Two small, flat surfaces appeared out of the walls. The surfaces were covered with leaves and flowers, with a small pond of water to the side. The birds stared at us as Noel and I washed our faces. A tiny bird with brown, spotted feathers rubbed against my leg. A warm sensation flooded through my skin as my wounds and bruises healed. Another bird healed Noel. Noel and I sat on the edges of our makeshift beds, leaned against the walls, and took a well deserved break.

“Should we really be resting like this?” asked Noel.

“Do not worry,” said the lead bird, “your pursuer is preoccupied.”

“Preoccupied with what?” I asked.

“Preoccupied with me,” said the bird. “Now, let us begin this exchange of information.”

“Exchange?” I said. “I thought we were going to use our information to pay for your help with The Terrible.”

“Yes, and I am going to help you with information,” said the bird.

Was it not going to help us fight? Wasn’t this a scam? Oh wait, I shouldn’t think that. I forgot it can read minds. “How is information going to help us fight against a five star monster? We couldn’t even defeat a one star monster!”

“Outsider,” said the lead bird as it hopped next to the pond and dipped its beak into the water to take a sip. There were no ripples. “You know that the fundamentals of magic in this world are knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge determines the type and base power of the magic spell being used, while wisdom governs its overall power and the manner in which this power is applied. Yet, just as the darkness recedes from the light, and fire is smothered by water, so too does knowledge ebb and flow with the tides.”

“Uh,” Noel stammered, “could you rephrase that, please?”

“Magic can have strengths and weaknesses,” said the bird. “Starred monsters, as you call them, are merely beings that have begun to govern different forms of magic. However, since they lack the ability to learn the knowledge that is required to govern magic, they have to rely on others who can bestow upon them the ability to do so. Your pursuer, it seems, has been bestowed with its powers by my enemy, which is why it bears his symbol on its head.”

“Yes, the God of Evil has used The Terrible and the Oracle to control the elves of the Plains of Serenity for a long time,” I said.

The bird ruffled its feathers. “It is strange,” said the bird, “the way you can so casually say his name.”

Oh right, they reacted badly the last time I said the God of Evil out loud. Noel looked at me accusingly. I shrugged. “I thought that was just the name the elves used for it. We don’t even know your name, since the elves don’t have one for you.”

The birds froze. All of them craned their necks in my direction and stared at me. It was very creepy. “I see,” said the lead bird. “I was wondering why you were speaking our tongue while your companion was using a bastardized version of the ancient elven language. This is not a magic you have learned on your own, child.”

“Yes,” I said, “when I was summoned to this world, someone used a type of translation magic on me. I can understand different languages even if I don’t speak them.”

The lead bird frowned. Wait, how could a bird frown? They don’t even have eyebrows! How did that bird’s eyes do that? “Who was it. Who summoned you to this world?”

“The God of Evil,” I said.

The birds shuddered. “Yes, him. To me it sounds like you are speaking his name in my language, not yours. Yet, you should not know that name, which is why I was curious. But why would he summon you to this world?”

“I was supposed to be a sacrifice,” I said.

“A sacrifice?” said the bird.

“Yes,” continued Noel. “The God of Evil wanted me to take Cas to The Terrible’s cave, where he would control his mind to make him attack me. Then, I would ask for the God of Evil’s help, but become his Ikon in exchange.”

The birds narrowed their eyes. Seriously, how could birds have such expressive facial features! “Then you are not one of his minions. A failure that could become my opportunity, perhaps? Although it is strange that you were able to come to this world at all. It seems there has been a plot brewing right under my nose. To think that maniac would let this happen.” The birds shook their heads and looked away, as if in thought. “No, it makes sense. He is not the best at subterfuge. If he wasn’t so brutishly powerful, there is no way he could have joined our ranks.”

“Excuse me,” I said, “who are you talking about?”

“I cannot say his name,” said the lead bird. “But I suppose I can offer a wider explanation. First, know that we are not gods. It may appear so to you mortals, but we cannot claim to be gods for we have never created anything in our long but pointless lives.”

“But the God of Evil controls the red star,” said Noel. “And the God of Madness controls the moon. If controlling the heavens doesn’t make them gods, then what does?”

“I do not know what makes one a god,” said the bird. “All I know is that we are not gods. We are immortals. Immortals who govern certain domains of reality, from which we draw our power.”

“I see,” I said. “So you’re immortals fighting with each other to gain control of their domains.”

“Well,” said the bird. “That is true for me and for the immortal that governs the red star. The immortal that governs the moon is a… special case.”

“What do you mean?” asked Noel.

“The immortal of the red star and I were born as immortals. The immortal of the moon, was not,” said the bird.

I see. So the God of Evil and the thirty birds were born immortals while the God of Madness became one through other means. “I know you can hear my thoughts, so you must be as tired as I am of calling you the thirty birds. Can’t you give us your name.”

“No,” said the bird. “I cannot give you my name, since I am sure you will use it in front of me! That will be a most unpleasant feeling.”

“Well then ,give us something my translation magic can’t turn into your real name in your language,” I said.

“Very well,” said the thirty birds. “You may call me by the name your companion’s ancestors used for me. The Immortal of Desire.”

“The Immortal of Desire,” I repeated.

The birds froze. They stared angrily at me. “Why are you using my real name?”

“Excuse me?”

The birds shook their heads. “It seems I have misunderstood the power of this translation magic. The immortal of the red star must have used some strange magic. Your translation magic is tied to the very essence of this world. What in the world was he thinking by giving you such powerful magic?”

“Great, so my cheat ability is translation, what a wonderful setting,” I said with a sigh. “All of this is fun and interesting, but can you please tell us how to fight the giant gem golem that’s trying to incinerate us with its lasers?”

“Oh right,” said the Immortal. “That’s easy. But first, tell me something I don’t know.”

And so Noel and I spent some time explaining our understanding of magic to the birds. They seemed to like my idea of using rational thinking to form small bits of understanding that could be chained together to create different types of spells. It was quite creative, they said. After a little time spent explaining the thoughts of some philosophers, scientists, and creatives from my world, the birds decided they had received enough information from me for us to receive their help.

“Before you go on to defeat your pursuer, I have another proposition for you,” said the Immortal of Desire. “After you are done, why don’t you come back to this tree and help me develop new types of magic? I may not have the knowledge that you have brought from your world, outsider, but I have a lot of wisdom, gathered over the many years I have been alive. It would be in both of our interests to work together.”

Noel and I looked at each other. The Immortal of Desire had been very good to us so far. The birds had taught us magic, shared a bunch of information about this world and the immortals, and were going to help us defeat a five star monster that we could never hope to defeat on our own. This seemed like a wonderful opportunity.

“Sure,” said Noel and I.

The birds smiled. I wondered, once again, how they moved their beaks that way. “Excellent,” said the Immortal of Desire. “Now let me tell you a little something about shiny things. Oh.” The birds looked of into the sky like hopeless romantics. “Oh, how I love shiny things!”

Right. I see. Birds like shiny things. I shared a quick glance with Noel. Looks like our new magic mentor was a bit of a weirdo.