Sous and Shadow soaked in the hot spring they found on their way up into the jungles. Sous had her head just below the water's surface so as her mouth and nose were covered but not her eyes. She glared out into the distance of the jungle that seemingly went upward.
She turned to Sous who was sitting on the edge of the spring and kicking his feet into the water.
"So the artifact is way up yonder?"
"Yes," he said.
She stepped out from the spring naked and waved her arms in a circular motions. "Tilkalde!" She screamed out.
Puff!
Little baby basilisk came slithering around her, his read eyes gleaming. Sous walked over to the makeshift bench of the hot spring and began to put her clothes on. She climbed on top of the head of the snake and waited for Shadow to get dressed. She held out her hand to him, allowing him to climb up on the snakes head.
They continued up the trail toward the jungle in their attempt to reach the artifact's location by sundown.
The basilisk slithered forward with Sous and Shadow riding atop its head. Sous leaned forward, her eyes fixed on the path ahead. Shadow kept a firm grip on the serpent's scales, his hands sweating from the humidity as they navigated the steep incline.
The jungle canopy thickened, casting dappled shadows that danced across their faces. Sous inhaled deeply, the humid air thick with the scent of damp earth and decaying leaves.
Her thoughts drifted to the artifact, its power, its danger. She wondered if Shadow truly grasped what they were walking into. His silence felt heavy, loaded. She glanced back at him, catching the tension in his jawline, the way his gaze never settled. Was it fear? Or anticipation?
The basilisk's muscles coiled and released beneath them, a rhythmic pulse that matched her own heartbeat. She traced the serpent's scales with her fingertips, cool and smooth like river stones.
The jungle sounds enveloped them, chirping insects, distant bird calls, the rustle of unseen creatures. It was a living, breathing world, indifferent to their quest. Yet Sous felt its weight pressing in, a reminder of how small they were in this vast, ancient place. Ahead, the path narrowed, choked by vines as thick as her wrist.
She urged the basilisk onward, its forked tongue flicking out to taste the air. Shadows deepened as the sun dipped lower, painting the foliage in hues of gold and amber. Sous's mind raced with possibilities, traps, guardians, the artifact's true nature. But beneath the anxiety, a thrill hummed in her veins.
For moments like this, suspended between dread and wonder. The basilisk hesitated at a fork in the trail, its head swaying. Sous closed her eyes, letting her antennas guide her.
"You know I have a map, you know," Shadow said, Sous' mouth turned into a 3. Shadow informed the large snake on where to go. The serpent obeyed, sliding into the gloom.
Ferns brushed against her legs, leaving dew on her trousers. She could almost taste the mossy tang on her tongue.
"What is that in the distance?" Shadow asked.
Sous looked out, using both her ears and antennas to get a good feel who it made be. Their bodies glowed white with the way Sous was sensing them, able to see them hiding in the bushes.
She used her hands to slow down the snake and both her and Shadow got off. The two of them crouched off the trail and made way to the high grass.
"Its an ambush," Sous whispered. "But..." she added. "They have a glow about them, magae."
"The Three Sisters," Shadow said.
Sous looked at him.
"And here you two are!" Glinda said. She was sitting on a branch in a tree, looking like she hadn't aged not one bit. She jumped down from the branch with Sous and Shadow getting to their feet. "Sous...this doesn't concern you and Shadow, I'm assuming the elves of Trey gave you a mission."
The men who were hiding in the bushes came forward and Sous could see they were slaves to Glinda's magic.
Glinda smirked, like she read Sous' mind. She walked to Sous and stood facing her men along with her. "Do you like what you see?"
"You turned them into your slaves," Sous said.
"You sound so disgusted," Glinda cried. "When you were a kid, you were fascinated with such darkness. The seals on your body is proof."
"Is Tany here?" Sous asked.
"No, she isn't. You know where the artifact is." That wasn't a question.
"Oh...the locals didn't tell you," Shadow mocked. This would mean the locals didn't see the witches fit to know.
"I think its best for you two to leave," Glinda said.
"Glinda, please, we don't want to fight," Sous screamed out.
"And we won't." And with that, Glinda snapped her fingers, and Shadow and Sous found themselves on the other side of Hiro where the mountains were blanketed with snow and where the foxes cackled to play with the two new visitors.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"
SPOOF!
Sous landed face first in the snow while Shadow elegantly landed with his two feet beside her. Sous stood up and called out to her serpent.
"Tilkalde!" Nothing. And again. "Tilkalde! TILKALDE!" Still nothing.
"Hmm, her most recent spell is hindering you from summoning him."
Sous fell back onto the snow, not wanting to see the fact they were on the other side of the mountain. She heard Shadow attempting to use his teleportation spell but nothing.
"We should have used that spell in the beginning," Sous complained while doing a snow angel.
"I didn't want to waste energy back then but yeah, maybe we should have," he sighed.
They were able to build a fire and as they sat there warming themselves, Shadow twisted his fingers, making a shamisen appear.
"You wanna hear me play? A local woman taught me how prior to you getting here. An elegant woman, an Alpha. I never met such an elegant, calm, Alpha before."
"Did you mate with her?" Sous asked.
"...yes...even after I told her I wasn't go to bear any more children," he exclaimed. "She taught me a song her mother taught her. Its called Call of the Wind or in Neseo- Jiao No Kaze!" He crossed his legs and positioned his hand and strum, "Listen."
He strummed and played a tune that Sous could hear the wind blowing through the trees. She closed her eyes and imagined herself sitting on a cliffside while the wind blew through her hair. She smiled and laid her head back onto the snow.
Shadow continued playing and Sous felt herself drifting off to sleep. She dreamt of her childhood days in across the tracks where she had witness so much death. She saw herself playing with her friends, her parents. She saw her mother cooking dinner and her father reading a book. She saw herself sitting on her father's lap while he told her stories of the good times, although Sous would later learn there were barely ever any good times.