-5th Rest-

Blast it all! No luck, no trace of the gray flowers we came so far to find. We spent the entirety of yesterday traveling—hours upon hours across those endless, monotonous hills of gray, each looking the same as the last. For every rise we crested, I hoped we might find something—some sign of the flowers hiding in the landscape, or anything else—but all we encountered was more of the same: barren, gray grassy hills stretching into infinity.

As I write this, we are retracing our path, following the silter cable we laid down to guide us out of the Graylands. Judging by the number of times we’ve rested—about five so far—we estimate it will take another five rests to fully exit this color-drained wasteland.

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

Once we’re free of these lands, the plan is to return to the nearest town. There, we’ll resupply, rest, and regroup for at least a week or two before even considering another expedition into the Graylands. I had prepared myself mentally for the possibility of multiple trips into this eerie place, knowing the elusive gray flowers might not be found on the first attempt. But now that I’ve actually been here and felt the unsettling strangeness that permeates the air, I’m far less eager to return.

Even so, I cling to the hope that we might stumble upon a gray flower on our way back. Just one. That’s all we need to fulfill our contract with Gibber. Just one flower, and we can escape this bleak landscape without looking back. Perhaps fate will take pity on us—on me—and deliver this small mercy before we reach the border again.