After getting clean in the river, going through an entire bar of soap, the only soap I packed, and chiding myself the entire time for the vanity of it, I felt thankful that I packed it. Anyway, once I was clean, freshly dressed, and could no longer smell the grossness that recently covered me from head to toe, I planned my next step, starting with burying two ruined sets of clothing. I figured the best chance I had of finding my team was going back to the last place I’d seen them, somewhere back in the forest not far from where I fell into the river.

Which meant I would need to climb up the rock wall to the left of the waterfall. I could have trudged into the jungle to try and find a path up, but that would cost me time. Besides, I actually now had a skill for this. I could admit, I never thought I would ever have a use for the Rock Climbing skill. It also didn’t hurt that I was a bit of a hoarder, which meant that I had the Rock Climbing equipment in my bag.

I looked up at the slick rock wall in front of me. I couldn’t see the top and the sound of the water was too much for me to gauge how far it was. I put a hand to the rock. It was slick from the water spray but not so slick I couldn’t grip it. I hammered in the first piton as high up as I could reach, fed the rope through the loop, and started climbing. I checked my grip, often needing to change it to a less slick rock. I hammered in a new piton every two or three metres, continually feeding the rope through it as I climbed higher and higher.

It felt like hours before I crested the ledge and got a look at the river. What I saw made me wonder how I survived. There were rapids with sharp, jagged rocks jutting out everywhere. It looked like beast teeth just waiting to cut apart anyone or anything unfortunate enough to find its way into their jaws. Worse, it wasn’t just one river, but three converging. I had no idea which one I came down either. I had no idea how long I was in the water, so I couldn’t even begin to estimate how far I travelled. I could follow one of the rivers for days and would be no closer to finding my team. The only thing I knew was that finding my team just got a lot more difficult.

I hadn’t thought much about my team. I knew I wanted . . . needed to get back to them. Unfortunately, they probably thought I was dead. It was thinking of them that made me wonder where they were when that beast attacked me. They shouldn’t have been that far behind me. Thinking about where they were also made me reflect on the ambush. It had let go of me. It allowed me to crawl away and seek refuge in the rapids. Why would it have done that? I mentally groaned as I came to the realisation that it wouldn’t have let me go unless it had no other choice. My team was probably responsible for that. Which also meant that I had crawled away from a healer and the safety of my team just to take my chances with the river.

“I’m an idiot,” I grumbled and looked at each of the rivers in turn with my limited vision. At only twenty or thirty metres away, even with my glasses, it was blurry and indistinct, but I could at least make out some details. The closest river on my left looked gentle compared to the other two. It also wasn’t in a canyon of any kind. Unfortunately, the river in the middle and the river to the far right did. Same rocks, same trees and shrubs as what I saw everywhere in the jungle, lined either side of the rivers. The only difference was in the width of the river. The river farthest right was the narrowest, but also looked like the roughest. If I assumed that the river was more likely to kill me, then it meant I needed to get to the banks of the central river . . . which meant I needed to cross the river to my left first.

I sighed as I looked at the river to the left. It was the slowest of the rivers but also the widest. I hammered a piton into the top of the falls and tied off my rope, just in case. I cut off the remains of my rope and tucked it into my pouch. I was going to need it to climb up onto the ridge above the river.

I followed the river for almost two hours before I reached a place I thought was safe enough to cross. I stepped tentatively into the water, testing my foot in the soft sediment. It sank a little but not enough to worry me. The current was slow but strong and didn’t leave me feeling like my feet were about to be taken out from under me. I had a feeling if I tried to swim, the river would suck me down before I could get to the other side.

I took a step and found the riverbed soft, forcing me to strain to pull my foot free. The water deepened until it reached my armpits, and the current got stronger. I battled both the current and sediment until I reached the river's centre. Water up to my ears, I kept going until it dropped to my mouth, then trudged onto shore minutes later.

