The Journey

He walked out of the great imperial library bewildered and confused. The spirit Shlok had told him of the quest and it didn't seem like it would be too difficult. However he was still pondering who he could get to go with him. He thought about Hiro and Reny; they seemed like good fits for this mission. However he then remembered Aleard's dismembered course and his desperate shouts for help as he was mauled by an endless wave of goblins. Then he thought about if Hiro or Reny were in the same position and it terrified him. The thought of losing his friends again filled him with dread.

He walked out of the iron gates of Dedeford walking directly to a carriage waiting in the stables that had the same eight legged horse that had taken him to Guillerant. "Only one of you today." Said the driver to which Badurad only nodded and they set off to the south. They traveled straight to the south until they arrived at a port town. Where a giant wooden ship and sails that towered over the town. Badurad walked across the shaky wooden plank and boarded the ship. He was shown to a small wooden cabin at the bottom of the ship; it was slightly wet and the porthole saw underneath the ocean. The ship departed after an hour.

After six days the wooden ship sailed into the harbour. It was a grand harbour with arches over the jetties and stalls of merchants at the edge of the wooden piers. He set off the ship from the same wooden plank and wandered into the town. The market shone brightly with colours that he had never seen. It was a far cry from stone walls he had grown up with and even the cathedrals it was if the town was alive. It had reds purer than blood and blues deeper than the ocean he had spent six days staring at. The markets were packed with people with wildly different appearances and clothes. "Sir Badurad I presume I am the mayor of the illustrious island of Ebonheart. I am grateful that the council has finally sent someone to root out those bastards of the cult of the true whatever. Their lair is on the other side of the island and their cancerous views have infested the entire region." Before him was a short man in grand ropes he had a plump round figure and was escorted by two guards that towered over the mayor they wore good quality armour but looked very tired and weary. Badurad, still silent, just walked away heading to the other side of the island. Badurad was very annoyed. He had been on a long voyage and was sick to his stomach for six days and as soon as he had stepped off the boat he was expected to exterminate a cult without any sleep. He walked off out of the town and into a wood with vibrant green trees. He sat down resting his bones and placed his sword beside him. He felt the firm ground and the soft grass. He saw the leaves and the sun peaking through them. He reminisced about the times he and Hiro had ventured outside of Dedeford to the woods. And after a few minutes he was asleep.

He awoke roughly fifty minutes after he had sat down the sun was still shining above him. He stood up and set off for the other side of the island. On the ship he had been given a map of the island with the cult's hideout marked on it so he knew roughly where it was. He walked past a few villages none as alive as the port town, usually with thatch huts sitting on the water with nets hanging over the side of the buildings. The landscape turned onto bogs and marshes after a shot time. The grass grew longer as he wandered further from the capital. the land became less maintained and was turning into a swamp to rival monsters of legend. He wandered further into the marsh pushing his way through grass and wading through mud.

He had been walking for about an hour now and was still in the swamp he felt like he was being dragged down into the depths of the mud. Every step was a struggle he had to toil through the endless path of sinking damp dirt. The marsh was not his only enemy. He had ventured so far from the town that monsters appeared to have settled making the marsh their home. Badurad crept carefully through the wetlands trying to avoid detection. He didn't want to get caught by the monsters that were adapted to moving in this marsh as he couldn't move he would be a sitting duck. As he continued to struggle through the overgrown quagmire he grabbed onto a tree for balance. He realised the mistake as soon as he made it. The tree came alive growling and hissing it's roots crashing through the ground and holding his legs, not that it made much difference. Then three branches twisted and contorted into a spear like shape and the tree winded it up behind itself. The jumbled branches launched themselves at him with astounding speed. Badurad's pure instincts hopped into action unsheathing his brand new sword and quickly cutting down the spear. But before his triumph could be celebrated three more branch spears sprouted and winded up again and again badurad dodged them and cut them down. He then cut the roots allowing him to move but it did little good as he was still stuck to the ground. The tree now obviously mad gathered all his branches and in the same fashion he winded it up and flung it at Badurad. He blocked it with his sword making certain it didn't shatter and the spear stopped before him. Without thinking he jumped onto the log lying before him and ran up it aiming right for the face of the tree, blunging his sword into one of its eyes. It let out a deafening screeching and then spurted out a strange orange liquid that looked a lot like sap. With that Badurad sat down and took another well deserved nap.