Now though, Leo stood in front of the capital of Libero, and this place they called Regnum was a far calling from any of those memories.

Below them was a land bursting with life. A river ran from their right and zig-zagged its silky path through beautiful green grass, topping up lakes on the way before running through a line of trees that blocked Leo’s view of what lay beyond the river bend. The rest of the bowl was full of vastly different landscapes, each as rich as the next. As grass faded away on the other side of the river, sands swept in to take its place across one-quarter of the crater, mounds of earth rising from beneath the golden cover.

‘So, it’s a microcosm of all the lands?’ Dorian asked rhetorically.

‘I guess,’ Leo agreed, still working his way round from the desert areas across from him.

Gradually, the sand gave way to grass again, and trees from the rainforest merged with those of home, and then the trees they had walked through in Taiga.

‘Guys … people are staring,’ whispered Bailey, having stopped looking at Regnum and turned to look at those who were making their way into it.

People were coming in droves, some of whom looked at the four of them as if they were wondering why they would wait to head into such a place.

‘We should get a move on. I’m guessing we'll find Isla if we just follow the river,’ Leo suggested, returning his eyes to the river's course.

‘There’s only one way to find out!’ Bailey said, eagerly taking the first steps into Regnum, her strut becoming a little waddle as she held her balance on the steep and jagged slope.

The lumps of rock they were walking down started at ground level, before rising higher and higher. In some places, the rock grew into small mountains that broke outside of the crater. Bits of snow had fallen on the peaks that rose above them, dusting the highest in a glistening white coat.

Before long, their feet fell on patches of grass that were covered by clumps of mud and sticks that had broken off from the trees. Noise now came from every direction. The place was alive. People were everywhere; some deep in conversation, others lazing around, while a few were flying through the trees. As Leo looked closer, trying not to stare, he saw people who were different from those he had seen before.

‘It’s loud!’ Leo shouted, smiling as he found himself surrounded by people who did not look like they were hunting them.

‘It’s great!’ Kaira agreed, her eyes wide as they looked through the trees and took in all they could see, ‘this’ll sound weird, but those people we saw back in the forest, they all seemed like they belonged there. In the woods I mean. But here, it looks like they’re from everywhere.’

Kaira stared at one person in particular. Someone whose skin had been replaced by layers of golden shimmering scales that were coated with a black dusting. His leaf-like ears were poking out the top of his head and curved towards the person he was lost in conversation with. With one arm resting on a tree, they were able to see his long white claws that he tapped against the reddish-brown trunk.

‘I see what you mean. That man you’re looking at appears to have the features of an armadillo. An animal better suited to a hotter climate,’ Dorian shared his expertise on the matter.

‘Did you learn that at your rodent camp?’ Kaira joked.

‘No. Because contrary to popular belief, they are not actually rodents. Their closest relatives are sloths,’ Dorian smugly cleared up their unapparent confusion.

‘You learn something new every day, don’t you! Some of it good, some of it … well, at least you’ve learnt something,’ Leo said, joining in with his friend’s laughter as they continued their journey down.

‘Where do you think all of these people managed to hide?’ Bailey pondered, noticing just how many people continued to flock into Regnum, the noise filling the upside-down dome and roaring into the air.

‘I’m guessing people have homes?’ Kaira shrugged, ‘but then, I guess the only thing we’ve seen that comes close to one is Tepey's cave.’

‘I don’t think there’s such a thing as a home here. Think about it, this is their capital. If there was ever going to be a building, then this would be the place to have one,’ Leo thought.

‘I wonder if they all make nests and stuff? Like, back in their lands or whatever,’ Bailey pondered.

No-one answered Bailey as they had either no answer to give or were simply lost in the goings on around them. Leo pointed out some people hanging from the trees, attached only by a long black tail as they munched on some type of fruit. Kaira was struck by a group of people huddled together, one of them perched on his incredibly muscly legs that were coated in a light brown fur, his long tail reaching out behind him as he launched himself into the air.

‘Are they ... yes. Yes, they are. They're doing the high jump,’ Kaira almost snorted, watching as the guy landed, his legs like coiled springs, ready to explode again at any given opportunity.

