Chapter 49: Eden
It has now been three days since Saibus revealed the true path to reach Eden which is finally indicated on the horizon. Saibus and Yennefer find that the island is exactly as Nésis and Hécate Auditore describe it. They admire the island whose time has no control over it. They follow Nésis' notes, and find the small cove after going around the island.
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Saibus POV:
"Yennefer takes the helm, I take care of the sails" I said, letting go of the helm and running towards the ropes to raise the sail a little and orient it to enter the cave. I pull the rope up the sail until the wind can blow in only a quarter of its surface. That being done, our pace dropped considerably, allowing us to better maneuver the ship.
"Stay at the helm, I'm going to the bow leading you to avoid the rocks" I shouted at Yennefer from the wind. When we enter, the blowing wind calms down thanks to the rocks around us. The cave is truly sublime, the walls reflect the blue of the water, the sound of water flowing from the rocks and this calm, make this cave a soothing place.
(cave image)
In the distance, I see a well of light that reveals the staircase to come up to the surface.
"Hold the bar and go straight ahead, there are the stairs to go to the island." I say loud enough to make myself heard from Yennefer.
"Including." she replies.
The ship is a few meters when I see a rock protruding a little from the water.
"Turn a little to the left, rock straight ahead."
"Yes, captain."
I continue to guide Yennefer for a few minutes before asking him to tack so that I can dock. After Yennefer puts the boat alongside land, I fully raise the sail while Yennefer drops anchor. The sloop stops, I take the board and put it on the edge of the ship and hold it against the ground. I tie it with a rope on each side so that it stays in place. I disembark, Yennefer throws me a thick rope which she ties to the boat while I tie the end around a large boulder to hold the sloop in place. That done, I go back on the boat, take a bag of provisions. I disembark with Yennefer who is carrying a bag full of equipment and we begin to climb the stairs.
After a few minutes of climbing and a bit of climbing because of the erosion of the rock; we have finally reached the surface. As reported in Nésis's diary, a huge forest surrounds the entrance to the island. The forest is sublime, a purple glow escapes from the plants, giving the forest an enchanted forest look.
"Gorgeous." I "heard Yennefer speak out loud.
"Yes, absolutely, this forest is the most beautiful I have ever seen even more than Brokilon's." I affirmed. After this little emotional break, we took the path to the sanctuary which is located in the middle of the island.
(forest image)
The forest is bigger than I thought, we have been walking for five hours now.
"Yen, stop." I said.
"What, what is it?" she asks, intrigued by my sudden arrest.
I sit on a rock and take out Nésis's journal.
"I think we are lost. From the writings of Hecate and Nesis, it doesn't take that long to get from the entrance to the island to the temple. I think something is wrong but I don't know what. Besides, the sun is starting to set. "I said as I watched the sun slowly set.
Yennefer sits on the trunk of a small tree on the ground. "So what, what are we doing now?" Yennefer asks me.
"Let's rest and think about this with a rested head." I say, taking a few stones lying around. I arrange them in a circle, and dig a little in the ground in their center. At the same time, Yennefer inscribes some runes around our pseudo camp to protect us from the wild animals that live in the forest. After that I made a campfire and helped Yen set up our bivouac. We take out a burlap so that we don't sleep on the floor of the equipment bag before installing a blanket and two pillows. That done, the sun has just set.
I sit by the fire with Yen by my side. She takes the bag of life and takes out some dried meat and a few potatoes, wrapped tightly in paper. She then takes a small pot from the equipment bag, which she fills with the water that we brought back.
"We'll have to go to the river we saw earlier to get some water. I used some for the pot." Yen said to me, putting the potatoes in the pan. I nod my head to show him my agreement while biting a stick of dried meat. I hand her the package, from which she retrieves a stick. I finish my meat, dry my hands and take out the notebook of my ancestors. I go through the pages of the notebook before stopping at the pages devoted to the forest and how to find the temple.
I read these few pages again without finding the slightest clue. I cut a thin part of the skin on my index finger to let my blood fall on the pages but nothing happened other than the blood being absorbed by the notebook. This is one thing that I discovered, the book absorbs the blood that comes in contact with it so that the pages are not stained.
"Saibus, I think I have a clue as to where to look to find a way out of the forest and to the temple." Yennefer says as he cooks the potatoes.
"I listen to you." I replied to Yen, lowering and closing the notebook. Yen turn the potatoes in the pot and add some herbs and spices to the water.
"When I carved the runes around the camp, I noticed interference with my magic. The ambient magic of the forest is thick, like a fog. This is not normal as you know, but what is even more intriguing is that you didn't notice it and neither did I. A spell conceals the ambient magic. So I conclude that the ambient magic serves as a fog to disorient us. " Yen informs me, turning his gaze to me.
Intrigued by what Yen just said, I cast a simple detection spell and carefully observed the interference phenomenon and the high density of magic in the air.
"You're right, the magic takes the form of a fog to disturb our senses. In addition to the spell to conceal the magic, there is surely a spell which conceals the temple which prevents us from seeing it from afar." I thought out loud.
"So what do we do to override the magic and get to the temple. Do you know a spell to counter and break the spell that disturbs us? I have thought of several spells but none can decrease the density of the magic." Yen asks, taking the potatoes out of the pan. She puts them in two deep plates, hands me one and begins to eat hers.
