Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 668: A rather deep pit

Chapter 668: A rather deep pit

Sayda had experienced travel in all kinds of vehicles from land to sea and even air, but never had she experienced traveling within the belly of a whale.

If anything, it was a rather novel experience, if she ignored the unfortunate stench that came with dwelling within the fish’s stomach as it transported herself and Douglas to Henos.

It was also quite fast, allowing her to rest at ease with the fact that she would be arriving in Henos before the Month of Astra.

Letting out a sigh as a mouth appeared next to her and devoured the foul smell, Sayda glanced at Douglas who lay limp beside her, his very consciousness devoured to ensure he wouldn’t be in too much trouble during transit.

Her gaze fell on the map on his back and instinctively, she reached out, tracing the intricate lines with a look of intrigue.

She could still recall when she’d learned of the Midnight Pearl and what it had done to the Werewolves.

How it had caused them to fall into ruin all because they wished to touch upon a power beyond their ken.

A rather unique Branch, perhaps the only one that could be used for what they intended.

It was rather amusing how what took them thousands of years could be accomplished by one werewolf if only they wished to do so.

But the Werewolves regarded the Pearl as a stain on their history and actively avoided it, which meant no werewolf would intentionally head to where it was hidden.

As for manipulating the werewolf into going in search of the Pearl, that was out of the question as those that had dared to do so in the past had all died painful deaths, their heads exploding in a gruesome showing.

Hence, the reason the map was so important.

It gave others a means to locate the map without needing to persuade or force a werewolf to act.

But there was a problem, one that added more pressure to the one already mounted on Sayda.

The map was fading and try as she may, Sayda couldn’t memorize it.

Whenever she tried, she would always feel a gaze locking on her figure, a gaze she could not escape... a gaze that would destroy her if she dared to continue.

"Quite annoying, won’t you agree?" Sayda asked no one in particular as she raised her finger to look at the line she’d traced.

It was bleeding, marking a trail of blood in the same area as a portion of the map.

Alas, the blood dried and the scar faded, along with that portion of the map.

Her expression shifted as she turned away.

Currently, only ten percent of the map had faded and at the current pace, it meant that if she didn’t find the Midnight Pearl within the first two weeks of Astra, the map would be gone completely and the likelihood that the surface on which it was depicted would expire was quite high considering the decay Douglas’ body was experiencing.

She had only one shot and Sayda swore she would make it count.

Because if she didn’t, she might have to consider becoming a fugitive.

Perhaps Ra’as might be willing to take her in for a price?

Then, she recalled what would happen if she didn’t fulfill the deal she made with Ninmah and yet another sigh escaped her lips.

It seemed that in a bid to make a statement, Sayda had ended up digging quite the pit for herself.

A rather deep pit indeed.

***

It was nighttime before Victoria stopped to rest with Alex.

Thankfully, they had escaped the range of the Quillion mine conquered by Agrios, allowing them to make use of their Powers again, unfortunately, Victoria didn’t dare to rush into the Spirit World with the danger of Ifrit and Decad hanging over her neck like a guillotine.

This meant that quick travel across Henos was no longer an option, at least for the time being.

It didn’t help that the duo hadn’t come across any form of civilization and had no supplies to speak of, remaining as wanderers within the dreaded Henosian outback.

"Are you feeling alright?" Victoria asked as she helped Alex lean back against a large boulder within a deep gorge.

His breathing heavy, Alex let out a dry response. "I think so."

"Wait," Victoria said as she quickly weaved a bowl using her threads before proceeding to fetch some water from the lake that persisted within the gorge.

Upon her return, Alex drank it, ignoring the odd taste it had.

Once he was done, he whispered a low thank you as he handed the bowl back to Victoria who unmade it before proceeding to inspect the injury on his shoulder.

"The wound isn’t healing, it’s getting infected." Victoria worriedly remarked.

"Now I understand why Arthur claimed Quillion to be poison for beings that rely on aether to survive."

"Healing abilities won’t work, we need a real doctor to take out the Quillion shards and disinfect the wound," Victoria said as she took out the makeshift bandage she used to cover the wound before replacing it with another from her shirt.

"Any more of that and you won’t have a shirt." Alex pointed in a jocular tone, though it earned no points with Victoria as she glared at him.

She was upset that he had gone against her warnings only to end up getting hurt.

A rather unfortunate turn of events.

Letting out a sigh, she proceeded to tear out a piece of ampechone she wore, revealing her pale and slender shoulders which seemed to have been perfectly carved.

She went ahead to use the piece she tore out to wrap around Alex’s injured shoulder.

"This will have to do until we can arrive at a settlement."

"Hopefully, not barbarian."

"Any would have to do given your current state." Victoria pointed out with a hint of annoyance.

"Any idea where we are?" Alex calmly asked, ignoring the passive aggression.

Victoria shook her head. "As much as I memorized the map Ulysses had carved out, we aren’t at any known landmarks, making it difficult to pinpoint our exact location."

"If only there were stars. A star chart would be quite handy right now." Alex dryly muttered as he fell to the ground with his buttocks.

"A what?"

"Never mind." Alex breathed out as he glanced at the sky above, illuminated by the gentle lavender glow of the Nighteye.