Never would I have hoped the jacket to be as effective as it proved to be. Sitting here on an upper branch, huddled tightly within the rain-jacket Leal gifted before we separated for the last time. I was dry. I felt the thrum of the rain pelting me and the hammering sound that filled the air from its impact against the hard wood. The world filled with a torrent of deadly water, but I was safe. Well, mostly. The humid air prickled my skin even through the large coat, but the coat was doing far better at keeping me alive than I had imagined.

I was small enough and the jacket large enough to fully wrap myself, separating the outside world. I had first noticed the rain coming from the prickling of moisture in the air. I panicked. Not having anywhere to hide from the coming deluge, my first instinct was to climb the nearest tree. In hindsight, it might have been better to find a spot underneath one of the fat trees. Maybe I’ll do that next time. I’m not about to go wandering around while the skies are trying to kill me.

Sitting here, tightly wrapped, I dare not uncurl myself nor peek through my safety curtain, no matter how uncomfortable or curious I get. I know better than that by now.

I hope I’m nearly through this forest. It’s been almost two weeks since I entered, and I still am not sure which way I’m going. The canopy is far too thick to allow me to see any of the sky, so I haven’t been able to follow the moon as I usually would. I can only hope I haven’t been running in circles. If I’m lucky, I might even end up close to the desert.

Now that I’m alone again, I need to decide what to do. The stories my mum used to tell come to mind, of the Agglomerate, where she grew up. I’d like to go there, but that’s a six-month trip at least, assuming I could walk in a straight line. I don’t even know where it is. I know it’s north-west, somewhere along the Titan Alps. But that mountain range covers the entire north of the wasteland. If I wanted to find the Agglomerate, I’d spend years searching at the very least.

My other alternatives are all equally unpleasant. I could wander around the wasteland looking for other tribes. I might even do so while making my way to the áed Agglomerate. But the chances I would ever stumble upon a tribe are quite low, and there is the danger of giant-worms, chameleons and other nasty creatures I wouldn’t be able to fend off myself. Unlike the wolves I had to fight, those monsters wouldn’t die just from a little fire. I shivered to think about what would happen if I stumbled across chthonic tunnels while alone.

I could also just find a spot, maybe near a cobalt mine or something, and settle. I wouldn’t have to deal with the dangers of the outside world. I wouldn’t have to deal with other people like Gloria.

It sounds good, but I know myself well enough that it wouldn’t last. I’d get lonely, or bored, most likely both, and soon be out looking for áed. At most, this option would be temporary. I don’t know how I would find a place like that without my tribe’s maps, anyway.

The last idea, I’d been considering for a while now. I don’t know what to think about it as it has more unknowns to it than I am comfortable with, but it’s an option at least. I could go north, pretend to be an albanic in the Zadok Kingdom. From what I knew, the only difference between my outer appearance and theirs was the dark hair colour I had. Hopefully, that difference wasn’t enough to tell I wasn’t one of them.

The possibility they’d discover I was not an albanic was only one risk of travelling to Zadok. I knew nothing about their culture, their morals, or their beliefs. I would be walking into a complete unknown.

Unfortunately, none of the possibilities for my future looked like I had any way of reconnecting with Leal. It would be impossible for me to go to another city in New Vetus, what with how aggressive they had become to outsiders. That wasn’t even considering how I had burnt down one of their cities. I had no reason to believe I wasn’t being hunted down right this moment for what I had done.

Okay, just on the off chance I was right, I should pick up my pace from now on. I wouldn’t be able to fight off other ursu like I had Gloria, especially if they brought any water mages.

I listened through the rain, hoping any of the odd sounds weren’t a group of hunters chasing me. Not like I’d be able to do anything but cower in this downpour.

Thinking about the Zadok kingdom, why am I even considering it? The risk is far too great compared to the others, so why is that the option I like the most? Sure, wandering the wasteland has its dangers, but those dangers are known. I know how to spot Giant-worm nesting grounds and chameleons don’t hunt things smaller than they are, usually. I know my way around the wasteland, even if I don’t have the maps I need to find the places other áed may frequent.

My feelings on going to Zadok weren’t logical, I realised. I wanted to go because it was something new. As horrible as my time in New Vetus had become, I enjoyed the early days I’d spent with Leal. Simply, I wanted to go to Zadok because I didn’t want to be lonely again. I wanted to experience new things, and I didn’t want to get stuck in a repetitive loop of depression as I had after I lost my tribe, wandering the desert mindlessly. The same mental loop that kept me trapped in the furnace, working for no self-gain.

If I went on a journey — alone — where the end goal would be as far out of sight as the Agglomerate, I would risk falling back into that horrible repetition. But if I went to Zadok, I would be risking my life. I didn’t know which scared me more.

❖❖❖

The rain had stopped a while ago now, allowing me to unfurl from the uncomfortable position. I still kept the jacket wrapped tight as everything around was still soaked, but I had a bit more freedom now that there was only a trickle of water coming from the foliage above. Remnant streams of water flow from the branches, down into the roots below, and disappear beneath the tangles.

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Soon, I lower myself down from the heights of the tree, careful to avoid any obvious wet spots that remain in my path. Any damp spots left on the roots dry from the proximity to my body before each step or grab. I only need to pay attention to pools of water amongst the roots as I continue through the forest.

I’ve been stuck in one position for half the day and need to stretch my legs and get a move on. Already, I’ve been in this forest far longer than I wanted, especially knowing that there might still be something below me.

I hadn’t exactly been hesitant to burn my way through the bark of the trees whenever I could, and I now realised that may have been a mistake. If I was being hunted by ursu, I had just left a pretty clear path for them to follow. If I was lucky, they would have taken time to put together their hunting party. If I was really lucky, ursu would find traversing this rooty mess harder than I had. And if I was really, really lucky, they would have lost track of me.

