The morning sunrise was blocked behind thick gray clouds that hung overhead. They were heading west, down from the mountains and towards the plains where Ixul sat. Kahari watched them as he waited for everyone else to rouse. He was the first awake, his talk with Silverleaf the night before had made sleep come easily to him. Next was Bedora, who didn’t even question Kahari already being up as she moved to start packing everything up. Nissa followed soon after, and focused on taking down the unoccupied tents while Bedora was disassembling the wards, and gathering the lines and bells. Chara was the last to rouse herself, seeming groggy in the foggy morning air. Silverleaf simply pulled herself free from the ground once everyone was ready.

[Early rising yes, I can not blame you. I do not like getting up before the sun has reached it’s peak if I can help it.]

“We sometimes get up earlier, but we have a good walk before us and we’d rather not dawdle.”

Bedora said simply as she packed her tent into her Bag. Once everything was packed and ready to go, Bedora opened up the map. With just a few moments to orient herself, they got on the move. It’d take most of the day to reach the village, and that was if they stopped only for lunch. The morning was quiet except for the sounds of birds echoing through the trees. All things considered, especially knowing something as twisted as Wither Willow was relatively close by, things were peaceful. It wasn’t perfect of course, there were still the occasional sounds of Monster Boars searching for Sows or food. Buzzing of Soldier Wasps somewhere out of sight, and the occasional sound of something big moving around in the hills to the north.

Silverleaf had made them stop the first time the sounds from north of them made it to them. She listened intently for a few minutes before sighing in relief.

[It is not a Kinrinde, Wither Willow has not left his lair.]

“Well that’s good, even with your help I don’t know if we could fight him one on one.”

[Probably not little one, he has obtained some dark power well beyond normal means. If he had come down, I would need to summon help. Thankfully it is not him, just some wild monster.]

“Let’s just hope it doesn’t come down this way, it’s a long enough walk as it is without having to fight some massive beast.”

Bedora grumbled as she spoke. Clearly she had hoped they could just camp out and hunt for a week. Reality had dealt them a different hand this time, only time could tell if it was a good or bad thing. As they moved, the grey clouds opened into a light drizzle. Chara bound herself more tightly in her cloak, shivering against the cold rain. Kahari worried for the cold sensitive Lamia-dyn. Without a moment of hesitation, he gave her his new cloak and retrieved his old, somewhat worn cloak for himself. Sure he’d be less comfortable, but Chara was at greater risk than any of the rest of them at the moment. She nodded her head in appreciation before bundling up in the cloak that was far too large for her small frame. At least in this case that extra material just let her bundle herself up even more tightly.

When it came time to stop and eat, Silverleaf cast some barrier that kept the rain from them. Sitting down beneath a nearby tree, they ate some jerky and dried fruit. It wasn’t very good tasting, but it filled their stomachs and let them keep moving. While they ate, Silverleaf stepped out of the barrier, and turned her face directly into the rain. She remained like this the entire time they were stopped. While Kahari was curious what she was doing, ultimately he decided not to pry. Who was he to question the doings of an ancient, massive being whose people he barely understood. Maybe someday he would, but today he was just going to leave her be.

Once they were all done eating, they got moving once more. All of them seemed a bit more energetic, even Silverleaf. Maybe it’d been awhile since she’d had rain. Did Kinrinde even eat? Kahari looked up at the massive tree woman whose strides easily dwarfed their own. She was an enigma in more ways than one. Strange as the various Fae and Ogres were, she was on a whole different level. He shook his head. It didn’t matter too much. Strange as she was, she was still kind. He couldn’t say that much even about friends he had back in Seras, let alone other adventures he’d stumbled on since making it to Ixul.

As the day turned to afternoon, the clouds slowly broke. Thin rays of light breaking through the clouds played across the fresh mist from the rain. It was quiet moments like these, when he was surrounded by people he knew would help him save what family he had left, that he had the time to enjoy the simple delights of the world. He smiled, even as his fists clenched. It was sights like these, days like this one that kept things clear for him. Every time he felt he was off course, every time he felt he was failing his sisters. A day like this one came by, and showed him the beauty of the world he had to preserve for them to see. He would free them from the darkness of the Night Talons so they could once more see the world for the beauty it held, not the evil it harbored.

