38th of Season of Earth, 58th year of the 32nd cycle

The jungle grew dimmer, and its shadows deeper as the sun set. Newt and his companions kept glancing around, but he was the first to spot the snout as it appeared from behind the trees. Head-sized nostrils flared as Newt grabbed Emeraldstreak's forearm. The woman opened her mouth with a frown, but Newt placed a finger to his lips and pointed towards the giant saurian's head as it emerged from the foliage.

Greenbow carried Aura behind them and immediately stopped at the disturbance. The trio ducked behind a massive tree, vanishing into ferns as the fifteen-foot-tall predator stalked the jungle. Newt shifted slightly to catch a better look, grateful Explorer's Gate robes blended well with the jungle. Had they worn red or blue, the beast would have spotted them just as they spotted it.

The Longclaw was on the smaller end as far as Newt recalled the specie's information. But even if it was a fully developed, twenty-foot-tall specimen, the trio wouldn't have feared its might, which was considerable, since it was at the fourth realm.

No, the true threat came from the noise they would've caused during their battle.

The predator had retracted its aura, reddish-orange shimmering a foot around its body, blazing with the mana of the upper fourth realm and advertising its fiery nature.

The Longclaw turned sharply, its eyes locked on Newt. Newt's heart jumped, but then the monster continued scanning the jungle. By design or random twist of fate, the creature turned, heading straight towards the mageknights. Its pace remained even, languid yet ready to burst into violence at a blink, as it kept scanning its domain. Newt's group held their breaths.

Suddenly, the monster stopped less than ten feet from Newt and his companions. Newt reached for his glaive, but grabbed air - his favorite weapon wasn't there. Before he could inwardly curse, the monster swept its claws, showering the ferns below with bark as it marked yet another tree as a part of its territory.

Satisfied with its work, the Longclaw continued its patrol while Newt and the rest cowered. The heavy beat of footfalls grew fainter, and the manabeast disappeared from view. Newt let out a relieved breath and heard two others do the same behind him.

His strength was comparable to a fourth realm knight, and his sisters were fourth realm mageknights, but they were unarmed. Worse, winning the fight would only mean more fights until their untimely deaths, as they would draw the attention of every saurian in the vicinity.

Newt dispersed the grim thoughts.

"It's gone," he whispered as the oppressive silence seeped away from the air, replaced by the sounds of the rainforest.

Newt had failed to notice the phenomenon while the Longclaw stalked towards them, but silence had drowned the jungle even before the giant carnivore appeared.

I must pay more attention to the environment and things like jungle noises. Given the circumstances, even better trackers might have missed the signs, and Newt knew it, but viewed the thought as an excuse.

He had no time for excuses because they needed to hurry. Time worked against them. Even if their path remained an unobstructed straight line, they would need four or five moons just to leave the jungle. And Newt found such good fortune unlikely. But even if they got lucky, and survived, and left unhindered, that left him with another four moons to find a power to shield him from his solar tribulation.

The gatemaster could help him, but Newt had to find him first.

Newt's heart sank as he realized he was fighting against luck and time, with heavens out to get him. Surviving Summersweald suddenly seemed like a trivial task compared to the scope of what he needed to achieve.

"Do we have a plan?" He asked his seniors, trying and failing to keep despair from his voice.

"Our main objective is to navigate the jungle and get back home," Greenbow maintained a brave front or perhaps was brave enough to meet the challenge. "We won't need weapons once we enter the zone without fourth realm saurians, but while we are here, we should either avoid fights or find something to fight with. And our weapons need to be high quality, at least third realm equivalent. Tying a rock to a stick won't do."

Newt already knew that. Even if he used an expertly crafted mortal spear, it would shatter on impact the first time he thrust it, assuming the weapon did not disintegrate when he sent a surge of fiery mana through it.

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"We will need to consider food and water. Aura needs to eat at least three times a week, while we need to take a sip of water about as often, so we need to find or make a jug or bottle to carry water with us." She glanced around the trees; the night was already falling, the light nearly gone. "Summersweald should have plenty of fruit. Those might solve the problem of food and water at the same time, at least for a while. Meeting up with the others should also be one of our goals, but there's nothing we can do to force the meeting. They could be walking in parallel with us a hundred yards to the right or left, and there's no way for us to know they are there."

