Because Leyman was silent and didn't answer his question, Jumara finally decided to cross the swamp.
"Listen to you soldiers!" said Jumara in a loud voice. "Get ready, we are going to cross this swamp! Prepare your weapons! And stay alert!"
Jumara then glanced at Leyman, the commander of the Angholi soldiers nodded and then drew his sword.
"Don't be in a hurry!" said Jumara, again. "Stay calm, stay alert! Follow every burning dead tree in the middle of the swamp!"
Then, Jumara drew his sword and pointed it forward.
"Move!"
One by one, the soldiers steered their horses into the swamp.
The swamps looked even more strange because not a single plant or water grass was seen growing there, except for only the dead tree trunks that adorn the surface.
"Add more fire!" Jumara ordered the archer soldiers.
The archers shot fiery arrows at several other dead trees that they had not shot before.
Conditions in the middle of the swamps are getting brighter as more and more dead trees are burned.
Slowly but surely, the thick fog that floated on the surface of the swamp was carried away with the burning smoke, soaring high into the night sky.
The soldiers' limited visibility made them less able to control the situation even though the dead trees were partially burnt and looked like pillars of fire from a distance.
They had crossed the swamp for about a hundred feet, slowly and fully alert. And so far, they have not encountered a single obstacle. Their horses looked quite calm across the marshes that were only knee-deep of horses.
Then, something that resided in the swamp began to move slowly. Not just one, but quite a few, moving slowly beneath the surface of the water as if to surround the soldiers from all directions.
The further they went, the higher the water level, and that meant the deeper the swamps. Until the water level reaches the stomachs of the horses.
The archers still fired their fiery arrows to illuminate the entire surface of the marsh. The dead trees look a little scary, especially when viewed from behind the fog itself.
Some nocturnal animals such as bats began to be seen. The flying mammal seemed startled and flew away as the soldiers' arrows hit the dead tree they were hanging from.
An Angholi soldier, who was in the left row, had a bit of trouble. It looked like one of the horse's hooves got caught in the wood veins at the bottom of the marsh, or maybe by something else.
He tried to force the horse, pounding the horse harder. But the horse was unable to let go of its legs, the horse neighed louder. While his other comrades continued to walk away from the soldier, even though someone passed beside him, they didn't try to help their comrade.
The more the soldier tried to force the horse to move, the more the horse's front legs got stuck.
And now, he was a few steps behind the others. A soldier, at last, passed him from behind.
"What are you doing?" asked the soldier, frowning.
"My horse got stuck."
"Stupid!" he said. "Get down and help your horse or leave!"
And without any intention of helping his friend, the soldier walked away with his horse, which was not as troubled as that one.
The soldier, who was left behind, grumbled. He wanted to help the horse, the problem was, he was quite afraid to get off his horse. Afraid if it turns out that in the swamps there are poisonous snakes, he thought.
He kept pounding his horse harder and harder until the horse neighed louder and louder.
And then, the soldier realized that something big was surrounding him and his horse. The soldier gulped and rushed to keep his spear ready.
The ripples around the soldier and his horse became more and more real, but he still couldn't tell what kind of creature was stalking them.
Judging from the movement of the water's surface, it looked like a giant snake. And the soldier gulped even more frightened.
The soldier gasped because suddenly he saw the long, spiked fins of a creature that didn't know what it looked like. All he knew, as he had never seen a creature with such fins before. Never know.
And yes, the horse sensed the imminent danger approaching them too, so the horse was behaving even more strangely by neighing and lifting its hind legs. While one of its front legs was still stuck in something at the bottom of the swamp.
The soldier pointed the tip of his spear at the surface of the water whenever he saw movement that caused the surface of the water to ripple.
With a frightened face and cold sweat, he still forced his horse to escape from something that was entangling his horse's front legs.
The soldier gasped when he saw two dots below the surface of the water on his left as if they were reflecting light from the flames that burned a nearby dead tree.
Before the soldier could scream for help, suddenly, one of the hind legs of the horse he was riding seemed to be pulled by something with great force.
The horse had neighed loudly as its body was thrown into the water, so did the soldier. It's just that, in an instant, the body of a long and large creature without scales, directly wrapped the horse.
The soldier managed to stand up after being plunged into the water, however, it was only for a second. The next second, a large head appeared from under the water and pounced on the soldier's head. The soldier's head was severed from his neck, and his body then fell back to the surface of the water with a gush of blood from the stumped neck.
The soldier who had been talking to his friend, who was left behind, looked back. He seemed to hear a loud splashing sound just now.
However, the soldier was surprised because he did not see his friend who was there before. The surface of the water in that section didn't look suspicious at all from his position.
"Where is he going?" he muttered to himself.
TO BE CONTINUED ...