The thick scent of pine needles, wood, wet grass and moss so potent he could almost taste it was what Marduk was met with when he and Minerva entered the forest of Lyre known for its acoustic qualities and the troubadours who took to it to compose their hymns and such.

It was serene and beautiful in a way he’d forgotten about, the dank humid swamps of the Basin were so drab and dull looking compared to the vibrant colour of Lyre.

Well it was beautiful until a blood curdling scream broke the silence after they’d barely been travelling two hours through it.

“AAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!” The bellowing tone stilled the strides of the pair.

They shared a look before turning their eyes to the direction it had come from, without thinking any longer on it the hulking Saurian dropped the chest on his back and began a sprint dashing through the woods as another scream tore through the pines.

The thundering Thump thump thump as he raced toward the scream echoed off the trees making him sound larger than he already was.

It wasn’t long before he came upon the source of the screaming, a tall figure of grotesque distorted white flesh oozing amber from a great gash across its chest stood over a human man, the wide red brim of its head resembled a beefsteak mushroom casting a dark shadow over itself and the person beneath it.

The man screamed again as the monster lifted its foot and slammed it down making a spray crimson and viscera colour the surroundings and some of Marduk's leg as he slammed into the giant mushroom pushing backward and through a huge fir followed by a loud Crack and wind whistling as the tree fell over top of the two rolling to the side.

Thunk thunk

The Suarian felt an heavy pelting as the fists of the oozing monster hit his back before he smashed it down into the moss covered ground and quickly drove his sword through its chest hoping to hit its heart or whatever constituted its main life giving organ, luckily for him it did stop the creature leaking sticky amber sap of some kind out of the wound and all over his obsidian blade as he drew it from the monsters.

Pulling himself off of the monster he winced at the bruised scales on his back where the sentient fungus had struck him.

“Grrggll….” Behind him he heard the wet sound of the human coughing up his lungs.

Turning and moving past the tree over to where the man was trapped under said tree that had been knocked down, the man was soaked red in his own blood gasping for life as the Saurian knelt over him. Panic and fear were far from what Marduk saw in his eyes, instead they were alight with joy and hope, bright green eyes of a man on his last breaths staring into his.

A hand lifted up, reaching for something- the Saurian took it in his and words fell from the mouth of the dying man-

“S-she said… big l-lizard…” His croaky voice sounded almost jovial, spitting a glob of blood when he attempted to laugh.

“What is your name? How can I help you?” Marduk asked, feeling a frantic pang of fear go through him.

“Aodh…” the man managed with a hoarse breath, his eyes flickering to the tree and the Saurian got the idea.

Standing Marduk made short work of lifting the log and tossing it aside with a loud Thump as it hit the ground a metre or so away, moments later his travel companion arrived in a pant heaving breaths to fill her lungs enough to ask what happened.

“Marduk!” The blued eyed snake woman gasped for air. “Are you alright?!” she gaped looking at the deep purple marks on his back.

“I am. But we need to help Aodh” He replied in Suran motioning to the dying man.

“Selene above!” She called on the Auran goddess when her eyes caught the bloody sight of the human.

“..aahh p-pocket…” The dying man managed to say before coughing viciously causing a splatter of red to add to the already horrific site.

Being of a gentler touch than the Saurian Minerva reached for the man's pockets as he’d said and found he had none, but he did have pouches on his hips that were still mostly fine with one having a bulbous crystal vial corked and filled with a green liquid in it.

“Oh! I know what this is!” She said in her excitement quickly uncorking the vial and raising it to the human's lips and pouring some down his throat before pouring the rest into his wounds.

“!” A gasp left the human's throat as his internals were slowly restored and his blood replenished.

A few minutes of uninterrupted silence settled over the three as the most grievous of Aodh’s wounds repaired themselves enough to be functional but no more, he was still in a great deal of pain and suffering for the broken bones and twisted limbs.

Feeling well enough to speak again, even though it hurt his body Aodh couldn’t help himself to thank his god sent help.

“T’ank ya fer saving me! sorry we were introduced under poor circumstances!” He offered in a light tone wincing as pain sparked in his chest as he spoke.

“We’re sorry we didn’t arrive sooner!” Minerva quickly replied, brushing her black bangs aside as Marduk offered a hand to help the man up.

Once Aodh was standing the man breathed a long sigh of relief as his eyes trailed over to the body of the fungus monster.

“What’d you say yer names were again?” He asked, staring up at the taller pair, with even Minerva standing a head taller than him on her tail.

“Marduk”

“Minerva”

“Well t’anks again. I’m Aodh of Sabine, it's good to- Ahck!” The man’s introduction was cut short when he began coughing, ending in him spitting a ball of blood before collapsing into it unconscious.

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With the unconscious form of Aodh to deal with the Lamia took to watching him while the Saurian marched his way back to where they’d come from and collected their chest of supplies he’d so unceremoniously dropped in his attempt to arrive in time to save the human man.

