Year 765 The Storm Crawler Charge

The group travels for some time. Rhea pursues onward, her silver eyes darting around her surroundings. Although she revel being back to her roots, she starts sensing something really wrong with the environment. Not only did the birds not sing this morning but she had not seen a single life form on site, her skin prickles with unease at the lack of animal life.

Jerilyn had sent her strange creature to fly ahead of them, the Krax woman wonders how a creature like that became so docile with a human.

The thought eludes the jungle raised female, trying not to waste her time on it really.

Her silver eyes caught sight of a shadow up in the branches and it took every will power to refrain from climbing right up to chase them. The only sign of life here so far in this morning and they are hiding in the branches. Wait, it cannot be?

Her instincts override her desire to keep moving forward and her husband notices her sudden behavior and tries to follow her gaze. His eyes will not be able to track the shadows like she can so instead she plainly states. “The clan never migrated.”

The captain readies his rifle, understanding now what they were dealing with. Azar rolls his eyes, “Who cares just burn them?”

Rhea shook her head, deciding it would be best not to antagonize her clan. She is after all excommunicated from them but they also believed she died many years ago. The Krax doubts they would recognize her.

If the yellow madness is influencing the clan's decision to remain it means they shouldn’t have any interest in attacking them. They will fear the sickness more so than the people trespassing their jungle, “We are moving on. I have a feeling they are only here to avoid the plague."

Even more of a reason to turn back now.

He will never allow it.

The Vhaltian scoffs at her answer, Connor kept his weapon in hand. Jerilyn is the only one remaining pretty complacent, yawning here and there. Rhea wonders why the blond carried herself in such a way. Hopefully, she won't become a hindrance to them.

The Krax mage pushes through the foliage, thanking the cloak to keep her from getting any scratches from them. They made it to another clearing, there is a break from the giant branches and the Manuk’s rays bakes this spot nearly dry. The grass beneath her  feet felt dry compared to the lichen they just plowed through. This is the uniqueness of this jungle, some parts will scorch you while others will drench you.

Rhea sighs, enjoying the rays of light right away. Her skin absorbs the light and warms her core, almost like Manuk sent her some power her way. The female quickly tenses when she saw Jerilyn’s “pet”-Trost?- frantically flown right above their heads and latch onto the blond, displaying a wild array of colors on its scales. Jerilyn eyes her pet, a grin forming her face, somehow reading the colors like it is some other language. “Warning, we are being surrounded.”

Rhea furrows her brows, staring at Jerilyn . this doesn’t make sense at all. Unless….

She felt the looming presence before she saw him, he casts a shadow over her with his height and mass. Connor already had his weapon point at him. The Vhaltian had a wild smile spread on his face, ready to fight now. Jerilyn barely moves and inch but watches from the distance.

She turns  to the male that towers over her just in height alone, a hulking Kraxxian male with a headpiece that draped over his back in furs and beads. He had a wood carved mask that only the chieftain wore, a mask that represents the animal you kill for your chieftain ceremony.  His was the representation of a black tusked Rheno. 

The Krax male did not waver underneath the imposing presence. Braska….

She puffs her chest out and made sure her eyes held the chieftains. She is no longer the teenager that ran away from him in fear, “Braska…koshki vallo ja rougi.” ( Braska, thought I never see your ugly face again)

“Vaja vurl, koshki vallo ridge.” (Lava girl, thought you died with the volcano.) Braska flits his attention to her companions and he deeply inhales. She couldn’t tell based on the mask he is wearing, but the tone of voice shows his agitation. “Dia Ghrusko s and a Vhaltian.” (You come with Two ghosts and a Vhaltian in tow.)

Rhea raises a brow, he knows what a Vhaltian even is? She always thought that the clan kept to themselves. Another thing, it still awes her that he thinks she died by lava. Such a strange claim, despite her head stung at the idea of it.

