World of Lah

Hidden among trees

After the meeting with the manticore, the team didn't know what to expect anymore. For the next ingredient they had to return to the surface again. Only grass and leaves appeared on the list, however it couldn't have come from just any place. They had to take it from that part of the Forest Realm, where everything is green all the time, but this location was hidden. In the Cave Realm they bought two mounts. They were also lizards, but they were bigger and walked on all fours, because they were rather used for transporting goods. The fastest route was to east, towards the forest entrance, in this case the exit. Their journey wasn't longer than when they reached the empire from the desert entrance. On their journey a half snake, half human creature guided them. He didn't look too experienced, but they had to be content with this much. Dion, once again, was reading the letter. The crystal became a light blue color. He read it to the others when they stopped to take a break, far enough from their guide.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Above the trees, among the clouds,
Where she flew, once proud,
The detainer, the traitor will one day come,
They will determine the final outcome.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-"Traitor and detainer? Is she talking about Parallax?" -Rocky asked.

-"I understand the detainer part...but who could he possibly betray? Wasn't he always, well like this?" -Aisha asked another question.

-"We can't be sure that it's about him, but we can't discard the idea either." -Dion said. -"She said they, so maybe there's two of them."

He looked worried. He was fighting with a thought for some time now.

-"Are you worried because of the letter?" -Aisha asked.

-"Yes, that too...but there's something else."

Everybody looked at him, which made him more nervous.

-"Well...I said too much about myself when we met, which I shouldn't have. I was lucky with you, but if it would've been someone else..."

-"It's no use dwelling in the past. What happened, happened, everything has an effect on the future, but we can't know what it might be." -Aisha replied.

-"Right..."

-"Whoa, how wise ya became all of a sudden." -Kira said absently.

-"Somebody has to be, if you won't."

Kira dramatically put her hand on her chest.

-"How can you say such a thing to me?"

-"Alright. You can stop now." -Aisha said laughing.

-"It's time to go, if you want to reach the surface before sunset." -Their guide said, smiling widely.

So they picked up their stuff and followed him. It took about 4-5 hours to reach the staircase, similar to the one they came down on, but this was made from wood and tendrils hang on it. On which they entered, it was made from marble with golden decorations.

-"I guess you don't need me anymore, so I'll turn back from here." -The guide spoke up.

They gave him back the lizards and walked up the stairs. In a few minutes they were in a cave, in the end sunlight shone brightly. They walked towards it and when they arrived outside, they had to cover their eyes. After multiple days of darkness, the light was blinding. It took time until they got used to the light. When that happened, they were once again in the forest. It was nearly empty, no  vegetation, just dry weeds and dirt. In a place like this, it wouldn't be hard to find an evergreen area, that is, if it's still green. In the distance they saw an old woman, as she spudded a garden. She tried to keep her plants alive despite the circumstances. When Dion noticed her, his eyes glimmered.