Sunlight peered in through small gaps in the canopy, bringing light to the small camp Mark, Valin, and Hunter had set up the night before. The serenity of the forest surrounding the camp lingered for a while as they slept undisturbed in hammocks tied up against multiple trees. The three hammocks were in a crescent surrounding the fire in the center. A large shale cliff jutting from the floor of the forest sheltered their camp as they rested. The natural formation was coated in small vines and moss, still fighting the war against nature.

By morning, the fire was slightly smoldering with no chance of coming back to life on its own. The peaceful sounds of the forest complimented the dying fire as the group slept restfully within their hammocks. Valin was the first of the three to wake up, being woken up by a putrid smell emanating from somewhere around their settlement. She sat up in her hammock and looked around to see where the stench was coming from, but she couldn’t find the source.

Valin reached out of her hammock and picked up a small pebble she found on the ground. She threw it at Mark, who was in the hammock next to her. The rock hit him square in the head, and he was woken up immediately.

“Ow, what the hell?” Mark said to himself while rubbing his head, thinking that an acorn had fallen from the canopy above him.

“Do you smell that?” Valin asked Mark promptly, leaning out of her hammock.

Mark, confused and still rubbing his head sniffed the air around him to try and smell this stench that Valin was talking about. After sniffing a few times he replied, “No, I don’t know what you are talking about.” He sat up and then turned to step out of the hammock, revealing his dirty, grimy feet.

“Ew Mark! When was the last time you cleaned your feet?” Valin then exclaimed, covering her nose and face as she talked.

“Well we haven’t exactly been anywhere near a body of water to bathe in for the last few days,” Mark trailed off as he slid out of his hammock, stepping into his moccasins.

“Why didn’t you shower when you were at the Magical Kingdom?” Valin asked, curling up in her hammock.

“Shower?” Mark asked curiously, stretching his arms in the air.

Valin rolled her eyes remembering that Mark and Hunter live completely different lives than her, where they’re not able to bathe regularly. She took her hand away from her nose as she spoke softly, “Never mind.”

Hunter was woken up by this exchange and slid out of his hammock grudgingly onto the leaf-coated ground beneath him. He laid on the ground face-down for a second before letting out a drawn-out groan.

“You would think over a year of sleeping in hammocks would make you used to sleeping in one,” Mark noted jokingly to Hunter, walking over and bending down to where he laid in the dirt.

“Shut up,” Hunter turned over and responded in a snarky tone as he continued to lie on the ground. A small millipede then started to crawl onto Hunter’s face startling him, causing him to jump up off the ground and swat the bug away, making an incomprehensible sound in the process. Both Valin and Mark chuckled at Hunter’s expense as he looked back at them menacingly.

Mark and Valin looked up to see Hunter’s threatening look and quickly collected themselves. Hunter brushed the dirt and leaves off of his robe as Mark and Valin went to prepare breakfast. Valin had brought with her some bread that she shared with Mark and Hunter. Mark collected some raspberries from a nearby bush to add to the breakfast. Hunter felt obligated to pitch in for the meal, so he abruptly climbed one of the trees where the hammocks were tied.

Mark and Valin watched curiously as Hunter scaled the tree rather quickly. Valin asked Mark in a confused tone, “What is he doing?”

Mark responded with only a shrug as they continued to watch Hunter’s actions.

Hunter continued to ascend the tree with the rest of the group unsure of what exactly his goal was. Suddenly he stopped climbing after a short distance when he noticed something. On a branch next to him sat a tightly woven bird’s nest made from sticks and loose strands of tall grass. That was his goal. He carefully crept over onto the tree branch, which he felt was fairly secure before he crawled onto it. He sat down and shuffled over to the thatched nest snugly nestled within a knot in the wood.

Multiple bright red spotted eggs were laying snugly within the nest. Excitedly, he reached inside and started to place the eggs carefully into his pocket. Unbeknownst to him, the mother bird dived down from above the canopy to ambush Hunter. The eagle had iridescent orange feathers, with its wings shining brightly resembling fire. The flame eagle started to fly around Hunter angrily, then swooped down and attacked him with its claws. As he waved frantically at the bird to go away he was also shaking the branch he was sitting on.

