105. The west beyond the west

"Okay, so where do we go next? We've reached the sea." Citar stood on the beach with his hands on his hips. The group of Athamanas had been walking for days by the time they got here.

"Where is that Floating Air Barracks?" Benkó asked.

"We're not even close yet." Rahul shrugged.

"But we've reached the end of the west." Suk huffed.

"Yes. The end of the mainland. Now we're moving on." Rahul announced as he took a few steps forward on the part of the water surface that sparkled pale blue to his eyes.

"How do you do this?" Benkó gaped, then pushed his hand into the water.

"Don't play the idiot, come on." The boy standing on the water waved, and a few people stood next to him.

"It's like the fair in the Shadow World." Citar blinked under his feet. "But how is that possible?" He looked at Rahul, who just shrugged.

"I have no idea. I was also wondering in the Shadow World how it was like that there." He finally waved. "That's normal here. Well, come on, I'll explain a few things to you while we walk." The boy said and started walking ahead of his companions seemingly towards nothing, while he calmly followed the pale blue path.

"Careful!" Rahul caught Wandi's arm, when hours later the danovus stepped into a place he shouldn't have. "You almost took a bath. It's not smart to go off the path." Rahul explained, which only made Benkó squat down again and press both hands into the water, one of them lying on the surface while the other sank under the water.

"There really is a path here." He blinked as he stood up and, summoning the cold fire, dried his hands.

"I told you that I am not just going forward into the blind world." Rahul smiled faintly before continuing on. And when the sun went down, they stopped at a strange inn standing on the water. From where they excitedly continued west the next day towards Floating Air Barracks.

Two days later and only a day's walk from their destination, the group met with an unpleasant surprise a few hours before sunset. At first they only noticed strange sounds, then figures approaching from afar on the water surface, who were screaming and shouting strange words. The Athamanas, of course, immediately reached for their weapons.

"Boys! Calm down, put down your weapons, you are in the west." Rahul announced as he crouched down and pressed his index finger to the water. A few minutes later, just as the bandits were about to get too close, riders appeared on the water. "Our public security is perfect. If you can't put down your swords, I'll confiscate them." Rahul rolled his eyes, then, contrary to the surprise of the team, he calmly watched as the riders caught the bandits and, with the exception of one, headed back to where they came from with their prisoners.

"Is everything okay, young gentlemen?" The rider who stayed behind addressed the team.

"Yes. Thank you." Rahul nodded.

"Where is the one who used the distress signal?" The next question came, before Rahul raised his hand.

"It was me." He said with a faint smile on his lips.

"How do you know how to use it?" The soldier narrowed his eyes, but Rahul just straightened out.

"I came from MíWelcomeen." That one sentence was enough to make the rider's eyes widen and his attitude towards the boys change.

"Oh, I see. Have a pleasant journey, gentlemen." After that, he turned his horse away from the group and left them alone.

"So what was that?" Citar blurted out the question that was on every Athamana's mind.

"The guard." Rahul shrugged.

"Rahul, I think this time the hegins are the one's who can't follow." Citar grimaced and crossed his arms on his chest grumpily.

"Only a few can use the sea routes and, with them, the distress signal system. I look too young compared to the average person who knows. And you..." He looks at the group and shakes his head. "Despite Marianne's perfect work on you, anyone can still see that you are from the East." He sighed.

"Now why?" Achilleus folded his arms in front of him.

"You're surprised by things you shouldn't be." Rahul grimaced. "Why did you think I'd been teaching you since we left home?" He asked, but didn't wait for anyone to answer before continuing. "If you manage to learn the basics by the time we get to the city, instead of Eastern idiots, they'll look at you as snitches from the border and we won't make such a big impression." Rahul explained.

"Did you seriously called us snitches now?" Benkó's monotone voice came.

"Look at the bright side, Bokló, if they think you're a snitcher, you can rub it under their noses that they're wrong. If they think you're an Eastern idiot, we won't get anything out of anyone. These people are quite distrustful of strangers." Rahul shrugged his shoulders indifferently.

"So what does this have to do with us being attacked?" Razvan brought the conversation back to the main question.

"The point is that we are young and look ignorant, easy prey. The guard didn't think I knew how to use the road either. Bandits are usually jumping on people like us. Speaking of which, while we're at it. Forget about weapons for a while, only the highest level students can use them. Education is different here than it is back in Madüjawr." Rahul sighed as he looked into the distance. "But now it's better if we move on. The sun is starting to set and it's better if we're not out on the waterway when it's dark."

With that, Rahul and the Athamanas continued along the pale blue waterway to the nearest inn, where they fell asleep, then after a hearty breakfast they continued towards the city. It must have been around noon, the sun was almost at its highest point in the sky, when a silhouette appeared in the distance as a pale spot.

And this silhouette managed to make the group excited and double their steps. Although Rahul tried to restrain them. It would not have been good for anyone if they drew unnecessary attention to themselves. And a group of running children is quite noticeable, much more so than a group of slightly problematic children.

When the sun was closer to the horizon than to the middle of the sky, the group finally got so close to the silhouette that appeared in the distance that they could even make out the shape of the houses. The further they went, the more they saw and the stronger their curiosity became.

"I feel like I'm home." Suk grinned with his hands on his hips when they stopped at the edge of the city built on water. "We use something like those too." He patted the nearest pillar. "Although the pillars needs to be driven deeper here." He held his chin thoughtfully.

"Well, then I'll ask the big question." Citar raised his hand. "Why do they call it Floating Air Barracks?" He asked.

"Welcome to our place, boys, this is Floating Barracks." Rahul pointed around them, then pointed to the sky, where the outlines of a group of buildings could be seen among the clouds. "And that is the Floating Air Barracks."