"What are you...?" Juliet asked plainly as she stared directly at the gigantic beast with no fear whatsoever.
The beast fell silent at the question for a bit as if unable to understand, Juliet simply continued to look at it with her arms crossed and waited for it to speak.
"We are Forsaken's Grulee, prisoned in mount Kahli for their transgressions..." The beast spoke slowly and carefully as it tried to communicate as best as it could.
Juliet narrowed her eyes as she tried to make sense of the words, it would take far too much to properly converse with the beast and their altercation likely aroused the interest of some parties not too far away.
"Who are the Forsaken? And what transgressions did they commit?" Juliet took mental note of what the beast said and quickly moved on to another question.
"They are the Ruv of the world, When they return all shall be used as Julack and become like us... without freedom or sound mind... Grigmar." The beast responded in a slow manner emphasizing a few words to Juliet.
She could now understand that this so called forsaken had imprisoned them in olden times and that they would likely suffer the same fate from them. 'Then is what Aron and Lady seeking have to do with them or are they unaware?' Juliet pondered before the Vulture suddenly raised its head to look in the distance.
An airship many kilometers away was clearly now heading towards their location. "I'm out of time, when will the Forsaken return and what's within the Newman highland ruin?" Juliet had followed the vulture's gaze and saw that the airship wouldn't take long to reach them so she asked her final questions.
"Mount Kahli is our prison... it holds only our deceased Graneer... the Forsaken's return is unknown... but they shall return... Solvas." The beast replied before it's body began to tremble.
*Kawwwww!*
The beast let out a thunderous cry out of nowhere and caused Juliet to quickly jump back and ready her defenses.
In response to the cry, the dark clouds in the sky rumbled furiously as many other silhouettes could be seen moving within them. Juliet narrowed her eyes at this and gave the beast one final glance before retreating.
As for the airships going towards the crash site, they remained clueless as to what was above them and continued moving forward with great haste.
....
Meanwhile in the Komi Islands, Jagu was seated in a hut with a sour expression on his face.
"Do not let Hakku bother you Jagu, once this disease passes and the time for succession arrives, you will prove him wrong and slay him before everyone's eyes." Jagu's mother said with a scowl on her otherwise attractive face.
Despite her evolution, one couldn't simply change the nature of Komi so easily. She was just as vicious and hot tempered as Jagu if not more.
"Worry not, I will do so and bring honor to father." Jagu replied but he woman's gaze remained stern.
"No honor is needed for the weak, he failed to protect his family and died pathetically leaving me to provide for you all. Had there been another alpha emerge then you'd have long been killed and I along with your sisters would belong to them. Tsk." Jagu's mother replied coldly before clicking her tongue in irritation.
Jagu could only lower his head and ears at this statement feeling slightly ashamed as the man of his family. But he soon remembered his reason for coming back and he clenched his fist with renewed vigor apparent on his face. "I won't let anyone force you into anything mother."
Jagu's mother however shook her head at this before coming closer and patting his head gently. "As it stands no man in our village can even dream about taming me Aella Of Fury, it is your sisters you must worry for. Your damned father had raised them far too softly." The woman then turned her head to the two young female Komi sleeping on a ridge mat in the room with disappointment.
"I won't fail, I assure you mother. By the way where has Kaira gone?" Jagu reassured before asking about his younger sister who had not returned home with them after the brief reunion they had.
"She's gone to try and hunt with a few younger ones that evolved recently. It seemed to have helped combat the disease better. She likely wants to show you that she is capable now." Jagu's mother explained while walking over to the young sleeping Komi and stroking their fur.
"What?! Tsk. I'll be back." After hearing his mother tell him this, Jagu panicked and rushed out of the home and charged towards the forests leaving his mother confused.
'They couldn't have gotten too far.' Jagu thought while sniffing the air for a scent which he soon picked up and followed at his top speed.
...
At around that same time, Aron, Lady Rose and Evanora were also making their way through the second island after the the one they arrived on.
N0 v el Next. CoM
"It's already evening and still no more clues can be seen." Aron who was at the forefront muttered in a displeased tone whereas Lady Rose and Evanora looked unbothered.
N0 v el Next. CoM
"It's only been a little while, why do you seem impatient all of a sudden." Lady Rose who knew Aron was not the type to be hasty or rush things asked with curiosity and caused Aron to come to a stop.
"Just... something feels off. How can put this, the atmosphere of this place has changed... it feels more unsettling than mysterious now." Aron quickly explained causing Lady Rose to lower her head and ponder.
"Hmm, let me recall the scouters and we can review what they found so far." Lady Rose suggested as she too didn't think Aron would worry over nothing.
N0 v el Next. CoM
She raised her hand and flicked her wrist slightly before her scouters came rushing to the area where they currently stood. As they were exploring, Lady Rose sent out her scouters to patrol and record everything they encountered so she could carefully review it later.
This tactic would save them both time and effort in the long run plus it bared less risks of overlooking information when compared to searching in person.
"Is there danger?" Evanora asked curiously as they began to gather around the scouters to review the information. "Let's hope not." Aron replied with a serious expression on his face as he turned his gaze to the scouters crystal.
Soon a moving picture appeared on the crystal and displayed everything the scouter had encountered while patrolling. Both Aron and Lady Rose watched this with keen eyes to ensure they don't miss out on anything whereas Evanora simply enjoyed looking at it.
"It looks normal so far...wait!" Lady Rose spoke quickly and brought the image to a halt with a wave of her hand. Aron narrowed his eyes at the the crystal showing the sandy beach on which they arrived.
"Foot prints?" Evanora pointed out and Aron nodded with furrowed eyebrows before looking at Lady Rose. "Seems we've been followed." She muttered but didn't look too concerned about it.
"You don't seem bothered by that." Aron noticed her lack of care and pointed it out to which she nodded her head. "Well for them to follow us so closely then it's either they are too stupid or they know what they are doing and may possibly lead us to some answers as well..."
"What makes you so sure they aren't just ambitious for treasure?" Aron could see the logic behind her words but it wasn't anything solid. Lady Rose couldn't help but show a smirk at this as she turned away from the crystal.
"Whoever followed us so closely must be confident I can't defeat them to come along so brazenly. Let's find out which it is shall we?" Lady Rose suggested while flicking her wrist before sending out her scouters once more.
The scouters flew with greater ferocity this time and vanished between the dense trees while Lady Rose followed behind at a casual pace. "Where are we going?" Evanora didn't understand much of what happened and just asked Aron who began to follow Lady Rose.
"Hunting."
...
Meanwhile on the previous island, two cloaked figures made their way through the jungle at a hurried pace.
"My Queen please reduce your speed, you mustn't push yourself too much." The one called Alor pleaded to his Queen but she wouldn't have it.
"I've waited far too long for this, it cannot be delayed any longer. This much isn't enough to deter me, don't forget who I am!" She responded in anger from being looked down upon by a simple subordinate.
"Please forgive me for overstepping my bounds." Alor apologized and just focused on the the way forward while looking around cautiously.
'What will we do if we encounter them...' Visible worry appeared on his face but he knew his Queen wouldn't care about such a matter so he could only keep quiet and continue escorting her.
