FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

After a very long hiatus, and completing my first novel in Stellar Dreams I finally return to this series. If writing Stellar Dreams has taught me anything is that when I try to force sex scenes for the sake of the sex it just comes off pretty meh in my head. So especially for these longer series that have the potential to become novels I'm going to focus on just writing the story and when sex happens, it does! Not to worry though, I still like the smut and you'll see it here and in other stand-alone stories.

This chapter, as part of that new philosophy has no sex gasp, and it is pretty action light. Lots of individual reflection, dialogue, foreshadowing and exposition though! If you haven't read the earlier chapters of this story you can find them here, here and here! I recommend you catch up before you take a read through this one.

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Elle could swear she felt Natago's gaze on her back as the quartet pushed their way through the jungle, still following a stream that worked its way inland. Carter broke their trail from the front. The big bull used his massive strength to clear the path of any obstructions. Behind him, Hathen followed along not more than a couple of steps, apparently trying to get a glimpse of any more indications where they might have landed from the few breaks in the trees.

Elle tried not to blush as she considered Natago's gaze, she hoped it was due to their impromptu lovemaking the night before, and not due to the...other thing.

I mean, she couldn't be a shadow weaver, could she? The church and the university taught them that shadow weavers all sought the elimination of magic, and were malicious creatures. She certainly didn't think she was malicious, and well, sure, she always wished she was a little more adept at using magic, like her brother, but she definitely had no reason to want to destroy magic, it is so useful after all!

She tried hard to focus on the path they wound through the jungle, but she kept looking down at her hands. When that predator attacked, all she remembered was she was so scared, and she wanted to drive it away. It is not as if she wanted the darkness to help her, she just didn't want the beast to hurt her.

She shook her head, and risked a glance back over her shoulder. Natago was definitely watching her, she felt sure of it, but she didn't think he looked angry.

There was supposed to be a bounty on shadow weavers, she suddenly remembered, and blinked as she thought about that.

If I go back, if I'm really a weaver, will they throw me in jail? Will they turn me in? I've heard the bounty is pretty big, and I bet he'd want another ship.

She shook her head,

If we get back, I mean. First things first Elle, are you really one of them?

She tried to remember the feeling from the attack, the fear and the panic, the need to protect herself. With a start, she realized she'd touched something inside her that wanted out. Something inside her, something that uncurled, something that wanted out.

I...is that me?

The sound of thrashing bushes in front of them stopped.

"Cap'n," Carter called from in front, "tha' water's gett'n louder. There's some kinda river or somp'n ahead o' us."

Elle looked back as Natago nodded and called forward again,

"I can hear it Carter, let's try to get to it before we stop for a break. There might be some fish we can catch there."

"Aye Cap'n." Carter replied before the thrashing of broken foliage resumed.

Elle deliberately slowed her pace a little, letting Natago catch up before she resumed following behind the other two crew.

"What are you going to do about me," she asked as quietly as she could when the tiger matched his pace to hers.

He glanced down at her, then back up the path ahead. She thought he looked a bit more confused than anything did, now that she got closer to him.

"I don't know," he replied after almost a minute's pause, "what you are doesn't change what we have to do right now."

He shook his head, "for all we know your...abilities might be useful while we try to find a way out of here."

"So you're not going to...leave me?"

He blinked, and she realized he'd probably not even considered that as an option. She noticed he did pause a bit though as he considered, before he shook his head.

"No, of course not. Right now we need all of us just to survive here." He lightly placed a hand on her shoulder before he continued, "remember what I told you on my ship? I still plan on getting you safely to your destination, one way or the other."

Elle nodded and replied with a wan smile before she moved forward again to the center of their little group, though she couldn't suppress the swirl of confusing emotions and thoughts that filled her head as she stared at her hands once again.

*

Natago looked left and right, considering as he watched the rapid flow of water stream past.

Sure enough, shortly after Carter called out the change in the water's sound, they'd found the origin of their stream. In this case though, it wasn't a fountain or spring, but an outward cut branch of a rather large, sluggish river. He could see where the huge rock and sandbar cut off a smaller flow of the river, which apparently turned into their little stream as it found a slightly different down-slope then the rest of the flow.

"Captain, captain, what do you think? Yes? Upstream or down?" Hathen clacked at him as the owl also looked up and down the slowly swirling current.

Carter had already seen at least a few fish floating through the currents, so the bull immediately splashed into the waist-deep water with a big palm leaf so he could try to catch them. His 'dip and fling' technique certainly sent water fountaining, but so far he hadn't managed to get anything other than the river water itself.

Natago hmmed, "My first thought is downstream now," he gazed down as he watched the river disappear out of sight into a curved hitch into what looked like a gorge of some kind.

