Chapter 7: 1.6

Jade had expected from the other woman disapproval, some yelling, or maybe a condemning glare. She got nothing.

Wonder Light walked towards the fallen girl and checked her pulse. “Well, shitting shit.” she cussed, then rushed back towards her enemies. “Check her and grab what you can. We need to leave. Now!”

The intensity in Chloe’s voice sent shivers down the sorceress's spine and she jumped to obey. From the dead’s girl waist, she collected a pouch made of leather and decorated with several colorful stones and teeth. On the teen’s back, was a small narrow tube, that she did not know what was for. Jade also took the necklace and the threads the other girl had around her feet. Any protection, little as they might be, was welcome.

Wonder Light had done similar, having collected a bigger tube from one male and a bigger wooden spear. Several pouches as well now hung from the threads sash she had taken from one of the other females and had tied to her navel.

They departed, not long after, leaving the dead and unconscious behind.

Wonder Light set a gruesome pace for the rest of the day. They kept following the river, as originally planned. The silence was oppressive and Jade’s mood kept darkening the more it lasted.

‘It was not my fault. I had to defend myself.’ She justified once more.

They kept their pace, sometimes moving around a particular patch of the forest, or stopping entirely to backtrack and go another way. Jade saw nothing of that, she just followed.

‘Nothing I could have done there. She attacked first.’ The fruit she’d been holding for a while was now a mashed thing. She kept clenching her fist deforming it even more.

‘They attacked me, and she was going to strangle me. I did the right thing killing her first.’ Jade justified again.

Her mind kept going in circles, repeating the same thing in different ways. She walked, crossing different paths, across the gnarled roots of an enormous tree, beneath the long natural roofs formed by countless creeper vines entangling with the canopy. The more she walked, the darker her thoughts became.

“That might complicate things a bit,” Chloe commented, breaking Jade away from her own mind. “Might be because we were trespassing their territory, but they attacked without warning, and since we killed one of them, I don’t think they’d be happy to talk things out.” What wasn't said was that usually other people were very protective of their young, and she saw no reason why here would be any different.

“I didn’t expect however that even without our spark, we’d be that much strong than them. An unfortunate accident. Such a shame.”

Jade nodded, relief unclenching muscles she had kept tense since the fight. It was good to know the other woman also thought the same. The sorceress did then what she was most proficient at doing. She packed all the conflicted thoughts and shoved them down a dark corner of her mind. None of that was her fault, she had been a victim. She didn’t see the troubled look on Chloe's face.

Jade thought they might have walked more than fifteen hours since waking up. The suns were just now moving towards the horizon, their lights dimming.

“Let’s stop. I saw something like a crypt or cave a few minutes back. The sun sets up much faster once it moves again. Better settle for the day than risk the forest at night.”

---

The supposed cave turned out to be a fissure in the rock’s face that led to a grotto. In the dim light, Jade could see a crack in the grotto ceiling that some of the sunlight passed through, giving the place an ethereal look. Water dripped from stalactites to a calm pool in the center of the grotto. Vegetation grew around it. Small, thin trees with almost translucent leaves. It was a quaint view, magical and peaceful.

Picking a place in one corner, far away from the pool and the ethereal trees, the two women deposited their loot, then went about preparing for the night. They gathered dried leaves from the area outside, creating a faux bed, the same type Jade had been using in the past few days. Then they foraged for fruits or berries, and finding none, called it a day when the sun dipped closer to the horizon and the light waned.

“Let’s check the pouches,” Chloe said simply before picking one of the five and looking inside. Jade did the same but went for the one from the girl she’d killed.

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An assortment of berries, nuts, and other dried fruits. Strips of dried meat, in a smaller container inside the pouch. A variety of colorful pebbles and nice pointy sharp teeth that didn’t fit any animal she’d ever seen before. In another closed session, she found a paste-light substance that the briefest of contacts made her fingers go numb. She found more of the darts, a handful of them. A small wooden token, with some markings that made little sense to the sorceress.

Checking the other pouches, they carried similar things. More nuts and dried berries and fruits, more strips of meat. A large variety of colorful pebbles, which Jade was thinking of as some sort of currency, given they had different amounts of those and they all shared similar shapes — if different colors. The tube-like thing, once she looked at it more carefully, was easy to identify. A primitive blowgun. The enemies had fired darts coated in that numbing-like substance.

Checking the spears, the smaller one was crafted out of pure dark wood, and the one taken by Wonder Light had the spearhead made of some type of black stone that gave a disturbing feeling the more Jade looked at it.

When night truly fell, the darkness was almost absolute, the light of the moons barely giving any illumination through the cracks in the grotto's ceiling.

A bit awkwardly, Jade untied the sash she’d been using as a skirt and sat on Wonder Light’s lap, the other woman had already settled in the half-sitting position they’d been sleeping on. With her faculties now clear, this was a lot more intimate and awkward than before. Jade had never been that much of a touchy-feely person, but it was rapidly getting colder, and sleeping in the cold bed made of leaves was not a consideration. She froze when the other woman wrapped her arms around her, pulling the sash closer.

Jade tensed for a moment, then relaxed. She was being stupid, like always. It was cold, and the more contact the better. She moved slightly, wiggling a bit, trying to get more comfortable.

“Pfft.” Chloe did one of those amused snorts. Jade wanted to move in protest, but she had just gotten comfortable, moving seemed a waste.

“The ambush today complicates things for us.” Wonder Light said after a long period of silence. “That they attacked us on sight… Maybe there are different tribes and they are at war, but I don’t think we’d look like any possible nearby tribe, even if you are adopting their fashion choice.” Jade puffed her cheeks in annoyance, but in some parts, Chloe was right. She’d not bothered covering herself properly, even after a day’s travel. Might be because the other woman had seen her naked already, and there was no sign of civilization… That was a topic for tomorrow, she decided.

“The safest of options would have been to kill the others and dump them into the river.” Jade nodded at that, she’d considered the same. “I… cannot though. So let’s try to be more careful, ok?” Jade nodded again. She was ok with being careful. “You will nod to anything I say?” Jade nodded once more and another amused snort was her reward.

Before falling asleep, Jade also realized that in the latter part of the day, she’d practically forgotten about the pain when moving, and the pain was just normal soreness from extended physical effort, not whatever pain it had been before.

---

Jade slept and dreamt that night. One of those dreams you can barely remember once you wake up, she remembered something about a trial and eldritch creatures on the jury. It made no sense and thinking about it only made her uncomfortable.

They left the pool untouched, getting water for their morning ablutions outside. Jaded wanted to eat some of the dried meat, but it was hard and chewy and tasted like the synthetic pork meat she’d usually purchased in the city, but with a stronger flavor. Chewing it hurt too much, so she kept at the nuts and dried berries.

Chloe also seemed to dislike the dried meat, she’d taken a single bite of one stripe, made a disgusted face, and spat it back out.

Jade also happily noticed that she could also see from her left eye, even if seemed like she was squinting from that side, and her throat wasn't that sore anymore.

During the day of travel, Jade kept looking for anything that she could use as makeshift clothes, but even using threads from necklace, it was taking too much time and Chloe wanted to put distance between them and the ambush place.

The odd sun behavior continued, with the sun rising to its zenith in what seemed one or two hours, then staying there for hours without moving, before starting moving again, to sunset.

The forest trek continued, and just when they were preparing to sleep at the end of the third day, the drums started.

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