I put dried meat on my plate and taste the potatoes with my meat. "Trinity taught me a spell to counter disorientation spells, but since the residual magic here is powerful, I don't know if the spell will work." I replied between mouthfuls.
"It doesn't cost us anything to try and if it doesn't work, we can always make sure to temporarily clear the area of its magic by doing a spell that requires a large amount of magic." Yen says, blowing to cool his potatoes a bit.
I think about Yen's proposal for a few moments, taking certain parameters into account.
"It can work, if we are not too far from the temple, otherwise the magic will have time to reform." I finish.
We continue to chat while finishing our meal and warming up with the fire. Yen is currently sitting between my legs staring at the fire dancing and the embers jumping. I hug her with my arms around her stomach, her hands above mine. My head is resting on his shoulder. With each breath, I breathe in the sweet scent that emanates from her hair, a scent of lilies.
The sound of the crackling fire and the rare owls create a soothing and comforting atmosphere for Yen and me.
'That kind of vibe is my favorite thing in the world. To be calm with the person I love, only a few people are missing and that would be perfect. ' I thought, sketching a sad smile.
'I was hoping for adrenaline, lots of fighting and immense challenges when I asked this god to reincarnate me in a dangerous world. But in the end it didn't bring me any happiness. I am happier when I am with the people who are close to me, Yen, my uncle, Trinity, Regiis ...
At least now I have feelings, I can feel what men feel instead of being a robot with no emotions or feelings like in my old life. ' I lose myself in my thoughts with Yen in my arms.
We stayed in this position for a long time before sleep hit us. We then lay down on the canvas, huddled under the covers.
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The next morning, the sun's rays woke me up around 7 a.m. I get up, wash my face with a little water before changing. I look at my sweet still asleep, she is very cute when she sleeps, it's the only time she is. I eat some jerky, then go wake up my elf.
I lean close to Yen and whisper into his ear. The hot breath tickles her and makes her smile in her dream.
"Yen, it's time to wake up, we have a lot of things to do today." I said softly, placing a kiss on her cheek.
Yen gives a cute moan, before rubbing his eyes. She stops rubbing her eyes and opens them. Yen swings his arms around my neck, pulls my face to his and kisses her lightly.
"Hello Saibus, I love when you wake me up this way. My mom used to wake me up that way when I was little." Yen said, letting through a sad smile that went away as quickly as it came.
I gently rub Yen's head.
"Don't be sad, I'll wake you up like this when I have to. Besides, your mother was a very nice woman, it's unfortunate that she died of your father, but she stays in your heart, always. By your side."
Yen nods and finally stands up. She washes her face and hides behind a tree to change clothes. She comes back wearing a dark blue silk top that is starting a little below her shoulders. There are blue feathers at the top of her top. a leather corset hugs her already slender waist. Her top separates into four large bands on the east side of her body and extend to her knees. She wears black shorts that don't hide her long, beautiful legs accented by black lace tights. She completes her outfit with her tall leather boots and black heels.
(alternative clothing image)
She eats a little before we tidy up the camp, removes the runes and breaks the camp. I carry the gear bag and she the live bag.
"I'm going to cast the spell that breaks the other spells. Look around you-"
"Kyak" an eagle cry interrupts me, I look up to see Regiis flapping his wings and landing on the branch of a tree beside us.
"You took a while to get here. I can know what you were doing." I said irritably.
"Kyak, kyak kyak kyyyyak kyaaak." Regiis shouts several times making me understand that he is pissed off too.
I communicate with Regiis for a few moments.
"Good, you're forgiven. Sorry you had to fly in a storm, which slowed you down." I echo Regiis who is no longer angry but has become a little sulky.
"I need you to hover high and see if a huge temple doesn't appear. And if you stop sulking, I'll give you several pieces of magical creature."
I barely finished my sentence that Regiis utters a cry of joy and flies away.
I look at Yen who is smiling at my conversation with Regiis.
I ignore it and start casting my spell. I feel the spell take effect but not strong enough
"The spell didn't work, they just made us a powerful one. You do it or I do it." I asked Yen.
"Do it, I don't have a spell that is powerful and non-destructive enough." Yen replied with an embarrassed smile.
"Don't worry, you can always learn more later.
"Aedd blath zireael caed" I chanted repeatedly for a few seconds, channeling a lot of magic into his spell. I throw it and hundreds of flowers and swallows float in the air. Flowers dance in a grove as swallows fly in the sky and flutter.
"There I cast powerful illusion magic with what I had in mind right now. The spell should work for about an hour." I say, observing the illusion I have just created. Yennefer didn't hear me because she looks at illusions.
"This illusion is splendid. You will have to teach me how you do it."
"Sure, but you should ask Trinity if you want to learn more about this branch of spirit magic."
I am chatting with Yen about the magic of illusions when Regiis speaks in my head.
"Regiis has found the temple, it's only four kilometers north of here."
Yennefer and I headed north of our position. We took half an hour to cover the distance between us and the temple, guided by Regiis from the sky.
We finally saw the temple which is identical to the description that Nesis made of it in his writings.
(Image temple)
"Come on, let's go in and see what's in this temple."
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