"I do not have time for this old man" Rhea flares her nose the pain in her head only worsen her mood, continuing on in their native tongue. If the chieftain wont move then he will have to answer to the very eager mage behind her.  But she can almost smell the chieftain's fear of him, like he saw a ghost. If she can use that they may not need to fight, "Let us through or I might consider taking back what is mine!"

To make her point across, she allows smoke to billow out from her mouth, a trick she learned to intimidate when she had to. The chieftain backs away, although he may wear a mask to hide his face she knew he is intimidated. What was his intention in the first place? "I just wanted to confirm that you are no apparition. I waited for two moons, I thought my seers will find you but instead they come back with nothing. They shown you were completely swallowed by Manuk’s blood. A seer is never wrong..."

“Then they were wrong this time so what!”  Rhea may have shown she didn’t care but her brain throbs at the detail.

“No. This makes one thing true, you are a monster but the sick will take you where Manuk’s blood failed.”

Monster… He called me that when he took my parents.

Braska moves his frame to leave, but Azar advances this time to interrogate in her place. Rhea backs away closer to Connor, tempted to reach to him for comfort but she didn't want to show any weakness in front of the chieftain.  Her eyes watches the Vhaltian mage, hoping that he doesn’t start a fight.

"Woah now, you can't just leave without explaining how you know my people!" Azar prods, also in their common language. His merlot irises boring into the back of the chieftain. Braska did not look back, but neither did he keep walking.

"I had my fair share of diplomatic dealings with you heathens. Do not have a choice really but thankfully this land eats up people like you….or should at least."

Rhea snarls, again with this volcano nonsense. She strokes the captain's arm briefly and tread towards the forest line. There really is no point to wait around on Azar. He can pinpoint her just because she is a mage. 

Her skin crawls from all the eyes on her, the whole Krax armada watching them from the branches.

Fingers lace around her bicep and halts her from entering the forest line. Just by the touch she knew it to be Connor, she can't mistake the oddly gentle approach with the thicken pads. The question is why?

"Rhea….wait." His voice perks her ears and she muffles the desire to retort. Last thing she wants is to waste her time with this clan and her head stung deeply every time her mind travels back to that section of her past.

Regardless, she gave her attention to him. Taking in the very perturbed face of Connor. Jerilyn hangs a bit back, the boredom still latched on her features. As much as this female hung around she had shown little interest in them. Her pet quakes right on her shoulder, feathers bristled in stressful trembling.

In the corner of her eye she can make out the two figures of Braska and Azar. 

Most of her vision rests upon Connor, studying the downturn of the corner of his lip to the crease of his brow.

It has been a few days since he last shave so hair started sprouting along his angled jawline. Giving him a more rugged appearance, usually he is quick to groom those away but now he has no means to. She plugs the urge to run her hands along it, probably will only annoy him if she did.

Satisfied that he gains her attention, he did not linger too long in silence. "He tried to kill you back then. What makes you so sure he won't try again?"

Her head throbs harder, she involuntarily winces from it and since he saw her reaction he opens his mouth again. "Are you alright?"

The Krax female shook her curly mane, ripping her arm away from him. She just wants to keep moving, the further away from here the better. The anger boils in her like a festering infection. She shouts enough for even Braska to hear but since she didn't speak in Krax he wont understand, "BECAUSE I WAS A STUPID KID BACK THEN. NOW THAT I AM OLDER HE SCURRIES LIKE A COWARD THAT HE IS!"

This chieftain deliberately brought ruin to her family, excommunicated her aunt, killed her parents and chase her off the jungle to the clutches of slavers. It took everything in her to not kill the bastard now but this is not the time for it. Despite all her  fury she wanted to unleash, she had way more things to worry about.

I can never be the next chieftain anyways. Her eyes avoids his face right after, she is very certain he upset at her but it did not matter to her. Twirling on her heels, she storms towards their destination.

She did not get far, the bellow of a horn echoes through the forest. Immediately she knew it to be the Krax hunting horn but the chieftain is the only one to have it and the sound is coming from ahead of her. Nowhere near the chieftain…Who then? Her body froze, and a dark cloud of dread encases her psyche. The air smells putrid of decay…