Liana took a deep breath of fresh air, which felt very different among these plants. They had almost reached the end of the green valley now, and she felt a certain resistance to leave this oasis of life in this dead and alien world. The Japanese knotweed clearly felt at home here, it clearly grew even better than in Liana's own world. It also behaved different from how she remembered it from her own world: due to the absence of seasons and the uniform climate here all stages of development were growing at once here, from pale reddish-tinged shoots to leaf-bearing, flowering and seed-bearing stems several metres high to dead dry canes. The species was clearly still expanding, but it already covered much of the valley floor, which was clearly lower than the surrounding city they had come through and had to return to. Hidden under the vegetation they had noticed that this valley was still made of rubble hidden by dead plant material, and they also crossed a kind of shallow stream with many branches several times, which didn’t contain deadly acid like the seas of this world were said to be filled with, but fresh water. At the side of the stream they finally saw one of the weird animals they’d seen before, resting on a weird octagonal piece of rusty debris. It was reddish-brown, and it indeed had one eye, four wings and four very flexible joint-less legs. It looked at them with its one eye, and then suddenly flew away, over the plants. “No doubt, there’s definitely a colony of small zokas here. I’d never thought I’d see them alive, and in such an ecosystem.” Lun said.

There was something very confusing about the way the fairly mundane but oversized weed plants grew over a bed of crumbled alien artefacts that were largely unrecognisable, and inhabited by both very common insects and bewildering tiny aliens. But the important thing was that they wouldn’t get noticed now if there would indeed be guards at the other side of the knotweed valley. The positive thing was that the plants didn’t actually grow everywhere, and there were a lot of open spaces underneath them everywhere, like a corn maze, probably where there were things hidden in the soil that inhibited the plant growth. But even there, layers of decomposed dead leaves on the ground had created a kind of compost-like soil that muffled much of the sound of their footsteps, but there also were occasional bits hidden under it that creaked when you stepped on them, both dry old twigs and remnants of the mess of the bygone civilization of the old Kavanderrans.

They had made a steady progress through the knotweed valley and were almost reaching the end of the plants. The plants were also growing a lot lower here, and most of them only came to Liana’s shoulders. Suddenly all three of them stopped at once, as if automatically. “Shht!” said Inaya, “there they are.” She pointed her finger at the gentle slope that they could see beyond the valley, where the main road began again. Indeed, three short figures stood guard behind the last plants of the field, where the buildings began again. They were dressed rather ridiculously in what from this distance looked like a cross between a toy armour and a spacesuit, with many unrecognisable appendages that could be anything. “Drotnira indeed, but they wear very strange clothes and are armed and with unknown weapons. That means we're on the right track. And it also confirms our fears that the Onnobolda have indeed learned to use technology from here. That is very bad news” Inaya explained in a whisper.

Liana peered into the distance at the strange creatures, who looked like short, stocky people to her. Her eyes didn't see much detail, but she wasn't the only one to have that problem. Lun pulled out his lens device to get a better look for himself and then passed them on. Apparently it was as useful as binoculars than it had been for studying the aphids and lacewings in detail. With a clearer view the infamous Drotnira looked even stranger, with their eclectic gear from multiple worlds looked looked even stranger, as if they were plucked from somewhere in between the Middle Ages and a bad sci-fi movie.They were a bit like dwarfs without facial hair, with completely non-human skin colours that were more stone-like tints of grey. Still, it was good for Liana to see them, as even these hostile Nuanderran humanoids gave her a familiar feeling in this dead alien world that began again after the valley of knotweed. Kavanderra remained a completely alien world where even the sun and the sky looked wrong and alien, no matter how many ants and aphids they’d met.

She knew she had to feel some fear, because these strange fellows were members of the culture that hated her kind with great passion, and part of a faction in Nuanderra that possible wanted to complete extinction of her species.. “So those are the infamous Drotnira?” she muttered, to no one in particular. She knew enough about Nuanderra by now to know that these strange dwarfs were mostly known for their love of mushrooms and their skill with stone and metal, but also for their eerie legends about the Gorchbolds, the evil devils of Oranderra. And now these were the guards they had to get past now? Liana wasn't quite sure about that… Something told her that such creatures might not back down from killing her if necessary, even if she was accompanied by two people who were untouchable in their world. Now

“Can they feel our presence as you do with them if we come closer?” She asked Inaya uncertainly, but Lun answered in her place. “No, the Drotnira are more like Hmana than Nummerfa in that regard. They have no talent at all for kah-yito. They are very grounded in matter.” But looking at Liana, he added a thought: “Although of course you can never know whether rare individuals have certain gifts like you do. But that is much rarer in their species than in ours. So don't worry about that, if they don’t have any Nummerfa with them. Which they don’t seem to have here. We just have to get past them somehow.” Liana sighed. She had a lot of things to worry about as the Gorchbold of the trio, and the others didn’t really have a good plan either. She continued to gaze anxiously at the little watchers through the binoculars, feeling that their journey might come to an end here. Their strange uniforms and weapons from three worlds made them fairly imposing figures, despite their short length.?

Inaya pointed to something further away, beyond the guards, toward the extension of the main road. “Something tells me that the main base of the Onnobolda is somewhere in that huge complex.” In the distance there was a giant odd construction looking like a cross between an Old Babylonian ziggurat and a failed Lego structure jumbled together from haphazardly colored blocks. "But I suspect it won't be easy to get there, and these will be just the first guards, and we’ve yet to get beyond them. We need to find a way to avoid them."

But Liana suddenly had another plan."So those Drotnira are like normal humans when it comes to the invisible world and thought communication?" Liana asked. “More or less,” agreed Inaya. "Unlike you." She added. “And when I first saw you, you should have been completely invisible to me, and you really were invisible to the people around me when I got home. Is that same thing also possible with three people?” she asked, but Inaya looked doubtful. “What you call 'being invisible' means I'm walking in the side dimension, the invisible dimension as you might say. The dimension in which what you call spirits move. You humans can't do that. In that respect, we Nummerfa are less bound to matter than you are. But on the other hand I don't just have just any hmana here with me, I suspect."

She looked from Liana to Lun. “Lun, as a yam-healer, did you already do some exercises to communicate in the side dimension, with the invisible presences and soul of plants or the land? Have you done the spirit dimension classes?” He nodded no. “No, I first did the plants and animals and other cultures, that stuff is yet to come in my extended education. Few yam-healers in Til ever learn that. My speciality is Oranderrology, and I also have studied the medical traditions of the snow people” Isnja sighed. “Liana is probably right though, it will be our only way.” Lun looked at her uncomprehendingly. “Both of you, you will take my hands, and then we walk slowly and with as little noise as possible past the guards. But watch out, the world looks completely different from the side dimension.”

“Is that really possible, and will it work on them? IIt was just a random wild idea” Liana said. Inaya nodded, but didn't seem very enthusiastic.