Chapter 86
They had walked for hours under the canopy of tall trees and snarled shrubs. Looking up Jay could see a tangle of plants and tree limbs with only small shreds of the sky visible. The colors were a riot of greens and browns with the occasional red or blue mixed in.
The air smelled of overturned earth and the entire area was alive with the sounds of insects and birds. The air was cooler here than outside the forest and Jay had been thankful for the long sleeves on his shirt once the sun had begun to set.
As they picked their way through the forest the area around them would go quiet as the wildlife adjusted to their presence. Occasionally Glenda would have them stop for ten minutes. She'd have everyone go still and quiet until the surroundings grew noisy once again with chirps and whistles. That let her know no one else was out there, at least no one obvious. Only then would she allow them to proceed.
Sometimes she would stop the group and have them wait while she went back instead of forwards, taking a circular route in an attempt to come up behind anything following them. Jay had thought that was overkill, what could possibly be following them? Wouldn't the monster have come from Ashagi, the library itself?
After some thought Jay realized that he had made a serious error. He had assumed the monster would be sent from the library directly but that wasn't necessarily the case. Jay did not know exactly how the library worked and the library could have monsters already out and about walking Eden tracking books. One of those could have been set after Jay. In which case the monster could be coming from anywhere, even behind them.
At other times Glenda would lower herself to the ground silently, a remarkable thing to witness considering her seven foot height. The rest of the group would then follow her example but less gracefully. Glenda appeared to melt in to the forest when she did it. Jay felt like he was just collapsing to the ground when he tried to copy her.
Glenda would tell the group to stay put and stay quiet before leaving them to scout out the way ahead. She moved through the heavy brush as if it weren't even there, passing through it without a problem. She would return minutes later and tell them to get up and continue on.
One time in particular she had not done so but instead returned only to collapse to the ground, her face white, only motioning to the group to be silent with one shaking finger held over her pale lips. She didn't even appear to be breathing she held so still.
Breathing could be heard but it wasn't theirs. Jay couldn't make anything out from his prone position on the ground, covered by plants, and desperately wanted to lift his head to see what was hunting them. Doing so would only give away their position however so Jay instead remained calm, and quiet, and still.
It was torture. Jay wanted to run. His brain screamed for him to run. A monster was right there.
Whatever it was had stayed for a few minutes and searched the area. It made no sound itself other than its breathing with only the sound of cracking tree limbs and crushed undergrowth marking its passage. Jay had hoped that it wouldn't accidentally walk over them and crush them.
There was a moment of terror when the creature had gotten close to the group and let out one deep sniff. Then nothing. Jay had thought they were caught but no, the monster turned around and let out one deep breath before leaving, the sound of crushed trees allowing Jay to track the sound of its retreating figure.
The light began to fade as the group continued even in to dusk. The group managed poorly without light and Glenda soon called the group to a halt with a fist raised over her head silently. The group had learned this signal meant stop.
Glenda had brought them to a rather thick hedge of trees that looked impenetrable. Glenda took out a jade machete from a pack hanging on her side. Jay marveled at the item – it looked to be actual jade, a rather useless material for constructing a machete.
Glenda didn't use it like a machete either. Instead she used it to magically and gently part some of the undergrowth until she had cleared a small entrance to a circular area hidden in the circle of bushes and trees. Once the group had passed in to the circle she used the machete again and closed the entrance, trapping them inside the circle of thick brush.
They could barely see and Jay took out his Midnight Mask.
Midnight Mask – rare
This item when worn adheres to the user without use of straps or glue. The mask molds itself to the wearer covering the entire face while concealing the user's eyes. The mask will allow the user to see the outlines of all objects and beings in view even in total darkness. The outlines will be drawn in green with details being shown in a lighter green color. Further rarity upgrades will unlock additional abilities. This item must be bound before use.
Jay set the mask on his face and it adhered instantly. He could immediately make out the borders of people and objects as well as fine details, all in various shades of green. He watched as Glenda took out a small folding tent and set it up. It didn't need much help and mostly unfolded itself once she got it going. It ended up being a ten foot by ten foot octagon.
The octagon tent was covered in a camouflage patterned netting that glittered darkly and seemed to suck up light. There was only a single entrance, a flap currently shut tight through which no light shone. The tent was roughly ten feet tall but that wasn't an issue as the surrounding brush and trees made it impossible to see the tent from outside of their circle. The camouflage netting would make sure nothing from above them would see them either.
Glenda put away her jade machete and put her finger over her lips again for quiet. She opened the entrance flap to the octagon tent and grabbed her group one at a time by the shoulder and guided them in to the tent. It was getting quite dark by now and the group was having a tough time seeing.
Glenda had guided everyone inside save for Jay who entered on his own without assistance as he could see everything plain as day thanks to his mask. Once inside Jay removed his mask and stored it in his bag.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
The inside of the tent was obviously larger than the outside, that much was immediately apparent. Five cots had been set up near the walls of the octagon tent, one per wall with three walls left over. One of the left over walls held the exit. Another of the left over walls had a table with stocks of food and a water barrel up against it. The final and eighth wall had a very large chest currently closed. It was a rather large chest.
Glenda gathered up the group and explained quietly. “Not safe, just safer. Be quiet. No noise. Be ready to wake, move. Sleep dressed, armed. Talk later. Sleep now. I watch.” she said shortly as she nodded and left the tent through the flap they had all used to enter. It seemed she would take the first watch.
