Once they left the village and were far enough away to be unable to see it, Sequoia was able to let out a long sigh, almost as if relieving the tension she had been holding onto. She blinked a few times, trying to resist the ever creeping tiredness from taking over her. Her dreams were filled with the scenes of everything she had experienced, all merged into one horrifying dream. The sensation of plunging the talon into the woman’s body, the fear of the harpy lunging towards her, the slight warmth that exuded from her mother’s body, contrasting the coldness from her father’s. Every time there was a slight change, be it the strength of the wind or a slight incline, Sequoia would wake up, almost as if trying to find an excuse to stay awake, however, her exhaustion didn’t care for her fear, forcing her to drift off once again.

The group travelled for an hour or so, the sun had set and the air grew colder. At this point Sequoia’s exhaustion had eased, just enough to stop her from sleeping. She kept her eyes open for the rest of the journey, watching the landscape change before her eyes. About fifteen minutes after she started to force her eyes open, they arrived at a small village. At this point Acanthus had also woken up. They spent a few minutes in the village, resting after the long journey, before long they set off again. 

It took another hour before they started to see the roofs of buildings from the city of Ketra.   

When they arrived, the children couldn’t help but admire the liveliness of the city. In no means was their village quiet, in fact compared to most remote villages there were a lot of visitors, but this city was on another level. The shops had customers lining up outside, stalls were placed, what seemed randomly but with a closer look they were set up methodically. There was a mix of people rushing around and pushing through others and people enjoying a stroll through the city. There were people wearing vibrant and beautiful clothing that made them stand out against the people wearing ill-fitting clothes that had clearly been patched back together multiple times over the years. There were lines upon lines of shops, floral shops, food vendors, accessory stalls, pet shops and more. It was like a never ending sea of colours, shops and people. 

Bougainvillea looked at the children, whose eyes were wide open, full of excitement and curiosity but most of all caution. For the children the difference between their village and this town was immeasurable, they were in awe of the differences but cautious of the crowds and the carefree nature of everyone around them. “Welcome to Ketra, it’s busy and quite different from what you’re used to so stick close.” He curled his mouth into a smile. Before long Chestnut spoke up “let’s start moving, we need to get to the doctor.” As they walked off Acanthus grabbed hold of Bougainvillea’s and Sequoia’s hands with Balm holding onto Sequoia’s other hand to support her. Chestnut kept the baby in his arms, cradling the unsettled baby. As they swivelled through the road the children spotted many shops that intrigued them, two in particular caught their eyes. Acanthus’s eyes lit up at a small, old and dusty looking bookshop and for Sequoia, it was a bigger and better kept toy shop. Their eyes lingered at the shops, long enough to have to turn their heads as they walked but short enough for none of the adults to notice their interest.