5028

Furelle: Surilia Coast

Galactic Date 00:08:432 5028

The denseness of the forest both impeded us and aided us. While on the one hand we would have to move far slower, on the other, it made it much more difficult to see us. The four of us traveled with our bodies close to the ground, creeping between the thin gaps of the trees. Ferns and vines grasped at our boots as we dug our way into the Soulless infested territory. Already we could hear the sounds of the gunfire shifting in the distance as the different teams began making their way south. It would hopefully only be a matter of time before the Soulless moved with them, giving us a clear shot to the temple. I could only hope I remembered where it was.

My calves stung from the constant crouching, and I could feel my breathing shake and tremble as we moved. I could tell Tara was just as unused to this as I was. She had her wings tucked in, and her ears tilted back, almost like a cat as she kept herself close to the ground. Still, her arms shook as she crawled. My eyes scanned the treeline above us, squinting, observing. I listened out for that odd skittering I'd heard from those Soulless on Draenica, but it was eerily quiet. Birds tweeted, wind blew, and miles out you could hear fighting, but the area around us just seemed too empty.

The part that worried me the most, though, was Jewls. Her eyes could be a problem. They'd stick out like a firefly in the night. I turned my head, looking back at her. It surprised me to see, however, that her eyes were dull and pale now. No longer did they glow that blazing blue-white, but almost appeared as if she were completely, normally, blind. One would think little of it if they hadn't seen her as we had. Her eyes flicked to me, pointing forward as if to tell me to 'keep my eyes on the road' as it were. I grumbled, turning to look ahead of me.

I despised taking orders. Burned me up good it did. Sterling was one thing. I'd known what I was signing up for. Jewls I already wasn't fond of. To have her telling me what to do... I could barely stand it. Still, I recognized some amount of necessity in it. As much as I hated to admit it, Jewls knew a lot more about this than I did. Plus, if she really could see auras, or whatever they were, she'd be able to spot things long before any of us could. My eyes darted up to the branches above me again, looking for anything shifting, moving. Nothing so far. We'd been traveling for the past hour, at least. Tara put a hand out, the four of us stopping. She looked back, propping herself against a tree. The rest of us quickly sunk below the line of grass and ferns, concealing ourselves from view.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"Not yet." She said, "If I'm correct, though, we should be approaching the section the Soulless had been patrolling." Jewls frowned.

"If our plan worked, we shouldn't need to worry." She said.

"If our plan worked. Tara, are you suggesting something?" I asked, looking up to her.

"Well, if they decided to leave troops behind, we need to be weary." She began. I'd heard that tone before. She was leading into something, a breakthrough of some sort, but Jewls cut her off.

"We don't exactly have time to be overly cautious. If our plan worked, the troops will only be able to handle that number for so long." She emphasized, beginning to rise. I put a hand on her back, pushing her back to the ground.

"Just listen for gods' sake." I said. She furrowed her brow, squinting as she slapped my hand from her.

"Don't you dare give me orders." She spat.

"I'll damn well give orders to listen to my crew if the situation calls for it." I spat back. Her eyes burned as she glared at me, her face contorted in disgust. She shoved my arm back, standing back up, continuing to move further. I groaned. "Fuck's sake." I muttered, getting up slowly, turning to Tara. "You had something you wanted to say?" Tara looked alarmed, not seeming to want to make nary a sound. She reached out at Jewls, but had her hand pushed away. Her eyes shifted from me to the surrounding area. I followed her gaze, and that's when I saw what she had seen. Burns in the trees. Blaster shots, magic bolts, artillery fire. It was still smoking... still fresh. I moved to grab Jewls again. A solitary crack echoed through the trees as a branch broke under her foot.