While following their stream he'd noticed they'd actually climbed quite a bit, though the jungle canopy still prevented him from seeing how far from the coast and how high up the island they were.

"A river this large is more likely to end at a marsh, or a beach, somewhere we can access a better beach, hopefully one where we can think about making something we can use to escape."

Hathen's eyes widened and narrowed quickly, which Natago knew was the owl repressing something he wanted to say, though the owl simply replied with "Yes yes captain."

Elle then piped up behind him, "S...shouldn't we head upstream though? Get to even higher ground? Maybe we'll eventually see something we can use to figure out where we are." She licked her lips, "At least you'll get a better view of the stars."

Natago turned back to her, "I am sure I will get quite the view of the stars from a beach..." He tried to modulate the irritation he felt, as the confusion he still felt over how to deal with the squirrel girl still twisted his mind in knots.

"It should also be easier to travel downstream, we can rig up something we can float on and let the current carry us." An interruption in the form of a cry of triumph rose up as Carter finally sent a large river fish sailing from the water to land on the shore. It flopped strongly and tried to get back into the water, at least until Hathen quickly jumped on it. Natago then smirked, "it will also keep us near a good food source."

Elle then coughed, "Ok...but umm, captain, don't we have a better chance if we go upstream to meet whatever made that?" She pointed upstream, to a point on the bank.

Natago blinked and looked where she pointed...at what appeared to be an outcropping of rock debris sticking out into the water.

"Made?" Natago started, and squinted his eyes; surely it wasn't...but maybe. "Stay here." He commanded to the other three, who merely nodded and watched him.

It took a bit of a swim against the slow, powerful current but Natago eventually made it to the protrusion.

This certainly looks crafted.

He growled thoughtfully as he pulled away some of the overgrown vegetation.

Is it?

As he pulled away more and more, what he first mistook as a rock outcropping took shape, a much more regular shape in fact. He could see where the rocks fit together and sure enough some kind of rock mortar held together stones that he could now clearly see had tooling marks of some kind.

He pulled away more of the debris and worked his way to shore, where he could see some kind of path as it disappeared into the foliage.

Gods curse me, what did we find now?

He turned and swam back, letting the water ease his transit while the other three watched from the shore. They all had questioning looks as he pulled himself out of the river.

"You are right," he started with a look to Elle, "that was definitely made by someone who knew what they were doing. I also found a cut path that leads into the forest. I'm not sure how long it's been since it was used though, it looked overgrown."

"Wha' now then Cap'n," Carter asked.

"First, let's make that fish," Natago started, while he tried a forced smile, "and then we're going to see if we can find whomever, or whatever makes this island home.

*

The jungle path showed signs of long disrepair. Though the path at one point likely had been wide, a positive thoroughfare through the jungle to the river stop, the jungle had retaken most of it. Large ground-plants and tree roots broke up the stone path, leaving treacherous, foot betraying spikes and upturned stones, while creeper vines hung from above and left even a dozen feet ahead invisible to the foursome.

, the path at the middle remained mostly clear, enough so that some sunlight filtered through the gaps from above. Without Carter forced to blaze a trail for them, they all made good time as they followed the broken road deeper into the jungle's interior while the sun passed zenith and started creeping down the other side of the sky.

Elle strained her ears, but could no longer hear the sounds of the river behind them as they doggedly followed the path. The four of them were full of fish, and they'd found some large hollow reed-like plants they'd turned into improvised water bottles. All of them carried several of them, but Elle found she was steadily drinking as the oppressive heat and almost stifling humidity wore on her. She felt wilted; and though the going was easier she found she moved almost trance-like behind Hathen.

She walked over the broken road for several minutes before she noticed something peculiar. Despite the broken nature of the road, the stones seemed to be made of several different colors, deliberately arranged in different patterns.

She licked her lips as she noticed that the stone patterns worked on her fuzzed mind, and she was soon following the patterns with her footsteps. She walked, and walked, paying the world no mind, until a sudden hand on the scruff of her neck jerked her back.

She looked up startled into Carter's broad muzzle, who snorted as he gave her a little shake.

"Oy girl, what're you thinkin' leavin' us behin' like that? We had ta almos' run after ya ta catch up."

Elle blinked and shook her head as she looked around, sure enough Natago and Hathen were just now catching up to the two of them. Hathen was puffing along, while Natago just looked cautious.

"W, what do you mean? I was; I was just following the pattern. There are these patterns in the road." She gestured down, stone patterns drew her eyes as they wound their way along deeper into the jungle.

Natago looked down where Elle pointed, cursed, sank to his knees and swept away the detritus so they could see the patterns more clearly.

"Hathen, look at these, what do you make of them," he asked as he looked up at the owl navigator.

