A sinking feeling of complete and utter dread settles into your gut.
The jungle proper extends into the cloudy sky. Massive trees, two hundred feet in height, inspire a mixture of awe and terror within you. A thin mud path trails deeper into the dense trees. The thick canopy spreads a blanket of darkness over the path, making it extend seemingly into endless nothing.
Like a path to hell.
Dread turns to panic.
Oh my God. I'm back. I'm really back.
The reality of it all never quite fully clicked in your mind.
You're back in Krorid. You're truly back.
I never could escape this hell, could I?
If you even escaped it in the first place. A part of Krorid has burned itself into you, and you've never been able to rid yourself of it. And now you're dragging your scarred body back to the place that burned you in the first place.
As you work on controlling your breathing, Elya says, "This river was never on the map."
She's right. A small river flows between you and the jungle. It makes the jungle's cutoff more dramatic. A seam in the world where God couldn't sew the terrain together properly.
You and Elya, as well as Darin, Velinor, and Obren, hold at the front of the column, staring into the jungle's abyss.
Velinor chuckles. "At least we's got 'ere. Map's accurate enough."
Obren turns to you and asks, "Marshal, should I get the men started on a bridge? We've more than enough timber."
You don't respond. The darkness of the jungle interior has you transfixed. You can't tear yourself away.
"Marshal?"
You snap out of your trance and turn to him