what happened after unlocked

chapter forty-one ~ finding evarista

"So...this is Evarista?" Sophie wondered aloud. Everywhere she looked was thick, tropical jungle and the occasional gap in a tree that opened up to the bright azure sky completely free of clouds.

"I honestly don't know," Tiergan said, his eyes scanning the unfamiliar landscape inquisitively. "I've never been here before."

The rainforest was mostly tranquil, but every shake of a branch or crunching of dried leaves on the ground made Sophie feel less and less safe by the second. She wished Sandor were here, but she'd left him sleeping at her bedroom door.

"Haven't you been here before, Tiergan?" Keefe asked from beside Sophie, and she realized how hard she'd been squeezing Keefe's hand. "This forest kinda looks like somewhere the Black Swan would choose to keep one of their hideouts. I mean, look at this place! You could practically hide a temple in here somewhere."

Sophie slowly untangled their fingers and stepped forward, trying to see if anything was concealed nearby. But the only thing there at all was trees and overgrown shrubbery. It was almost as if Evarista, if it was even there, didn't exist.

"Well, Mr Sencen, to tell you the truth, Brazilian rainforests are one of the only places we haven't yet used for safehouses. I'm not completely sure what to expect," Tiergan said, raising his eyebrows at the mass of plants and then turning back to them.

"Huh," was all Keefe said.

"Um...so, where should we go now?" Sophie asked, attempting to find a clear pathway in the earth.

"There's not really anywhere that we can go. Unless either of you have a sword that I am unaware of," Tiergan said.

Keefe sighed dramatically. "We came all this way...and we can't get to Evarista."

"If we had my iPod or my bodyguards we could probably find it," Sophie suggested. "Except for the fact that our bodyguards are busy and—hey, maybe I actually could get my iPod! That might work!"

"Or we could use our super Foster-Keefe Empath-Polygot powers to, I don't know, control some wild beast to bust through these trees," Keefe said.

"Would that drain either of you, though?" Tiergan asked, looking unsure.

"I'll do it," Keefe volunteered.

When they both looked at him, he shrugged. "Foster's better at convincing people to do stuff than I am, and she's more valuable in this mission. If she passes out from this, there's no point continuing."

Sophie tilted her head to the side to consider it, and then made up her mind. "How about I just send a transmission to an animal first, though? That'll make it easier for you if we have one there."

Keefe nodded. "So long as you're okay with it."

Sophie closed her eyes and stretched her consciousness, plunging into the deep world of thoughts and images.

Keefe's thoughts weren't as clear as they used to be, probably due to the training, and Tiergan's were even softer. His thoughts, contrary to Sophie's, sounded worried and nervous.

Sophie dove even deeper into the dark universe and searched for more thoughts. Most of them were very quiet, like they belonged to a bird, or an insect, but a few were set apart from the others. Sophie ventured towards them more, and discovered one loud trumpeting noise, that reminded her of the fanfare when the Councillors came before a large group of elves to give an important announcement.

Hello? Sophie transmitted to the creature.

The animal replied with a loud snort.

I'm Sophie. We need your help, she said.