Carter gave Elle another fierce look, which provoked a cringe, before he casually dropped her to the ground, "Don' go anywhere."

Elle nodded, not that she had any intention, as Hathen and Natago swept the road and revealed more of the colored stone patterns. Hathen opened and closed his beak, clacking in a way Elle thought indicated the Owl was trying to pull something out of that rattled brain of his.

Hathen suddenly blinked his wide eyes, "Yes yes captain, they look familiar, but ol' Hathen couldn't see them. They look like the runes we sew into our sail edging, yes yes, the ones for swift travel, yes."

Natago nodded slowly, "I agree, but these ones are so large, it looks like the stones make up most of the width of the road." He sat back on his haunches and looked out along the road, as though trying to pierce the jungle with sheer force of will alone.

"I suppose it would make some sense to line a road with them, but...that would take so much power, especially for them to have some potency left in this condition, and I can only presume for so long." He frowned and looked over to Elle. "What made you decide to follow the runes?"

Elle thought his tone sounded accusatory, which for some reason just inflamed her and brought up her hackles,

"I just thought they were pretty stones. You haven't exactly been having me do anything so far, so I've had naught to do but let my mind wander. I was tracing the patterns with my mind and following them with my feet before Carter grabbed me."

Natago frowned further, and Elle noticed a quick swish of his tail before he nodded and straightened. "All right, well," he started, paused and then looked to the two others. He hmphed, "No fault of yours then." He half-growled, "But, since we don't know where this road goes, we might just want to use a bit more caution." He shook his head, "because, _Lady_you would know how unpredictable old magic can be, I hope."

She bristled again and nodded, "Yes, they cautioned us about that at least in school. I'll be careful."

Natago gave her a sidelong glimpse and Elle suddenly realized he must be more concerned with her then the others.

Oh! If he thinks I'm a shadow weaver, he doesn't know what I would do to the magic; wait, I don't know either.

She frowned and shook her head, "So are we still going on then?"

Natago nodded slowly, "I still think this is our best bet to find anyone, if there are still inhabitants of the island. I think that when night comes we shall camp away from this road. Old magic can have weird effects on the local wildlife sometimes."

Hathen clacked his beak again, "Yes...and Hathen wants to eat food, not be food, yes yes."

Elle nodded as she made a thoughtful sound. She found her eyes almost unconsciously wandered to the stone patterns; she felt an urge, the urge to follow them again with her feet. She was about to step forward when she shook her head quickly, and felt that urge pass. With wide eyes she looked up to Natago, whom was still looking at her strangely,

"Ummm, yes. I guess you're right. I'll be more careful."

Natago gave one more nod and offered his hand to Elle, which she took with a sudden fit of grace, as she tried not to look at the colored stones once again.

*

"How big is this island, anyway?"

Elle panted in an exasperated tone as she watched the light filtering through the jungle canopy dim quickly with the arrival of night and yet somehow the four of them were still marching along the road, as they had been for hours.

"Bigger than any of us thought, apparently." Natago replied ruefully.

The four of them, since the discovery of the magic inlaid in the road, carefully walked along the edges of the broken path. Elle caught her gaze drawn to the runes repeatedly throughout the afternoon of walking. Each time she had to catch herself before her feet could follow the colored stones once again.

Avoiding the center of the road had slowed them quite a bit due to the need to push aside and cut through the creeper vines when they became too tangled to progress.

"Yes yes, quite big, quite big." Hathen added as he somehow still had the energy to move quickly from rock to rock just behind Carter as he cleared the way. His beak clacked as he glanced at the road, "maybe maybe the runes were to make sure people made good time. If it's such a long way," he concluded with a glance back to Natago.

Natago nodded in response, "I've been thinking that as well. A road inlaid with runes his powerful would likely make transit to the dock and, well, whenever this road leads quite swift." He glanced over to the road, "which would make transporting goods and people much easier I suspect. I know I would love to have something like this from the docks in some of the towns I've been to."

Elle blinked, "What do you mean," she asked Natago, "don't most cities keep warehouses near the docks for goods storage"

Natago nodded, while at the front of their little procession Carter snorted loudly, "Most yes," Natago replied, "A few though, like Kathera, the waterfront is at the bottom of a rather steep hill. The warehouses are at the top," he gave a slight smile; "'luckily' the dockyards helpfully lease porters that will get your goods to the warehouses, for a fee, of course."

"Aye, an' cap'n here ne'er goin' pay it," Carter interjected, "I always en' up haulin' tha cargo up tha' blasted hill."

Natago smiled in a way that Elle thought was actually rather mischievous before the captain replied, "Well Carter, if you want to pay the extortion that they charge to transport the goods. I'll be more than happy to take it out of your share next time we put to port there," his tail swished behind him with a quick snapping movement as he sighed and looked around. "Assuming we put to port anywhere again."

