The sun shone high in the sky above the clouds, piercing through the canopy of trees and illuminating the forest floor. The forest was a place of danger to those unaccustomed to it, winding paths could confuse any traveler and the monsters lurking in the shadows could end a life in the blink of an eye. However for those used to the harsh environment it was one of bountiful resources and endless opportunity, it had been a few days since Cyrus along with his guide Sarah and his pet duck Henry, left his home deep in the woods. They navigated their way through the forest using a series of markings left on various trees, they had finally reached the entrance to the forest. Rummaging their way through the dense greenery of the forest they walked into an open plains. The wind blew past them carrying the leaves with it, not a sign of life in sight. Finally being free from the constraining environment of the forest Sarah let out a heavy sigh as her body collapsed onto the dirt pathway in front of them, She rolled onto her back and looked up into the sky, squinting as the sun beamed down on her face, she raised a hand to block it out.
" Cyrus, how much longer." She whined
Watching her flop to the ground he rolled his eyes. Over the past few days Cyrus had grown accustomed to hearing Sarah whine at almost every inconvenience of being in the wilderness. It was too cold at night, the ground was too rough, he had just about heard it all. Listening to her complaints he crouched down and opened up the bag that was fastened to Henry's back. Pulling out a map he unraveled it and made his way over to the prone Sarah.
" Maybe about a day to the nearest city, currently we're here." He looked at his map, it showed a vast continent, pointing at a spot on the southern spot on the map he'd show it to her. " You said you felt a presence to the north, currently we just left the Daedalus Forest which you can see here. If you felt it from the north I'd assume whoever we're looking for is in the capital up north." He explained.
Sarah looked over the map analyzing it. Towards the northern part of the map it depicted a large walled city with the name Alabast above it. Even more north of that was a vast mountain range that bordered the edge of the map. Littered throughout the entire map was an assortment of cities and towns, their borders and territories marked on the map as several different countries were highlighted. South of the forest was a beach and to the west of Alabast was a large desert. In the one continent along there seemed to be two main biomes, deserts and forests with plains taking up most of the land. Being subjected to the woes of a traveler Sarah whined and threw the map into the air.
" Can't you just zap us there, it'll take forever at this rate."
Cyrus frantically grabbed the map that Sarah had tossed in the air, letting out a sigh of relief before he brought his fist crashing down on the top of her head. " The fuck are you doing!? Are you trying to get us lost!?" Rubbing the temples of his head Cyrus let out a heavy sigh. " If I could zap us there I would've done it by now."
Rubbing the top of her head with her hands Sarah gave a little glare to Cyrus as her face scrunched up. She would go quiet as the two continued to trek along a long paved out road, beside her feet Henry seemed to console her, he'd rub his head along her leg as the trio made their way north.