The western sea

The group followed her map and plan through the desert without too many difficulties. They were all exhausted by the journey but they seemed happy to be outside of the desert. The landscape was very different from what they knew from the east. There were a lot of rocks on their path and the air was humid. They didn't find a lot of trees to have shadows but there was a fresh wind coming from in front of them and bringing new scents that excited them a lot. Without realizing it they were running to see what was in front of them. 

Zaelia finally found the place she was searching for. They were in front of the sea, if they never had seen the sea before they also never saw cliffs like the one they were on. They stayed stunned in front of the landscape. The noise of the waves beating the rocks was a melody they never heard before and this whole world was standing in front of them. 

The horizon was a simple line between the blue of the waters and the blue of the sky. They followed the path going down the cliff to reach the cove at sea level. Some of them rushed to the water and tried to drink it, they were surprised and spitted immediately.

"The water is salty! We cannot drink this!"

She opened her eyes widely. She ran to the water and tasted it. How was that even possible? Salty water? She turned to Xzander as he was frozen in front of this discovery and she shook her head to confirm the fact that this water was not drinkable. 

He checked the reserves of water they had.

"We are still good but we will not make the return with what we have."

Zaelia stood up, she was anxious about the situation.

"Send a few men to search for another source of water. We need to find something."

He nodded and gave her orders to ten people. They immediately left to explore the area and search for another source of water. During this time the others established the encampment, the place was magical to them. It was between the rocks and the view was wonderful. The warm weather would allow them to sleep without shelter. They made a fire as the night started to fall and the lights were reflected on the cliff's walls all around them. 

Zaelia planned to stay a few days there. They were close enough to the city to be able to find the architect and make up a plan but they would have to take their time and that was the first time they were acting this way. She didn't know how to plan such actions well. When usually they just came to ravage and take what they needed in a blood bath, she wanted to act smart and avoid useless conflict. The city was very big and the forty-two would not be able to stand in an open fight. 

She decided to go alone along the cliff to see what was around them and understand the nature of this place. As she left she let Xzander manage the group but once they finished putting the camp most of them undressed and went to have fun in the sea. She had an amused smile seeing them in the water. 

She walked for a long time before she saw a little village of fishermen. She stepped into the shadows to observe from afar. She saw a temple and she decided to go inside and throw an eye. At this hour, nobody was inside and the path was clear. Her heart was beating in her chest as she was expecting to see a statue of Archanium, her beloved god. Archanium and his angels were the only gods of the world. She didn't see a lot of temples before but she always had an intense joy going and kneeling in front of him. 

But not this time. 

This time, her blood turned cold and she was paralyzed in front of what she saw. In front of her was not the statue of Archanium. The temple was the one of another god, a god not ascended by Archanium. It was something else. An unknown god. His face was gentle but his position was represented as something heavy and powerful. The god's statue was with wings, sharp ones closer to the ones of a bat than the wonderful wings of Archanium, and his arms were covered with scales. He was represented with a trident. She started to tremble in front of this god. All her world was impacted at this moment. Her heart was racing in her chest. She murmured.

"Who are you..."

She felt a rage in her raising. How dare they pray to another god? She knew some people were giving a cult to the obscure Zarkhaïm but it was in the North. She never heard about another god. How could they? This statue was like looking at her in arrogance. How did they dare create such a view?! She trembled more and more. 

But what she didn't know is that in the sky, Archanium had the same reaction as her. 

He was watching her for a long time now and he discovered this temple at the same time as her. He was taken aback by this other creature. He had so many questions at this moment. Was it real? What was this creature? What if they were three? What if Zarkhaïm and he had another brother? He was extremely curious and furious at the same time. These humans had no fear of him dare to build such a temple for someone else. His ego was hurt. 

Zaelia screamed so loud that the forty-two could hear her no matter the distance separating her from the group or the noise of the wind and the waves of the sea. She was in an extreme fury. She didn't take a sword with her but she didn't need any. She ran to the statue and threw her body on it. The statue didn't move at first so she just screamed louder and threw herself harder. 

She felt pain from the impact but she didn't care, she needed to demolish this god.