Chapter 16: The Foggy Valley

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The unlikely trio of exiles looked down at the sharp ravine filled with thick mist and gnarled trees. A strange stench emanated from the ravine. At the plateau where they stood, the evidence of the bandit’s campsite had long gone cold.

“You know, when you said your grandfather was leading the bandits to the ‘foggy valley’, I sort of imagined something more… pleasant.” Pierre turned up his nose. Even the gentleman bandit seemed afraid.

A mangled cry rose through the fog, and a shudder ran through Mylo. “That is a bad place.”

Junia surveyed the markings her grandfather left behind in the dark earth. “My grandfather has led them around the valley. We will catch up with them if we go through.”

“H-hold on.” Mylo stuttered, grasping for any other solution, “Why can’t we just keep following them? We can make up time somewhere else.”

“There is no way I am going to step foot in there.” Pierre exclaimed, taking a step back from the edge.

“The only hope we have to save the ones we love is to stop the bandits before they reach their fortress. We are, but two warriors, three if you want to count Awesome Possum who is still learning. Even if we work together, we have no chance of breaching the walls.”

"How far are we from the fortress?" Mylo asked.

"A couple of weeks, but they are days ahead of us. You understand, my grandfather is risking his life and the lives of everyone that the Bandit King has kidnapped by leading them to obstacles that will slow them down."

Pierre sighed in relief, "We'll catch up to them at the next obstacle then."

“If the Bandit King catches on, he will kill him or someone else to stop him, and there are no more obstacles that my grandfather could reasonably lead them to without being obvious.” Junia secured her shield on her back, determination etched on her face.

Tense silence followed as Mylo chewed on these facts. "If we go down there, we could die before we ever reach the bandits."

Pierre shook his head. "We are the only people who care enough or are crazy enough to try to rescue them."

"Then you have to ask yourself, how much do you care?" Junia glared at Mylo. "How much do you care about this mess that you created by giving a mad man a healing powerstone? The death he has caused. The pain he will inflict if you don't stop him."

"Maybe ask yourself how crazy are you, Silver Paladin? I wish to save the chieftain's daughter, but I am more than confident that I will find a way into the fortress. I see no reason to risk this ravine." Pierre retorted.

“Enough talk, give me the rope.” Junia held out her hand to Mylo. He had the rope in his pack. “I will go first.”

Mylo gulped. He had promised to follow her instructions. "Your fear for your grandfather is clouding your judgment."

“Fine, I will do it myself.” Junia grabbed the packs with the supplies from his back and none too gentle. Mylo lost his balance and got a mouthful of dirt. He coughed and spat the dirt from his mouth.

Pierre grabbed onto the packs as Junia tried to wrestle a rope out. His skin had gone pale underneath his mask. “No, no, we cannot go down there. That is a cursed place.”

“You call yourself a warrior, and you are afraid of a crack in the ground.” Junia shook her head, trying to free the packs from his grasp. Her face twisted as Pierre managed to hold on. "Let go!"

"We could travel at night!" Pierre slipped losing ground to Junia, so Mylo joined in the tug of war against her.

It all happened in a blur. Mylo wasn't sure who lost their footing first, Junia or Pierre, but in the crazy struggle, the supplies ended up going over the side of the ravine.

Pierre followed soon after, arms wheeling as he tried to keep from going over the edge.

Junia grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back onto the solid ground.

All three of them lay on the ground, breathing hard, horror written over their faces. All that was left was the rope Junia had taken out of the packs before they fought.

Mylo’s heart sank. “We’ll die without those supplies.”

“But if we go in that place, we’re not going to make it out alive,” Pierre hissed. “How could you do this?”

Junia shook her head, "I am a wayfinder. I can keep us alive. You just have to trust me."

Pierre groaned in frustration, pulling at his hair. "No, no, I'm tired of trying to save you from yourself. I am going on my own way!"

Mylo put a hand on Pierre's arm. "I have lived in the Outlands for uncountable seasons. Each time I traveled to a new place, I would befall some terrible danger, but I always had my healing powerstone to save me. You are new to the Outlands, so you cannot comprehend the sheer danger that lurks around each tree."

Mylo remembered, and the memories burned like a fresh wound. So many faces that he had to leave behind. Coming back to a village after a few seasons to find burned cinders and ashes. Young men and women cut down by a monster, by a flash flood, by another Exile.

Mylo shook his head to clear out the old ghosts. "We need those supplies and we need Junia, as much as I wish we could survive without them, we need both to survive. I don't have a powerstone, and we are no match for a pack of boelves, much less a nimr. You saw what she did to that monster. I have never seen anyone do that before."

Pierre shook off Mylo's hand, "What use is a mad wayfinder?"

"Better than no wayfinder at all." Mylo said. "Without clean water, we won't last a week. Without Junia, we might not last the night."

Junia stayed silent during this exchange, waiting for them to come to their own conclusion. The struggle and resulting lose of supplies seemed to have snapped her out of her panic. "I am not mad, I am desperate. This is what we have been waiting for, it is a chance. If we don't take it, all of this will be for naught. I give you my word that whatever we find down there, I can defeat it."

