91: The arrival

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Two days after Deirdre's nervous breakdown, we reached the new continent and, guided by Charity's precise calculations, arrived under the cover of night on the coast.

We landed at a place that is about 100 kilometers from the orc's city we are to conquer, and a few miles from one of the bases of the resistance against the empire.

As we approached the coast, despite the huge distance, we could see a little of the orc's city thanks to the lights that emit. But now that we have disembarked, the darkness generated by the dense jungle foliage of the place does not allow us to see much farther than a few meters away.

'In a way, this place is similar to the Hill's Forest in the sense that it is full of trees, but that would not do it justice. I have never seen a landscape like this before…'

Charity, Lilian, Sebastian, Deirdre, myself, and a few others are heading to the resistance base to give notice of our arrival, while the rest of the expedition members are making preparations to camp on land.

'They seemed to be enjoying being able to step on dry land again after 2 months at sea.'

As we walk, the light from the magic lamps and torches reveals a wide variety of plants, trees, and insects, some of which have tried to attack us, attracted by the light.

So far, the most dangerous have been mosquitoes, which are the size of a human hand, and mantids, which are a meter tall and camouflage themselves perfectly among the broad leaves of plants.

Plants can be just as dangerous as insects. Many of them hang from tree branches like a kind of noose, and are poisonous to the touch. But not all of them are so passive; there are some that form a kind of jaw with their leaves and attack the unwary who get too close.

In addition, everything in this jungle has vibrant and intense colors.

'It is very different from the land we came from. The soil, the trees, the foliage of the plants... And the humidity... the humidity creates a heaviness that is hard to get used to. We are just walking through the jungle, but we sweat as if we had been running for hours....'

"Be careful," Deirdre tells me, stopping me from stepping on a snake that was camouflaged among the leaves covering the ground. "I don't think its venom will do much damage to you due to your constitution, but anyway, it's best not to disturb the jungle creatures. After all, this is their home. We are the intruders."

"I can see that. It seems like everything in this place wants to attack us..." I say, as we follow Charity and Lilian, who are leading the party, followed closely by Sebastian and the 3 soldiers Lilian chose to accompany us.

There don't seem to be many animals in this place, except for some small vermin like the snake I was about to step on. It seems that most of the 'inhabitants', as Deirdre called them, of this dank place are the large insects, like the ones we had encountered in the labyrinth on the floors between 40 and 50. And as happened when we were in the labyrinth, Deirdre seemed reluctant to face them.

"Yes. Here even the trees can become dangerous." says Charity upon hearing my comment, "We haven't encountered any yet, but there are some monsters that camouflage themselves as trees and, although they are slow, they can do a lot of damage to the unsuspecting approacher."

"Great! What an interesting place to live..." I say sarcastically.

"In the city, it's different. There are fewer plants, and the guard doesn't let the monsters get close.... And, although the mosquitoes are still a problem, you get used to it," Deirdre says with a look of disgust, as she cuts with her dagger the body of the mosquito that was flying dangerously close to her and walks away from it.

"You have lived since you were little in the city we are going to attack, haven't you? Are there any important facts we should know? While we were sailing you didn't tell me many specific details." asks Lilian, becoming interested in the subject.

"The first thing you should know is the name of the city, which is Krag-an." says Charity, absently "It is a reptilian name, as many years ago the city belonged to them. And it was their capital, before my race came to enslave them..... But don't get distracted. Pay attention to where you step and what you touch. There is still quite some time left until we reach the base of the resistance, as the jungle does not allow us to walk at a good pace, and I would prefer not to have to carry anyone."

We continue walking for a few minutes in silence until we decide to stop for a few minutes to rest, and now we are sitting next to a small meandering stream that runs calmly through the jungle trees.

And, taking advantage of the fact that now I can talk to Charity, since during these days I have not seen her practically due to the fact that she was always in Lilian's room, I ask her about something that has been intriguing me since I knew that we were only a few days away from arriving on the new continent.

"Hey, Charity, I have a question. I get the impression that we're taking this invasion thing very calmly, but wouldn't the city have been alerted to our arrival upon seeing such a large fleet so close to shore?" I say, thinking of the four hundred ships with a total of 37,000 soldiers of the four races who are now setting up a makeshift camp on the beach.

"I don't think so. It's normal in the empire for fleets to travel from place to place transporting goods and slaves, and besides, it's unlikely they saw us from the city during the night, since we weren't carrying many lights." says Charity, elongating her leg muscles as she leans against a nearby tree. "Anyway, we'll find out when we get to the resistance base. My husband can come from the city very quickly to bring us some news."

"Your husband is 'the wolf' that Deirdre mentions every now and then, right? I'd like to meet him..." I say thoughtfully "If it's true that Krag-an city is about 100 kilometers from here and that he can get to where we are quickly, I'm interested to see how he gets around this place so fast. I mean, I could travel really fast with Azur by air, but I can't imagine any other way..."

"It's amazing what the wolf can do, master. You'll meet him and you will see what I've been telling you about," says Deirdre full of enthusiasm, interrupting me while chewing on an apple she has taken out of her bag.

"Shouldn't we go on?" asks Lilian, in a strained voice, as she overhears our conversation "Don't get me wrong, Charity, I trust your judgment, but I think Xelean is right to be worried."

"I'm not worried..." I say, standing up and stretching my leg muscles. Whereupon I make Azur, who is on my shoulders, miss the mana bullet he threw at a mosquito flying above Deirdre, "but I have no problem resuming my march, though I don't like to travel at night"

"Believe me, Xelean, neither do I. But the sooner we get to the resistance base, the better," says Lilian, as she looks expectantly at Charity; "there's too much at stake. So please, Charity, understand me if I'm a little anxious."

Meanwhile, Azur flies up to burn the mosquito with a flare, which tries to flee as it sees the little dragon approaching.

"Yes, I understand you perfectly. And you are right, we should hurry," says Charity after a few seconds of reflection, and she beckons Deirdre to get up.

With that comment from the orc girl, Lilian signals Sebastian and the other three boys to get up as well, and we resume our march towards the base of the resistance in the dark of night.