The day passed quietly overall. They only met one Monster Boar on the trail, but he was only protecting his burrow. With Silverleaf there to calm him, they moved right by. They stopped a second time for Bedora to check the map. She glanced up at the mountains, searching for some landmark Kahari couldn’t make out. She sighed as she squinted.

“If I’m reading the map correctly, we’re about thirty minutes from the village. Once we crest this hill, we should be able to see part of the brook that flows down from them passing by.”

“And if we don’t?”

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“Then I have gotten us hopelessly lost despite having a road and map. Should that be the case, I will hand the map to anyone but Kahari.”

“What? Why not me?”

“The last time I let you look at the map, you thought a three day route was three weeks.”

“...I’ve never had to read a map before that.”

“I could tell.”

“Oh shut up, I was a smith not a map-reader.”

“I’m not asking you to be a cartographer.”

“Carto-what now?”

“Exactly!”

“Now I’m confused.”

[You are such amusing little people.]

Silverleaf added an audible chuckle to her thought-speech, a strange sound like bark rubbing on bark. It grated on their ears, but it was only a quick wince as Silverleaf seemed just as amused as to their reactions. Given how old she was, it was no surprise she was used to other races reacting oddly to her voice.

Kahari tried to snatch the map while everyone was distracted, only for Bedora to simply lift it well beyond his reach. She smiled as she started folding it back up to store it away. Kahari grumbled quietly to himself about being treated like this, but there was still a smile on his face as he did so. Once the map was safely tucked back away they resumed their trek, starting by climbing the hill.

And just as Bedora had predicted, once they crested the hill, they could clearly see the thin, wispy brook in the distance, carving it’s path down the hills towards the city far below. It would lead them straight to the village once they reached it, as the trail they were using no longer led to where they needed to go. The Naiad village was rarely visited, and no real trails led to the village. The Naiad’s themselves simply used brooks, streams, and rivers when they needed to travel long distances. Much as they could anyway.

Kahari stopped to take a drink from the clear, fresh water snaking down from the mountains. Before the water could touch his lips though, a strong, wooden hand pulled him quickly away from the water.

“What the h-”

[Do not drink the water! There is something wrong. I can feel it in my roots.]

She sat Kahari down on one of the many branches and before the others could say anything, scooped them up as well. Chara let out an uncharacteristically loud scream as she was hoisted in the air. She wrapped herself tightly around the branch Silverleaf deposited her on the branch.

“Let me down from here! Now!!”

Her words were more forceful than normal, but the strength of her voice had gone back to normal. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and her entire body was quivering. It seemed she was afraid of heights, and the branches of something as ancient as Silverleaf were quite high off the ground.

Silverleaf ignored them and took up a quick stride following the brook up stream. As she moved, Kahari could see some smoky, black cloud drifting downstream in the waters of the brooke. It was mere seconds away from where he had been drinking from, and there was no telling if there was more before it that just wasn’t visible yet.

As they moved forward, covering vast distances with Silverleaf’s stride, the water turned darker and darker, until it was pitch black. Now Kahari could see the rotting bodies of fish bobbing in the water, and the carcasses of animals and monsters alike on the shore line. It wasn’t much longer before they could smell smoke in the air. They crested one more hill, and there before them, built around the waters of the brooke, was the Naiad village.

Smoke rose from the houses within, and all around the palisade were the writhing forms of animal, monster, and person alike. Corpses, fungus growing from them and skeletal or mummified bodies that had vines wrapped around them. The monsters were beating on the walls of the palisades, and in some places had even broken through. The worst part though, they weren’t alone. Standing behind the seemingly mindless creatures was something else, something…worse.

Clad in black and red armor, a large figure towered over the crowd, it’s blade pointed at the village. A rasping, almost pained voice carried in the wind.

“KILL THEM ALL, THEY MUST BURN.”

Silverleaf put the group on the ground and a glowing amber light appeared before her hand. From within a staff made of silver, twisting wood and crowned with an amber orb emerged. Instead of the telepathy she had been using, her voice, as grating as ever, carried through the wind, causing the horde of monsters to pause.

“ABOMINATIONS, YOU WILL BE CLEANSED!”

A mighty bellow escaped her mouth before motes of light began to surround her. The battle for the Naiad Village was about to begin.