It wasn't too far away. The jagged valleys that had the color of obsidian was in sight. It was such a huge contrast when comparing it to the bright, callous sands of the Golden desert. Valeriana felt the relief flood into her. After having to sit on the saddle for too long, her backside was starting to send waves of pain up her spine. Thank the gods they finally arrived!
"Isn't it a big coincidence?" Gavin said aloud. "Our destination happens to be the same place."
"This can't be related to the strange behavior the twin-tailed lions are exhibiting, can it? Like what your father said, I mean." Valeriana thoughtfully concluded, urging her horse to stop as they stood atop a small hill.
"You're learning to assume."
"Is that an insult?" Valeriana
glared at him, her hold on the reigns of her horse tightening. She had learned to maneuver it somehow as they went along, though very clumsily. She insisted on knowing how to ride a horse. Though the progress was small, she had grown comfortable over time.
"No." Corvan said. "I'm just saying you no longer think stupidly."
"With how things went for the past few months, you don't think a girl would know how to read between the lines? I ain't that stupid." She rolled her eyes.
"So you admit you are."
"Shut it, prick!" The current fifth fumed. "I'm just slow at comprehension since I can't really wrap my head around things so well! But seriously, that's just because it's hard to believe at times! You should know I haven't even stayed here for longer than a year. Gimme a break."
"Enough bickering, you two." Gavin said, clicking his tongue as he gave the two a smile. "It is the right decision to have tagged along. With you two nicking at each other's throat the entire time, I doubt we would've progressed if it weren't for my--"
"Don't get cocky." Corvan snapped at him.
He held up his hands and shrugged. "As you wish. Though I hardly call that being cocky. It is more of stating a fact."
"Anyhow. I do not think we can approach the valley so carelessly like this. If this is really a hideout of a thieves, then no doubt there'll be a lookout." Corvan said. "Not to mention we'll have to find where this lion's mouth is."
"Right." Valeriana agreed.
"How do we proceed surreptitiously then? The desert is such an open field, it is futile trying to hide."
"Can't you summon Avaro or something?"
"And how useful will that be?"
"Oh, come on! It'll be like a VIP entrance with a tour guide." She rolled her eyes. "Who else knows these valleys better than a native?"
"Valeriana makes sense." Gavin nodded agreeingly.
"For the first time." Corvan added. "How surprising."
"Can we just get this done already for Pete's sake!" She exclaimed. "Enough with me being called stupid. I'm tired of that!"
"If you say so." Corvan dismounted his horse after that and took out a knife from his pocket. "I will need to open up a connection with Avaro once more. It has been long since my last summoning."
"You're gonna cut yourself again? Ouch."
Up until then, Valeriana could not handle the sight of anyone cutting themselves.
Corvan opened his palm and traced the skin with a small pressure, not even flinching as the blood welled up from the crack he made. There were lines there that were remainders of old wounds. It was unthinkable how many times he needed to do this just to be able to call his familiar.
"In the name of Arland, the revered god of fire. I call upon the mighty beast of flames, Avaro! Heed my plea and appear before me."
His blood dropped onto the sand. As though thirsty, the grains were quick to swallow it. It formed a ring on the ground and the familiar doors made of flames burst in front of them. Avaro regally stepped through and the cold, blue fire parted for him.
He was such a majestic creature of beauty and fierceness that Valeriana could not help but be in awe every time she would see him.
'Heilm juaire, lheuim ansur.' His fur ruffled as the wind caressed the fluffy mane around his neck.
Valeriana disembarked and made her way towards the guardian beast in excitement. His fur had the texture of silk that the girl ran her fingers through them with longing. The familiar twin tails flicked behind him before resting on his backside as he moved.
"Avaro! Ohemgee. I missed you so much."
But Avaro was so worth it. He was so worth wounding oneself for.
His icy blue eyes regarded the girl with tenderness. 'I have looked forward to seeing thee again, dear one. How hast thou been?'
Valeriana did not answer but continued to hug him.
"Valeriana. He was asking you a question." Corvan said.
"Huh?" She looked up and met his eyes. "He said something? I didn't hear it. Aw man."
Corvan sighed. "Her hearing has been impaired. I did not believe her connection with familiars would also be affected."
