At The Heart of Tale Kingdoms (COMPLETED)

20.1 ING IX

The third was the one to wake him this time. She made a lot of noise as she entered the hut and though he tried to stay asleep, he couldn't ignore her movements for a moment more of slumber.

"Get dressed sleeping dove, this is not our destination." Ing sat cross legged. The third moved around him in her white spotless robes already dressed for travel. She paced around the room holding two large leaf bags that she dropped only to pick them up again. The Ird was anxious.

"I need to wash."

"Really, I thought, the butterflies did that for you," she responded rolling her eyes.

"Didn't you tell me I have been laying on this mat for a moon's turn?"

The Third came closer and sniffed the air around him.

"But you smell of flowers, my little prince." The last words darkened the humor. The third must have noticed Ing's sudden change for she came to kneel in front of him.

"Gone but not dead. You have to stay strong for that," she whispered then stood and started pacing again.

"Take a dive in the river, it will rejuvenate you. We will take a boat through the Caither's water forest. In the morning, we ought to have arrived at the Ash Delta. We will travel through it for a day. I believe when the sun rises on the second day it will be to a red sky." Ing only nodded, he woke from his woven mat, waited for the dizziness to come but it didn't. He headed for the door.

The scene outside surprised him. He had known that the bridge that connected the small hut to the bigger house must have been built above some still pond of water but he had never imagined the vastness.

The two huts were the only structures in the wide still expanse of water that he couldn't see the end of. There were two boats docked closer to the roofed hut. The water was green and unmoving and formed the base of thousands of red wood trees that rose as high as the sky. The Third came outside to find him admiring the wonders of creation.

"Isn't it beautiful?" she asked him. Ing breathed in.

"Yes, but I don't think the water is clean." She strolled behind him humming then quickly shoved him into the water.

"You Asets think too much, did you want to read about the history of the river?"

The Third and Ing were dressed and on the boat before sunset. Etherii came to see them off. She gave Ing a tiny pink potion attached to a string necklace.

"You will know when to use it, As I said not all is healed," she answered when Ing asked her what was it for.

Then Etherii gave The Third a long wooden stick with a tiny circular bowl attached to one end.

"To light your way tonight and other nights." She told her. The third accepted it with a graceful smile, one he had not seen before. Then the woman stood and waved at them as they floated off.

"O! Ether thanks you for the horses," she shouted.

"We thank him too" Ing answered though later he groaned.

"How are we going to get through this Ash Delta without the horses." The Third grinned.

"It's not like, they would have swum through this water." The Ird mocked.

"Aset horses can." Ing didn't miss the surprise register on her face to his satisfaction.

As the boat drifted and it started getting darker, Ing probed The Third about the strange stick.