Nunami. The air was warm, with a slight breeze as we went along, and
that, mixed with the plentiful flora about us and the songs of the
treetop dwellers, rendered the whole feeling of the walk peaceful and
happy, though its end was not to be such. I soon forgot the worldly
concerns that plagued me as I was soaking in the simplicity of nature,
not a simplicity of form, for all things are incomprehensively complex,
but simplicity of meaning.

After a time I began noticing changes in our surroundings that indicated
we were drawing nearer to our goal, namely, the trees lessening in
proportions, the terrain becoming flatter, and the air growing moister
and more vibrant. Still, the trees continued to spring up from the
ground like great earthen tentacles, for while their size diminished, it
was not by enough to change their demeanor, the trees anywhere on Daem
being great in size.

The sun journeyed with us, and by the time we reached Lake Umquam
Renatusum, twilight's last agony was being performed in the heavenly
theater, and the rippling waters mirrored it, adding only a strange,
flowing texture. The lake's current caught my eye with its subtle
oddity, for it was amiss and it appeared upon close inspection that
there was an undertow, as if there was an underground river flowing into
the lake and bringing about its swirling currents.

Bernibus saw me looking down at the waters from the lofty road with a
puzzled look, and asked me if I was wondering about the water's current.
I replied that I was, and he told me that it was the fervidus flamma
being pumped into the lake through the underground aqueducts, which, of
course, was for the purpose of igniting it to decoy for our raid. Once
it was explained it made sense, yet I looked at it anyway, for it was