“You really worried us back the dungeon young lady” I said to Silana.

  “We thought we would lose you for good” I followed up with.

  “I was scared, the pain was very big and all the noise around me made things worse” said Silana whose hair was ruffled by Wardi and his other fist attempted to punch my arm, but I caught those hands easy as always and he grinned at me.

  “Not long until we reach the destination what should we start with first?” said Lucy.

  “If we split up, Lucy and Silana can gather the Kaydar whilst the four of us remaining fight the puffs that spawn around the trees. The puffs are art resistant so it would be a waste for Lucy to tire herself out before the bigger targets anyway." Said Wardi.

  “Alright, sounds like plan, we can get two ticked off the list on the first day if we smash it out don’t you think?” I said to the others.

  “Yeah, sod it, I’m feeling amped after everything that’s happened said Rhua equipping her helmet and unsheathing her sword. “let’s do this!” she followed up with.

  It seemed that every other tree spawned a group of the puffs but only seemed to spawn with the green tuft we needed.

  “The survival guide says the tufted one, it’s like the leader of the group but has no fighting prowess” said Lucy who was reading with one hand a tapping sap with the other. Silana meanwhile was surprisingly adept at poking holes in the kaydar and getting the sap into the barrels.

  “Yeah, but the guide wasn’t written when the gods dropped an update and introduced the named variants for some monsters, if that one spawns it absorbs any other puffs and grows in strength and size!” shouted Rhua casually slicing a puff in half.

  “Oh…it’s a shame that, the poor bestiarists that tried to put this together…” said Lucy half paying attention whilst sap spills onto her shoes.

  “It won’t spawn, it needs to hale here and that’s still another two months from a climate like that.” said Wardi who had been plucking the tuft from the last group we fought.

  “Lucy, stop reading and get tapping, Silana is doing all the work over there!” Wardi shouted, and she panicked from the shouting and dropped her book into a puddle full of sap around and began sobbing to herself.

  “Oh no, - this is going to be so sticky bleh” she cried. Lucky for her Horace came to the rescue and sprayed it with concoction he brewed up in his downtime fighting. Most of the sap fell of the pages but one or two were already set and no longer viewable through the amber gel.

  “Can’t do anything about that SORRY” he piped to Lucy. Who was going to need to buy a replacement. A few hours past and we had managed to gather half of the required items on the list and agreed to get camp set up for the night.

  “Well done all, I can see how much we’ve improved since we were last in these parts” said Rhua smiling.

  “Damn right, having an extra pair of hands helped us out a bunch too” said Wardi looking at Silana who was chowing down the broth I made for everyone at the campfire and spilling most of the liquid down her. She was confused at us laughing at her but continued eating anyway.

  “I really appreciate all of you” Rhua spoke so softly and unusual for her regular personality.

  “I know my tempers on a short fuse most of the time, but I mean it, we’ve been through some really rough times and I’m glad to have you all around me” It was a poignant moment for sure, the frog in my throat as I thought about the dungeon and the event at the manor.

  “I never want to lose any of you” said Wardi staring into the fire in the stove and seemingly mesmerised by it.

  “We’re stronger together” I said loudly “And if we stay together, fight harder and smarter we’ll manage, we CAN do this!" I followed up with and stood up with my cup and everyone else did as well

  “Cheers!” were shouted as our glasses clicked and clanged together, enjoying the evening as it went on, we had to sleep eventually though.

  Morning broke and somehow me and Lucy managed to fall asleep outside and when I looked around, I couldn’t see anyone else at woken up yet, so I decided to just admire the surroundings. Despite the name, it wasn’t a particularly bad area for a marsh in appearance and the only nasty thing about it was the Ironceros and Slangers that are dotted about the place, because the plants were quite pretty to look at, the various coloured Gigantlally plants that are scattered around the waters are pleasant to look at with their beautiful pinks and greens that light up the otherwise dark and grey trees which are still pretty in their own right.

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  I could hear some humming or…droning perhaps coming from the east of the camp it was quite obnoxious in its pitch and somehow reminded me of those power tools builders would use in construction projects. Walking further and further I spotted a figure guzzling down tree sap that was left on the floor from one of Lucy’s accidents.

  What on earth are you doing out here I thought to myself before shouting “Fitz!” the cool cat was now the, not so cool cat who was covered in sap and he buzzed on over to me at lightning speed screeching so loudly I want to cut my own ears off…at least it stopped when he spoke with me, I thought.

  “Ska-ska-cha-baba-boo, hey kid, what you’re doing, out here in the marsh? It’s my usual breakfast spot” slurping away and showing his head into a nearby water source.

  “We’re doing a job out here for a client, we would have probably been close to finishing already but, as you know, our companion was hurt before we even got here” I said to him not completely sure he understands what a job is or if he has good intentions.

