It took half a week for the loot to be sorted and the magic bags filled to capacity. Most of that was due to Ann finding it difficult to decide which books to bring. All the remaining potions were packed since they didn’t take up much space and were very valuable. Also, all the magic related books were a must. After that she had to decide on which books were the next most valuable and so on.

The magic bags contained all the loot and valuable items while the regular bags contained the food and camping supplies. We picked out the best weapons and armor to equip ourselves with and left the rest. Ann stared longingly at the pile of books that would be left behind. “Maybe we’ll come back here someday and you can grab the rest.” I said, hugging her from behind.

“Hmm, I hope so.” She said wistfully, putting her hands on mine. Everything was ready and it was time to leave. We closed the doors for the final time and made sure everything was secure just in case we did come back. There were plenty of things left that we couldn’t take. Before heading out, everyone gathered around the simple grave in the backyard and we had a moment of silence.

Ann and Lin said their brother would have liked me but would have probably made me fight him as well since he was very protective of his sisters. Lux was the first to break the silence and moved toward the street. Shadow was already there waiting impatiently. The rest of us followed soon after and we started the journey to the fishing village.

We went out the usual gate to leave the rich quarter and then followed the docks toward the east side of the city. This way we would hopefully skirt the majority of the wolf territory. There were a couple large crabs but we ignored them and they ignored us. We had tried fighting one once but its armored shell was too thick and its claws too dangerous so we gave up. Now that Ann knew a lightning spell, we might have a chance but now wasn’t the time.

I had asked if they wanted to try and sail to the fishing village since we had seen a couple of smaller boats that looked intact during previous fishing trips. Evidently the water was infested with monsters, so it was too dangerous to use small boats and none of them were sailors in any case. I didn’t know much about boats either so could understand their reluctance. It did make me wonder if there were less monsters back when the city was alive.

There were a few howls in the distance but there were no incidents on our way east. We reached the eastern wall of the city around midday. The jungle was slowly creeping over the wall but it wasn’t as pronounced as the north side of the city. Lin led us to the eastern gate they had used to get into the city. The huge gate was wide open and I could just make out a road paved in stone leading out into the jungle.

The road was quickly swallowed up by the jungle and you could barely tell that a path had been cut through it when they had first come to the city. There were the remains of a couple wagons along the road as we started off. It would have been nice to bring a cart with us to haul more of the loot but getting a cart through the thick jungle would have been tough and would have slowed us down considerably.

We hiked along the remains of the road toward our destination. As we got farther from the city, the only way you could tell it was a road was that there was slightly less vegetation down the middle of it. We didn’t have to do much clearing as the path was still mostly present that they had cut through the jungle the first time. This meant we made good time until it started getting dark and we stopped to make camp.

We had heard plenty of activity in the surrounding jungle but so far nothing had tried attacking us. Still, it wasn’t safe to sleep on the ground. Instead, we had to secure ourselves with rope to tree branches high above the jungle floor. Even then, we had to take turns keeping watch. Before that we broke out the food which consisted of smoked meat.

Stolen story; please report.

The girls made it look easy to scramble up the trees, especially Lin. I had a lot more trouble but finally managed it, causing giggles from my girlfriends. Shadow of course had no problems and managed to even beat Lin up the tree. The branches weren’t very comfortable, making it hard to sleep. The jungle noise also didn’t subside at night and if anything got louder. I was already missing my bed and we still had several more days to go.

The night was uneventful and I managed to get a couple hours of sleep at least. I was still tired but ready to continue on after we ate a quick breakfast. The road was fairly flat with no big hills or valleys but the humidity and swarms of bugs within the jungle canopy made for an unpleasant trip. Once we got past the point where they started on the road then we would have to clear a path as well which I wasn’t looking forward to.

The second day included a couple encounters with the local wildlife. The first was a large boar that didn’t take kindly to our intrusion. It charged us from the side but was easily dealt with by Lux. We didn’t bother butchering it and kept going, wanting to get out of the jungle as soon as possible. The second was a jungle ape which was also dispatched quickly, using magic from a distance when it appeared on the road.

While we travelled, we kept silent to avoid attracting any unwanted attention. This made it rather boring and monotonous, not that I wanted more monsters to attack us to spice things up. Beneath the jungle canopy things were dark and gloomy and sometimes fog swirled around our ankles. We were still fairly close to the sea so caught a whiff of salty air every now and then.

We made good time that day and Lin thought we were getting close to the point where they had first entered the jungle. It would be nice if the boat would pick us up from the nearby beach, but instead we had to reach the village. We had to stop when it started getting dark and spent another unpleasant night in the jungle canopy, sleeping on branches.

That night Lin was on a branch close to mine so we whispered back and forth. I asked her something I had been wondering about. I was curious how well they could see in the dark. I could barely see anything since so little light got through the thick canopy. She giggled and indicated they could see a little better than humans but not well enough to fight effectively in the dark, especially in the jungle.

The next day Lin was right, and it didn’t take long to reach the point where the path previously cut through the jungle ended. We took a break from the jungle by going to the beach they had landed at. It was a relief to leave the claustrophobic embrace of the jungle and see the sky for a change.

The beach was a short stretch of pristine sand along the coast. The ocean spread before us with sea birds circling in the cloudless sky. I sat down on the sand while the girls took off their boots and waded into the water. Lux reminded them not to get too far out because of the sea monsters.

We were roughly halfway there now but the next stretch would be harder since we had to cut a path. After resting for a while and soaking up some sunshine, it was time to wade back into the jungle. We each took turns clearing the way through the underbrush while trying to follow the old roadway. I had to be corrected a few times when I started to veer off course. It was extremely hard to see what was left of the road.

Another two days of hard work and trudging through the jungle finally brought us to our destination. We had encountered a few more jungle beasts but nothing we couldn’t handle. At this point everyone was tired, dirty, and drenched in sweat. I would kill for a bath and a real bed.

The first clue that we were close was the appearance of crumbled stone ruins near the overgrown road. The number of ruins increased as we went on and soon we could see a break in the jungle ahead of us. We stepped out into a cleared area with the village in the distance. Ruins could be seen sticking out of the ground all over and the villagers had turned much of the ground into small fields.

The village was small as Ann had said and consisted of small wooden huts clustered together among the ruins. The ruins of the east port did look ancient and there wasn’t much left intact. The villagers had used stone blocks from the ruins to make a short, crude wall around the cleared area to separate it from the jungle. We rested on the wall while Lin went ahead to find one of the villagers.

I stretched and enjoyed the sunshine. Shadow walked along the top of the wall, curious as ever. Somehow she had managed to keep herself clean during the trip. I sighed as I took a drink of water from one of the water skins. Our journey through the jungle was over but we still had a voyage across the water ahead of us. I just hoped I didn’t get seasick.