Elle blinked at the way Natago's ears wilted at that statement. She wanted to move back and hug him, or comfort him suddenly, but also as suddenly a pit in her stomach opened as she looked at her feet,

If I hadn't stowed away, he'd probably still have his ship. He would probably be at the capitol right now spending the money from their cargo instead of being here in this place.

"Cap'n, here." Carter called from ahead accompanied with the crashing sound as he chopped aside more of the creeper vines.

Elle blinked and hurried to follow as Natago brushed forward towards Carter and Hathen where the two stopped next to an irregular shape covered in creepers.

"Yes yes captain," Hathen clacked, "a way station, or stopping point?"

Elle blinked as she looked at the irregular shape, while Carter pushed aside more of the creepers. Removing the overgrowth revealed more stones and mortar that formed several half-crumbled walls and the remnants of a roof.

I must have been oblivious to miss this.

Elle pondered as she ran her hand across the cut stones. Where the overgrowth hadn't broken through the stones were still smooth and regular as though sculpted with precision tools.

Natago, Carter and Hathen already located what would have been the door and they were examining the interior. Elle ducked in, and almost immediately felt cooler. The air didn't feel as oppressive, and as she looked around she could see now several smallish rooms off the main structure.

"Be careful, something could have made this their den," Natago warned as the three looked from room to room, "but I agree, a way station of some sort. You can see the remains of bed frames here," he pointed into one room, "maybe a toll or guard station?"

"Here here Captain!" Hathen shrilled, at which Elle hurried to join him in the side room along with Carter and Natago.

Hathen was nudging the grown-over bones of some kind of bipedal creature. The skull looked canine in nature, with a helmet fitted over where the ears would be and covering over the top of the muzzle. Age had rusted and pitted the metal helmet. Next to the corpse also lay some kind of shield and the head of a type of broad-tipped spear.

Natago knelt down next to the remains and gently looked from one side to the other, "If I had to make a guess, I'd expect some kind of guard or police?" He hummed thoughtfully, then reached in and to Elle's horror pushed aside the skeleton's ribs. He grabbed something and pulled his hand back, "I would also say he did not meet his end peacefully," Natago growled and opened his hand.

Elle blinked at the sight of an arrowhead resting in Natago's hand, the tip serrated cruelly and with channels along the sides that would no doubt lead to the shaft.

Carter hmmphed, "So? E' died, looks like it was too lon' ago fer us ta care. Shoul' make a good camp site fer us tho' sun's goin' down fast Cap'n."

Natago nodded, tossed the corroded arrowhead into the corner of the room and shrugged, "true Carter. This looks like it might be a safe enough place to take a break for the night." Natago glanced over at Elle. "Let's try and stay indoors this evening though and all of us stay together. We have no idea if the magic inlaid in that road can still take us at night."

Elle frowned again and met Natago's gaze challengingly, while she crossed her arms, "I'm pretty sure I can stay here Captain," she emphasized, before she turned and stalked out of the room.

She swore she could still feel his gaze on her back though, and she gave an exasperated sound as she went to go look through the way station's other rooms.

*

Just where are we?

Natago thought to himself as he tossed another few sticks onto the merrily crackling fire.

A minimum amount of work had cleared enough of the way station's main room to make a relatively comfortable campsite, though the stone beneath them still hadn't warmed through from the fire's influence.

He was running his hands along the edges, etching and designs of a dagger they'd found near the remains of another person, also clad in armor. The dagger showed considerable wear, but somehow less then he would expect given the disrepair of the way station and the other artifacts they'd found.

The steel is barely corroded.

He considered the wear as he turned the dagger over in his hands. He ran his claw tips along some etchings in the flat of the blade.

I bet with a good sharpening stone and some time I could get this blade like new. If it is from the same time as the rest of the place it has to be what, decades? Hundreds of years old? Who makes weapons that could last that long uncovered in the middle of a rainforest.

He found he'd extended the claws on his forefingers and he was tracing the etchings slowly, following the patterns from the tip of the blade all the way down to the crosspiece for the hilt. Any leather wrapping on the handle had obviously rotted away years ago, but the makers imbedded the metal blade and crosspiece into a hard wood hilt that he didn't recognize. A similarly near-pristine steel pin held it in place.

Could it be more magic? However, whom would he be to have a rune inscribed dagger as a way station guard? Something like this would cost me my share of every cargo we hauled for a quarter.

