Without Warning...

Sentinel Island - Jungle Northeast of Zar'Tir
JP with Lorem and Omni

The group quickened their pace, moving with a heightened sense of urgency as they made their way back toward Zar'tir. The jungle, though vibrant and full of life, now held a slight feeling of foreboding. It reminded Gonyaul of the dream where he had first seen the Ancient One. Shadows seemed to lengthen, and the rustling of leaves took on a more sinister tone. Every snap of a twig and rustle of foliage was a note to sharpen the senses.

Without warning, a volley of arrows whistled through the air, embedding themselves in the trees and ground around them. Draza immediately drew her weapon, her eyes scanning the dense underbrush for their unseen assailants.

"Stay close!" she ordered, her voice steady but urgent. "Heegen, cover the rear!"

Then, just as swiftly, blow darts followed, whizzing past with a barely audible hiss. One dart struck a tree inches from Gonyaul’s head, releasing a small puff of poison.

“Keep moving! Do not stop!” Heegen shouted, taking a defensive position to fend off any immediate threat.

Gonyaul hadn’t seen, or heard, the incoming blow darts until it was too late. If it wasn’t for an upbringing of remaining silent in the face of a startling threat, he would have screamed in surprise. Instead, only a gasp of surprise escaped his shocked face. Everything, the idealized trek through the island jungle, suddenly evaporated to reveal the ever present dangers and chaos that he had been ignoring too much.

As he saw the puff come from the embedded dart, he instantly realized what that meant. Gonyaul clamped his mouth shut, took a better grip on his burdensome items and made himself smaller by crouching. What was he to do, his first instinct was to run. Fortunately, that was the command from their protectors.

In the next instant, bursts of magikal fire bolts flew through the air, aimed at the group. One fiery projectile scattered like sand against Gonyaul's arm, causing him no harm. Instead, it dissipated into harmless particles like fiery cinders upon contact. It wasn't the first time Gonyaul had seen magik not affect him, but it was still surprising nonetheless. It felt cold and something about it made him feel repulsed.

Gonyaul turned his attention away from Heegen, in part because his peripheral vision caught a glimmer. He dodged his upper body out of the way just in time, but the flaming projectile hit his arm. While it did have a sense of presence, it didn’t hurt, burn, or effect him in the slightest. It was strange to watch something that looked and behaved so real to not follow the rules of reality. The cold feeling was unnatural, not just because the element was colder than it should have been, but also it felt wrong morally. Another way of putting it, was the wrong feeling you get when your actions lead to doing something you know you shouldn’t have, but in this instance it was a topical sensation.

Gonyaul didn’t have time to let his curiosity linger. He started running back along the marked path; fleeing from danger was something he was good at. His pattern of running was intentionally sporadic and lacked prediction. It was a method of fleeing when projectiles were in play, so the attacker couldn’t get a lead on your movements. As he took to retreating he glanced at the others to take assessment on how they were doing too.