"This is all your fault," Arina grumbled as they trudged through Viseni. She seemed to do that a lot, Shyra noticed with a frown. Before she could reply with another biting remark, Fitoor interrupted them and pointed ahead.

"Is that the place we're looking for?" she asked, hefting the slim bag on her shoulder. Shyra squinted at the tangle of trees, but before she could form a coherent reply, Hira forged ahead with a firm nod. Shyra frowned at the way the empress took the lead without question, especially before they could confirm the location, but since Fitoor started after her, she coiled their map and followed them.

"We just need to convince their leader to talk to the Maya, right?" Shyra whispered. Hira nodded and pointed to the skies, where a number of vague black spots hovered on the blue expanse.

"See those black spots? Those are the people we're meant to find. They must be training right now. I'll find a way to let us have an audience with Naor and his garud."

"You mean we'll find a way to-"

An arrow whizzed past her and embedded itself in the tree behind her. Shyra muffled a scream and placed her hands over her mouth. A few inches more and it would have taken her life.

Hira turned towards the trees, where the arrow came from, and fisted her hands. "Hey, you! Whoever shot that arrow should know that-"

"Hush," Arina said, approaching the arrow and pulling it out. "This arrow has a message on the shaft. See?" she tugged at a string and unrolled the piece of paper wrapped around it.

Everyone huddled around her and read the message with increasingly wide eyes.

"They want us to surrender our weapons and go in there? No way. It's obviously a trap." Shyra fumed, tightening her hold on her sword. "How can we guarantee that they won't attack us?"

"Maybe they will, maybe they won't." Hira answered. "But we have no other option. This might be our only decent chance to request a meeting. If we refuse, we'll have to fight our way in."

Shyra saw the wisdom in her words and nodded, removing her weapons in a huge show of surrender and placing them on the ground. The others followed her lead and dropped their weapons as well.

The moment Fitoor laid her silver dagger on the bed of dried leaves, a huge portion of vines drew open like curtains, revealing a pathway big enough for them to walk through. Shyra grasped Fitoor's hand and walked through the pathway, with Hira and Arina following her.

The moment Shyra entered the Garud encampment, her jaw dropped open in awe. An impossibly huge settlement spread out before her, tumbling over rocky plains and meandering across bubbling streams. It was built to house the massive versions of eagles, with all the buildings designed to accommodate their regal structures.

The area was bustling with activity, too, with sambandhs and their garuds going about their day together, from young ones heading back from school to adults closing their businesses for the day. A few guards roamed in their midst, swinging their heavy lathis and maintaining order in the busy marketplace.

"Wow. Looks like they have quite the civilization going on here," Arina said, appearing by her side and whistling at the sights. Shyra elbowed and glared at her, warning her to mind her language.

"Ladies," a guard approached them, attempting to look intimidating in his ochre uniform. "State your order of business, and make it quick. We don't appreciate it when we are interrupted for no reason."

"We're here to meet Naor," Shyra said, folding her hands and giving a charming smile. "We need to give him a message."

She gestured for Fitoor to hand him the scroll from her bag, which he grasped in his rough hands and examined. When he noticed the unusual silver seal, his eyes widened and he handed the scroll back to them at once.

"I wasn't aware that you were sent by Narani. Forgive my impudence. Agad Naor will be back any moment. Let me lead you to his residence." he gave a respectful bow and led them through the settlement with practiced ease.

As they hurried behind him, Arina elbowed Shyra. "Is Naor an important person around here? It didn't seem like it in the beginning, but his title was pretty official-sounding."

"I doubted that as well, but when he addressed him as Agua, I knew it for sure. Arina, the people here have a peculiar history. It's a bit too complicated to explain right now, but Naor and the garud he's bonded with are the leaders here."

"Looks like we're dealing with all sorts of important people then," Arina said with raised eyebrows as they approached a simple mud house at the end of the street. The guard gestured for them to wait outside and ran to fetch Naor, who was training young recruits.

"Alright then," Arina said, facing Shyra with a gleam in her eyes. "Tell me more about these garud and their sambandhs."

"I see you quite like stories," Shyra observed with an amused raise of her eyebrow. It surprised her that the loud princess would appreciate something as quiet as reading, as opposed to the vision she had of Arina preferring weaponry and combat.