He growled a little in his throat and then glanced up. Hathen and Elle were asleep, while Carter stood watch in the ruin's door. Natago was also supposed to be asleep as he'd completed his watch, but the mystery of the place kept him up as his mind roiled over the possibilities. He also glanced over where Elle slept fitfully, as he watched she gave a low moan and turned over on her improvised bedding.

And what do I do about her? How can it be coincidence that we find her, and then are wrecked here of all places? A shadow-weaver, and this place of old magic?

He sighed and looked up at the bit of the starry sky he could see through the hole in the building's roof,

Oh gods, if you have a plan for us, it would be nice if you could give me a little warning, maybe even a sign or two? I'm not sure I can keep taking these kinds of surprises.

The gods were not obliging enough to answer his impromptu prayer, or perhaps they were merely too stubborn to, as Natago often expected.

He sighed and lay back on his own bedding, while he held the dagger up in front of his face. His eyes continually traced the patterns and shapes on the blade. When he turned it just right the gleam of the fire reflected off the metal where he'd cleaned away what little corrosion he'd found.

I wonder what we'll find at the end of this road,

Natago pondered, while he drifted into his own fitful sleep and dropped the dagger aside.

*

Elle was drowning.

Black water whirled around her in a cylinder that buffeted her this way and that, knocking her around and sending her into a panic.

She tried to swim upwards, to hold her head above the currents, but again and again the water doused her and filled her mouth and nose, sending her sputtering and struggling against the current.

The current had her, and it was too strong, the water was so frigid she couldn't feel her limbs. It was even more frigid then that desperate swim to shore, it made her feel leaden and helpless as it tossed her this way and that.

Please...please no, please... she pleaded in her mind as she felt her struggles weaken.

The cold, black rush of liquid was unforgiving though; it slammed into her back and knocked her head forward. Just as she gasped to catch one breath, another wave crashed into her and flooded her air passages with ice-cold blackness.

She coughed, she gasped and tried to clear her nose, but another wave slammed into her and overwhelmed her feeble efforts to catch another breath.

_This is...what drowning...feels like,_she thought as she sunk beneath the pitch-black water, and any light from the surface disappeared from her sight.

She tried holding her breath as best she could; she clamped her mouth shut and pinched her nose with her fingers to try to keep some air while she sunk rapidly.

She held, and held, and held, but it was inevitable that her resistance would fade.

I...I don't want to die

She gasped, and her lungs filled with water.

As the water flooded her, she didn't die though, surprisingly, she even didn't feel like she should be choking.

Instead, she felt filled with something, gentle warmth that spread out from the center of her chest. When she stopped trying to struggle breathing air, she found she didn't need it. She opened her eyes and even though surrounded by blackness, she still found she could see.

It was a strange feeling, this breathing without breath, and Elle felt she was still sinking, though instead of it being icy water, she now felt it as warm, comforting, enveloping her.

This is a dream, it must be, she finally considered as she drifted aimlessly in the darkness.

I've never had a waking dream before, though I've heard of those who do.

"Yessss..." a soft, gentle voice hissed through the darkness.

"Hello?" Elle started and looked around, then stopped as she realized she'd not actually spoken to open her mouth, "Who is there?" She then blinked and gave a sound of exasperation, "I'm talking to my dream, who is supposed to answer me, me?"

"Yessss...." the gentle voice intoned again, "thissss is a dream. It isss not only your dream..."

"Not only my dream? What do you mean?" Elle looked around again. She swore she could see shapes drifting through the darkness. Whenever she tried to focus on the shapes even though they stubbornly remained nebulous, as though refusing to take on any shape she might recognize.

"Thissss is the night'sss dream. You dream with usss, asss you draw near usss..."

"I don't know what you mean, the night's dream? What are you talking about, who are you, and who am I drawing near?"

"You do not know little girrrl," Elle thought the voice had some kind hissing intonation to it, it sounded like breath escaping through a slit, "you arrre ssssooo fressh, sssoo new to night'ssss dream. We will sssshoww you night'ssss love...oh yessss, sssoon you will be with us."

Elle shuddered even as she knew it was a dream, she wrapped her arms around her body. With that motion she also felt the enveloping darkness wrap more tightly around her body. Instead of feeling comfortable, warm and enveloping, she felt it change, conform to her body and grow hard like armor. She heard a startled hissing sound and the nebulous shapes she saw quickly darted into the distance, with a parted,

"Sssooonnn, yessss, ssssooon."

Elle whimpered and focused on pulling darkness more and more tightly around her to protect her from the threat, the fear that voice elicited from her deep inside. She wished she could sink forever into the darkness, into the safety.

She suddenly felt something grab her shoulder, and she became aware of a voice echoing somehow through the darkness.

"Elle...Elle! Wake up damnit, wake up!"

Elle had a moment of realization, that's, that's Natago...that's right, the others, they're out there.

