Chapter 7

“You know, I don’t think I get it. My dad is the Wondrous Leader?” I asked incredulously.

"Yes indeed," beamed Gregory.

“Of Ziara?”

The man nodded, annoyed at my surprise.

“I… what? How? My dad is dead for God’s sake!”

I let my fingers graze the transparent fluid as the water gently formed ripples again.

“Geez, that’s a bit rough don’t you think?” he asked.

I narrowed my eyes at him and gritted my teeth.

“Let me explain something to you, Gregory. My father is dead and there is no bringing him back anymore. If that was possible, I’m sure as his daughter, I would have tried.”

The picture in the river began to turn dark, black smoke surrounding him and erasing his image like he was in death right now.

"Your father is trapped, Jenn. It's your choice and your choice ONLY to get those damned objects that we talked about, this morning. There are other options available. I can send you home if you wish with your friend… or use this as an opportunity to find your long-lost father.”

I clenched my teeth and stood up. "But my dad was killed in a car accident. This isn't possible, I'm sure this is some kind of illusion!" I cried. “You don’t understand how much I long for him, how much I miss him. But none of this, nothing makes sense!”

"Jenn, you didn’t expect any of this. But think about it. Nothing in this world makes sense. Everything is an illusion that you slowly adhere to. Get used to, each day. Ziara, our people, it all seems like fantasy, magic, that you were taught doesn’t exist. But what nonsense is all that?”

His words etched themselves into my hazy mind.

“I need to go.” Before I could make a thorough escape from what I hoped was a dream, Gregory caught my arm. Through narrowed eyes, he got close to my face to make a valid point, “Choose the right decision. Before you regret it.” It wasn’t a dream anymore.

He smiled at me and started to walk away. "Oh, your friend must be waiting for you. Run along now.”

I ran as fast as my tiny legs could carry me. Not because Gregory had told me to, but I had to tell Jess what I had seen.

The door to our room was slightly ajar, so I gently pushed it open and watched Jess pull her hair up into a ponytail.

Seeing me arrive, she apologised. “I’m sorry if I’ve been a bit rough-

“It’s okay, all good,” I cut her off. “We need to talk very quickly, it's important.”

“What’s wrong?”

I inhaled. “My dad’s alive.”

Jess’ forehead creased as she doubted what I was spilling to her.

“I don’t get it?”

“As stupid as it sounds, I think- in fact I know that the Wondrous Leader is my dad!”

The rising silence in the atmosphere was enough to make me feel judged, heavily.

“And what makes you say that?” Jess questioned.

In split seconds, I narrated to her what had happened. Her mouth stood agape in complete awe.

“Do you trust him?”

I stayed quiet for a second. “I’m eager to grab onto any opportunity that gives me a chance to be with my dad.”

“That wasn’t my question-

“I don’t trust him.”

“And your dad’s the supposed person that we’re supposed to help to find yeah? With those two boys helping us?” Jess asked.

“Correct.”

“Pssh, I don’t need any help. But I’ve rethought about our priorities,” she said.

I knew what exactly she was coming at. “Jess, it’s not fair on you and what you want.”

She sighed. “As a friend, I need to help you.” She laughed. “Oh, for goodness sake, your father is out there, alive! Whether Gregory is worth trusting or not, it’s definitely worth giving it a try.”

I smiled at her. “Fair enough. And thank you.”

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“Ready?” asked Jess.

I hesitated to say yes as I watched Mason and Darren come into clear view. While Darren gave us a quick nod and a warm smile, Mason replicated the typical mood of Bubbles.

"Right, so we'll be setting off soon, everyone got everything they need?" In a backpack handed to us were necessities for a certain period of time and while the alicorn had questioned our comfort, he hadn't given any time for a reply. "Good. We need to obtain some important information from Gregory first and then we'll be on our way. Jenn, would you travel to the lookout? Gregory will meet you there. In fact, Mason can come with you."

My face flushed red as my heart pounded inside my ribcage, the sound deafening to my ears.

"No need for Mason to come, I can do it myself. I'll be back quickly."

"Well then, if you're happy to, then I have no probl-," Bubbles was cut off as Mason started to talk.

"Looks like Miss Independent is smarter and braver than she seems,” he mocked. His smirk reflected the image that he was a plain jerk, unlikable in every way. It was the first time I had heard his voice, clear that the devil was in there.

I rolled my eyes and began to make my way to the lookout. This time, there were no lit torches in place as the sun was up. Gregory was standing with his arms folded, a rolled-up piece of paper situated in his hands.

“Hello. Sorry if I’m late.”

“I have this map for you, to help with your journey. There’re instructions that you’ll have to decode and figure out on your own. Though I know you have the ability to do so. I wish you good luck,” he began to leave.

“Why aren’t you coming with us?” I called out.

He turned around. “I have some business here that I need to finish off.”

“Oh.”

I hadn’t bothered to unravel the map, so held it rolled up in my hands while walking back to the others. The early morning daylight provided a fresh sense of warmth and hope.

"So, he gave us a map. We should probably get out of Ziara first and then start to look for our first object," I suggested, once getting to those waiting around for me.

"She's right," claimed Bubbles.

"How long will it take to get from here to the outer world of Ziara?"

"Flying on alicorns can get us there in about six hours.”

We looked at each other, unsure if the alicorn in front of us was being serious.

“And yes, one of you can fly on me,” he reluctantly stated. “Alvina and Asherah are my two fairies who will also be flying with us, to help us if need be.”

“Good,” mumbled Mason.