‘As if! Look at that girl!’ Bailey tried to resist pointing as she indicated someone walking past them.

They all continued guessing the instinct of everyone they passed as they walked down the sloping path. Some answers were right, while others were too difficult to know for sure what the answer could be. Harrier, mouse, mole, Shih Tzu, panda, and horse were some of the guesses, though one man stole the show with Dorian thinking he had the instincts of a bullfrog.

The forest they walked through started to thin out again, with the trunks getting smaller, as the leaf umbrella opened up to let the dark blue-sky peer at them as they walked. The crowds themselves also started to thin, seemingly preferring to stay within the trees. Smiles still greeted the four of them as they wandered past, before the inhabitants went back to whatever game they were playing or conversation they had been having.

From above, Regnum had seemed easy to navigate. But, as they found themselves amongst a never-ending number of trees and with no indication as to which way to go, it had taken longer than anticipated to get down. Following the slope of the crater was the only thing they trusted to guide them, but even that liked to flatten out and go in different directions from time to time.

Bailey snapped a branch from a tree and trailed it along behind her as they reached what they thought was the bottom. The sun had now donned its cap, leaving only darkness in its wake.

‘Can you guys see that?’ Leo asked, looking towards the tops of the remaining trees.

A warm, red glow was flickering around Regnum.

‘That looks like fire!’ exclaimed Dorian, ‘surely it can’t be fire?’

‘Let’s find out,’ smirked Kaira, setting off at a run towards whatever lit the forest in an intense red and orange.

‘I don’t think that’s how we’ve been taught to deal with fires!’ Dorian started, just as the others ran after Kaira, ‘fantastic. You are all running towards the apparent fire in the middle of a forest. How proud our teachers and parents would be,’ Dorian muttered before following suit.

In the space of time since they had last run, Leo’s muscles seemed to have developed drastically as he ran even faster. He bounded after Kaira who had also become quicker, and she effortlessly jumped and ducked her way past any obstacle nature provided. She leapt over a fallen tree trunk, one that must have been rotting as it collapsed as the trailing three jumped over it.

Having swerved through a few more trees, Kaira suddenly came to a complete stop, her eyes reflecting an orange glow. Leo ran to stand alongside her, but he was stopped in his tracks as his eyes were stolen by the same thief who had taken her gaze.

Before them stood a tree, but it was unlike any Leo had seen before.

The glow of fire came from what should have been leaves, but what they found at the end of each branch was instead a beautiful dancing flame. With all branches burning in unison, they looked like thousands of candles casting a dazzling light into the night sky.

Below the flames was a thick trunk that housed a spiralling waterfall like a built-in helter skelter. It went all the way around the tree to the bottom where it became part of a small river.

‘Look at that!’ Leo said, as a light mist formed around the tree as if it was caught in a delicate tornado, which sat above scattered rocks that were built up around the trunk and over the steady flow of water.

At the edge of the rocks stood four monuments leaning towards the land before them. One of the tips formed the shape of a dragon’s head. It had spiked ears that were pulled back, away from fierce yellow eyes that stared angrily towards the deserts. The dragon had red scaly skin with flecks of blue and green that continued up and around a wide-open jaw, which showed gleaming white teeth interrupted only by bursts of flame that erupted sporadically into the air.

In front of the four friends stood a statue that looked like it was made from solid ice and leaned precariously over the ground. Pure white snowflakes were delicately floating from jagged shards that resembled a clawed paw.

To their left, they heard the most intricate of sounds that came from wind chimes that were dangling in mid-air. Shimmering as each part intertwined, they showed off reds and golds as they were continuously blown by a pair of wings that flew around them, the feathers changing colours at will as they majestically beat the air, creating the lightest of melodies.

Lastly, the statue to their right created a stream of water that fell into the lake that fed a moat encircling the rocks and the tree itself. The water spun in circles from the tips of a dolphin's tale, and as Leo watched the stream, he saw little shapes leaping in and out of it. Tiny fish and other sea creatures were dancing their way down the mini waterfall before crashing into the water below.