Once he’d picked it up and all but found the woods drowned in ambience of trees creaking, wind rustling leaves and branches with the distant humming of an unfamiliar song mixed in. He could also hear some birds cawing and chirping high above in the canopies.

The walk back with the supplies was short and thankfully uneventful as Marduk came to stop setting the chest down a metre or so from the woman as she held her hand to Aodh’s forehead and frowned.

“What’s the problem?” He asked.

“He’s becoming colder, we need to build a fire to keep him alive.” She stated not wasting time for a response as she went into the chest and pulled out the fire starter and some of the kindling formed them into a tepee and made use of deadfall and pinecones she’d already collected to quickly spark to light their campfire.

While she was fiddling with the fire starter, Marduk left and searched around for any large stones they could use to enclose the fire with. He didn’t manage to find more than five however and so it was only enough to surround half the fire so he chose to dig something of a trench around the fire and push anything flammable back a few feet.

Some time later as the fire was crackling away happily Marduk attempted to cook the provisions they’d been given so that there would be food ready for when Aodh woke up. He didn’t want to leave the man alone in the woods after what had happened and was otherwise content to halt the journey to Zoras until he was safe.

While he skewered the, what he assumed was venison, on a few sticks the Saurian asked more about the world. They’d not been able to discuss more on it after he was arrested of course and since most of his time after that was spent loitering in the Julia Manor he didn’t leave himself open to speaking with Minerva properly.

He still had a niggling feeling telling him not to trust her, but he doubted that would ever go away.

“When we were walking along Golden Street you mentioned the Almond Plains, could you tell me more about them?” He asked as his eyes watched the meat grill.

“Hmm… I only know a little of them… but they are said to be a very brown and red land between the flourishing forest of Lakar and the arid deserts… but I don’t know what else I can say.” A frown dressed the woman's face as she eyed the unconscious man to her side checking his temperature again.

“That’s disappointing, I had hoped to learn more about it-” A realisation hit him as he was reminded of his final conversation with Adalgard. “What of the Dragons? The nearest one that is?”

“Oh! I’d completely forgotten to mention them!” The blue eyed woman had her own realisation. “You must have learned that from Sophus?”

“Adalgard” The Saurian corrected.

“You’ve met Ochre in the Basin… so the closest is likely King Garum, but sadly I know very little about him.” Her eyes failed to stray from the human as she spoke.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

‘I wonder what’s bothering her?’ Marduk thought as he removed one of the skewers from the fire and began eating.

“Food is done Nerva.” He added between bites.

“Ah thank you” She said with a smile, taking her share.

Silence permeated their shadow of a campsite as time wore on and Marduk put himself to work making shelter for his less naturally protected companions, he might have been happy to sleep without anything but they required something to help keep their body temperatures still.

Or at least he assumed as much considering Aodh was human and Nerva was still half human.

Using the tree he’d knocked down while fighting the still unnamed fungus monster whose corpse was rotting nearby he was able to use bits of it for a lean-to shelter with moss padding the bottom and the roof of it. It wasn’t before long that night rolled around and the Saurian took to watching their surroundings for the first half of it before sleeping himself.

He was thankful when nothing came about to ruin their evening.

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The morning was damp and moist despite the still writhing embers of the fire crackling away keeping the campsite warm.

Breathing a barely visible mist of white Marduk stood up and stretched his arms, legs and even his tail. Flexing his wrists as he looked around the camp he noticed a thick fog that had taken hold of the forest since he fell asleep. Eyes landing on the smouldering heap in the centre of the camp after a moment he set off to collect more sticks and other debris, before he left though he made sure to use the last of the pine cones sitting by shelter.

Of course it didn’t take long for him to find an arm full of branches, but he found himself taking his time as he slowly walked between the tall pine trees. Despite the hectic day they’d had previously he found himself enjoying the serenity of the woods again warming his cold lizard heart, the soft crunch of the pine needles and moss under his clawed feet reminded him of another time in another place- before he died.

‘I missed this,’ He thought as he stared up into the canopy thinking of his friend.

[All you have to do is challenge the impossible, greatness is only as realisable as the hope you have for a sun that rises on the horizon- if only you would set your mind to something even more amazing and grand ___, I’d love to see what expression you make when you see it for yourself.] Her words filled his mind again, with the conversation they’d had coming back clearer.

Along with her words came an image of the woman he imagined wearing that beautiful crimson red gown he’d seen in the Harpy’s shop, as much as he didn’t wish to think about the fowl he couldn’t deny the craftsmanship of the loincloth she had made for him which he still wore and said red dress.

‘I’m distracting myself from her…’ He breathed a sigh watching it turn to mist. ‘It was never surprising that, with a mind like yours filled with so much determination, you’d be named after Alexander the Great.’

‘Alexandra…’ The image of the beautiful woman grinning wider than any cheshire and howling laughter.

