Lady Maemori did not like the jungle. She could taste the humidity in the air, a cloying thickness that seeped into her lungs and clung to her pale skin. As if buoyed by the thick air, the grotesque bugs that swarmed about the air and crawled along the ground were far larger than those in Khardihr, grotesque things that buzzed about on translucent wings and crunched underfoot. There was no sign of civilisation. The city’s tall buildings and cobbled streets replaced by an endless expanse of tangled vegetation, thick boughed trees, and rushing rivers.
Worst of all though was the sun. Its rays beat down remorselessly, setting her nerves afire and sapping her strength. Sweat beaded her brow from the mere effort of walking beneath its unrelenting gaze. In Khardihr, she had been able to operate at night, or within the shaded interior of buildings. Within the dell though, she had been afforded no such luxury.
“Why am I here?” she asked with disgust, burning off a roach that had crawled across her foot with a burst of magic. The normally simple act, exhausting.
“We have been through this my lady,” tutted the Lighthouse Keeper.
His staff clicked on the ground as he walked with Maemori along the river, the stony bank beside the rushing waters providing some measure of clear ground. The brazier atop his staff burned with a slight flame that was all but lost in the blazing sunlight and as always, the wizened vizier’s face was entirely lost within the shadow of his hood. Despite his hunched form though, he seemed to have no issue in navigating the jungle or its sunlight. Behind him, the small cohort of Sunken Knights and skeletal warriors followed in their wake, the small force considered best for navigating the wild, twisted routes of the Dell.
“Ancient artefacts, lost secrets, yes, yes I know,” said Maemori, rolling her eyes. “But why me? Let Dairun hack his way through this intolerable place. I am far better suited to the intrigue of the city anyway.”
“The Dell is the key to this region, and with the sinking of the city, likely to Khardihr’s survival too. We must secure its power for our allies, and Tira Gnok. Such an important task requires your personal attention does it not? Hehehe.”
Maemori shot the Keeper a disdainful look, his unnerving laugh doing nothing to help improve her mood. Not for the first time she wondered why Elanor kept him around. Idly, she thought of how easy it was for people to get lost in such wild lands.
“Besides, your diplomatic skills may be needed with the Seraphon.”
“The lizards? What business do we have with those savages?” asked Maemori, angrily cutting through a curtain of vines that blocked her path. “They are too stupid to see past their simplistic notions of order and good, neither of which we fit into.”
“You may be surprised. Greater enemies yet lurk on the horizon for us both,” the Keeper said, solemnly, looking to the sky.
Maemori tried to follow his gaze but was forced to flinch away as the sun caught her eyes directly.
“Careful, Hysh seems in a vengeful mood today, hehehe.”
Maemori gritted her teeth. As they trudged along she thought about how slippery the water-slicked rocks were beneath their feet, and how easy it would be for someone to slip into the river to be swept away by the furious current.