I didn’t dare hope for any of those, though. I quickened my pace and made sure I was moving through the forest as fast as I could, even if that meant I had to crawl through roots again.

❖❖❖

A few days later, the girth of each tree finally shrank. The roots became nowhere near as convoluted. I even saw some of the underbrush between the roots again. It was a relief to know I didn’t have to worry about what was below me. And with the smaller size of the roots, traversal became far easier.

The canopy above thinned, too. The moon poking through on my left told me I’d been travelling further east than I’d hoped. I had still gone mostly north, so I didn’t think it was too bad. Now I just needed to decide whether I was going to Zadok or back into the wasteland.

Zadok was probably far closer to where I was now, I didn’t imagine it could be much further north. The wasteland covered the entirety of my west, so if I headed in that direction, I would come across it eventually. And now that I knew that Leal’s jacket worked wonderfully, I wasn’t afraid of travelling such distances.

I know I should head back into the territory familiar to me, but I was intrigued by what differences it might have from New Vetus. Intrigued, but cautious. If Zadok appears dangerous, I can always head back out to the wasteland afterwards, right? I should take the opportunity while I’m here. After I head out towards the áed Agglomerate, I’ll be stuck doing nothing other than walking for well over a year. I’d also rather not have to go back to relying on sand-worms for food if possible.

With my mind set, I head north, passing the last of the trees of this strange forest. The plains I’ve moved into seem much friendlier for navigating. The hills I’m approaching are dense with chest high grass, but it is easy to see far into the distance. No ursu could sneak up on me out here. Then again, they would able to see me nearly as easily. Although if I spot them first, I might be able to hide in the long grass. I have to make sure to keep my attention behind me often. I doubt I’d be able to outrun the giant ursu in an open area like this.

❖❖❖

The next few days were much easier on me. I had yet to see anyone coming from behind me and the grass provided a much more comfortable bed than I was used to. The landscape itself was rather simple, reminding me a lot of a green desert. The hills — more like bumps in the land — sometimes pushed upwards a bit from the rest of the plains, but weren’t steep enough to be noticed from anywhere except at a distance.

I wonder if I had made it out of New Vetus yet? The maps I had seen weren’t detailed enough to label the forest I passed through and I knew Morne was far north enough, that it was possible, although impossible to say as I didn’t truly know how far I travelled in the root forest. Without landmarks to give me any sign where I was — or a map that described those landmarks — I was stuck mindlessly wandering. Okay, maybe not completely mindlessly, I knew where north was after all. I guess time will only tell if I come across a Zadok city or one of these albanic that might direct me.

Walking through the tall grass in the gentle wind was calming. Especially after all the tension that had built up in the past days. Many times, I had to snap myself out of the feeling and force my attention on the horizon behind me.

I hadn’t seen any animals in the plains, but the grass had moved seemingly on its own many times that I assume anything living was well hidden beneath the grass. I kept clear of any unnatural motions in the grass as I travelled, and in return, I wasn’t bothered. I knew it was probably nothing like it, but I liked to imagine that it was a pact I made with the residents; I would move out of their territory quickly if they left me to do so.

As the days continued to pass, I made sure to keep my eyes on the horizon, watching for the ursu I had yet to see. The more days that pass without them appearing, the better. It was at one instance that I had risen to the peak of one of the shallow hills to search for any pursuers that I finally notice movement on the horizon.

I had been expecting something, but seeing them in the complete wrong direction from where I had assumed they would appear from startled me. Had they gone east and skirted the forest to catch me after I came out the other end? How could they have known where I would come out?

From my crouched position within the grass, I watch the movement far to my west. I couldn’t clearly make out anything other than the movement as what I assume to be ursu passing over the ledge of a hill in the distance. From what I could make out, it didn’t look like they were heading towards me. It looks like they are walking south. Was this not a hunting party for me?

Against my better judgement, I decide I want a closer look. So, while keeping my head well hidden within the grass, I made my way towards the movement.

The closer I move, the clearer it was that I wasn’t looking at ursu. There was far too many; they looked more like a swarm of ants that I just couldn’t reasonably pin that many ursu in one place.

Soon, I was close enough that I could say without a doubt that these were not ursu. They were, I assumed, the albanic I had heard about. And what the ursu had told me was right; they look like áed. As long as the áed had proper control over their forms, it was near indistinguishable. The only obvious difference was the white hair. The hair of most was grown long enough that the whiteness was obvious. A rare few had grey shades, but it was day and night against my dark blue.

There were a lot of them. So many, in fact, that I couldn’t count them all if I had all day. Tens of thousands, no, maybe even hundreds of thousands, marched along, separated in eight columns. It was impossible to tell their numbers for sure. They spread so far from the north to the south that the hills hid both ends of the lines from view.

I may not have ever seen one before, but this was an army. There was no missing that. Was the Zadok Kingdom attacking now that they knew New Vetus was struggling against the Empire? Hopefully, Leal and her mum had moved somewhere south. I’d hate for them to get caught in whatever attack Zadok was planning.

Moving with a careful step through the grass, I made sure they did not see me. The last thing I want is an army thinking I was spying on them. Well, at least I wouldn’t have to worry about the ursu anymore. I doubt they would continue following me if they saw this. If they did, I knew where to run to. If I could make the army think I was one of their own, I could use them to protect myself.

That would be a last resort. If I can help it, I’d rather stay as far away from the war as I can. But for now, at least, I can follow parallel to the marching army. It should lead me in the direction they came from, and I’ll have an escape if the ursu track me this far.