Hunter almost lost balance multiple times as he tried to get the bird to stop attacking him. Suddenly, Hunter heard a loud snap sound, which caused him to stop in shock. This allowed the bird to go directly for Hunter’s face, causing him to fall backward on the branch. He managed to catch the branch as he started to slip off and hugged it, with the bird still flying around him. The branch made another snapping noise, then another. The bird aimed to land on the branch, staring daggers at Hunter.

“No.. No… No!” Hunter yelped as the bird landed on the branch. However, to his surprise, the branch did not break. Hunter let out an exasperated sigh of relief. He then started to contemplate ways of getting off of the branch and down from the tree safely. He slowly shuffled his body closer to the trunk of the tree, only for the branch to snap off completely. Hunter didn’t have enough time to react to the branch breaking, unlike the eagle who was startled and flew away from the branch immediately.

Hunter plummeted to the ground, along with the branch and the nest. The eagle swooped away safely as Hunter slammed against the dirt. However, because he was only a short distance in the air he sustained little injury.

“That had to be the most predictable thing I have ever seen happen to you,” Mark commented sarcastically as Hunter stood back up. “Why would you even do that?”

Hunter brushed the dirt off of his robe then reached into his pocket to pull out three completely unscathed eggs. “Breakfast,” He chimed with a smile, his hair coated in dirt and bits of dead leaves.

The group began to prepare their breakfast diligently, each pitching into the meal. Hunter rekindled the fire with some of the dried leaves beneath his hammock and took out a small hand-forged metal bowl from within his bulky satchel. The bottom of the bowl was scorched from repetitive cooking and the sides of the bowl were jagged from its initial forging. He set up some decently sized twigs over the fire and carefully set the bowl on top of it. He cracked the eggs into the bowl and used a carved wooden knife from his bag to scramble them.

Valin took the small loaf of bread she had packed with her and cut it into slices with a knife from her bag. After the eggs had been prepared and the bread was cut up, Hunter cut the eggs apart and placed them onto the slices of bread Valin had prepared. For breakfast, the group ate egg sandwiches and raspberries. As they sat around the fire to eat they discussed their next move.

“So yesterday… we were able to hike ten clicks before we had to make camp,” Mark explained in-between bites of his sandwich. “We have another eight clicks before we get to the mountains… We may be able to make it there by sun-down if we leave shortly.”

“What are we going to do when we get there? We should try to avoid a repeat of what happened at the Magical Kingdom,” Hunter added. “No offense Valin.”

“Nome Takmen,” Valin responded with her mouth full. She held her hand up and swallowed the mouthful of food before continuing, “The mountains are a dangerous place, we have to be careful as we climb. Hundreds of caves bind and weave throughout the mountains, so I guess we just pick a cave and see what happens.”

“Isn’t there a settlement that rock resonators live in? Like the Magical Kingdom?” Hunter asked as he waved his half-eaten sandwich around.

“Yes, It’s hidden within the depths of the caves. They supposedly built their city inside of the mountain to hide away from the corruption after the invasion,” Valin answered before shoveling another bite of sandwich into her mouth.

“Picking a random cave and just winging it is a risky idea. We could end up in the same situation we were in when we went into the Blood Caves,” Mark commented. He ate the last piece of his sandwich and stood back up, brushing the crumbs off of the pelt around his waist.

“That may be true but what other option do we have? They live hidden underground for a reason,” Valin argued after finishing her sandwich.

Hunter shoveled the rest of his sandwich into his mouth and finished it quickly before he spoke, “What if we use the elemental gem? I know it sounds obvious but the color of the gem changes with the different elemental powers it interacts with. We could attempt to use it as a guide through the caves.”

“That’s… not a bad idea…” Mark trailed off, contemplating Hunter’s suggestion as he glanced around their camp. “As long as you’re careful with it and don’t mess up your hand more.”

Hunter looked down at his still bandaged hand, which was dirty and starting to peel from climbing the tree. His hand already felt better due to the aloe that was applied to it the day before, but its effect was starting to wear off.

“Speaking of which… we should probably replace this bandage before we leave,” Hunter proposed, starting to pick at the bandage to remove it.

Mark sighed then walked over to his bag and rummaged around in it taking out the aloe and the extra bandages. He walked back over to Hunter and spoke sarcastically, “You know, if you didn’t climb the tree for mystery eggs I wouldn’t have to be doing this.”

Hunter started to undo the bandages on his arm as he spoke jokingly, “Well I just know how much you love breakfast and a show… Ouch!”

