Storm Island Expedition

The Western Swamps

'Bog!' called out Sam.
'Check.' Ivan made another routine mark on his map.
'Bog!' Sam called out again.
'Check.' Then Ivan made another mark.
This little process had been going on since dawn.  As the sun began to set, Eve was getting bored. 'So just how detailed do you two intend to make this map?'
Ivan ignored her.  He was enjoying a the chance to finally put his artistic skills to some use.
Sam on the other hand could not help but micromanage things.  'As detailed as possible.  Have we gotten into any danger since we've been out here?'
Eve gave a sheepish 'no.'
'Well, we did get stuck in that mud a few days back ... and there was swamp monster ... ' Ivan added.
'Yes, yes.  The mud was annoying.  The six tentacle swamp thing was a nuisance, but we did overcome it.'
'Yes Sam, and since you proclaimed yourself the glorious leader of our expedition, we haven't had any major problems, except that we have traveled barely half the swamp since we got here!  I'm sure the other groups have scouted the entire island by now.'
Sam was as stubborn as passive aggressive as ever.  'Perhaps, but our maps will be accurate.  Their maps will need repeated follow up trips.'
If Eve had a crossbow right then, she didn't know if she would shoot herself or Sam.  She scanned around, and in the distance, saw some glowing lights.  The lights were there for a moment then disappeared.  Briefly, she thought she was seeing things, but just then, the lights appeared again, and then disappeared again.
'Did you she that?' As she pointed to the distance.
'See what?'
She grabbed Ivan by the nose and turned his head.   'Over there! Lights or something.'
Ivan shook his head no.  Sam was more focused on the bog around him.
'Look, you two can poke around in the mud.  I'm going to explore over there.  Be back in a jiff.'
Sam was about to tell her to stay put, but Eve was already out of sight.

Eve chased after the lights, step by step headed to the northwest.  With each step, the lights would flicker and give a faint music to the air, then disappear with the next step.
After what Eve thought was a few minutes, she stopped to catch her breath.  Heavily panting 'I ... I did not go that far ... did I?'
She looked about, and she was no longer in a familiar area.  The trees around her were dense.  The sun was even starting to set.
'Ivan!! Sam!!' she called out several times.  But there was no response.
She started to look back to follow her trail, but the ground left no traces of where she stepped.  At the moment, she realized she was lost.
Then she also realized, she was free from Sam.  She gave a passing thought to having lost Ivan, but it would be a small price to being able to finally explore the Island on her own.
With night falling, and an empty stomach, she was more now focused on finding shelter.
Everywhere about her, the ground was too damp and soggy to make a good base to sleep.  The trees around her were more sinew than branches and nothing with to make a decent fire.  When she checked her pack, she realized that she didn't even have any food.
'Bugs and worms for dinner I guess.' as she shrugged off the situation.  She started knocking over logs on the ground looking for something simple, and not poisonous.
An hour of knocking over rotting logs turned up nothing.  No bugs, no worms, no snails, not even semi-edible roots or mushrooms.  'Since when does a swamp NOT have any bugs or slimy things?
She started to listen again as darkness set in.  No birds were cawing in the distance.  No animals were making sounds as they moved on the ground.  When she looked at the trees again, for a moment she thought that even the trees were dead.  'A dead swamp?'
Even the lights she seemed to chase were no longer about.
Hungry or not, dark or not, she decided to pick a direction and try to find a way out.
She took a quick step and headed what she thought was southeast.

