Moon Chasers: Into the storm [Finished]

Chapter Ten: The elusive fighter

It was just an island but, at least it was there. They wanted to explore it to make sure it was the place, the compass was pointing to a place somewhere in the jungle. In the end the ship couldn't come all the way to the island because the keel got stuck in the sand, so they anchored it and prayed the ship to stay here and crossed the distance by swimming in the warm water.

The island looked rather large, a mountain, crowned by clouds, waited in the center of it it's stone seemingly black and covered by lush jungle. Jory theorized that it could take up to a week to reach the mountain depending on their route and travelling speed. The beach was long and likely to circle the whole island, its sand was soft and light coloured. It looked like a paradise.

They had a break on the beach laughing and talking like mad men. It felt real good to be on solid ground. They dried off as much as they could and then left for the depth of the jungle.

The forest was unlike anything they had seen before. The trees were numerous and the bushes too. It was a battle of each second to actually progress forward. They put Qa in front to open the way with his blade while Eleon covered the back. Jory was taking notes as they went, if it was not the place Jory could at least add it on the maps. Because that was the twist. The nautical maps he had been checking every evening did not show a island were they were now. Jory soon realized it was far from a paradise for them, the plants however seemed to love the climat as there was an unintiligible number of them.

The days were long and exhausting and their nights were full of newfound fear. during the day they would chase away insects and avoid small animals but during the night they had to make as little noise as possible as they hear many things circling loosely around their current position. Things that are much bigger than what they see during the day. Qa sleeps very little since they set foot in the dense forest, he keeps an eye on everything and everyone, and keeps his ears open to every sounds, Eleon helps him with his enhanced hearing and together they managed to keep the trio out of danger and troubles. 

During the third day in the jungle they reached an open clearing. The sun brightly lit that space of short grass, they blinked a couple of time in the sunlight. They had been circulating in an artificial twilight for three days straight and had already forgotten how bright the sun was in this corner of the world. They laid down a wide piece of fabric and sat there, relaxed. Jory walked around minding his steps, he knew that were there was the sun warmth there would also be snakes and lizard and god know how poisonous these would be. 

They rested here and then continued, the clearing would anyway not have been a good place to set camp for the night. They continued deeper in the jungle, still following the compass, it seemed that they were getting closer because the compass would now softly hums. Eleon was overexcited but still capable of managing his emotion as to not fall asleep but he became increasingly more impatient. It was obvious that between the three of them he was the most eager.

One day they found a stream, the compass was telling them to more or less follow the stream up to it's source, which was likely situated at the summit or at least close to the summit of the mountain. The running water was clear and cool on their fingers, the three adventurers welcomed it happily as they washed themselves and drank from it, it was a nice change. Jory knew that they couldn't stay for long at the same place in this terrain, numerous animals would come out of the lush and green jungle to drink here and they would not be happy to see them, it was a good place to be attacked. Eleon added to his observation that they didn't know what kind of amphibious animals lived in those water and he wasn't going to find out by experience. Everyone agreed.

They started hiking up the mountain. This new zone was a blessing to their eyes but more of a curse to their legs, the terrain was unstable, treacherous, slippy and slimy. Going back in the forest was not an option as it was even more difficult. Many time one of them slips and either get caught in time of fall in the freezing waters, they make do, at least they are not hot and sweating anymore. Their night are even more damp now and Jory starts to wonder if they might develop breathing problems from being in this constantly wet environnent, Eleon reassure him that at least they are out in the open that must count for something.

Every step was a test on their bravery and stamina but the place offered many seats to rest, they were not fast but they were not taking to many risks. The stone was sometimes sharp as a blade and sometime smooth as glass. It was a rich black and the green moss made a striking contrast. The place was composed of waterfall of various height and pool of various depth and width, it was sometimes deafening and sometimes the sound the water made as it fell was gentle and relaxing. Jory came to theorize that this place was old and that the pools and waterfalls had been constructed by decades, no, centuries of erosion by the river and the rain, slowly creating a masterpiece that only a very small number of people would see. 

Jory felt lucky to be able to be here and see it, Eleon was secretly working on a poem about them, it was not the first he had written since the beginning of their adventure and he hoped it wouldn't be the last. Qa observed this scenery with wide open eyes, too scared to ever forget it, he tried to engrave it in his memory, it was beatiful and very alien to him, to see so much running water in one place, the river they had taken once was so much less than this! He found this place almost overwhelmingly beautiful.

Their ascent of the mountain was going as good as it was possible with their terrible skill at climbing until one night they were woken up by the sound of a branch breaking. Qa jumped his longsword in hand the two other quickly followed the mouvement. They were not on their own anymore, there was someone else with them in the camp. Another sound was heard, fabric moving, and then a blade came flying straight at Qa's throat, he managed to deflect it in time and the blade flew into the jungle. Their enemy stayed resolutely invisible. Even when they attacked straight on. They seemed to be wearing a dark cloak or cape which hid both their body and their face. They targeted Qa for a time, the other two helplessly trying to help. Then they attacked Jory, he knew he wasn't at his advantage and that magic was not the best idea in such setting so he resolutely grabbed his sword and tried to parry as many hit as he could.

Eleon could not even use his bow as the elusive fighter was disappearing after each strike. Their solace was found in the rising sun. As the sky slowly turned a dirty blue then a grayish blue, the attacker retreated to the forest, leaving them with only a few scratch and a thousand question as to why they were attacked now. Surely they must have known why they were here and tried to stop them. The question now was who would come here and how. They were terribly alone for the last months that they were sure of so how?

"We must chase after them!" Urged Qa

"You two leave first I will soon follow with our stuff we mustn't waste time!" replied Eleon, Jory had a few doubt as to how exactly would Eleon be able to track them but Qa had no doubt he could so he simply left Jory had no choice but to follow him

Eleon worked fast, putting everything back into the bags and grabbing them all, they were heavy and cumbersome but not enough to substantially slow his pace, he ran after his companions into the lush once he had tied his long hair into a tight hair bun to minimize their chance to be caught into the plants and branches. 

No one commented on the fact that even if the attacks were swift and overwhelming none of them got really hurt, the fighter could very much kill them but they didn't why so?