Syrus just knocked down the wrong

person. It obviously wasn’t Kail! The person

gets up to their feet. In the gloomy moonlight,

Syrus can barely make out who it is. The person

is a girl, a little taller than Syrus is. She has

brown hair, maybe black, but he can’t really

tell in the dark. The girl speaks.

“You should watch where you’re going!”

“Sorry. Did you see a boy run past

just now.”

“I don’t know. Who are you looking for?”

“Kail.”

“Oh, yeah, he just went by here. My name

is Veronica Creel. What’s yours?”

“Creel? Are you related to Synan?”

“Oh, so you know Synan. You’re Syrus,

right?”

“Yeah.”

“So Synan is here. Kail is probably afraid

Synan will ruin his plan.”

“What is his plan?”

“Kail came to find Sage. Did he tell you

that?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Anyway, he’s heading to the castle.”

“Oh really.”

“Yep. Well, I’d like to stay and talk, but

I have things to do. See you later, Syrus!”

Veronica turns and runs down a pathway.

“Wait!” Syrus runs after her. After a short

while of walking, the trail ends at a small stone temple.

Syrus walks inside. There is a purple book here. Syrus

opens the book. Inside is a small panel where Syrus

sees a rotational view of a circular golden building.

Syrus’s hand is attracted to the picture,

drawn to it. When his hand almost touches, tiny golden

sparkles appear in the space between his hand and the

picture. Startled, Syrus jumps back. The book vibrates

and slams shut. Syrus turns and runs out the door.

He is back in the intersection in the forest.

To his left is the entrance where he entered the

forest. Ahead is the dead-end at the mountain where he

met Kail. To the right is another pathway.

Syrus walks down the pathway to the right. He

walks for a few minutes in the darkened forest. He can

hardly see a thing!

Syrus comes to a smaller intersection. He

can go straight forward or go down a pathway to

the left. To the left, Syrus sees a faint light and some

voices and quiet music. Syrus decides to walk down

that pathway.

As he continues down the path, the light and

music grows louder. He shortly arrives in a small clearing

next to the mountain. Syrus takes a look around.

At the top of the mountain, there is reddish

smoke exiting from the volcano. He is in a small clearing

in the forest. On the side of the mountain is a black

doorway with a large keyhole. In the middle of the

clearing is a bonfire with Monks gathered around it.

“Wow, a garden full of Monks!” Syrus says.

A Monk notices him.

“Halt! Who goes there?”

“Syrus.”

“We don’t know any Syrus! Send him to the

volcano!”

“No, wait!”

“Wait? Why?”

Syrus drops an Ideya Capture. The monk he

captured earlier appears.

“Oh, you’ve returned one of our Monks! I

guess you can stay here for as long as you want. The

specific monster you captured always wanted to explore

the island. He might want to stay with you when you decide

to leave.”

“Okay, cool.”

Syrus wanders around the clearing. There’s not a

whole lot of interest around here. Up in the trees surrounding

the clearing are millions of wooden bridges and treeforts.

Syrus assumes that’s where the Monks live.

Syrus spots a rope ladder. He goes over to the

ladder and climbs up. He climbs to a wooden platform about

twelve feet from the ground. He begins to crawl across one of

the bridges to make sure it’s safe. To his surprise, these

bridges are sturdier than he expected! He stands and crosses

the bridge. He comes to one of the treeforts. The doorway is

very small! Syrus begins to crawl into it.

“Hey!” A Monk yells from below, “Syrus, that hut

is empty. You can stay in it tonight.”

“Okay.”

After Syrus is inside, he realizes he couldn’t sleep

in something so tiny. He’s practically curled in a

ball next to a small window. These huts are so

small!