The Magician's Dialogue~ Week Four

Líros, 19th of Tàlniévis, 1306

Spiders the size of black bears, and those are the small ones. A few boast sizes rivaling moose. And they're social creatures, living in great nests hidden in the meadows, sending out hunting parties to bring prey back to their hatchlings. I think they are trying to scare me! I have to admit, I am a bit concerned. But with two experienced warriors and someone who can literally do magic at our disposal, I think we will be fine.

The plan is to detour around the outskirts of their territory. We could play it safer and take a longer path around, but we could run out of food. We just have to hope we don't get noticed.

For the first time on this trip, we will be taking turns standing guard. Moska goes first. I will try to get some sleep before my turn.

Signed, Jade

Líralh, 20th of Tàlniévis, 1306

It was Tenkyo who woke me up for watch. I was to stand guard until the sun rose, and then we would all start the day.

Yufo told me something very interesting about the spiders. Apparently, they have primitive agriculture! They only eat flesh as young, the adults actually feed off of a fungus that grows off of the corpses they bring home. So, yes. We are all looking forward to becoming mushroom plates for spiders. This time Yufo is going first, then Tenkyo, then Me, then Moska. And so on and so forth, I won't bother writing this down anymore.

Signed, Jade

Lírin, 21st of Tàlniévis, 1306

The aura of tension and suspense is really starting to get to me. Literally walking a knife's edge, trying to keep ourselves from getting too close to the giant spiders that want to turn us into fertilizer or whatever and not swerve too far away from our destination and end up without food. I mean, I have some survival training. I cannot imagine the small game of this island to be too different from anything I've caught. But then again, there are giant spiders here. So who knows, honestly?

Signed, Jade

Lírem, 22nd of Tàlniévis, 1306

I overheard- wait no. We're always like within earshot of each other, I doubt they cared if I heard at all. So, anyway, I heard Moska and Yufo talking about how close we were getting to “that country”*. So it's politics again. I am really only here for myself, so I would rather not get wrapped up in all of that. Still, I thought about asking. Maybe tomorrow.

Signed, Jade

* Possibly referring to Na Meúrtol, once a rival nation to ours.

Líros, 25th of Tàlniévis, 1306

Good to be back up and writing again. Even if I still can't travel. So, we were attacked, and I got injured. Honestly, it is more embarrassing than traumatic!

Tenkyo alerted us. Apparently he had vines running underground in case something was coming after us. It was a pack of spiders. The boys did most of the heavy lifting- Tenkyo especially. What he did with those vines was impressive! It seemed to take a lot out of him, though. Magic seems exhausting. Still, it would be nice if I could do it.

Moska and Yufo used more traditional weaponry. Sword and axe. Cut through the spider's hides like. Well not like butter, more like soft wood. I stood behind them, the Hummingbird Blade drawn. Only one spider got through to me.

I thought I was prepared for a fight, but I was certainly not. I panicked, and instead of using the actual blade I released a stream of magical energy, blasting the spider away and basically cooking it alive. But I put too much into it. For a moment, all I held in my hand was a bladeless hilt.

Until, and this is going to be difficult to explain, a slot in the pommel opened and a long razor thin blade shot out and stabbed me in the stomach, and the raked itself across, before retreating back. I fell unconscious immediately.

Talk about embarrassing, right? I didn't even get hurt by the giant spider- but by my own stupidity! Still, I did not know that would happen.

This sword is a balancing act. I have to be able to remain calm if I am ever going to be able to use if effectively.

Apparently Moska was able to catch me before I fell face down into the dirt, and got my wound all infected and what have you. They had the foresight to bring combat aid, so I got patched up immediately. We're probably not going to move tomorrow, but Moska said we can't wait any longer. We're still in spider territory.

So apparently today is a holiday- dating back to the days of the Akarians two thousand years ago! I remember learning about them in school, I thought it was so awesome how they basically took the world by storm and carved a sizeable chunk of the world as their own! You have to admire it.

The holiday is a week long festival for the goddess Selis, and it ends with a feast! I don't know who you are or what you do, but thank you, Selis!

Oh dear. She's real isn't she. Oh she is almost certainly real. I'm going to go to bed now.

Signed, Jade

Líralh, 26th of Tàlniévis, 1306

I told them we can get moving, and we do. I also remembered I was going to ask about “that country”. They said its name was something like “Myurtol”. They tried to think of what to call it in my language, like how they do for “The Ever-Meadows”. They came up with “Mirelands”, so we're going with that. Very little else happened, which is good. I don't want any more excitement for a while.

Signed, Jade