The dawn of their departure held no gentle beauty. It was merely the replacement of a thick darkness with a dreary gray. The air was cold and damp. As Aidan and Kaelen stepped out from behind the curtain of water, the world seemed vaster and more hostile than ever. The cave, though just a temporary shelter, had provided a sense of security that they had now left behind.
Their packs were not light. The leather bags filled with smoked meat weighed heavily on their shoulders, but it was the weight of life, of the days to come. The boartusk spear in Aidan's hand gave him a sense of solidity, but it couldn't dispel the anxiety creeping into his heart.
Kaelen didn't waste time on hollow words of encouragement. He just jutted his chin to the north and began to walk. "Keep the pace. Eyes open, ears listening. Mouth shut."
And so the journey began. They moved through the familiar forest, but with a different purpose and a different rhythm. Kaelen set a relentless pace, not fast but steady, calculated to cover the most distance without exhausting them too soon. Aidan, though stronger, still had to struggle to keep up. He quickly learned that walking in the Whispering Labyrinth was nothing like a stroll. Tree roots surfaced like stone serpents, ready to trip a person. Puddles of mud hid beneath layers of rotten leaves. And the heavy silence was always being broken by sudden noises that made his heart leap into his throat.
They moved for several hours straight, stopping only for a few sips of water. Gradually, the terrain began to change. The great trees of the forest Aidan was familiar with thinned out, giving way to shorter, gnarled, and twisted trees. The ground became soft and waterlogged. The air grew hotter and more oppressive, carrying the smell of decaying leaves and stagnant water.
"We're here," Kaelen suddenly stopped, his voice low. "The border of the Parasite Mosquito Swamp."
Before them was a bleak landscape. A watery wasteland stretched to the horizon, the stagnant water a dark green, shimmering with rainbow-colored oil slicks. Stunted, malformed trees grew from the water, their bark as pale as human bone. But the most terrifying thing was a sound that was almost inaudible yet omnipresent: a low, continuous hum, the sound of millions, billions of tiny creatures in waiting.
"Don't step in," Kaelen warned as he saw Aidan curiously take a step forward. "Not yet. The mosquitoes here don't just suck blood. They're parasites."
He broke a dry branch and tossed it to the water's edge. Almost instantly, a tiny, dense black cloud rose from the water's surface and enveloped the branch.
"They inject a mild paralytic venom," Kaelen explained, his expression grave. "But the worst part is that they lay an egg in the bite. A single egg. If not treated immediately, the egg will hatch within a few hours, and the larva will burrow deep into the flesh, causing high fever, necrosis, and a slow, painful death."
Aidan swallowed hard, feeling his skin tingle. The spear in his hand seemed utterly useless against such an enemy.
"So how do we get across?" he asked.
"Nature always has an antidote for its own poison," Kaelen said. "We need to find a plant. People call it Fetid Oil Leaf. Its sap has an extremely pungent smell, a smell the parasite mosquitoes can't stand. We have to rub it all over ourselves."
They began to search along the edge of the swamp. Kaelen described the plant: small, dark green leaves with tiny silver spots, usually growing in places that were damp but not submerged. But after nearly an hour of fruitless searching, frustration began to show on Kaelen's face.
"Damn it, they should be around here," he muttered.
"Let me try," Aidan offered. He had felt a difference in his ability as they neared the swamp. The sensation-pulses of billions of tiny creatures created a thick layer of "static," making it hard for him to sense things far away. But perhaps he could use it to find something nearby.
He closed his eyes, trying to filter out the hum in his mind. He focused on the memory of the pungent smell Kaelen had described, turning it into a "form" of sensation-pulse he needed to find. He reached out with his "sight," scanning the surrounding bushes. He felt the damp life of the moss, the silent existence of the rock, and then... he felt it. A distinct cluster of pulses, carrying a very characteristic "pungent," "oily" quality.
"Over there," he opened his eyes, pointing towards a rock hollow hidden behind a tangle of vines. "There."
Kaelen glanced at him for a moment, then, without a word, walked straight in that direction. Just as Aidan had said, a bush of Fetid Oil Leaf was growing profusely in the rock hollow.
"Good job, kid," Kaelen said, his expression relaxing a little. "Come here, help me."
But as Aidan stepped forward, he accidentally stepped on a patch of dry leaves, making a sound. Instantly, from a nearby stagnant pool they hadn't noticed, a much larger black cloud of mosquitoes shot up. They were drawn by the warmth and the sudden movement.
"Watch out!" Kaelen yelled, hastily grabbing a handful of Fetid Oil Leaves and crushing them in his hand.
The swarm descended like a small tornado. Aidan instinctively raised a hand to cover his face, grabbing some leaves with the other. He could smell the pungent oil as he crushed them, and the swarm seemed to hesitate. But it was too late. One had gotten through, and he felt a sharp, needle-like sting on his neck.
Immediately after, the pain vanished, replaced by an unpleasant numbness spreading from the bite.
"Damn it all!" Kaelen swore, pulling Aidan forcefully away. He smeared a thick layer of the sap on Aidan's neck, hands, and face, then did the same to himself. The pungent smell assaulted his nostrils, nearly making Aidan gag, but the mosquitoes had dispersed, circling at a safe distance.
"Stay still," Kaelen commanded. He took out his dagger and heated its tip on a flint stone he always carried until it glowed red. "This is going to hurt. But better one moment of pain than having a worm eat your brain. Don't move."
Aidan squeezed his eyes shut, gritting his teeth. He felt the terrible heat press against his neck, followed by a searing, intense pain that made him convulse. The smell of burning flesh filled his nostrils. The pain lasted only a second, but it felt like an eternity. When Kaelen pulled the dagger away, Aidan was panting, drenched in sweat.
"It's done," Kaelen said, his voice still calm. "The egg is dead. Now let's go. We have to get to the other side before dark."
They stepped into the swamp. The journey across was a hell on earth. Their feet sank deep into the stinking mud. The pungent smell of the sap made their heads spin. And the humming, the incessant humming, it drilled into their ears, into their minds, like a torturous curse. Aidan felt his Spark was completely useless here; it was drowned in a sea of static from the billions of parasitic creatures. He was completely blind to other dangers, forced to entrust his life to Kaelen's experience.
They saw the skeletons of larger animals, perhaps deer or boars, stuck in the mud, silent testaments to the fate of the unlucky.
As the last rays of the day began to fade, they finally set foot on solid ground on the other side. Both of them were covered in mud, exhausted, and smelled terrible. Aidan could feel the burn on his neck blistering and throbbing.
They found a relatively dry spot to make camp. Kaelen decided not to build a fire, as the smoke could attract larger predators in an unfamiliar area. They just sat in silence, eating their smoked meat and drinking water.
As darkness fell, the humming from the swamp behind them seemed to grow louder, a reminder of the trial they had just overcome.
Kaelen looked at Aidan, who was gently rubbing the wound on his neck. "You acted recklessly," he said. "But you found the leaves. And you took the fire without screaming. You'll survive."
That was the highest compliment Kaelen could give him. Aidan just nodded, too tired to speak. He looked to the north. Ahead of them, looming in the dim moonlight, was a dense wall of trees, their branches intertwining grotesquely, looking like reaching, skeletal arms. The Twisted Thorn Forest.
They had passed the first test of their journey. But it had left a scar, a reminder that in this world, the greatest threats sometimes come from the smallest of things.