To Rohl’s mild surprise, he did awaken without having been attacked or disturbed from his sleeping even once, not to say that had been an easy sleep either. The sounds of the forest whilst beautiful in their own way were hardly comforting when you happened to be lost in said forest.

Still, he had managed to get a few hours of good rest, not enough that his eyes didn’t have an ache to them or that his body felt rested, but enough for him to find the strength to join his companion who had seemingly already awoken and left the safety of their log.

Just as he had expected, the elf had already prepared her gear, readied herself for the journey and was seemingly waiting for him to do the same. Although Rohl couldn’t be sure that was exactly what she was doing, the fact she was sitting silently facing the edge of the forest didn’t exactly provide many details to what she was thinking.

Not wanting her to wait for him any longer and likely get even more annoyed with his failures, Rohl hastily prepared himself for the journey whilst he scoffed down some of their rations and water. Once he was ready and his gear secured, Rohl made his way towards the elf.

Her ears are so much more visible from his angle, I wonder what I look like from the back.

“About time, let’s go.”

With a little luck, they would reach the road with no more spirit encounters and in a short amount of time but given how everything had gone so far, Rohl wasn’t counting on any kind of luck.

I should just be glad if we get out of here in one piece, even with the contract cut short, we still have enough loot to make a lot of money. I should probably spend that on training.

This trip had definitely not taught him a great deal about hunting monsters, all he had really done was stab defenceless spirits the second they emerged, it had hardly taken any real effort or granted him real adventuring experience. Given all the walking he had done the previous day and was still currently doing, this trail quest seemed more like a walking holiday than anything else.

Although on most holidays you probably don’t get partnered with well a somewhat prejudiced angry elf who believes training me means giving me a beating.

The elf had somewhat soured this mentoring quest, but Rohl couldn’t deny her combat skills or tracking abilities however given how their return to the road seemed to be taking twice as long as it should have, Rohl was starting to doubt her navigation and woodsman skills.

The time it was taking them to find the road was only increasing as Ell led them further through the forest and with that Rohl’s worry and concern only rose.

I have to say something, even if she attacks me for it, then again, she’s not quite that outwardly aggressive.

“How much further?”

“Shut up.”

I shouldn’t have expected any different. I’ll give it a few more hours than I have to ask, if it takes any longer than that something is wrong.

With his worry and desperation at an ever-increasing high, Rohl couldn’t help himself from scouring every tree they walked past in the hopes of recognising them. If he could see just one woodsman mark or dead spirit then he knew they were close. But much to his annoyance, every tree he passed looked almost identical to every other one he had seen.

This is why you don’t go into the woods.

The forest's almost identical layout and the elf’s swift dismissal left Rohl with few choices, he wasn’t going to call her out on it just yet, he still had some hope that he would see the road any moment now. And with that in mind, Rohl doubled his tree-spotting efforts and even made sure to periodically check the dirt around him for old footprints.

However, with the sun continuing to cross the horizon and with it, the dwindling of daylight, Rohl’s chances of recognising his surroundings only diminished.

I have to ask.

Thankfully for Rohl, the elf’s walking ahead of him did make his task easier, he doubted he would have been able to find the courage to ask if Ell had been staring at him directly with her usual murder-filled eyes.

“Are we lost?” Rohl’s words came out far more timid than he would have liked although that may have been to his benefit as the elf didn’t so much as stop or turn around to answer him.

“How would you know you idiot? I have been scouting forests since I was a child. I know what I am doing, if I say it’s this way, it’s this way. Now be quiet and follow silently or you’ll not speak again,” the elf responded in pretty much the manner Rohl expected although he couldn’t quite be sure if he heard a small slither of uncertainty in her words or if that was simply a trick of the wind. Either way, Rohl did as ordered and continued to follow behind her silently and dutifully.

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Yep, we are lost, then again, it’s not like I know the way out either.

Even if she had admitted that they were lost, it wouldn’t have changed anything regarding their current predicament and so, Rohl wasn’t going to push her on it, not yet at least. He would have to eventually however, not only because they would need to have a discussion about rationing but also because he didn’t want Ell to think he was a complete idiot who hadn’t noticed how long they had been walking.

If he truly thought back on how far they had run after the ambush, they should have found the road sometime the previous day and given how far they seemed to have walked all together, they should be nearing the halfway point to Elmon.

Bureihal Forest is one of the greatest forests in the nation, hundreds of miles, if we are truly lost, we could be here for months, if nothing eats us that is.

The thought definitely set a flame within Rohl and with his feet starting to ache from the constant walking, Rohl finally decided to do what he had been putting off for so long.

