“Alright, listen now!” Farre screamed after the revelation of mysterious ruins in the distance. “I’ll tell you more after I get down! Be ready to catch me if I fall!” The redhead exclaimed.

The three women that remained on the ground prepared themselves for the worst case scenario. Larisa had to shake Ha’na out of her strange state to pay attention. What should Larisa call those moments of Ha’na’s over the top excitement? She’d have to think about that.

“You two would have to catch her. I can’t do much here. This Essence is stubborn, so the air won’t move. Actually, Larisa could you try making a bed of air over us?” Ha’na proposed.

The blond woman was unsure about doing what Ha’na had asked her to do. Not because she didn’t want Farre to be safe, but she wasn't certain she was able to do something like that.

Larisa mostly listened and watched the Essence. Her manipulations to it were always minor and similar to how the beasts in this jungle used it. She could sense the changes in it and observe them. Like tracking a cienja by its steps that left pockets of darkness. Or simply by feeling the emotional change in it. Sometimes she could listen to the earth and the information it carried. Actually, that could be useful right now. To see if the earth could perhaps inform her of anyone approaching them. Still, nature and the Essence did not speak the language Larisa spoke, so most of the time the things she learned from it were left for interpretation.

Coming back to what Ha’na had asked of her, the air was the most fickle of elements. It was hard to grasp and even harder to shape. It wanted to move constantly and never stay in one place for too long. Making the air still for a while was the most she could do with it. Making a bed of air so Farre could fall on it? That seemed like too much to Larisa.

“I don’t know how.” So Larisa told Ha’na she couldn’t do it, at which the black-haired woman’s eyes widened.

“Really? But you have such good foundation. I can sense that you’re accustomed to manipulating the Essence.” Ha’na said in response.

Larisa wasn’t sure what to say in return. She didn’t know exactly what Ha’na had meant by ‘foundation’ or ‘manipulating’. Larisa mostly did what she felt she could do.

“Maybe stop chattering and be on the lookout. If Farre drops we’ll have only a second to react.” Rowela scolded the two women. Larisa felt a bit embarrassed by being distracted by Ha’na.

“Of course, Rowela.” She turned to Larisa. “We’ll talk more about it later, darling.” Said Ha’na. She hasn’t called Larisa ‘darling’ in a while. The woman didn’t realize that she missed it. It made her feel warm. Like embarrassment did but in a more pleasant way.

“Ah, to be young again.” Rowela sighed out quietly. Actually, how old was Rowela? She didn’t look that much older than Larisa.

The blond woman decided to ask now. She didn’t want the question to bite at her with incessant curiosity later.

“How old are you, Rowela?” Larisa asked the taller woman.

“Me? I’ll be around thirty-something soon.” She answered.

It surprised Larisa a bit. Rowela was almost double Larisa’s age? She looked good. Still, Larisa wasn’t sure how people looked like when they got older. She could suspect, but there was not much experience in her life to gauge something like the age of someone if they didn’t look similar to Larisa.

“Nacht blood is really something. I thought you were around twenty-five.” Ha’na said absent-mindedly from the side.

“I guess so.” Rowela said, and the women focused on listening for screams of a falling comrade.

None came and soon Farre’s behind emerged slowly from the thick branches of the hikora tree.

When she was close enough to the ground she jumped and the women caught her.

“Hal’s tits! I’ll never do that again.” Farre said with conviction as she sat on the ground panting. “My hands burn. Larisa, you got any more of that stuff for pain?” She asked.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

“Some. Don’t use too much.” Larisa handed Farre the tube and made a note in her mind to gather useful herbs. She felt she should make much more of the pastes and medicines considering the size of their group and the situation they found themselves in.

“Thanks.” Farre untangled the leaf tube. “So, I have bad and good news, I guess.” The redhead said as she started applying the paste.

