As I called out to the silver worm and landed near its pond, tenticles emerged from the water. “Oh, if it isn’t Veero.” They wiggled. “Why didn’t you visit me earlier? I’ve missed you.”

I don’t have time to waste. “Teleport me to the Grand Continent,” I ordered with all my strength.

The worms froze and started to move a bit after a minute. “Why so hurried? Enjoy—”

Now that I didn’t have to look up to these worms, they didn’t seem like much. They would even look tasty if I hadn’t developed a taste for hearts. “Take me to the other continent!” I ordered.

Tentacles shot towards me.

I dug my talons into the earth and flapped my wings. The great gust of wind pushed the worms back. “Don’t try anything!” I yelled over my gust.

The worm settled down and retreated into the pond, slowly undulating above its reflective, mercury-like surface.

I stopped flapping my wings and as the wind settled, they spoke again, “Hmmm… I just wanted to talk a bit. Not only did you become a beast, but also a being so quickly. How greedy can one creature be? You know you can’t get everything you want.”

“It’s not about greed!” I stretched out my neck, threatening to peck him. “I was scammed out of what I wanted. All I’ve ever wanted was the life of my Rose. Not this body nor its strength. Not a kingdom nor any special magic. Why is my wish so hard to grant? Why do the gods care more for a small child than an old bird? That god only granted me back my body, but he granted the prince his wish. How can that be fair when I was the one to fulfill the boy’s wish?” I cawed. “I should be above him. Look! I just need you to do what you promised in exchange for your useless name. After all, you’ve been getting a cut of my favours, no?”

“Fair enough, but since you want me to teleport you so far, it takes me a bit of time to accumulate the required power—”

“Lies. You said it yourself, I’m a being now. I know how much power you have, and sending me through a portal doesn’t sound very exhaustive.”

“Relax, I’m not lying.”

I created another gust of wind. This time, great wind scythes blew across the pond towards the worms, who quickly retreated under the silver water. Dozens of thin but sharp trunks grew on my sides. Once they towered over the nearby trees, I directed them towards the pond to skewer whatever hid under the opaque surface. But before they plunged into the pond, the shiny mercury surface turned mate, and the wood crashed against it, exploding into thousands of splinters.

The mate, metal-like substance softened, turning back into a liquid, and the worms emerged. “Did you blow off that steam or do you want to do it again?”

I cawed. “Why can’t you take me to the Continent?” I asked, annoyed at his reservation.

“Look…” he said slowly and with caution. “I told you that I can transfer you to any silver pond on this continent because I’m the only one here. I know that there are silver ponds on the continent, and I could theoretically transfer you there. The problem is, they are already inhabited by silver pond worms of their own. This would be like a bird laying its eggs in another bird’s nest. I can’t do it.”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I relaxed my stiffened neck and glanced away from the worms to break my stare. “Then how long would it take?” I asked.

The worms began to speak with more comfort, “I don’t know. We often sleep for decades at a time, and we speak by sending our messages through a network of spores spread beneath the earth. Not that I have a lot of connections, though. The only one I have is through the silver pond worm that occupies the Dead Empire, and he’s currently sleeping, so my message wouldn’t be able to pass him until he awakes.”

Why did these worms have to have such complicated methods of communication? “Is there no other way? If you’re telling me I have to wait a century, then why did you tell me you could do anything?”

“Aren’t you a bird?” He asked out of left field.

“Yes!”

“Then fly.”

Stumped for words, I cawed.

“You’ve been stuck in a humanoid body for too long!” It laughed. “I can’t guide you there, but I can tell you in what direction to fly.”

“How did I not think of that?” I wanted to facepalm, but my wings didn’t move like arms.

“Just let me wrap my worms around you, and I’ll transport you to the main port of Rosalia.”

I hopped closer to the pond with a bit of hesitation. Eight tentacles wrapped around my wings and pulled me into the pond, but yet again, I was never submerged in the silver liquid and emerged out the other side dry and on a large rock.

“Here you are. The city of Grisa, the port city of the Kingdom of Rosalia.”

I looked around. Although we were in another forest, the trees looked…drier, if I could employ the term for this. Their barks were covered in salt crystals and their branches didn’t grow many leaves. I couldn’t imagine building a nest in such a public place.

There was also a slight salty taste to the light winds. I hopped around. Behind me sprawled not a forest but a great ocean.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it!” Said the worms.

I cawed in agreement. We were atop a large mountain made of cracked light grey and white rocks. The sun was setting, and the sky had a slight purple and orange tint to it. Below us, a city slept.

Only a few ships were docked at its port and a few torches patrolled the walls. It seemed they had been spared of what was going on in the hinterland.

“So, what do I follow to get to the Continent?” I asked.

“At night the wind travels from the Dead Empire to the Kingdom of Rosalia. As such, if you fly against the strongest winds, you will find your way to the Continent.”

“That means I should stop if I don’t get there in one night? And this Dead Empire, is that where the Empire of Flora used to exist?”

“Yes, to both. Recently, an ancient Lich got a mission to wipe out an empire to attain the status of a demigod. He did so and while he got used to his powers, he paid off a lot of beings to stop the rise of any other strong beings in exchange for god favours. He’s just awakened as a demigod a few years ago.”

I began to understand why there weren’t any new beings for so long. “That means that there are very few beings on the Continent as well,” I guessed.

“That depends on the region. There are many other demigods who control their own territories and have their own beings. Only the Dead Empire should have few beings if none at all, but who knows what’s happened now, it’s been a long time since I’ve spoken to anyone there.”

“But then why were there so few beasts if he only restricted the number of beings?”

“The easiest way to prevent any beings from popping up is by not having beasts.”

“And why did you heed his command to limit the appearance of beings? Couldn’t you or the Emerald Lady become the Demi-God of this land? Weren’t any missions offered to you?”

“Missions to do what? There’s never been anything on the island in the first place,” the worm said with a chuckle. “It just so happened that we fell into a demigod’s territory, even then, nothing much has changed here. It’s a quiet place, and we four beings who look over it like it as such. Anyhow, you should get going, the wind is blowing.”

I looked up to the sky and let my feathers be stroked by the cold eastward winds. “Then I’ll be going.” I opened my wings wide and waited to get a feel of the gale. When I identified the strongest current, I soared into the sky.

“I wish you luck, little one.”