With a little investigation, Jessica found the reason for her original unease. There was a lone tree that didn’t offer very much. It was in a position just far enough, while being too small to offer any aid for her travels.
The only reason she paid any attention to it was because there was some cracking on the bark. This looked unnatural as if being made by some animal. Possibly marking its territory or happening during a fight.
Without any identifiable marks in the surroundings, the lone mark was unlikely to be a marking. Even considering that very few creatures this deep into the forbidden zone still had this tendency. Most used scent to mark their territory.
With closer inspection, Jessica was fairly spot on. Only her original thoughts were slightly off. Having scratched off the possibility of it being a marking. She ignored it thinking it was a leftover wound from a fight.
It was neither rare nor common place to see such things. Most times a fight broke out, there was damage. Very few creatures here were able to creak such a mark. If a creature was big enough they would have downed the entire tree instead of causing cracks in just the bark.
Looking even closer she was able to find a piece of purple hair. No matter how so thought about it. This was from those that had covered their tracks. Too long to be from any common animal, while being a strange color, that left everything to her imagination. Therefore, Jessica concluded this was from a person.
Seeing how she could not find anything else. Jessica could only imagine the possibility of multiple people fighting. She couldn’t rule out a smaller stronger creature, though generally people fought in more deadly and concentrated ways, making it easier to hide these traces.
Moving on she continued to explore. From then to a week later, she had not found any more traces. As if they disappeared, or went into the third layer. Both of which were the conclusion she had come to.
The question remained, were they related or was it really that much of a coincidence that they showed up around the area Cassie had sent her to?
Just when she was starting to think about giving up, Jessica was out looking for more clues. She was starting to get a little desperate. Cassie’s crystal kept bringing her to the same location. Now all she could do was explore the surroundings.
That was until she finally found something. Sitting in a tree she had her back against the trunk as she sat on a branch 20 feet up. In her hand was the crystal. Fiddling with it, she couldn’t help but mumble to herself, “Am I missing something? Or am I just not finding it?”
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Feeling a bit of incompetence welling inside her. She started to frown, almost ready to throw the crystal away she squeezed onto it at the last second. While wishing to do nothing more than slam it against a tree, knowing full well it wouldn’t break. Even if it did, it wouldn’t bring her any closer to her goal.
A distant but soft whisper, seemingly growing closer, “How long do we have to stay here?”
If there was possibly a reply, Jessica was unsure. Only hearing the first voice she could do nothing but quiet her inner thoughts as she tried to listen.
“Those bastards are really annoying. I don’t get why we have to work with them.” This was the first voice spoken the same way as it did before. Anger and annoyance was filling their tone.
“Be quiet. They’re different from us. Even if they don’t care. The higher ups don’t want to hear this kind of talk. All we can do is do what were told.” Finally, a second voice was heard. His voice was deadpan, with a slight trace of annoyance. It was unknown if this was because of the other people or because of the person talking to him.
Letting out a sigh, “How did I let you talk me into coming on this job. While the pay is great, this place is creepy. Only those war fanatics ever come to this place. As if they attack the goblins they will be able to make it rich, how do they even expect to get those riches back? Drag it back through the forbidden zone and hope they don’t get caught?”
Once the topic had changed, the second man spoke in a better mood, “Who knows. Though you need to be careful. There are a bunch of human race powers that are constantly promoting the war. Those that don’t agree with them, have a way of disappearing.”
Scoffing at this, “Yeah right, they just like profiting from the war. Those in power promote the war while they fill their pockets with the assets of the deceased and shares given by the arms industry. None of them ever join the war themselves. The closest they get to war is a dinner table, where they talk about their own merits. As if it is worth bragging about the amount of people they sent to their deaths.”
It was unknown how the second man felt about this. Even still, it could be said from the way the first man was talking, the two were close. Simply replying to him, “Enough, were getting close. You can only say these things in from of me. If they hear you back at camp. Don’t think I will be going to the gallows with you.”
By this point, Jessica had moved around a bit. What was once far, had become near. She was in a tree without line of sight. This was because she didn’t dare look at the two. She was unsure of who they were or how powerful they were. So long as she was careful she could eavesdrop without alerting them.
As they drew further Jessica tried to follow the best she could. As they had been talking, it was very easy. Once they grew quiet. She could only try her best to follow the sound, however, the two weren’t making very much.
Following the best she could, she lost them. What she had learned was enough. The place she lost them was near enough to a location she had already discovered. A valley in between two ridges. Being a uniquely shaped ground, inside a very flat terrain.
Jessica didn’t dare explore. Even if she wanted to, there was very little cover. While it wasn’t very difficult to spy inside. Doing so would make it very easy to spot you. Making it a great place to hide if you were in a large group.
From the conversation alone, Jessica couldn’t determine their size. With everything added up, this was the conclusion she came to. Only time would tell, for now she planned to find out as much as she could, as safely as she could.