Arina blushed and rubbed the back of her neck. "Ah well, my grandmother used to tell me stories when I was younger. She left for the Cosmos long ago, but she inculcated a deep love for stories in me. I consume stories wherever I go. It's like... it's like my lifeblood..." she drifted off, realizing that she'd revealed too much about herself.

Shyra smiled and decided not to press her further. "I've heard that there was a scientist from Ziya who was quite attached to a species of birds called eagles. They were one of the few animals who managed to escape Earth and had evolved since then to adapt to the new environments. So this scientist took permission from the king, took his family and a batch of eagles, and settled in Ronin to study them."

"Woah, that's so cool!" Arina said, clapping her hands. "He seemed like a very brave and intelligent man to me. I'm sure the studies went well, right?"

"Yeah, they did," Shyra said, giving her a begrudging glance. "Hearing about his new home, many migrants shifted in with him and took personal bonds with the intelligent creatures, which he soon named garud. Even after he died, they developed a system where a child bonds with a garud when they come of age, and they live as equals throughout their life. And they select their leaders through competitions. Anybody can challenge the leader and take their place if they win. There's no favoritism as such."

"That system is so different from ours, then," Arina said with a sigh. Shyra wasn't sure how to interpret that sigh, but before she could speak further, a huge garud descended in front of them. A lithe man was seated atop it, and he swung his legs over and dropped to the ground gracefully.

"That's him, isn't it?" Fitoor whispered, giggling like a teenage girl, which Shyra guessed she was. "I didn't expect him to be so..."

She trailed off at the end, and Shyra could see why. There weren't many words to describe the magnetic pull that Naor's eyes radiated, or the winsome way in which he held himself. He was dressed in an all-black ensemble that clung to his athletic figure and complimented his dusky skin and dark curly hair.

"So you guys are the newcomers," he said, casting a cool glance at them. "Come on in, then. Let's see what trouble you've brought to my doorstep."

And with that cheery introduction, they tramped into his humble hut. Shyra raised her eyebrows when she realized that the interiors of the house were as simple as the maya's. A decent living room greeted them as soon as they stepped in, and Shyra could spot a kitchen and a cozy bedroom meandering off to her left. To her surprise, the walls seemed to be made of some mud and wood that was pretty firm under her inspecting fingers.

"Please be seated. I'll go fetch something to drink," Naor said, striding to the kitchen and starting up a flame. All of them settled down on the modest chairs, with Fitoor taking up a seat beside Shyra with an amusing eagerness.

"Empress," Fitoor started, bouncing up and down. "Is he really the current Agad? But he's so young! He must have challenged the previous Agad when he was a teenager, right? If so, he must've been training since he was really young. Woah. When do you think he began? And why do you think the maya asked us to meet him? Maybe-"

"Woah, slow down there." Shyra laughed. "I understand your excitement at meeting a decent looking guy for the first time, but you need to keep it cool, alright? When it comes to guys, maturity and level-headedness are key."

"No, wait. I wasn't..." Fitoor spluttered. She was interrupted by Naor placing a tray of tea on the table and taking a seat across them. Shyra heard her sigh in relief at an excuse to avoid the topic, and giggled. After all, she'd faced the same situation quite a few times.

"So," Naor began, placing his hands on his knees. "To what may I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

Fitoor extracted the scroll from her bag at once and handed it to him with shaky hands. Shyra stifled a laugh as Naor raised his dark eyebrows and took the scroll. He unfurled it, read through its contents and sighed.

"So my mother has sent a message for me through you guys," he said. Shyra glanced at the others with wide eyes, and was glad that she wasn't the only one who was surprised.

"You mother? The Maya who sent us here is your mother?" Shyra asked, breaking the momentary silence. This time Naor looked up in surprise.

"You guys didn't know that? Then how did you come across her? And why are such distinguished people delivering such a simple request?"

"A simple request?" Shyra asked, half laughing by now. This whole situation was ridiculous. "I'll tell you about us, but what does that scroll say?"

"Well," he said with an amused chuckle. "It just says to accompany all of you to her place."

Shyra and the other groaned in unison and slumped on their seats.