The Forgotten Land of Myria

SAFIRA

My feet were heavy, kicking up layers of brown leaves with every step, but I knew I had to keep running. I had to chase the bright red plumage that I’d seen zip past me and out of view. I had found the Vermillion. Various voices echoed, coming from all directions--I was sure they were Roy and Leof--but I tried to put those thoughts away and focus on the trail of rustling tree branches that the bird was leaving behind.

A rustle here, a tremor there--it moved too fast, but for a split-second I was able to regain view of its tail feathers just before it dove into a bush. I cantered through the canopy of leaves, branches whipping my face. Once the branches cleared, I couldn’t believe my eyes. A wide, clear waterfall showered over a barricade of mahogany-colored rocks and into a lake, and there--delicately perched upon a single boulder in the middle of the lake--was the Vermillion. The bird shuffled its fiery feathers and tilted its head curiously in my direction.

Its eyes resembled two tiny amber pebbles which gave a tone of delicacy and tenderness to its rather fierce appearance. Tufts of red and orange patterned the bird’s wings ending in a spiked, scarlet crown. Its breast, however, bore a darker, maroon color, and--while beholding the bird’s wondrous display--I had only just realized something. It was missing its most famous attribute. Its breast was empty--the silver pendant containing the Stone of Purity wasn’t there. The bird gave itself another shuffle, and--as if it knew what I had just seen--spread its wings and soared over me, disappearing into the woods, leaving a single red feather floating in the stream at my feet.

When I reached for it, the feather disappeared and my hands only met the sheer ripples in the water--it was when I touched the water that I realized it all.

It was easy to say that that bird was just one of Squire Elm’s most vivid illusions--which in fact it was. However, what I had actually realized when touching the water was that there was no Vermillion bird, for one simple reason--the bird only existed if it bore the stone. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be seen as a majestic creature, but instead an ugly goyle.

That would provide two conclusions. Firstly, we now had a goyle on the run to worry about. And secondly--not only was Lanai alive, she was currently holding the stone herself. It was--after all--Lanai’s heart.

My eyes then widened in disbelief. That could only mean...

You IDIOT! I thought to myself.

I spun on my heels and dashed back through the cluster of trees just in time to hear an agonizing scream brush through the Fortress.