With a moment of realization, a gleam of light appeared above her.

Elle looked up and desperately reached for it, she released the darkness around her as she stretched outwards, fingertips extended, stretched impossibly far, rushing towards the light.

With a gasp, Elle came back to consciousness, Natago above her shaking her shoulder firmly, an almost desperate look on his face.

"Oh thank the gods," he said when he saw she was awake, "you were moaning in your sleep, and you wouldn't wake up."

Elle had the moment of clarity to realize he sounded genuinely concerned before she felt something roiling up from inside her. She turned over onto all fours and with a gagging sound she vomited pure darkness onto the ground beneath her.

*

"What in the gods was that?!?!" Natago whispered harshly as he knelt next to Elle, whom coughed heavily and sucked in deep heaving breaths.

Whatever it was she vomited up had disappeared as soon as it had touched the light streaming in through the holes in the building. It left no trace behind, which was all well and good, because both Hathen and Carter just missed the expulsion as they prepared to get moving. They'd left him to wake up the squirrel girl, whom had crossed into day tossing on her bedding and moaning.

"Must'a been one hell'of'a dream." Carter snorted from the door, while Hathen remained outside. "Cap'n, lights' risin' we gotta move."

Natago nodded, though he continued stroking lightly along Elle's back, whom coughed and wiped her mouth.

"Are you all right, can you move?"

Elle nodded in return weakly, then looked back to him, "I...I think I'm ok, I don't know what that was...such horrible dreams though."

Natago raised an eyebrow and glanced towards the ground, "Are you sure they were just dreams?"

Elle shook her head slowly, "No," she hesitated, "we should be careful. Something told me, told me they were waiting for me."

Natago frowned, "Waiting? Waiting where?"

Elle slowly pushed herself to her feet and gathered her bedding and other supplies, "I don't know, they just said they had something to teach me."

Natago growled, "Not all teaching is good, if it does that to you."

"I, I don't think that was them," Elle whimpered slightly and squeezed her shoulders together. "I don't know what's happening to me."

Natago looked over the small, trembling figure of the girl and with a slight sigh he gave her a squeeze, "You are a strong woman. Whatever it is, I'm sure you will overcome it, Lady." He gave a slight smile for her benefit as he emphasized the last word, "but for now, we just need to overcome this jungle, and hopefully reach wherever this road leads. All right?"

Elle nodded slowly, "I, yes, let's go."

As Elle finished gathering her things and headed out the ruined entrance Natago looked at the spot where she'd vomited. There was no longer a single sign anything had happened there, and he couldn't help but shake his head and glance towards her swaying tail as she left, wondering once again just what in the hells they'd stumbled into.

*

Other then the heat, and the insects, and the heat, and the humidity, and the heat, this isn't half-bad!

Elle thought to herself as she trudged along behind Hathen and Carter, while Natago brought up the rear once again.

The day went much like the previous one; they followed along the broken road, though after the relatively uneventful nature of the night's camping they had moved with unspoken agreement back towards the center of the road to make their travel faster.

After being so near the runes for so long Elle believed she was starting to feel its influence on their movement. It was like a little 'push' at the back of her mind. She wasn't bound to get lost in the rune's influence again, but she somehow knew that it was propelling all of them, though with less effect then when she let it completely take over her movement.

It seemed easier not to tell Natago or the others that they were under its influence.

They'd probably just insist we get away from the road again,

she snorted quietly to herself as she stepped over a cracked section of stone,

and it's not as if we don't know what it's doing. If it means getting through this place faster I will take any help we can get.

As a result, they made better time than the others probably suspected, and as the sun crested noon and started its travel down the other side of the sky again Elle estimated that they'd probably put several leagues worth of travel down the broken road beneath their feet. Surprisingly she felt more tired from the heat then from the exertion as well.

I wonder if that's another effect from the runes,

she pondered as she looked up at the greenery hanging down, which is why she didn't notice that Hathen and Carter stopped in front of them and she almost slammed into the bull's back.

Natago came up behind them quickly and looked to the two others, "Why are we stopping?"

"Side paths cap'n," Carter replied and nodded to Hathen, who'd excitedly gone over where two smaller paths obvious intersected with the main path.

Elle watched as Hathen pulled some vines off a stone marker, his beak clacking as he revealed some kind of script at the top of the marker.

"Yes yes captain, a crossroads...this sign, this sign, it is pointing directions!" Hathen clacked triumphantly.

Natago walked up beside the Owl and ran his hand across the marker so he could get it even cleaner of the detritus of years. "Hopefully then it will finally tell us where we're going." He hmmed as he looked over the stone.

