Bloodline

Outsiders - part 12

After leaving the tavern and moving more to the east, Zircon puts the amulet back on, though no voices are heard. Damian notices this, and nudges Zircon's arm, "Anything coming out of it? Any specific place to head?" Zircon shakes his head, gazing into the large purple gem within the amulet. "Nothing so far, which could mean we're heading in the exact way it says we need to go, or something needs to happen in order for it to properly guide us." Osred moves closer and examines the gem, seeing its form in the amulet. "There is no gem that comes to my mind looking at it, especially with it's dark color, almost as if it was some other color before being put into this." Zircon looks at the slightly lighter waves of purple within the gem, seeing them connect into a sort of circle. "I dont understand this amulet at all, but I hope that we don't have to be in any sort of danger for it to work..." Zircon says as he lets go of it, and takes lead in front of everyone. As they move through the environment, they move next to a wide lake, with a man fishing in a boat in the middle.

Passing by this lake, they look at the man in the river as he looks back at them. They wave to the man, who turns away as he reels his line back after he catches his fish. "Well that was rude, what made us upset him?" Maralyne remarks as Lutol looks into the water, its clear view of the rocks all of a sudden becoming more and more blurry to see. "We're outsiders in this part of the kingdom, there isn't much my father has done to enforce his control on this part of the kingdom, so the people of this area and of the should be town ahead would think of us as strangers." Damian says, looking into a forest nearby and seeing animals scurry away. "In this part of the kingdom, the people here mostly self govern their villages. Especially since that forest we just went into blocks the most direct approach to this area, it takes a lot more time for the king to send troops here so we mostly let them do their own thing at a certain extent." Osred says, Maralyne nodding. "Speaking of the forest, what happened after I passed out? The only thing I remember is somehow getting Tesath from seeing those visions she said she had when we were at that tavern a while ago." Damian jogs closer to Zircon. "Well, I'm not entirely sure, but when you passed out, she also passed out after we saw her eyes clear from whatever that giant tree was doing to her, which also caused the forest to lash out at us. When that happened, those trees around us turned grey, and almost dead, and they started clawing and attacking us as we started running through the forest. I then saw that amulet around your neck, which I then put on and had a voice speak to me, which led us out. After we left, we finally exited through the other side, where we carried you guys for a while, and eventually reached that tavern, where we got permission from the owners to use some beds and heal you as much as possible."

Zircon stares ahead after Damian says this, wondering to himself. "Does this mean the effect is passed onto you then...?" Maralyne nudges him, "Speaking of the amulet, where did you get it? Did you find a missing person that gave you it or something?" Zircon stops as he looks around, everyone else stopping to look at him. "Well, it's kind of a long story, I suggest we set up camp here for a while and I'll tell you, it's not a very good story..." Damian looks at Osred, him nodding, and they begin to set up camp, setting their tents and setting their gear aside as everyone looks at Zircon. "So what did happen with you in the forest Zircon? Is it something horrible like a monster came out at you?" Lutol says as he sets his big axe down, sitting down. "Well, the thing is, I came to a strange place in the forest, which I thought was the center, but came to realise I was anywhere but it. Unlike the rest of the forest, I came into this large clearing, no trees came near it, none of their large branches covered the sky, it was really just clear of them. Moving closer towards the middle, and I found this sort of fire pit made by someone that was there not long ago, a small smoke trail let me know of that. I examined it and I came to find a small kit made by a soldier, along with a note made by them hidden under a rock. It was made by a Colonel Shaul, who described how he was stuck there for a while, but was separated from his group of soldiers as they tried passing through. He tried leaving multiple times but was always sent back to there, fruits being made by the trees to sustain him. After I found this, I then noticed there was no body around the clearing showing that he could've died there, and I thought I could make a homemade compass to get me out, but after making it and moving closer to the trees, they messed with my compass and proved to me that I couldn't use it to get through."

After a few unsettling looks by the others, he continues, "What I did find out though, was that it was a good magic detector, and moving through some parts of the clearing revealed to me that there were was magic in the clearing. Moving to one spot led me to digging into the ground, coming to uncover a skeleton, with the amulet wrapped around his neck, multiple broken parts of his skull were also revealed when I uncovered more. Just when I found this though, an old knight approached me, their armor in bad shape and their sword rusted and split in half. They told me of Colonel Shauls fate and revealed to me he was a part of the East, before the king now took control. He was trapped in the forest a while before Shaul, and told me he saw him enter the clearing, and decided to stalk him for a while to see if he could find his way out through him. After a few days, he was attacked, not by a monster, but of people, people who were stuck in the forest for years, and they murdered him, mutilated him and left his corpse to rot. When he approached the people, they revealed they were from our own kingdom, and felt betrayed we didnt come to look for them. For years he stayed in the forest with those missing victims, up until we approached and entered. After I dug up Shauls skeleton, he told me all this, and all of a sudden we got ambushed by the people of the forest, each with the intention of killing us both. That's when their leader approached from behind the people that ambushed us, and talked to us, telling me about the giant tree's affects on those who use magic. Thats when I was able to leave, after promising to them I would go back in once this is over, and get them all out."

"And the rest is what happened once we regrouped, damn, I cant imagine being in your shoes during all that." Damian says as he goes to put a hand on Zircon's shoulder, him brushing it away. "Its fine, I've been through worse, but I fully intend to fulfill my promise to everyone in there, whether it takes days or months." Everyone smiles at Zircon, Tesath sitting close to him. "That's our Zircon, always a symbol of the people." Lutol laughs, giving Zircon a heavy pat on the back. "I never liked most things other than fighting, but your care for others is what makes me like being your friend, and I'm sure everyone else can say the same." Maralyne shrugs, looking away. "Like I would ever count you as a friend, but I guess I should be thankful since you got us out of that forest." "Shut up Maralyne, you cant hide yourself with that attitude forever, besides, we all know you dont think of him that way." Damian says as he lightly punches her in her arm. "Fine, I guess I value him being with us, him risking his life for others." "That's the spirit." Damian says as he gets up. He gets a few rocks and sets up a fire pit, lighting a small flame and setting a pot nearby. "Now if everyone can excuse me, I'll making lunch, I heard the village is still quite a distance away from here, even if we see people come and go from here."