Chapter 101: The Living Secret Realm
Morning arrived, and the group left camp behind, continuing their journey north. The farther they traveled, the more unbelievable the scenery became.
The trees grew hundreds of feet tall, their canopies disappearing into mist far overhead.
Entire cliffs were covered in glowing moss that pulsed faintly with color. Ancient rivers sparkled with tiny blue fish that seemed to shine beneath the surface of the water. Massive flowers, taller than houses, slowly opened as the morning sunlight reached them.
Arthur looked around at all of it. "This doesn’t feel like a ruin," he said.
Athena smiled. "It isn’t," she said.
Everyone looked toward her.
"The kingdom disappeared," she said, gesturing at the world stretching out around them. "The world didn’t."
Arthur nodded quietly. "It’s beautiful," he said.
Even Mithra’s eyes sparkled as she took it all in. "So beautiful," she agreed.
The children ran ahead of the group, weaving between the towering flowers.
Arthur quietly looked around. "Do you ever wonder what it looked like before?"
Athena smiled. "Somtimes but most of them I don’t"
Arthur blinked. "Why?"
She slowly shook her head. "I study ruins." She looked around the forest. "For the first time. I’m seeing a civilization that never truly died."
Arthur looked around once more and then smiled. "I hope we get to see the rest of it."
Athena nodded. "So do I."
One of them suddenly pointed. "Butterflies!" she said.
Everyone looked.
Hundreds of glowing butterflies drifted between the blossoms, their wings shimmering faintly with color. One landed directly on Melo’s nose, and she crossed her eyes trying to look at it.
Arthur laughed. "Don’t move," he said.
She froze. "Why?"
Arthur pointed at the butterfly. "You’ve been promoted," he said. "To butterfly."
Melo blinked. "Important job," she said.
Sun sighed. "You encourage her too much," he said.
Without warning, every bird in the surrounding trees suddenly took flight at once.
Arthur’s smile disappeared. "Stop," he said.
The entire group froze. The ground began to tremble beneath their feet.
Then they appeared.
Nearly thirty Storm Wolves burst through the trees, lightning dancing across their silver fur, each one easily twice the size of a horse. The children instinctively stepped behind the adults. Hunters lowered their spears, bracing for a fight.
Arthur raised one hand. "Wait," he said.
The wolves didn’t even acknowledge them. They sprinted past at full speed and within seconds, they were gone, vanishing into the trees on the other side of the clearing.
Silence returned.
One of the Goblins whispered, "What had them rushing so quickly?"
Nobody had an answer.
Arthur looked toward the direction the wolves had come from. "Something," he said.
The tension slowly faded as the group continued walking, and the children began talking again. Then one of them pointed upward.
"What’s that?" she asked.
High above the clouds, something enormous drifted slowly across the sky. A turtle, so massive that an entire forest grew across its shell. Ancient trees rose from its back. Small waterfalls cascaded down its sides. Birds nested peacefully among the branches, and clouds brushed gently against its shell as it moved.
Nobody said a word. Even Arthur forgot to breathe for a moment.
"That’s," he started.
Athena smiled like a delighted child. "A Sky Turtle," she said.
Mithra’s eyes shone. "It’s adorable," she said.
Sun blinked. "It’s the size of a mountain," he said.
"Exactly," Athena said.
The Sky Turtle circled slowly overhead, and then, to everyone’s surprise, it began descending. A massive lake nearby rippled violently as the creature approached, and it landed with surprising gentleness, water splashing high into the air. Despite its enormous size, it barely disturbed the shoreline.
One enormous golden eye slowly opened and looked directly at the group.
Arthur slowly waved. "Hello."
The enormous eye blinked once.
Then the Turtle lowered its head, almost like an invitation. A
rthur’s eyes lit up. "It likes me!" Sun pinched the bridge of his nose. "Of course it does."
The children hid.
Arthur did the exact opposite. His eyes lit up. "So cool!" he said.
Before anyone could stop him, he ran.
"Arthur!" Sun called out, reaching for him.
Too late. Arthur sprinted across the shore, jumped, and grabbed one of the Turtle’s massive front legs. He climbed, higher and higher, until he finally reached its head. He threw both hands into the air.
"Woooo!" he shouted.
The Sky Turtle slowly turned its head, completely unbothered by the sudden passenger.