Time passed, and with each step she grew tired, weak.  Shapes seemed to move about.  She paid no heed at first, 'Just hunger pains and the imagination after all.  Easy to get one's mind worked up out here.  Absolutely nothing to be worried about.  Nothing ... at ... '
Then a distinct shape in the distance, with an eerie glow.  'Ghast? Ghost?'  She called out regardless 'Hello?'
The shape gave no response, only closed in on her slowly.
'Ivan? Sam?' Again it gave no response.
Not wanting to risk a fight, she immediately turned to her right, and broke into a sprint.  The soggy ground and her gear made getting full speed a challenge.
It made little difference, as she could see the shape closing in on her.
As it got closer, from the corner of her eye, she could see it more clearly.  Or at least, that she could see through it.  'Ghost or ghast?' raced through her mind again.
The further she ran, the denser the swamp seemed to get.  No exit, no markers, no trails.  Nothing told her where she was going.
The further she ran, the closer the thing got.
In time, she could here a soft whisper coming from it.  Then, sounds like a voice she couldn't understand.  'Of all the times to need a ghostspeak amulet ... '
Eve had always been a good runner, but this was taxing even for her.
When the spirit closed in further, it looked as if a hood covered its face, and it trailed a worn or torn cloak.  When it got close enough, it reached out its hand and caught Eve on the shoulder.  An icy feeling ran across Eve's back, then a sudden jolt of pain.  She stumbled, and barely missed a second reach by the spirit.  It still made sounds she did not understand.  Finally, when she thought she saw a clearing, she stumbled and fell.  The spirit caught up to her.

It hovered about her for a moment, before coming in as if leaning over her.  One hand touched Eve's other shoulder, the other touched her waist.  The cold sensation coursed through her entire body again.  This time she was not sure if it felt like she was drowning or burning.  When her eyes did catch a glimpse of the spirit through the pain, she first just saw the hood, and then when it came to meet her eyes ... she saw her own face in the spirit ...

'Eve.  Eve!' Sam was angrily shaking Even.  'Get up lazy bones. '
'What?'
'You fell asleep.'
'What?'
'I told you, you fell asleep.  In fact you were asleep all afternoon and night.  It's morning.  We've even completed mapping this part of the swamp.'
Ivan smiled at her.  'I think we went a little faster without you whining every ten minutes.  Or at least it felt like it went faster.'
'Either way, we're moving on.'
'Wait. I was asleep the whole time?'
'Yes.'
'What about the lights?  And the swamp?'
'We're still in the swamp, and what lights?'
'The ones I saw yesterday and pointed out to you.  Ivan you saw them right?'
'Eve, there were no lights.'
'Yes, I went chasing after them and ... '
'Eve, you were here, asleep the whole time.  There were no lights, no nothing.  Now c'mon.'
Ivan and Sam had everything packed up but the blanket Eve had been sleeping on.  She quickly rolled it up, gathered her bearings, and jogged after them.

They marched on for another two days with their slow pace, mapping everything so meticulously.  Eve was quiet the whole time, not making any complaints.   Ivan and Sam paid no concern.
On the third day, they reached the edge of a denser swamp.
'You see these trees?' Ivan pointed out.
Sam took a close look.   'Gangly ... and dead? Or sort of dead.'
Ivan poked a stick and gazed deeply out into the swamp.   'Water level is a little deeper, but not too deep.  Our boots will get waterlogged.  Doesn't look too dangerous.'
Eve looked out, and for a moment, saw the lights in the distant again.  She got a cold feeling in her shoulder.  'Guys ... can we ... can we just go around it?'
'What?'
'Can we just go around this?  I ... I don't like the looks of this.'
'Eve, if we tread carefully, we'll be fine.'
'Yeah' Ivan smiled, 'It's not like we've run into anything serious yet.'
Eve looked once more into the dense, dead swamp, and saw the faint shimmer of the lights.   'No' she whispered.
Sam and Ivan though, half whispered themselves 'So beautiful.'
She turned back around, Ivan and Sam we're gone.
She wheeled about, looking for Sam and Ivan, but there was no sign of them.  The pair didn't even leave any signs of a trail.
She started to take several paces back from the denser swamp, and in the distance, thought she saw two figures.  They seemed to glow, and seemed transparent.  Even from this distance, she could see Sam's and Ivan's faces under the robed hoods.
She turned to run to the southeast and never looked back.