Newt couldn't help glancing to the side, then continued leading the way forward.

"We all have mindcores, so we see in the dark, at least to an extent."

"To an extent indeed," Emeraldstreak grumbled. "Mana is so dense, navigating it is like watching a painting done in nothing but shades of light-blue."

Newt agreed. It wasn't quite as bad as Emeraldstreak painted it. To his senses, the world wasn't just shades of light-blue, the shades were more like everything the color blue had to offer, but it was far from his regular vision when navigating such complex terrain.

"Do you think Master's alive?" The question escaped his lips, laden with fear and sorrow. Newt's cheeks burned with shame when he realized he had voiced his grim thoughts.

"If there's one person alive in the order, that's Master," Emeraldstreak rebuked him louder than she should have.

"Shh!" Greenbow put a finger to her lips. "No shouting."

"I wasn't shouting, First," Emeraldstreak whispered. "I was just chastising our little brother for his lack of faith in Master."

The night went on as the group exchanged hushed words. At first, they snapped to attention at occasional screeches from high in the canopy, but they got used to them as they grew more frequent. At some point, shimmering lights appeared all around as fireflies started blinking in search of mates.

Tiny avians dove from the branches above, snatching the glowing insects, and the three awakened went silent, observing the dancing feast. Newt watched the scene with fascination.

"I bet that's what the terrorwing we hit would look from a distance while devouring second or third realm awakened."

Newt and Greenbow turned around to gape at Emeraldstreak.

"What?" she asked. "You were staring at them as if it were a beautiful demonstration of skill and agility, when in reality it's a scene of carnage."

Newt couldn't find fault with the logic, then grinned.

"Em," he said in a voice reserved for delusional children, "the terrorwing hit us, not the other way round."

Her confused face illuminated by fireflies was priceless. Greenbow chortled.

"He got you there."

Newt's joke bled out some of the tension, and Emeraldstreak also smiled.

"Fine, I admit it was the damn flyer who hit us."

The three continued their careful trek through the jungle, enjoying the luminous slaughter. But the sight could only do so much, and depression slowly crept back on them, suffocating the trio.

Newt rolled his eyes, trying to cheer himself up. I'll never see fireflies in the same light. While Em is right, viewing their flight like a fight for survival instead of magical dancing lights steals all the magic from the sight.

The night went on, and the lights slowly disappeared from view. Shortly before dawn, Aura groaned.

"What—?"

"Try to relax," Greenbow said. "The crash was horrible. We tried to protect you the best we could. You survived, but suffered quite a bit of damage. Your leg is broken, you suffered a concussion, and you lost a lot of blood. We're deep in the Summersweald, heading north, and there are fourth and fifth realm manabeasts around."

Greenbow continued with a short introduction into the group's grim status, completely demoralizing the air mage.

As the light grew brighter, Newt wondered whether Aura was pale because of the blood loss or because of all the good news his eldest sister had shared with her.

"Do you have any ideas or suggestions?" Aura shook her head. "Are you dizzy? Hungry…"

Aura was shocked and in pain, with no immediate needs.

"How good are you at scouting?" Greenbow asked.

"Horrible. I'm an artificer, a skilled apprentice whose missions were all inside the workshop."

Not for the first time, Newt wondered how she had survived the battle if that was the case. His suspicion once more reared its ugly head. He almost voiced his doubt, but kept quiet. He would discuss the matter with his sisters once Aura was out of earshot.

"Newt, pick that yellow fruit over there." Greenbow pointed with her chin, and Newt grabbed one of the melon-sized mangos.

"Crack it in half and give a piece to Aura, we can split the rest."

Newt did, breaking the other half in three equal parts to the best of his ability. The sweet yellowish juice dripped from his hands as he gingerly tasted the unknown fruit. Sweetness flooded his mouth, tinged with a sour note, which enhanced the flavor.

"It's good," he admitted despite his dark mood.

Greenbow nodded, the gesture too sharp for casual conversation. "Honeypom is sweet and refreshing. It doesn't offer much in terms of energy, but even mortals can survive on them if they eat enough. Pick one or two whenever you see them."

Newt nodded, wondering whether he was running chores because he was the youngest or because he was the most mobile one in the group.

Does it matter?

On his own initiative, he climbed a tree and checked their direction.

"We've drifted westward," he mumbled, the rising sun shining behind him.

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