Mithra watched him for a moment, then smiled. "Wait for me!" she called, running after him.
Arthur reached down toward her. "Grab my hand!" he said.
She laughed. "You better not drop me!"
"I won’t!"
A moment later, both of them sat perched on top of the Sky Turtle’s head, looking out over the entire valley below.
Mithra laughed. "This is amazing," she said.
Arthur nodded excitedly. "We can see everything!" he said.
Below them, the children stared upward. One of them pointed. "I want to climb too!" she said.
Within minutes, half the Goblin children were climbing up the Turtle’s shell. The creature didn’t seem to mind at all, simply watching them with quiet patience.
Melo somehow reached the top without anyone noticing how, settling down beside Arthur. "Good turtle," she said.
The Turtle slowly closed one eye, almost as if it were smiling.
Arthur stretched both arms behind his head. "I want one."
Mithra blinked. "A Sky Turtle?"
"Yes!"
"...Where exactly are you planning to keep a mountain?"
Arthur thought seriously. "Bigger backyard?"
Mithra laughed. "You don’t even have a backyard."
"...Details."
She shook her head. "I swear you see legendary creatures and your first thought is whether you can adopt them."
Arthur nodded proudly. "Exactly."
Then the waterfalls flowing down its shell suddenly grew stronger, water rushing into the lake below until it overflowed, sending a huge wave rolling toward the shore.
"Uh oh," Arthur said.
Splash.
Every Goblin standing on the shore was completely soaked in an instant.
Silence.
Arthur blinked, water dripping from his hair. Mithra looked down at herself, then at Arthur, and burst out laughing.
A child scooped up a handful of water. "Attack!" she shouted.
Splash.
Arthur took a direct hit. "Traitor," he said.
He immediately scooped up water of his own. "Oh, we’re doing this?" he said.
Within seconds, the entire lakeside dissolved into chaos.
Children screamed happily as they splashed each other.
Hunters threw water back and forth. Luka splashed Vedas without warning, and he blinked once before sending an even bigger wave back at her.
Sun sighed. "We’re adults," he said.
Splash.
A wave hit him directly in the face.
Arthur lowered his hand. "Sorry," he said. "That wasn’t me," he added quickly.
Everyone turned toward Melo. She was holding a tiny wave cupped in one paw. "Accident," she said.
Nobody believed her.
Soon even Sun was laughing along with everyone else.
One little Goblin threw a tiny splash toward Vedas.
It barely reached his boots.
Vedas looked down.
The child froze.
Very slowly, Vedas scooped up an enormous wave.
The child squeaked. "...Run!"
Every child immediately scattered in every direction.
Vedas smiled and then launched the wave.
Half the children screamed happily as they were completely soaked. The adults burst into laughter.
Athena had intended to watch quietly from the side, but one child accidentally splashed directly into her notebook.
Silence.
Athena looked down at the soaked pages very slowly. Then she smiled.
"You’re all in trouble," she said.
She rolled up her sleeves.
Arthur immediately pointed at her. "Retreat!" he shouted.
Too late. Athena launched the biggest splash of the entire afternoon.
Mara cheered from the shore. "This is the Athena I wanted to see!" she said.
For nearly half an hour, nobody talked about evolution, or ruins, or danger. They simply laughed, played, and enjoyed being together. Even the Sky Turtle seemed content, watching quietly as though this sort of thing happened every few centuries.
When everyone finally climbed back onto the shore, soaked and exhausted and still smiling, Arthur looked back at the enormous creature.
"Thanks," he said.
The Sky Turtle slowly lifted one massive leg and waved.
A single glowing leaf drifted down from the forest growing on its shell.
It landed gently in Arthur’s hands. Arthur blinked. "A souvenir?"
Mithra smiled. "I think it likes you."
Arthur turned the glowing leaf over in his hand.
It felt warm, alost like it was alive. The tiny veins running through it glowed softly with pale blue light.
"...Pretty."
Athena’s smile suddenly disappeared. "Arthur." He looked up. "Don’t lose that."
Arthur blinked. "Oh? Is it something amazing?"
Athena carefully stepped closer. "There are only a handful of records describing Sky Turtles." She looked at the glowing leaf. "And every single one mentions this."
Arthur looked back down. "Really?"
She nodded. "They don’t shed these naturally. They only give them away to those they recognize."
Arthur blinked before a grinned. "So she acknowledged our friendship!"