Elle walked up as well as she looked over the marker. Like the parts of the road that hadn't crumbled, it the stone weathered well for its age, and though worn, it was still legible. At least it would be, had Elle recognized the lettering. It looked familiar, like the writing her family taught her and her brother, but it was different enough she couldn't read it.

Natago and Hathen also hmmmed and attempted to look thoughtful, though Elle considered it was probably a show for Natago.

"This script is very old," he finally said, "Hathen, can you read it? I feel like I should be able to, but it's evading me."

Hathen 'hoooed' quietly and looked from one part of the marker to another.

"It's old...very old, yes yes captain, but yes yes, I think I can read it."

The bird then leaned his head in very close to one side of the marker and tilted his head back and forth, a sight that almost made Elle laugh at the absurdity.

Natago crossed his arms in front of his chest and quirked an eyebrow at Hathen, "Well?"

"Oh! Yes yes, sorry captain," Hathen replied before he scrubbed one side of the marker clean, "this one I think points where we were, I think it says 'Docks' oh yes yes it does."

Natago rolled his eyes in an exasperated gesture, "Not exactly the most helpful, what about the others."

"A moment, moment Captain. These characters are strange, yes yes, strange." Hathen glanced from one of the marker's facing to the other before he pointed down the smaller crossroad that led into a different direction into the jungle.

"This one, this one, I think it says "Kotath" captain." Hathen 'hooed' again and looked at the third facing while Elle looked to Natago.

"That sound familiar to you at all," she asked him quietly.

Natago shook his head, though he didn't respond out loud, apparently letting Hathen figure out the other script on the stone pillar.

"This one, this one," Hathen started hesitantly, then 'hoooed' again and clacked his beak, "this one says "Maeroth" captain."

Natago started, and Elle noticed he clenched his hands tightly as he looked to the bird, "Are you sure? You're sure it says Maeroth?"

Hathen looked to the two of them; eyes wide as he clacked his beak again, "Yes yes captain. I'm sure. It says Maeroth."

Elle glanced from one to the other, and then back to Natago. "Ummm, what's Maeroth?"

Hathen looked to Elle, his eyes widened in what Elle could only assume was disbelief.

Natago, on the other hand, growled, "You've never heard of Maeroth?"

Elle shook her head and with a snort of disgust, Natago turned away and looked down the main thoroughfare.

"I don't know what they decide to teach you then, if you've never heard of Maeroth." He shook his head, "I thought it was something of a legend," he sighed, "but then the way this voyage is going I don't know why I'm surprised we're going to a city that's not supposed to exist." He gestured to Carter, "let's get moving," he then looked back to Elle, "I'll see if I can fill in some of your missed education as we move. If we're going to a dead city, I would prefer it not be dead night when we get there."

*

Elle watched Natago's back as he followed Carter, apparently deep in thought. He'd not even commented further after they'd set off again, instead insisting they set up as quick a pace as they could safely make. That rapid pace also made it harder for Elle to get an opportunity to ask him further about their apparent destination, as the three crewmen seemed used to setting a brutal pace, when the time required it.

It took some time before Elle got used to the new pace and she caught her breath enough that she felt she could keep up the conversation as they continued moving along the road. She coughed slightly and put a hand on Natago's shoulder.

He jerked and looked up, then glanced back at Elle.

"You, you said you'd tell me about Maeroth?" Elle started tentatively, or well, as gently as she could given their rapid walking pace.

Natago nodded shortly, then looked forward again at their path. He paused long enough that Elle considered asking him again, before he started again.

"As I said, Maeroth is a legend." He glanced back to Elle, as though considering what to say next.

"Before, magic used to be much stronger in the world. When the world was fresh and the gods were closely involved with their chosen people they often spoke directly and often to their people. Not like today, when we need oracles and the like to even get a small glimpse of the god's words."

Elle nodded, "Yes, right, that part I know. Even I know that much history." She tried to smile to Natago, but he merely nodded sharply and continued walking.

"Well, Maeroth was supposedly a place of learning and magic exploration. Sort of like how the university is now. There were not many of the people who'd yet learned how to cast magic from gods other than their own, so Maeroth was supposed to be a place where the gods encouraged their most powerful disciples to get together and show off how powerful their magic was compared to all the others." He smirked at that, and Elle thought it was a certain, disdain for the gods.

"So, the greatest mages of each race came together in Maeroth and they each tried to outdo each other. They also created incredible feats of magic. Weapons, buildings, roads," with that he gestured at the broken road, "art, anything they could use to show off their magic was the best. Soon people from all over sent their children with the most potential to Maeroth to learn. It's also where we started seeing much of the crossing of the races." He did chuckle at that though, "nothing like good old fashioned lust, and maybe even a touch of love to motivate someone to figure out how to get around a simple thing like biology."

