I never did get any sleep that night. Tadwick fell asleep as we looked at the stars and I put him back in the tent next to Kiyui. I tried to sleep, but couldn’t. My mind was racing, trying to process what had happened, what to do going forward, and what on earth I was going to say to Kiyui.

  The next leg of our journey was another few days across the wasteland before we reached Hitaro Jungle. The second leg was actually pretty uneventful… we managed to avoid being attacked by anything… or perhaps more accurately I should say Nomius managed to kill anything before it became a threat.

  Tadwick was still looking for answers about what happens when we die. His questions did give me a bit more insight into what the others believe. Kiyui believes that when we die, we all end up in a place called the Effiveil which is presided over by a god named Aeos. There is a great wall down the middle… one side is bountiful and beautiful, basically heaven, and Aeos places the worthy individuals there. The other side is basically the same as the hell of my faith… except there is no atonement… you get sent there and you stay there. No reincarnation, no second chances… you screw up and you are doomed for eternity.

  As for the lizardmen… they worship the sun and the moon… by the names Nova and Luna respectively. The don’t believe in an afterlife… they believe that when we die, our bodies simply return to the earth. We live on through the lives of the creatures that eat our decomposing corpses. These people are as uplifting as ever.

  I don’t know what Tadwick thinks now… he’s probably just as unsure about all this as I am. Then again… he is a child… he will probably just pick whichever one he thinks sounds the nicest.

  I never did work out what to say to Kiyui. When Tadwick is riding on Nomius’ shoulders, Kiyui tends to walk by my side and link arms with me. He mostly talks about Tadwick. I think he’s trying to distract me from my nerves about… whatever this relationship is… if it even is a relationship.

  We’ve never discussed being in a proper relationship… we have both said we like each other… and there has been some physical contact… there has even been some physical stuff since that night. In the mornings Nomius has taken to taking Tadwick with him to check the traps around our camp. During this time Kiyui has been helping me build up my tolerance for being touched.

  I am doing better… I can look at his face while he touches me, which is an improvement on having my eyes shut the whole time. I still can’t look at anything lower… even just the thought of it sends me into a nervous overload. I’m not finishing as soon as he touches it now… still not lasting long… at all… but, you know, small steps. Point is… even with all this, I don’t know if this qualifies as an actual relationship.

  Sorry, I digress… I also think he’s worried about Tadwick. I personally think Tadwick is doing very well, given the circumstances. But, Kiyui is concerned that he is bottling his emotions. Other than that night by the waterfall where he quietly sobbed to himself, he hasn’t really displayed much emotion about it.

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Then again, he is questioning what death is… maybe that’s his way of dealing with this… he needs to work out what death means to him before he can work out how he feels about it. Unfortunately, working that out may take time. Hell… I’ve been around more than ten years longer than him and I’m questioning it myself.

  I was surprised when we got to Hitaro Jungle. I have only read about jungles before. I always thought that they would be just like the big forests back home… but they aren’t. The plant life on the ground is so… thick. In order to get through most of it you have to cut through vines, plants, and vegetation. Nomius had to lend us some of his axes. It took us hours just to find a clearing. There were puddles dotted about the place… rain mustn’t be as scarce here as it is in the wasteland that we just passed through. Even after that initial storm, when we first arrived, there were no puddles left the next day. It looked like it hadn’t rained in weeks. The water had all just been absorbed by the sand.

  We were setting up camp in this clearing when I got the distinct feeling that we were being watched. I moved over to help Damecus set up the tents.

  Dwynfel: “There is somebody else here.”

  Damecus: “I am aware. This jungle is Sun Dragon territory. Do not show any signs of hostile intent and they may not become hostile towards us.”

  Suddenly a bright white arrow flew through the air. It almost hit my head but was deflected by what I assume was Nomius. Then the arrow just disappeared. Damecus moved into the centre of the clearing and addressed the part of the jungle that the arrow had come from.

  Damecus: “I am Damecus, son of Herius, of the Sawtooth clan. I am with Nomius out of Mithdia. These travellers are with us. We have no hostile intent!”

  Nomius uncloaked himself and stood next to Damecus. A purple lizardman jumped out of the trees and landed on the ground next to Damecus. A yellow one promptly joined him. The yellow one looked to be pregnant.

  Damecus: “Nautaus… Beiroth… what are you two doing here?”

  Nautaus: “We could ask you the same question. Last we heard of you; you were helping those chimps to rebuild Bonobo village after that horrific storm.”

  Damecus: “I left there a few months ago. I find their culture… unnerving.”

  Nautaus: “Yeah, I know what you mean. The way they handle conflict is…”

  Damecus: “Without honour.”

  Nautaus: “That’s certainly one way to describe it. You didn’t lose at the fencing, did you?”

  Damecus: “On the contrary. I won with ease. But there is no honour in an easy victory.”

  Okay, they’ve lost me. What chimps? Where is this village? And what’s all this about fencing?

  Beiroth: “Why the goblin?”

  Damecus: “That is a long story. I shall tell you over food. When is your baby due?”

  Beiroth: “Not for a few months yet. And if you treat me like some kind of invalid, I will stab you.”

  Damecus: “Perish the thought.”

  Tadwick: “Kitty! Puddle!”

  Tadwick was pulling on Kiyui’s arm and pointing at one of the puddles. Kiyui looked panicked.

  Kiyui: “Rainbow wave!”

  Kiyui raised his arm and large wave of various colours shot from his hand covering the area around the puddle in colour. An outline of an incredibly angry lizardman appeared. It screeched and began to charge at Kiyui. Nomius threw one of throwing axes into its neck and it collapsed to the ground. I think I now understand why Nomius was telling them to keep an eye on the water when we were at the waterfall.

  Beiroth: “Helpful spell.”

  Nautaus: “Typical Blood Dragon, far too reliant on invisibility.”

  Damecus: “What are the Blood Dragons doing here?”