“We are concerned that you won’t be safe if were to travel with us. It is dangerous as is and another person to protect would put a lot of strain on our performance.” She put on the kindest tone Egosum had ever heard from the salamander.

Natan's bottom lip quivered as she spoke, fearing the next words out of her mouth.

“We would like to know if you are capable of defending yourself if things do go bad.” Cinera pursed her lips as she saw tears begin to well up in the caecilian’s eyes.

“I-I-I can hide.” The whimperin g in her voice grated on the pair's ears.

“We don’t think that will be enough to keep you safe in the swamp. It sounds like you have been hiding out in this grove most of your life and we think that is perfectly okay for you.” Cinera tried to put on the toughest visage she could manage.

“You don't want me to come along.” Natan's face warped in sadness as the tears began to flow.

“No, no, no. We just want to make sure you stay alive and healthy. It would crush us if you died because we couldn't protect you.” The long creature was bawling her eyes out, wiping the tears away with her claws only for her eyes to open up immediately as she blinked more out.

Cinera nudged Egosum to try and get him to speak up. He shrugged, unsure of what to do before sighing.

“Why would you even want to come with us? It’s way more dangerous than you think with the way we do things. It isn’t just a stroll around this hidden space.”

He looked around the area to emphasize his point.

The sniveling mess took a few deep breaths before speaking.

“I know-uwah-, but I thought, ya know, this might be my only chance to find a husband.Ugh-I don’t get out very much and -uwah- I don’t want to die alone without having any kids….PLEASE!” She crawled over to the pair and repeatedly slammed her head into the mud while begging with her whole soul.

“Oh….don’t do that. Come on. There will always be another chance.” Egosum tried comforting her.

“NO! I am terrified of going too far by myself! PUH-LEASE!” A snot bubble she had been growing on her face popped its contents over the toad's hand.

He discreetly wiped it off onto the ground and turned to look at Cinera. They exchanged a wordless conversation when Cienra looked back at the sniveling, groveling, mess of a caecilian.

“You can come along with us but-” She was cut off as Natan looked up with wide eyes and shouted back.

“Really?! You mean it?! I can find a HUSBAND! YES!” Her excitement was palpable in the air from the concentrated jubilation in her voice.

“But! But, hold on, we can’t guarantee your safety and we expect you to help us with our goals. If you can do that then we wouldn’t mind you tagging along.” Egosum slowly turned his gaze back to the salamander and wordlessly mouthed his confusion.

She slapped his arm and looked back at the long creature.

“I think we have some questions before we head out together but first you might want to clean that up.” She waved her hand in Natan's face.

The caecilian visibly flushed in embarrassment before clawing the pile of mucus and tears off of her face.

“Sure! What do you want to know?” Her earlier distraught appearance quickly recovered and she was back in her inquisitive appearance.

“First, we want to know about any points of concern. Huge monsters, groups that are friendly or dangerous, anything that will help us to decide the direction we will go.” Natan locked her claws together in thought.

“Okay so about five hundred lengths, my lengths, that way,” She nodded her off to one side, “is the lair of a particularly massive gar. Huge arms, one missing eye, and really mean. Never forgets a grudge.” Egosum tilted his head as she finished speaking.

“Weird human-like arms?”

Natan nodded away.

“Yep.” She continued listing off various beasts and strange land formations before Cinera stopped her.

“All of your measurements are in lengths of you.” The long creature nodded her head. “And they are, at most, seven hundred lengths away.” She nodded once more.

“How far away have you been from home? I feel like we could see farther than that earlier. Actually, how far away were we attacked?”

Natan looked bashful as she answered.

“About five hundred lengths. I told you I was scared to go that far from home.” The pair both fought back a deep sigh from escaping.

“Okay, that’s fine. Secondly, do you know anything about that wall? The impassable one.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Hmmm, that is a tough one. I don’t know much beyond it being old. Like at least eight years old if my mom’s memories are accurate. It might be even older than that. Can you imagine something that ancient? It could be fifteen years old or more!”

The strange tone of wonder caused Egosum to look back at the strange creature.

“How old are you?

“Just turned two this year. I know it's sad and everyone my age is already pregnant, but we all work on our own time scales! You said it yourself, there is always another chance.”

The pair exchanged a confused glance for the umpteenth time since they met her.

“The last question we want to ask you is if there is anything you think we should know about you or the area that you didn’t already tell us.”

She put one claw to her lips and concentrated for a few moments before speaking.

“I would like you to know that…… I am really excited to get to know you guys better and I hope we can complete your goal and find me a hot-ass husband!” Their hope deflated as she grinned from one side of her face to the other.

