The tale of Drakfot - part 15

The tale of Drakfot – Part 15 The eternal night of the Roots – Part II.

Everyone made themselves ready to leave once more, now away from the pillar that
had previously been their destination. Once more the wielding fighters dressed
in Heavy Armor took the lead but now they moved in a lined formation instead of
more spread out as before. They had all got strict instructions from the leader
of the trip;

1.Move closely
2.Do not acquire any items from the fallen animals
3.Do not move in front of the one leading the group
4.Do not spread out
5.Make sure that no one is left behind.

“Don’t worry Drakfot, its not as hard as it seems. These are the general
guidelines when traveling in a larger group, its to keep it as controlled as
possible.” Rikka whispered to Drakfot as they quietly moved from the pillar
towards the wall that they had followed before.

It seemed as everyone had taken on a serious face as they moved along the wall.
And who would not have thinking of what happened when they first arrived into
the roots. Drakfot could notice how many of those that had not traveled here
before took an extra breath of worry now and then. And she was one of them. She
could still not grasp how dangerous this place was, they had only been given a
short glimpse of it and that had been well enough. She gave the area a quick
look and thought about how beautiful this place, perhaps it was mostly seen as a
dark cave, but in return everything here shined with such glow and beauty. There
were so many things here that she had not seen before. Of course that had
happened quite a lot during the travel through the lands, still this place found
itself a special place within her memory. “As dangerous as it is beautiful” She
thought to herself.

In the far distant she could start to see the shape of yet another large pillar
and she thought that they were headed towards it, but she soon noticed that they
only moved towards it shortly due to some Voraxes had made themselves
comfortable by the wall. It was preferred to sneak around then to fight here she
had been told. The group could likely manage two , perhaps three of them at
best. But if a fourth one , or any other too for that matter, would find their
way into the battle they would most likely meet a defeat. So now everyone moved
as quietly as possible following the leader.

“Hey Drak..” Drakfot moved hastily and had to place her hand in front of her
mouth in order to silence a scream. It was Memorx who had appeared behind her
and placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Memorx, you scared me rather well, I though it was a Kincher or a Vorax!”
Drakfot said with a loud whisper as he came up aside her. “Where have you been
?”

“Sorry, I got a bit delayed at the last stop. Nothing to worry about though.” He
said with a smile.
But despite the darkness there Drakfot could see that he had some smaller wounds
and dirt in his face, and a closer look on his body told her that he had surely
been engaged in battle.

“Are you sure that you are well Memorx ? You seem to have been in an accident of
some kind, please let me tend for your wounds as soon as possible.” Drakfot said
while looking at him.

“Yes, you are right, I got into a fight with one of the locals down here. It
seems as they do not think well of me, or of anyone of us I believe. It seems as
they see themselves as guardians of this place and do not hold back on violent
retaliation when they find someone that trespasses. According to them everyone
does.” He said with a smile, but she could notice that his foot or leg must have
been hurt as when he took the next step his smile turned into a smile to avoid
to show pain.

Drakfot decided to take the risk of giving Memorx some quick care and casted a
small healing and pain damping spell. As it hit him she noticed that he became a
bit more alert and ready and he thanked her with a big happy smile.

“He is almost as Rikka when he smiles like that.” She thought to herself.

They had now reached the top the cliff or whatever it was they were sneaking
against. But even if it turned to their left they still continued to follow it,
it was most comfortable that way and it was also what lead to the portal they
were traveling to. After running a few more hundred meters, they were quite
lucky as it seemed as their travel was going quite well indeed. Perhaps it was
the anxiety they had in combination with the surroundings that gave their
imagination energy to scare them. Still many, of not everyone, was running
taking that extra breath. Suddenly they stopped..

The leader turned around and made sure that everyone was accounted for and as
soon as he saw Drakfot, Rikka and Crythos he pointed to his right , straight out
into the darkness. At first Drakfot could not see what he was pointing at, she
tried to make out what every single shape she could see was, still nothing. It
was then it appeared to her what he was showing, the darkness. It was not dark
as in black, it was green. Somehow the dark black color they had seen since they
took their steps into the Prime Roots were different over there, it was
shimmering in green and green-black colors. It was a wonderful show of light
that appeared to them as soon as their eyes got used to it. Not only the gentle
fumes that arise from the ground, but also the light casted on the animals
around it, the plants and grass, everything added to the show. It could seem as
it was nothing peculiar, but for many of the Homins there it was.

“Is this emanating from the sap?” Drakfot asked straight out.

“Yep, it sure is. Haven’t seen it with my own eyes until now, but it sure makes
good for what I have heard of it.” Crythos said as he stood next to Drakfot
looking at the green light.

“I have heard that when you walk in it, it is like walking in water but its
easier and that it tickles in a funny way.” Rikka said. She was smiling again
and Drakfot could notice in her eyes that she was quite eager to walk in the
pound.

“Ehm, Rikka..” Drakfot started to say

“Yes Drakfot, its on the list of things to do, hi hi” Rikka replied as she had
read Drakfot’s mind.

“ha ha, well it is most certainly not the last time we will be down here is it.”
Crythos said.

They stood there for just a moment longer, it was perhaps only a few seconds but
for them it seemed as time was almost standing still. The leader caught their
attention by making a quiet hissing sound and soon they were running along the
wall again.
Now and then a stray Kincher found their scent but was quickly put to rest by
them. Yet every time they were shown how hard the conditions was down here, it
took an effort of them all to be able to strike the Kinchers down.

Even though this place was so beautiful Drakfot wondered what it was that made
the Homins coming down here time after time even when not traveling from place
to place. What was it that made this place to valuable for them. She decided to
ask Crythos.

“Well, as you see its not just a fine looking spot, it also has the most
valuable items Homins can harvest. You see, the items that we can claim from the
sources here are of the highest quality, 250, and of the finest kind. In fact it
is so fine that it can be used to craft items of every land.” He replied
silently.
“Every craft is optimized after the best materials that can be found in each
lands. So you can use the materials found in lakelands to craft the highest and
finest quality of things with the lakeland craft. but you can only use the basic
and basic fine materials if you wish to craft something that is not made for
lakeland materials. But these materials down here are so well made and refined
that they can be used for any craft possible. ” He added as they ran by another
pillar.

Drakfot could spot yet another pillar close to the one they just ran by, but she
was still taken by what Crythos just said.

“So these materials here are wanted by Homins for their capabilities?” She asked
him.

“Yes, that and the fact that they have a more positive effect on the items that
you craft.” He said as he almost stumbled over a small rock.

“Are you alright Crythos” Drakfot asked him.

“Yes, I am just not used to run around in places as this. Its quite the change
for the lakelands beaches and oceans.” He replied.

“HAHA, you clumps footed you.” Rikka said with a laugh and soon they both joined
her.

It felt good to let the tension disappear like that and soon , as they had all
finished giggling and laughing, they were following the group. They had gotten a
few meters behind, but now they were both spirited and full of energy to
continue the journey so they increased the pace and was soon back with the group
again.
As they reached them they heard whispers that they were not far away from the
lakelands now.

“Yeah, I am actually glad to see Bounty Beaches after being down here.” Crythos
said.