“So, care to explain why the alterna have such a dislike of you, Gole?” Poole inquires as he leans across his cell to look at the feline as she lays unusually silent in her own cell, shared with Erve, its massive bars stretching up hundreds of feet to the dark ceiling.

 Gole doesn’t respond, and Poole sighs as he hangs his head backwards through the cell bars before turning his attention to the others who are all locked in a small cell with him.

“Well, I suppose this is as good of a time to finish my story about the tomen,” he remarks as he glances suspiciously at the doub girl who is hunched in a ball under the guard of Thigi and Onewe.

“We nothing to while wait the felines to release us. Might as well.” Seehea says, his English muddled more than usual as he glances around the smaller cell.

“So, the tomen made a blood oath with He L Sl.” The name seems to chill the shady dungeon even more than it already is, and Onewe shivers as she stretches her Providence Cloth shorts to cover as much skin as possible.

“His blood transformed the tomen as soon as it entered their bloodstream- “Poole is cut off as Seehea jumps up to his feet like he was pricked with a dart,

“If blood the who what magic the might do!”

“Slow down there Seehea, we can’t understand you when you try to talk fast.” Thigi says, and Seehea nods slowly and takes a deep breath.

“If the blood did that to tomen, what is his magic doing through the water to everyone else?”

A profound silence follows these words, only to be shattered by the creaking of the massive door to the dungeon as it slowly opens, the huge alterna Gole had called Ahe stepping lightly into the space between the cells.

“The Queen is expecting you.” He says as he lifts the cage door to Gole’s cell before using a claw to unlatch the others’ cage as well.

“If you try to escape, I will eat you.” He threatens, narrowing his eyes at the group, and Gole snorts,

“You’ve resorted to barbary now? You really have sunk low since I left.”

“You mean since you were banished. You have no room to talk, burglar.”

“I am not a burglar.” Gole snarls, and the massive alterna chuckles as it pushes Gole and the group along with its enormous furry paw.

“Right. We’ll let Queen Later decide that. And no talking!” He hisses, putting his face down by the group, immediately silencing Onewe and Thigi as they whisper.

In silence, Ahe leads the prisoners through an enormous hallway where another alterna, slightly smaller than Ahe sits beside a wooden swinging door.

“Is that Gole?” She asks, her eyes widening, and Gole glares up at her,

“What do you want, fuzzy?”

“Don’t talk to the prisoners, guard.” Ahe reprimands sharply, and the guard sits up straighter.

“Sorry sir, I just thought the only alterna to ever be banished would be… bigger.”

Ahe chortles at this as he glances down at Gole and her companions, and then looks back up at the guard in amusement.

“Well said. Maybe you’ll get a promotion this year.”

“Yes sir.” The alterna guard says as she reaches up and grasps a small, round, metal cage hanging from a hook in her mouth, setting it in front of the prisoners.

“Go in.” Ahe commands as he prods the prisoners toward the open metal door of the cage, and Gole reluctantly steps in, her fellow travelers squishing in with her as Ahe firmly slams the metal door closed behind them and picks up the cage by a handle with his mouth.

“Good day, Captain of the Alterna Guard,” the guard says as Ahe pushes through the swinging door, into the bright afternoon sunlight outside.

“So, you got a promotion. What happened to the last Captain of the Alterna Guard?” Gole asks mockingly, and Ahe ignores her as he carries the group in their cage far above the ground.

They group is carried in silence above a road paved with cedar, being traversed by other alterna of various sizes and fur colors who peep curiously at the cage before continuing on their way. They pass beside gigantic, circular, marble houses with alterna lounging about in the sun on the stone balconies, not even sparing them a glance, while the children alterna, still large by Trouse’s standard, wrestle playfully in the grass surrounding the houses. Bright banners are strung over the road among opposite houses, adding a colorful aspect to the vast sleepy streets and the houses that line them. Growing over the entire city and extending over the forest, are massive tree branches, with thick leaves that shade the city from the intense sunlight, all coming from one tree hidden within the palace of the Queen. Quickly, Ahe comes up to a massive marble gate with cedar designs of circles at the end of the path and sets the cage down.

“Halt, Ahe of the Border Guard. Why come ye here?” A female alterna of about the same size as Ahe, her black fur streaked with grey, inquires as she stands at the top of the gate, looking down on the group.

“I come with the interesting intruders to interest and entertain the Queen.”

The female alterna turns and disappears out of sight, and the great doors slowly open, allowing Ahe to pick up the prisoners in their cage once again as he struts through the doors. Two smaller alterna, standing by wooden cogs glance curiously at the cage before they push on the cogs once again, and the doors slowly close. Ahe and his prisoners gaze up in awe at the massive palace made of marble and cedar for a moment, studying its circular shape before Ahe slowly ascends the wooden stairs leading up to it. As the alterna reaches the top of the stairs bearing the cage of prisoners in his mouth, the door guards, wearing bronze helmets encrusted with beautiful pearls swiftly open the immense doors steadily, holding the handles with their mouths.

