Chapter Twenty-Seven ⚜ The Ivali of Dirinia

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Valeriana was feeling lightheaded at the sight of Dirinia. Even her hands were frozen cold and there was a light sheen of sweat coating her forehead. Her insides felt like bursting and her stomach was turning faster than the inside of a washing machine.

"Are you okay, Val?" Keelan asked.

"Yeah, I just don't know why I'm so nervous." She shook her hands to get the blood running properly, breathing in and out. "I wasn't like this the previous times I was trying to get the other blessings. Maybe because I never felt like I was actually seeking them out. I'm not even sure if these people would actually give them to me."

"It's fine, don't let your fear show. The Ivali can smell it all the way from here," Eres told her.

"A-are you serious?"

"No."

"What the hell. Please don't scare me like that."

Eres and Keelan chuckled. Brindon merely nodded—a means of showing his amusement, maybe?

They jumped over the water, came before the thick forest, and stopped at the riverbank. The group eyed the splitting river and the foreign land before them. Eres asked the others to get off of Arsene's back and they all obediently followed his request. Tiger stood by, waiting for Valeriana to move.

"I get the urge to sing Pocahontas like just around the riverbend . . ." she muttered the lyrics under her breath just in case they stare at her in horror once more.

It seemed Eres and the others were starting to get used to her incoherent mutters that they no longer looked at her in question more than once.

"We'll have to go on foot," Eres said. "Riding on Arsene will be too rude, especially if we're treading on their territory."

The rest of the group nodded understandingly.

"Okay, let's go!" Valeriana held onto the straps of her bag as she straightened her spine, ready to go. She was rearing to get things done, feeling the utter determination to get the next blessing—whatever it took. She would do her father proud.

"Meow . . ." Tiger softly mewled.

The brothers didn't question it and Brindon remained quiet as well. Arsene was called back in a haze of green and brown light which entered through the lines on Eres' skin. Valeriana watched curiously once more, a bit sad to see the familiar go. She was quite a charming one. Arsene's gentle and grounded demeanor was hard not to like. She was very much like Eres—which made sense since she was his familiar.

The ground was strewn with grass—firm and had tough spots which were rocks. It wasn't a hard terrain to trek, but it wasn't Boston's pavements either. The trees formed arches over a well-traveled dirt path.

They all kept quiet with only the wind and the birds to keep their ears preoccupied. As they walked farther, a faint music was brought over. The sound was rich and native—like old-fashioned gongs accompanied by strings and a flute.

"What . . ." Brindon's eyes shifted to the direction of the sound and his foot shuffled attentively.

Tiger looked curious too.

"Something must be happening, an important event," Keelan stated. "You usually only hear them play music like this when they're celebrating."

"What exactly are the Ivali?" Valeriana asked.

"Unlike the other guardians, they're the ones most similar to us in terms of appearance. Like any ordinary Valemnian. They're just a tad bit different."

"I don't get why they're called swamp spirits, though," Valeriana trailed off.

"It's pretty obvious," Keelan remarked.

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