Elle blinked and nodded at that, "It sounds amazing."

Natago continued with a shark return nod, "the legends say it was practically a paradise. Anything you could want, you could get there. If someone couldn't make it by hand, they'd make it with magic. Magic servants made of wind to cater to your every desire, while they organized the entire city around magical talent. The more magic power you had, the more influence you had. Supposedly they even had arenas all over the city where you could duel it out with the other mages whenever there was a disagreement." He passed a hand over his eyes, then looked up into the light streaming through the trees, "yeah, a real paradise."

Elle bit her lip, as she didn't remember them teaching any of this in her classes in their village. Even the more advanced classes that her bloodline afforded her due to her connection with her brother never mentioned anything about some kind of legendary magic city, "what happened to it?" She asked quietly.

Natago turned his gaze to her again, and she thought she could see tenseness along his jawline before he answered, "N'Till happened," he said in a hard tone.

"The dark goddess apparently didn't like this huge show of power from the other gods, so she decided to do something about it."

"She did something? What did she do?"

Natago shook his head, "No one knows, not exactly, there are more legends."

"What legends! Tell me," Elle insisted, a sinking feeling growing again in the pit of her stomach.

"The legends vary, some say she corrupted some of the most powerful mages, others said she attacked the city with a legion of darkness touched monsters. Still others say that she had one of her followers disrupt some massive magical ritual going on in the city. Whatever the story is, all the stories agree, whatever she did lead to the destruction of the city." He licked his muzzle before he continued, "all the stories agree that the force of whatever it was she did split the very land the city sat on and dropped it into the earth below. Thousands dead in the initial cataclysm, even more caught as the earth shook and water flooded the city and drowned most of the remainder."

Elle blinked, "So, how does anyone know what happened, if this was such a massive disaster?"

Natago shrugged, "Some escaped. Those on the outskirts of the city, perhaps the less powerful, or the less influential, or those simply living among the great mages fled the destruction." He smiled ruefully, "most races are pretty hardy when they have to be, especially if their own survival is at risk. Regardless though, the core of the most powerful magic on our world vanished in an instant. The gods learned a lesson though, they never encouraged such a gathering again, and they spread out their power. They also learned not to take such a direct hand in the actions of their people."

Elle nodded and swallowed hard, "I've...I've never heard this story, it's horrible, when, when did it happen?"

Natago glanced down at the road, then back at Elle, "According to the legends, thousands of years ago."

Elle practically fell at sudden shock through her. She stammered a bit as she looked to the road, then back to Natago, "T, thousands! But that would mean...that would mean."

Natago nodded, "That we're walking along a magic enchantment that has apparently survived without care, renewal, or support for longer than most empires on this world have existed. Which means, if there we are going truly is Maeroth, we have no idea what other wonders we will find."

Elle licked her lips, "or what dangers."

Natago nodded in agreement, "or dangers, yes."

*

"Cap'n! The cover's thinnin'" Carter called from ahead.

The foursome had walked in near silence after Elle and Natago talked, they had covered an unknown distance, but with each footstep Elle had felt something growing inside her. She didn't know if it was anticipation, or fear, or some other sense, but something told her that there was something ahead and it propelled her forward and faster with each step.

Carter and Natago had to pull her back several times as it seemed that anticipation made her more susceptible to the road's enchantment and she found her pace unconsciously growing and outpacing the others in her party. She had to fight to keep with the rest of the group as she felt the pull become more insistent as they walked.

The road was still going uphill, and she'd had no idea how many feet now above the beach they'd traveled. The mountains they'd seen before they'd come ashore seemed much closer now, and much less tall, so she had to guess the road didn't just go inland, it also went upwards towards the mountain faces.

She didn't want to guess how far they'd traveled; instead, she simply trotted up beside Carter. She noticed that Natago and Hathen quickened their pace as well, no doubt wanting to get some glimpse of where they were going, after staring at the unbroken cover of the deep jungle for as long as they had.

The four of them were then almost walking abreast when the road came up and finally crested the top of a hill. The jungle canopy parted around them, and for the first time they could get a good view of the road, and the island ahead.

The sight that greeted Elle almost took her breath away. As the sun descended towards the horizon the shafts of light bounced and twinkled off a massive lake in the distance. The road descended a hill into a valley where it wove back and forth towards the lake.

From the lake Elle could see shapes rising from the surface. Great structures of stone pierced through the surface of the water as though unwilling to let the water contain their majesty. Moss-covered ruins lined the edges of the lake and descended within, though more ruins lay partially submerged in their tomb of liquid glass.

Elle found she couldn't suppress a low sigh at the beauty and the destruction of the sight before her. While beside her, she heard Natago whisper just one word.

"Maeroth."