NOVEL NEXT Chapter 735 – A Refuge in the Depths
“Still water runs deep, while rapid currents are often shallow. At times, the places that seem dangerous are in actuality the safe ones. The key to living a long life is knowing when this is so.” - Old folk saying.
The group walked through the jungle for a couple days in a general southeasterly direction until they ran into a tributary of the river that flew past Clan Blacktower’s village. Once they found the tributary, Wiro brought them to follow its course downstream, roughly due east, though he also gave the river a relatively wide berth.
That caution was shown for good reason, out of respect for the creatures that dwell in the deep, calm waters of the tributary river. Every now and then the group saw what looked like wooden logs lazily floating about the river’s surface, though the identity of said logs were made obvious by others of their brethren that lay down by the riverside.
Namely that of large crocodiles, the largest of which easily reached a length of five meters or more from the tip of their snouts to the end of their tails.
While the group passed relatively close to the resting reptiles at times, the creatures had not bothered them. At most, some opened their eyes upon hearing the sound of their passage, looked at the group curiously, then went back to sleep once more. It was not to say that the beasts were docile ones, though, as was proven in a graphic manner by a boar that tried to cross the river at a seemingly empty spot.
One moment the boar was wading across the gentle current, the next moment, a massive, toothy maw emerged from the water and literally bit the unexpecting boar right in half, leaving only a vibrant red stain on the murky water. Other, smaller crocodiles plunged into the river and swam towards where the remaining half of the boar sank, clearly eager to get their own portions of food from the leftovers the big one left behind.
The water bubbled wildly for a few brief moments before it calmed back down, just as the last vestiges of the spreading red stain diluted itself to the point of no longer being noticeable.
As the group traveled, Wiro was surprised at how well Aideen’s group adapted to the local conditions. From the way they did things, it was obvious that they were inexperienced with traveling through jungles like what dominated the region they were going through, yet at the same time, they also showed skills and habits that showed that they were well-traveled regardless.
While Wiro expected people unaccustomed to the jungle to have difficulties sleeping atop branches – the ground was too dangerous and uncomfortable due to the many insects around – he discovered that Aideen’s group climbed up the trees with so much ease it was obviously not their first time. Not only that, but rather than spend the time looking for branches sturdy enough to support their weight and broad enough to be reasonably comfortable to sleep on, they hung hammocks between trees that grew close to each other instead.
The way they went to sleep easily and comfortably on hammocks hanging a good five to ten meters in the air was enough to convince him that they definitely wouldn’t have any trouble even if they were on their own.
They also faced no unwelcome disturbances during their rest, since Eilonwy had her undead constructs standing on guard throughout the night. All the constructs needed to do was to stand menacingly while radiating their mana, which was plenty to signal to most predators that there was something present in the region that they would not want to mess with.
As Wiro informed them, it took the group roughly a week to reach the village of Ibonua, their destination for the trip. They reached the goblin village deep in the jungle on the afternoon of the seventh day of their trip, having arrived a day sooner than Wiro expected, mostly since the group easily kept up with their guide’s pace through the jungle.
Rather than hidden within the jungle, the goblin village was easily noticeable from some distance due to the palisades they erected around the perimeter of their village. The village itself was situated inside a relatively small clearing as well as the lighter areas of the jungle around it, with the river the group followed on the way there branching off a small tributary that passed directly through the middle of the clearing in question.
While Aideen and the rest couldn’t see into the village itself due to the palisades, they noticed how the goblins had built treehouses on top of the larger branches of the trees that grew within the perimeter of the area they claimed for themselves. Some of the structures were simple wooden platforms, often without even guard rails, while others were full-blown houses that could likely house a whole family even if in rather cramped conditions.
Other than that, there were also many nettings and swaying rope bridges strung between the trees in question, while several goblins could be seen atop those platforms, keeping watch over the village’s surroundings.
Wiro took the group around a specific path as they approached the village, while the goblin sentries above looked at them with curiosity and interest. “Other than a couple specific paths, all approaches to the village is heavily trapped,” he explained to the group. “They have sentries more to warn us on what kind of threat is approaching. Otherwise the traps and alarms would do the rest of the warning.”
“You seem to know the route pretty well, though?” questioned Aideen in return. “Is that normal?”
“Not really. Usually we would be waiting some distance from the village until they sent someone to fetch us over,” replied the half-orc with a warm smile. “My uncle is currently the village head of Ibonua though, and mom often brought me to visit when I was younger, so I remember the path she took back then. I’m considered one of their own, so they didn’t mind me knowing the route.”
