As the mist started to clear, the giant creature became visible again. It was getting closer. I glanced at Liz, she was still reciting the incantation and clearly unable to pay attention to her surroundings while she did so.

It was obvious that we would have to keep it off her until she was ready. It was just waiting until it got into range to attack.

Altria wasn’t going to just let it crawl up to us. She loosed an arrow, hitting the creature just above one of its eyes. It let out a dreadful cry, but it didn't slow its approach, if anything it sped up.

As soon as it got in range, its arms flew at us. I was hit in the chest, and the blow nearly took me off my feet. Somehow, I managed to keep my wits about me and before it could coil itself around me, I brought my blade down hard.

Once severed the arm lifted back up in the air. I could already see it beginning to regenerate. I clutched my chest. I hadn’t seen to have taken any damage. This new armour really was something, I wasn’t even winded by the blow.

The girls at my side were doing better than I was, none of them had taken a blow and had all dealt with the tentacles that had come their way. I looked up to Liz and she suddenly opened her eyes, almost taking me by surprise.

“Everyone step back! Don’t even have a foot in the water!” She shouted.

We were all a little surprised but did as she asked.

Once she was certain we were clear she brought both her arms down until they were pointing at the creature. The sky darkened in an instant and a massive bolt of lightning fell on the monster. There was a loud bang and the water crackled with the electricity.

I had no doubt we would have been electrocuted if we hadn’t moved. The squid like thing fizzled and steam rose from its head. With the spell complete Liz dropped to her knees, breathing heavily.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yes, nothing a potion won’t cure. Don’t worry about me, concentrate on that thing. It isn’t dead yet!” She said pointing ahead.

Just as she did one of its tentacles shot forward towards Liz. Luckily, for us Beth was on her toes. She quickly rushed in front of us and sliced it before it could reach us.

“Stay sharp Theo!” She warned.

I quickly got to my feet. As I did Altria fired off two of her explosive arrows in quick succession. The first was knocked of course by one of its arms, but the second hit its mark. There was a loud bang and small pieces of squid flesh were sent flying. The creature flailed for a moment, before going limp and just floating on the water’s surface.

“Is it dead this time?” I asked, still a little worried it was going to move again.

“It’s dead.” Answered Altria.

Liz quickly drank a couple of potions then got to her feet.

“I don’t know about you, but I’d like to move on before we stop for lunch. I don’t think I can eat while looking at that.” She said as she stood up.

“I know how you feel. Let’s carry on a little further down the hill. I don’t feel comfortable eating here now, either.” Answered Serin.

There were no objections to the suggestion and everyone one went about grabbing their gear and dressing. We were all a little damp after being in the water and the fight, but it was a hot day, we would soon dry as we walked. Once everyone was ready, we left. We skirted round the lake and then continued down the hill. We didn’t come across another suitable area to stop on the way down, until we reached the small valley below.

When we did finally stop, lunch was quite a quick affair. Despite having set off early, the break at the lake had taken up more time than we had planned. After eating we soon set off again. We had many miles to cover before it got dark and most of them would be crossing the row of hills that lay between us and the border. It was tough going under the hot sun and we only took short brakes to take on water. It wasn’t until early evening that we reached the foot of the final hill. In front of us stretched a vast open plain, penned in on either side by huge forests. Far in the distance were mountains.

“How far are we away from the border now?” I asked.

“Close, about five miles. We won’t travel any further tonight. I want to cross the border tomorrow.” Answered Serin.

Not far from where we had descended was a good spot for a camp. Sheltered on one side by a spur of the hill we had just climbed. From the looks of things, we wouldn’t find a better spot on this side of the border. We set up the camp in next to no time and gathered round the campfire for the evening as we waited for the fire to be ready to cook on.

“Once we cross the border, how far is it to the shrine?” I asked.

“It should be about two days walk from my estimation, but that’s taking the direct route. Depending on what we find on the other side it could take much longer.” Answered Liz.

“I suppose we’re going to have to avoid any inhabited areas.”

“We will.” Liz said pulling out her map. “Look this is where we’re heading for.” She said pointing at the map.

I shuffled over to where she was sat. She was pointing at what looked to be a lone mountain, some distance past a large forest almost in the centre of the plain we spied before it fell dark.

“I’d like to head right there, but a lot of this terrain is very open. If we spot any signs of life, we’re going to have to take some big detours not to be spotted.” She explained.

“What do we do once we reach it?”

“We’ll have little choice but to push on and enter the shrine or turn back. If we’re lucky it will be as Celine told us and only a small presence in that area. For all we know there could be an entire settlement there now.”

“And if that happens?”

“We’ll have to make a decision. We might be able to fight our way through and get to the shrine, but that is going to draw attention and make it harder to make it back…”

“But if we don’t find about the relics and the items that the gods left behind, we’ll have no way of stopping the war or helping Lillia.”

“Exactly. Either way it’s going to be a tough call if things don’t go our way. There’s a lot riding on this. Saying that there’s no point in dwelling on that now, we won’t know what the situation is until we get closer.”

“When we do, we’ll make the decision as party.” Serin added.

“Yes, this is something that we’ll need to decide as a group.” Agreed Liz.

“But if we come back empty handed, then all of this will have been for nothing!” I said clutching my hands.

“No one wants to do that. But if we get in too deep, we might end up not returning at all. That isn’t going to help anyone.” Answered Serin.

“No… You’re right it won’t.”

I knew she was right. If we brought too much attention deep in enemy territory our chances of making it back would be slim. Still, our only chance of stopping the king, was to highlight what he had been doing and to that we would need proof.

The fire had burnt down enough for us to cook while we talked. Serin got the cooking gear from her bag then placed it on the fire and before long the smell of food filled the air. We were all ready to eat, it had been another long day.

From tomorrow we might not even be able to cook over a fire like this, so we made the most of the chance while we had it and cooked the last of the fresh food. It was the best meal we had eaten since leaving the town.

Once everyone had eaten it was time to choose the watch and head to bed. Liz was taking the first watch tonight and with everyone expecting a long and difficult day tomorrow we left her by the fire and went to our own tents.

I briefly thought about calling for Celine as I climbed into bed, but I thought better of it. I was already worn and if she was really hungry, I’m sure she would have said something. I would just sleep until it was my turn to take the watch.