The next morning, the group got up and started preparing for the next day. As expected, Fayra was the last to get up, requiring Rondus to swipe her blanket from her, exposing her to the cold morning air. Fayra complained, but Rondus was clearly used to it, and simply folded her blanket for her. They ate a breakfast of dried meat and bread.
The day was spent going further north, reaching the forest before noon. Without a path, they were having to make their way around roots and trunks, with plenty of uneven ground. However, they did notice that the terrain was generally sloping downward, indicating that they would be heading for the swamp. While they didn’t reach it that day, they could feel the air getting muggier.
On the third day, the forest was becoming significantly denser, as the roots, branches, and leaves created a maze of nature for the travelers to navigate. Mauphey was used to such things, and easily made his way through. At first, he was concerned that the others might not be able to keep up as well. However, he was surprised to see them not lag behind too badly. Fayra seemed to playfully swing from branch to branch, like a monkey. Seryth didn’t struggle either, lightly flitting from root to root like a butterfly. Rondus was the slowest, often having to beat back the leaves and clutter with his mace. However, his endurance ensured that he was never too far behind the others. Mauphey recognized that Rondus was used to bringing up the rear when traveling.
At the end of the fourth day, they found a slanted clearing. It wasn’t ideal camping grounds, but it was clear that they were now at the edge of the swamp, so they figured they should rest up now before they started that part of their journey.
“Let’s not start a fire tonight,” Mauphey advised. “We’re in pretty deep. Who knows what could be lurking around.” Rondus and Seryth nodded in compliance, but Fayra groaned.
“I want a hot meal tonight,” she whined as she set her pack down and began rotating her arms to loosen up her shoulders.
“You want one every night,” Seryth said, pointedly.
“So?” Fayra said, indignant. She started pouting.
Rondus reached into his pack and pulled out a piece of sweetened hardtack. “Here, this should tide you over,” he said, handing it to Fayra, whose eyes lit up like a child at the sight of the treat. She took it gleefully and sat right on the ground to start sucking on it. Again, Maupey struggled but succeeded in keeping his chuckles to himself, then started to settle in with the others.
“You said there would be a trail through the swamp. Are we close?” Rondus asked, taking a bite of some dried fruit after his question.
“Yes,” Mauphey confirmed. “I recognize this clearing. We should be starting down the trail early tomorrow. It winds around a bit, but it shouldn’t be difficult to follow. We’ll probably have to follow it for a few days, though.”
Rondus nodded in response, still chewing his fruit.
“Seems a little weird to have a trail in the middle of a swamp,” Seryth noted.
“I don’t think the swamp was here when the Horan Priesthood occupied this area,” Mauphey stated. “It may have simply been part of the forest, and the trail was the original path to the temple.” Seryth nodded in response.
“What dangers are there in the swamp?” Rondus asked. The group was now sitting in a circle around Mauphey, who wasn’t used to being the center of attention. He bowed his head a little in embarrassment, but powered through it to answer the question.
“Not much, really, as long as we stick to the path. There are a lot of birds and lizards, as well as plenty of bugs for them to eat. I did see a few mudworm beasts one day, but they were not very big and weren’t interested in me,” Mauphey reported.
“Mudworm beasts?” Fayra asked.
Rondus answered. “Large worms, around eight to ten feet long, and about this big around.” He shaped his hands in a circle, with his thumbs touching on one side and his fingers touching on the other.
Fayra grimaced. “They sound awful.”
“Do they attack people?” Seryth asked. She has pruning the feather on her hat again. Mauphey briefly wondered why she would try to bring such a delicate and fancy thing to a swamp.
“Sometimes, if they feel threatened, but they’re generally not carnivorous,” Mauphey said.
“What about the plants?” Rondus asked. “Will there be a lot of vines and thorns?”
“The path is generally clear, and whatever I ran into before I was able to hack through, and that was a few weeks ago. I doubt anything will have grown back. The trees will sometimes curve over the path, though, making natural arches or tunnels.”
“You make it sound like it should be pretty easy going, then,” Rondus concluded, thoughtfully.
