TravelingDreamer

  In the m, we took off in the balloon to find a good spot for the house. We flew high above, the balloon swayily in the wind, and used binocurs to s the vast area below. Now and then, there were slight rises ierrain, but most of the s was a maze of twisted trees and murky water. From up here, it looked almost beautiful in a dark and ominous atchwork of greens and bcks. The sun shohrough the thick opy, creating shadows that danced across the ground.

  Al stood o me, sing the ground below. With a slight adjustment to his binocurs, he remarked, “Surely, there is a stable area of nd somewhere.”

  Oher side of the basket, Mahya was busy steering the balloon with her gadget, holding her binocurs to her eyes as she sed bad forth. Rue had his paws on the edge of the basket, taking in the view. I tried to spot a suitable location, but all I could see were stretches of water and dense clusters of trees.

  The s was so huge it could easily be mistaken for a small try. From above, the view was like a tangled web of waterways and pnts, with arees guarding mysterious secrets. Now and then, a little pond would reflect the light back at us like a tiny mirror, but otherwise, the endless green stretched on forever.

  “There,” I said, pointing to a small patch of nd that seemed higher than the surrounding water. It was thick with mud on top, but it looked more stable thaher pces we’d seen. “That spot might work for setting up.”

  Mahya joined us and leaned over the basket to get a better look. She agreed, “It’s not bad, but just in case, we should look fher ground. We don’t want to be surprised if this pce floods.”

  We kept flying over the s in a zig-zag pattern, searg for a better spot. There was no clear path through the maze of dark water and thits below. The trees were incredibly tall, with tangled brahat made it hard to see the ground in many pces. Sometimes, we spotted a small opening or a higher area, but nothing that looked like a good pce to set the house.

  As we tihe sun dipped lower in the sky, casting long shadows over the s. The light turned golden, transf the green below into a rich, almost magidscape. It felt eerie, yet there was something strangely beautiful about the pce.

  “It would be wise to reverse course and nd on the elevated area we spotted before,” Al said, putting down his binocurs. “That was the most suitable location we have seen so far. Once we touch down, we explore further.” Mahya nodded, and Rue eve out a small bark a a feeling of agreement. I was on board, too, and took o look at the vast s below. It was definitely a spooky pce, but there was something about it that pulled me in.

  When we nded on the moss and mud cround, the balloon’s basket hit with a soft thud. It felt like the surrounding s was holding its breath. The only sounds were the rustling of leaves and the distant croak of some unseen frog. The damp air and dim light filtering through the trees made the se feel oppressive and threatening.

  After stepping out of the basket, I said, “I want to try something new.” I pced the core on the ground and gave the order out loud so the others could hear—otherwise, Mahya would’ve killed me, or at least smacked me upside the head. “Open in a figuration suitable for the surroundings.”

  As soon as I gave the order, the house rose from the core, following the shape of the hill beh it. The roof was the first to appear, with soft curves along the sides to match the slope of the nd. As the walls spread out from the ter, the dark wood stretched and shaped itself to fit the hill’s tours, creating a multi-level structure that blended in with its surroundings.

  Each flre the one below, expanding the house into a series of terraces along the hillside. The roof extended into an above the different levels. The walls thied with a blend of wood and stone, and the roof’s surface merged into the hillside, making the house feel like a part of its surroundings. It looked as though it had always been there, perfectly matg the nd’s curves.

  “Nice,” Mahya said.

  I was walking right to ihe side of the house when I felt a warning from my Luck. “Everybody inside,” I said urgently.

  We all rushed inside, and I instructed the house to activate the first stage of the defehe mana-abs force field.

  “What happened?” Mahya asked, looking around for the reason I warhem.

  “I’m not sure. My Luck warned me about—”

  I didn’t have time to finish the sentence when an enormous snake jumped out of the water toward the porch. As soon as it came into tact with the force field, it stiffened for a sed before retreating. It stood? Reared? with part of its body out of the water, watg us and swayily from side to side.

  “Yummy snake!” Rue excimed with too muthusiasm, jumping in pd yipping happily.

  The snake didn’t appreciate the yipping and lu Rue. On instinct, I tasered it with lightning, p a lot of mana into the strike. The siffened, and I watched as the lines of electricity spread through its body and into the water, even a bolt shooting out from its tail to strike a tree. I’d used a lot of mana in that hit. The snake fell onto the porch, twitg. Mahya quickly drew her sword and decapitated it. Gng into the water, I noticed some frogs and a couple of smaller snakes floating.

  Rue was still dang in pce, “Yummy snake! John cook yummy snake!”

  I scratched his ear. “I’ll cook it for you. But ime, don’t antagohe snake, okay, buddy?”

  “Yes boss!”

  I shook my head. I couldn’t be upset with him—he loved snake meat.

  We started pulling the s of the water, and it just kept ing. It was over fifteeers long and more than half a meter wide. Well, Rue would have plenty of yummy snake meat. As I looked around, I noticed more creatures approag the house. A smaller snake was slithering on a nearby tree. A couple of giant frogs—the size of a Mini Cooper—hopped closer, and I saw trails ier, though I couldn’t tell what was causing them.

  Those were the perfect ditions to try something I wao try for a long time but didn’t have the ce. I was sure those were mas, not monsters—I could feel it. They cked the polluted aspect I learnize in the ge.

  I sang “The Sound of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel and activated Are Lulby. Just to verify, I poked the ability again and read its description.

  Are Lulby

  Pying a calming tune put eo sleep or pacify aggressive creatures, providing a brief window for peaceful resolution or escape. The sphere of influence grows with the skill levels.

