PreCursive

  I stayed out a little lohan I o in my scouting. I’d tracked down what seemed to be an isnd hog of some kind, mung happily on the abundant tropical fruit that had fallen to the jungle floor. The bd white pig hadn’t heard me ing before I s with my longbow.

  As I prepped my kill for transport, the thoughts of my c wandered while my outer was busy.

  Hunting like this…it holy made me a bit nostalgic. I had done so much of this with Fade when he was much younger, just after we had met. The wolf-puppy was still learning how to hunt in those days, and I had to teach him to stalk his prey at the time. Those were some…very fond memories, frankly. Not every sed of every day during the war had been filled with misery.

  There had beey of good.

  I shook the odd pang of longing off, and right then and there, made a snap decision.

  When all of this was do was time for me to go and visit Fade like I’d promised I would. Even if Grey had yet to call for us to e to the Academy, I’m sure I could vince Bel to ferry me closer to the Thunderheart’s territory.

  I was curious to see how he had grown uaran’s tutege, in the months since I’d left him there. Our reunion in the cord had been far too brief.

  Business done and deade, I slung my bow over my bad hauled the dead pig over one shoulder. I didn’t bother to take to the treetops like I would have in the past. This area seemed very safe to me, as I hadn't seen any indications of ret monster presehere were some clear paths through the juhat I was thinking must have been made by the Oni, but they didn’t look like they had been troddely.

  I had no reason to be wary now.

  Well, except for the ever-present sehat I was unwele here. That hadn’t gone away, and the sensation was like a thorn scratg incessantly between my shoulder bdes.

  Doing my best to ig, I made for camp.

  ……………………………..

  Hours ter, I settled down with my portion of roast pig with the rest of my panions. The sun had fully set by now, and my kill had finished roasting over the fire I’d lit in Renaulds face. Said Gnoll looked to have long since fotten the slight, and was happily ripping apart his own pork.

  I had long since grown immuo the sight of his sloppy eating habits, so I iuro the rest of my friends to ask a question. Something that I…holy should have asked earlier, but we had been a tad occupied.

  I finished chewing, swallowed, and voiced it. “What’s with the Aether on this isnd?” I asked aloud. “Why does it feel like it wants us gone?”

  I was startled at the bnk looks the ave me at that. Liora and Bel ceased their own low versation to gaze at me in fusion, while Venix stared at me.

  However, Azarus had the most experieh my…peculiarities at this point. He set his pte down and frowned. “What are ya talkin’ about, Nate? I don’t know about the others,” He said, looking around. “But I don’t feel nothin’.”

  My brow furrowing, I copied him, setting my pte down on the log I was sitting on. “What are you talking about? There’s this…itch to the air. I have this…sehat something on the isnd doesn’t want us-” I cut myself off before tinuing more slowly. “Or…me, I supposed, to be here.”

  “I don’t feel anything like that, Nathan,” Liora said quietly, studying me.

  Frown deepening, I looked over at Venix. He was the highest-level person here, and as such had the sharpest senses. If anyone could feel what I felt, it would be him.

  The Antium man shook his head. “This is not my first time upon Goryuen, and I have never sensed what you speak of, Hart.”

  Renauld ceased his scarfing long enough to look up at me. “That’s not ominous at all.”

  “Do ye have a bearin’ on this…feelin’, Nate?” Bel asked me, ign the Gnolls snark.

  I did the same. I tilted my head in thought and ultimately pointed…

  Upwards.

  My panions followed my fio the night sky, lit by a crest Elys. “It…feels like it’s ing from above the isnd, for some reason,” I said slowly. “But not like, up imosphere or beyond? I’d know if it was Elys or anreat spirit-”

  I think.

  “-so it’s not them,” I tinued. “But there is definitely something watg us. And it doesn’t feel at all friendly. Could it be…Tatsugan?”

  “No,” Venix said simply and decisively. “The capabilities of the wyrm are mighty, but well known. They do not include presce.”

  Silence desded on our campfire, then, as I think we all wondered in unison…

  Just what was watg us.

  Ultimately, there was nothing we could do about it now, and so the versation died. We finished our meal in almost paranoid silence, before setting up for bed. Venix ft out said he would take all watch periods going forward, shutting down any volunteers. With that settled, we all retreated into the tent to leave him o the fire.

  As I y down in my bedroll not far from Bel, the st of her sea-salted hair drifting my way, I found it difficult to sleep. Not because of any ay, or even trepidation about our expedition in the m.

  More because that sensation of being watched never left me.

  I sighed silently and tried to bear with it.

  To little success.

  ……………………………….

  Thankfully, I barely needed sleep these days, even if it was nice. Holy, the same was true for the rest of my panions as well. This one night of rest had mostly been so we would be at one hundred pert going into the jungle and could st for the few days with ended rest. So, I wasn’t too wiped out in the m when the green period rolled along and dispelled our sleep.

  Nobody was mu the mood for small talk, so we had a brief breakfast of travel rations after breaking down our camp. Venix insisted on taking point on our formation for trekking through the juhat loomed ahead. Renauld ced square in the ter as our most vulnerable member, with Azarus and his shield to his right ao his left. Liora volunteered to act as a scout and range in front of us, occasionally cheg ba to report her findings.