Ahe quickly slips through the doors into a giant hall, streamed with flags of all shapes and colors. A giant gold throne, draped with silk and fine furs, fills the whole center of the hall. A great alterna, with pure black fur sits properly on the throne, the largest of all of the alterna the adventurers had seen, with a crown of jewels draped over her forehead.

“Hail, Queen Later.” Ahe says as he bows before the queen, setting down the cage.

“You have brought me some trespassers of interest, you say?” The pure black alterna asks, her voice rich and luxurious, and Ahe opens the door to the cage, dumping the prisoners out to stand before the queen.

“Yes, My Queen. These are they.”

“They are all children! What an odd group of trespassers. There’s a tucker among them, and… a humor. What an interesting combination. I’d suppose neither of them speak English.” The queen hums as she studies each of the group.

Her eyes fall on the glishen, and she widens them in surprise.

“Why if it isn’t a glishen! So much for their supposed annihilation. It isn’t in the best state, regretfully.” The queen says, clearly disappointed as she notes his appearance compared to other glishen she’d seen in the past.

“Why is this one tied up? Oh, I see, it’s a doub. That makes sense then.” Queen Later says as her eyes fall on the bound girl doub before her eyes fall upon Gole who’s standing beside the doub girl.

“Oh, it’s you.” The black alterna says as she glances with disapproval down at the four-foot alterna who looks tiny before her, and Gole sneers,

“It’s good to see you too,” she says scornfully, and the queen raises herself up.

“You are just as impetuous and disrespectful as you were when I first banished you. You have a lot of explaining to do, Gole.”

Gole opens her mouth to reply, and Thigi quickly jumps in,

“May I explain, Your Highness?” She asks elegantly as she gracefully bows before the queen.

“Be my guest, daughter of mixed blood,” the queen replies, calmly blinking her blue-green eyes as she watches the girl serenely.

Swiftly, Thigi recounts everything that had happened since she had met the group, and the queen looks rather amusedly at Trouse.

“Very interesting. I’m surprised your doub hasn’t attempted to attack you yet.”

“They’re my friends. I would never hurt them!” Trouse exclaims, and for the second time, the queen looks startled,

“A doub that speaks sense in my lifetime? How came you by this doub, Gole?”

Gole merely glares up at the queen, and Queen Later raises herself up even taller.

“Very well then. You will have none of my help, but luckily none of my harm either. Be gone, Gole of Everburning Rage. You are not wanted here. As I did last time we saw each other, I would advise you to tame your temper and your tongue.”

At this, Ahe crams all the adventurers back into the cage and slams the door once more behind them before he picks the cage up by its handle once more. Ahe bows to the queen, and she dismisses him with a nod of her head. Ahe then smartly turns on his heel and carries the cage out of the queen’s hall, where the door openers on the inside of the door push the door out, allowing Ahe to leave with the prisoners. Ahe carries the cage back the way he came through the gleaming city in the hot sunlight. He follows the wooden path to a large, wooden gate, which is opened at his approach by the gate openers. Ahe exits the city, entering the great pine forest surrounding the kingdom.

The alterna carries the cage through the trees, traversing large amounts of terrain in a matter of minutes, until he reaches the edge of the forest and sets down the cage.

“You are a fool, Gole, and your temper has killed any chance of help here. Your friends’ courtesy and wisdom have saved you this time. Now, for the second time, I ban you, and for the first time I ban your friends from these lands. Never step foot in this forest again, or I will step on you.” Ahe says vehemently as he opens the cage, and Gole paces out and walks away from the edge of the forest without waiting for her companions or looking back, her tail swishing in fury.

Ahe waits until every member of the group is out of the cage before he scoops it back up and silently carries it back the way he’d come. Gole finally stops walking as she turns to look at her comrades, her tail swishing with rage as Poole follows behind after helping Seehea and the glishen mount Erve, and Trouse and Thigi drag the bound girl across the ground littered with pine needles.

“Don’t ask any questions. You will get no answers,” Gole says as Thigi and Trouse reach her, ignoring their struggle to climb aboard her back with the girl.

 The two finally manage to climb aboard Gole’s back with the girl, and Gole begins walking once more. For a couple of moments, the group travels in a brooding silence as Gole leads the way across the soft grass, trying to get as far away from the alterna territory as quickly as possible. Suddenly, Thigi unsheathes her sword and chunks it at a nearby tree surrounded by thick bushes. Immediately, a yelp emits from the tree as a four-foot dog bursts out from the bushes, and sprints away, its black fur glinting as it runs through patches of light.

