An entire day evaporated. Syryn had worked hard studying the dowager queen's medical history and prevailing health markers, and had come up with a routine of exercises that would benefit her ailment. The prescription was written down with explicit instructions for what she had to do daily.

After sealing off his hard work in an envelope, Syryn began working on the rusma patient's case. When his quill began jotting down its first lines, he had an unexpected guest.

"Riaku is here," Red informed him from the door. He wore a pleased smirk on his face. The redhead was happy to see Riaku.

Syryn met the prince in an area that served as a living room. Riaku seemed to be in a buoyant mood as well. The prince smiled at Syryn when the teen greeted him.

"Elder Toka informed me of how you have lengthed my grandmother's life."

Syryn flopped down on the comfortable chair and shrugged. "It's thanks to your efforts in finding me, a gem of a healer amongst the glass stones."

"You're right," Riaku said. "Can I detain you in Nua for the foreseeable future?"

Syryn wanted to stay. He was okay with letting Salem take complete ownership of their shared business. But he had Rowan to return to, and a lost squid to feed.

"I can prolong my stay," Syryn replied. "If it appears that the dowager queen requires observation."

Riaku nodded.

"Understood. I came here for another reason, I have good news for you."

"Good news?" Syryn's ears perked up.

"You have the permission and unlimited access to Nua's plateau, barring the more sensitive areas that Akida can tell you about." Riaku tossed to Syryn a jade coin that had a hole in its centre. A golden yellow band went through the hole and was twisted in a loop that could be used to hang it on Syryn's waist.

The teen sat up straighter. "For real? Is Akida my guide?" He was beaming, ecstatic from the knowledge that Nua's treasure trove was finally open to him.

"He is. He might be grumpy but I trust him to protect you from the dangers that you might encounter."

"But why are you letting me have him? Isn't he your personal guard?" Syryn picked up the jade token and examined the markings on it.

"I'm mostly safe within Nua."

"Of course, you're the wall that stands between Nua and her enemies. Speaking of which, you will no longer be as useful when Nua finally subdues her last crop of hostile neighbours. That's when you have to watch out, Riaku. Kingdoms are built on the blood spilt between princes."

Riaku was calm in the face of Syryn's provocative words. "Yes, that would be an acceptable outcome."

Syryn stopped and stared at the prince. Carefully, he asked him. "Do you perhaps want to," a dramatic pause, "die?"

Riaku laughed. He looked happy. And Syryn was happy for him.

"No, I want to be free." He had said the same thing before.

"That's no good, Riaku," Syryn told him. "Being free could mean many things. Fate may twist your words and free you from your mortal coil."

"Then I'll look forward to it." Riaku stood up. "I have to attend to my duties, Syryn. Let's meet again soon."

-----

"Ok, but why am I weari-"

"WHAT?" Akida shouted to be heard above the din of the waterfall they were crossing.

"WHY ARE WE WEARING THESE?" Syryn flapped his arms to better show Akida what he was talking about. Syryn, Lucien, and Akida were out exploring a cave system under Helios. The guard had forced the brothers to put on long coats, masks and gloves that covered up every inch of skin on their bodies. It was night time and the flash of lightning from Akida's thunder orb illuminated their slippery path.

"YOU SAID YOU WANTED TO CATCH GLIMMER FROGS," Akida yelled into Syryn's ears. "THEY OCCUPY THE SAME ECOLOGY THAT IS INHABITED BY PLAGUE SLIME."

Red was holding on to Akida's hand for dear life. The slippery moss-covered rocks were a death sentence to non-avians. He stepped on a particularly wet patch of rock that nearly sent him careening down the ledge they were walking across. Akida yanked him back on his feet and decided that it was better to carry the boy. Red was ashamed but he allowed Akida to piggyback him.

"What are these plague slimes you speak of?" He asked the avian. He was bundled up in a red coat that the guard had chosen for him. Syryn was in a black coloured one.

"The most disgusting, slimy, ugly things you'll ever see. If you accidentally come in contact with the slime they produce, a plague starts spreading from the point of contact, and it stinks like a rotting carcass left in the water for too long." Akida's vivid description made his listeners cringe. Suddenly they were grateful for the covering that the guard had physically forced upon them.

"That's N'tasia's gate," Akida gestured to the opening in the rock that dwarfed their figures. The environment in Nua seemed so exaggerated to Syryn who had never seen such a tall opening. If they stood there and looked out to the sky, millions of stars twinkled back at them.

"Syryn," Akida held out his hand to the teen who was looking up at the sky, the same sky that Rowan had probably looked up at that night.

Grasping the strong fingers that were wrapped around his, Akida led them through the opening of the cave. His orb illuminated a perilous path of waterlogged rock floor and Syryn wished he was small enough to get piggybacked like Red.

The two of them splashed through the water and reached dry rocky ground feeling wet and cold. Still, it was worth it to the teen.

Akida hung his orb on an iron hook that was hammered into the wall. The avian then led them deeper inside the cave system where Syryn's eyes adjusted to the darkness. He was able to discern faint glowing patches on the walls.

"Bioluminescent algae," Syryn said to Akida. "We're close to the glimmer frogs."

"Why do you think they glow?" Red asked Syryn. He reached out and rubbed some of the yellowish algae between his gloved fingers.

"Could be many reasons for it. It could be that they glow to attract predators that eat the insects that eat the algae. Or it could be a display akin to how flowers look bright to attract pollinators." Syryn scrapped off a test tube's worth of algae and packed it away.

"Look, there's a glimmer frog," Akida pointed out.

Syryn was surprised by the avian's sharp eyes. It was a baby glimmer that could sit on his thumbnail and still take up only half the space. "Amazing! It's just like the algae. Could it be that the frogs evolved in tandem with the algae?"

Syryn stole a few more samples and a live mature glimmer frog that could not be stored in his satchel. They moved further into the cave and the smell of rot hit their noses.

"Syryn, make light," Akida told the teen.

A will-O-the wisp floated in front of the them. Akida silently pointed to the ceiling and the brothers looked up to see a large mass of writhing slime that looked like sentient snot. It covered the rock surface so completely that Syryn felt a shiver of horror go down his spine. It was as if a million tiny worms were wriggling in the mass of greyish white.

"And that is what your coat is for," Akida said, pointing to a drop of slime that had fallen on Syryn's cloth-covered arm.

"Can I burn them?" Syryn asked the avian.

"No," Akida answered with a deep chuckle which Syryn thought was a delicious sound. "They have their own purpose in the cave. Just don't get too close to them."

"Right, where are we going next?" Red asked. He didn't like how his head was separated from the disgusting things by just a few metres of space.

"We can go look for winter blossoms," Akida answered. "But not tonight."