“We're lost aren’t we, we need to talk about this, talk about what we do now.” His words made the elf stop dead in her tracks and Rohl along with her. Although she didn’t immediately turn or attempt to speak, instead she just stood there silently with only the sound of her cloak gently flapping in the breeze creating any sound to disrupt the silence of the forest around them.

Should I repeat myself, I need to do something, I don’t like standing here with so many trees around us, standing still seems like a bad idea.

With little idea of what to do and any attempt at further communicating likely to prove fruitless, Rohl did the only thing he could think of, quickly dash around the side of her, being able to see whatever emotions were displayed on her face would likely make sorting whatever this was a lot easier.

Maybe elves just aren’t big on talking it out.

Even if the elf had gone into some kind of meditative trance to contemplate his words, there was no chance she wasn’t aware of what he was doing, his small dash was hardly the pinnacle of stealth, especially given how the ground beneath him seemed to be covered with twigs and broken branches just to spite him.

Still, the elf didn’t react to his movement, not that Rohl had dared get too close just in case she attempted to stab him, in uncertain moments like these, Rohl knew it was best to stay a good few paces away should the elf once again turn violent.

However, once he got into position and his eyes met hers all thoughts of him running from an attack disappeared from Rohl’s mind. He knew he was far from an expert at reading people, especially given his lack of experience with other races but to Rohl, the only way he could describe the elf’s expression and posture was that of someone on the edge of breaking down. It was hard to tell in the dimming light, but Rohl was even sure he could see the first traces of tears pooling in the corner of her eyes.

She had been under a lot of pressure from my mistakes, can’t be easy knowing that if you can’t find the way out, we both die.

Rohl did feel bad for the elf especially given that his actions had essentially led to this. However, despite that and the poor state of the elf, Rohl could do little more than stand there staring at her with a sad awkward expression.

I don’t know what to do, how do you even comfort someone in this situation? I think if I tried to hug and console her, she would just snap and kill me. What else can I do, pat her on the shoulder and say there-there it’s not your fault.

It was a situation Rohl didn’t know how to end and if it wasn’t for the slight rustle he heard from behind the elf, it was one Rohl knew would have ended far differently.

Without so much as whispering a warning to his still motionless companion, Rohl darted forward, pushed her to the side and rushed to bring her sword to bear. At a speed, Rohl barely knew he was capable of, he thrust his sword forward and impaled it through the spirit's heart narrowly preventing the monster from attacking.

Oh fuck, that was far too close.

He could hear Ell moving to his side with her own blade being drawn, however, Rohl didn’t turn to face the elf, instead, his eyes were dawn to the corpse before him, or whatever was left of it. The spirit’s body was sinking into the ground as if being absorbed into the very earth itself.

The fuck.

The sight of its wooden body being reclaimed by the earth was not something Rohl had in any way expected, especially since having the body disappear annihilated any chance of him looting the monster and receiving any coin for its loot.

What the fuck is going on, is some other underground monster eating it, maybe another spirit.

The truth was Rohl had no idea what was occurring but since he didn’t appear in any imminent danger, he felt safe enough to continue watching the spirit's corpse disappear in the slight chance he might discover why it was happening.

But as the spirit's outstretched arm was finally swallowed up, Rohl was still left as clueless as he had when it started. He was half tempted to start stabbing the ground to see if that did anything, but the sound of sudden movement from the elf and of steel on wood quickly drew his attention.

With his blade still ready, Rohl turned on his heel quickly, expecting another spirit’s attack, but instead, all he saw was his companion furiously striking at a nearby tree.

Is she just taking her anger out on it or what?

Her first few strikes definitely seemed to be little more than a way to relieve stress and yet Rohl felt there was more to it than simply that, there seemed to be a deeper purpose to the attack. Rohl’s assumption seemed correct as eventually, the elf gave up on her strikes and instead began to stab at the trunk as if she was intent on digging her blade as far as she could into the tree’s centre.

After a moment of forcing her blade further into the tree, Ell finally withdrew it before staring at the black goo that dripped off of its tip. After seemingly taking a second to comprehend what she was seeing, the elf finally let out a small almost inaudible laugh that seemed to veer between actual laughter and distress.

As much as Rohl wanted to comfort the distraught Ell, he had to ask one thing first.

“What is it?”

“Dungeon blood,” the elf answered before letting out another sound that seemed to be a mix of laughter and a whimper. A sound soon followed by the elf slumping against a slightly raised patch of dirt.

As much as the elf’s action should have concerned Rohl further, he was far too preoccupied with his own thoughts on the matter to pay any more attention to his companion.

I knew I hadn’t been doing anything wrong, there’s no way my power could have affected a dungeon, plus it explains why the Ell seemed surprised were lost. It’s the dungeons’ fault.

The notion did provide Rohl with some temporary relief from his own guilt, but that was soon overweighed by the feeling of dread that quickly rose within him.

Ah fuck.