Hamal and Gerald listened to their entire idea and other than concerns over safety, agreed to help. Hamal knew of some smuggling tunnels that his family used that would allow them to sneak in and out of the city. He even had a few weapons they could use. Gerald would get a wagon from his father. He would take it out the front gate meeting them on the other side. The rest was up to Azura. The others had want to join her in the forest but as their mana wells weren’t awaken they couldn’t control the magic in their own bodies. The dense ambient mana would poison them as it leaked into their wells. Azura was on her own.

Azura tried not to think about what she was doing as she rode on the cart the city growing more distant behind her. She especially didn’t want to think what her mother would do once she found out. Perhaps dying in the forest would be less painful.

The mana forest wasn’t too far from the city. About an hour’s walk. The city was founded here because of the nearby mana forest. Such locales were a massive resource for mages. Yet the perils of entering such a place ensure few ever dare such a venture. Azura suppressed her fear as they drew closer.

Soon a living wall came into view. It was an abrupt clear boundary marking the change in mana density. The surrounding area was fertile plains with a few scatter trees, the mana forest was just that, a thick forest with trees unlike any others. First was the colors. Vibrant colors of the rainbow were scattered randomly throughout the entire forest. It was like child dump a paint collection over the world. Some grasses were the typical green others blue which were right next to a patch of yellow and orange. It was random, without reason. The tree were no better, with alternating color on each leaf. Oddly the plant life didn’t reach upwards to the sky but rather leaned inward toward the center as if reaching for the source of the mana. Azura gulped as the group stood on the precipice. Perhaps this hadn’t been such a good idea after all.

“You don’t have to do this,” Toren said.

“I do.” Azura picked up a spear and a knife that Hamal had procured.

“We’ll be here if you need us. Just yell,” Gerald said.

Azura nodded. She took a deep breath and inverted her mana well before taking the first step inside.

Instantly all outside sound ceased. The wind, her friends, the creaking of the cart. All of it was gone so fast that she spun around expecting the area behind her to be empty. Instead, they sat there looking at her. Toren’s mouth moved but no sound came out. She gave him a small nod. Quickly she dried her hands on her trousers before heading deeper in. As she went new sounds started. The shrill cry of insects that sounded far too large. The squawking of birds that sounded the size of dragons. Below it all the constant hum of mana that was more felt than heard. As she went deeper the sounds grew larger all around and Azura made the tactical decision to bolt up the nearest tree. She stumbled a bit as she climbed not having practice using the claws on her paws in such a way before. Her human hands were good for grasping at least and soon enough she was standing atop a thick branch. The trees were so tightly pack that she found it easy to move from tree to tree.

As she went Azura started to relax slightly. This wasn’t so bad. Perhaps the mages were exaggerating about the dangers. Surely it could be all… Azura froze. Her body froze. Her mind froze. The only thing loose was her bladder which lucky hadn’t allow things to flow yet. Below her was a … thing. There was no other way to describe it. It loosely resembled a fish that crossbred with a cow that was wearing a porcupine skin. And it was HUGE! The damn thing was nearly as big as their cart.

Azura remained in her frozen state as the beast shuffled along leaving a path of destruction in its way. She did let out a small sigh of relief as the creature went on but refused to move for another five minutes. Once her heart rate finally lowered below that of a hummingbirds she went on, but far more carefully.

Another 10 minutes passed and she was about to give up when she saw something promising. A boar. Well close enough to one. It had tusks, but unlike its less magical counter parts, this one had some type of scaled hide. And it was big. Everything in this damn forest was, but this was manageable… probably. It was roughly the same size as her. Azura doubted she would find anything easier. Quietly she moved along the canopy till she was above the beast who was feasting on a mushroom. She took a deep breath then gently dropped down, spear point leading the way.

Once she was near enough Azura thrust the spear down with all her mana infused strength adding to the momentum of the fall. For the briefest of moments she wondered what she would do if the spear point broke on the creature’s hide. Would she have time to escape? The question was moot as the spear pieced the beast’s neck. The crimson point burst out the other side impaling itself deep into the mushroom the boar was messily consuming. It was so thoroughly pinned that the beast tore open its own throat as it instinctively pulled back. Its life blood spilled out decorating the mushroom. The creature gave a final twitch before collapsing. Blinking, Azura just stared stupidly at the body for a second unable to believe how easy it had been. Quickly she looked around convinced that this was the part where some boss monster emerged. Well at least that how the stories often went. In reality nothing happened besides some bugs deciding to land on the fresh kill.

Not wanting the creature from before to find her or anything similar she retrieved her spear and hefted the corpse. Grimacing at the mana draw she made all due haste toward the exit as she dragged her prey behind her. Her only chance was to move as quickly as possible. If anything found her she would have to fight or leave her kill.

Azura’s luck held as soon she exited the clearing. She dropped the boar as soon as she crossed the boundary as her friends rushed to her.

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“Azura are you hurt?” Toren called.

“Bloody shits!” Hamal exclaimed. “Look at the size of that fucker.”

Gerald gave an impressed grunt as he hefted the kill toward the cart. He was having a much harder time than she did.

“I’m okay,” Azura said trembling slightly as sat down. She did it. She fucking did it! She wanted to laugh or cry. Azura wasn’t sure which.

“We can head back now,” Toren said as he watched her shake. “That should be more than enough.”

“Wait,” Azura said getting to her feet. A quick mental check showed that she had exhausted about a fifth of her mana. Not bad. The higher quality of her mana made it last much longer. She didn’t want to come out more than once a week. Each time she would have to recover her exhausted mana before she could cultivate again. No, she needed more.

