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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cerulean_Wings" data-source="post: 4051700" data-attributes="member: 55060">Rogue's Gallery will be updated shortly. Or should I say, the Priest's Gallery?  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /> Chapter 26Haunted groundsTheir journey from Wellspring towards the end of the valley had been rather uneventful, a change of pace that none in the group disliked. During the ride to the north east, the priest of Berethor had spent most of his time conversing with Gon, or at least, he had attempted to, for the soldier remained as silent and somber as before.Darius wasn’t in a different mood, probably for different reasons, and his demeanor was dark and serious to the extreme. Kahleen had several small talks with the man, but her words didn’t improve his mood like they had in the past. Seeing this, the shaman wisely decided to leave it up to Darius to change his behavior. Gilliam and Vincent didn’t say a word on the matter, likewise choosing to leave it to the two soldiers to switch back to their usual selves.This situation made Gilliam consider, if only as a demented thought, if he preferred Gon cheery and wild over his present mood. In the end, the mercenary concluded he didn’t really like either. Would it be possible for Gon to reach a healthy balance in that sense? Only time would tell.It took four days to traverse the remaining length of the valley and the hills that came afterwards. The lizards they rode behaved excellently, as promised, especially for Vincent, who had had training in his early years with House Kashtar (although said training had been with horses, the basics applied just the same for the more exotic mounts), and there were no incidents of them running away or misbehaving. The reptiles were more used to the canyon’s landscape than the hills that came after, however, and that part of the journey took more than they expected.By the end of the fourth day the six were right in front of the large, tall trees that formed part of the Spirit Wood. The place was the stuff of legends, a place that countless bards had woven countless tales based on its dangers, both real and imaginary. Very few had braved the forest and made it out without showing signs of stress, paranoia, or some other malady. Mist filled every space in-between the trees, obscuring the sight of the forest somewhat, but not completely. Combined with the darkness of the early night, the woods were a rather imposing sight.Since the lizard mounts weren’t going to be effective in this type of terrain, they had agreed to travel through the forest on foot. Not surprisingly, Kahleen had what seemed like a talk with their mounts, using alien slithering and hissing sounds to instruct the lizards on what to do. The five lizards left the group, then, heading back in the direction they had come from. “This is it” Gilliam muttered. His hands were clenched shut, and the knuckles beneath the gloves were white. Vincent looked no less troubled, as the squire’s lip trembled every now and then.Darius and Gon looked too distant to care for the wood’s mystical appearance, while Hantel and Kahleen appeared as serene as ever.“Has anyone ever been into this place?” Hantel inquired to the others. “I have” Kahleen answered simply. “What do you wish to know, Hantel?”.The priest merely shrugged, as if he wasn’t curious. “Nothing in particular. I simply wish to know if we have a guide amongst us for this part of the journey”. “There are dangers to these woods, that much you all know” the shaman said, making Vincent and Gilliam nod vigorously in unison. “But most of them are rumors, stories coming from people who allowed their imaginations to seize control of their perceptions” she went on without noticing their trepidation. “I wonder if the place makes one get lost, returning to the same spot every time” Vincent said shakily as he glanced at Gilliam. “What if the woods make one’s inner fears manifest, forcing us to battle them as ghosts?” the mercenary returned, sounding no less troubled, but trying hard to make it look otherwise. “How about we go in and see for ourselves?”.Squire and mercenary turned around to look at Gon, who had spoken the words in a tired, dry tone. The roguish man had a bored expression on his face, another anomaly, coming from him. “Now that’s a good idea!” praised Hantel with a snap of his fingers, smiling at Gon as he did. “Instead of imagining illusory threats, let us deal with the real ones once they come to us”. This didn’t improve the soldier’s mood, and he merely looked away.Gilliam took a deep breath in order to better steady himself. “True enough; we can’t waste time here” he admitted. “Kahleen, is there anything we should know before we make it inside?”.“Beware the spirits of the Spirit Wood” she replied in a serious tone. “If you get too close to them, your essence might draw them to you, and conflict might ensue”. If Kahleen was intending to reassure the two nervous warriors about the place, she had failed miserably.“Staying close to each other is a good idea” Vincent suggested. “We don’t want to get lost in that mist, right Darius?” he said, finishing the sentence by looking the blond warrior’s way.Darius wasn’t there.Vincent blinked, confused, and looked at the others for an explanation. Gon gave him one in the form of gesturing forward with an arm. The squire turned that way to see the other soldier’s form walking into the forest, already difficult to see after barely walking fifteen feet away.“Let’s go” Gilliam ordered, and as one the rest of the group entered the woods to join Darius.</blockquote>

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