Dark Faïz (Book 2) [Completed]

Chapters 4-2

He paused to assess our level of concentration. After a few seconds of silence, he continued. "Eros is an island located between Japan and China, very little known throughout the world. Tourists aren't allowed to stay or visit it. This island has its own government and its own laws."

William looked around the cabin to make sure he still had our full attention. He rubbed his hands while searching for his words as the atmosphere grew heavier over the minutes.

"On Eros," William continued, "gravity is less important than anywhere else. To give you an idea, it generally varies between nine point seven seven per square meter per second and nine point eight four. On the island, it's five!"

"Okay, I'm already lost," said Asarys, crossing her arms with a disappointed pout.

"If that means that we will weigh double, that could pose a problem for me!" grumbled Lexy.

"You're not fat!"

"I have gained at least four pounds in the past three weeks. I haven't—"

"No, it's the opposite," intervened Faïz, annoyed by this conversation between my two friends. "The weight loss will be impressive. Weather parameters will also have to be considered. On Eros, the thick layer of fog is constant and low. The sun doesn't penetrate the mist enough. This is all due to the spherical imperfection of the planet."

"Indeed, our Earth is more camouflaged at the poles and more rounded towards the equator," added William.

"Do you understand?" asked Faïz after a short moment of silence.

The three of us nodded our heads in unison, but the two young men looked at each other in perplexity, unconvinced of our response. Faïz then let out a long sigh and scratched the back of his head before adding,

"All right! We will explain all this to you on Eros. William? Where are Barthey and Ray?"

"They took off an hour ago. They will wait for us before leaving for the inn."

"What? An inn?" exclaimed Asarys, surprised. "I thought we would be staying at the hotel."

"It would be too risky," answered William. "The government of Eros is aware of our mission and agrees to collaborate with the United States, but for the Kobolds, the inhabitants of this country, we will be just simple ecologists who study behavior and the functioning of the residents of this island in order to learn how to raise awareness in the rest of the world on the protection of the environment."

I discovered this information at the same time as my friends. The task seemed to be complicated with a country with an ecosystem distinct from ours and a strange population with completely different customs. I turned my head to look through the window, noting that the jet hadn't moved an inch.

"Do you have more questions?" asked Faïz, still standing in front of us.

"For my part, no," I replied without looking away from the small opening.

"So we can go."

He then turned to William.

"Let Ray know we're leaving. I will warn the pilot that we can take off."

At that moment, my mind escaped through the oval window. I had a feeling that I would miss the Los Angeles sun on Eros, given the weather forecast announced by Faïz. I was far from imagining the reality of this country.

I woke up a few hours later when I heard loud exclamations around me.

"Magnificent!" cried Asarys.

"I can't believe my eyes. It's incredible," added Lexy, her nose almost glued to the window.

I raised my seat in order to discover what could excite my two friends. Even though it was dark, the spectacle of the beauty of the land below us was simply breathtaking.

"It can't be real," I whispered in a low voice, gazing at the island that looked like a four-leaf clover.

The first thing that caught my eye was the vastness of virgin space filled with greenery. Indeed, Eros seemed to be a wilderness devoid of any human population and surrounded, on both sides, by a multitude of waterfalls, like a rampart. These seemed to pour water with fluorescent blue reflections in a dark ocean. As they lost altitude, bright spots began to appear in the center of the island.

"Few things still happen to amaze me in this world, but there, it must be admitted that no one can remain indifferent to this almost unreal setting."

Focused on the view of Eros below us, I hadn't heard Faïz coming behind me. Installed in the seat next to me, he leaned over to admire the landscape through my window. Despite his unacceptable behavior and everything he'd told me, I couldn't help but be troubled by this closeness. My gaze went over his shoulder and then swept the cabin. Asarys and Lexy were still in awe of the show below, while William slept tight in the front seat. It was the first time I'd seen him like this, and for good reason. He hadn't stopped in recent weeks. I then returned to Faïz. The regrets could be read in his eyes. Suddenly, the image of him pointing a gun at Ogres shook my thoughts violently. Part of me was almost afraid of this dark brown head while the other still hoped to save him.

"Fog? Uh...there is no fog on the horizon," I said, short of breath.

Faïz stepped back and wedged himself in the back of his seat while continuing to stare at me painfully.

"Eros heats up at night. See the mountains that surround the city in the distance? They are volcanoes. Scientists don't explain it. They get active every night, which warms the earth in this country. The ground is strewn with a multitude of thermal sensors intended to convert this heat into energy and electricity. In the early morning, these volcanoes erupt everywhere on the island."

My face broke when I heard this revelation.

"No, don't worry," Faïz immediately reassured me. "They don't emit lava. These are phreatic eruptions. These are, in short, large amounts of water vapor that escape from the craters. This creates, in contact with fresh air, this thick constant fog during the day."

The captain then left the cockpit, nodding in Faïz's direction. Faïz got up without waiting and immediately went to meet him. They exchanged brief information in a low voice, then Faïz turned to us to speak.

"We'll be landing shortly. Please buckle up. For your information, please note that there is a sixteen-hour time difference between Eros and Los Angeles."

William suddenly straightened up, awakened by the voice of his friend, then immediately looked for me.

"So that you can move around without feeling the gravity problem on the island, you will be given a small box to hang on your wrist. As we explained to you, here the gravitational pull is much less important than anywhere else."