Zachary froze, immediately becoming alert. His heart almost jumped out his chest at first and it was still pounding fast even as he took deep breaths to calm himself. They had not encountered any other prisoners after separating from Jean-Pierre. He was ashamed to say that he had almost forgotten about them. After all, the jungle was so dense and vast that it could easily swallow a thousand souls.
He peeked out of the stone house, carefully keeping his distance from the doorway so that his figure was hidden in darkness. He saw no one and it was quiet. He also could not sense the presence of any Ensouled outside, human or otherwise. However, senses weren't always reliable. There were many abilities that could hide one's presence and aura. If Blue had found humans, then it had found humans. He trusted his summon that much.
"Anything?" Katherine whispered.
"Nothing." He answered and glanced back at her, "What about Marble?"
"Nothing close to us."
He let out the breath he had been holding. He straightened up and let out a sigh of relief after having gone into a crouching position instinctively. He trusted Marble's senses and he was pretty sure they were not under immediate threat.
Zachary found Blue which had buried itself in his hair and pulled the frightened little bird out. It quivered in his palm as if it was about to lose its life at any moment. The silly bird was still so hopeless and he had to shake his head.
"Blue, how many humans did you see?"
It chirped once, very softly. So, it had seen only one person.
"Which direction?"
It pointed in a direction that led deeper into the ruins. He turned to Katherine and they shared a look of concern. Someone had reached these ruins before them.
"How far from here?" He asked.
This time, Blue cocked its head and looked up at him in confusion. It didn't understand. Or more accurately, their bond was not strong enough to convey deeper meanings and concepts. The bird probably had a concept of distance but not in the same way as humans. They would not be able to bridge this gap until the adept rank. If Blue was able to reach the adept rank and if he was able to heal his soul wound enough to make that happen, he would be able to understand Blue's chirps as if it knew how to speak and Blue would be able to understand him as if he was chirping like a silly bird. He wondered what kind of inane thoughts graced its tiny little head.
"Let's go check it out," Katherine said. "We're already here so we might as well."
"Alright, let's go."
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
The pair left the stone house and proceeded carefully. They climbed over a few collapsed stone walls and houses and arrived at another street that seemed to go around in a circuitous route around the ruins. The enormous pillar in the center was closer now but still hidden behind many rows of buildings.
Blue guided them along the street until they found the person in question. They were already dead, which allowed Zachary and Katherin a breath of relief.
Zachary went up first and poked the body with the butt of his spear. There was no sign of rotting. The man had died recently. Zachary pushed harder with the spear, revealing a puddle of fresh blood.
He almost threw up. The man’s frontside was a horrific assortment of wounds. His face had been chewed to the bone. His throat was completely mangled. There was a gaping hole where his stomach should have been with his inner organs nowhere to be found.
“Eh… yuck.” Katherine made a face and hid behind him. “Whatever did that is probably nearby. There might also be more humans.”
Her guess was quickly answered as Blue returned from a round of scouting. The little bird was once again agitated. It flapped its small wings furiously while trying to point towards the central monolith.
“Chirp, chirp, chirp!”
“Chirp, chirp, chirp!”
Zachary grabbed Blue out of the air and recalled it so that it would stop making noise, “Seems like a lot of humans ahead. That combined with whatever Ensouled did this… we should leave.”
“No, wait!” She replied quickly and grabbed his arm, “Let’s go take a look… please?”
He couldn’t understand why she was still so eager. It was obviously very dangerous to keep going.
She seemed to understand his unspoken worries and said, “Just a little peek. We’ll be safe and run if it’s not.”
He had a bad feeling about this but in the end, he gave in. She was just like a cat, too curious, too headstrong for her own good. If he said no, he was afraid that she would throw a hissy fit of epic proportions or even decide to continue onward without him. At this point, he still needed her more than she needed him.
The ruins’ layout became apparent as the pair tried to find a path inward. The larger streets were arranged in a circular fashion which would take them around the ruins but not inward. Therefore, they had to navigate narrow alleys and climb through and over many buildings.
Along the way, they found another two fresh bodies. A burly woman had been bitten all over until she bled out. Another man’s head was gone and nowhere to be found. Zachary anxiously wanted to turn around but Katherine seemed even more excited than before.
The terrain was also strange. The further they went, the more they descended into the basin. The whole place formed a vast depression that seemed totally out of place from the surrounding jungle. These ruins were slowly sinking and the place sinking the fastest was the middle.
What was more, when they had reached about halfway to the monolith, they encountered water. No rain puddles or garden ponds, these were deep gullies and small lakes that hid unknown dangers.
The source of the water was also apparent. On the other side, what seemed like a river was pouring into the basin from a series of waterfalls. This begged to question, where was all this water going…
Zachary was just contemplating that question when Katherine pulled on his arm and made him stop.
“Shh, do you hear that?” She asked.
“Hear what?” He replied.
He held his breath and closed his eyes. With other senses closed off, he heard it as well. It was sounds of battle, faint shouts of male and female voices as well as the strange cries of unknown Ensouled. They weren’t too far away.
Before he could say anything, he felt Katherine’s hand leave his arm. His eyes snapped open only to catch her figure leaping over their latest obstacle, heading straight for the monolith and the source of the sounds.
“Damn it.” He muttered and quickly followed.