“Yeah, I doubt we’ll run into any serious problems until we get to the ruins and the kobolds,” Mauphey added, nodding. “Still, we should try and get some rest. Swamps don’t smell very good, and their dreary colors can be tedious to look at.”
The other three nodded, and then fell quiet as they ate a dry dinner. After a few moments of silence, except for Fayra’s sucking on the hardtack, they started laying out their bedrolls for the night.
The next morning, Mauphey led them to the swamp, and soon were walking along the trail he had promised would be there. The trail was mostly dirt, but solid, as if it had been there for centuries, and was generally ten feet wide, making it easy for the group to follow. At first, it seemed pretty straight-forward, but after several turns to the left and right, the three really had no idea which way they were heading. Fayra felt like she was in a maze, and was only comforted by the fact that Mauphey had walked this once before. Clouds had arrived last night, covering the skies, making it hard to even see the sun to determine their direction. It drizzled a little, but didn’t really affect them, as the swamp was plenty humid as it was.
Mauphey wasn’t kidding about the smell, either. While it wasn’t thick, it was certainly constant, like something was rotting under a pile of mud. Having been here before, Mauphey got used to it pretty quickly, but soon, the other three were coughing or clearing their throats on a regular basis to deal with it.
Traveling was quiet that day, as the group got used to their new surroundings, such as the bare, gangly trees, the strange sounds, and the various bugs and birds that occasionally flew about them. That night, they camped on the trail itself, finding a bit of a wider section where they could spread out. At first they struggled to sleep, as there were more unusual noises, like the croaking of toads and odd bird calls, but none of them ever seemed too close to cause any concern. Still, the hardened dirt path wasn’t as comfortable as the grasses of the forest.
The next day was more of the same, but as the group acclimated to their surroundings, their spirits lifted a little, and they were soon sharing stories again. Mauphey talked about the time when he nearly set the library in Teypa on fire when he dropped a candle in the unfiled papers room. Rondus shared the story of when the three had found a genuine dragon egg, but couldn’t find anyone willing to buy it, causing them to carry the thing to three different cities until they found an alchemist who was eager to take it off their hands. Seryth explained how she met Fayra when they were children, as Fayra was originally the daughter of one of the bodyguards to Seryth’s parents. It seemed pretty clear that they had gotten used to Mauphey being in their group pretty quickly, and Mauphey himself felt at ease in their company.
As the daylight began to fade, they took another turn around a thunk clump of trees to see that this part of the swamp had more trees than usual, and ahead they formed one of the tree tunnels that Mauphey had talked about. They had seen one or two before, but this one seemed longer than the rest. The trees were slightly different, though, as they had thicker branches, and strange brown leaves.
At first, the group marched on, but when the entrance to the tunnel was about thirty feet away, Mauphey held out his arm in front of the group and told them to stop. The other three quieted themselves, and watched Mauphey as he stared at the tunnel.
“What’s up?” Fayra whispered, afraid she might break his concentration if she didn’t.
“Bats,” Mauphey whispered back. The group then turned to look at the tunnel again, and eventually saw that many bats were hanging upside-down around the entrance of the tunnel. Rondus counted at least 20 of them, and considered that there may be more hidden among the branches.
“Are bats really that big of a problem?” Seryth asked,crossing her arms and speaking at normal volume. She was clearly skeptical at the danger Mauphey’s caution seemed to suggest.
“When there are that many, yes. If they feel their nest is being attacked, they will retaliate. I’d hate to try and crawl under them, only to disturb them and face their anger while in the tunnel, “ Maupey explained. “They weren’t here when I walked this trail the last time. I wonder what changed?”
“Any chance we could go around?” Rondus asked, putting his hand on his chin.
“Not unless you want to wade through waist deep waters. Who knows what might be lurking in there,” Mauphey responded, gesturing to the swamp around them. The trail was the only thing that seemed to be above the waterline throughout the trip.
“Well, what if we scattered them from here?” Seryth suggested, putting her hands on her hips as a gesture of confidence. At this, Mauphey turned toward her in confusion, blinking a few times.
“Oh, right! You have your wind spell,” Fayra said, slapping a fist into her other hand in understanding.
