The great land of Akna is under the threat of the Hollowers, the infamous enemy no one seems to know about. As his fairy abilities are growing, so are Ferry's doubts about his purpose in this strange, new world -- is he really the Saviour of Akna or...
Training soon became a burden for Ferry. Maybe because he had never been good at it, maybe because he hadn't trained in a long time, or simply because he hated guns, Ferry seemed to fail in the art of war with every training.
Now, he was trying to imitate the movements of an Amalgham soldier who was performing a sword-wielding demonstration. Ferry was trying to understand why he had to learn to master so many weapons when he was actually considered the Spear Carrier.
The Amalgham soldier had rodent features, and his face was almost entirely covered in fur. Only his fairy eyes made him not look like an animal altogether. Ferry always wondered how different the Amalghams of Akna were from his guardians who could easily pass as humans even in the human world.
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When there was the time to simulate a sword fight with the rodent Amalgam, things got more complicated. The soldiers, Amalghams and Solacers alike, made the fights seem so easy, twisting in precise but graceful movements, like in a dance. Instead, he stumbled at every move and his every move failed. And now, as in the past, his training companion blocked his blow and swiped him off his feet with a quick leg movement and Ferry fell flat face in the dirt. He got up quickly, but he couldn't help but hear the muffled laughter and the murmur around him. Leomh, the Second Commander of the army and his suite of warrior elves seemed particularly amused by his every fail. Ferry wished Thyme would return sooner. His presence gave him confidence and he was sure he would have been a better coach. But he also thought that Thyme had better things to do than to be the nanny of a fighter as weak as he had turned out to be. He finished training that day with the burden of being ashamed again.
The days began to look like each other and the hope that he would see Matilda soon faded with each passing moment. He'd seen all his friends since he arrived at the Cloud Fortress, but not her. Sage was always present at training and getting better by the day. Even Parsley participated a few times, but his training was somehow more special; he was just learning defensive techniques. Ferry thought that was because he had lost many of his fairy powers when he was struck by Saraid's curse. He'd seen Rosemary a few times in the kitchen, where she prepared her favorite meals. Oona visited him every time after training and accompanied him on walks on the stone paths outside the fortress, with Raghnall always on their trail. He had also met Finn a few times, Matilda's brother. But Finn was so fast, like an arrow launched by a skilled archer, so Ferry never had a chance to talk to him.
As for the school, where he was finally waiting to see Matilda, it turned out to be something else than he had thought at first. The school in Akna was not a place, but a state. The state of searching, of learning, of knowing as much as possible about everyone and everything. And the teacher could be anyone who mastered his job well enough.
That day, Ferry had Parsley as his teacher who was teaching him about the wonderful world that was Akna. They had left the fortress and were slowly walking on the green paths at its edge, where the mountain was gentler and the abyss not so deep.