Everyone paused before they slowly nodded.
Melo looked at Arthur. "Head friend."
Arthur laughed. "I’ll take it." He carefully tucked the leaf inside his backpack. And then he began waving back with a grin. "Bye! I’m sure we will meet again buddy! No, I will make sure will, I have to give you something as well!"
Every child waved back.
"Bye!"
"See you again!"
The Turtle slowly rose back into the sky, and nobody looked away until it disappeared beyond the clouds.
Still smiling from the lake, the group continued deeper into the Secret Realm. Soon the air itself began to shimmer around them, and before them stretched a valley unlike anything they had seen so far.
Flowers bloomed in every color imaginable. Some floated gently above the ground, drifting like they weighed nothing at all.
Others walked slowly on tiny root-like legs before planting themselves somewhere new. Crystal vines climbed over ancient ruins, glowing softly with mana. Tiny glowing seeds drifted lazily through the air like scattered stars.
Athena’s mouth fell open. "Impossible," she whispered.
Mara’s eyes widened. "I’m going!" she said, taking one step forward.
Arthur caught the back of her hood before she could get far. "Nice try," he said.
Mara pointed quickly. "But... Do you know how many papers are standing over there?"
Sun didn’t even look. "No and you’re not finding out."
She sighed. "I live a difficult life."
Athena nodded thoughtfully. "You really do."
She sighed dramatically. "We never have fun," she said.
Arthur grinned. "I literally just let you climb a mountain sized turtle," he said.
"Different kind of fun," Mara said.
Arthur laughed.
As they continued moved, everyone began to understand Mara obsession.
One tiny flower slowly walked over to Melo.
It looked up at her.
Then quietly climbed onto one of her tails.
Arthur crouched beside another tiny flower. "Hello."
The flower slowly turned toward him and then it bowed.
Arthur blinked. "...Did it just bow?"
Mithra immediately crouched beside another one and she gave a tiny bow. The flower happily bounced twice before bowing back.
The children gasped. "They’re polite!"
Within seconds, every child in the group was bowing to different flowers.
Some flowers bowed.
Some spun in circles.
One dramatically fell over before popping back up.
Arthur laughed. "They have personalities."
Athena smiled. "They’re responding to intent."
Melo looked down at the flower sitting on her tail. "Friend."
The flower glowed brighter.
Arthur watched quietly. "I really like this place."
The Goblin Mage paused mid step. "The magic around..." He said quietly. "It feels amazing."
He raised his staff without thinking, and instead of one Mana Bolt forming above it, three appeared at once, hovering side by side.
Everyone blinked in surprise.
Arthur smiled. "Looks like this place likes mages," he said.
Athena was already writing before he had even finished speaking.
The Mage blinked and he waved his staff again.
Five appeared.
He immediately looked terrified. "I don’t know how to stop." The Mage swallowed. "Can someone take them?"
Arthur looked up. "I don’t know how."
"...Neither do I."
Everyone looked toward Athena and she slowly stepped backward. "I’m a historian."
Mithra immediately pointed toward Sun. "Congratulations."
Sun blinked. "Why me?"
"Because you’re responsible."
"...I don’t remember volunteering."
Arthur smiled. "You just did."
Sun looked at the floating Mana Bolts and then at Arthur. "...I blame you."
Arthur grinned. "Fair."
That evening, camp was made among the glowing flowers, the strange plants casting soft colored light across the ground. One of the children looked up at Luka.
"What lives near the Yan Tribe?" she asked.
Luka thought about it for a moment. "Nothing," she said.
Arthur looked up. "Nothing?" he asked.
Raku nodded. "That’s always been strange," he said. "The closer you get, the fewer beasts you find."
Silence settled over the group.
Arthur slowly looked north. "Why?" he asked.
Nobody had an answer.
Then, far away, a single deep bell echoed across the mountains.
Once.
Everyone froze.
Luka’s expression changed instantly. "That," she said.
Arthur looked at her. "What was that?" he asked.
Luka slowly stood, her eyes fixed on the darkness stretching north. "We’re close if we can hear it," she said.
The birds stopped singing.
The wind seemed quieter.
Even the glowing flowers slowly folded their petals.
Arthur looked around. "Everything heard it."
Luka nodded. "They always do."
Arthur looked north again. "Who rings it?"
Luka smiled faintly. "You’ll see."
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