  All the surrounding creatures stopped. The snake iree swayed from side to side with the tuhe frogs halted their jumping, and a creature that looked like a cross between a crocodile and a fish lifted its head out of the water, swaying along as well. When I finished singing, all of them stood still, staring at me.

  What, are they waiting for another song?

  The alligator-fish creature dived bato the water, and I watched its trail recede. The rest of the creatures stayed put. I shrugged, went bato the house and, just to be safe, activated the shutters oire house.

  I cooked a big dinner out of the snake, and it was indeed yummy. Rue was on cloud nine, stantly repeating, “Tomorrow we collect more yummy sons of yummy snakes! Lots of yummy snakes! Rue needs lots and lots yummy snakes!”

  Based on my experieh the song earlier, I wrote and posed a very slow and melodic lulby for the day.

  The following m, we glided across the s on the quiet jet skis, cutting through the still water. The only sound was the gentle ripple beh us. Other than that, the oppressive silence of the marsh held steady. The smell of damp earth and something a filled the thid heavy air, ging to the bent trees and reag out like ghostly fingers from their twisted limbs.

  A greenish light crept through the dense forest, casting an unnatural glow over everything around us. It gave life to the shadows, making them shift and stir. Al and Mahya were close by, but the dim light made it hard to see them clearly. Their presence was a slight fort iifling atmosphere. Rue led the way, his massive body barely visible ahead. Maybe the bck color wasn’t a good idea in such a dark enviro, but I wouldn’t be the oo tell him that. He was too happy about looking dangerous.

  “Careful!” he sent. “Rue feel s dangerous.”

  As we ventured deeper into the muck, I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me, because I felt the same uhe trees closed in, their roots curling and diving into the water like skeletal hands trying to snatch us. Glowing bugs floated above the water, casting a soft, greenish light that made it seem like orbs were h in the mist.

  As we pushed further into the s, it increasingly felt like the pce was closing in on us. As the air thied, the silence became nearly deafening. The opy above made it difficult for even the fai light to pee and hit the darkened water below. The longer we traveled through the marsh, the more it felt like the s itself was watg, waiting for us to make one wrong move.

  As we progressed deeper into the s, the strange creatures that called this pe emerged. The first to catch my eye was an enormous i floatihe water, its body as rge as a wolf. The light on its wings pulsed from green to blue with each beat, the wings themselves translut. It hovered just above the water, long legs nearly skimming the surface. Its eyes glowed, fixed on us as if it was always watg.

  Further on, something rose from the dark depths, its snake-like body gliding smoothly through the water. The creature was at least twenty meters long, with thick, segmented scales that gleamed in the dim light. A row of spines ran along its back, each tipped with a glowing orb that pulsed in sync with its slow, sinuous movements. Its head, ed with growing antlers, emerged just above the water, revealing rows of needle-like teeth as it hissed softly. The sound echoed through the s like a low hum.

  Sensing the growing tension, I took out my guitar and sang “Wild Melodies,” letting the tune flow smoothly as I activated Are Lulby. It didn’t take long for the effect to be noticeable. The giant sh antlers swayed gently to the rhythm. The i stopped its movement and nded oer, and another one of the crocodile-fish lifted its head out of the water and swayed with the melody.

  Wild Melodies

  Amidst the whispering leaves,Where sun-kissed branches sway,The wild creatures find their soce,As twilight fades the day.

  All is well, all is calm,In the cradle of the night,Every soul finds gentle peace,Beh the moon’s soft light.

  In the meadow’s gentle hush,Where silver dew drops gleam,The deer graze with tranquil hearts,In the glow of a starlit dream.

  All is well, all is calm,In the cradle of the night,Every soul finds gentle peace,Beh the moon’s soft light.

  In the meadow’s gentle hush,Where silver dew drops gleam,The deer graze with tranquil hearts,In the glow of a starlit dream.

  All is well, all is calm,In the cradle of the night,Every soul finds gentle peace,Beh the moon’s soft light.

  The river hums a lulby,As otters twist and glide,Their pyful dances shimmer and sway,Ier’s mirrored tide.

  All is well, all is calm,In the cradle of the night,Every soul finds gentle peace,Beh the moon’s soft light.

  Above, the birds ohered wings,pose a hymn of grace,Their melodies thread through the dusk,A lulby in nature’s embrace.

  All is well, all is calm,In the cradle of the night,Every soul finds gentle peace,Beh the moon’s soft light.

  Beh the a oak’s embrace,Where shadows softly creep,The fox curls up i moss,And drifts into a dream-filled sleep.

  All is well, all is calm,In the cradle of the night,Every soul finds gentle peace,Beh the moon’s soft light.

  And as the stars emerge, one by ohe owl’s wisdom fills the skies,“Fear not, dear ohe night is kind,With peace where silence lies.”

  All is well, all is calm,In the cradle of the night,Every soul finds gentle peace,Beh the moon’s soft light.

  So let the winds carry this song,To every heart, both great and small:All is well, all is calm,In nature’s arms, we fall.

  The further I sang, the more the creatures seemed to rex, captivated by the calming effect of the Are Lulby. By the time I fihe song, most of them had retreated, leaving us alone, while the snake tio sway gently, pletely entranced by the music.

  We turned around and headed back; it had been enough for the first day of scouting. To be on the safe side, I sang the entire way back to the house. Whe there, I asked Al, “Did you see the pnts you wanted?”

  “Yes. A great variety.”

  “Do you have a pn for how to collect them?”

  He just looked at me and waited. I waited, too, and waited… I had patience. Finally, I broke down and said, “Fine, I’ll be your pacifier.”

  He cpped me on the bad smiled. I just shook my head.

  Creepy, But With a Special Charm