'What dost thou mean?' Avaro asked.
"She blocked off her ability to hear animals talk and now she can't bring it back."
Valeriana sighed with regret. "Yeah."
'We cannot have that now.' Avaro regarded for a moment. 'Seems to me that this is an easy fix. Corvan, relay my words to the young one. Tell her to listen. This will take just a moment.'
"I will be relaying his messages. Listen closely."
'This will hurt.'
"This will hurt."
Valeriana gulped.
'Thou hast blocked the point of connection between thyself and the Open Channel located at your heart.'
Avaro waited as Corvan repeated his words before he spoke once more.
"What have you done when trying to block it out? The same process must be done to restore it."
"I dunno . . . how exactly?"
"Let us try this, then. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Clear your head of any thoughts. Picture yourself in a calm room where you're at peace. Think of nothing else."
She did. Though it was for sure that Avaro was speaking, Corvan's voice as a medium had another effect. The deep reverberation of his voice somehow differed from its usually blunt and scolding tone.
It was haunting in a sense, but instilled calmness into her nonetheless. The sweltering heat of the desert did nothing.
"Are you there?"
She nodded.
Valeriana pictured herself sitting inside a small room just then. The place resembled her bedroom back in Earth so much that the feeling of nostalgia bombarded her.
Even so, it wasn't exactly like her bedroom. It was close. Instead, it looked like the place was worn down, as though unattended for a very long time.
Where was this?
The walls was creamy yellow, although the paint was starting to chip off at some spots and there was a buildup of dust and dirt. The bed itself was covered in silken sheets, though the pillows were all over it as though a child had jumped continuously over it and left it there without making bed.
There was a chair toppled over and the mirror at the corner of the room had cracked upon the middle, reflecting dozens of the same image at every shard simultaneously.
It was supposed to be . . . home. Why? Why did this place look like this?
She felt saddened.
"Valeriana. Focus. There is a building energy in thy aura just above your heart. Feel it thunder."
She felt the pulse like flood bombarding on a tightly closed hatch. It was just above her heart just like he said. At the same time, the door to here left fluttered, like the wind graced it with a huge gust.
"Look around you. Do you see a door?"
"Yes."
"Reach out to it. Envision yourself opening that door."
In her mind's eye, her hands wrapped around the secured door but the energy rumbling outside made her hesitate.
"Do not fear it. Open it."
She twisted the knob and pulled it open. A rush of energy came at her all at once like an intense electric shock. Her eyes snapped open and she gasped, her head spinning as a harsh, high-pitched whirring nearly deafened her. Even so, the intense part was over and she calmed down slowly.
Unblocking a connection never felt so hard and painful. She usually just had to focus a bit but this took it up to a whole new level.
'Can thou hearst me?'
She picked on her ears. "Yes!"
'Good. It is really easy. Though the consequences are quite excruciating, isn't it?"
"Yeah. I guess I'll have to get used to hearing voices when going to sleep. I'm so glad."
"Should something happen, you now know what to do. And before acting recklessly, make sure you consult others first." Corvan told her.
"Yes, sir." Valeriana replied, smiling. "I'm feeling a little bit dizzy though."
"I'm sure it'll go away. Better than having your ability stuck." Gavin said.
"So true."
She could not get the image of that room out of her mind.
"Avaro." Corvan said. "Now that that's out of the way. Are you aware that thieves had made the Ash Canyons a place to hide in?"
'Not quite.' He answered, turning to meet his contractor's eyes with innate feline grace. 'Ever since forming a contract with you, I have not gone home.'
The beast turned to examine the place he called home and stared at it longingly. Seeing him look so forlorn made a piece of Valeriana's heart break.
"How's that possible?" Valeriana asked, wondering how on Valemnia the first-ranker's familiar had not seen home when he was rarely called out.
"When a familiar forms a contract, he never leaves his contractor." Gavin stated, approaching Valeriana. "The reason why blood is needed to summon is because the familiar's essence is in unity with the life of the person he formed his contract with. He resides in the body. The contractor acts as a host that houses the familiar."
"Um. Okay?"
"That is why it is imperative for the host to match the familiar in terms of raw power, otherwise, the abilities of the familiar cannot be used in full force." He continued. "After all, the familiar draws on his contractor's energy."
