Posted on: Monday, 18 January 2010
Imoen had seen a lot of forests in her day, and this was certainly no forest. It had some superficial similarities: the tall, densely packed trees that blocked out most of the sunlight; the musty, shadowy undergrowth that was almost eerily bare of grass and shrubbery. But these were towering verdant giants, not trees; the undergrowth was a carpet of tangled, knotted roots ranging from finger-thin cords to immense, meter-thick monsters. The canopy of interlaced branches was so thick that they blotted out all but the most determined sunbeams. Despite it being near midday, it was as dark as twilight. The hairs on her arms prickled in response to the instinctive unease. This was no forest – it was an ancient, primeval jungle as old as Silvanus himself.
In the corner of her eye, Cassandra was also taking stock of the situation. When she spoke, her tone was less than pleased.
"This isn't Suldanessellar."
Imoen rolled her eyes. "Duh."
"You said we'd be in the city."
"Teleport isn't one hundred procent accurate. I said I'd get us within a stone's throw of it."
Cassie knelt and plucked an acorn from the ground. A single, sharp throw sent it hurtling into the air with velocity that only Bhaalspawn strength could achieve. Both of them fell silent as it vanished into the air. It fell to the earth somewhere in the jungle, but the eventual sound of impact was lost in the distance. Cassandra turned her accusatory gaze on her sister.
Imoen bristled defensively. "Pessimist." Her hand went into her spell components pouch and sought out the small tufts of hair tucked within. "Fortunately for you, I have a backup plan."
"Which is?" Cassie demanded, crossing her arms across her chest.
She separated out a tuft of bloodhound fur roughly as thick as her thumb and tucked the rest back into her pouch. "Locate creature."
"Which creature?"
"Elhan Now hush and give me some space."
"Elhan isn't a crea—"
Grey eyes turned on her. "Cassie."
"Okay, okay. I'm hushing."