Hunter fully removed the bandage from his hand, leaving a sharp, stinging sensation behind afterward. Hunter cast the old bandages into the small fire as Mark walked over to him. He knelt and grabbed Hunter’s hand to reapply the bandage. He winced deeply as Mark reapplied the aloe to his sautéed flesh.

“Oh don’t be a baby,” Mark exclaimed in a condescending tone as he rubbed the aloe into the indentation in his hand.

“It’s kind of hard not to when a magic rock seared the flesh of my skin,” Hunter replied sarcastically, holding his arm as Mark took the extra bandages and started to wrap them around his hand.

“Oh really? I thought ‘It’s not just a rock,’” Mark mimicked Hunter as he finished the bandage around his hand.

“Oh shut up,” Hunter chuckled as he retracted his arm and rubbed the new bandage slightly with his right hand.

Mark placed the roll of bandages and aloe back into his satchel and announced in an upbeat tone, “Alright, we should probably get going before we lose too much sunlight.”

“Probably a good idea,” Hunter responded, standing back up from beside the fire. “Let’s get packed up then.”

Valin and Mark nodded and went in their own direction toward their hammocks. Hunter dismantled the setup around the fire and kicked some dirt over the pile of chard leaves and twigs it to put it out. The group untied their hammocks from the trees that surrounded the camp and packed up the rest of their belongings in a matter of minutes.

By the time they were ready to continue their journey to the mountains, it was already mid-morning. Mark and Hunter didn’t bring much with them compared to Valin. They both had torso-sized satchels with them that carried the bare essentials they needed for hunting and surviving in the forest alone. Valin on the other hand, carried a large backpack full of spell books, crystals, and clothes she thought she would need for the journey.

Mark and Hunter glanced at each other and then at Valin, slightly judging her for the number of unnecessary belongings she took with her. However, they said nothing, knowing that she lives a different life than they do.

Mark walked over to a nearby tree and announced eagerly, “Last night I notched an arrow into this tree pointing in the direction we are supposed to be going, so we don’t get lost like we did before.” He stepped forward and started to walk in the direction the arrow was pointing in.

Hunter responded casually as Mark walked past him and Valin, “Good call.”

“What do you mean before? We didn’t get lost yesterday,” Valin questioned the two confusingly as she struggled to slip her huge sack onto her back. Mark stopped and turned towards Valin.

“Hunter got us lost on our way to the Magical Kingdom,” Mark smiled as he accused Hunter in a joking manner, pointing at him with his thumb as he was turned away.

“Uhm, No,” Hunter responded matter-of-factly, walking forward in the direction Mark was heading. “You were the Navigator.”

Mark giggled when hearing this knowing Hunter was right. The trio continued to walk forward, with Hunter and Valin following Mark’s lead.

“Oh so what you’re saying Hunter is that we shouldn’t let him navigate,” Valin responded jokingly as she hiked behind them, poking fun at Mark.

“Oh yeah definitely,” Hunter agreed with Valin. He then shouted forward to Mark, who had gained a small lead from the other two, “Hey Mark!”

Mark’s face turned a slight pink with embarrassment as he stopped and turned to them slightly. “If I recall correctly you don’t even know how to hold a map properly.”

“Wait you overheard Rudy and I?” Hunter exclaimed loudly in disbelief.

Valin chimed in between bursts of laughter, “No, but Rudy told us about it while you were recovering.”

“Ah so his gift was a retribution for spilling all of my secrets,” Hunter added as he shook his head, “Good to know.”

At that moment the group heard a twig snap and they stopped in their tracks. Mark curiously turned around and started to say, “Hey was that one of you…”

Mark fully turned around to see Valin and Hunter looking around curiously, knowing it wasn’t them. He readied his bow to the unknown threat but instead noticed vines creeping up from the ground towards both of them. Mark pointed towards them and announced quickly, “Hunter watch out! The vines are surrounding you!”

Just then, the growing vines wrapped themselves around Valin and Hunter’s ankles, dragging them to the ground suddenly. In a flash, Hunter grabbed his staff from the loop in his satchel and used it to cut the vines off around his ankle before he was dragged away further. Valin however, wasn’t so lucky. The vines started to drag her further away as Mark chased her, arming an arrow in his bow in the process. He shot the bow at the strands of vine that wrapped around her ankle, which released its hold on Valin.

Mark rushed over to Valin and helped her up as he spoke in a serious tone, “This might be a more treacherous day of hiking than we had planned, the deeper we are in the forest the smarter the plants are.”

