Edwyr couldn't believe his eyes. There was another elf. The first elf he'd seen in a decade. He'd gotten so used to humans that the sight of another one of his kind was almost unfamiliar to him. The black eyes, the long, pointed ears, and the long, dark, smooth, braided hair.... The only thing the local humans shared with them was the hair color and the darker skin, but while theirs was brown, the elves' skin was dark gray.

And Edwyr had gotten completely used to not seeing any of it, so much so that even after a few seconds he still felt shocked. But now he was also confused. Why was this elf here?

What was perhaps even more shocking, though, was that the other elf was looking at him with the same amount of surprise. That immediately put Edwyr off of being a welcoming host. Not that he had been planning on being one either way, but this wasn't making things better. He didn't appreciate being gawked at like this.

"What are you doing in my house?" Edwyr asked harshly, walking inside and hanging his bow on the hook by the door.

The other elf straightened up, though he still looked very out of his element. Edwyr could practically smell the magic off his black and gold robes that must have been more expensive than anything Edwyr had ever owned. Already Edwyr was guessing that this was an elf gifted with magical talents, but with little experience concerning the world outside the Academy. He did look young—perhaps a little over twenty—though Edwyr wasn't much older than that, so that wasn't an excuse.

"I..." The elf cleared his throat. "I was told to seek you out." He scanned the entire interior of Edwyr's house with his eyes as he spoke, most likely just to avoid looking at Edwyr. "I am Feyrith Senari Werion. I have been given a mission by the High Council to investigate a ruin in the area. There have been—"

"And the Council told you I would help you?" Edwyr couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice. They'd called him Cursed and banished him, and now they had the audacity to assume he would help one of their people?

Edwyr hadn't expected to get so angry so quickly, but he could already feel the urge to yell at Feyrith building up inside of him.

"Yes."

Feyrith sounded a little taken aback. Somehow, he apparently hadn't thought that Edwyr would find this to be a problem.

"Well, the Council was wrong."

The elf blinked at him as if he was surprised that Edwyr had refused to help so quickly. It was sort of amusing to see, but Edwyr would still much prefer not having this discussion in the first place.

"I know you bear the Divine Curse." Edwyr grimaced at the full name of his affliction, doing his best not to start ranting about their Goddess right then. "But that doesn't mean you don't have a responsibility to help with threats that—"

"I do help," Edwyr interrupted him, taking a few steps forward. "I help protect Sunwood. Unlike you."

Feyrith narrowed his eyes at him. Edwyr was almost glad to see that. "Our forces are not numerous enough to protect every town there is."

"Of course they aren't." Edwyr had never been particularly patient, but he felt like this was the least patient he had ever been. And he couldn't even make himself feel guilty about treating Feyrith this way. He couldn't tell the Council to go to hell, so their dutiful representative here would have to do. "And ours aren't numerous enough to help you find a ruin and abandon this town to its fate in the meantime."

"But—"

"Get out of my house."

Unlike before, Feyrith's expression barely changed, but Edwyr could still tell he was shocked. Edwyr was still more than knowledgeable enough in their kind's insistence to not show emotions outwardly to be able to tell just by how Feyrith's eyebrows rose just a little.

He opened his mouth, probably to argue further, but then he just bowed his head and, avoiding Edwyr's gaze, left the house, closing the door behind him. Edwyr stood in the middle of the room for a moment, taking a deep breath to calm down. His clenched hands were shaking, and his heart was beating hard in his chest—neither of which he had been aware of until now.

He ran a hand through his hair, sitting down in the chair. It seemed he would need a beer tonight rather than get one to celebrate, and he needed to get it fast before he could start feeling guilty for treating Feyrith the way he had. Because Edwyr fully realized that the other elf was simply trying to complete the task given to him by the Council, but from the moment he'd seen him he had been too angry to even listen to him properly.

Edwyr shook his head. This wasn't his problem, nor was it his duty to help this elf. As far as he was concerned, he couldn't care less about what the High Council expected of him. They'd exiled him, and with that, they'd lost all their power over him.

Letting out an annoyed huff, Edwyr walked over to the pantry and picked up a carrot for Tempest before leaving the house. His squawker was trying to steal the carrot from his hand as soon as Edwyr showed up, barely letting him lock the door behind him. He couldn't help but smile at her, though his bitter anger was still very much present.

