The next few days were much the same. The only change was I could no longer tell where the road had been. Our scouts could still follow it but at this point I had to take their word for it. We were still being attacked regularly but although the number of attacks was high, the actual number of beasts attacking us each time was low.

After a week of traveling the jungle had grown much denser and our progress had slowed considerably. It took time to hack our way through the undergrowth with each of us taking a turn after an hour or so. It would have been nice to know how far it was between East Port and the capital but the ancient map wasn’t that precise.

We could only keep going. It was a good thing we had our magic bags and plenty of supplies. The number of beasts attacking us had increased along with the jungle density. Between clearing a path and fighting off monsters, we were all getting plenty of exercise. The expensive monster repellent stones were proving their worth and so far were successful in keeping the beasts at bay when we set up camp.

I had been worried that as things got more difficult our mercenary friends would decide to turn back. I was pleasantly surprised as they hadn’t even uttered any complaints. Nix continued to flirt with me and I had gotten in trouble a couple times for staring when she took off her armor after we made camp. The humidity was as horrible as I remembered, and her clothes were soaked through and sticking to her lithe body.

I had the feeling she knew exactly what she was doing as she always got a twinkle in her eye when she knew I was watching her. As the days wore on Ann and Lin seemed to get used to Nix and were less mad at me for the occasional wandering eye. I was curious how wolf/dog kin and cat kin got along in everyday life but was too afraid to ask.

Shadow didn’t seem to mind the long journey or the humidity either. She loved exploring the jungle and often wandered away from the group. I was worried at first but somehow, she was an expert at avoiding danger. So far, she hadn’t even gotten a scratch. Sometimes she would walk with us but even when wandering she would always come back once we made camp.

She proudly showed off her catches every day. It was usually brightly colored birds but occasionally she would catch smaller lizards or mammal type creatures. Some she ate herself and others she just dropped at the camp site. We made use of the ones she didn’t want and always congratulated her with pats and belly rubs. She was now the size of a large dog. Picking her up and carrying her would be a problem. I idly wondered if she continued to grow would I be able to put a saddle on her and ride her like a horse? Shadow must have caught on to what I was thinking and glared at me while hissing.

It continued like this until we ran into a problem. Lin was at the front and stopped suddenly, staring intently in front of her. The rest of us froze and looked around for any danger. “What is it?” Nix whispered, silently heading to the front. “The road splits into two forks.” Lin answered. Nix studied the path in front of us and concurred.

We decided to make camp while we investigated the situation. There were stone ruins close to where the road branched off which was the only thing I could make out. I couldn’t see evidence of either of the roads. We figured the ruins must have been some sort of inn but there wasn’t much left of it. We had been heading northwest and one road continued to the northwest while the other went southwest.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

I pulled out the old map but the only place it showed the road splitting was where a road from West Port met up with it and continued to the capital. If this was that road or not I had no way of knowing. It seemed likely since the road continued to the southwest in the direction of West Port. It was decided our best bet was to continue following the road to the northwest.

If it really was the road to West Port then according to the map we were three quarters of the way to the capital. If everything continued to go well then we should reach it in another week by my rough estimation. I was really missing a real bed and a hot bath at this point.

The last stretch turned out to be the hardest for us. The creatures got bigger and nastier and were powerful enough that our warding stones no longer worked to keep them away. We were all tired and irritable from the lack of sleep and the oppressive heat and humidity. It is a good thing the map showed we were getting close or we may have turned back already.

The beasts came in all shapes and sizes and unlike the more colorful birds, were all colored in shades of green to blend into the jungle. The largest we had seen was a rhino like beast that was the size of a truck. Trees were no obstacle to it as it plowed right through them. Its hide was also tough as swords and arrows just bounced off. It was up to Ann and my magic to deal with it. Luckily so far no one had been seriously injured.

I had brought along the monster reference book so I was able to identify most of them but surprisingly there were a few that I couldn’t find in the book. I didn’t have the energy or leeway to add entries to the book unfortunately. Maybe on the way back I would get the chance.

Finally we started seeing evidence we were getting close to the city. More stone ruins started popping up amidst the jungle and I could start to see the outline of the road again as the jungle thinned slightly. This immediately elevated the mood of the party. Although it was hard to see any change in the two usually stone faced members. The rest of us were all smiles as we neared our destination.

Not long after the jungle thinned out even more and intact structures could be seen. We had been walking uphill for a while and came out of the jungle on a hill looking out over the capital city. I was expecting to see a typical circular city but instead the large city was in the shape of a triangle. Tall towers stood at each of the points of the triangle with an even taller tower sticking up at the city’s center. Surrounding the middle tower was an impressive palace that shone silver in the setting sun.

The capital seemed to be in even better shape than West Port with most of the roofs remaining intact and the jungle went up to but had not extended over the city walls. There did appear to be some overgrown parts of the city from parks maybe but nothing like West Port. From our vantage point I could see a similar temple to what was present in West Port. I was certain one of the towers had to be a summoning tower but I wasn’t sure which one. Surely they couldn’t all be summoning towers could they?

The city was surrounded on all sides by the jungle. I had to wonder why they would make their capital here of all places. It was quite far from the coast and the map didn’t show anything else besides small villages and towns scattered about. There would be nothing left of those at this point. It was just another mystery that we would likely never know.

From this distance I couldn’t tell if any of the towers had lightning rods or not. The city was easily two or three times as big as West Port. Since it was getting dark, we decided to camp outside the city for now. Who knew what dangers were present within the city. The walls of the city seemed to be intact. However, we could see the gate on this side of the city was wide open.

I think all of us were excited to start exploring the city in the morning. We still kept watch, but nothing bothered us in the night. We did hear some strange howls and other beastly sounds so had remained vigilant. There were no signs of fires in the city not that I expected there to be any survivors. It would take quite a while to make our way through the city and explore the towers but I was looking forward to it.