Eudaimonia: Maya's Journey

The heaven's peak

At first light they were ready to depart. It was not without emotion that Aroth gave them provisions, and he repeated numerous times that they had to be extremely vigilant. Before North prepared to mount Melo, Aroth took him aside. In his hands he was holding a sword.

"This is my sword and I give it to you. I haven't used it for years. It is thin and not too long, it should suit you perfectly."

North looked at it as if it was the most valuable thing in the world.

Aroth kissed them goodbye one last time and with watery eyes he watched them disappear into the horizon.

They were on the Eastern Road, the road leading to the mountains. From what they had been told, it would take four to five days to reach Mount Godard. They would take the road up to The Forest of Thoughts; then they would cut through the forest until they reached the foot of the mountain.

The journey was very calm and peaceful and they remained quiet for some time. They were remembering the troubles they had encountered so far and were unsure of what lay ahead.

North broke the silence, by opening up about his disappointment of not having won the tournament, and not being a knight. Maya described the opponent he had lost it to as an elephant. North had no idea what an elephant was. There was nothing as such in Altador, at least not to his knowledge.

Maya started singing, with a smooth and enchanting voice. North got carried away and started dreaming about saving the innocents. Fighting for justice was one of his favourite subjects. Maya was thinking of times she had spent with her family. When they went out all together, they would take the car and there would be this magical moment when her mum would start singing and all the family would join her. It was a moment of perfect osmosis, a communion between all the members of her family, when they forgot all about their differences and the world surrounding them. The individual disappeared and they became one. She also remembered her brothers bothering her and her mum always pestering her, but she was dearly holding onto those memories now.

They stopped to have a bite to eat in the middle of one of the valleys. There was not a soul to be seen, and they remained silent as they contemplated the scenic setting in front of them, unaware of what the rest of the journey had in store for them. Up until now North had known a bit about the land they were walking on but now he joined Maya in her ignorance, as he had never gone that far inland. They would soon reach The Forest of Thoughts, a part of the kingdom with very few inhabitants.

They resumed their trip and stopped late in the evening to camp. After a very peaceful night, they carried on at a steady pace and at noon they reached The Forest of Thoughts.

They broke their fast before entering the forest. The forest was immense and they needed to cross it diagonally, following an imaginary south-east line. Technically they should arrive at the foot of the mountains. The paths began to narrow, and at times the forest became very dense. At nightfall they had to look for an appropriate place to sleep.

Maya shared a feeling with North that something had been following them for a while, but he hadn't noticed anything alarming. There had been some wild animal noises, but nothing out of the ordinary for this young, but already knowledgeable hunter.

Suddenly, they heard a kind of howling and immediately North remembered the legend of Utaka, the wolves' queen. With the Anthrolites in mind, North had forgotten all about the stories about a legendary beast ghosting the forest. They were now on her territory. Although there had been no reports of wolves attacking humans, North felt uneasy. He immediately put his hand on the pommel of his sword, preparing for the worst.