To the closest town, Garland

The destination was Garland, there, they would take a caravan through the rainbow forest and reach Yold, the capital. There, a train would bring them almost at destination.

"I'm not unhappy to leave this town." Niel said, looking at the stilt wooden houses.

It's true that it looked shabby and even creepy compared to the stone buildings of Garland, but still, for Arlstor, it was his hometown. That wasn't really the case for Niel, she was from a small island close to the coast, and that was pretty much all the giant knew about her past. So, she had no attachment to the place, when he had a lot of memories there.

To answer her, he just shrugged, not wanting to admit that he would miss his tiny house with holes in the roof.

"Let's go, we have to cross the misty forest before night." Arlstor told her.

"Of course, of course! You're the one late."

Niel followed him on the path between the dead trees of the Misty forest. Like a lot of places in this world, behind the innocent names of the wild regions, hid the reality of nature. The woods were closer to a swamp, due to the tide being there half a year. The trees were long dead and algae replaced the moss, which in itself gave a creepy vibe to the place. But to that, you could also add the almost constant salty fog covering the whole area due to the cold air from the sea and the warm ground due to the maceration of the algae.

Because of all of that, sleeping in the forest was not a good idea. It was a recipe to get sick, and on top of that, the mud crab was a nocturnal creature. They weren't really dangerous, but, that didn't mean it was a good idea to sleep around them.

Their cargo, was a black crystal embedded in a well forged bracelet. The crystal looked uncut, like just a piece of shiny roc, in a complex layout of silver treads. For a precious artifact, it looked... unimpressive, except maybe for the forged metal. Arlstor kept it in a pouch under his cloth belt, and Niel put an alarm spell on it just to be sure.

The two of them didn't talk much on the way, focused on their path, trying not to step into deep mud spots or stumble upon a tree root. Around them, the silence was following them, only the echoes of their step were coming back to them. There weren't a lot of animals in this sterilized place. But Arlstor broke that long period of calm.

"Wait! There is something there..."

Niel looked where he pointed his finger and noticed a mass that didn't belong to the place... a body... fresh.