Their escape from the camp was swift thanks to Farre’s knowledge of the layout and crushed halcite she kept in her metal box. Apparently, the ropes around the camp had been infused with fire and dark Essence to block out intruders and occlude the inside happenings. Only something like crushed halcite could be used to touch those ropes. Jumping over them could also work, or climbing above them, but it seemed like too much work. So in the end, they settled on using the crushed halcite.

Surprisingly, no one followed them. There were no sounds of steps and yelling coming from behind them as they slipped past and outside the camp. The terrain between the camp and the edge of the jungle was pretty much bare and there weren’t many places to hide if someone were to be looking. So the three women had to keep themselves close to the ground and move swiftly, which proved to be quite difficult for Ha’na. She huffed and puffed, and each new breath she took sounded more like the grinding of two rocks together. She clearly had weak endurance, which could prove to be her undoing in the fast-paced jungle life. Larisa would have to take care of that.

“Hal, I forgot that running was always difficult for me.” Ha’na managed to speak the sentence out as they were a few steps away from the edge of the jungle.

“You don’t say? It’s not because all you do is sit on your ass, is it?” Farre poked Ha’na. At least, to Larisa it felt as if she took her earlier discarded walking stick, and stuck it in between Ha’na’a ribs. It was fun, imagining a conversation happening physically like this.

“What?! I’m simply less naturally athletic than you both. It has nothing to do with me sitting so much I’m sure.”

“This is golden.” Farre responded with some laughter, to which Ha’na’s face turned into a confused and embarrassed mess.

It didn’t take long as they sneaked their way successfully into the premises of the jungle. There were still a couple of hundreds of steps to take to get into the full thickness of it.

They moved fast to get there. It didn’t take long, but Larisa’s feet were displeased with the hurried movements. And then, the colours changed and Larisa’s perception shifted. She was now home.

When the sky above got fully covered by the tree crowns, she gave the two other women a little bit of the dark-seeing paste. She had to make some more quickly if she was going to be distributing it to two other people. The ingredients were two plants, one of which was easy enough to come by - jalapa, a herb that on its own had few uses, and Sleeper’s Dread that was much harder to find. It was a small flower that liked to grow under the moonlight and in-between the roots of trees. Finding one would have to rely on how much luck they had.

“And I just put it under my eyes?” Ha’na spoke the question out. Before she was able to answer Farre decided to help.

“Come on. Let me put this on.” She took the piece of leaf with the paste on it and put in delicately under Ha’na’s eyes. It surprised Larisa a bit, since Farre liked to verbally poke Ha’na around instead of acting with softness, but it was not unwelcome.

After the three women put it on, they took some deep breaths. Larisa realized that something felt off.

The air in the jungle felt different. Even though they were still in the outside part of it. Not just the smell of it or the feeling it gave on Larisa’s skin made her come to that conclusion. It was the Essence. It had a different structure, more chaotic and disordered. It flew around freely and without limitation. The amount of it was abundant.

Larisa would have never thought of the Essence here that way, if not for the contrast to the space outside these hills of primal vegetation. This place was truly different. Special.

“Amazing. I’ve never felt the Essence like that.” Seems like Ha’na agreed.

“Is it? I don’t know. Feels like some wet dirt and greenery to me.” Farre added.

“No, it’s different. In a fundamental sense. This place is as far as we can get from our reality as possible. The Essence is different. That’s like-” Ha’na seemed to think about a proper description. “-a different world. Different laws of nature. Somewhere detached.” Ha’na seemed to get lost into the Essence as Larisa could feel light manipulations happening around.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“It’s so hard to control.” Ha’na remarked.

Larisa was surprised at Ha’na’s assessment. To Larisa, touching the Essence in the jungle was much simpler.

“You can do, whatever you’re doing, later. We should move deeper.” Farre reminded them both.

They really should move, as they simply stood inside the edge of the jungle, still visible to the good eye.

“Let’s go.” Larisa started to walk forward. She wasn’t sure exactly where they should be heading, but a primary goal for them should be to get a shelter. Because it was a night, there were more creatures lurking in the darkness, and Larisa did not want to encounter any of them.