"Isn't that lonely?"
'Perhaps it is.' Avaro agreed. 'But dear one,' Avaro chuckled. 'Familiars will never feel complete without a contractor. It is our mission to seek out the connection we have with our partners. Besides, time passes in a blink of an eye since our lives are long. Before finding the right person to form a contract with, some centuries pass by or so.'
"Alright. Stop with the distractions. Avaro, what do you know of entering the lion's mouth?"
'Impatient, are we? Follow this one. Leave those horses alone.'
"Will they be fine?"
"They're quite loyal." Corvan said. "They'll come to us when we need them."
"Cool."
They began to saunter across the desert towards the Ash Canyons and Avaro did not hold back in relishing the familiar sand under his paws. Valeriana shot a look the familiar's way and sighed quietly.
"Avaro, can I ask something?"
'Go ahead.'
"What was that room?"
Avaro tilted his head to the side as though smiling. 'Do not tell this one that is thy first time?'
"What?"
'What thou didst was a form of meditation. When meditating, thou explorest the inner places within thyself. That is the place you hold in your heart.'
"But that place . . ." She whispered, recalling the way everything looked. "It's chaotic. Messed up. Like someone haven't been there for years."
Avaro gave her a soft gaze. 'Do not worry, young one. Thou shalt figure it out soon.'
They continued walking under the blistering rays of the sun. Avaro halted to a stop when they were about halfway there and turned to the direction they came from.
'Something approaches.'
Valeriana faced the direction he was looking at and saw figures approaching from afar. Seemed as though Avaro's sensitivity to presences was way better. Well, he was a familiar and the leader of his pack, a guardian beast.
"Let us hide." Said Gavin.
He urged them all and pushed them towards a tower of sand. They went over it and sank low, flipping to their bellies as they looked out.
"Could they be thieves?" Corvan wondered aloud.
They got within the range of Valeriana's senses when they were but a few meters away. Valeriana then discovered the range of her sensitivity, like a radar.
"How far away are they?" She asked.
"Judging by this distance, perhaps half the half of a hundred meters." Gavin said.
"Twenty-five." She deadpanned, not knowing why he had to make it so complicated to understand. "Now, I know."
"What do you know?" Corvan raised a brow at her.
"I sense a double meaning there." The girl bit back. "I meant the area of my sensitivity."
"Twenty-five meters."
"That's just about right."
"So farther out, you're practically blind."
"I think so."
'My kins are territorial and aggressive by nature. I do not think it is possible that these thieves made the Ash Canyons their base.' He said.
"Then the presence of strangers in their home may just be the cause of their strange behavior." Corvan replied. "It must not be too long before they moved here. Gavin, what do you know of these thieves?"
"Well, like I've said before, they usually go around the Artlen Desert."
"How long have they been terrorizing travellers?"
"A pretty long time."
"Do they change their base often?"
"From what I've heard, they're sort of nomadic." His cousin answered. "It's because they're being hunted that they frequently change their hiding sanctuary."
"Then their transfer here must mean something."
"So it's not about that?"
Corvan turned to look at the girl. "What is 'that'?"
"The thing about the demons. The same thing that happened with Cifaro's pack, the Gilerads of the North." She pointed out.
"I'm hoping this is all there is to it."
Valeriana was curious about one thing, though. "Avaro, would your pack have hurt these people?"
'Though protective, they do not cause harm in exception for dire situations.' Avaro said. 'I left the caring of my pack to my second in command, Zivan. From how I know him, he would just find a way to scare them away.'
"Wait. Holy shiznits." Valeriana gaped as she recognized the strangers making their way towards the Ash Canyons. "Isn't that Aloe Vera? Who are those folks with her?"
"Alovia." Gavin corrected. "What is she doing here?"
"She couldn't be the person behind this!" The girl squeaked.
"Shh. Quiet, she'll hear you."
"This doesn't look good." Valeriana stated.
"It's too soon to judge." Corvan told her. "We'll have to see what she's up to."
"So you're on her side now, huh?" She grimaced.
"Let's go." Corvan stood up with his back bent over, using the mountain of sand as cover as he trekked like a spy in pursuit.