The journey back was bitter. The echoes of what happened in that cave still replayed in their heads, but more than anything, they felt an empty victory. It wasn't by their strength or skills that they'd won; the creature had proven more than once that if it had been in good condition, the outcome could have been very different. Winning by only a small margin deeply bruised their pride. After all, they came from Thar-Abbys, the world's most renowned and largest academy. Still, the creature's final moments were simply too unpleasant; there was no grand battle or epic conclusion for them, just an empty win.
The soft, comforting sun rose behind them, rewarding those who had survived the previous night.
"Hey, kid, did you mumble 'Tolwur' while the monster was burning?" Mina asked, shoveling the last bits of dirt onto the animal's and its cubs' grave.
"No! It's not 'Tolwur'... it's Tallwor. That's my region's name for 'rage,' and I'm not a kid!" Jacob responded, offended. In his hands, he carved a piece of wood with the inscription: "Here lies a mother and her children, may they find peace and sleep soundly."
A group of Hurofalcons watched them from a distance, much calmer than yesterday. They emerged from the forest, glancing at them before heading deeper into the mountains.
"Rage? If we had shot the animal... could we have gotten infected?" Íthil asked. His backpack was open on one side, revealing incense and magical instruments. He took out some incense and a ceramic cup, filled it with liquor, and lit an incense cone on the last stone Mina had placed. A small altar now stood where they'd fought the night before. The three cleaned up the debris from the area.
"Yes... we most likely would have died if we didn't get vaccinated within the next few hours." Jacob nodded, looking at the various magical instruments in the bag. Among them, a lead glove caught his eye, but just as he was about to ask, he was distracted by the screeching gasps of a Hurofalcon.
"I see, you thought of that, and that's why you stopped us; you wanted to avoid further contact with the beast's fluids," Mina mused, holding the Hurofalcon and cleaning a branch. It struggled furiously, moving its lower end from side to side, where the branch threatened to turn it into an attempted fairground snack, but after a few minutes, Mina lost interest.
A Hurofalcon on a stick? Íthil and Jacob thought.
"Alright, you fought for your freedom and survival, I admire that, little one." Mina watched the Hurofalcon, and it looked back at her, tired of its struggle. Untying the small creature, Mina and the Hurofalcon looked at each other and accepted each other, understanding their mutual feelings, and with a flick of her arm, the small creature became a star in the sky.
"Get out of here, you thing!" Mina threw the poor animal with all her might. The Hurofalcon constellation was born that dawn.
The sun was already visible, and the villagers prepared tools and pooled their efforts to start a new day. The remaining farm animals came out to graze from the barns and shelters. After the storm, they could see how people calmly resumed their way of life, this time without Hurofalcons. At least, this gave them a little encouragement.
The local chiefs signed the contract Íthil and company presented. The adventurers gathered their belongings and began their journey back.
Thar-Abbys wasn't far; they were only a three-hour journey away, and fortunately, the region had a well-structured road network. In the village, there was a terminal for the famous Multicontinental Train. The group approached the ticket windows, where an elderly man greeted them with a smile.
"Good morning, young ones, I suppose you're heading to the academy?" the kind man asked. The three adventurers nodded, presented their temporary IDs, and received their respective tickets. The station had two floors: the lower one was closed to the public as cargo and mail were distributed through it, while the upper one served as the entrance for passengers to the Multicontinental carriages. As they waited, a medium-sized luggage cart with beautiful bronze and steel details approached on its own, moved by magic. It reacted to the group's boarding passes and offered its luggage transport service. Mina and Íthil placed their bags on it without any problem. Just then, Mina turned to Jacob:
"Hey, let me help you with your suitcase," Mina exclaimed, looking a few centimeters down. Jacob looked at her, perplexed at first, then a few moments later, flushed with a mix of anger and embarrassment, clenching his fists and, as if throwing a tantrum, said:
"A-and... I can do it myself! Just because I haven't grown yet doesn't mean I'm useless, I will grow, I WILL GROW!"
Mina looked at him indifferently, while Íthil could barely suppress his laughter.
"Huh? I wasn't saying that because of... I was saying it because of your..." Mina didn't have time to finish her sentence when Jacob placed his hand on the side rail of the carriage. Jacob let out a resounding boom that lit up the entire platform.
"Your extremely aggressive allergy to magic! HAAHHAHAAH!" Íthil said, rolling on the floor, unable to control himself; laughter and tears streamed uncontrollably from his eyes.
"AT LEAST I DON'T HAVE SCALES ON MY BUTT LIKE YOU GUYS!" shouted the burned lump on the floor named Jacob.
"Hey, little friend, do you want a beating? Because that's how you get a beating," Mina and Íthil said, cracking their knuckles and looking down at him with contempt.
The day was showing its warmest moments when a vehicle that could only be called a train arrived at the station. Its enormous carriages, composed of wide and oval stone towers, rested on finely carved rock platforms with baroque reliefs. Monolithic lower thrusters emitted light from their underside with a purplish and orange ring in the center.
It stopped at the station while, proudly, a gigantic translucent quartz lay at the front. On its sides, two enormous gold plates covered it laterally, spinning like a turbine. The quartz powered the monolithic and enormous vehicle. This gigantic mobile town floated subtly three meters above the ground, guided only by an iron rail; it advanced elegantly and silently, without any kind of smoke. Shops, public bathrooms, restaurants, bars, and facilities adorned as if it were a mountain village, where spacious living blocks with interior gardens and various amenities that could only be found in a hotel were luxuriously accommodated.