Someone had to stand outside of the tent and watch out for danger. Jay had no idea how vulnerable they were in the tent. If someone collapsed the tent what happened to the people inside? Would the magical space collapse and smush everything and everyone inside in to a tiny space? Would they be injured? Killed? Or unaffected?
Jay didn't know but worrying about it wouldn't help.
Everyone picked a cot – it was obvious which cot was for Glenda because it was huge compared to the others. There was only a single red light at the top of the inside of the tent and it gave only dim lighting. The red color would preserve their night vision in case they had to flee or fight. It was just enough to see where their cots were and they each bedded down for the night.
Jay had trouble getting to sleep, usually not a problem. Jay remembered his aura and turned that on. A rustling could be heard before Glenda appeared in the tent and approached him and his cot. She gently slapped him on the forehead.
“No magic! No abilities! Can be like.. beacon? Beacon.” she said quietly with a nod. “Just sleep.” she said kindly. “Don't want monster find us.” she nodded and left the tent once again, the others already asleep.
It seemed using his Class Abilities might make them easier to find if Glenda had things right. Jay trusted Glenda, if she said no abilities then Jay wouldn't use his abilities. Jay was pretty tired after all of the walking and fighting through underbrush. Jay consciously told his muscles to relax one at a time.
He focused on his feet and relaxed them followed by his ankles and lower legs. He worked his way up his body one muscle group at a time trying to forcefully relax his muscles. He made it to his arms before he fell asleep.
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Jay woke to violent shaking, something was attacking him. He opened his eyes to see a giant form crouched over him. One giant hand had completely engulfed his left shoulder.
“Wake! We run now!” Glenda said with a half gasp. Everyone else was already awake and had their weapons at the ready.
Jay rose and groggily put on his backpack and grabbed his staff. He had worn his boots to bed not out of foresight but merely because he had been too tired to take them off at the time. His laziness had paid off however and now allowed him to leave that much quicker without having to put on his boots first.
It probably saved his life.
Glenda hastily led them out of the flap and took down the tent. She unceremoniously stuffed it in to a bag and waited a second for it to quickly fold itself down even further before she stuffed that in to her backpack.
“We run!” she ordered in a quiet voice as she led the group through underbrush. Moments later she turned back and pointed at Jay. “Walk quietly! You bring them here!” She turned back around and continued leading them away from the circle where they had been sleeping moments earlier.
Jay made a focused effort to move quietly and his renewed attention paid immediate dividends in the sudden drop off in the noise he made as they moved through the forest as quickly as the forest would allow them to. It was pitch black and the group had only been able to move by keeping one hand on the person in front of them, placing a hand on their shoulder.
Glenda led them and Jay took up the rear wearing his mask. It allowed them to move at a decent pace if not a good one.
The farther from the circle they got the better Glenda appeared to feel as her body relaxed a little after a few minutes. Suddenly she made a fist and everyone stopped, going even more silent than they had already been.
She made a flat motion with her hand and everyone dropped to the ground hugging it, trying to get as close to the ground with as much of their body as they possibly could. Jay had never wanted to be this close to the ground before but at that moment, not even knowing what they were being pursued by, Jay wanted nothing more than to be invisible.
They remained like that for seconds, minutes, until Jay could hear a child like giggling. Voices floated towards their position through the inky darkness as what sounded like children drew closer. Jay could not make out what they were saying, the words weren't English or any language he was familiar with. The cadence of their speech however was clearly playful which sounded terrifying to Jay's ears as he hugged the earth in the darkness, not even daring to breathe.
The giggling, laughter, and child like banter grew closer. One of them must have passed within feet of the group judging by the sound of their voices Jay thought. The voices tarried a hundred feet or so from Jay's position for a few minutes, searching. They seemed certain that they had found Jay's group and only needed to move some plant life to reveal them.
Jay could hear the rustling of branches and leaves as the monsters violently searched the spot around them. Thankfully Jay's group was a hundred feet to the left of them. After minutes of loud searching the monsters gave up and ran off, giggling.
Jay remained still on the ground not daring to even breathe too deep for minutes until Glenda finally moved. She said very quietly, “Don't move,” as she silently rose from the ground and noiselessly entered the brush, disappearing from view.
None of her group had seen her go as everyone was still motionless on the earth hidden by the surrounding plant life. No one moved or spoke until Glenda returned and said quietly, “Rise.”
The group carefully stood back up. None of them had gotten a look at the monsters but the sound alone would visit Jay in his nightmares, the child like joy they had expressed as they attempted to hunt down Jay and his friends had been terrifying as it grew closer and closer to their position.
Glenda led the group in a direction perpendicular to the monsters' direction of travel for an hour before she once again turned them towards the direction of Ashagi. She didn't want to run in to those monsters again if they could help it.
After another hour she had stopped and quietly told the group to rest. “We sleep here. Sleep rough. Be ready to wake. To run. No tent, no cots. Too slow.”
Jay nodded and found a spot under a nearby tree and sat down wiggling to get comfortable. M'redith joined him moments later. The others all found spots for themselves and moments later the group was completely hidden from view. Glenda again took first watch.
Norri and Aiden fell asleep quickly. M'redith stirred lightly leaning up against Jay, already asleep. Jay breathed in the scent of her hair before he gave her a kiss on the head. She sighed in her sleep as Jay leaned his head back against the tree and a few moments later he was asleep himself.