“That could send them away, and even if they do attack, we’d have plenty of space here to defend ourselves,” Rondus reasoned.
“You can cast magic as well? How does it work?” Mauphey asked, his curiosity kicking in.
“It’s kinda hard to describe,” Seryth said. “I’ve always had a bit of magical energy, and if I build it up, I can send a massive gush of wind in a single direction. It took a lot of practice to learn, but it’s been useful from time to time.”
“I say we give it a shot!” Fayra said, and Rondus nodded in agreement.
“Alright,” Mauphey said, putting a hand on the back of his head, and stepping aside. He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. It’s not like he had made an appraisal of his companions’ abilities when he hired them. Still, he was a bit thrown by this discovery. Seryth didn’t seem like the magic-using type, based on his first impressions.
Seryth stepped forward, pulled out her rapier, held it with the blade up in front of her face, and closed her eyes in concentration. After several seconds, a light breeze began to pick up, and Mauphey noticed that it swirled around her, picking up a few leaves and twigs. Soon, it was like a big dust devil. It didn’t go very high, maybe to Seryth’s waist, but the air circled around her faster and faster. Then, in a single, practiced motion, she took a big step forward and thrust her rapier forward into the air. In obedience, the wind around her rushed toward the tunnel where the bats were, hitting them with a gale-force blast of air.
Immediately, the bats went into a frenzy, spreading their wings and scrambling about in the air. They ran into the nearby branches and each other, causing even more confusion among them, making quite a racket of squeaks and cries. After a few minutes, they finally dispersed, with most of the pack flying off to the travelers’ right. A few stragglers hung around, but Mauphey could see that tunnel was much clearer and safer to travel now.
“That’s incredible,” he stated, his mouth hanging open a little in awe.
“Thank you!” Seryth said. She turned, and flamboyantly flipped her rapier around once in her hand before sheathing it, then walked back to the group.
“Good job!” Farya said, and she put up a hand for a high-five, which Seryth confidently slapped. Both were smiling at each other.
Rondus put a hand above his eyes, despite there not being much sunshine to block. “It looks like most of them are gone. We could probably make our way through without any trouble.”
Mauphey had to shake his head. While he knew about magic, he hadn’t seen very much of it before, and even then it was mostly small spells, like lighting a candle or throwing a voice. Seeing such a force be summoned and directed was far beyond anything he had experienced before. When the rest of the group was eager to keep following the trail, he had to slap his face with both hands to refocus on guiding them.
“How did you learn you could do that?” Mauphey asked Seryth as they were making their way through the tree tunnel.
Seryth put a finger to her lips in thought. “I’m not sure. I know it surprised my parents when I suddenly could push things around my room. It didn’t start that strong at first, though.”
“They must have been quite surprised.”
“My parents were mostly concerned about my health, so they tried to make me stop, but when they learned it was just a part of me, they understood that it was just something I was born with. We still have no idea why.” At this, Seryth smiled ruefully, as if remembering some bittersweet memories.
“Do you know any other spells?” At this, Seryth’s face twisted in embarrassment. Mauphey realized his curiosity had gotten the better of him, and put a hand over his mouth. “Sorry,” he quickly added.
Seryth waved a dismissive hand at him. “It’s fine. To be honest, they’re not really spells. It’s more like I can sort of control wind, the same way one can control the water of a creek by diverting it with your hands or with sticks. The more I used it, the more wind I found I could control. It’s not amazing, but it has its uses.”
“I think it’s amazing!” Mauphey stated, and Seryth blushed a little more. This reaction concerned Mauphey, and he started to apologize again, but then Fayra elbowed him a little to get his attention.
“She’s just not used to getting so many compliments. Her whole life, her family has been worrying about her over every little thing, including her magic, so she often feels self-conscious about these things. It’s good that she hears some praise from time to time, especially from new folks,” she said, smiling wide.
“It just makes me uncomfortable, is all,” Seryth added, her face getting red as a beet.
“Sorry,” Mauphey apologized again, rubbing the back of his head with a hand. As the conversation ended, they reached the end of that tree tunnel.
