“Look,” Kade said, shaking him from his thoughts. “I think I see something up ahead... Is that...?” He frowned, taking a step away from Florian.
Florian held up the ball of light, feeding it more magic until it was the size of a basketball and illuminated their surroundings. When he looked in the other man’s direction, he too could see what Kade must have spotted—a single lamp post. It was a curved metal bar with a lantern hanging off the end. A tiny flame flickered within, just enough to light the area immediately around it; considering how faint it was, Florian marveled at how Kade had been able to spot it at all.
Kade looked back at him, bewildered. “Do you think it’s the witch?”
“Who else?” Florian said, shrugging. “I mean, might as well. Where else would we go?”
Kade nodded, and they headed toward the lamp post.
The post was made of a black, matte metal that almost disappeared into the darkness around them. The lantern hanging on the end was of a similar make, with simple rectangular glass panels that allowed the light from the single candle within to flicker and shine outward. As they approached, Florian could see one last detail that was too small to make out at a distance: a tiny arrowhead, protruding from the post where the lantern hung from it, as if it were pointing.
“Maybe it’s a guide,” Florian said, looking in that direction.
“Or a trap,” Kade said, and Florian sighed. That was certainly a possibility as well, but they didn’t exactly have any other leads to follow. Gingerly, he reached out to touch the lamp post, wondering if he might feel that soft thrum of magic from it. But when he touched it, it was only the feeling of cool metal against his skin.
“I don’t think it’s magical, at least,” he said, glancing back up at Kade. “Maybe it could be a trap, but I don’t know what else we can do right now. Let’s see if there’s anything that way.”
Kade glanced suspiciously in the direction the lamp post was pointing, but even with the extra light in Florian’s hands, nothing but more trees and muddy ground was visible.
“Okay,” he relented, stepping forward. “Let me go first, at least.”
Florian stifled a laugh, hiding a grin behind his hand, though Kade was already ahead of him. If anything dangerouswasup ahead, Kade being a few steps in front of him was hardly going to make a difference; but if it made him feel better, Florian wouldn’t resist. It was sweet, in a way.
They trudged through the damp earth in the same general direction, only occasionally having to veer off course to go around a tree or a particularly muddy spot. But it didn’t take very long for a faint light to become visible in the darkness ahead, just far enough that the light from the first lamp post had begun to fade from their sight. Florian knew before they were close enough to really see it: another lamp post of the exact same size and design, with another arrowhead on the post pointing ahead.
“See? It’s a guide,” Florian said, gesturing toward it.
“Maybe,” was all Kade said; but his expression softened as he looked back at Florian, and he didn’t protest as they moved to walk in that direction, which was a little more to the right than their original trajectory.
There ended up being many similar-looking posts, sending them in a convoluted pattern all throughout the dense jungle. The longer they walked, though, the muddier the ground beneath them became, and the fewer trees surrounded them. It was well past the time that they would normally make camp now; while his head didn’t hurt the way it often did after holding the shroud all day, exhaustion was pulling at the edges of Florian’s vision, and his back was sore as hell.
“Let’s camp,” he finally said, grabbing Kade’s wrist. “I don’t think we’re going to make it today. And the ground is just getting more wet. Let’s find a dry spot and sleep.”
Kade looked hesitantly back in the direction from which they had come, then in the direction that the last lamp post was pointing. He drew his sword and scraped an arrow into the damp earth, pointing in the same direction; the soil was dark with moisture, but wasn’t quite muddy enough to settle back together.
“So we don’t get lost,” he sighed, looking back at Florian, who nodded gratefully.
There was no real need for the shelter, but finding a suitably dry spot to set down their bedrolls proved tricky. They found a relatively dry patch of dirt, but it still seemed that waking up on damp blankets was probably going to be unavoidable.
“You’re sure you’re not hurt or anything?” Florian mumbled, already half-asleep by the time they’d eaten and laid down. He and Kade were huddled close together, each trying to stay away from the muddier parts of the ground.
“I’m sure,” Kade replied, sounding just as sleepy in the darkness. “How’s your back?”
“Not so bad now,” he answered. It only hurt when he thought about it or twisted the wrong way. Vaguely, he thought that he heard Kade say something else, soft and quiet, but he was already drifting away into sleep.
