When I finally got to the inn we were staying at I rushed to our rooms.

"Sebastian!" I shouted as I opened the door.

"Oh what’s wrong Adam?" Sebastian asked.

"We can’t stay here! We have to leave!" I tell him.

"What why? oh, are you talking about the hyms? No need to fear I know they might look frightening but there is no need to fear?" Sebastian says.

"No, it’s not that. They are affecting people who aren’t with them as well. They claim to have blessed the land. We will just be at risk if we stay here." I tell him.

"What? Don’t be ridiculous. Why would they do that? There is no reason." Sebastian responds.

" I don’t know why but I know it's happening." I tell him.

"And how do you know that?" Sebastian asked with a not so serious tone.

"I talked with one of the store owners and they told me they have been trapped here for 13 years. She has roots growing from her legs trapping her in her store." I explain.

"Look Arameth. I know how it may seem but what if she just tricked you? What if she is one of the hyms and she tried to use you for something or try to scare you away from her business?" Sebastian asked.

"What would she use me for?! I saw in her eyes that she was telling the truth!" I argue.

"Arameth I'm saying this to you now because I know you. And I know you don't know much about how the world works. Sometimes there are just bad people wanting to scare you or use you for profit in some way." Sebastian explained.

"Oh, don’t act like I don’t know that! I may have lived in that damn forest for 10 years of my life, but I've seen people. I know what people can do to me! And I know she is telling the truth! Something is wrong here!" I shout back.

"Then you should be more careful of types like this! If you are not careful, they could trick you until you get hurt! Think clearly. What god would want this to happen to people?" Sebastian asks.

"What god would want to hurt an entire population?  Oh, I wonder." I hissed, referring to Uranos.

Sebastian doesn't respond. I can’t tell what he is thinking but he continues on.

"Besides what could the hyms get from doing this and if they did the guards or at least more people would be aware of it." Sebastian argues back.

"Have you not seen the people outside!? They hide in shame for what happened to them! The reason why it's not known outside of Astura is because they can't leave. Not after their first sundown. Thats why we have to leave." I protest.

I had never argued with Sebastian before. We were always able to talk and discuss about everything but right now...

He had been very protective of me, like the kind of brother that was always there to help.

Maybe that’s why he was like this now. He just saw it as me being fooled, and he wanted to help. However, I have to make him understand that it's dangerous to stick around.

But what if he is right? What if Emily just tricked me and wanted to scare me? But why about this? and if that was the case why was everyone else in the parade just as scared?  

My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden noise outside.

From the street outside the window stood a man, his body mangled with moss covering almost every part of his body and horns shooting out from his body like tree branches. His right arm had been twisted and extended by roots and vines making it drag behind him. He used his left arm to grab onto the shirt color of one of the hyms.

"Turn me back!" The man shouted.

"Turn me back you damned freaks!"

But the man he held onto just smiled at him.

"Why would you want to return to flesh and blood when you can become a part of Unn's immortal kin!" The hym man preached, shoving the man off him.

The mangled man just watched as the parade went on. He curled up and wept.

At the same time, we could see Katla and Gottfrid entering the inn. When they got up to our room Katla looked worried about something.

"Is everything alright?" I asked.

"When we went to find a speaker church, we found one, but it was completely empty. It was overgrown and it almost looked abandoned." Katla explained.

"When I tried to connect with Lunare I couldn't. Like if something was blocking my connection." She continued.

"What? How is that possible?" Sebastian asked, surprised.

"I'm not sure, the only conclusion I could come to is that it's been swallowed up inside another god’s territory. And it's not just the church it feels like the entire town has been put inside the territory of another god." Katla said.

"But we are currently in the king of farmers domain. Even the gods shouldn't be able to interfere with the obelisks." Sebastian said.

"They can, using churches, temples or cathedrals set up in their name." Katla explained.

"But then that means..." Sebastian said.

"That someone has made the entire city of Astura as a cathedral to one of the gods. Judging by the number of hyms we’ve seen my guess it’s Unn's territory we have stepped into." Katla explained.

Sebastian stood still for a moment before turning to me with a serious expression.

"If that’s true, and what you’ve been telling me is also true then we have to leave now."

"What? why?" Gottfrid asked.

"According to Adam, the people here are forced into becoming deformed like the hyms without being able to leave." Sebastian told them.

"That’s absurd." Gottfrid said.

"If it's Unn then it's not impossible." Katla said.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Unn is the god of nature and hunting. He shows little interest in anything that isn’t beast or nature. He only cares if a hunt is dedicated to him but otherwise, he wouldn't care what happens to mortals like us. Meaning if the hyms gave this city and anyone who lives in it to him he wouldn’t care much if unwilling people transformed into living plants." Katla explained.

"Then we have to leave. grab your things, we are heading back to the wagon." Sebastian ordered us.

We quickly grabbed our bags and left the inn. We hurried past the parading hyms out to the stables where we had parked our wagon. The stables seemed locked with none in sight to help us get our horses.

Sebastian though quickly moved towards the stable doors and pulled a set of metal objects in different forms and sizes. It was a lock pick. He carefully inserted the lock pick and after scrambling at it for a while a loud click was heard from the lock. Sebastian pulled off the lock and opened the doors.

We all got on and headed towards the nearest gate. With the maps that hung around Astura, we could see that there were four gates, and the one we were closest to was the east gate.

We passed through the gate without complications and continued our journey. As the sun was near to set, I could see the city of Astura lit up in radiant moonlight.

Even weeks after I couldn't stop thinking of Emily and the people of Astura

I couldn’t stop thinking about the hyms and Astura even weeks after we left

How was turning people to living amalgamations of horns and fauna the will of a god?

But then again.

How is the eradication of giants and dragons the will of a god?

The image of the sad and tormented faces of the parade was stuck in my mind repeating on loop.

For the next few weeks, I felt a sense of guilt when talking to Sebastian. I felt guilt over our argument from back in Astura and of what I said.

I felt that maybe if I had just been calmer, then maybe we wouldn't have had that argument.

When I told him this he just said.

"It's okay. It was a hard pill to swallow for both of us, and besides arguments happen. It's something you will have with many people many times. It's what builds relationships with others."

Soon enough we had traveled for about five months. The snow had started to melt and we were almost at our destination. We had traveled through open plains, forests, swamps, deserted terrain and many villages on our way. Now we stood at a crossroads.

One path headed north, closer to the great mountain chain and heading towards the falling city.

The other headed east, though the great mountain chain and onward.

"Well, this is where we part ways." Katla said.

"It's been fun." Gottfrid said.

"It sure has." I responded.

"We wish you luck on your pilgrimage." Sebastian said with a bow.

I went in to hug the two goodbye.

As I said my goodbyes, I heard the faint whisper in my ear.

"Good luck, Talulum," Gottfird whispered to me.

It took me a minute to realize what he had said. The word that he had whispered was in my own lounge. A word to describe someone like me.

Talulum, little giant.

But right here, it meant more than that. It meant that he knew, and that he had chosen to keep it hidden.

I could only laugh in response, causing confused looks from the other two.

"Just a joke between the kid and me," Gottfrid chuckled.

As we left, I felt a wave of sorrow wave over me one more time. Not that I knew much about them or that we had spent much time together, but it felt sad letting them go. However, I felt like we would meet again.

"Until we meet again!" I shouted as I waved goodbye.

Their bodies became smaller and smaller as we moved apart from each other. Soon enough, their bodies disappeared between the mountains.