In a clearing amongst the greenery of the jungle, hours of travel away from the abandoned town the disciples finally got the chance to rest.
"There's no sign of them." Hektor informed his companions. "We can rest here."
The group has been running for hours. Everyone is exhausted and most of their resources are just from the satchels that they brought with them.
While everyone rested Paul took it upon himself to forage for some food. Garnesh aided in patching the one-eyed disciple's wounds.
The group was lost, they had a general idea of where to go but at this point surviving the jungle seems like a fantasy. With the help of Faisal and Nakt, they had a fighting chance but all on their own the jungle is far too hostile. Monsters in the eastern jungle are assumed to have absorbed the dark miasma of a fallen deity, said to be a largely populated area during the Golden Era. Legend states that this area was tainted by the dark energy that demons once revered as a god.
Only parties or expeditions with priests, paladins and saints that represent the goddess of light are normally allowed to enter the area.
Paul arrived after collecting an assortment of herbs and roots. Tarik already prepared a pot and a campfire. Having lost both their master and their instructors the group was rightfully silent. The deaths of their peers likely affected Garnesh the most, he was raised in the dojo and they were like family to him.
The heavily injured one-eyed disciple slept soundly on one end of their camp. Garnesh sat next to him, clutching his sword. Garnesh was prepared to lose his life, Garnesh was prepared to fight to the death yet here he was, having lost everything in the span of just a few days. Even Tarik was no longer talking, knowing that Garnesh finally learned the meaning of loss.
The rest of them are used to losing companions with Paul, Tarik and Hektor having similar backgrounds. The silence would only break off whenever they asked for food or just to ask Hektor if there are any threats in the vicinity. The reality of their situation soon settled in as Hektor stood back up.
"Going deeper into the eastern jungle will lead us to miasma stricken territory." Hektor began. "I'm sure we all know what this means."
"It means that we have to head south now." Paul concluded. "Heading deeper means death and our best bet is to head out of this dark jungle before we get swallowed whole."
"Indeed. If we reach a town outside of the miasma, then this will all be over." Garnesh responded still with an empty expression.
"How long do you think it'll take?" Tarik asked Hektor, while he fiddled with the small bowl of stew.
"It took us two weeks on the regular road, but I'm assuming that it'll take around the same amount of time if not a few days longer due to where we actually are." Hektor answered.
"I see… once again we are left with no choices in the matter." Garnesh stated before blinking his eyes ever so lightly. It was obvious that the situation was taking its toll on him.
With the sun still up, having had little to no sleep the boys decided to call it in for the day. Letting three of them rest while the other two kept watch.
---
Up in the trees a few shadowy figures were present. Unnoticeable even by the flock of birds that were flying around. Each had horns on their heads with an inhuman way in how they went about moving.
"It seems that intruders are in our lord's territory." The single-horned figure stated.
"Indeed, humans never seem to learn their lesson." The larger one with two horns responded.
"What do you suggest we do about this? Master…" The single-horned figure asked.
"Observe, should they go deeper into the jungle then only death awaits." The figure then took out a small pouch. "This should be enough, now go I must attend to the lord's requests."
The smaller single-horned figure soon reached a spot near the camp, careful not to draw the attention of the birds. It took out two small black marbles from the pouch, which the figure then crushed into a fine powder.
SQUAWK. SQUAWK.
Some of the birds decided to squawk louder, the flame sprite on Hektor's shoulder also appeared to be disturbed. It pecked at his shoulder in a rather aggressive way.
"Something's not right." Hektor called out. "Stay alert everyone!"
"You're right, there's no monsters but there is something wrong." Paul quickly took out his sword and shield.
"I see it, the miasma is dropping down to our level." Tarik pointed out. "We have to get out of here, that's a toxic energy for humans!"
"Seconded, Let us get the hell out of here!" Paul responded quickly shoving most of his supplies and items into a satchel.
The group moved quickly, knowing that they could not afford to lose more members.
Soon enough they heard rustling from the trees and the ground began to shake once more. Hektor looked back from the direction of their camp only to see a large group of dark-scaled lizard faced monsters chasing them.
The shape was familiar and even with just a glance he knew what they were, at the size of a lion with a club-like appendage on their tails. Their heads resembled that of large lizard, an appearance akin to a dragon with no wings. Black drakes were currently chasing the group.
'So that's what they're supposed to look like, if only I had enough mana.' Hektor thought while running for his life.
Souls: 247