At least once he gave her the carrot, it was harder to think about his troubles when he saw the joy in her eyes as she gobbled the vegetable down. For once she didn't ask for more and simply sat there, content, which was unusual but appreciated since Edwyr wasn't sure he'd be able to resist giving her more right now.

After petting her head, he began strolling down the hill, staring down at the path as he did. He only then realized he had meant to take off his armor, but he didn't feel like going back to do it now. The biggest worry on his mind right now was running into Feyrith again, but that was unlikely. The elf probably didn't want to talk to him again, and given how much any elf stood out among humans, it would be easy to avoid him. And Feyrith wasn't likely to go to the tavern because elves had no taverns, or anything comparable.

As he went, he passed by a few people—most likely people he knew, definitely people that knew him—but he barely noticed them. He tried not to think about what had just happened, but he couldn't stop himself. And now on top of that, he was starting to wonder what could possibly be so important in these ruins that the Council would send a gifted magic user to explore them alone. Or at most with an elf without magic, which the Council saw as practically useless.

He should have let Feyrith at least finish telling him what his mission was, but at the same time, Edwyr knew that the more he heard about this the more curious he'd be, so maybe it was good that he had thrown him out of the house before finding anything out.

And yet he couldn't help but wonder what ruin Feyrith was looking for. Edwyr couldn't think of anything that fit that description anywhere close to Sunwood. He was certain he'd seen a few broken, stone walls and the like deep in the jungle, but that was the most he'd ever seen. And he was also sure that those were the remains of some human settlements, a few centuries old. Surely that wouldn't be interesting to the High Council.

He barely realized that he had entered the tavern and sat down, doing all of it by instinct at this point, until someone put a tankard with beer in front of him. Edwyr flinched, looking up to see the tavern keeper give him a nod, leaving before Edwyr could thank her. But then again, the woman had never been one for conversation. That was a little odd given her occupation, but Edwyr didn't mind at all, seeing as he wasn't exactly talkative either.

He took a gulp of the beer, humming to himself and enjoying the bitter taste. It wasn't helping him stop thinking about Feyrith, though. His whole mission sounded off to Edwyr, and the more he thought about it, the less sense it made. An inexperienced elf like him would usually be sent off to help the humans in a less dangerous area, and he would go there with several more novices. Unless the Council had severely changed its policies within the last few years, of course, but Edwyr doubted that. With elves, nothing ever changed.

But perhaps he was simply being too suspicious. After all, if this was some ploy to get Edwyr to do something, or to get him somewhere, what could the High Council want with him in the first place? It was still odd that they'd send Feyrith to talk to him, but then again, if this ruin truly was in the area, perhaps they thought Feyrith would have an easier time talking to him rather than the humans. Edwyr wouldn't fault them for that logic, as to an elf who had never gone to the mainland, humans and their general demeanor could be a bit much.

The thought of Feyrith being confused by the locals made Edwyr feel a bit better, but even at that moment he couldn't help but feel annoyed with himself. He shouldn't lower himself to being quite this petty. No matter his own opinions and stances on the elven nation and its rules, Edwyr knew that their primary goal was to help where they could. Whatever Feyrith's mission actually was, Edwyr hoped he wouldn't get himself killed because of it, and he truly wished him the best. He just didn't want Feyrith to involve him in said mission.

He looked around at the people near him, who he had been successfully ignoring all this time, even though their murmuring was an ever-present background noise. The tavern was relatively well lit with sconces and a wooden chandelier hanging from the rafters, but the flames also created dark corners.

There were only around ten people, which was a little unusual, but not that out of the ordinary. What was out of the ordinary was the way a few of them were looking at him. They of course quickly looked away when he locked eyes with them, but Edwyr couldn't pretend that he hadn't noticed it. It reminded him of when he'd moved here. He hadn't liked it then, and he didn't like it now.

When he heard the tavern door creak as it opened, Edwyr quickly turned his attention to it instead, relieved to see that it was Lanna and Arbane. He was happy to see them in general, especially after Arbane's injury, but Edwyr would also welcome the distraction they always presented.

Except something was a little off. And a second later Edwyr noticed what it was. Arbane wasn't even limping anymore. It looked like all of his wounds had healed. What in the Goddess' name...?

"We just met another elf," Arbane said a bit too loudly as he plopped himself down on the bench opposite Edwyr, leaning onto the table with his elbows. He was grinning, which wasn't unusual, but it definitely was in this context since Arbane didn't like elves.