“Dog!” Poole shouts as he whips out his lance and readies to charge after it, but the dog stops in its tracks.

“Don’t hurt me! I’ll leave!” It squeaks in fear, catching the whole group off guard.

“You speak English?” Thigi asks in surprise and the dog hurriedly nods.

“Yes, I was sent by the Queen to guard you from a distance and to ensure you stayed away from alterna territory.”

“We don’t need the queen’s help, and believe me, we’re never returning to those forsaken lands.” Gole spits, and the dog looks down,

“I heard one of you mention the tomen while you were in the prison. What happened to the tomen?” He asks sheepishly, and Poole raises his eyebrows,

“The queen didn’t really send you, did she?”

“No.” The dog admits as it continues to stare at the ground, and Poole looks around at his companions.

“What’s a dog doing with the alterna anyways?” Trouse inquires, and the dog looks up quickly at him.

“Oh, I live here. The queen accepted me as an honorary alterna.”

Gole’s eye twitches slightly at this as a snarl curves across her face, but she remains rigid and unmoving. Anxiously, Seehea eyes Gole before he looks up expectantly at Poole,

“Well, came the out of city to ask us. Might as well tell him,” he says, and Poole purses his lips,

“I’m just curious how you were in the dungeon without us noticing,” he puts in, and Gole scoffs,

“I smelt him. I just wasn’t in the mood to tell you since you all were pouting.”

“Yes, there are many passages I can fit in since I’m much smaller than the other alterna,” the dog nods cheerfully, and Poole sighs,

“I’m afraid you came all the way out here for nothing very great. The tomen remained immortal together. The end,” Poole says, and the dogs wags its tail happily,

“That was a good story. The alterna haven’t told that one before.”

“You only heard maybe two sentences!” Trouse exclaims, and the dog cocks its head to the side.

“Well, I guess I’ll have to join you to hear the whole thing!” He says, smiling dumbly, oblivious to Gole’s growing irritation.

“Wait, you never explained what the tomen transformed into. You said they transformed while we were in the dungeon.” Trouse says, and Poole glances at Gole apprehensively before he begins,

“Well, they are related to dogs still, but are much more advanced than their original trapen forms. They decolorize the world, taking all the life and fun out of anything they come in contact with. They are also very circuitous and never make decisions on their own but rather circle it through their peers until a decision is reached. They are smarter than dogs, absorb colors as an energy source, do not enjoy jokes, laughter, or fun, and they kill everything they meet.”

“They sound like quite the merry crew,” Thigi remarks sarcastically, and Poole laughs slightly,

“I’m not even finished yet. They travel in leaderless packs where every toman is considered equal, and each toman has a say in every decision. They have a huge population that is five times larger than the milities-” Poole explains in a scholarly way, and Trouse furrows his eyebrows,

“Milities?”

“Hold up, I’m going to start walking so we can actually get somewhere by tomorrow.” Gole says disparagingly as she begins walking once more, with Erve and the dog following behind.

After adjusting to the movement, Trouse looks expectantly at Poole who shakes his head wearily, but says,

“The milities are a twisted and perverse elven race that greatly enjoy the sufferings of just about all the other creatures. They oppose every action of the other creatures and always attempt to wreck their plans. Due to their enjoyment in destroying plans, they have lots of experience in various skills. In fact, they are greatly skilled in just about everything, from fighting to hunting and everything in between. They are said to have correspondence with the insus, and have been found to work together many times- “

“What are insus? You’re saying these names like I should know them.” Trouse inquires, and Poole groans in exasperation.

“That’s because you should. You’re a part of this world too, wherever you’ve been living your whole life. I don’t know how to explain the insus, so I’ll just tell you if we meet any. Anyways, the milities have the third highest population in all of Nearth, which is how we got into this subject.”

“How do they look?” Thigi asks curiously, and Poole scrunches up his face,

“They always wear their hair twisted upwards into an updo, and their hair ranges in color from blood red to black. They wear it that way to keep it out of their faces, and it makes them more intimidating when they go torture the veilan. They only do that when they’re bored, however, since they’re almost always at war with another race.”

“Who are the mility at war with currently?” Trouse asks, and Poole takes a deep breath.

 “I don’t know, you seem to think I know all of the current events, but I don’t. I know the creatures very well, however,”

“I have a question. Are you going to continue to follow us?” Gole growls as she turns to look back at the dog, abruptly stopping.

“Yup!” The dog yips happily, and Gole’s eye twitches as she continues walking once more, her expression brooding.

“Then welcome to our little merry band, dog,” she says sarcastically, and the dog wags its tail as it follows behind,

“Thanks! Oh, my name’s Gutu by the way.”