“I’m not done yet,” Azura said firmly.

“We can come back tomorrow,” Toren said.

“Azura’s right,” Hamal argued. “The more we do this the higher chance the guards could catch us coming and going.”

Not wasting time as the evening wore on Azura plunged back into the mana forest.

Two times. Two more times she ranged into the mana forest without issue. Next she brought back the mushrooms that the boar had been eating. She had to tear it from the ground as it was as thick as a mid-size tree. She made a mental note to bring an axe next time. Then she found something that resembled a raccoon but with crab like pincers. A quick spear thrust and it was dead. The trouble came on the third and last expedition where she found the eggs. The trouble was she wasn’t the only one.

She had stumbled across the nest as she was travel via tree to tree. She nearly stepped on them. The eggs were dark brown and nearly the size of her head. Visions of massive omelets danced in her mind. She didn’t know where the mommy bird was and didn’t really care. She just picked up one egg when she saw it. A flash of movement in the corner of her eye that most certainly wasn’t the dancing omelet. Turning Azura’s eyes went wide and she nearly lost bladder control. A snake. This wasn’t no little critter you had to worry about stepping on. This thing was massive. It was considerably larger than her home or any home she had seen. The damn thing was easily big enough to swallow her whole. Surprised, she did the only things she could think of. Scream and throw the egg in her hand.

The scream wasn’t effective, the egg however caused the snake to flinch back, yolk smeared across its face. That was enough for her. The only thing worse than snakes were spiders as far she was concerned. Azura bolted across the canopy. The trees became a blur as she rushed out, however the crashing behind her told her that she wasn’t alone. A quick glance back showed the serpent deftly following, the tree’s trembling at its passage.

“SHIT!!!” Azura hollered as the she dropped from the canopy, the snake’s mouth snapping shut where she was moments ago. The tree cracked from the impact and the top half toppled as Azura ran on.

Four minutes of frantic chasing and Azura burst out of the mana forest gasping. Her friends were some distance away running toward her. Surely the stupid reptile would give up. Azura panted then swore as she dived to the side as the serpent broke through tearing up the dirt where she previous rested. Her friends hollered and drew weapons as Azura scrambled backwards as she finally got a good look at her pursuer.

The serpent was a bright yellow with emerald eyes and two horns sticking out of its head. Most disturbingly its underbelly wasn’t that of a snake. It wasn’t that of anything. Hands. Countless hands lined the entire underside of the creature as they grasped the ground pulling it along.

“Oh man that’s disgusting,” Azura said as she backed off trying to resist the urge to vomit. The only good bit of news was that in the open ground the creature seemed slower. Probably less for those hands to grasp.

Azura was considering just running away when a bolt sunk into the creature’s side. Both she and serpent turned as Toren struggled to reload the crossbow. Gerald next to him held a rather large two headed axe. Hamal flung had several throwing knives which bounced off the creature’s hide. The serpent gave a furious hiss and turned from Azura to bigger prey.

The others shouted as the serpent bore down on them. Unsure what to do Azura chased the creature leaping on its back. It didn’t even notice. It did notice the spear she drove its flank. With a hiss the creature thrashed about tossing Azura off. The spear’s shaft splintered from the creature’s movement. Azura was still tumbling as the creature turned toward her its jaws wide. Off balance from the toss, Azura did the only thing she could think of and seized the top and bottom of the maw. The strain was incredible and Azura felt her mana usage surge as she held the maw apart. The serpent undaunted pushed her backwards, her paws leaving deep furrows in the ground. The pair stopped several yards back. Each opponent straining against each other momentarily equal. That was until the axe descended.

Gerald was not as strong as Azura when her body was augmented by magic. None of them were. But he was a bear-kin and large for his age. The blow buried itself deep into the creature’s back. The serpent’s head rocketed upward at the sudden pain taking Azura with it. Azura shrieked as her feet left the ground. She nearly lost her grip as she was tossed about. Desperate she, against all reason, pivoted her body so her legs were in the creature’s mouth and began cat kicking. Her claws carved deeply into the creature’s mouth, shredding the flesh. A torrent of blood soaked Azura. Azura turned to head spitting out a mouthful of blood. Gross.

The creature wasn’t having any more fun than Azura was. What had started as an easy snack had become a lesson in agony. Little creatures were cutting fissures into its side and the one in its mouth was cutting it deeply. This had truly been a mistake. Who would have guess something so small could be so ferocious? Turning the creature started to head back to the mana forest. It would spit out the annoying treat, crush it before swallowing this time, when something changed. The kicking pest had reached some important in its head. The serpent had a fleeting moment where it wondered why everything smelled like strawberries before it collapsed, its brain the victim of Azura’s claws. The last semi lucent thought it had was that the thing it its mouth tasted like urine.

Azura was trying to slide out of the now slacked jaws when a familiar hand reached down to help her out. Toren gave a mighty heave as Gerald lifted the head slightly. Soon she was free looking at the massive creature with her friends. Toren wrinkled his nose.

“Did you wet yourself?”

“N, no…” Azura replied.

“You did! You totally did!” Toren cried.

“I’m soaked in its saliva and blood,” Azura replied haughtily.

“Is that any better?” Hamal asked. “Besides it might be me you’re smelling. Damn near soiled myself also.”

Gerald nodded as he held the axe in front of himself.

“Fine,” Toren said and Azura noticed the front of his trousers was suspiciously moist.

They all looked at each other and began to laugh.