, he did it willingly.

“You're such a sweetheart, Silas,” Deema would tell him, shaking his hair, as did Gorwan every time the chimera offered to do the smallest task such as fetching the firewood, helping set up the tents, stirring the stew spoon, or carrying the luggage back to the wagons.

However, there was something that kept him from forgetting his problems and that was his own body, to which he had not yet adapted. The first time he had stood up on two legs he had struggled a lot and stumbled all the time. The fingers of his hands trembled when he carried out small actions that required precision, no matter how simple they seemed. More than a few times he had felt a spasm in his hands that had caused him to drop the axe or hit himself with the hammer while driving a stake into the ground to set up the tent.

His clothes also bothered him. His entire body itched, and he kept scratching himself until he left marks. He would have liked to run to a place behind trees or rocks to get rid of it at least for a while, but if someone discovered him, he knew they would not see him as a normal human.

So far, thanks to the talisman, he had achieved something that seemed impossible, although it also bothered him how easy it was to be mistaken for one of those beings, as if there was no difference between them and the chimeras.

When one of those little accidents happened, Gorwan and Deema, thinking that his lack of coordination was due to the accident he had suffered in the water, asked him not to try so hard, that he would soon recover. It hadn't been that long yet.

It hadn't been that long, it was true, but Silas could feel the nerves starting to get the better of him. The last time he had been in that first form he had been nothing more than a cub unable to transform, while his brothers ran around him turned into foxes, wolves, goats, bears, deer, even eagles, and always left him behind. The pathetic nameless one.

Nameless, nameless, that shall be your name, nameless. It was his brothers' favorite song, very different from the songs the actors sang during that trip.

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The first time he had succeeded in becoming a mouse, he had felt euphoric, but his joy was soon dampened by the indifferent reaction of his family, for whom it was still not enough. They waited impatiently for him to adopt the next form, which he did, although it took several lunar cycles.

That did not satisfy the pack either. It was very difficult for him to maintain his fox form at the beginning, and his brothers had to carry him so as not to leave him behind.

Until one day his father, angered, did the unthinkable to force him to take a new form and his failure caused the pack to finally decide to abandon him.

Spending so much time with the humans made him feel confused, but Silas should not forget that he had been pushed out of the mountains, and that there was a lot of work left for him to do before returning and taking revenge on those who had treated him like the very scum.

If he took as true what the sirenians had told him, he had to find the cause of the knot he didn't know he had until then. At the moment, the only one around who could tell him anything about the Ethereal Codes was Olivia herself, but when he mentioned the matter to her she shook her head in sadness.

“Assuming I could reveal your Code, I would not be able to read most of the symbols. You would need a Master, a very advanced one, like Eldrin. It takes many years, even decades to be proficient in reading the Codes. Not all Masters become experts... You'll have to wait until you get to the island, I'm sorry.”

“What if you call one of your witch friends?” Silas insisted.

She was annoyed.

“Look, Silas, first of all, they are not my friends, I have no idea who they are,” she started walking in circles while grabbing her hair. “I also don't know what exactly a witch is since, as much as I've racked my brains, I don't remember ever reading anything about them. Besides... I've already told you about how risky it can be... They're not all the same. You could die!”

“I don't think it's that big of a deal. I'm willing to take the risk. I'd rather die than...”

“I know, I know...” Olivia continued speaking, imitating Silas' voice and moving her arms in the same way she had seen the actors do. “Because, I, noble chimera, prefer to face the clutches of death... rather than continue living in this grotesque form...”

“I don't sound like that.”

“Quite accurate I would say.”

“Although I agree it's a grotesque way,” he said, looking at his thin, elongated, worm-like fingers. “Did you see how they laugh?”

“No one laughs at you, except when you do silly things...”

“Your two new friends make fun of me no matter what I do.”

“How?”

Silas then went on to describe to her the strange attitude of Celestia and Elyssa, who every time they passed near him could not contain their laughter. The chimera wondered what horrendous thing must have been on his face for them to lose their composure so abruptly. Not that he cared. He knew very well that that first form was hideous, but it wouldn't stay that way for long. He had been there before. He would regain his power.

At the end of his explanation, Olivia was looking at him with an annoyed face.

“Silas... they're not laughing at you...”

“Of course they are! Don't defend them! If I'm so ugly, they could at least be nice and fake it a little!”

Those words caused Olivia to experience an abrupt fit of laughter that sent her to the floor.

“You too!” complained Silas.

It took several minutes for the girl to recover. Meanwhile, the sun was almost disappearing over the horizon. The next day they were supposed to reach the town. Silas should take the opportunity to try to change form since it would be impossible for him to do so due to the large number of humans that would be there. Perhaps many more than in Shadowrock Castle or even in the Lake Village.

“At least come with me, and keep watch while I try to transform.”

They walked further away from the camp through a small but thick grove of trees. When they reached the end of it, from where neither tents nor wagons could be seen anymore, Silas handed the talisman to Olivia.

“My eyes?” he asked Olivia.

She jumped as if the question had taken her by surprise.

“What's wrong with them?”

“Are you stupid? I'm asking if they're back to normal.”

“Oh, yeah... they're golden again.”

“Good...” Silas then started to undress.

“What are you doing?” exclaimed Olivia in horror, turning away so as not to look at him.

“It's easier without clothes,” Silas sighed in relief as he hurriedly pulled off the pants that were bothering him so much and felt the fresh air again soothing his irritated skin.