“Smarter? Are they sentient or something?” Valin questioned in an annoyed tone as she straightened herself out from being dragged in the dirt.

“They’re more territorial, and because we stepped in their home they are more likely to attack,” Hunter chipped in, still holding his spear and frantically scanning the immediate area around him. “We need to be more careful where we step because one wrong move could cost us dearly.”

“Hunter’s right, we must’ve stepped on a vine that caused them to attack us. As long as we avoid stepping on any roots or vines we should be fine,” Mark advised, turning his head in the direction they were supposed to be going.

The group glanced at the ground around them only to see the entire floor of the forest coated in snarled roots and vines winding in a tangled web around them. Valin shifted her feet to a place without the twisting vines and contradicted Mark, “I think that would be more difficult than you’re implying.”

Slowly, as the group was contemplating how to navigate through this more dense part of the forest, the growing vines started to creep up and wrap itself around Hunter’s spear without him noticing. The plant tugged on the spear forcefully, pulling it out of Hunter’s grip. The vines whisked it away deeper into the forest in the opposite direction they were going.

“Hey! That’s mine!” Hunter exclaimed as he spun around to watch the vines take his spear. It moved further away with an increased speed as he made the quick decision to chase after it. He bolted after the vines, leaving Mark and Valin behind.

“Hunter- Hey! Wait for us!” Valin shouted after him, starting to run in that direction.

Mark stopped Valin and reassured her, “Don’t worry, I’m used to him doing this, he’ll either get stuck or come back running from something bigger.”

They started to gradually follow him and after a few seconds, they heard an exasperated yell come from further ahead, shortly followed by Hunter shouting, “Mark! I’m trapped!”

“He never ceases to amaze me,” Mark commented sarcastically, shaking his head as he continued walking. He turned to Valin and instructed in a slightly annoyed tone, “Come on, the vines probably ensnared him again.”

Valin giggled and they both started to sprint towards the sound of Hunter continuing to yell for help. They sped through the forest following the vines and doing their best not to step on any of them. When they reached Hunter they discovered that he was trapped within a net of rose vines above them hanging from a collection of tree branches.

“Now how did you manage to do that?” Mark asked Hunter in a condescending tone, standing underneath the net.

“I was just running after my spear when I stepped on this net and it captured me here,” Hunter told them while trying to avoid scratching himself by the thorns of the net.

Mark took his bow from behind his back and readied an arrow as he spoke, “This is why you don’t go running off without thinking first.” He then fired the arrow at the top of the net, releasing its hold on Hunter, causing him and the net to fall to the ground.

Hunter slowly stood up covered in small scrapes and scratches from the thorns and looked back up at Mark, who had a smirk on his face. He sighed then spoke, “I did think, I didn’t bring any other weapons with me because I found the spear. So, it was either staying defenseless or running after the spear.”

“And look where that got you,” Mark responded as he gestured to the net sitting beneath him. He fastened the bow back to the strap along his back and walked over to the net to grab his arrow as he continued reassuringly, “It’s okay, we can follow these vines and see where they end up. Hopefully, we can get your spear back.”

“Okay, I trust your judgement,” Hunter responded boldly, nodding his head slightly. He rubbed the small scratches on his arms as he took a few steps forward in the direction of the vines. The group then walked alongside the vines, making sure they didn’t step on them alerting the plant of their presence.

They followed the vines for around twenty minutes before they found themselves in a small clearing in the forest that was completely overtaken by the many floral vines. The vines continued to grow in size the closer they got to the clearing until almost the entire floor of the forest was coated in them. Being careful not to step or lean on a vine, Mark knelt just outside of the clearing and surveyed the area before pointing to the middle of the clearing. Hunter knelt next to Mark and looked up to see a large snake made of weeds wrapping itself around his spear.

“Aim your bow at its head, that way we can take care of it swiftly. Afterward, I can quickly retrieve my spear and retreat,” Hunter instructed Mark in a whisper, making gestures with his arms mimicking his bow.

Mark nodded then grabbed his bow and an arrow from behind his back, carefully to not make an excess of noise. He aimed his bow at the snake studying and tracking its movements to predict a perfect shot. Mark then abruptly launched the arrow from his bow, hitting the weedy plant directly in the head, killing it instantly.