  That just left me. As what seemed to be usual, I brought up the rear. This happened so much with me that I wasn’t even fazed about it anymore. I personally took it as a vote of fidehat my friends trusted me to watch their backs.

  After making sure we had all of our supplies secured in our packs, we got underway. Venix was wary of traveling the already existing paths through the Goryuen jungles in case we ran into traveling Oni. I was fident we could take them, certainly, but why risk trouble when you could avoid it? The Antium man instead drew one of the jungle clearing bdes he had reended urchase before leaving Hinaga ao work clearing a new path through the brush for our use.

  He arse in his cuts as roup ventured into the dense undercarriage of Goryuen. Venix wasn’t ied in f a long-sting path. Instead, he’d told us that night that he intended only to cut the bare minimum, in order to minimize our profile through the juhere was more out here than just Oni, after all, and the more noise we made, the more likely we were to attract them.

  versation was kept to a minimum as we carefully threaded our way along the route Venix was f for us. The sounds of the Goryuen wildlife echoed through the hot, muggy air instead. Birdsong lentiful, drifting down to us from the treetops far, far above us. Vines hung in untable numbers from overhead, curling and threading their way around and through the branches. Is were thick both all around us in the air, and upon the surfaces of the ground and jungle vegetation all around us.

  There lenty of wildlife both visible and hidden, as well. The first time I saw one of the small, infant-sized mohat seemed to call Goryuen home, I couldn’t help but smile at the sight. They watched us pass from the branches above, always traveling in packs of their own. Their fur was strangely emerald in color, but they didn’t seem to be very Mystical beyond that. Observe told me that these were Pygmy Primeralds, and seemed to be actual animals. Not monsters, and not even Mystic Beasts. Just pin old, oddly colored monkeys.

  I liked them like that just fine.

  Venix’s cutting also scared alenty of ground animals as well. More than a few startled isnd hogs, so simir to the one I had huhe night before, were startled out of the brush by his bde. None of them actually attacked us, streaking away further into the jungle and squealing in disgru.

  Every on a while, I would see odd-looking, squat little birds zip across the jungle floor as well. I only occasionally caught sight of them, and never long enough to throw out an Observe. But I would swear on my Mother’s soul that they looked like banana’s of all things, plete with bright yellow plumage. I nearly ughed out loud the first time I saw what looked to be a downturned banana fsh into the gnarled hollow of a nearby tree, threading its way around my feet.

  Occasionally, and I mean very occasionally, I would see something rger watg us from those same hollows. Large, slit, luminous yellow eyes peered out of the darkness at us, as rge as the keysto the head of staff slung over my back. The first time I had seen one of those, I wondered if they were a moalking us. I hadn’t evehe thing with the passive blood sense from Lifeblood Sense. I was so startled I had even raised my bow from its resting position in preparation. But at the first sign of movement from me, the gaze had vahe tip of a long, furry crimson tail shing briefly out of the hollow. I hadn’t even had time to Observe the creature.

  I hadn’t been the only oo see whatever that was. Venix had stopped to watch it warily as well, halting the group.

  Whehing, whatever it was, had vanished, Renauld asked the question we were all thinking. “What was that?” He voiced in a whisper, as if afraid his voice would bring it back.

  Venix kept his gaze trained in that dire, sing carefully for a moment before answering. “The underkings of the isle,” He said eventually said, in a low tone. “Mystic Beasts that stalk and prowl this nd, unafraid of anything, even the Oni. They disdain the presence of outsiders, but won’t attaless you deliberately provoke or offend them,” He gnced back at us briefly. “However, they have a short temper, so don’t try them. Observe tells us that they are called the Children of Shurenga. I…didn’t expect to enter one of them so quickly.”

  “Who, or what, is Shurenga?” Azarus asked quietly.

  The Antium samurai slowly shook his head. “Nobody knows. It seems...they know we're here, now.”

  The broad leaves of the jungle up and around swayed in the wind in the silehat followed. Something about their rustling…it almost sounded…pyful somehow.

  Knowing.

  Something deep inside of myself pulsed slowly in respoartling me badly enough to tehe movement drew Bel’s attention, causio look at me with a furrowed brow. “What’s wrong?” She asked quietly.

  I slowly shook my head. “It’s nothing,” I said nearly automatically, while my core did the actual iigating. After a moment, it found the ued source.

  The pulse had e from Bloodroot Resilience, a passive Talent that enhanced my Vitality. Supposedly, it ected me in some way to the ‘unseeh’, whatever that meant. It…didn’t typically react to anything. Talents didn’t ‘pulse’ like that, by and rge.

  The st time I had felt something like that had been just after I'd gottealent, ba Elderwyck.

  I did my best to put the odd behavior out of my mind and gave her a small smile. “Let’s keep going.”

  Bel studied me for a moment and then nodded, falling bato formation. I did the same, and as Venix warily resumed leading us, I couldn’t help but wonder.

  Something about the rustling of those leaves…it had reminded me of something. A voice I had heard, months and months ago now irange and alien realm known as the cord. A voice revered by the temple I had begun learning true Magic at.

  Anima.