"Did he heal you?" Edwyr felt a little ashamed of how unfriendly he'd made that question sound. He should be happy for his friend who was no longer in pain, and that was all there was to it.

Lanna and Arbane exchanged a look before Arbane looked him in the eye again, his face jarringly serious. "That's right. And I can already tell what you're thinking, so stop that."

Edwyr sighed, closing his hands around the tankard and looking down into his beer. He didn't appreciate being talked to like this, but it was deserved. He was being ridiculous, feeling sorry for himself because he couldn't help his friend the way Feyrith could. This wasn't about him.

"I take it you already met him?" Lanna asked after a moment of tense silence. Edwyr nodded, not really feeling up to talking about this. But he clearly would have to since the two had already met Feyrith.

"He broke into my house."

Both Arbane and Lanna let out a surprised laugh, their eyes wide. "What?"

"I assume he opened the lock with magic." Despite trying to keep a neutral tone, Edwyr couldn't stop himself from sounding a little mocking. "He wanted my help, but I don't know with what because I may have been...a bit untactful."

"Yeah, he seemed a little...spooked," Lanna said, one of her eyebrows raised. "Pretty, though."

Edwyr frowned to himself. He hadn't noticed that, but then he'd been too busy throwing Feyrith out of his house at the time.

Arbane snorted. "What is it with you and elves?"

"They're exotic." Lanna stuck out her tongue at him before putting an arm around him, smiling at him warmly. "I'm just teasing."

Back when Edwyr had arrived in Sunwood, Lanna had immediately taken a fancy to him, much to the jealousy of Arbane, though they hadn't even been together back then. Edwyr didn't like remembering that whole debacle, but it was nice to see that Arbane wasn't bothered by it in any significant way anymore. Edwyr still wasn't sure why Lanna had found him attractive when most humans were immediately put off by his appearance, but that was one mystery he didn't need to unravel.

"He came across as if he had close to no idea what he was doing, though, right?" Arbane said, scratching at the stubble on his chin. "Or did I imagine that?"

"He didn't seem very sure of himself, that's true," Lanna replied. "But I'm just glad he fixed your ankle."

The conversation was interrupted by the tavern keeper bringing them two more beers before leaving just as quickly as she'd appeared.

"Thanks, Mori!" Arbane yelled after her, raising his tankard.

"Did he tell you what exactly he was looking for?" Edwyr asked them, despite knowing this was a bad idea. The less he knew the better, but he couldn't seem to keep his curiosity in check. He simply had too many questions, and his friends had at least some answers. Definitely more than he did.

"He talked about this ruin in the mountains, so we assumed he meant Urzikal." Lanna shrugged, drinking deeply from her tankard. Edwyr did the same, trying to remember if he'd ever heard that name before. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it. "I have to be honest—it was hard not to laugh at how surprised he was that we knew about it."

"I found it a bit insulting." Arbane then sighed and laughed. "But it was also funny. You're right."

Arbane and Lanna continued talking, but Edwyr's thoughts drowned out their voices. What was so special about some ruin in the mountains? He didn't think he'd heard of any elves settling anywhere other than on their home island of Aendor. So, if this was a ruin left behind by humans, what worth could that represent to the High Council?

He rubbed his forehead as he stared down at the table, his eyes tracing the cracks in the wood. He glared, suddenly annoyed with himself. Why did he care? It didn't involve him.

Although, Feyrith had helped his friend after Edwyr had been so rude to him, which did make it difficult to stay mad at the elf. All elves grew up constantly being told about their duty to help humans, so Feyrith had probably not thought anything of it, but if anything, that made Edwyr more guilty.

He abandoned that thought as he suddenly realized something. To get to the nearest mountain range, which he assumed was the one Lanna had referred to, Feyrith would have to either cross the entire jungle, which was insanely dangerous, or go around it, which would take longer, and he would probably get attacked by bandits on the way.

"He is going to get himself killed."

Whatever Lanna and Arbane had been talking about until now was interrupted, though Edwyr didn't notice until he realized they were looking at him.

"Who? You mean that elf? Doesn't he have magic?"

It took Edwyr a second to remember that he'd never actually told either of them much about these things. And since they'd never actually seen an elf before him, there was no simple way for them to learn about his kind, even if they wanted to. Though Edwyr was assuming that at least for Arbane, that was not the case.

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"Having magic doesn't make one undefeatable." No matter what the Council liked to think about themselves, not even one of its members, the most powerful group of magic users, would be capable of fighting off every threat. And Feyrith was definitely not a Councilor.