“And you called me lewd.” She began to blush as Cinera coughed for their attention

“Okay, well that was sweet. I think we should be good to get out of here if you’re ready?” Natan eagerly shook her head in agreement.

The trio walked down the path that first led them to the hidden grove and pushed through the overgrown bushes and reads that kept it separate from the rest of the wild swamp.

The caecilian looked back as they left with another tear falling from her nearly empty ducts.

They broke into the wetlands and gathered their bearings in the hostile environment.

Natan stuck close to the pair as they began moving in the opposite direction of the wall.

They soon found themselves nearing the edge of the land she was intimately familiar with

“I haven’t gone past that fallen log over there.” The tone in her voice was obviously nervous but she refused to turn back to the little pond she was trapped inside for her entire life.

“Let’s get going then.” Egosum took the first leap forward and sat on the rotten wood, looking out over the flat mossy bands of the swamp. “Nowhere left to head but forward.”

The familiar stench of rot was only growing stronger as they got deeper and deeper inside.

Cinera fumbled with her magic as they followed the water's edge. Random plashes sent them on higher alert only for a dumpy-looking turtle to stare at them from the water.

Small crackles took his attention away from his surroundings as the familiar smell of arcing lightning filled the air.

“Whatcha doin?” Natan clawed her way closer to the practicing mage.

“Try to figure out how to put weight on my mana. I really don’t want to fall into the water again.” She tried to modulate the lightning in different ways to get varying results.

She pushed her hand through it with ease, signifying another failure.

“Well, that didn’t work.” The caecilian moved her small, clawed foot closer to touch the erratic sparks only the scratch lightly and pull away.

“It might be my lightning, but it still is lighting.” The long creature apologized for the interruption and flanked Egosum’s side.

“Any tips you can offer me?” Cinera called over to him.

“I don’t get why you want it to be based on lighting. Sure, it is fast, but it doesn’t have any weight inherent to it. You should stick to the ash. At least that stuff can be solid.” She huffed in defeat at her attempts and weaved a spell to call out a controllable cloud.

The grey material billowed ephemerally.

“Pretty.” Natan peaked from his side.

Egosum’s mana sight flared as he watched the spell move forward.

Strands of mana flowed through the bulbous entity in looping forms. Whenever a strand of the ashes would try to sneak away under the coercion of the wind, her magic would flair and bring it back under control.

It was a constant state of flux. Always loosing and gaining control.

It was slightly different than his. When he poured Qi into the ground, it listened for as long as it was saturated. It only disappeared to degradation outside his body.

Her magic lost power in creating the medium and keeping it under control.

“Can you try to flatten it?” She forced the ash to compress into itself with mild success.

His mana sight showed the loops twisting around each other, blasting through the energy she imparted to the spell.

“Won’t work” He spoke as she tried putting weight onto the cloud. The hand went through cleanly and shattered the spell as the loops came undone.

“It is far too messy. You need to tighten your control once the spell is cast. Once the connection is secured, you should be able to alter the spell’s use beyond expansion and compression.”

“So can you fly already? Egosum turned to look at the long creature. “Since you are giving her advice, ya know. It would be cool to see a flying amphibian.”

“No. You will see one soon though. Whenever Cinera gets a hang of it, I bet that will be her main form of travel.” She chirped up through her concentration.

“You’re damn right it will be.” She weaved another spell only for her toad companion to verbally tear it pieces before she could start experimenting.

Despite Natan's insistence on the terrors of the swamp and the rough start to their journey, they were unmolested in their travels for most of the day.

The sun was beginning to meet its end as the moon peaked over the fog in the distance.

“Is the swamp more dangerous at night or about the same?” Egosum turned to the caecilian.

“Why can't it be safer at night.” He scoffed before she finished the sentence.” Well, it definitely isn’t, you’re right. It is much, much more dangerous. I never tested it personally, but my mother's memories constantly remind me not to be out after dark.”

The pair of experienced travelers discussed amongst themselves before coming to a conclusion.

“I guess we will be going to sleep pretty soon. I can make us a bunker to rest in.”

A howl ripped through the air as Egosum called his Qi into action.

The group froze as the sound died down.

“I thought we were done with canines!” He felt like bashing in his own skull as more calls picked up in the distance.

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about them. Those are the otters. Really friendly if you are out of their way. Piss them off and they tear you to pieces. A cool sight to see.” Natan calmed their minds.

“Well, let's not test our luck.” He willed the mud to his whims and tunneled many feet underground before feeling comfortable enough to drop his guard.

The dreamworld came to them with ease after the stressful time.