"Birds! Blue ones!" Eleanor’s gaze followed the flock, her dark eyes filled with curiosity and joy.

Murphy glanced down at his daughter. His pace remained steady and swift as he asked, "Are you afraid of heights?"

Eleanor shook her head, craning her neck in excitement to look down. They were traversing an extremely steep cliff face, a bottomless ravine lay below them, and clouds swirled around the mountainside.

"It’s like flying!" she whispered in amazement. Far from being scared, she found it utterly fascinating.

Partway through their journey, Murphy paused for a short rest beneath a sheltered cliff where a mountain spring flowed.

He set Eleanor down and used the Purification Water Bag, a Witchcraft Artifact he had acquired at Taymer Palace, to collect some spring water and hand it to her.

Eleanor cupped the water bag in both hands, taking small sips of the cool spring water as her eyes restlessly darted about, taking everything in.

She spotted several low-growing plants in a rock crevice. They bore small, crystalline white flowers, each with eight delicate petals, looking especially fresh and lovely in the dimness.

"Father, what kind of flower is this? It’s so pretty." She pointed cautiously but was careful not to touch it.

"Fairy Wood," Murphy replied after a glance. "It grows in cold mountains or the arctic north. It’s quite rare to see it here."

Eleanor nodded, gazing intently at the small white flowers. "They look very resilient," she said softly.

Murphy’s gaze returned to the white flowers blooming tenaciously in the rock crevice, and he fell silent for a moment.

"To take root and bloom in a place like this," he began slowly, "requires more than just resilience. It requires a complete acceptance of and adaptation to its home."

Eleanor nodded as if she only half-understood. She gazed at the Fairy Wood flowers for a moment longer, as if committing both her father’s words and the sight of the flowers to memory.

After a short rest, Murphy picked Eleanor up and set off again. This time, they passed through an ancient Black Forest.

The trees were so tall they seemed to touch the sky, their leaves blocking out the sun. The light within the forest was dim, and the air was filled with the fresh scent of earth and humus.

Sunlight occasionally streamed through gaps in the leaves, forming wavering columns of light.

Eleanor fell silent, her eyes wide as she gazed at the dim and tranquil world, listening to the songs of unseen birds and the babbling of a distant stream.

"Mushrooms!" Her sharp eyes spotted a cluster of brightly colored fungi on a fallen log.

"They’re poisonous. Don’t touch them," Murphy warned, his pace never faltering.

"Oh." Eleanor obediently pulled her gaze away, but she wasn’t disappointed. The forest was filled with far too many new things to see.

When Murphy, carrying Eleanor, finally leaped onto a mountain ridge with a wide, open view, the uniquely vast and rugged landscape of the Northern Territory unfolded before them.

Vast, distant mountains, a sea of dark green forest, a river winding like a silver ribbon, and on a far-off hill, the familiar, grey-white silhouette of the castle.

The wind was stronger here, making Eleanor’s cloak snap and sending her black hair flying.

She gazed at the castle, which crouched on the hill like a giant beast as scattered lights began to twinkle against the darkening sky. The joy from her journey gradually settled into a warm sense of belonging. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"We’re home." Murphy’s voice remained clear and steady in the mountain wind.

"Mmhmm!" Eleanor nodded emphatically, wrapping her small arms around her father’s neck. She pressed her face against his shoulder, feeling the same steady sense of security that had comforted her throughout their journey.

As twilight enveloped them, Murphy leaped from the mountain ridge with Eleanor in his arms. Their figures melted into the deepening night as they raced toward the lit-up castle, toward the place called home.