Limits

After we left Olrad, we walk further away from the volcano. I took out the bag, that the grey Lizard gave to me, as well as the membership stone. Harlin asked again "Are you sure about it? We can always find someone else, to get the information from that stone". I shook my head, and replied "It's fine. She was scared, of whatever was on it. It's better, if no one else sees it. Destroying it, is therefore not a bad option". He sighted, and said "Alright, as you like. It belongs to you either way. I already got the confirmation, that there is more stuff on it, than it was supposed to record. If Royals ever ask, I will defend you".

I nodded my head, and placed the stone inside the bag. I immediately threw it as hard as I could, and started running in the opposite direction. I didn't take lightly the words of that grey Lizard. She told me to run, and I did just that. Harlin also didn't just stand there, and followed after me. A short while later, I heard "BOOOOM!". The explosion in the air was so severe, that the wind blast still caught up to us. Fortunately, it was just a blast of normal wind, and not hot wind, like with the use of Yellow Dust.

We looked back, and saw nothing out of ordinary, besides the disturbed soil. The bag exploded mid-air. Nothing was really affected on the ground, besides some rocks scattering away. "She wasn't joking at all" Harlin said. I nodded my head, and said "I will be off now. You now know my reasons, for doing what I did. I have to visit a friend of mine. I will probably return in the future, especially if I need a safe place. I hope you can provide that". He nodded his head, and replied "Return whenever you wish. When it comes to me and Lazar, there will always be a place for you among us. I will also give you this".

He handed me some sort of scale. On a closer inspection, it was a scale of a Lizard. I was a bit confused, and asked "What is this?". He said "This is my mark. When you show it to other Lizards around the North, they will try to help you out in need. Beware though, not all Lizards will help you. Usually look inside taverns. Lizards working there, will be mostly my people". I nodded my head, and said "Thanks. Tell Lazar to take care of his daughter, I will visit him when I return. Take care of yourself as well". He nodded his head, and we walked our own separate ways.

I travelled towards the Dead Forest, which was next to the Sludge Factory. This was where Crow could be found. On my way, I trained just the way I used to. I trained my strength whenever I could. Especially since I knew that the large sword in my bag, had a Formation, which could increase its weight. I swung it as I travelled, and tried to get accustomed to the 500 kilograms of weight. I also trained with my Stringed Hidden Weapons. Although I was at the first step of the skill, which was the control part of it. I knew that the fully developed skill, would bring in so much more, to my overall fighting ability.

I focused less on archery, and Pressuring Dagger skill. I wanted to advance my other skills first, before I would take care of these things. I travelled like this for a long time, due to my pace being rather slow. When I finally noticed the Sludge Factory, I knew I didn't have very far to go. I then realised, there might be a problem though. 'The closer I get to the west, the more probable it is, that I will encounter either Avians or Yagaroths. I can't let any of them spot me. I will have to either kill them first, or wait for them to leave' I thought.

With my improved strength, as well as Frosty's improved powers, I didn't have to worry about small groups of Yagaroths whatsoever. Avians were a bit more tricky though. 'Avians can obviously fly. Not only that, they have a much bigger field of view. They will be able to spot something, much better than Yagaroths. I need to monitor the skies, and watch out for them' I thought.

Although still focused on my training, I monitored any activities in the skies. I soon spotted one such patrol of Avians, and immediately hid behind a dead tree. The Avians flew past me, then returned towards the western direction. 'Good thing I was looking out for them. If they noticed me, I would have to run again, or kill them off' I thought, and continued towards my destination.

This happened a few times, before I even arrived at the Dead Forest. The problems began, when I arrived there. There were loads of Yagaroths, and Avians inside the forest. 'This is bad, I will not be able to kill that many of them. They should not chase after me though. Avians are aware of what happened before, so they will probably track me from afar, until they can catch me' I thought. Constant running away, was not my ideal option, so I decided to sneak past them. I also wanted to study them in more details, check out their behaviours, movements, and overall purpose in the Dead Forest.

I observed the Yagaroths and Avains, for a few days. I managed figured something out. They seemed to be searching for something else, not me. 'Weird, if they are not searching for me, then for what?' I thought. Time passed, and I slowly made my way towards the meeting place, where Crow was supposed to leave a black ribbon. Indeed, the ribbon was there. Not only was it there, it also meant, that Crow was in the Dead Forest often. 'I need to wait. If he frequents this place often, he should appear soon' I thought, and hid myself in the vicinity of the ribbon.

Nothing happened for a very long time. I decided to just leave. 'Crow might've decided, that this is too dangerous of a location, and will not appear here. Maybe he didn't have the time, to change the sign… Or, there is another possibility' I thought. There was the possibility, of Crow ratting me out. This would explain, why Yagaroths and Avains were waiting here. The weird thing was, that they didn't seem to be looking for me. 'Are they looking for Crow then? That is why he didn't appear yet?' I thought, and prepared myself to leave, but then in the corner of my eye, I saw something.

'This was not an Avian or Yagaroth. This was something that knew stealth. If my guess is correct, it's Crow' I thought, and started heading in that direction. I moved through the Dead Forest, until I almost reached its outer edges. To my surprise, Crow revealed himself to me, and spoke quietly. "Fortunately you saw me. Follow me, this is not a safe place". I nodded, and we moved away from the Dead Forest.

As we travelled further and further away, we encountered less and less Avians, which were scouring the area. When we finally managed to distance ourselves from the Avian patrols, we could talk in relative peace.