‘One of the final adventurers and conquerors to see the world.’

Marduk’s thoughts drifted and waned as he slowly made his way back to the camp, finding the Lamia coiled around the human, both clearly enjoying the warmth of contact. He did wish he could still feel things like that in the same way that he used to, but now being coldblooded just meant he enjoyed sunbathing, but the embrace of another person wasn’t enough for him physically.

…

“He-lp… me..” A voice eked out just as Marduk was about to turn away.

When he looked back again he saw Aodh struggling to free himself from the snake woman, his face turning red and bluish.

“Ah that’s a problem” The Saurian commented as he walked across the camp to part the Lamia from the human.

Somehow the woman failed to wake and he ripped the human from her clutches and pulled the other man to his feet, the colour returned to Aodh’s face after a minute to breathe and settle his heart.

“Hah… t’ought I’d die again” Relief flooded the man’s voice and face. “Thanks fer t’at… Maddock right?”

“Marduk” The Saurian corrected though feeling a small sense of surprise at the mans accent, not expecting one.

“Mhmm that’s definitely more… Lizard-y..?” The man's brow furrowed. “What’re ya anyhow? ’ve ne’er seen a man like you.”

The human man eyed Marduk with a critical eye although he still held an arm around his torso clearly still in pain from being stomped on by the rotund fungus monster. Before answering the question Marduk took stock of the mans appearance properly as he’d not focused too much on it yesterday.

Aodh was fairly average height by the standard of those Marduk had already met, he had messy shoulder length black hair, bright green eyes, pale white skin dotted with freckles. He dressed in what was now a blood covered earthen toned tunic and trousers with a collar of chainmail down over his shoulders and a mangled chestplate hanging off it, then a pair of bracers and greaves with thick dark brown boiled leather sleeves and chaps covering the outside of his limbs and no shoes.

Marduk wondered what would need him to wear the extra protection.

“I am a Saurian from The Great Basin, recently I learned it's also called Duranki Crater.” The golden eyed lizard man answered, though he’d known the volcano was called Duranki of course, just not the whole basin.

“ah.. ’ve nary ‘eard of it… oh well” Aodh shrugged his shoulders and turned his attention to the body of the monster now beginning to shrivel up nearby next to the wreckage of the fight. “It's not too much to ask ye both to accompany me home?”

“Hrm…” Marduk grumbled an indiscernible noise.

He was unsure if he wanted to go with the man or not, if he did it was more about a sense of keeping him from being crushed by another monster than anything else.

“I can understand if ye don’t, twas a lot’re trouble I put ye through- but if you decide ya would I’d be willing to see about compensation fer yer efforts along with da body of that monster?” The man motioned to the corpse offering as warm a smile as he could manage while holding back a wince of pain.

Talking was clearly causing him harm.

‘Something tells me he’ll get attacked again if he’s left alone…’ Marduk sighed, dragging his hand down the underside of his jaw and neck.

Drooping to his side his hand settled on the hilt of his sword.

“We will help you back… what do you need the corpse for?” He couldn’t help but ask.

“Components, my village is know fer there pots an’ we’re in need of the Mushroom-kin blot.” With his reply Aodh walked toward the monster kneeling down with a wheeze as he put a hand to the white flesh.

“Pots?” Marduk questioned.

“‘Er potions you dunno them?”

The Saurian shook his green scaled head. He’d heard alcohol called potions once or twice when he travelled but he doubted that was what the other man was talking about.

“Its ta’ thing Nerva poured down my gullet, de’re like liquid infused wit’ magic.” The green eyed man answered as he ran his fingers along the solidified amber blood.

“oh okay” Was all Marduk responded with before their conversation died down.

Marduk went about cooking food for the human man who inspected the corpse while he waited.

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A few hours later saw the Lamia wake from her slumber and join the men for breakfast before hearing Aodh’s request and situation in full and agreeing to it so long as she was awarded a few of the regeneration potions like the one she’d used on him and they were also given some money for travel expenses.

It wasn’t long until all three had filled their stomachs, packed their things up and gotten ready to set off toward the human man’s village which was about a half a day to a full day's travel away with the corpse of the monster Marduk would be dragging.

As they set off with the Saurian acting as their packmule the Lamia began asking their new friend about his home.

“So you were saying your village uses the parts of the mushroom-kin, as you called them, to make potions, yes? What else do they do to sustain themselves?” Minerva asked, her curious blue eyes watching the black haired man.

Aodh was hunched as he walked with an arm still holding his torso dealing with whatever pains the potion failed to recover.

“Aye… most ‘our trade is wit’ the merchants of Zaros…” The man’s voice trailed off for a moment. “We tend sheep and goats as well as some hunting.”

The conversation wandered and meandered to more mundane things as they continued through the woods slowly petering off around midday as the bright sun peered down on the group through the canopy above.