“You can't do that in front of me without warning me first!”

“It's just skin.”

“It's a lot more than just skin! I can't believe you don't realize that!”

“I'm not human, don't forget that. Your stupid rules don't matter to me.”

“You should care if you don't want to get caught!”

“See to it then that no one else comes.”

Olivia sighed in irritation.

“Fine, but hurry up. You'll make yourself sick.”

“Of course I won't. I have more stamina than you.”

“I liked you better when you were a dog or a fox.”

“I agree. So it'll be better for both of us if I get it right away. Do not distract me.”

As Olivia muttered some insult, Silas began to concentrate.He closed his eyes, took several deep breaths, and mentally ran through every part of his body. With each exhalation he tried to imagine his energy coursing through every inch of his skin. He wiggled his fingers slightly and focused on the sensation of his bare feet being caressed by the grasses waving in the breeze.

He bent his body forward until he was lying on the grass. He stayed in that position trying to remember what it felt like to move through the thicket like a mouse, to feel small, invisible, a little ball of fur.

In that form, his family had made fun of him, and he had felt ashamed too. However, he would have given anything to be a mouse again.

All he could hear now was his own heartbeat thundering in his ears. A current of heat ran down his back. He felt a tingling in his hands and feet. There it was. He could feel it. He was shrinking, the grasses were getting taller and taller, his skin was changing...

However, after several minutes, he opened his eyes and his hands were still the same. His whole body remained also the same. In desperation, he closed his eyes tightly and dug his nails into the soil, trying once more, forcing his mind to remember the quickness and smallness of a mouse.

Suddenly, he let out an exhalation that sounded like the growl of a wounded beast. He had been holding his breath without realizing it.

“Silas... are you all right?” Olivia asked.

When Silas turned his head he saw that she had approached him, covering her eyes with one hand.

Beads of cold sweat were trickling down his forehead. He felt exhausted as if all that time he had been trying to cross an invisible, impenetrable barrier. His mind was nothing but a bundle of helplessness and disappointment. A salty taste came to his lips. The drops furrowing her face had turned to tears.

Tears. The last time he had cried like that he was but a child. He didn't want to answer Olivia for fear of losing control. His throat hurt from holding back as if he were about to drown. Now all he could feel was the weight of his own body, the stiffness of his muscles, and the reality of that cursed body.

He lay on the grass, defeated.

“Perhaps...” Olivia began to say, “the orca form consumed a lot of energy, and you need more time... No one loses their powers just like that... I have never read...”

“I don't care what your damn books say!”

He saw the talisman fall next to his face.

“You need to get dressed now. It's getting dark, and they'll be here any minute...”

That said, a voice was heard approaching through the trees.

“Ah, Gorwan! Here they are!” it was Deema, who again found them in a strange situation. “I knew they had not escaped... they were just...”

Hearing Deema's voice, Silas reached to put on the talisman, and then jumped up to start slipping on his pants, but the effort had left him tired and his muscles felt heavy. He ended up falling to the floor as he tried to get dressed.

From the floor, he watched as Olivia, still with her back to him, came face to face with the woman's dumbfounded gaze.

“What were they doing?” asked Gorwan who approached with a torch behind his wife.

“Gorwan...” Deema's attitude took on a determined tone. “We need to have a conversation.”

“A conversation?”

“The conversation.”

“You mean...?”

“Yes, that same conversation we've already had three times with our own children.”

Gorwan scratched his graying head.

“I see... that conversation... Now?” he asked.

“Yes, now, it is most urgent. We're just in time. Silas finish getting dressed first...”

“What conversation?” Olivia asked.

Silas also had the same question on his mind.

Deema's voice softened.

“You know, dear, the conversation.”

“What conversation?” at least she sounded as confused as Silas felt listening to that nonsensical exchange.

Deema sighed.

“Oh, my child... Didn't your mother have this conversation with you?”

“I didn't know my mother... She died before I was born. I was raised by my father.”

Some of that was true, Silas thought.

Deema put a hand to her face.

“I should have thought before I spoke.”

“No... it's nothing... it was so long ago...”

“And... there was no other woman in your life...?”

“My grandmother...” she must have been talking about Barthra. “But she only told me about flowers, herbs, birds, bees... There were some maids but I guess they didn't have my father's permission...”

“And what about you, Silas?”

Now fully dressed, Silas folded his arms.

“I don't want to talk about my parents.”

“Well, that's all the more reason,” Deema insisted. “You'll both have to listen to us now.”

“Well, if my father has been keeping something so important from me... again... I need to know this instant!” Olivia exclaimed with determination.

A while passed while Deema went on to explain everything about male-female relationships. Although his wife had asked for his help, Gorwan kept quiet, and looked the other way.

By the time she concluded, the sun had long since disappeared, and the stars were twinkling in the sky. They returned to camp in silence. Deema and Gorwan ahead, Silas and Olivia following slowly, totally embarrassed.

“No... actually I didn't need to know that... D-did you... know... something... about... about... that?” Olivia whispered to Silas.

“No... No one had explained it to me. I think everyone thought I was going to die at any moment and didn't even bother.”

“For the chimeras... Is it... the same?”

“I have no idea. What does it matter?”

“J-just cu-curious.”

“Let's not continue this conversation.”

“I agree.”

The only good thing for Silas in all of that was that, for a moment, he had forgotten about his resounding failure.

The next day, as soon as dawn broke, the camp was packed up, and soon after, the group of travelers could already see the first houses of the town looming in the distance.