-”We bee’ travling three days in a row now…”- Selvin voice’s raise in the otherwise silent automated cart. He and his sister are beside the driver’s entrance, where the boss, Masha, continues to drive after taking over with one of his own bodyguards.

-”Yeah…”- His sister only shakes her head slightly. Not looking at Selvin that is between her arms, she looks side to side on the long automated cart.

-”Ana…”-

-”Uh?”-

-”I think tis’ is the loooooongest trip we’ve eve’ don’.”-

Ana falls into silence. Breaking from her constant state of alert, she lets her head fall onto Selvin’s and lets a sight escape. After some thought, she says -”I think we already passed our home.”-

-”That explains things.”- Fleck says, incorporating himself from his sitting position. He is sitting right beside Selvin and Ana.

-”Wha’ do you mean?”- Selvin asks. Ana hugs Selvin more tightly as if she wanted to keep him away from him and any additional millimeter is worth it.

-”You didn’t give me the impression of being locals from the capital. Now I understand, you come from outside, from other states of Zunko.”-

-”Wow, you right!”- Selvin says as he elevates slightly his voice in amazement.

-”So what?”- Ana asks, letting a defiant tone come through in her voice.

-”Nothing.”- Says Fleck, cutting off the conversation with Ana. Then, turning to Selvin, he asks -”How was it? The first time you arrived at the capital.”-

-”It was awesome!”- Selvin says, raising both arms and hitting Ana slightly in the chin -”So many things that I didn’t even dream off or could ever imagine where all in the capital. Floating automated carts, floating carts, so many nice clothes, so many types of tasty food, very nice looking buildings, even for us in the slums, they were a lot nicer than where we lived back at home…”-

-”We also found a lot of assholes”- Adds Ana, rubbing her chin. Then, speaking to Selvin, she says -”I told you, didn’t I? Do not get chummy with the bunch in the capital. Too many don’t want us there.”-

-”Don’t cut off his excitement like that. He sounds like he was enjoying himself overall.”- Fleck says.

-”And you stop butting in the matters that don’t concern or involve you.”- Ana fires back.

Rubbing the back of his head, Fleck then lets a sight escape and says -”Don’t mistake this girl, the trip until now has been so boring that I tried to pass time with something entertaining. Not that I’m truly concerned or interested in you or him overall, you two are nothing but a pair of country bumpkins after all.”-

Ana and Selvin don’t say anything else as Fleck stands up and approaches the driver's entrance, crossing multiple crimson lines that the light-up crimson mithril threads cast into the floor and surroundings inside the automated cart.

Peeking in, he can see Masha at his left in the driver's seat, beside him another of his bodyguards, a bald one, and to his right, Hashi, still clad in that large red cloak and hood. He sees how the bodyguard is pointing to Masha in a couple of directions in front of them. Looking through the glass in front of them, Fleck can still make the Ether Storm that has formed high in the skies of Arcadia.

-”How are we going boss?”- Fleck asks.

Turning, Masha meets Fleck’s eyes and says -”Ah, it is you, Fleck. Well, to be honest, we are a bit behind schedule. The Ether Storm, even when it has set down, still is sending huge amounts of Ether Winds in all directions, and that is hindering the speed of the automated cart. Maybe if this beautiful had some wheels we could move faster under these circumstances, but we don’t have them. We can’t risk putting someone out there to cast a phantasmal or projection spell too to create said wheels, no one has the right affinity and mindset which would, in turn, make the chant too large to cast. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t be a problem but almost no people can stand being under the Ether Winds for more than a couple of seconds before it turns that person unable to fight for at least three months straight, and we are short of personnel as things are right now. So, I asked my trusted bodyguard here if he had any idea since we need to move faster to reclaim the lost time, and…”-

-”I recommend we keep moving towards the throat of Arcadia, but at the same time move slightly to the south.”- The bald bodyguard says.

-”I see…”- Fleck rubs his chin. In this moment of silence, he looks for a moment towards Hashi, who hasn’t said a thing and hasn’t almost moved at all besides crossing her long legs, her right leg over her left. Then, coming back to Masha, Fleck says -”The plan is to avoid the plains and use the uneven terrain of the south to at least partially guard against the Ether Winds.”-

Masha stares at Fleck, and then at his bodyguard -”Look at that Roger!”- he says as he gives a slight push to his bodyguard’s left shoulder -”Someone seems to be as familiar with the terrain as you.”-

Roger only lets a snort escape, but he doesn’t turn around to meet Fleck eyes.

-”Are you thinking of guiding the boss into the chasm?”- Fleck asks Roger.

Without turning, Roger replies -”That is the idea, yes. While the chasm isn’t a big one by any means, it still has its depth, enough I think that no Ether Winds would reach the automated cart while it is there.”-

As Fleck looks outside of the automated cart through the windows of the driver's section, he can see the grass and soil having multiple lines of glittering lights, parallel to each other, as if lines in the sand under the water on a beach where. Along with it, he sees multiple patches of bushes, some trees, and a lot of dead grass, bushes, trees, animals, with some corpses growing bushes of a strange enough nature that Fleck didn’t even want to know what they truly were.

We saw multiple animals running away the very first moment the Ether Storm appeared and still during the first day of our travel, especially with birds… it seems that not that many were able to escape the Ether Winds.

-”Well, I would suggest then that you turn to the south already, boss”- Fleck says.

-”Uh? Roger says that the entrance is still a bit further away.”-

Roger lets a sight escape.

-”That would be true under normal circumstances. At the speeds, an automated cart can muster we would be far closer to the throat of Arcadia and we would have missed the first leveled entrance to the south region and the chasm a while ago. At the speed this automated cart is going right now, we should still be within the area where the first entrance is.”-

Masha looks at Fleck in silence, then at Roger, then again at Fleck, then again at Roger. Finally, he looks at Fleck and asks -”Want to come and exclusively work for me?”-

-”No.”- Fleck replies, the answer coming out instantly as he turns gets back into the large section of the automated cart.

-”Such a shame”- Fleck can hear, accompanied by the sound of a small bell.