Closed.

"Really?" Elthera gave her a quizzical look. "You know what I think. Throw it in a deep lake or bury it under the ground. Let it be forgotten." She took the orb and gave it to Dhea. It was slightly warm to the touch. The Serpent inside of it hissed, but it looked rather harmless reduced to the size of a worm. "Take it. You are a traveller, you will find a way to get rid of it. Besides it gives me the shivers." She shook her head.

- Ask about the Serpents.
- Ask something else.
- Leave.
 
“Do you know anything more about the Serpents?”
Dhea made a face at the tiny Serpent, already wanting to crush it like the bug it was. She tucked it away, between her clothes and the softer of her things. To make doubly sure that it wasn’t going to break.
 
"I hear they are prowling around. I don't like to leave my home these days, though." Elthera answered. "This one came too close."

The woman sat on the chair, combing through her white hair, watching Dhea with a smile. There was nothing more that Dhea could learn from her and she had time to explore the Forest further before dark. She was at the northernmost part and would have to travel down south.

- Continue the journey.
- Ask Elthera to spend the night.
 
Dhea sighed, before shaking her head and smiling at Ethera.
“Would you mind if I stayed the night?”
She looked rather sheepish, but she would rather like a roof over her head. Even if it was only for one night. And she hoped that Ethera had a bath.
 
"Oh, okay." Elthera spoke. She was taken aback, but after she recovered she gave a soft smile. "Of course you can. Though, I don't have a second bed."

Elthera's hill house did have a bath, although it consisted of just a bucket and some cold water. Not practical or pleasant, but freshening. Dhea felt better for it when she went to sleep either way. She had eaten twice that day and was not particularly hungry, though Elthera offered her some dry biscuits and a mug of warm tea that smelled like lemons.

--

The morning came and Dhea had stretched out her journey for one more day. Being rested and vigorous was great, but the longer she spent in the Baklands, the higher a chance that the Serpents would reach Mampang and alert the Archmage of her plans. Or meet up with the Birdmen and give the message on. Her safest bet would be to find and kill all of them, however, if she wanted to proceed without tracking them down, she could.

- Continue the hunt.
- Continue toward Xamen road and Mampang.
 
Dhea nibbled on her lip, before shaking her head. She needed to stop the Serpents more than anything right then. She sighed, almost wishing that she didn’t have to do this.
But, she had to. To make everything a little easier on her.
 
"Before you go." Elthera stopped her right at the doors of her home. "If you encounter other Serpents, this may be true, but I remember reading it in a book once - The Earth Serpent has a mortal enemy, the Goddess Throff. Her temple is to the south of the forest, in the desert. Seek it out, she might help you further." She squeezed Dhea's shoulder. "If you encounter them, be smart. You have magic, try using the spell opposite of the Serpent's element. I caught the Sun Serpent with a spell of darkness."

With that, Elthera said her goodbyes, returning to the inside of her home. Rested and refreshed, Dhea had but one way to go from the hut - through the Forest.

The path continued, leading south east. She could feel the Serpent inside her pack wiggle as the sunlight touched Dhea.

--

After a couple of hours of walking through the forest, she noticed a thicket of tangled branches to the left of the road. They were covering some sort of an ancient hut, partially crumbled.

- Investigate the hut.
- Continue forward.
 
Dhea looked at the hut, a small ‘huh’ noise slipping from her lips. She adjusted the straps of her pack and moved forward. She was curious. Admittedly, it didn’t take a lot to draw her in or draw her attention. She enjoyed looking at unique and odd things.
 
The hut was covered in tangled branches and gripweed and Dhea had to tug them away in order to reveal the entrance to the hut. It was just an empty doorway now, but held the wooden doors once. The inside was completely barren.

Dhea made a step in and felt a faint scent of roasted nuts. It was very pleasant, but there was nothing inside to indicate where it could come from.

- Step further in.
- Turn back.
 
As soon as she took in a lungfull of air, her vision swam. Darkness creeped on her out of the corners of her eyes until it fully consumed her. She lost conciousness.

--

"Hello?" A female voice woke her up. She was on the packed earth that was the floor of the hut. A face floated above her. A little girl was leaning over her and staring at her in wonder.

8c03913087e4cb7279b5a0d113b10d3b.jpg

"You've been out for a while. What happened?" She asked.

- Answer.
- Ask who she is.
- Draw your weapon.
- Cast a spell.
 
"I'm Azi." The little girl replied. She poked Dhea's cheek and grinned. "You are strange." She stood up and moved toward the far end of the hut. And then she disappeared.

Dhea was left alone in the hut for a brief moment. She wasn't injured and her head did not hurt, which meant she was not knocked out. The scent of nuts was gone.

"Here." The girl suddenly reappeared in front of her, holding out a bowl of gruel. "Roots and berries. It's good for you." She said with a smile. Perhaps she did not disappear in the first place, it might have been a play of shadows.

