The cloud Island looked like a place of heaven. From where Agatha jumped down from her boat, you could see a hill of light green grass going up till what appeared to be a forest. The grass was pretty long, and the wind was shaving the hill like a sea.

  Bracchius was very happy to be there and immediately started running inside the meadow in search of prey. Agatha did not pay much attention to him; she knew he was strong, after all, she had found him alone, sleeping on another Island with no fear at all of bigger creatures or humans. Agatha always wondered if Bracchius had any family or any others of his species. Perhaps they lived in another part of the Sky Mountains she never travelled to, but in the end, Bracchius chose her company and seemed always happy, so why put yourself into a quest to try to find his family?

  Agatha’s boots trampled the grass with every step; it was actually safer than trying to pass with your foot inside them, as you never knew what you would find in these wild islands. It took her about a twenty-minute walk to arrive at the uphill forest, and the trees were of a very dark green, almost scary.

  “What is a young girl like you doing here?” a voice from the forest.

  Agatha’s blood became ice in less than a second, and she jumped behind a tree.

  “You are quite fast for a little girl..” continued the voice.

  Where is this voice coming from? Where the hell is it, and who the hell is it?

  Agatha kept silent and tried hard to understand where to keep an eye to be safe; she looked at the meadow, then at the upper trees, again into the darkness of the forest.

  “Too slow..” said the voice.

  Agatha did not notice anything and suddenly froze; cold drops of sweat began to drop from her forehead. A fine and shiny silver blade was at her neck. She only had the courage to move her eyes to her right; her mouth was half open. Next to her, there was a man who was tall and thin with a long blue mantle of a very precious silk. He had long, black hair, a hooked nose, and a long, stylish moustache.

  The man was just about to say something, but this time Agatha was faster. She rolled her white bracelet on her right hand and shouted: “Miones!”

  From her hand spread a strong tornado that struck the man directly. He was pushed away for about ten yarter (approximately eight meters in your world), it looked almost comic. Before he could arrive on the ground, Agatha had already jumped into the meadow and hid there.

  “Ouch! Well, well... that was unexpected. Who knew you were a hunter?”

  Where are you Bracchius, when I need you? Agatha asked herself, still afraid.

  Suddenly, from the forest, a burst of birds at once, who else is in this forest?

  “Do not worry, little girl! I am no harm! I actually thought you were a spy..but now that I know you are a hunter, problem solved, you are not in danger anymore, you can come out.”

  The man put his sword back in its scabbard (more likely a musketeer sword from your world) and cleaned himself from the dust on his clothes, then sat on a rock next to the meadow. He took something from his pocket, which appeared to be a cosmetic box, opened it, removed his blue and white guantlet, and took something from inside it with his fingers. Finally, he applied the solution to his fancy mustache, as it had changed shape in the fall.

  “Are you kidding me? First you try to kill me, now you do your toilette?” said Agatha, coming out of the grass

  “Oooh, there you are! I do apologise for the misunderstanding, you must know cloud islands are not really a tourist place, so you mostly find no one, or sometimes smugglers or mercenaries, very rarely you find hunters..I am coming from the huge city beneath that I imagine you must know.”

  “Of course I know, you are taking me for an illiterate?” replied Agatha.

  “I know, I know, I do apologize..It's just that I am trying to understand why a hunter is here. Hunters have tasks given by each mayor of the main cities, and I am well aware that for this island..no hunters have been invited.”

  His eyes became very thin. He was trying to imply something, or he just could not see well sometimes?

  “I am here to find some precious food for my Brenath!” shouted Agatha

  The man tried to be serious, continued to look at Agatha, and then his mouth formed a grumpy smile, and it started to twist into a huge:

  “Aaaahahahahahahaha! Ohohohohohoh! What?” laughed the man “Are you kidding me, little girl? You are here risking your life to feed your Brenath?”.

  “That is none of your business! And you should not laugh at this, I am honest!” replied Agatha

  “That sounds like the stupidest lie ever! Ahahahah..so I am sure I can trust you, because nobody would have ever expected such a lie to cover what they came here to do, you must be sincere for sure, you have any mental issues?”

  “How dare you!” replied Agatha, quite angry.

  “Well, the only people who come to Wild Cloud Islands to feed their Brenath are the eleven corporations of the Amber League. They do not land alone and unprepared; they come equipped with ships and a full crew of quite formidable individuals. Sometimes they rent mercenaries as well. You know how the silk market is worth in the Sky Mountains, are you trying to risk your life and have the jackpot alone? How foolish of you!”

  “That is none of your business! Who are you, anyway, to tell me what I should be doing? You just put your sword to my neck, I am just remembering you! My dream is to become the best chef of the sky mountains, so I am looking for the best food to give my Brenaths to find the most secret recipe to sell!” replied Agatha

  The man opened his eyes like two huge balloons.

