In all honesty… I am very pleased with how all that went. I genuinely thought we were going to be dragged into some clan war for who knows how long. I just want to get home.

  Fortunately, things have been very uneventful since then. It took us two weeks to cross the marshlands. It was wet, the ground was soggy, and it rained more than it didn’t. And by the gods… the bugs… so many bugs. Damecus gave us all some insect repellent to put on. It was genuinely one of the vilest smelling things that I have ever come across. It smelt like a boot that somebody had been wearing non-stop for 12 years… filled with vomit. Even so… it was still better than being bitten by all those bloody insects. They were just everywhere. And they always bite me in the most uncomfortable places for some reason… back of the knees, the groin, right in the fold of the bum cheeks, the armpits… just… the most uncomfortable places to be itchy.

  As for monsters… well… nothing too drastic really. There were a couple of Azura Toads… they were quite imposing. The ice breath that they have can be deeply problematic and what with the rain Nomius’ invisibility wasn’t exactly working well. I say that like he has little skill without it. That is far from the case. The guy is an absolute beast, even without the invisibility. And it was actually nice to be able to help out for once as I could shoot my arrows freely as I could actually see where Nomius was.

  Frog’s legs are actually quite nice… not as nice as those scorpion legs that Damecus cooked back at the waterfall though. Those things had a really great crunch to them. Kiyui keeps trying to talk Damecus into cooking a proper ‘Sawtooth delicacy.’ Damecus says he’ll do so once we have all get somewhere safe… and preferably with reasonable privy facilities.

  Unfortunately, due to how wet the ground has been, we haven’t really been able to set up camp like we did previously. We have used the material of one of the tents to cover the back of the cart and all of us except Damecus and Nomius have been sleeping there.

  During the day, when we were travelling, I tried to talk to Kiyui about how upset he got back at the jungle. After all, we have only known Damecus and Nomius a matter of weeks… I could understand Tadwick’s reaction… but Kiyui’s confused me. Kiyui says he was just emotional because Tadwick was upset… but I really don’t think that’s what it is. I suppose that if he doesn’t want to discuss it, then I probably shouldn’t push him. I’ll just continue to overthink it… probably until I die. I’m getting off track again… sorry.

  Once we got through the marshlands, we reached the botanical forest. There is actually a reasonable path going through this forest which makes things easier. What with it being a relatively easy surface for the cart to be pulled across. Damecus and Nomius have been taking it in turns to pull the cart. I don’t know how they haven’t collapsed from exhaustion though. I had a go and couldn’t even get the thing to move. And when I tried it didn’t even have the supplies on it.

  I do have to admit… this forest is incredibly beautiful. There are colourful flowers everywhere. Some of which are absolutely huge. Many of them are taller than I am. Damecus keeps stopping to take plant cuttings for his botanical mixtures.

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  I really did think he was taking the piss when he said he was a botanist all that time ago, but he clearly takes this stuff very seriously.

  Kiyui: “Damecus, back at the jungle you said that we had to treat this forest with respect. What did you mean by that?”

  Damecus: “This forest is a safe haven for plant life. Flora and fauna flourish here. This forest can be dangerous for the likes of us. Everybody be quiet and listen for a second.”

  Everybody went dead silent. I can hear literally nothing. That is weird… normally there is something to be heard… especially in a forest. Where are the bird calls? The rustling of bushes… the monkey fights?

  Damecus: “This forest is completely free of animals. The plants have been able to flourish without being eaten. Insects are prevalent, but only the ones that help the plants to grow. This place is a natural marvel. I have come here but once before. I took some cuttings back then too. The flora here has some truly amazing medicinal qualities.”

  Tadwick: “Can you not just use healing magic? One of my teachers used to do it. You’d have like, a big cut, or summin, and he’d just be all like whoosh, and wave his hand and it would be gone.”

  Tadwick has a point. Pretty much all healing back home is done by magic or potions. And the healing potions require certain magical ingredients, so technically they are magical too. Healing without magic is basically unheard of to me.

  Damecus: “We lizardmen are not blessed with healing magic I’m afraid.”

  Phoenix: “Even so. Healing magic has its limits. It can only accelerate natural healing. Many diseases and ailments cannot be cured with magic because the body cannot heal from them naturally.”

  Okay… did not know that.

  Tadwick: “Weely?”

  Phoenix: “Really. They can save your life from a serious wound or injury however. Because the first thing the body does to heal itself is to stop the blood loss. So, accelerating the natural healing stops the bleeding much quicker.”

  Kiyui: “Also, the quicker the wound heals, the less likely it is to get infected.”

  Phoenix: “Correct. The main cause of death during battle is blood loss. And the main cause of death after battle is infection.”

  Kiyui: “But we can’t always rely on healing magic as it isn’t always available. That is why what Damecus is doing is so important. Not only can he help cure ailments that magic cannot, he can also aid your body to heal itself in the absence of magic.”

  I’m going to be honest… I didn’t know any of that. I’ve never really known the intricacies of healing magic. I always just assumed that healing magic could fix anything. The fact that magic only accelerates natural healing does explain why people still scar though. Hey, you learn something new every day.

  Tadwick: “Can I help collect plants?”

  Damecus: “If you wish. But only touch the plants that I tell you to. And only cut them how I tell you to. People who do not respect this forest never leave it.”

  Tadwick: “Huh?”

  Dwynfel: “Why? What happens to them.”

  Nomius: [Signing] “Nobody… know.”

  Damecus: “They just disappear. Many have quested in here to find those who have gone missing and have in turn gone missing. So, I advise we stay close to the path and do not get lost. This forest is not the largest, we will be through it in little over a day.