Unaware of the happenings in the parallel worlds, Mia was steadily advancing towards Lin’s direction along with her new found companion. They were flying at a very high speed. Mia was thoroughly enjoying the ride as she leaned over to was the tiny movements of people and animals down below. The mansions appeared toy like. The landscape kept changing from trees to mountains to plains. Finally they were almost near the Forbidden Woods.
“Ahh! This is what a good flight feels like. Ahh! ” Mia exclaimed stretching her back “even Lin did not take me for such a long ride ever. Yeah! Actually I should get back to him about this. Why didn’t he? ” She was talking to herself. Her companion was busy exploring the place with the curiosity of a little child. He looked around and kept touching here and there. Mia too had little knowledge about the place they were in.
“Ooooooo! This place is really floating, isn’t it? Hey Mr… Umm… What should I call you? Do you have a name? ” She asked him. He shook his head in the negative and hung in down as if ashamed and sad. ” Ok. Ok. Don’t worry. No need to feel sad. Let me give you a nice name. Ummm, how about, Anjana? I had read in a book from a country afar, it means, unknown. Do you like it? ”
“Like it very much” He said with a weird gesture that was supposed to be a happy smile. Mia smiled too and then said ” Ok then let’s not waste too much time and look for Lin. ” They immediately got to work .
They searched in every direction. Here and there. But after what seemed like a few hours, Mia sat down on the green grass and asked “Are you sure Lin came in this direction? ” She asked.
“Sure it was the man that came out from the barrier you were in” He said.
“How do you know, like for sure, how can you be sure? ” She enquired.
” From smell. Everybody has different smell, every smell is unique. ” He said.
“Oh. I see. Umm, so can you tell me where he went from here? Which direction? Were there anybody with him or was he alone? ” She asked. He sniffed the air. Went to and fro for sometimes and then said.
“He was here not very long ago. There seems to be two male and a female with him. I can track his scent till there,” He pointed with his finger “but then it vanished from the spot. I cannot track any more scent of any one from there. I don’t know. ” He shrugged his shoulders.
“What do you mean by vanished ? Let’s go and check… Ouch! What are you doing. Let me go. I said let me go. ” Mia was cut off mid sentence . Her clothes trail was caught by her companion as she was trying to go take a look at the spot from where Lin and others’ smell went missing. She was pulling herself free but he wouldn’t let her go.
“You can’t go. Can’t go. ” He said.
“Why? What’s wrong with you? ” She asked.
Her companion did not give her any answer instead, he went behind a few steps and then plucked a leaf then looked at Mia as if asking her to observe. Soon enough the tree started lashing severe blows on Anjana.
“Stop, stop. Get away. Get away. ” Mia pulled him away as he stood silently taking in the blows.
“What just happened? Why was the tree attacking you? Why didn’t you do anything? Was it because you plucked a leaf? ” She asked.
“These lands are sacred lands. Can not harm. Can do no evil here. If you go to the place they vanished, I am afraid you might vanish too” He said with a very serious face.
“Ummm, alright. Since these are the sacred lands, I am sure there must be spiritual energy in and around the place. Let me try to find my answers from them. My mother used to teach me how to meditate whenever we needed any answer from the spirits. If this place has a self defense mechanism, it surely will be smart enough to respond to my request. ” Mia told herself as she found herself the highest hillock to sit and began meditating. Anjana sat quietly in front of her, looking up and down as if something were to fall from the heaven.
In the Land of Lakes , the four of them were walking for quite sometime. But apart from serene waterscapes they found no progress.
“How long are we going to go around the place admiring sceneries? ” Xie stopped all of a sudden and exclaimed.
” True, we have been going around without any leads. What are we supposed to be looking for? “Asked Boshu.
” The opening to the land where the Tree of knowledge is, the infinite meadows. ” Roe answered.
“But how do we find it? Anybody has any clue or information we could work on? ” Xie asked targeting Lin to be precise.
“There is a clue . I had read long ago but I cannot seem to quite understand it. ” Lin said.
“Tell us. Four heads are better than one. Let’s do some brain storming here. ” Roe said smiling. Her mood seems exceptionally good since they came in that land. She moved a few steps closer to Lin and started him straight in the eyes.
Lin took a step back and gulped. Then he found a spot to sit on and said ” It said something about creatures with tiny but shiny pairs of eyes being the only companion that can save you from drowning in the infinite lake. ”
“What creatures? Why drowning? Are we supposed to swim our way out? ” Roe wondered.
“Oh no. No. No. I am not getting wet. Never. ” Boshu took a leap back.
“Relax we don’t know if that is what we are supposed to do for sure. Also there doesn’t seem to be any creature here. Has anybody seen any creature here since we came? ” Xie asked.
They all shook their head in the negative. Unsure about what their next step should be they all hurdled around Lin and sat down, thinking and pondering.