Within that second Hunter launched himself into the clearing with incredible speed, grabbing his spear from the plant corpse just after it had fallen to the ground below. He looked up with his spear in the joy of getting it back before he noticed Mark and Valin violently shaking their head and waving their hands at him.

Hunter looked down at the ground beneath him to see that he was standing directly on a large vine, which then suddenly moved beneath him, causing him to lose balance. Mark jumped out into the clearing to help as Hunter stumbled, but managed to not fall onto the ground. Valin, who had been standing behind them, reluctantly joined them as the vines started to move and flow into a wall around the trio.

The vines then revealed the creature behind its movements, a large twin-headed plant resembling a fly trap. The ivy snappers started to use its large vine system to move around the group in a circle with incredible speed, eventually going in for an articulated attack. Both of the heads of the plant lunged at Hunter, who dodged and went for a counterattack against the plant, attempting to ram his spear into one of the heads. However, his attack was blocked by the plant using the many large vines as a shield.

Mark readied his bow with another arrow, tracking the snapper’s movements just as he did with the snake weed. His quick eye barely kept up with the speed of the enemy, and when he released his arrow it was met with another wall of vines, blocking the arrow from its target.

“How can we kill this thing?” Mark exclaimed as he grabbed another arrow from his quiver, “It’s too fast and we won’t be able to land a hit with it using its vines as a shield.”

“I have an idea,” Valin announced quickly as she pointed her staff at a point in the circle of vines around them. She started to chant and cast a spell using her staff, which resulted in the shadows around the group growing exponentially. The plant’s movements started to slow down as her spell continued to make the darkness around them grow deeper around the clearing.

Hunter took this as an opportunity to lunge himself at the plant again, this time landing a hit on one of the snapper’s heads. The plant stopped its movements in pain as Hunter ripped his spear from the plant, allowing Mark to shoot the other head with another arrow he had prepared. The vines stopped moving as Valin’s spell came to a close, returning the light to the clearing around them.

“That was awesome! Removing the light from the area weakened the vines, smart move Valin!” Mark exclaimed excitedly as he removed the arrow from the Ivy Snapper’s head.

“It was more like dumb luck, I remembered that plants require light to grow so I used a darkness spell I learned during my training,” Valin explained boldly, gesturing her staff around in a circle like she was casting another spell.

“Great job Valin,” Hunter praised enthusiastically as he ripped Mark’s other arrow from the vines and walked over to hand it to him. “Now that we’ve dealt with that we can finally proceed to the mountains,” he continued to say as Mark and Valin watched the vines behind him start to move once again. He looked up to see their horrified expressions, to which he turned around to see the vines converge and combine.

The corpses of the Snake Weed and the Ivy Snappers whirled around within the tangled mess of vines until they became a recognizable shape in front of them. The vines had formed a large serpent that towered over the group with a glimmer of revenge in its eyes. Once its combination had finished, it used its enormous tail to swing at the group with immense force.

Hunter, however, stopped and stuck his spear into the ground. Valin and Mark looked at him thinking he was crazy until he took the elemental gem out of his pocket. Hunter had the same feeling he did when they were battling the corruption in the Magical Kingdom, except this time the feeling was a peaceful one. He held out the gem with his right hand, which was glowing a bright green.

A realization had come over Hunter as he stood there holding the elemental gem towards this gigantic plant creature. The reason the plants were attacking them before was that they were territorial and were protecting themselves and their environment, similar to how the trio was acting when trying to retrieve Hunter’s spear. However, it was ultimately them who trespassed and angered the plants of the forest, resulting in the combination of the creature in front of them. With the sight of Hunter standing peacefully in front of it, the serpent’s revengeful eyes became calmer. It approached Hunter carefully, who proceeded to rub the serpent’s head with his left hand.

Mark and Valin stood there appalled at Hunter’s actions towards the serpent, and how friendly it had become. Mark put the arrow he had within his bow back into his quiver and placed his bow back behind his back before speaking in a calm tone, “He… genuinely never ceases to amaze me…”

“It’s our fault we crossed into their territory, but I think it understands now that we were trying to protect ourselves as well,” Hunter announced to Mark and Valin as he continued to pet the serpent’s enormous head.

The serpent then laid its head down on the ground in front of them, offering the group a method of transportation. Mark looked at Hunter in bewilderment as he spoke, “How did you manage to do that?”