“Well, don’t keep us in suspense. We heard about the ruins you saw. I think we should head there. It might prove to be a good shelter and offer some interesting information.” Ha’na prompted Farre so continue. Larisa was amazed how she kept herself from going into a burst of passion.

“I think that’s a good idea. Back to what I saw. So, there was some smoke but I honestly couldn’t tell if it was a remnant of what happened or something new. I couldn't gauge the distance. Nothing near us though. That’s good but also can be bad. The soldiers could still be moving through the jungle but simply without setting any fires. They probably don’t think it’s going to work twice to lure us out this way.” Farre said.

When Larisa listened to what the redhead was saying she remembered the first day Vitash came to the jungle. She listened to the earth then. She did it then mostly in instinct and hasn’t tried since. Maybe now it could prove to be useful?

“I can try something.” Larisa said to the group. The other three women looked at her in question. “I can try asking the earth. It could say if there are people moving to here. Probably.” A dead silence fell over the group for a second and then Farre got up and said this.

“You’re telling us now, you idiot?! That’s so useful! Did I even have to climb this kurnet tree?” The redhead shot the question out. Larisa only shrugged and felt herself make a funny face.

“Please try, Larisa. It’d be good to know more.” Ha’na said from Larisa’s side. As if Farre’s outburst didn’t happen.

The blond woman nodded and crouched closer to the ground. The area around the tree offered some freedom of movement, so the ground was simply covered in leaves that have fallen from the tree. No protruding roots or rocks. Or mud. Larisa hated mud.

Larisa uncovered the earth beneath the leaves and put her hand into the dirt.

Its coolness made the skin on her palm soothed and felt really nice. Larisa tried to focus on the flows of the Essence.

When air was a fickle and a hard element to control, it also provided a lot of opportunity to carry information. But that was only viable in smaller distances. Where the air flowed through. The earth on the other hand always felt like a solid and single entity to Larisa. Wind could be so different depending on which direction one would go, or how high. With earth there were no such adventures. It sang in one tone and was easy to listen too. But because of that, it also proved itself to be hard to understand.

The impressions Larisa usually got from different elements that lived in the Essence were left to interpretation most of the time. Were it a sound, a smell or simply a feeling of something brushing against her skin.

This time Larisa got a combination of those.

Firstly, she heard in the distance a vague sound of footsteps. It was not surprising to Larisa on its own, but after that there was an undertone. A quick sound of running. The people were riding on something or some beast was running around. The distance to those sounds was hard to gauge. It didn’t feel close but definitely not far either.

The smell did not surprise Larisa at first as it was a scent of smoke and burning greenery. It must’ve been the aftershocks of what happened near the spur. Some other smells she could recognize were of oil. She used oil mostly to keep her blade in a good condition, but she also knew it could be used for burning things. Larisa didn’t like the implication of that.

Lastly, the sensation of comfortable coldness did not last long on Larisa’s hand as a piercing heat started to travel up her hand. It was nothing like what happened with that dragon’s scale, so Larisa kept her hand in the ground.

A vague impression of fire took hold in Larisa’s mind. The heat the ground made her feel started to feel reminiscent of the fire of the scale. How it pierced and was relentless as a cienja. Quick too. Larisa felt as if the ground was dying and being born anew. Something was up. She despaired at her realization.

The blond woman pulled her hand away from the ground and faced the women in front of her. All of them had expressions of great curiosity and impatience. Rowela looked more bored than anything.

“So? Come on, what is it?” Farre prompted Larisa to speak.

“I think people are moving closer to us but not enough for us to start running again.” She slowly said to the group.

“That’s good news, I think. Could be better but still. Is there something else? You look strange Larisa.” Ha’na said as she came closer to the blond woman. She took hold of the hand that was previously in the ground and started to clean it.

“I think that they’ve gotten the scale.” At what Larisa said a tense silence took place over the group.

Larisa felt a strange amalgamation of feelings. There was a fiery anger, a sour frustration and a slowly emerging despair that settled deep in her chest.

What should they do now?