"Are you certain we're going the right way?" Lucas asked, gingerly moving a vine away from his head.
For the past three hours, they had been traveling through the jungle, surrounded by a thicket of thorns, while an endless amount of moss covered stones laid beneath their feet.
Within that time, Lucas had seen a numerous amount of bones, both humanoid and beastly in shape.
Once he even spotted the remains of what appeared to be a dragon, but a wall of vines kept him from getting to close.
"Yes, I'm certain we're following the correct path. Haven't you noticed that the trees seem to be getting bigger?"
Lucas stepped back and examined the trees. By now, their trunks were at least twice the size as the ones near the jungle's edge, and a few even supported branches wide enough for him to walk across.
"Now that you mention, they do seem a bit bigger... But what does that have to do with the path we're taking?"
Osyras stopped and pulled out a scroll wrapped in blue cloth. Unraveling it, he handed it to Lucas and pointed towards the center.
"This place is known as the Stoneoaks Origin, and only by finding this tree, will we be able to leave the jungle."
As Lucas studied the scroll, he began to frown. What he held was an ancient map, with what appeared to be a massive tree directly in the middle.
The only problem was that every few seconds the map would grow murky, and when it became clear again, a section of the jungle would be different.
"Why does the map keep changing?" Lucas asked, turning the scroll sideway. It did nothing to help.
"It's not the map, but the jungle that's changing," Osyras said. "Imagine we're standing within an ever-changing labyrinth, and the key to our escape is that tree in the middle."
Lucas's frown deepened, but before he could ask anything else, a faint snap echoed in his ears.
Quickly swiveling his head back and forth, Lucas scanned the surrounding trees. His heart beat loudly as he checked the shadows, searching for the source of the sound.
"Lucas? Is there something wrong?" Osyras asked, turning to look around.
"I'm... not sure," Lucas said, handing back the map. "I think I heard something, but I have no idea what could have caused it."
Osyras immediately raised his sword, his muscles tensing beneath his armor. Although he didn't sense the presence of a living creature, that didn't mean there couldn't be something lurking in the shadows.
"We need to pick up our pace. I fear we may not be alone in these woods."
Lucas shivered and stepped closer to Osyras, who returned to clearing the path forward. His sword sliced through the vines at such a speed Lucas had trouble keeping track of it.
Over the next half-hour they moved briskly through the jungle, with Lucas keeping a wary eye on their surroundings.
Fortunately, the only thing he ever caught sight of was more rocks, trees, and moss, as well as the never ending vines, and strange piles of bones scattered throughout the trees.
Lucas sighed, and began to doubt if he ever actually heard anything at all. Turning his gaze to the branches above, he noticed an odd set of bones wrapped around one of the trees.
It consisted of the skull from an inkwolf, and the body of a needle python, both of which were held together by a mass of jade colored vines.
'Wait... were those bones there before?' Lucas wondered, furrowing his brows.
An eery feeling spread through his body as he glanced into the hollow eyes of the skeleton, almost as though they were staring back at him.
"Hey, Osyras... Do those bones look strange to you?" Lucas asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Osyras glanced towards the skeleton, only to curse beneath his breath. "I didn't expect the myths to be true. This isn't good."
"Myths? What are you talking about?" Lucas asked.
He shakily turned back to the skeleton creature, only to catch two emerald flames flickering to life within its otherwise barren sockets.
"Its- It's alive!" Lucas shouted, stumbling back.
Osyras swiftly grabbed his cloak to keep him falling into the uncut vines. "Careful. One wrong move and that creature will be the least of our worries."
Lucas gulped, his face pale with fright. "What are we going to do?"
"There's not much we can do. Not unless..." Osyras trailed off, his eyes lingering on a nearby tree.
Making his way over to it, he raised his sword and glanced back at Lucas.
"You might want to cover your ears."
Lucas did as instructed, his eyes widening as Osyras's muscles bulged and a golden mist enveloped his arms.
With what could only be considered a dragons roar, Osyras cleaved his blade through the air, and cut through the stoneoak tree.