Arbane shrugged, gesturing to where his head wound had been. "I don't know, with how easily he healed me—"

"Magic is very exhausting and difficult to use for longer periods of time," Edwyr cut him off, shaking his head. "You probably didn't notice, but it cost him considerable energy to heal you."

He wasn't even sure why he was trying to justify his opinion, but he felt like he had to, even though they would listen to him even without it. He knew that they trusted him enough, at the very least.

Lanna leaned in, giving both Edwyr and her husband a curious look. "So? Are we going after him?"

"What? No!" Edwyr blinked at his kneejerk reaction, scowling at his neglected beer. If it were that easy, he wouldn't be here thinking everything over a thousand times. But that thought left his mind immediately when he fully realized what she'd said. "Wait, what do you mean after him? Did he leave already?"

Arbane shrugged again. "Seemed to. Right after finding out what he needed from us."

Edwyr rubbed his eyes. That was just wonderful. As if deciding whether to help Feyrith hadn't been difficult before, now there was also a time limit within which he could still realistically act. It would be fair to assume that Feyrith had a squawker, which was also not helpful.

"Look, if you want to help this guy...." Arbane trailed off, giving Edwyr a meaningful look.

"I...." Edwyr huffed in frustration. "I don't know. I don't truly want to, I have no obligation to, but...." He let his shoulders sink. He felt as if by revealing this he was giving up some large secret. "I feel like I should help."

Both Arbane and Lanna nodded seriously, looking sympathetic.

"That makes sense," Lanna said, reaching over the table to put her hand over Edwyr's for a moment. "I mean, if nothing else, he is another one of your kind, right?"

As much as Edwyr hated to admit it, that was a part of it. It wasn't often, but he did get moments of homesickness, even now still. It usually manifested itself as a vague sadness he didn't dare explore, but that was because rationally he didn't want anything to do with the society that had rejected him. But he knew that some part of him had not let go and wouldn't let go.

"All right, let me just finish my beer before we get going," Arbane said, putting the tankard to his lips. He hadn't sounded annoyed in the slightest at the prospect of leaving again so soon, even though he definitely should have.

"What? No, you aren't going as well."

Lanna scoffed. "If you think an elf with magic can't survive this trip, you definitely can't."

Edwyr knew she was just trying to prove a point, but that didn't make much sense. The reason Feyrith was unlikely to reach his destination was due to naivety rather than incompetence. Practically everything elves did was train and study, so Edwyr didn't doubt Feyrith knew how to fight very well. He was mostly concerned that his theoretical knowledge about the world wouldn't fit with what the world was actually like. Edwyr knew very well how much it didn't align, having lived through it himself.

"We can't leave Sunwood undefended from whatever crawls out of the jungle. Or the sea."

"The trip to that ruin should take a few days at most," Lanna argued, waving her hand. "And we aren't the only ones here who know how to fight."

Edwyr folded his arms on the table and glared down at them. He had no real arguments to counter that. Still, it didn't feel right. The Town Elder paid them for their services as defenders of the town from whatever beast tried to prey upon it. They had an obligation to Sunwood, first and foremost.

But Lanna and Arbane were right in saying that going alone was dangerous. It was, though he had a feeling they would have protested even if he hadn't kicked Feyrith out and instead agreed to go with him and help.

The idea of leaving the entire town for so long didn't sit well with him either, though.

"Okay," Edwyr said before either of his friends could continue explaining to him why not taking them with him was a moronic idea. "You stay here. I will try to catch up with Feyrith and convince him not to leave just yet. He couldn't have gotten far. And if I don't manage to find him...."

Arbane nodded, though Lanna seemed a little suspicious, judging by the way she narrowed her eyes at him. As if she was expecting him to use this as an excuse to leave them behind. Edwyr wouldn't pretend the idea hadn't crossed his mind, but he knew he wouldn't be able to see that plan through.

"We need to make sure the Town Elder doesn't object to our absence if we do leave, however."

With that, Edwyr took his last sip of beer, knowing that he would unfortunately not be able to finish it. He needed to get going and try to find Feyrith before he got too far away. And being tipsy would not help matters.

"I'll see you in a moment," he told them, getting up. "Maybe more than a moment. But I will be back."

"You'd better," Lanna said almost sternly, giving him another nod. Edwyr nodded back, walking out of the tavern before he even thought to leave a coin on the table to pay for the beer. But he had no time to go back now, and besides, he knew Arbane and Lanna would pay for him.