  “Ahahahahahahahahahah! You are so funny! Ahahahahah..oh for God Kloud! I must have encountered the most interesting and unique person in the Sky Mountains!”

  “It is not noble to laugh at others' dreams, you know?! You look more like a drunken soldier; that is why you have no respect for others” said Agatha

  “Indeed indeed, I must say I do apologise” said the man.

  He stood up again, took a huge plumed hat that was hanging from his back, and made a very fancy bow to Agatha. Agatha blushed, even if this man tried to kill her and laugh at her dream, it looked very cute when he tried to apologise this way. He actually did not look like a common soldier.

  Right in that moment, from the forest came out at once a dozen soldiers of Humerian. They seemed tired and probably had to deal with a fight. They run towards the man. Now that the soldiers were there, Agatha finally noticed the white and golden bird on the man's chest, which had been hidden by his mantle until that moment.

  “Captain, are you ok?” We heard a huge noise coming from here!” said some soldiers together

  “Ok ok..do not worry, I just met my assanied hunter, Frelia..” said the captain.

  “Agatha!”

  “Oh, Agatha, of course!” replied the captain.

  “Yes, but that noise? We thought it was mercenaries! Your assanied hunter?” said one of the soldiers

  “Yes yes, you do not have to know all..Agatha has been sent here to me with a message for our secret mission. Besides, it's coffee time! Where is my special “Bum bum spice”?

  “Of course, Sir, we prepare it immediately!” said one of them

  The soldiers took a mechanical steel machine from the backpack of one of their own, placed it on the ground, lit a fire inside, and began preparing coffee for everyone.

  “Want some Agatha?” asked the captain

  “Mmmmh, sure, why not?” replied Agatha

  She was still annoyed about how things had gone and did not really comprehend what these soldiers had done on that Island, why such secrecy? Coffee is always good, especially when offered, so why not for real? After all, this man was a good man; why is he protecting me, thought Agatha? For what? I am free to go where I want anyway. She sat down with them and took a sip of her coffee; it was delicious! She had never tasted a better coffee than that one; it must have been truly a special brew, but for soldiers? Why Humerians soldiers have this coffee?

  “So so so, we have finished our mission, but we need to go back to Humerian. We can finally take off the blockade document from this Island from the main square. Agatha will finish the rest..” said the captain

  “Hey hey, what do you mean?!” replied Agatha annoyed

  “Well, you are plenty enough to make the last check around the forest if everything is fine, and we might have left something. We can all go together, but it might be a loss of time, and I am already hungry! Guys we had back home!”

  The captain stood up and turned his back to Agatha, the soldiers prepared themselves to leave. He then turned again to Agatha and said, whispering:

  “You should check the upper part on the right side, when the sun goes down, some fire libellulas come out in that region..I know they taste so good and spicy!”

  He winked his eye full of wrinkles and tossed a coin in Agatha’s hand.

  “Farewell, hunter Agatha! Once you finish your duty, you are at ease!” said the captain with loud voice

  The soldiers left down the hill, then jumped down from the island.

  Some moments later, from beneath the island, their ship came flying towards the sky. It was a fast and steady war sloop, with golden blue and white shapes resembling the clouds. It was so beautiful. Some silver cannons on the sides of the ship and silk sails that look like waves of rainbows when the light passes in certain directions.

  Agatha was surprised. Now that was why the captain “helped” her. There was a blockade on that Island; whoever goes to a blocked island for military purposes is responsible for their own safety. You usually end up killed by the military, by smugglers, or by mercenaries. The military usually puts a blockade on an Island because they have received reports from hunters of creatures they need, or special flowers, mushrooms, or clues to ancient temples. They have to declare the blockade each time for safety reasons and also to comply with bureaucratic requirements. However, this also attracts clans of mercenaries or smugglers who want to try their luck. If the captain did not recognize Agatha as an assigned hunter, she would have been caught by the military and interrogated in Humerian. The captain has trusted Agatha and given her permission to complete the mission, which was already finished anyway, so now she is free to search for special creatures on her own.

  Agatha looked at the coin, a golden coin of Humerian? Why did he give her such an amount?

  Written on it, “Humerian for lord Kloud, pray to us all” in a circle, in the middle some clouds, Agatha turned the coin..

  The face of a man, with long hair and a fancy moustache..

  Agatha stared, shocked at the coin:

  “That man, that captain? He is no other than Lord Redhis of Vulnebath, Mayor of Humerian!”

  Agatha started to cry, overwhelmed by too many emotions all at once.

  “Thank you, Redhis, and thank you for the coffee!” she smiled