At first nothing happened, leading Lucas to wonder if Osyras somehow missed. But then a thunderous boom rung out, accompanied by a ferocious shockwave.
Lucas struggled to stay standing, his body pelted by the rocks and vines. As the tree fell, he involuntarily gasped, shocked by what he saw.
Towering above the jungle stood an enormous tree, each of its dark grey branches thick enough to support a small town, while a canopy of lush green leaves adorned their edges.
"Let's go. We're almost to the Stoneoaks Origin," Osyras said, sheathing his sword.
A layer of steam rose from his body as he scaled the fallen tree, using it to reach the nearby branches.
Lucas ran to catch up, barely making it onto a branch as the tree finished falling. Behind him, the skeleton hybrid let out a shrill cry, using the vines to funnel air through its skull.
"What is it doing?" Lucas asked, glancing towards Osyras.
"If I had to guess, it is calling for reinforcements," Osyras said, narrowing his eyes.
As if on cue, the vines around them began to move, slithering towards the scattered bones. Like pieces of a puzzle, they clicked together, forming a variety of hybrid skeleton creatures.
"Come on. There's no time to waste," Osyras said, glancing at the creatures before running towards the next branch.
Lucas sprinted after him, leaping from branch to branch as the skeletons began to move.
Unable to keep track of everything at once, he slipped on a patch of moss, and barley missed being struck by a splintered needle.
It whistled past his shoulder, and embedded itself deep within a nearby tree.
'That could have killed me!' Lucas thought, scrambiling back to his feet.
Sweat dripped from his face as he increased his pace and raced through the branches.
Only after catching up to Osyras did he glance back, hoping to find some distance between them and the living vines.
Alas, while most of the skeletons consisted of incompatible bones, leaving them staggering behind, a few of the more dangerous ones were slowly gaining ground.
This include the inkwolf needle python, who continued to fire off its needles, as well as two humanoid beasts, and an armored panther, whose skeleton consisted of thick plated bones.
Out of the four, the humanoid beasts were definitely the most terrifying, due to the fact that both of them were weilding broken weapons.
The first one carried a bow, whose rope was frayed and replaced by a taunt vine, while the second one swung a heavy sword about, it's blade cracked down the center.
"Where did they even get weapons?!" Lucas shouted, ducking as a volley of bone shards flew past his head.
Osyras stayed quiet, his gaze constantly shifting as he scanned the jungle. Finally, he spotted a break in the trees, which meant they were close to the center.
"Follow me," Osyras said, suddenly changing directions.
In order to keep up with him, Lucas was forced to grab onto a vine, which cut his palm with its sharp thorns.
Ignoring the sharp pain shooting through his arm, he swung after Osyras, who had made it to the break.
Landing beside him, Lucas paled at the sight in front of them. Beyond the branches laid the edge of a cliff, who sides were adorned by a cascading waterfall.
Past that resided a seemingly floating island, surrounded by an ocean of clouds, and in the center of which grew the Soneoaks Origin Tree.
"How are we supposed to get there?!" Lucas asked, a slight panic in his voice.
For as far as he could see, there was no bridge connecting the island to the ground, and it would only be a matter of time before the skeletons caught up.
"Simple, we jump," Osyras said, and with that he launched himself out of the tree and towards the clouds below.
"Osyras!" Lucas screamed, his eyes widening as the old man plummeted away. Dropping to his knees, he felt tears start running down his face.
'Damn it! Had I known the old man was crazy, I would have never followed him here! Is this really how I'm about to die? Either by jumping off a cliff or being devoured by a bunch of skeletons?'
Lucas shook his head, suddenly feeling very light headed. Glancing down, he discovered the part above his hand had turned a light shade of green, while several dark vines wriggled beneath his skin.
For some reason, he found the wriggling vines funny, and a silly grin spread across his face. Poking at them, he began to giggle, before falling into a fit of hysterical laughter.
Suddenly, an arrow pierced his chest, causing him to cough up blood. Staring at the arrow in shock, he fell back, grasping at nothing but air.