The Darkest War

In Thy Name

I remove the backpack on me and start to hand out water and some food for them to gather some more energy. They all take everything offered and devour it within minutes. The silence a nice pause for all of us to catch our breaths and Steele ourselves for the remain part of the journey.

Though the temptation to throw up a nice charm to chill the steamy air we are soaking in grows the longer we rest. Along with something to keep the damn insects away from our bodies. Complaints from the spoiled sorcerer who can't use talents to keep himself comfortable, it's pathetic I know, but I never said I was some grand adventurer that enjoys this for fun.

"Will you finally tell us what this is all for, or are you going to remain a cryptic dick?" Yoko demands. Her comment earns a smile from me.

"You mean I haven't earned blind loyalty from you yet?"

She glares in response.

I make sure to gather everything up and ready to continue the hike.

"I prefer the enigmatic asshole over cryptic dick,"

With a smile from me and the middle finger from her along with her classic heart stopping glare, we move forward.

The hours move by each filled with the same repetitive motion of walking and slicing down the thick vegetation out of our way. During the hike the sky poured down extreme heavy rains that did in fact ruin our parade. The downpour a nice break from the steamy heat we have suffered with, but once it stopped, it just made the entire environment fill up with fresh heat.

Desmond and all his hubris were the first to complain, all the talk of being the most fit faded away a long time ago. But I handed out more water but refused to stop. Fortunately, we didn't run into any predators that stalk these jungles and could easily make a meal of us if we can't us magic to defend. 

Though it's not touched by magic at all, I think out path is safer for the fact that I carry some offerings.

The deity can sense the offerings and considering that only those that survive the pilgrimage can offer them, I feel as if most of the harmful and deadly parts of the journey are kept away from us. That or I am using up an insane amount of luck.

Sweat stings my eyes, but I still catch the final signal that we have arrived at where we need to be. Carved into stone pillar, A single word carved in the beautifully crafted monolith.

My laugh a mix of triumph and delirium.

I dump the contents of the bag out on the jungle floor and begin setting up the offerings at the base of the monolith. The sweetest fruit our city has to offer at the moment, water from one of the moving rivers we stumbled across. The heart of a foul murder, and the heart of one fallen in defense of the innocent.

The last offerings were simple to acquire from the massive graves we made for the city.

Everything is placed in a small bowl, and I say a few words of prayer in a language so far dead, no records of it even exist.

Desmond and Yoko look disgusted at my small ritual, while Ark accepts everything with a cool temperance. I'm sure the act of the ritual itself tipped off the Dark sorcerer of what I am attempting to contact.

"Rest up the best you can." I say as I sit on the dirt beneath the monolith and prepare for the final part of the ritual. "When I start, a hole will appear in the ground Ark and Yoko will have to jump in it."

"What the fuck is all this?" Desmond asks.

"I just need you to trust me please, my faith in your talents is how I know you can handle this."