The portal was in a dead forest, trees had fallen on top of it, and walking out was difficult. They all had a sliver of hope because it was obvious that no one had been over here in centuries. The air was dry, unlike the humid air they had been used to. Lunae tried not to cough, but she couldn’t help it. They quickly pulled out the map and were looking for landmarks to guide their way. They were nowhere near the palace of the Rhudonians, and that was a relief. Frayusha went outside the dead trees to see an open desert, but further beyond that, she saw the mountains. She ran back and told the others.
“We will be out in the open; we must move quickly. Keep quiet, we don’t want to attract any unwanted attention,” Linth said. They all agreed. They walked slowly at first to see if anything could see them, but once they were certain nothing was around, they picked up the pace. It was hot, and the Piskal people did not do well with the heat. Lunae started to cool everyone’s water as much as she could, which helped, but they needed some reprieve soon.
“Call to the sky,” Chindra said. Lunae looked over to Fulch.
“We can call to the sky,” Lunae said. Fulch desperately wanted to do so, but remembered that it didn’t rain here. The Master said so.
“We will be found out, and we’re too weak to fight,” Fulch said. Then Tanla came up with an idea.
“Maybe we can call it up from the earth?” She said. Fulch liked that idea and asked her to try. She did, but it was turning out to be difficult. After a while, they had all given up. Most of the warriors were lying on the ground. Lunae couldn’t keep cooling their waters. She was getting weaker. Finally, Linth said something.
“Fulch call to the sky, or we’ll die,” he said. Fulch, who could barely move, nodded his head. Lunae struggled to move towards him, and when she was close enough, they locked hands and called to the sky. Thunder clouds were rolling in, and rain started to fall. This rain was different; every time it touched the skin, it would make it tingle. Everyone got a burst of energy. One by one, they got up and looked at each other.
“Power,” the water said. Fulch and Lunae looked at each other and opened up their mouths to drink in the water. The rest of them did the same. Even Frayusha was noticing the strange effect of the water. Her light purple skin started to glow.
“Hey guys, my skin is glowing. What’s that about?” Frayusha said. No one knew, but they all started to laugh. Then a lightning strike hit right beside them, burrowing into the ground. Soon, water was starting to flow from the hole. Tanla was the one to notice first.
“Time to go!” She said as she pointed and started to run. Everyone followed. The rain was making them extra fast, and they were gaining more energy the longer they stayed in the rain. Then the rain stopped, and they looked around and noticed they weren’t in the desert anymore.
A small village lay right below the hill. They all lay on the ground, hoping no one saw them. Rhudonian villagers were staring at the cloud; rage was consuming them. They started yelling and calling for everyone to grab their weapons. The party took this time to crawl to the side of the village away from the oncoming herd. Most of the Rhudons had run off into the once desert. The remaining few were still staring at the cloud. By this time, the party was on the other end of the village, and they got up and ran away. Once cleared of the village, they stopped to catch their breath and look at the map. There were the foothills before the Mountain to get through, but they were right on track. They started off again, hoping they wouldn’t run into another village.
It took them several hours to get through the foothills, and all the while, Lunae was noticing that the sky started to get more clouds. She looked at Frayusha, whose physique was becoming stronger.
“Gift,” the water said. Lunae paid close attention to Frayusha, who seemed to jump when the water said that. Fulch was ahead of them and turned around to see Frayusha startled and Lunae staring intensely at her. That’s when he saw it. Frayusha’s water was different. Not like a Master’s, but something different.
“Frayusha, did you hear the water?” Fulch said. She looked at him, trying to hide how scared she was. She nodded her head, and Lunae came up to her and put her arm around her.
“We’ll figure this out once we get home,” Lunae said. Fulch didn’t like this. The water was changing the rules. Lunae found it fascinating and knew immediately that she could trust Frayusha. Linth was watching very intently and could see how this new turn of events made Fulch unhappy.
Once they made it through the foothills, they saw the old temple. Everyone was cautious. They made their way to it and could see that the old carvings of the temple seemed to show that the Rhudons were the evangelists, the builders of the water. They built the portals and the talismans. They used to be calm, loving people. Fulch was angry, now knowing that Shardoe changed these people to become some horrible creatures. Lunae watched everyone very closely. She needed to know if saving the Rhudons was something she could bring up after this. She left the temple to find the tree. She stared at it for a long while; it was huge and still alive. She decided to switch to the sight, and she noticed that it was different. She could see the magic and water in things. This tree has a protection on it.
“You must plead with the tree to let you have the fulcrum of acquiescence,” Chindra said. Lunae looked at it and wondered what to do. She got close to it and tried to touch it, but felt a tingling sensation the closer she got. She decided to sit next to the tree and meditate. She could feel the flow of everything. How this world is out of balance, she realized that by bringing clouds back, she is starting to return it to how it used to be. She could feel the vibrations of the Rhudons charging; they were close, but someone was closer.