Princess Cari Land Cross Arc Part Eight

 The Swamp

The first thing that hit Cari and Ryo was the disorientating smell. They started to feel slightly dizzy and their minds became slightly dulled. As they walked on the smell became more potent and this caused them to feel more and more dizzy and their minds became numb and their thoughts could not focus on anything. This caused them to have to take a break so that they could adjust.

"Are you sure that we have to go down this route?"

"Ryo's right. I don't think that this is the best way."

The Chronicler looked to the left as she thought for a moment.

"Here." She said taking out two blue bottles. "Sorry, it only works on you if you are disorientated."

Both narrowed their eyes and they looked at each other and shrugged before they drank the liquid. It tasted strange, like the perfect mix of honey and mint. It worked for after a minute or two and the stench grew and their minds became as sharp as a sword.

"That is better by far."

"What was that?"

"Thinned mandrake oil with dragon tears."

They looked at her with shock. She smiled.

"Don't worry, they are collected from dragons who can cry on sight."

They frowned.

"How?"

"How are they trained?"

"Same way that the actors and actresses are. After all, sometimes they need a dragon actor or dragon actress to tell their stories and sometimes during their performances they collect their tears."

"Didn't know that there were dragons that performed." Ryo said as he got to his feet.

"Well there are, my favorite is Dragrah. She is brilliant in all rolls she takes."

Cari smirked as they continued. They walked on without a break until they came to a strange town. The town was similar to the one in the jungle, however there was more dampness and moss and some of the buildings were almost eclipsed by the overgrowth. Yet some of the buildings were built in the trees without any roof and there were a few nets made of rope that some children were sleeping on.

They noticed that they had green tinted skin and the rest of the people were also green tinted. Their eyes had yellow in the whites of their eyes and their eye colour was all the same grim shade of green. There was a depressing desperate look in them.

"Yenmamndians." The Chronicler said to them. "They would love to leave this place, however their bodies have adjusted to the environment in a way that made them dependent on the atmosphere. They have learnt the hard way that if they leave here they would all die. So Cari, keep close."

Cari nodded as the men were well toned and were almost named with only a few plants covering their privates. While the women were covered from head to toe in dresses made of leaves. Cari felt sorry for them.

"The men here are tasked to work in the brothels here. Some are forced into it. They do all they can to ensure that those that visit or pass by to get futile women in them so that their descendants are able to be born out of here and they can explore the outside world."

No wonder they're depressed!

The Chronicler and Cari ensued to keep close to the men as they came to the doc.

"Where are we going?"

"Yemmit. The one near Nyemnya not the one near Zarrahgo."

He nodded. They all climbed into the small boat.

"Will you not be staying the night?" Asked one of the women. "Our men could-"

"No!"

"I am sorry, however we must be on our way."

That was when one of the men came up to them.

"Are you the children of the Dragon Queen?"

"Yeah why?"

He suddenly became pale.

"Then you better be careful and arm yourselves. A man came by and put a spell on the plantlife. It made a monster of some kind. We do not know what it is, but it has a spell on it that causes it to attack those with dragon blood in them."

They looked at The Chronicler and nodded.

"I still think that this is the safest route. Yet I do think that Master Lord Gajellidor has made it more dangerous than it should be."

Cari felt her body freeze. She breathed in and out as she took her crossbow.

"Why? He's made his point!"

The Observer looked at her, concerned but said nothing.

"I don't think that I know. Nor do I know what he thinks but maybe he thinks that we are taking down his strongholds."

"No, if that was it then would he not try and come himself?"

The Chronicler frowned.

"You have a point there." She said looking at the girl suspiciously.

"What?" She asked, noticing that she was looking at her the same way that The Observer was. "Why do you keep looking at me like that?"

She looked away almost apologetically.

"It hardly matters. We will know when the time comes."

She nodded as she looked on as the boat set off and rowed down. The journey started out slowly and calmly. Almost tranquil. That all changed when she saw a mass of swamp plant life in a strange form.

"I think that I've spotted it."

The rest looked at it. They could see the moss and branches. Yet soon the thing spotted them. He then let out a roar and seemed to slump toward the group. Cari loaded her crossbow and fired an arrow at it. This did nothing. She then closed her eyes and willed the arrow to be set alight. Then a great fire ignited. It soon spread throughout the swamp monster. However the fire spread further. Soon the trees were set alight and the water was set alight too! The heat of the fire caused more fires.

This caused the others to will the fire out. Yet as they set the fire out some more rose up. Cari felt a cut spring from her. Yet even she too tried to put out the fire, yet it occurred to her that she could will the fire to stop spreading. This she did and this meant that the others could focus on getting rid of the fire and this proved to be effective and the fire was out.

"What was that all about?'

"Smell up girl!"

She did.

"What do you smell?"

"Something that smells like sulphur."

"Yes, yes it is!"

They soon docked and climbed out the boat. They then looked at The Chronicler.

"We will be spending the night in the local inn then we will be leaving on the local carriage."

They nodded feeling overwhelmingly tired and the sky was dark. They then walked in and after they filled their stomachs, they booked their rooms and the moment Cari hit the bed her eyes closed into the world of dreams.

Her dreams took her to a woman that looked somewhere between eighteen and nineteen. She had a coal black star between her eyes and a scar on her arm that looked like it had been there for a long time. Her hair was dark brunette hair and had brown eyes. She was dressed in white and gold robes and she was standing on a strange pyramid. She knew that it was some kind of ziggurat temple. Yet could not place as to where the place was.

She hurled over as she looked as if she was about to vomit. She then saw the blood coming from her mouth and screamed. Soon the screaming stopped as light came from her mouth. Then a star rose from it. She saw a man next to her and he said something to her that she could not hear. She responded and then the man looked at the star. He then suddenly looked ill and clutched his stomach. He convulsed and fell over and foam came out of his mouth. This was followed by blood and his face became purple and green. His eyes bulged as they turned a grim shade of yellow. He then said something before he died. Yet she then turned back to it and shouted the name of the star.

She woke up and screamed. She felt slightly nauseous as she started to cough. She tried to get herself under control but she could not. She then raced to the window and threw up. She was able to get herself under control after that. She washed her mouth and felt greatly hungry. She was the first to eat and she was ready before the others were even up.

She could see that there was colour back in her face and after the others had finished they were on the public carriage where they breathed in the crash air with a great deal of gratitude.