  “Ahh-mmm-yeah-yeah-la-la-do-re-me, like the guildies Atropa and her friends carry out sometimes I see…mm-yea-yea you do all those requests but never any actual quests my friend mm-mm” Fitz seemed distracted by something, looking around over and over and I tried to pry into his behaviours a little.

  “The world is dangerous, we have adventurers around like us that can’t control their actions, we wanted to go south but someone has made it unhospitable for now and hey, are you ok, you seem distracted Fitz?” I said to him; he didn’t react initially, so I tried approaching him, but he quickly grabbed hold of me

  “Fitz what the hell!” I said in anger- I could barely react as we quickly returned, smashing through a tree or two to get back to where I camped with my party and his damn droning kicked in waking everyone up.

  “All of you pack up and run NOW! You’re not safe here!” Wardi and Rhua both looked at Fitz having barely had time to react to his sudden appearance, the rest began crawling out of the tent, tiredness in their eyes from the sudden awakening.

  “Why is Fitz here and going crazy!?” said Rhua to me. Wardi also asked but I just held my hands up and said “I have no sodding clue I was just out walking, and he was eating then after speaking for a moment I’m back here!”

  The camp was quickly packed and we followed him south-eastward, as he buzzed in circles around above us, looking around at each other we were in mixed state of fear and confusion over what is happening and it became apparent when the sound of war drums beating to the rhythm of the Battladeers could be heard but there soundwaves reached us quicker than our reactions, the droning of Fitz’s song appeared to act as a counter measure for us, the war drum shockwaves should have toppled us over by rights.

  “We’re close to Dornam territory, is Areya nuts for trying to attack us so close to the border” said Wardi and I had to agree she was bold to have sent troops so far north.

  “They know our location; I don’t think WE CAN KEEP RUNNING” piped Horace and as he said this Fitz began singing a different song seemingly angrier than the last one.

  “Keep going I will try to divert their attentions, now!” with a blast of his wings we were invigorated with a feeling… We can run, further and faster than previously, without rest… and so did we run, darting past trees, and jumping over large pools of murky water, occasionally nearly getting swiped by the Slanger’s lurking in the bushes luckily, they give themselves away before striking with the clacking noises, helping us avoid which paths lead to danger. The sound of powerful arts being casted in the distance behind us worried Lucy and Silana.

  “Don’t look back, he sent us this way for a reason, I think his intentions were good” said Wardi, noticing both falling behind, he beckoned for them to press onwards and after we began reaching the point of which the trees were starting to appear less and less, and the sky became clearer, it seemed apparent we were heading to the Eastern Open, the area between the murk marsh and bordering Murk City.

  “Hey, I think I can see Atropa over there! Said Lucy, she was right it was her, with what looked like other members of her guild also, many of them in fact. One of the guild members noticed us breaking through the canopy and pointed us out, Atropa having recognised us waved and slowly began walking with one or two members behind her. Hoping to greet us, they were instead met with ice daggers forming in the sky and raining down onto the grounds and fire columns erupting near to their position.

  “Yikes, I think we’re going to have another fight on our hands here! shouted Rhua and angrily I responded, “We just can’t catch a break!” A member of Atropa’s guild attempted to pull us in with a vine, whilst an earthen umbrella was created through synchronised arts to block the ice daggers that were falling at us.

  We had almost managed to reach halfway across but a Scaq appeared in the sky, one who was of notable rank because Wardi shouted loudly his cursed line which was all for nothing anyway, as all the arts from the enemy and our temporary allies were dispelled and the person above us channelled some sort of swirling purple in orb in the sky.

  Several projectiles came from the Revitalised guild in the form of arrows, bullets and daggers yet these were quickly blocked when a Koanit appeared and blocked the attacks with strong a wind, turning the projectiles into dust as they connected with the swirling green around him. Wardi once again said the line, this time even angrier and louder. These were dangerous adversaries in front of us, far beyond our capabilities I could see him thinking and he was right.

  The guild leader appeared to jump into the sky, with wings expanding from behind her a beautiful iridescent turquoise and insect like antennae grew from her head pastel purple in colour.

  “Never heard of a Faebracer before, do you think it’s powerful, curious to see what Zainab can do with it” said Rhua who confirmed who the floating butterfly looking person in the sky was using a scan ability. They were powerful for sure, having taken out the Koanit that appeared, sending him at phenomenal speeds across the marsh with a pulse that we could feel from down at the ground.

  The Scaq, was pushed back and several barriers shattered around her, appearing to be greatly flustered by the recent attack they ripped a scroll, and large hands appeared in the sky, grabbing the purple orb, and pushing it towards us.

  “FOR HER HIGHNESS!” shouted the Scaq who cast an entrapment spell on us with a free hand whilst charging towards the Faebracer.

  I didn’t see what happened next, I simply heard screaming as I was face down in the dirt and a cold and dank purple light enveloped me.