Darren offered to fly on Bubbles leaving the three of us to choose from a wide variety of unicorns. Most of them just stood there grazing on the grass while others talked amongst each other or ran about giving orders, like Bubbles. But the one that stood out to me the most was the mystical creature lying on its side in the middle with the name of 'Starlight.' Jess chose one named "Moonlight' while Mason picked 'Snowflake.' Seconds after we had selected our rides, we settled on a plan of action. We schemed to fly for three hours without stopping unless for an emergency and then we would be able to have a twenty-minute break in between. The short pitstop would allow us to freshen up or rest on the ground for some time. I was vague on what route we were going to take therefore got out the map which I had taken from Gregory earlier. I instructed everyone to gather around me, so we could plot this out. The map was clear and comprehensible and showed exactly five items situated in distinct locations.

"Is that a coat?" asked Darren, pointing to a particular position on the map.

"What do you think it means?" Jess said, joining in on the discussion.

Instead of focusing on only the coat, I observed the other images which were drawn on the map.

I asserted, "Guys, have a closer look. There's more to the map than just the coat. I don't even think it's a coat, it represents more of a cloak or something to me."

"Same thing," grumbled Mason.

This was the second time I had ever heard him talk. It's an improvement.

Drawn on the map, was a small picture of a swarm of bees. Next to that was an image of skull and crossbones, something that resembled death. On the right of that was a sketch of a sword and lastly, triangles. Triangles? I was perplexed as the last one seemed extremely random.

"Remember how Gregory mentioned that we had to find some objects? Well, this could be it." I reminded the group.

"So pretty much, we have to find each item?" Bubbles questioned.

"Yep."

"But how does that have anything to do with finding our Wondrous Leader? Wouldn't it be easier to just go straight to wherever he is?" Darren was firing questions at me now.

"Where do you think my dad is trapped?" I asked back.

He shrugged his shoulders and I told him that these items might have a slight chance of playing a vital role in finding my father. Of course, I was not 100% sure, but at this moment, it was the best I could do. Bubbles had been quiet the whole time, just like Mason until now.

"Jenn, read the words above the picture of bees. What does it say?"

I didn't know if there was a problem with my eyesight, but I couldn't find any words or code.

"Sorry Bubbles, but I can't see anything."

The alicorn seemed deep in thought until he finally turned to me and asked me if I could hold the map closer to him. Doing what he had asked, Bubbles started to slowly read out what was written, and it seemed as if the location was given already. We were unable to decipher it ourselves so assumed perhaps only animals or specific to that- alicorns had such ability.

Our first destination was going to be a place called 'Ebuven' which to reach, we had to get out of the border of Ziari. From Ebuven, we were to find a cloak and move on. Seemed pretty easy to me.

"Hop on your alicorns everyone, it's time to go!" Bubbles informed.

"Finally!" scoffed Jess as she climbed onto Moonlight.

I scrambled onto Starlight myself as everyone else climbed aboard their own alicorns with the aim of takeoff and possible discoveries.

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After spotting a small river bank further down, we decided to stop for a much-needed break for which we had travelled for some time.

"Everybody, ready to stop for a bit?"

"Yes!" the group chorused.

"Okay, then let's go down," I instructed the flying alicorns who began to glide downwards in a graceful manner. Once reaching solid ground, everyone wandered off to rest for themselves while I placed my backpack under a tree big enough to provide shade and grabbed a drink. Being alone with enough time, I decided to take another look at the map, just in case there was any other information we had to consider.

"Can I see the map?"

I whipped my head so fast that I was positive I had broken my neck. Turns out that Mason had spoken once again to me. When we were flying, he had only made conversation to Darren and no-one else, and while that was normal, his approach surprised me.

"Yeah sure," I responded.

I handed him the map and took a step back to observe what Jess was doing. But kudos to me, I never made it past the tree. The ground beneath me was dirty and wet, making it muddier and easy to slip. Losing my balance, I was about to skid and crash into the weeping willow when at the right moment, a peculiar set of arms kept me in place. I was in great disbelief as I registered the person who had saved me. Mason was glaring at me and he quickly came to a realisation that his arms were still around me while to my annoyance, a deep blush spread from my head to neck. Wonderful. Rescuing the map from the filthy floor, he removed his hands from my waist and turned around to continue studying the map and asked me, "What do you think this cloak is used for?"

"I don't know," I replied. "I guess we'll find out." He shrugged before giving the map back to me and returning to his unicorn. I came to an understanding that it would be better if we left sometime early, in case we needed to stop again.

"We should start heading off now," I said.

As everyone hurried about getting organized, I remembered that I had not thanked Mason for earlier. Putting the map back in my backpack, I took it and ambled towards Mason. He turned around as he sensed me approaching him. I was hesitant to say something in the fear that he would scare me away or dislike it.

"Um, I just wanted to say, thanks. For earlier."

"Yeah it's-

"Hurry up Jenn, you're wasting time!" yelled Jess. I reluctantly moved towards Starlight as to continue the journey.

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Bubbles had finally told me that we had reached the border of Ziara. From here, we could reach Ebuven in a few minutes, that is if I had read the map right. Below me, all I could see was clouds and lots of them.

"Bubbles, why can I only see clouds but nothing else?"

"Because this is the border which separates Ziara from the other kingdoms. It's just clouded as so people can recognize between the different lands. You'll only be able to see clouds even if you go far down."

Darren's feminine squeal made everyone focus on him, "Sorry, but I can see something in the distance!"

I got out the binoculars in my backpack looking ahead. With the slight resemblance of mountains or hills maybe, I was certain we were nearing our destination. And as we began to get closer to those much-needed discoveries, I realised the reality of the mission and understood that there was no turning back.