Page 705

<“Alright, Grandma is headed your way,”> Alicia reported. <“You should be okay now.”>

“Thank you!

<“How many bad guys are there? Do you know?”>

“Three, I think. But my brother delayed them. It might just be the reapers following me now.”

<“Alright, just keep heading to the tree. Grandma will find you in no time. I’ll stay on the phone with you until--AGH, FINE! TAKE YOUR FUCKING PHONE BACK! BITCH!”>

Chergoa raised a wispy eyebrow. ‘What is Alicia’s last name, by the way?’

‘Redwater.’

‘Wow, you called one of the Redwaters?’

‘Yeah, why?’

‘Oh, right. You’re not much of a history buff, are you?’

‘Uh--’ Emiliana didn’t get a chance to ask what she was talking about, because Alicia interrupted.

<“Sorry about that. I’m still here.”>

“Ah, g-good. Thank you.”

<“So do you have any idea who these men are?”>

“Well, they said they were Vanguard, but... uh--”

<“What? Vanguard?”>

“I don’t really understand it, either.” She explained what she and Chergoa heard Dennex rambling about through the wall. Chergoa had considered it entirely intentional on Dennex’s part as a means of telling them to flee without alerting their enemies. Emiliana hadn’t been quite so convinced of this at first, but she’d since warmed up to the idea after being chased by reapers for the past ten minutes straight.

She could see the Great Madega Tree now. Taller than most of the buildings around it by a third, it was one of the most famous places in Aguarey--or in all of Sair, even. The Great Madega was one of the largest trees in the world, rivaled only by the monstrous Jaskadan Forest across the sea. And the people of Aguarey did not squander this natural wonder. Rather, they turned it into a leisure center, of sorts. A narrow walkway spiraled around its huge gray-brown trunk, and a climate-controlled observatory sat within the grip of its sprawling crown of foot-sized blue-green leaves. Additionally, a plethora of high-end shops sat around its base for the many tourists it attracted.