Magnifico

The stars has entwined our fate

They maintained traveling west in the hope they will find the city of Zaphra they were looking for. They were traveling faster than usual because Sun was hoping they will find a physician who would take proper care of the injury Viruz had.

They stopped twice before the evening that day. First, they stopped close to a lake with a skyline blue color. It was window clear in such a way that the floor of this lake including the fishes and crabs could be seen from afar. The environment was peaceful and statue-still. They wished they would make a tent there and stay for the night but the problem was it was in the afternoon they arrived there. So they weren’t prepared to make a stop at all because they want to get to Zaphra on time.

They continued traveling west until evening where they stopped again and made a tent. This night was their last might until they made it to Zaphra. Getting close to a gradually increasing topography in the evening, the horses were already exhausted and their speed has greatly reduced. They have been overworked and they need proper rest, water, and food. Forcing the horses to climb the slowly increasing territory may make the horses develop anemia and start excessive blowing. Sun noticed that his horse has developed a sore muscle at the right frontal arm. They made an emergency stop and decided to make their tent under a very large redwood tree with a visible stem extending meters away from the main tree. It has many branches and some were so close and the surface of the tree from the stem to the top looked very rough. It didn’t suit a perfect camouflage for reptilian animals such as snakes or any green alligators so it seemed safe for them to see under it.

“I am starting to feel pains in my hand. It’s becoming so painful and I am not comfortable about it” Viruz said they stopped their horses.

“I am sorry Viruz. You have to be patient. Maybe when we get to Zaphra, we will find someone who would take proper care of the wound. You just need to be patient” Sun said as he goes close to Viruz.

“Yes, soldier. C'mon, don’t be a crying baby. You are a soldier already. I wouldn’t cry if I were you” said articulately but in a funny way.

“Jonas, please… if it were you, we will still be in Phox. We may as well cancel our while journey and go back to Quinax” Sun said. Virus busted out laughing loudly.

“C'mon. You always support Viruz General. You should at least support me for once.” Jonas said.

“Not his fault Jonas. He needs to be supported and I gave it to him. Anyway, I hope by tomorrow morning or probably in the afternoon, we will get to our destination. We may be close but we don’t know it yet. So we will keep our faiths high and continue riding westwards until we see something new or somewhere strange” Sun said.

“That’s true. If we don’t make it to Zaphra tomorrow, then I will assume we missed the road leading to it. We may have to go back to Phox if we have to or Brux” Jonas said, this time more seriously.

“Brux and Phox? That would be a mistake. We can’t afford to go back. We rather hang around and search for Zahra here than going back to Phox or Brux. We have passed through a lot to be here so we can’t just throw those things away now” Viruz said.

“No Viruz. If we continue riding after tomorrow and we didn’t find Zaphra, then I don’t think we should continue to do so. Today is the third day and we haven’t found there yet, what makes you think that after tomorrow that we will still find it?” Jonas asked.

“I think you are right. Remember we were told it was going to be three days if we ride slow and two days' journey from Phox if we ride fast but here we are on the third day yet no hope. So Viruz, I would say if we don’t find Zaphra by next tomorrow, then I don’t think going anyway further will solve anything for us. It means we have lost track of where we are going and we need to go back to Brux and ask for help from Timon. Maybe he will agree to take us there.” Sun said.

“You see Viruz. General supported me this time” Jonas said surprisingly while he laughed hysterically. “we can’t continue with the journey if we don’t find there tomorrow. Besides, you are wounded and it seems like your wound has been contaminated so it needs to be treated at once. If we continue moving forward without considering the fact that we may be missing the whole thing may be deleterious” Jonas added.

“Well I believe we should continue because we may even try to go back and we will miss our road again,” Viruz said.

“Haha” Jonas laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous, please. Believe me, I will never miss the way leading to Brux or Phox even if I start traveling back alone” Jonas said.