‘What is this place?’ mumbled a dumbstruck Kaira.

‘I don’t know,’ Leo replied, just as dumbfounded, ‘but I’ll tell you one thing. Whatever this is, be it magic or some weird power ... it’s beautiful.’

Leo attempted to take everything in. All the beauty of such intricate flames burning from the branches whilst their reflections glistened in the twirling waterfall before disappearing into the rocks. All while a silent tornado span lightly around, coming and going as it pleased.

‘Indeed, it is,’ Dorian beamed, with the rest of his friends joining in his giddy smile.

Their focus having been on the magnificent tree in front of them meant it was a while before any of them noticed that the lands had fallen silent. But as soon as they had torn their eyes away, sound began to fill the air.

The sound of song.

First came sounds of a deep bass, along with high notes sung by people from the trees to their left, and then others joined in from the water, splashing a beat as they went. Howls and hoots came from the rocks behind and the sky above, until suddenly, they found their rhythm, with each addition finding its place in the most elaborate music Leo had ever heard.

Then, unexpectedly, people began to sing.

The air that surrounds us we breathe in together,

Ride the waves of the water that flows on forever,

Our fire burns the brightest when we burn as one,

As steady as the rocks, broken by none.

Forget the past, we were divided, hope in the present we must,

As I am you, and you are me, together we find trust.

We are up, we are up, for now we are free,

No one is holding control of me,

We are up, we are up, for now we are free,

Free to be me.

As sure as the sun will rise, and the sun will set,

Our hearts carry on beating, strong as the day the air and our lungs first met,

We keep living, in death we don't part,

Memories held dear, forever living in our hearts,

Fly the winds, and swim the waters, free in the lands we roam,

For, Libero we know is the land that we call home.

We were down, we were down, for all who could see,

Hands chained, wondering what we could be,

We were down, we were down, knelt on our knees,

Wondering, what it was to be free.

My life is my own, no one else can own it,

My wings are spread, as I fly by my spirit,

Our song can be heard for miles all around,

Happiness in song, this is the freedom sound,

Dreams of being a hero, will never be extinct,

Our hearts are our own, to follow our instinct.

We are up, we are up, for now we are free,

Free to chase across the lands, and the sea,

We are up, we are up, for now we are free,

Free to be, me. all I want to be.

We are up, we are up, for now we are free,

Free to chase across the lands, and the sea,

We are up, we are up, for now we are free,

Free to be, all I want to be.

Free to be me. 

Clapping and cheers filled the air, with some groups breaking into their own song as others made their way down to gather under the warm light of the tree.

Leo looked around, and something in the lake caught his eye. Amongst the tails and people now splashing in the water, his eyes were drawn to someone sitting on the bank.

A smooth bluey-grey tail dipped in and out of the water as this lady spoke to those around her, her nose scrunching up as her face adorned the sweetest of smiles. Dark blue hair fell in long, wet curls behind her head, flowing down her back like waves approaching the shore.

‘I’m hoping your mouth is open because of the song?’ Kaira laughed, following Leo’s gaze, ‘and not because you are staring at the gorgeous lady sitting by the lake.’

‘Yeah - that was some song wasn’t it!’ Leo tried to break his eyes away but continued to stare as he heard people in the water asking her to, ‘do it!’  

Then, Leo saw what they were asking for.

Raising one finger and swirling it in a circular motion, she winked as the lake itself started to turn. The light blue water followed the motion of her finger, gradually getting faster until people were screaming with laughter as they were swept up in the current. Before long, the woman returned her hands to the waters edge, allowing the water to slow itself down, much to the disappointment of those who begged for more. Politely declining their requests with a shake of her head, she sweetened the blow by giving those in the lake a wide smile.

Bailey also looked at her, as did Dorian. All four of them spellbound before, surprisingly, Bailey broke away and started walking towards her.

‘What are you doing?’ Leo asked.

‘Stop using just your eyes and use the rest of your head. Clearly that lady you have been gawking at is who we are looking for. It’s Isla!’