Edwyr ran to his house and to Tempest, who stood up when she saw him, tilting her head as if to question what was going on with him. Edwyr hated to make her run again, especially so soon, but he had no choice. Tempest didn't protest when he put her bridle and saddle back on as quickly as he could before climbing on her back. She set off as soon as he did, already galloping down the path without Edwyr having to direct her.

As he left the town and made his way towards the jungle, Edwyr wracked his brain trying to figure out where he should go to try to find Feyrith. Heading for the road that wound itself by the seashore seemed to be the obvious choice, but that was at least an hour away. Feyrith couldn't have made it over there yet, but there was a path leading to the road from Sunwood he might have used. Maybe Edwyr could choose a more direct path and catch up to him.

He squinted into the twilight as Tempest ran through the long grass, trying to spot any kind of silhouette on the grassy plains to help him, but all he managed to find was a herd of wild squawkers grazing in the distance. He pushed Tempest to go faster, even though Edwyr had no idea where they were going. Elves could see better in the dark than humans, and better in general, but it probably wouldn't help much when he needed to see so far ahead.

Still, Edwyr did his best not to give up too early, despite already feeling very pessimistic about his chances. The jungle was a tall, dark mass in the distance as he directed Tempest to sprint around it, but even then, he could tell she was starting to slow down. Still, he pressed on, trying to use the last remaining rays of light to spot something, anything, either on the path or anywhere around him.

But there was nothing.

Finally, he let Tempest slow down to a trot, and as they reached the path, she came to a halt. Edwyr sighed, running his hand over the squawker's neck. What was that elf thinking, setting out on such a long journey on his own at night? Of course, it was much less dangerous for someone who could use magic to defend themselves, but that didn't mean that this wasn't a stupid idea.

But that wasn't Feyrith's fault exactly. The Council tended to constantly stress that an elf's main goal in life was to do the Council's bidding. They didn't put it that way, but Edwyr was far too jaded to see it differently. They had probably told Feyrith to get to that ruin as fast as possible, and of course, a good, proper elf would do their best to do so, even if it meant not sleeping enough and taking pointless risks.

"Dammit," he muttered to himself. Well, that settled that, then. Though he couldn't help but curse himself for how he'd treated Feyrith. If he hadn't—

He huffed, shaking his head and turning Tempest around. It didn't matter now. He wasn't responsible for what trouble Feyrith got himself into, so feeling guilty for this was not only pointless but also unwarranted.

As much as he hated to do this, there was no way for them to follow at night. It just wasn't worth it, and to be blunt, Edwyr cared about the lives of his friends much more than about a random elf who had told Edwyr to help him instead of at least asking. They would follow in the morning at the soonest and hope that they would manage to catch up before Feyrith ran into trouble.

Chapter 4

There was no doubt in Feyrith's mind that leaving immediately had been a bad idea. And now that he thought about it, he wasn't even sure why he'd felt it was so important to leave quickly. Edwyr might have refused an order from the Council, and very quickly and harshly as well, but Sunwood, while not large, wasn't a tiny town. If he wanted to avoid having another argument with the elf, he could have very easily stayed out of Edwyr's way the rest of the night and leave at dawn.

Feyrith had gotten overwhelmed, though, he supposed, and there had been no reason to stay in Sunwood specifically if Edwyr wasn't interested in helping him. The only problem with that idea was that there was no other town or village anywhere close to Sunwood, which he'd only found out later, squinting at his map as he rode along the road on his quasir. It was already getting very dark, and he was starting to feel tired.

That was somewhat embarrassing for an elf, but it was most likely due to him not being used to traveling for such long distances. And the quasir wasn't likely to make it much farther either, given that it had had no proper rest for several hours.

If Feyrith kept following the road, it would take until daybreak to get to the next settlement, which was a village called Everward. He could most likely stop there, but he wasn't so sure the quasir would be able to make that after the long journey to Sunwood. And sleeping out here seemed unwise. He was fairly confident nothing could hurt him as long as he stayed awake, but he would need to sleep eventually.

But still, he was too stubborn to go back to Sunwood, even though that would be the easiest solution. He just continued staring at his map with a frown as the quasir trotted along the road. The longer he looked at it the more he was starting to dislike the long line of the road that wound itself around the jungle. If it just went through—

Feyrith's eyes widened as he realized that the answer to his problem was actually fairly simple. It didn't look like it would take that long to get through the jungle, which meant he would save himself a lot of time. He wouldn't be able to travel on the quasir's back, but given the fact that the beast was tired, he wouldn't expect it to run much faster than it was currently.

