Iola jogged slightly beside Makani, turning to gaze at him every once in a while. It goes on for a few minutes, until finally Makani sighed.

“Stop staring.” 

“Oh. Sorry.”

“If there’s something on your mind then let it out.”

Iola scrunched her nose in thought. “I have too many questions in my head, I don’t know which one to ask first.’

Makani snorted. “Considering you’re not that smart, I wouldn’t be that surprised.”

“Hey!”

“Just ask whatever you want,” he said flippantly, before grinning slyly. “Doesn’t mean I would answer them, though.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Take it or leave it.”

Iola thought hard, tapping a finger on her nose as she decided to ask the easy questions first. “Why are you translucent? Almost invisible, even.”

Makani shrugged easily, and a small breeze blew through the tree. “I am the wind. And so, I have no solid form.”

Iola nodded. That makes sense enough. “Are there more of you?” When he raised his eyebrows she quickly amended her question. “I mean, not necessarily spirit of wind, like you. Just, you know, other spirits.”

“There are more of us than you could imagine, human girl. We are everywhere and anywhere. You just have to know how to look.”

There was a bitter edge in his voice that made her frown in contemplation; she remembered that he’d said something of almost the same meaning before.

“Do you mean not everybody could see you?”

When he didn’t answer she took it as an affirmative. A slight scowl on his face hindered her to ask further on the subject so she tried to ask something else.

“Grandmother Livne, she’s the grandmother of all the trees, right?” At his nod she continued. “So the tree that sent me here, Admon. Is he related to her?”

Makani’s laughter brought a howling wind, shaking the trees around them as they swayed side to side.

“I guess that’s a no, then.”

“Well, what do you know? There is a brain underneath that thick skull of yours, human girl.”

Iola frowned at that and they spend a few minutes in silence as they continue walking. Now that she paid attention to her surroundings she saw people peeking from their tree, and knew that they must be Grandmother Livne’s children. A young tree, almost a sapling even, waved her branches shyly and Iola waved back, a small grin on her lips. The gesture seemed to encourage the other trees, because now all the trees were shaking and swaying, and she laughed as she waved back.

“They’re nice,” she commented.

“All spirits are nice.”

She raised her eyebrows, before smirking sideway at him. “Then I guess that makes you the only exception, huh?”

The howling breeze was expected. It kept on for several minutes as the spirit laughed loudly, before he turned to grin at her. “Well, well, you may be more than what I’d thought before, human girl.”

“Thanks, I guess. Wait….that is a compliment, right?”

He only chuckled. “Ask me again some more questions, if you want. I’m feeling quite generous at the moment.”

Iola nodded and thought hard. Then again, there was only one question that’s been burning in her mind.

“Why am I here?”

Makani sighed and a small, weak breeze ruffled the top of her hair. “That, human girl, is something I can not answer.”

“You just couldn’t answer that, do you?” she huffed.

“Hey, I did say that just because you may ask me doesn’t mean I would answer them.”

They spent their walk in silence, Makani gliding easily besides her as she trundled on. After half an hour she spoke again.

“Are we still far away?”

“I don’t think so. I can feel human presence, so they must not be too far ahead.”

Iola nodded, before something crossed her mind. “Are you sure it is my companions’ presence you sensed, instead of those other men that tried to kidnap me?”

“Oh, don’t worry about those guys.” He waved his hand and a gust of wind almost knocked her sideway. “I’ve made a small tornado that would blow them miles away from here, if they could ever manage to get out from it.”

She chuckled at the thought before her mind returned to the men she’d been travelling with. “My companions….you know who they are, right?”

“Yes, I do.”

“They’re the one who find me when I first came to this place. They took me on their journey, protected me when there was danger.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Is there a purpose of you saying this?”

She took a deep breath, almost afraid of the answer as she whispered the question. “Can I trust them?”

Makani’s answering laugh was harsh. “That, you must ask yourself, human girl. You see.” The smile on his face was so cold it made Iola shivered. “I lost my trust in humans a long time ago.”

Before she could replied Makani pointed ahead. “Look. There’s one of them right there.”

Iola looked ahead to see a young man she had never seen before dashed out from behind the trees, a whiff of black smoke following his trail. He was quite tall with tan skin, dark chocolate hair and full, pouting lips. The clothes he wore were in the same fashion as her companions, with the billowing trouser and tunic, and she recognized the same looping pattern that depicted a tree on his sleeves.

The man’s eyes widened when he saw her and he quickly jogged over. Immediately Iola stepped back, guarded and wary. He saw her hesitation and stopped, holding his hands out as if to placate her.

“It’s alright. I’m not going to hurt you.”

Iola’s mouth opened in shock when she realized she could understand perfectly what this man is saying.

A soft breeze fluttered in her right ear. “You might want to close your mouth, human girl. I am not responsible for any insects that decided it want to explore that cave you called a mouth.”

Iola snapped in a huff, glaring at Makani who just shrugged easily.       

“Hey, I just don’t want to see you looking like an idiot. I mean, even more than usual.”

“That’s mean! I was just surprised that I could understand him; the men who were with me before and even my kidnappers couldn’t understand a word I say.”

Makani scoffed. “When you’ve learn to speak without your mouth and listen without your ears, then you can talk to anything you want.”

Iola raised her eyebrows, barely resisiting the urge to roll her eyes. “That’s….helpful. Not.”

Meanwhile the young man in front of her just stared, seemingly getting more and more confused by the moment. “Uh…excuse me Miss, but…who are you talking to?”

Iola stared at the newcomer confusedly, before turning back to Makani in surprise. “They couldn’t see you?”

Before the spirit could answer another young man emerged from behind the trees. The newcomer wasn’t as tall as the first one, quite small in stature with black hair that accentuates his fair skin and eyes that were big and wide, like he was in a perpetual state of being surprised.

“Jongin, there you are! I thought-“

His eyes widened even more when he saw her, and Iola took another step back. She didn’t know these people and prefer to be cautious, even if Makani didn’t seem to share her sentiments.

“Hey, hey, don’t be afraid. We’re not the enemy here,” the second man quickly said.

Iola didn’t answer and her eyes roved between the two men warily as she took another step back.

“Are you Iola?” the first man asked.

Her step stopped in surprise. “How do you know my name?”

The second man laughed in relief. “Oh, thank the Sacred Tree we found you! We’ve been looking for you! We thought the Teimans must surely have taken you to their country by now.”

Iola was getting more confused by the minute. “W-who? I’m sorry, but who are you?”

The second man smiled and bowed his head. “I’m sorry, I get too carried away. My name is Kyungsoo, and this is Jongin.” The first man also bowed slightly with a small smirk grazing his handsome face.

Iola still regarded them suspiciously. Before she could say anything, four other men came out from behind the first two and she quickly took another cautious step back, trying to put more distance between them.

“No, no, no, it’s alright. They’re our friends too,” Kyungsoo quickly said when he saw her moving back. “Please, we mean you no harm.”

“Is she the one, Kyungsoo?” A tall, young man with silver, almost grey-ish h