Junia secured the rope to a sturdy tree trunk and showed each one of them in turn how to grasp the rope and "walk" down the face of the ravine.

In the distance, the trees creaked and shifted as something large moved in the forest, coming straight for them.

Junia sucked in a breathe, "We need to get out of here now."

Mylo followed after Junia, every nerve brittle with fear.

Pierre paced at the top of the ravine, still undecided. "What, afraid of a little rustling?"

Junia's feet slipped, and she hung from the rope. Mylo lost his footing as the rope swayed.

Although Junia regained her footing, Mylo couldn't move.

"Awesome Possum, I need you to keep moving." Junia urged, her voice as distant as the ground below.

His arms ached, but still he couldn't move. "I can't."

"Yes, you can."

Mylo shook his head. It made the world beneath him swirl and blur.

"Awesome Possum, look at me, not the ground. Look at me and breath." Junia called.

Mylo tore his eyes off his certain death and looked at the women who had gotten him into this position. The world began to stabilize again. He breathed in and out, looking up at Pierre watching him from above.

He reached his feet out to the side of the ravine and began the descent again. In an age and a half, they reached the marshy ground below.

The rope went slack as Mylo grasped the wet ground. A horrible crunch and crash was followed by the rope swinging wildly and a strangled cry. Pierre half walked, half ran down the side of the ravine to join them.

Junia caught him as he fell about three quarters of the way down to the ground.

Pierre's eyes were wide with fear. "It was the most horrible, ugly thing I've ever seen. I thought it was a myth, a monster made up to scare children into behaving."

A monstrous roar sounded above the ravine, and debris rained down on the trio.

"A d-dragon!"

Mylo gulped. "They can't fly, right?"

"Oh, they can fly, we just have to hope it isn't as desperate enough to go after us." Junia shuddered, pulling all of them away from the edge as a horrifying rain of slobber followed the rocks and dirt. "Their saliva can paralyze even the most powerful of monsters. We need to get away from here now."

Pierre scrambled out of Junia's arms and brushed off his shirt. "Don't mistake my presence as approval or willingness to follow your lead."

Junia rolled her shoulder, "Trust me, I won't make such a mistake."

The packs were only a short distant off from where they landed. Gathering everything up, Junia gave one pack to Pierre and two to Mylo. "I have to keep my hands free to deal with any monster we may encounter."

Trudging through the muck, Mylo drew heavy breaths. It was far slower going than even he had anticipated. This place was riddled with portals opening and closing. Unlike other portals, they seemed to be contained to this valley. At least, the other side looked like the same mucky, foggy valley.

Mylo pushed his way through a bush strangled with vines, but the vines grasped at him, alive and hungry.

"Junia! It's got me!" Pierre managed to squeak before it pulled him deeper into the marsh.

The vines took Mylo off his feet in the top of the tree limbs, grabbing his arms.

"Limpers." Junia exclaimed, swinging her spear to clear the vines from grabbing her. "We have to find the colony mind."

The Masked Bandit slashed at the vines dragging him deeper and deeper into the muck and mire. "Vines shouldn't have a mind at all!"

"It prefers live prey, go limp, and it will let you go!"

It took every fiber of Mylo's being to fight against his instincts and relax. The vines stretched and pulled, trying to get him to respond.

Junia dived into the muck with her spear, searching for the colony mind.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the vines lowered him to the ground. Mylo opened his eyes to see the Masked Bandit's hand slip under the mud.

The vines flared, wriggling and twisting into horrible contorted shapes. The vines keeping Mylo captive threw him across the clearing.

As the vines sagged and stopped their movement, Mylo searched on the shores, waiting for Junia and Pierre to surface.

Tense moments followed, Mylo fathered a length of the vine and tied it to a tree trunk, and wrapped it around his waist, diving in after his companions. In the murky water, he found The Masked Bandit sinking deeper and deeper, still with Junia struggling to bring him to the surface.

Mylo grabbed The Masked Bandit's other arm and helped Junia pull them to the surface.

They gasped for air both; Junia and The Masked Bandit coughing and hacking the brackish water.

"You-you saved my life." Pierre gasped. "You risked your life. To save mine."

"I made you a promise that I would defeat..." Junia took a deep breath.

"Save your words. Just breathe." Mylo rummaged around the foliage seeking WaterBreath root. The thorny plant grew low to the ground next to marshy waters like this. He found a small root, barely enough for the two of them. He cleaned the root in the water.

"Here, chew on this and swallow the juice. Spit out the fiber once the bitterness fades."

Junia accepted it quicker than Pierre.

Pierre gave the root a suspicious look and curled his lip, "What is this dirty plant?"

"It will help clear the water from your lungs." Mylo wrung out his shirt. The muggy air made his wet clothes cling to his skin. He doubted he would dry out in this foggy valley.

Junia spit out the root. She hit the side of her head to get the water out of her ear. "We have to keep moving. Do you have more of that root?"

Mylo foraged on the other side of the bank, finding several skinny roots. "This should be enough."

Pierre coughed out the root. "That tastes worse than the swamp somehow."