The group didn’t talk much for the rest of the day. They continued traveling down the trail, leaving the tunnel far behind them. However, as it continued to weave left and right around various ponds and rocks in the swamp, the sensation of feeling quite lost returned to the three who were following Mauphey. They began to notice that the smell was changing, and it was becoming less humid as they went. As daylight faded, they reached another part of the path that had trees arching over it, but these trees were much taller, and covered a wider section of the path. It seemed like a room with a domed ceiling. There, they decided to camp for the night, this time deciding it would be alright to have a campfire. As Fayra and Seryth started arguing over what ingredients to use for dinner, Mauphey sat next to Rondus.
“Did I cross a line or something?” he asked. He pulled his pack closer to him and pulled out a bit of jerky to share.
Rondus took the jerky gratefully. “No, Fayra is right. She just wasn’t expecting such a strong reaction. We’ve gotten pretty used to knowing about her powers, so we don’t make a big deal out of it as a consequence.”
“It seemed like she was proud of it at first, but I guess I pressed too hard about it.” Mauphey hung his head a little, glancing up at the two girls from time to time. Seryth wanted to cook some carrots, but Fayra felt potatoes would be more filling.
“Seryth can be a bit complicated,” Rondus added with a consoling tone. “Sometimes she’s as bright and free as a butterfly on a sunny day, and other times she’s as shy as a mouse in a rainstorm. It all depends on how well she knows the people around her. She’ll get used to you eventually.”
“I suppose it works the other way, as well,” Mauphey admitted. “I’m so used to traveling alone, and when I talk to people, it’s usually to ask them questions so I can learn what they know. Sometimes I get too eager and become overbearing with my curiosity.”
Rondus just chuckled. “It was rough for me as well when I first joined them. Communicating as a group was a skill I had to learn. Fayra was pretty easy to figure out, but Seryth kept a lot of her feelings to herself early on. I remember trying to compliment her fashion once, and she chewed me out for trying to flatter her with shallow praise. For someone who spends a lot of time on her appearance, she clearly doesn’t like it when people talk to her about it, even if it’s something positive.”
Mauphey just nodded his head, but kept his eyes down on the ground. He began picking at the dirt with a finger. Then he looked up to see that the girls’ disagreement had escalated to the point that they were now throwing vegetables at each other. At this Rondus called out to them, suggesting they use his bigger pot and just add both ingredients. He reached into his own pack and tossed his pot at them, which Fayra caught easily. He then scolded them for wasting food by having a food fight. The girls just kinda glanced at each other, feeling a little ashamed. Then they apologized, and got back to cooking.
“That’s also something I can’t wrap my head around,” Mauphey noted. “How do they switch so quickly from friendship to bitterness and then back to friendship? It’s so hard to follow.”
Rondus chuckled again. “Another thing I had to get used to. It’s almost like owning both a dog and a cat, constantly switching back and forth between playing and fighting. It’s another consequence of growing up together, I suppose. They’re practically sisters.”
Mauphey just shook his head in disbelief. “I only ever had one older brother. He was eight years older than me, so we didn’t interact much outside of chores. He had his friends, and I just wandered around on my own.” He gestured to the girls with a hand. “I know nothing about this.”
Rondus chuckled one more time. “It’s just a part of how our group functions. It won’t be a problem when we get to the temple, though. They have great teamwork, once the task is in front of them. I’ve seen it several times as we’ve adventured around. Don’t worry yourself too much about it.” He stood up, and made his way over to the cooking pot to see if the girls had destroyed their dinner. Fayra hadn’t added enough water, so the stew was starting to smoke a little. Still, the warm meal was appreciated by all.
As they ate, Rondus asked how much further they needed to go. Mauphey explained that it should be just another day of travel, and they’ll likely be close by the end of tomorrow. He stated that the trail should get a little rockier, now that they’re getting closer to the mountains. Rondus pulled out his map and tried to figure out where they had gotten to, but the twisted nature of the trail made that impossible to really tell.
They kicked out their campfire and laid out their bedrolls for the night. The swamp was quieter than usual, but the group were getting used to the harder ground of the dirt trail, so they were able to rest without too much trouble.
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