Chapter 428: The Jungle
The flight north started like most journeys with adolescents, with Myrti asking question after question despite the bugs that flew into her mouth at nigh-regular intervals.
Rain answered none of them, but when she figured that out Myrti switched to telling him things about herself.
Her mother had been a captain, and she had never known her father. One of the other boys said her mother died because she killed one of Maledict’s warriors, but most of the people she’d been imprisoned with had been liars. They wanted her angry enough to do things they were too scared to do themselves.
Her mother always told her not to lie. And not to fight until she was strong, but Myrti was better with a bow than with "anything stabby."
She liked peppers but hated broccoli. She was good with a bow because she could sense where creatures were, but she had to turn her "light" off to shoot or she would get overwhelmed.
Before night could fall, Rainier alighted atop a small rise and Myrti immediately dropped, shaking her arms out and rushing away.
"Where are you going?" Rain asked sternly.
"I gotta pee!" Myrti half-shouted, her tail poking out from behind the nearest bush. Rain felt a bit embarrassed as he turned away. It had been ages since he’d needed to use a bathroom for more than showering; ever since his body had been taken over by godflesh.
Conjuring a greatsword with Manifest Arms, he began to hack away at the half-dozen trees that occupied the top of the hill. It was mindless work, and in short order, he had a lean-to constructed for Myrti to sleep under. The rest of the wood he de-limbed and chopped up, drying it with magic so it could be used as firewood.
Even this close to the equator, there was a noticeable coolness in the air. The stars were invisible behind the now constant haze of ash, but the shadowy presence of Hell could be seen with the occasional glow of red from the Eye of Hell, its largest volcano.
Looking down from the sky, Rain poked at the fire, making sure it would keep Myrti warm. He didn’t need it.