Born to Fly

Part 30

Teraphon entered a room in the castle where the Sting Force members were waiting for him. The Sting Force was a group of five elite warriors who carried out special missions for Teraphon. The reason for their group name is because each member contains the manek of one of the most painfully stinging insects. They were the ones who attacked the BLAU before the war started.

The Sting Force members were Syneca - the warrior wasp, Balla - the bullet ant, Wix - the tarantula hawk, Felix - the executioner wasp, and the lone female, Sytilla - the velvet ant.

"Thank you all for being here," said Teraphon. "I need your help to drastically change the tide of war in our favor. I'm sending you all to the Land of Mammals to assassinate their feudal lord, Linnaeus."

Wix was first to respond. "The war just began and you're already trying to step on their necks."

"How are we going to get into the Land of Mammals undetected?" Balla asked. "It's land-locked in the center of the continent. We'd have to fight our way through one of the other lands."

"You're going to easily get in and out of Keanos with the help of an ally who's already there," said Teraphon. "He will come to you and introduce himself as the red eyes who sees for the tarantula. This will be the mission for Felix, Balla, and Sytilla. As for Wix and Syneca, I have a different task for you two."

"What would you like us to do Sir Teraphon?" Syneca asked.

"A mysterious group of intruders managed to defeat General Pendra and his myriapod legion. Apparently, their leader, a wolf manek user, was single-handedly able to send over three thousand men running with their tails tucked between their legs. This bit of information has definitely piqued my interest. I've discovered that the group is currently camping out in Mantis city. I want you guys to go there and deliver a special message to the wolf for me."

"As you wish, sir," said Syneca. "What would you like us to tell him?"

# # #

Mory could see the coastal beach of the Insect Domain through the window. For days, all he had seen was water. Now they were finally approaching land. He was sick of seeing the water and thankful to see solid ground again. It wasn't just any land though. It was Zitonia-the land where his enemies dwelled.

The cruiser sailed into the shore. Everyone got out of their cruisers and carried them onto the beach. The long trip across the Ganchian was now over. Mory took a few moments to marvel at the tropical region. He recognized the goofy-looking, yet gorgeous palm trees that he had only seen drawings of. The ocean water was clear enough to see the fish that swam in it. The sand beneath his sandals was almost as soft as mud.

"Hey!" a familiar voice shouted from the distance.

Mory saw Sannis standing and waving just past the sandy area. The team grabbed their stuff and went to him.

"Welcome to Zitonia, everyone. Who's ready to fuck some shit up?" 

He got a big cheer from the group. They were tired from days of drifting but longed for some action.

"Follow me, and I'll take you to the rest of the group. From this day forth, Team X is no more."

The group shouted and applauded with fiery enthusiasm as they followed Sannis. It didn't take long to reach the Sporadical camp sight. They were set up about a few minutes away from the ocean at a spot where they were hidden by a bunch of surrounding palm trees. There were more people there than Mory expected. Most of them stopped what they were doing and cheered as the group, formerly known as Team X, came in. To Mory, they looked rough and tired, but they greeted them with joy and great energy. Mory spotted a lot of people around the camp that wore old, tattered clothes and looked even rougher than the spora fighters. He figured they must have been the Zitonian spora slaves.

"Make yourselves comfortable and rest. We'll go over our plans with everyone tomorrow," said Sannis.

Mory made his way through the camp until he found a good spot to set down his sword and craftsack. He sat with his back leaning against a tree and closed his eyes. It was the first time in over five days where he had not been moving. The feeling of being stationary felt weird to him. He felt dizzy, but the support from the tree felt good. Full relaxation mode was beginning to set in, and he would've fallen asleep if it wasn't for someone tapping his shin with their foot. He opened his eyes and saw Sylo standing there.

"Can I share this tree with you?" she asked.

Mory nodded.

She sat next to him and said "I don't think fleeing from Keanos was what my mom had in mind when she said she wanted me to see the world"

"It's still better than hanging out alone in that swamp, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"So your mom is really Rubi's sister? How did she end up in frog land?"

"She went looking for Rubi and found me instead. My parents-by-blood decided that they didn't want to deal with a spora kid, so they abandoned me when I was four. Ma found me a couple of days later and took me with her to the swamp. She took care of me and changed my name to Sylo. I don't even remember what my first name was."

"Did you ever see your parents after they left?"

"Nope, and I don't care if I ever do. I'd rather see my real mom again."

"So what happened . . ." Mory paused, wondering if it was appropriate to dive deeper into Sylo's personal history. "Nevermind. It's none of my business."

"She got sick. We tried everything we could to fix her, but it just kept getting worse. One day she left me a letter, and she was gone. She wrote that she knew she wasn't going to live much longer and she went to see her sister one last time." 

Sylo turned her gaze slightly and looked into Mory's eyes. He genuinely looked worried about her. 

"I'm sorry," she said.  "We just got here, and I'm giving you my depressing life story."

"I don't mind. I think it's good that I know more about you now. If I can help you in any way, just let me know."

Sylo smiled and rested her head on Mory's shoulder.

"So what's your story?" she asked.

They sat together and watched the sun setting beneath the ocean as Mory told her everything.