“You know yourself the forest flows in a series of patterns. With the elemental gem I can mimic those patterns and communicate with them,” Hunter stated honestly, as he jumped onto the back of the serpent.

“How could you possibly know that?” Valin exclaimed, walking up to the serpent and reluctantly sitting behind Hunter.

“Much like that time in the Magical Kingdom, I just had a feeling, almost like an instinct that I could use the gem in that way,” Hunter stated in a bold tone as he turned his head toward Valin and Mark.

Mark hopped on the back of the serpent as he suggested to Valin in a solemn tone, “The more you question it the more confusing it gets… trust me I know.”

Valin giggled as she shifted her center of mass to be more centered on the back of the serpent.

“I would hold on tightly if I were you,” Hunter announced quickly before the serpent sped off into the forest in front of them.

Mark and Valin had to quickly grasp the body of the serpent, which consisted of very tightly twisted vines, making it easy to grab onto. The serpent sped through the forest swiftly, dodging trees and animals as it made its way closer to the mountains. Trees flew by like they were bugs whirling past the trio as they clung onto the serpent’s body. In the process, many birds and other small creatures were disturbed and scattered, creating a mass disruption throughout the northern parts of the forest. However, to Mark, Valin, and Hunter, it seemed much larger a disturbance than it was as they held onto the serpent for dear life.

The vegetation of the forest around them, despite being disturbed by the serpent, gradually became less dense as they sped further in the correct direction. Only after around fifteen minutes had passed, the serpent lunged from within the tree line and came to a halting stop. It gradually lowered its head back to the ground and let Mark, Valin, and Hunter step off of its neck. After they stepped off of the serpent it immediately raised itself back up and retreated into the tree line of the forest.

“I think I swallowed a few bugs on our trip out here,” Mark noted as he straightened himself out from the erratic journey, checking to make sure he didn’t lose anything during the ride.

“Me too, but look! We made it here significantly faster than we would have if we just hiked,” Valin responded excitedly, gesturing toward the sky. The group looked up to see that the sun was past the midday point, in the middle of the afternoon. This meant that they had a significant amount of time to spend climbing the mountain until they reached their destination.

“Getting here was only part of the journey, we still need to climb up the mountains until we reach a cave, which could take hours,” Hunter pointed out, turning towards the mountain directly in front of them.

The group looked towards the massive hill looming ahead of them that would start their hike upward. The flora of the forest gradually thinned out as they made their way up the hill. Behind the hill, they could slightly see the immense mountain range that separated the forest from the rest of the world. Hiking up the steep hill took the trio an exuberant amount of effort to accomplish, much more than the fight they had gone through just a short time ago. The verdure dramatically continued to diminish as they crept further up the large hill, to the point where it was nothing but dirt and gravel they were hiking on.

As they reached the top of the hill Hunter turned around to see how Valin and Mark were doing, but was pleasantly surprised. “Guys…” He trailed off as he pointed behind them.

Valin and Mark then turned around to see a sight that the trio would be the first in many centuries to witness. They stared out at the vastness of the forest they had just exited from, forgetting exactly how far they traveled. Hunter would never have been able to see this majestic view of the entire forest from climbing trees alone. The forest around them was a peninsula, surrounded by a vast ocean. From where they stood they could see the entire forest, including the Magical Kingdom and the Elemental Province, which were now mere specs buried within a blanket of green. They could barely see the river they walked along, admiring its windy twists and turns. There were also able to see the Light-Dark City-State, from what seemed like a small distance away from the Elemental Province.

They could see how the areas of the forest were more dense in some areas than others, and how the settlements of the forest followed the shape of the land around them. The landscape was less elevated the closer it was to the ocean, and higher the closer it was to the center of the peninsula and the mountain. The rolling green of the forest flowed as it faded from the jagged edge of the mountain to the smooth, flowing edge of the sea. Looking out at the forest the greenery resembled almost like a pile of ashes, how it crumbled into the surrounding area and faded out towards the edges.

The sun slowly began to set, emphasizing the contours of the forest along with leaving a burst of colors across the sky. As the sun fell further beyond the horizon, striking details of the forest became more apparent as the shadows revealed the extremity of the landscape.

As they looked out at the forest in awe, Mark asked in a curious tone, “Hey Hunter, can I borrow one of your pencils?”

“Sure…” Hunter trailed off, rummaging through his satchel for one before handing it to Mark, while not being able to take his eyes away from the view.