Feyrith doubted that anything in the jungle would pose a significant threat, especially since he wouldn't need to go very deep into it, hopefully, so the only thing he would have to look out for was not getting turned around. If he got lost, he might end up wandering the jungle for as long as it would have taken to use the road.

He was confident that wouldn't happen, though, and it was worth the risk with how much time he could save. He steered the quasir off the road and onto the now dark, grassy field, heading toward the towering trees. He looked back at his map, trying to figure out where the best point of entry would be.

He quickly decided that the best thing to do would be to go where the jungle was at its narrowest, even though that wouldn't take him directly to Everward. But that was a drawback he would accept because taking a riskier route might end up ultimately slowing him down even more.

With that, Feyrith put his map back in his satchel and rode the quasir along the tree line of the jungle, looking for where to take the plunge. Staring into the darkness between the large tree trunks was much more fascinating than intimidating, but Feyrith would have to resist exploring this strange new place for now.

He rode along the jungle until he reached what he hoped was a good place to cross, and that was when he made the quasir stop and jumped off its back, taking the reins into his hand. First, he would need something to light the way.

"Saris aenra," he muttered, frowning in concentration as he summoned the familiar ball of light into his hand. He knew it was possible to create a light that would hover above him and make it follow him as he walked, but he had yet to figure out how to do that properly. But this was good enough. The light illuminated the trees well enough, letting him see far enough into the jungle to spot a few vines hanging between the trees, and that was all he needed.

Next to him, the quasir let out a low squawk, staring into the jungle with much less enthusiasm than Feyrith. The elf patted the beast's side, running his hand over the smooth feathers, knowing that it would at least somewhat calm it down. The last thing he needed was for the quasir to get frightened and run away from him.

Thankfully, after this the beast let itself be led inside without much further convincing. Despite the thickness of the jungle, there was enough space for a beast as large as a quasir to easily be able to move around. It hadn't looked that way from the outside.

Perhaps it would be possible to ride through here. Or maybe the jungle would become less open and more difficult to traverse even on foot. But there was no use worrying about that possibility.

Deciding to go on foot for now, Feyrith led the quasir further inside the jungle. He needed to focus and only go straight as best as he could manage with all of the roots, ferns, and trees in his way. The night sky wasn't visible at all through the thick treetops, unfortunately, so he couldn't use it to get a sense of direction. At least his summoned light was strong enough that he could see far and well, so his best option was using the trees to remember which way he was going.

He flinched at a sudden rustle above him, breathing out when he saw bats fly out of sight. They actually seemed smaller than some he'd seen on Aendor, which was somewhat reassuring. But now that the rustling of their wings was gone, Feyrith became incredibly aware of how quiet the jungle was. The only sounds he could hear were his own hammering heart, and the snorting of the quasir who was now absently digging at something with its claws, only to strike with its beak a second later, pulling out a very long, white worm which the quasir proceeded to swallow whole.

Feyrith supposed it was good that at least the quasir wasn't too nervous anymore, though he hadn't needed to see that.

He continued on, stepping over everything the jungle tried to throw under his feet. The earthy, fresh scent the entire place gave off seemed to get stronger as he went, though that was hardly a bad thing. The jungle was less humid than he'd thought it would be, which was good, if surprising. Perhaps it was simply because the sun had set, but either way, it was appreciated.

What wasn't appreciated was the constant silence. Not even insects were making noise, even though Feyrith could see a few on the trunks of trees and crawling on the ground, their shelled forms, bigger than Feyrith's hand, shining in the darkness. Feyrith had to resist flinching whenever he heard the leaves crinkle, or a branch snap beneath his boots. It put him on edge.

He kept looking around and behind him to see if there was something waiting to strike, but there was nothing. He'd only seen movement once, and it had been too far and too quick for him to truly make out. Whatever beast it had been had disappeared before Feyrith could even make an opinion on whether it posed a threat or not.

Even after what felt like a very long time, there was still no change in the thickness of the jungle, and with Feyrith's growing apprehension at being here, he finally decided to climb onto the quasir's back once again. If he could ride through the jungle, there was no reason not to try.