- Eat the gruel.
- Don't eat it.
- Optional: Ask the girl about her disappearance.
 
“Where did you disappear to, little one?”
A soft, motherly voice. She was being careful. Especially in this unknown area. She looked at the bowl, eyeing it suspiciously. She didn’t know what was in it and she didn’t trust anything. Even a well meaning child.
 
"What? I didn't?" The girl looked at her in confusion. Then she turned around and disappeared again.

A moment later she was to the right of Dhea, munching on her own bowl of food, looking up at her with a innocent look. She smiled, mouth full.

- Insist that she's disappearing.
- Try to lead her to Elthera, perhaps she would know what do to.
- Leave the hut.
 
Dhea looked the little girl over, her eyes narrowing. She was suspicious. Very suspicious. But, rather than letting the seemingly innocuous little girl (despite the disappearing) know about what was going on, she smiled and stood up.
“I have a friend who can help my head and see what happened. Do you want to tag along?”
She held out her hand. She was going to take the little girl to Ethera.
 
"Sure!" The girl nodded.

Dhea turned to leave the home, stepping over the overgrown weed and turning to help the girl exit through the shrubbery. As soon as she took her eyes off of her however, Azi disappeared again. For a moment she was gone, until a voice came from her right and Dhea turned to see her very close.

"You really can't see me." The girl said, scrunching her nose. "I closed my eyes and crept on you and you couldn't see me." She stepped in front of her. "I was right here, waving like this." She waved a hand in front of Dhea's nose, somewhat annoyingly. "Just like that big snake."

- Ask about the "big snake".
- Ask about her family.
- Continue in silence.
 
Dhea took Azi’s hand and moved it away from her face. She was comfused and concerned. Which seemed to be her default these days.
“Big snake?”
Because the little girl could be talking about one of the Serpents, or an actual giant snake.
 
"Yeah. It was very big and had wings. It did not look friendly. Not like you." Azi grinned, beaming up at Dhea. "I hid in the bushes and closed my eyes and the big snake left. It went toward the end of the Forest. Wind followed it." The girl was very cryptic. But then again she was a child and probably could not explain better.

The direction which she indicated though, was toward the end of the Snatta Forest and toward the dusty plains to the south. That was the opposite from Elthera's hut.

- Continue south.
- Take Azi to Elthera.
 
Dhea looked down at the young girl, making a small noise in the back of her throat. She would continue to Ethera and then go after the Wind Serpent.
At least she had a decent idea of how to defeat this one.
 
Azi skipped to walk in front of Dhea with the enthusiasm that only children had.

They left the ruined hut and walked north, following a path that still looked like an old river made it, snaking through the forest. The day seemed like it would be clear and probably hot, though much easier to bear it under among the thick tree tops of Snatta. It was already past midday and Dhea had lost a couple of hours during her diversion.

"This is a terrible place." Azi stopped in her tracks as they emerged onto the clearing in front of Elthera's hill. "The witch who lives there is a doesn't like children." She backed away, her small body colliding with Dhea as she peered up at her. "Let's leave."

- Say Elthera is nice.
- Ask her why she thinks that.
- Approach the doors.
- Leave.
 
Dhea ran her fingers over Azi’s head, her brows furrowing. She was worried now. Ethera, as kind as she seemed, could possibly be the witch that the young girl seemed so afraid of. Her voice was soft, comforting.
“Why do you think that, little one?”
 
"I've heard her voice. She's evil." Azi said. "She doesn't like children. I... sometimes close my eyes and go inside her hut to see the shiny and pretty things. Last time the witch saw me. She threw a bowl at me!" Azi whined.

It was quite possible that Elthera would not be happy at the sight of Azi, if the girl stole from her at some point.

- Continue through the Forest with Azi.
- Go to Elthera anyway.
- Ask Azi to steal something from Elthera for you.
 
Dhea sighed and shook her head, before crouching in front of the young girl. She wasn’t sure what to say or to do. She fully trusted that Ethera would be angry if a child stole something from her. So, she smiled at her.
“Okay. Let’s go. We don’t need to talk to her.”
She would continue to walk through the forest with the little girl at her side, but would find some place safer for her to be. With the Serpents hunting her....no one by her side was safe.
 
"Well, let's go back then. I don't like this place." Azi said, grabbing Dhea's cloak and tugging at it.

Dhea had already lost considerable daylight with the whole business with Azi. During the remainder of the day they were able to traverse past Azi's hut and down through the forest, until they reached a small pond.

1cdf249863bc8f3578f011fdf3ed21a3.jpg

The water of the pond extended away to southeast, towards the dark shadows of the next range of mountains. It was not quite a lake, but rather a large pool, who knew how deep. It was a good place to rest for the day, though she still had a couple of hours of sunlight left if she wanted to continue.

- Rest there.
- Continue.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top