The water logged trio ate a hasty meal and then marched on through the mucky valley.

A portal opened in front of Mylo and a screeching sound escaped from the other side. He grabbed Junia's arm and pushed her out of the way. A swarm of flying vermin greater than the number of the stars in the sky flew through the portal.

Mylo covered his face, but his arms were torn up by a thousand little claws. He didn't have time to warn Pierre.

"Where did these come from?" Pierre screamed, his sword flashing and slicing any vermin unfortunate enough to come near him. He shouted in anger as the vermin clawed at his hair.

"Through the portal." Mylo's muffled voice replied. He looked around the cloud of vermin to find any escape as more and more of the vermin filled the air. Even Pierre's pile of dead vermin was not making a dent in their population.

"What?" Junia yelled over the screech of the vermin, using her spear and shield to protect herself. "What portal?"

Another portal opened at the other end of the water, the edges of the portal wriggled and writhed like worms. It grumbled and hummed a terrible tone.

Mylo lost his footing against the tide of the vermin. This was their only hope. Maybe they would lose a few hours, but it was better than being torn apart by these tiny monsters.

The vermin's portal closed, and Mylo knew the second portal would close soon after.

"Follow me!" Mylo grabbed Junia's arm and motioned for Pierre to lead, "Pierre, clear a pathway towards that tree on the other bank!"

"I hope you know what you are doing!" Pierre cut through the cloud of vermin and stumbled through the portal, with Mylo and Junia following after.

A few vermin follow them through the portal, but it closed with a sickening crunch, slicing the vermin in half.

"How-?" Junia gasped, spinning around looking for answers.

They were up against one side of the ravine. This side was riddled with caves.

"I know, I know. Portals are dangerous and not to be trusted." Mylo wished he had something to stop the bleeding from his cuts, or at least clean them so they wouldn't get infected.

"What are you talking about? What is a portal?" Pierre asked, pointing a gut covered sword at Mylo.

Mylo looked between Junia and Pierre. "You know those holes that appear and lead you to other places."

Junia shook her head. "I have no idea how you transported us from that muck to these caves."

"I didn't do anything." Mylo argued, "Wait, wait, I can understand Pierre not knowing, he just got here. But you said you grew up here, Junia. Your grandfather must have warned you about them."

"Mylo, I didn't see anything until we came through, whatever that was." Junia gestured behind them.

Mylo shook his head, "You have to be joking. They are everywhere! The Outlands are riddled with them. The swarm came through a portal."

“They just turned up out of thin air.” Pierre stated. “I didn’t see any ‘holes’.”

"But he pushed me before the swarm appear." Junia said. "So he must have seen something that we couldn't see."

"The only other answer is he can teleport and concocted this strange story to put us off his trail." Pierre frowned, "But he doesn't seem smart enough to come up with such an interesting story."

Mylo paced in the mouth of the cave, trying to make sense of what they were saying. His mother had taught him about the portals as a child. She said every child had to learn about the portals and their dangers.

Never go through a portal. Whatever is on the other side is always bound to be worse.

A warm, foul smell emanated from the cave, and darkness pulled at the corners of Mylo's eyes. His instincts told him to get away or play dead.

"We have to go," Mylo squeaked, running past Pierre and Junia into the mucky forest once more. "Get away from there!"

Junia spun her spear, and Pierre shifted to face the mouth of the cave.

The cave spat out a mud caked primate with dreads filled with leaves and twigs trailing on the ground. It sneered and snarled at them.

Why do I always find monsters that can climb?

The Masked Bandit turned to face the monster. "A pitiful thing, I'll put you out of your misery."

Junia hefted her shield and twirled her spear to face the primate. "This does not belong here."

The monster stood up from its hunched posture, showing its true height towering over the two warriors. It snarled at them and charged.

To his credit, Pierre didn't run; he stood his ground, but he always chose the wrong moments to be a hero. First with Junia and now this monster.

Junia struck the monster in the shoulder with her spear. It enraged the primate, and it twisted her spear from her grasp with it's convolutions. It pulled the spear from its shoulder and snapped it in half.

Junia retreated back to where Pierre stood.

Pierre chuckled, "I doubt you will fair so well against my sword beast!"

Cutting and hacking at the monster, Pierre and Junia fought along side each other. Junia blocked the monster's strikes while Pierre stabbed and sliced.

A dark shape moved in the cavern. Mylo shouted,"Watch out!"

Unfortunately, Pierre didn't know what he was supposed to watch out for, and so he left himself open. The primate lifted him off his feet and threw him deeper into the muck.

Junia was ready, but it didn't make a difference. The monster in the cave was the female. Smaller, faster, and far more dangerous. Juna couldn't run fast enough to escape and the female struck her over the head.

Mylo didn't breath, hoping the fog and moss dripping trees would hide him. What actually saved him was the fact that in his haste to escape, he had thrown the supplies  with the dried meat as far away from himself as possible. The female dragged the pack back into their cave along with Junia.

The male roared and beat his chest. He dragged Pierre into the cave behind him, leaving Mylo out in the wet, murky waters.

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