Chapter 29: Swamps

After another hour of walk, a light mist reduced their field of vision. The disciples were now taking care to step upon the spongy edge of land that emerged from the swamps. Before going in, a quick climb on a vantage point had taught them that this area was large but that the other side was not very far off. The mist prevented them from seeing what lied within. An improvised raft had proved necessary. As for hostile creatures, none that they had met were threatening for them. Lauren could feel primitive forms of life in a short perimeter and Moss's reflexes were cat-quick. Some venomous animals had harboured ill intentions towards them but they had fended them off without trouble. At some point, however, the girl gasped.

-'There is a huge snake swimming on our right! Don't move.' She made a pause and sighed. 'It seems to be fine. Its mind is simple and it's not hungry, just looking for a warmer spot.'

-'That's a relief.'

After some time, however, their tranquillity was troubled again, and much more seriously so. From within the mist, a woman scream sounded. A cry of fear and distress, pretty close to them. Needless to say, Lauren and Moss were already edgy. They jumped in fright.

-'What is going on ?!' The old man asked.

-'No idea! I cannot get any signature from where the scream is coming.'

That was no good. The situation could not get any fishier. Even so, there was too much pain in that scream. They had no time to think.

-'I say we go and see.' Moss finally blurted.

-'Fine.' The girl just said.

Even if they did not say it, both knew how great the risk they were taking was, but turning a deaf ear was a decision they could not assume. A few pole's strikes away, some upheavals made the water splash all around. In the middle of this mess, a woman was struggling against some kind of lianas to keep her chin upon the water. Something was trying to pull her down in the depths of the swamp. Her hair was long and drenched in mud, her shoulders naked and her skin very pale. As soon as she noticed them, the woman reached for them with a hand. The sounds she made were more that of a beast, they could discern no words at all.

-'What is that?!'

-'It looks nasty, careful!' Lauren said, as they quickly guided the raft towards the woman. After they approached close enough, Moss tried to pull her on board while cutting at the vegetal body with his knife. However, as soon as his hand came in contact with her skin, he knew that something was wrong. That was not how a human felt. Even if he had not touched a woman in a decade, he could tell that much. The thing was rough and fibrous. Even the thing's eyes were dead and unconvincing when seen from up close. 'I am a moron' was all he could think before four lianas snapped at him at high speed. He cut down one of them with his knife but the others got his wrist, his ankle and his neck. He heard Lauren scream his name as he had never heard her, and then underwater he was.

Wherever his vast experience kicked him, or his cultivation, he did not know, but he suddenly felt calmer. The knife was still in his hand but more lianas had closed upon his writs. The strength they operated with was something else. He was unable to force his way away. His vision was blurred, he could only see a dark tone of brown. Luckily, he could compensate his hears without the need of his hands. Elsewise his eardrum would have burst already under the pressure.

Down he went. So fast. His vision was now almost black. Still, he could hold his breath.

'Now what?' He thought.

A massive body suddenly collided with them. It was smooth, scaly, and soon seemed to wrap around the thing that dragged Moss down. The only explanation he could come up with was that some snake, perhaps the one that Lauren had spotted earlier on, had joined them. That was most probably her doing, as the creature that had trapped him seemed to belong to the vegetal world, not something that a huge predator could hope to eat. Eventually, the grip of the plant did seem to loosen up. But as soon as the old man tried to shake his knife's hand off, the liana tightened again.

-'Got it.' He told himself. With Lauren's interference, the damn plant seemed to have trouble keeping track of his position. In the end, a plant was still a plant. It mostly acted trough mechanical reactions. It had attacked as soon as he had touched the fake human, but not before. Chances were, that bait was screaming all day long around the swamp. Now Moss knew he had a good card to play and immediately summoned his shadow arts to cloak himself as he could. The result was far from perfect, but it worked well enough. He stopped moving and soon the plant loosened its grip completely. Now the lianas were wrapped around him like soft scarfs. On the other hand, Moss's senses were sharper. His speed had improved as well. Despite being underwater, his blade severed every members that were around in a few swift arcs. Some others came, but his assailant had trouble knowing where to strike.

Safe. In a matter of seconds, he was safe again. But it was not time to run yet. The peasant reasoning was that if that thing had been around for long enough, a fair number of cultivators had fallen to its cunning. Chances were that their belonging still lingered around the plant's roots. Luckily, they seemed to have reached the bottom of the swamp. Else he would not have been able to swim fast enough to keep up. Now everything rested on his sense of ear and of touch. The first to avoid ramming inside one of the plant's appendices and the other to dig something valuable out of the mud in absolute darkness.

It turned out that a lot of people had forfeited their life here. His hands clutched on decayed pieces of clothes at his every thrust into the earth. There were bones as well. However, he did find things that could prove more valuable. Sharp, round, small and big, he passed them all to his belt or inside his pouches.

Then his power and his breath both grew thin. He gave a good kick and made for the surface at full speed.