Cienja she could handle, but there were other beasts that Larisa had the displeasure of meeting before. Some creatures you simply couldn’t fight. Some had hides as tough as a rock and were fast and furious as a halal wind. They would strike at you once and if you were not prepared that would mean death.

Thankfully, Larisa thought that being this close to the edge meant fewer predators that lurked deeper. Maybe they even changed location, the ones, at least that Larisa was aware of. The presence of Vitash, that slept on top of the mountain, meant that Larisa couldn’t be as sure of her knowledge of certain locations as before. So it was better to be careful.

“We need to make camp. Further in should be better. There’s a hill.” Larisa said to the other two women who followed diligently and with some trepidation. Larisa wasn’t surprised with how carefully Farre acted since she spent a good couple of days here with Larisa, but she was surprised at Ha’na’s reaction. At first, she seemed filled with wonder and excitement, but know Larisa could see a glistening in the corner of her eye and a slight tremble to her lips. She didn’t like that.

“What is it?” She asked Ha’na as she came close enough to whisper. They walked slowly and into the direction Larisa said they should head to so she could allow herself to show some concern.

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Ha’na didn’t meet her eye, which Larida realized, she has always done before.

“What is it? Are you cold?” The nights in the jungle could get cold and Ha’na was only wearing her robe. Larisa actually hasn’t checked Ha’na’s shoes, which could be a big issue if they didn’t insulate well.

“A little, I suppose.” Ha’na said and Larisa instantly took off her bear skin. She didn’t need it that much. Ha’na could use it more.

“Thank you.” She whispered and then paused with her mouth open as if to continue. After a second she did. “It’s scary here. More than I thought it’d be. It’s actually more in every way I’ve ever imagined.” Ha’na shared with Larisa as she adjusted the bear skin to be more comfortable. It was big on Larisa and looked ridiculous on Ha’na but the blond thought it was charming.

The taller woman wasn’t sure what to say or do in this situation, but then in her mind came a memory that made her feel safe in Ha’na’s presence.

Larisa put her arm on her shoulder and squeezed lightly. Enough to apply pressure but not enough to bruise, at least Larisa hoped.

“We’re safe.” Larisa wanted to assure Ha’na more. They were safe, for the time being. There was surely bound to have an eventful encounter in the future, but for now they could focus on necessities without thinking of what could be.

“That’s a good place I think.” Farre said a bit louder than normal from a little distance before them.

Ha’na took Larisa’s hand and they headed to make camp.

As Larisa looked at the area, she was quite satisfied with it. It had plain enough ground and fewer roots sticking out than normal. She let go of Ha’na’s hand and put her packs away and went to gather materials. As she turned she noticed that Ha’na looked around with a question on her brow. Larisa came closer and gestured for her to sit on one of the bigger branches around.

“I’ll make camp. Sit.” She said and turned to look at Farre, who seemed to be doing everything already.

The days they spent in the jungle together taught Farre a lot about how to make a camp or a fire site. Larisa thought that she could help her by gathering bigger leaves to use as a roof.

As Farre made a wooden frame for the leaves to get attached to, Larisa gathered rocks to build around the campfire. From then, it went quickly enough. The roof got build, the fire was lit, and the three women sat as comfortable as they could under their makeshift campsite. The space was small so they had to huddle close to the fire. Larisa was in the middle with the other women at her side. Farre seemed to mind only the usual amount; that could be guessed from a small wrinkle forming on her forehead, and Ha’na acted as if Larisa was the fire they were sitting around. She grasped the closest of Larisa’s arm to her chest and the taller woman couldn’t say she complained.

After a drink of water and a small bite of some rations, Larisa still had packed, they put their cloths and furs down to make a place to sleep. All this time Larisa looked at the metal box sitting in the corner of her vision. Its dark grey surface shimmered with orange flames, which seemed to dance to the song the wind made in the high crowns of the palms. It lulled the three exhausted women deep into restless slumber.