The quasir shifted its weight, watching something on its right with suspicion. Feyrith raised the hand he was carrying the light in, frowning as he tried to spot whatever had caught the quasir's attention. He couldn't see anything except for tall ferns and other plant life, but he could hear something when he focused properly. Something like the creaking of wood? But none of the trees around them were moving.

Feeling his chest tighten, Feyrith nudged the quasir to move, letting it go at a relatively slow pace. It didn't seem to have much trouble with the roots and rocks on the ground, but there was still no reason to risk it tripping over something and potentially hurting itself. Of course, Feyrith would be able to fix that, but if they were to spend significant time in this jungle, it would be unwise to use his energy on something that could be avoided.

His stomach rumbled as he thought about that, and he grimaced. He truly should have brought something with him to eat, but he hadn't thought he'd still be traveling at this time. He would just have to put up with his hunger for a while longer, he supposed.

He quickly forgot about that as something in the distance suddenly caught his attention. He frowned into the shadows, trying to make it out. Was that...something glowing? His eyes widened as he quickly realized that two small lights were rapidly approaching him. And a second later, Feyrith could finally see the creature.

It was a tiger. A tiger made of wood. Jagged branches stuck out of its form as it roared and pounced at them. Feyrith barely managed to drag the quasir to the right by the reigns to avoid it running off as it tried to bolt to get away from the tiger with a frightened caw.

Feyrith had not thought an indari would be here. Seeing an elemental so close to civilization was very strange, but that didn't matter right now. He pushed the quasir to run faster and not lose sense of the right direction. The beast didn't protest, galloping at top speed away from the indari roaring behind them. Feyrith threw a look over his shoulder, his eyes growing wide at how close the creature still was. It was running at lightning speed, only slightly slower than the quasir, and he could tell his mount was starting to panic as it tried to run even faster.

Barely able to keep the quasir from changing direction at this point, Feyrith looked back at the indari and its blazing, blue eyes, glaring at it. He knew what he had to do.

"Kinri se tah!" he yelled, aiming his hand at the creature. The ball of light immediately turned into fire, flowing from his hand and enveloping the creature completely, making it let out a roar and disappearing from sight.

Feyrith didn't slow the quasir down, though, and neither did the beast itself make any attempts at stopping, continuing to run as fast as it could. Feyrith summoned the light again, letting out a huff. He'd never used this spell with such intensity before, and it had left him tired. But then again, he was exhausted in general.

After a few minutes, he finally pulled on the quasir's reins, making it dig its claws into the dirt to slow down. Its eyes were wide, and it still looked very scared as it panted and trembled. Feyrith felt a pang of guilt for putting the animal into this position in the first place, but there was no going back. He settled for stroking the side of its neck again and humming to it, which did seem to help at least a little as the quasir's breathing slowed.

Feyrith wished they could stop and take a moment to breathe. Not only for the quasir's sake but also his own. But they needed to leave before something else attacked. The edge of the jungle couldn't be too far away now, anyway.

But before Feyrith could continue, a loud hissing came from the left. And before he managed to figure out what was about to attack him this time, the quasir darted off in a random direction, away from danger. Feeling his heart seize in horror, Feyrith yanked onto the reigns, trying to get the quasir to turn before Feyrith completely lost a sense of which direction to go.

His eyes darted around from tree to tree, trying to find out which creature had frightened the quasir so much. And when he finally spotted it, a while behind them, he frowned in surprise. A large snake with wings? Feyrith didn't think he'd even heard of that before. At least it didn't seem to be following anymore, and it quickly disappeared as the quasir continued its breakneck pace.

Feyrith made no attempt to slow it down, hoping that the Goddess would spare him from further encounters with the wildlife.

He kept looking around, his hand raised so he could see as much of his surroundings as possible until he finally caught a glimpse of the twin moons through the thick jungle ceiling of branches and leaves. He breathed out when they practically flew through the last line of the trees, the quasir clearly as excited to leave the jungle as Feyrith was.

It didn't stop until it got a considerable distance away from the jungle, and once it did, it stomped, making a loud, displeased squawk. Feyrith let out a deep sigh, looking back at the looming, dark jungle they had just left.

Using this route might have been a mistake after all, but it had worked and saved him a lot of time, so he would focus on that. He could see lights in the distance from here, on a wide but not very tall hill surrounded by the now almost familiar grassy fields. That must have been Everward. All he needed to do now was follow the road to get there and hope that nothing would go wrong on this last part of tonight's journey. He wasn't sure he could handle more of that without rest.