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Minutes later, I was trudging up onto shore. My muscles ached from the exertion and exhaustion threatened to overtake me. I dug into my bag and pulled out a savoury bun and stuffed it whole into my mouth, chewing quickly then swallowing. I was tempted to take a second but the recent memory of nearly dying after overdosing on the mana rich buns staid my appetite.

I didn’t give myself any time to dry off, choosing to start moving again. I could have followed the river, but it would have taken hours to get back. Instead, I angled toward the river I wanted to follow.

As I walked, I kept my ears open. It was eerie. The jungle was so lush and thick, yet there was no life beyond the plants and trees. Once I was out of earshot of the river, there was nothing to hear. There were no rodent beasts, no insects, nothing but eerie silence, save for the sound of my breath and footsteps. The lack of life made me feel comfortable to push forward quickly. I didn’t worry about breaking branches or cutting through thick brush with my shadow-formed machete.

I moved through the forest, trying to keep moving in the same direction, listening for the river, but not hearing it. After a couple hours, I worried I’d miscalculated. Was there a turn in the river? Did I overshoot it? My worries halted instantly, when I caught a whiff of something in the air. Something that wasn’t part of the jungle. It was something . . . it was clean, sweet . . . perfume? My Handler?

I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply, memorising the scent and picking it apart. No, it wasn’t Signore Barducci, but it was a perfume. I opened my eyes and looked to the left where the scent seemed to originate from. Then I looked to the right where the river should lie . . . a river I hadn’t been able to find. I had to make a choice, continue roughly in the direction I knew the river should lie, or go after the source of that scent. What if it was a beast? Maybe one of the prey beasts that we were supposed to hunt? Wouldn’t that mean my team ended up there eventually anyway?

Time would tell if it was a mistake, but I went after the scent. I moved much more cautiously, keeping my Shadow Cloak ready to hide me at a moment’s notice. I was not going to be ambushed again. I wasn’t going to let that happen again.

I stalked through the forest, avoiding disturbing any of the brush that blocked my path. I found my way around obstacles that I previously cut through. I stepped lightly over roots and was as careful as I could be to not disturb the ground. It slowed me down tremendously.

Hours later the jungle ended abruptly and my jaw dropped at the sight before me. A massive chasm that didn’t look like it had a bottom to it, not that I could have seen it with my poor eyesight. But what I could see, at least see the outline of, was a massive stepped pyramid structure. More importantly, I could smell the light blue scent coming from the top.

I looked left and right along the chasm for a way across but didn’t see anything, not that it meant too much. I went to the right, following along the ledge. Four hours later, it felt like I’d barely travelled any distance around the chasm and yet I finally found a bridge across.

The bridge was darkly coloured and covered in moss, yet the jungle hadn’t overtaken it, stopping two metres short. It was four or five times wider than the largest road I'd seen, and the railing was twice my height. When I stepped on, I half expected it to collapse, but it was solid.

I wondered if giants once roamed this world. It was the only reason I could think of for the bridge to be the size it was.

I didn’t spend much longer investigating the giant ancient bridge. The scent was still in the air and getting stronger now that I was on the bridge. I moved carefully along the bridge, being wary of any traps. There weren’t supposed to be traps in this lair. However, there also wasn’t supposed to be any kind of structure either.

I followed the long bridge, trying not to think of the chasm below me and how painful the death would be if the bridge collapsed, not that it even budged. As the sun began to set, I wasn’t sure how far I’d come, but I could no longer see the jungle behind me and the pyramid I thought was large before, now looked absolutely massive now, maybe as large as a city.

The setting sun reminded me that I only had so long to find my team. I knew I needed to rest and I would make camp. But I also needed to decide what I would do next. Would I continue toward the pyramid? Or would I turn back and try to find the river? And then there was that scent in the air. It wasn’t like it was drawing me in or controlling me, but it was a mystery. And a mystery in a lair usually meant a big reward . . . if you survived it.

I looked back toward the jungle one last time, not that I could see it. I probably wouldn’t have been able to see it even if I had perfect vision. No, I’d come this far, I was going to see this through.