The journey to Mizan was uneventful except for an attack from a mutated monster that resembled a double-headed snake. Darryl was petrified as it was his first time seeing a monster first-hand, but he was fascinated to realise that either Armand and Flint could handle it personally what would be a joint effort of a knight legions. He wondered what made one of the honorable World Tree Temple's guardians and a mercenary of Flint's calibre to come to a far-distant city town of Dohara. However, he knew the golden rule of silence of the underworld, and that sometimes, knowing less was a blessing.
Their path was rugged and mountainous, and the horses struggled to climb the steep terrain after a certain point. Seeing this, they dismounted and tied their horses onto a tree near a small stream.
"Where do we go from here, Darryl?"
Darryl hesitated a little bit. He had only been once when he was smaller, and he knew what kind of place Mizan was. But he had doubts whether these two travellers would believe his story.
"Um, so, Mizan is not easily accessed by just anyone." He started nervously.
"Hm.. the Anya lady was an interesting character, so I'm not surprised that whatever she recommended is interesting too. Spill it out, kid." Flint looked up to the sky, which had gotten dark. While he and Armand were both a power house, the wilderness nowadays was not safe especially after the sun set.
"If we go up this path, we will arrive at a bamboo grove." Darryl pointed to an unmarked path with traces of footprints. "But most likely... we will get separated inside."
Armand lifted his brows, while Flint scrunched his face. "More magic?"
"From what I heard, if you have any harmful thoughts, you will never escape the bamboo grove. And if you want to find Mizan, there is one thing you should do."
"What is it?"
"You have to think about a wish that you want to be granted. But you have to think it very strongly, or else you'll just be thrown out."
Flint snorted. "A wish, huh."
He disliked it. All of this seemed to be orchestrated by someone pulling the strings. He looked at Armand. "This sounds like a balderdash, are you sure about this?"
The light in Armand's eyes was unwavering. "Yes."
Flint sighed. He knew how far this guy had gone to complete his missions, so he was not completely surprised.
"Fine, let's do it. I'm sure all of us have one wish or two that we'd reaaalllyy like to be granted." Flint said ironically as he stepped on the unmarked path, followed by Darryl.
As Darryl said, soon they arrived at a bamboo grove. Under the moonlight, it almost seemed alive as it swayed with the wind.
Each taking a deep breath, the three of them stepped into the shadows of the towering bamboos stalks.
*****
"Seraphine."
"Seraphine, wake up!"
A figure of a woman sleeping on a hammock stirred awake. Slowly sitting up, she looked sleepily at an approaching figure - a fluffy and majestic snow leopard who seemed out of place in a bamboo grove.
"Nyra..."
"They're coming."
"Ah, yes."
Feeling more awake, the woman with a hair colour resembling bluish moonlight gracefully stepped down from the hammock. She dusted invisible dirt from her robe, and surveyed her surrounding.
"Well, should we get ready to welcome our guests?"