A Forest of Secrets

Chapter 12

According to the map, they were nearing the outskirts of the Faradian Forest. She could sense her sweat turning cold every time she stopped to catch some breath, or drink water from her leather bag. 

Somewhere along the way, the weather changed abruptly,  like there was a physical barrier containing a whole different climate: and they'd just crossed it. It felt like walking into the middle of a blizzard, but without a single speck of snow in sight. Jo made a scarf out of an undershirt and kept her hands well-hidden in the sleeves of her leather coat. She thanked her grandmother in her mind, for packing the coat, but cursed her for hiding it so well inside the backpack and not thinking of at least a pair of mittens.

They stopped and tested the barrier theory by making a line on the ground with a branch, to mark where it ended: if they placed a hand on the other side, they could feel the extreme difference between both environments. Gerard said it was magic, probably there to mark the beginning of the outskirts and drive away unwanted visitors. The tales said that nearing the Faradian Forest magic ran naturally wild: they said trees weren't tethered by their roots, corpses walked like the living, and the animals were twisted and deadly. She didn't have to see the last two to believe it, those things could stay far away from them. No need for introductions. Especially after the griffin incident.

As they walked further in, the foliage started to get thicker, so dense, at times, that the sky darkened completely. She didn't fear the dark, but what was hiding in it: she kept her dagger close to her hand, ready to use it when needed.

She tried not to think of the cold, or her sore feet, or the fact that her whole body was sweaty and probably smelly. She tried to catch up with Gerard, she wanted to talk to him for a while. The man told the best stories by the campfire, they almost made her feel like she wasn't hundreds of kilometers away from home-- burnt home, she reminded herself-- but walking in that cold, humid weather... thinking she was somewhere else would've been very difficult. The campfires they set up every night had been the only light in her life for the last couple of weeks, everything still felt like a nightmare to her. She never thought she'd miss separating the drunks brawling at the inn, those days seemed peaceful to her now, nice and easy. Even the times she had to use her dagger to defend herself, or the inn, or someone else: the village didn't have guards like the cities did, and people always seemed to rely on her for justice, as she was the only one qualified to use a deadly weapon on something other than a wild boar. That, and the fact that she could read people like they were made of words-- also her grandmother's training. Grandmother had insisted on teaching her since she was just a little girl; had she been training her for that all those years? To take over her, to go to that dreadful place? Maybe she had. She thanked the creators for it, her skills had served her well.

She gave up on trying to catch up with the knight, he was too far away and she could feel her legs complaining. She was getting a lot better at walking, she didn't even have blisters on her feet anymore, mostly thanks to Wyn's salves. The girl knew her way around alchemy, but was still bad at answering questions about it. Her responses varied from: "I picked it up in some book" to "I just know, now shut it". At least Wyn was making progress at trusting the guys... in her own way: she enjoyed making Alaric and Laurentius suffer with her pranks, all alchemy related. Alaric was still suffering the consequences of her last practical joke, which she performed on him while she was propped on his shoulders. A little part of his hair was now a bright shade of purple. He didn't like it one bit. At least it wouldn't be permanent, or so Wyn claimed.

Jo looked back at the girl, to make sure she was fine.

Considering the cold weather, the mage had decided to turn into a bear: a large beast with silky brown hair and deep black eyes. Wyn, on the other hand, decided to travel on top of him to escape from the cold and from all the walking: two birds with one lazy stone. Laurentius protested, but he had a soft spot for the girl, mostly because he liked seeing Alaric suffer at her hands. She felt bad for the young recruit, but part of her couldn't help but laugh at him a little. She'd always help Alaric mitigate the effects of Wyn's actions, anyways. That counted for something, didn't it?