As they stood there looking out at the magnificent view of the forest, Mark started to edit the ancient map to what he could see with his very own eyes, fixing the imperfections and the changes the forest has undergone many years since the map’s creation.

Hunter glanced over at Mark and noticed him drawing on the map. “Mark! What are you doing to the map?” He exclaimed in a panicked tone, yoinking the pencil from his hand.

“Relax, I’m fixing it,” he reassured Hunter calmly, showing him his progress. “Being here we can see the forest much better than anyone else in the last few hundred years, so I thought I would revise the map.”

Hunter examined the changes Mark had made on the map as he spoke, “Wow… you’re a horrible artist. Is that supposed to be the Magical Kingdom or a tree?”

“I would like to see you try then,” Mark proposed in a slightly aggressive tone as he shoved the map over to Hunter’s chest.

Valin looked over to watch the interaction as Hunter strutted over to a large rock nearby and sat down on it. He took out his art set from his satchel and started to erase and fix the edits Mark had done previously to make new ones. At first, Mark didn’t pay attention to Hunter, aiming his bow out into the forest to pass the time. His interest then became greater the more he saw Hunter draw. Mark walked over and sat behind him to watch his progress, with Valin soon joining him as well.

This time the group spent on top of the hill was a lengthy break that they well deserved from how exhausted they had become. By the time the sun was starting to set, Hunter was finished with the map alterations. The revised map was way more detailed and vibrant than it was before. The pictures depicting the many elemental regions were in colors of their respective element and placed in their proper locations. The river was corrected to account for the changes in the stream, as well as symbols placed next to the Elemental Town and the Light-Dark City-State depicting that they were ruins. The map was much easier to read, and accurately resembled the beauty of the forest they had the privilege of witnessing.

Hunter carefully rolled up the map and handed it to Mark as he spoke sarcastically, “Lead the way ‘Navigator.’”

Valin snatched the map out of Hunter’s hand and unrolled it to ogle its beauty. “Hunter this is incredible! Where did you learn to draw like this?”

“Well similar to the tree climbing and knowledge of the ancient elemental language, it’s a talent that I don’t remember learning due to my amnesia,” Hunter bolstered in an uplifting tone, reaching into his bag to grab his journal. He opened it and flipped to the most recent drawing he made, a depiction of the fire from the night before with an exaggerated vibrant red flame with a dark gloomy surroundings. He then flipped to another drawing he had made a few days before at the Magical Kingdom of the Lightning Wizard. He continued to gloat as he showed the drawings to Valin and Mark, “It also helps when I have more than a stick of charcoal to work with.”

“Maybe you could trade your drawings for the Rock power tablet if it came down to it,” Mark said jokingly as he took the map back from Valin.

“Absolutely not,” Hunter denied as he shut his journal and put it back in his satchel. “We should probably continue if we want to get to the caves before the sun fully sets.”

“You’re right,” Mark agreed as he looked at the revised map. “It looks like we need to keep heading in the same direction we have been heading in. I guess we just go until we reach a cave.”

“Let’s go then,” Hunter announced as he started to walk past Mark and Valin. Mark rolled up the map and put it away as he and Valin started to follow in Hunter’s footsteps.

As they continued to hike up the mountain all vegetation disappeared completely and was replaced with large rocks and stony gravel. Without the shield of the trees, the setting sun shined directly onto them, making the short trek sweaty and miserable. Eventually, they reached a cliff, that on the top lied the entrance to the cave they wanted to get into. The rest of the day was spent climbing this ridge. Valin gave Hunter a bundle of the rope she had snagged from the Magical Kingdom. The cliff was too tall to be able to throw a hook to the top and just climb, so instead they wrapped the rope around themselves for support.

They followed Hunter’s lead, only grabbing the rocks he grabbed and stepping where he stepped. By the time the sun had nearly disappeared, removing the natural light from the land, they had reached the top of the cliff and the ginormous entrance to the cave. resting for a few minutes, Valin pulled out a small lantern from her bag and used the same spell from before to place a small wisp inside of the lantern. She handed the lantern over to Hunter, who had taken out the elemental gem to be used as a guide.

Hunter took the lantern from her with a smile and stepped forward into the deep darkness of the cave. Before they fully entered the cave they glanced out at the forest one last time, looking to their right to watch the sun set completely beyond the horizon. Hunter turned to start their journey into the caves, with Mark and Valin following close behind.