The Fakarans tapped into their reserve strength and sprinted for the jungle. Soon the rumble of the ground could be heard as the Jiadin army closed in on them. Shouts could be heard behind them as they reached the edge of the jungle and plowed into the mass of plants. There was no path and some of the plants had spines that tugged at their clothes as they tried to move further into the jungle. Rejji tripped and fell into the ground cover. Mistake halted behind him and Bakhai stopped and turned around.
“Are you all right?” Bakhai asked.
“Yes,” replied Rejji between pants. “I don’t think I can keep up this pace.”
“None of us can,” answered Bakhai. “I think we are safe. At least nobody appears to be trying to follow us.”
“If the whole jungle is like this,” frowned Mistake, “how are we going to keep to the edge? We can’t even walk in this stuff.”
“I hadn’t thought about that,” admitted Bakhai. “It sounded like a good plan last night. Maybe we can find an animal trail.”
Rejji pushed himself to his feet just as arrows started raining into the jungle. “They plan to aid the jungle in our destruction,” he scowled. “Keep moving further inward before they perfect their aim.”
“If we lose sight of the outside we will get lost,” warned Mistake. “We need to keep it in sight.”
“If we do, retorted Rejji, “then we are in their sights. Let us get rid of them first and worry about finding our way later. How hard can it be to find the edge of the jungle again?”
Rejji looked at the massive army gathering outside the jungle. The Jiadin soldiers started panning out along the edge of the jungle and making ready their bows. He turned towards the dark interior of the jungle and started climbing over plants. Mutters of pain sounded from Mistake as her short legs tried to step over some of the prickly plants. As they moved towards the interior, the darkness grew thicker and not all of it was due to the setting sun. Giant trees sprouted up from the jungle floor and towered over the Fakarans. As the trees grew more numerous, the plants on the ground thinned out a bit.
“A trail,” called Bakhai who was off to Rejji’s right. “Not much of a trail but better than stomping on plants.”
Mistake and Rejji edged towards Bakhai and eventually the trio stepped onto a small animal trail. They stopped for a moment and picked thorns and stickers off of their clothes.
“Which way does the trail go?” asked Rejji. “I am so disoriented that I am not sure any more.”
“I don’t know,” frowned Bakhai. “Let’s find a place to sleep and see where the sun rises.”
“My night vision is pretty good,” offered Mistake. “I will lead for a while.”
The jungle got extremely dark as they moved down the animal trail. Mistake proceeded slowly and kept scanning the sides of the trail as if expecting something to jump out and attack them. After an hour, a loud screech pierced the air and Mistake dropped to a crouch and held a dagger in each hand. The group remained silent and unmoving as the sounds of something moving near them got louder. Rejji slowly drew his sword from its sheath and stood ready to defend the group. Suddenly, something flew across the trail over Mistake’s head and in front of Rejji. Rejji took a swing at it and missed.
“A monkey,” Bakhai chuckled grimly as he exhaled. “It is only a monkey.”
It took a few moments for their nerves to settle. Mistake returned her daggers to their sheaths, but Rejji kept his sword in hand. “Let’s find a place to settle down now,” Rejji decided. “We cannot travel in here at night.”
Mistake nodded and started along the trail again. A few moments later, she stepped off the trail into a really small clearing. One of the large trees had fallen and the area where its roots used to be was clear of vegetation.
“This will have to do,” announced Mistake. “Dare we light a fire?”
“Yes,” answered Bakhai. “Perhaps it will keep the creatures away from us. It is a large enough area that we don’t have to worry about starting a fire. Besides just about everything in here is damp. I will see if I can find anything dry to burn.”
“Don’t get lost,” warned Rejji. “We do not want to get separated in here.”
Bakhai took the sword from Rejji’s hand and nodded. “I won’t be long,” he promised.
Rejji could hear Bakhai slicing into something with his sword. The sound went on for some minutes before Bakhai returned with an armful of thick vine sections. He dumped them on the ground and returned into the bushes. Mistake started a fire, which crackled loudly as the moisture popped out of the vines. An hour later, Bakhai returned to the campsite from another direction.
“No wire,” grinned Bakhai, “but I used some vines to do the same thing. If you need to walk in the woods tonight, be careful. I don’t want you tripping over my trap. I also found some bananas. Not much of a dinner, but it is better than nothing.”
“What do we do now?” asked Rejji. “We are lost in this jungle and the Jiadin wait for us at the edge. I should never have let you come with me.”
“Stop being so discouraged,” chirped Mistake. “We are together and we are alive and free. We have been in worse spots together and we can figure a way out of this one.”
“I do think we should wait for morning before thinking about which way to go,” agreed Bakhai. “This place seems safe enough for now. We will just keep the fire going all night. Most animals don’t like fire and won’t approach it.”
“All right,” conceded Rejji. “Being here doesn’t bother me all that much. I just feel bad for getting you two involved. It is me they are after.”
“Why are they after you?” posed Mistake. “I really can’t believe that the fourth bandit could see the mark on your palm. It was dark and you were holding your sword. Plus he was the farthest away from you. He was far enough away that my dagger missed its mark. It doesn’t make sense. Maybe this demon they are searching for has a mark like yours.”
“I don’t think they are after any demon,” Rejji responded. “That is just a tale to scare the villagers. They want me for killing Diakles.”
“I could agree with you,” nodded Bakhai, “except that Mistake has a point. How do they know about the mark?”
“Only two things I can think of,” frowned Rejji. “I lost my gloves At the Pikata estate when they took our clothes, so everyone in Fardale probably knows about the mark. We know that Grulak has spies in Khadora. Suppose one of them is in Fardale? If the Jiadin know I am gathering information for Lord Marak, they will want to kill me for that. They would not only know about the mark and my description, but they would also know where we are every night.”
“What is the other?” asked Bakhai.
“The other is Wyant,” continued Rejji. “He saw my mark the day I was captured and the Zaldoni have joined with the Jiadin. It could have been one of Wyant’s men wearing his new red scarf that got away the night Diakles was killed. He might have recognized me and told Wyant and Wyant knows about the mark.”
“I would go with the first,” offered Mistake. “The four Jiadin who attacked us appeared to already be looking for someone. I don’t think it was a chance encounter. It was like they knew approximately where to find us. I think they were looking for us, and I mean us. We are in this together Rejji.”
“This is making me dizzy,” complained Rejji. “Perhaps we should hold off on reports to Fardale for a while. Let’s get some sleep and talk more about this in the morning.”
Bakhai threw some more vines on the fire and the trio bedded down for the night. The sounds of the jungle were alien and sleep did not come easy for the Fakarans. Only the exhaustion of a long, hard day allowed them to eventually drift off.
Bakhai awoke to the feeling of something crawling across his arm. He bent his head and saw a large red spider crawling towards his shoulder. With his other hand, he swiftly knocked the spider off and rolled away from it. He managed to wake up Mistake and Rejji with his abrupt motions, but nobody spoke. Bakhai pointed to the spider, which was now slinking away. Mistake and Rejji nodded and closed their eyes again in an effort to return to sleep. Bakhai took the opportunity to grab some more vines and toss them on the smoldering fire. When he did so, there was a large crash and a scream in the jungle. The three Fakarans all sat up swiftly.