It was slowly getting dark and they need to make a campfire again which will serve them for the night. They also need to have their dinner and eat enough and in the morning also so they will have enough energy for the journey ahead. Making the campfire that night was resisted by Sun with reasons. He argued that making a campfire when they are presumably close to Zaphra might give out their position to unwanted people. But Jonas argued that they may not even be close to Zaphra yet and making the fire burn may as well scare away reptiles and other dangerous animals around them since they were in a thick jungle. They agreed to set the fire and Jonas went to the marshes around and managed to gather firewood. He assembled the lumps of woods and lit a fire on them. They later sat close to each other while they have already pinched their tent to the ground waiting for the night to get darker before they go to bed…

Jonas was sitting tightly on the floor while looking at the dark sky. The night was cool and quiet, the wind was in slow motion and it made the surrounding trees to be still as the fire was still burning while their faces were apparently clear even though it was dark already.

“Look at those three stars. It’s beautiful though” Jonas said as he points at the sky while sitting on a piece of cloth he spread in the ground.

Sun and Viruz looked at the sky and saw the three stars Jonas was pointing at. The three stars were in a triangle inclined position to each other. Viruz was worried and surprised when he saw this. He started to feel anxious.

“You mean these three stars, Jonas?” Virus looks at the sky pointing at the stars.

“Yes. That is the exact stars. Is it not beautiful?” Jonas asked.

“I don’t think so. This is a bad sign.”

“What do you mean by that?” Sun asked.

“Yes, what do you mean by that Viruz?” Jonas asked.

“Three stars inclined at that position to each other while one is drifting away slowly from the two is worrying,” Viruz said…

“Why did you say so? Are you an astronomer?” Sun asked.

“No, I am not. But my father was. He was an astronomer when he was alive and he taught me quite a lot of things about the sky.”

“I guess your father must be a good cook too. He taught you how to cook like a woman” Jonas said as he laughs, Sun did the same.

“Well, he wasn’t my teacher when it comes to cooking. It was all my mum's effort. She taught me how to cook” Viruz said gratified.

“So, you were saying something about the sky. What is it that you see?” Sun asked.

“If you look at that sky, the tiny one is drifting away from the two big ones. Even though one is the largest but the tiniest amongst them is drifting away slowly from the remaining two. This according to my father is not good. It’s a bad omen. Those stars represent the three of us and we are three in numbers and so are the stars. In a night when there is no noticeable air movement and when the air current is considerably low then there is a problem.”

“So what are you saying Viruz? I have not understood your point yet, ” Sun argued

.

“As much as I hate to say this but from all indication, one of us may die,” Viruz said regrettably. It shocked Sun and Jonas when he said this. Even though they have all reasons to argue but they knew there was no way Viruz would say such a thing without being sure of what he was saying. They didn’t want it to be true and their body and would didn’t accept the news.

“You must be joking right?” Jonas asked as he grinned. He wanted to laugh it off but couldn’t. The news was still hanging somewhere inside of him. It was still aching his heart and he lost concentration.

“C’mon Jonas,” Viruz said as he sits up and tightened his grip on his wounded hand. He continued “Do I look like I am joking? Why would I joke around with something like that, huh?”

“Do I know? You brought it up” Jonas said.

“Well, the thing is, astronomers make mistakes. I have heard different predictions from different astronomers that went wrong. So this is not a surprise. It may be your father was wrong or it was just a mere coincidence and nothing more” Sun said.

“My father was never wrong. At least not from what I have heard him say on different occurrences. I don’t think this is a coincidence Genera” Viruz said maintaining his position.

“Listen to me Viruz. Nothing is going to happen to anyone of us whether the sky or the stars likes it or not. We are not going to lose anyone in this group so please, we will surely succeed and we must do that unscathed. You just need to believe it,” Sun said with assurance.

“Yes, Vi… we should be confident enough if we must succeed. Alright?” Jonas asked.

“Okay… I understand. I think I need to sleep now” Jonas said. Sun and Jonas wished him a good midnight sleep as he stood up to move inside the tent. It was a long night, a very long night such that Sun was begging for morning to come. Sun was so worried even though he managed to dismiss Viruz's claims yet he was still worried about what he said. Jonas couldn’t even say a word, he sat for hours with the General without uttering a single word. They sat close to each other for hours yet they couldn’t bring a topic that would make them communicate. They couldn’t even tell each other how they felt so they hid it within them because they want to refute whatever claims Viruz might think he has and they think the best way to go about it was to avoid talking about it.