We appeared in a place bathing in a mix of white light, with a little bit of blue. It took a moment for my eyes to get used to the new environment, then I was able to recognize a few things.

It was a proper jungle, with those massive threes which had dark blue trunks, and pale blue leaves. All the vegetation seemed to have similar coloration. Most of the flowers, though, were white.

I could hear the birds singing, and the humm of wind, with a slight murmur of the leaves.historical

In the air I saw a few bugs, as big as my open hand, flying around with a purpose known only to them. My eyes focused on something which looked like a flying spider, which suddenly got snatched by a bright red flying creature, which after a moment I classified as some type of bird.

- What the heck is this place? - I asked The Great One.

- It's the closest safe haven I could find, outside of the influence of the World Tree - he explained. - I couldn't take us any further. We have to travel from here by more traditional means.

- What do you mean by traditional means?

- Come, you will see - he explained, then hovered forward.

He had to push his way through some plants, but eventually, we got to the edge of the rock formation we happened to be on top of. Below, in a rocky valley, was a giant spaceship.

The surface of that thing was white, with shimmering blue veins of whatever-it-was. It was shaped like a dome on top of a flat disc, with two cylinder-shaped extensions on both sides, which looked like those were holding the engines.

It looked surprisingly familiar. I definitely saw it somewhere, but couldn't really tell where. The first thought was that I've seen it in The Great One's memories, but I wasn't sure.

- We are going to use a spaceship? - I asked.

- Yes - he replied, not slowing down.

He went off the cliff, then slowly lowered himself, eventually reaching the immediate vicinity of the vehicle. I waited more or less till he was halfway, then joined him flying down. I did it only to have a better look at the ship, which looked definitely more advanced than whatever they were able to produce on Earth, but only by a little. It was definitely I could imagine them creating in the nearby future.

When I landed, The Great One was already right next to the machine. He extended a hand, waking up the systems. The blue, shimmering veins became brighter, then I noticed panels moving, revealing a door to the inside of the vehicle inside the flat disc.

He went in, and I followed. We entered a spacious chamber that had places to sit down by the left and right walls. The middle, though, was empty. The light was provided by lamps built into the ceiling, so it was quite bright inside.

He didn't stop, going straight forward to a passage blocked by a sliding door. It opened for him, while the entrance behind me began closing.

I went after The Great One, as he kept moving forward through a corridor connected to many others. He clearly knew the way very well, as he didn't hesitate at all. I quickly learned that it was quite something since there was a full-on labyrinth of those corridors there.

I tried to keep track, but after a few minutes I just gave up. We ended up passing through a few chambers, until we reached the very front of the vessel, where we could actually see through windows built into that part of the ship, but also through several holograms which were displaying everything that was around us, plus gave us a view of the ship itself with the immediate vicinity.

Those were all placed on the sides, by stations clearly designated for the pilots or navigators. The front was separated by a little bit of empty space, and then there were special chairs for those who were supposed to steer the actual thing. In total, there were four of them, all surrounded by a set of flat screens hanging down from a construction mounted to the ceiling itself.

On the right side of that previously mentioned empty space was another station, clearly meant for the captain, as it was elevated, and gave a good view of the crew and all the necessary instruments.

The Great One went straight there and sat down.

- Find yourself a place to sit down. I'm gonna be piloting the ship until we reach our destination. It will take a few days, but there is no other way to get there - he explained. - There is lodging for the crew nearby. You should be able to find it easily, or if you don't want to roam around, stay here.

After he said that, he basically ignored me, focusing on taking care of the ship. Maybe it would go slightly differently if I were to say something, but I was too carried away with watching everything, so I lost that opportunity, and then it was too late because his whole attention was directed towards getting us on the way.

I didn't really mind, though, as I could take care of myself.

I quickly found a place by one of the instruments showing the surroundings of the vessel, and I set up my camp there. This meant taking the food out of the vault and sitting down on a special chair.

Then I watched, munching on some snacks as the whole ship slowly launched itself. At first, it almost horizontally, on a slight angle, destroying all the vegetation around, but then, as It was in it, the angle increased.

The most surprising fact about the whole process was that I barely could feel anything. There was no shaking, no loud noise, nothing of this sort. Just like that, we were on the move, escaping the orbit of the strange planet.

As I learned next, it was an astral body close to a massive, bright star shining with this cold, pale-blue light. The biggest star I've seen so far.