"Mud every where" he thought as he trudged through the mud. "I have traveled through this much mud for 2 days and not a soul around." Talking to him self has never been better.  

Looking up though the branch's he saw no sky. Only vines and rotted ones at that. The trees them self looked just as rotted but he could smell life coming from somewhere in the woods. 

As he walked through the mud listening to the wind he heard a loud wail bouncing evily upon it.  He moved more forcefully now using his large legs to get through the sticky mud that sucked onto his powerful legs. 

In the distance he caught the glimpse of red lights flying through the air. He could not see what was making the flames but he got ready for a battle. 

"Please gods if this be a battle great me strength to honor them with a swift death." He said as he took out his horn. Brought to his lips and blew. It rang out with a massive noise stopping the wind. Everything went still as he waited for an answer. 

Pyzis tried to scrape the dried mud off of her right hand, but it wasn't doing much. The latest group of banshees had relented, and the adrenaline spike was wearing off. She released the fireball that had sat in her palm feeling the heat leached from her. The cold of the swamp made her pull her cloak tighter around her shoulders. She was very accustomed to the warmth that radiated from her Phoenix form. The crisp fall air pressed around her, making her shiver. She had left a woman a little ways back after she had achieved her goal of collecting grotesque objects. Pyzis wasn't finished looking for the rare plants she had set out to find though she did now have a shriveled blackened heart in her bag that may have use at a later date. 

A horn blew nearby, and Pyzis saw a huge man lumbering towards her. A bright white light appeared between her and him. The light grew larger and formed into the shape of a woman wearing a wispy white dress. Her long white hair floated about her almost as if it was in the water. The face though was that of an undead, half rotten away with no lips, but they parted anyway releasing a loud wail. Pyzis threw the ball of flames at the face of the undead woman, actually stopping the wail as she went up in flames. It dropped something, and she bent to pick it up but realized that the big man had come near. Slowly she stood and looked him in the eyes, trying to look as non-threatening as possible.

"I'm Pyzis, are you alright? I know the woods are full of evil creatures, the lights are banshees and fire seems to kill them quickly. What are you doing here?" she asked. He was a large man with blond hair and a large hunting horn strapped to his back. Pyzis was a smaller than average woman, only coming up to the man's shoulder. Her chocolate colored long hair making her look even younger than she was. With the stranger standing near she felt like a child staring up at an adult.

"I saw fire flying from the ground shooting up to the air. Thought it was some great beast. I am Cordura, a great story teller of many battles, I have seen wars and beast that could take your soul just by looking at you." He said proudly. Looking down at Py is he said, "I should be asking you if you are alright. What are you doing here?"

Since it was dry on the little piece of land he began to take off his bear skin boots and had the claws of the bear still attached. His gloves were the same as boot and he wore a hood of a bear. If he put it on it would give him another 6 inches to his height. 

"My feet are killing me from all this walking and I havent seen any great beasts of this swamp other than the banshees." He rubbed his feet and put his boots back on. "Would you like to hear one of my many tails as we wait for the next banshee to appear? I have many and time seems to be still in this great woods." He looked at Pyzis with a grin. 

"Don't worry about the noises little one we are safe for the time being and the trees just love to talk." As he said the he heard a tree groan somewhere off in the distance. "

Pyzis raised an eyebrow as the man Cordura made himself at home by taking off his boots. It wasn't wise to linger in one place if they did the banshees would come back with other nasty creatures. Though with her fireballs and his apparent strength, there shouldn't be much of a problem. While the man sat on the dry ground at the base of the trees, Pyzis preferred to stand, avoiding accidentally brushing up against any of the cursed branches. The one disadvantage of being a Phoenix was the empathy she felt when touching other people. If they weren't in pain, she could usually block out everything but adamant emotions. 

"I am fine, thank you for asking and I would love to hear a story while we wait, silence bothers me more than it should," she said absently as she carefully sat down next to Cordura. Pyzis made sure she wasn't even touching the roots to the trees. "You do know that these are not trees; they are men who were cursed for something they did. Their souls are trapped within in constant agony. I can feel it if I touch them" she trailed off. 

Pyzis rubbed her hands on her arms, feeling the chill deeply. She summoned heat to her hands and just before it would create fire she stopped. With her now super hot hands, she rubbed them over her arms and down her leather clad legs. It seemed like the swamp was sapping more than just her warmth but having sent off three fireballs she knew her energy was waning. 

"Why are you here in this evil place? I'm searching for Alchemical ingredients of any kind, rare plants, blackened hearts, anything. Have you seen anything around here that would apply?" she asked Cordura. She couldn't relax against the tree trunk, so she left her slender arms wrapped around her knees. This position was as comfortable as she could get. With a sigh, she began to hum to herself, trying to banish the fear that crept up like the vine. 

"Truly? The trees are men caught up in agony eternal? Poor men." He said pondering looking up at the trees. The trees looked less like trees now. "Maybe a happy story will do us good then." Smiling looking down at Pyzis. 

He brushed back his hair amd began to weave his tale "Well many years ago there were three men traveling from the land of Ugg to the capital city of Garn." He said as he leaned more into the tree, forgetting about the men and there agony, getting ready to tell a long tale of love and adventure. 

Stopping from the tale he sat up a little. "Well let me stop for a sec and answer your question. I no longer have a home and I have been wondering for years looking for battles worthy of tale. I give good and evil men homes in my words. There should be a tomb of some sort in these woods that I've been told holds many treasures. Maybe there could be something in there for to use." He said looking around peering deep into the wood. 

The ground he was sitting on was moist from the moss but now it was becoming cold and wet. The ground was sinking into the mud and it was sinking to fast. 

"Oi" he let out "the ground is sinking." Getting his gear back in order he stood up. "I think we should move on. My stories can wait till a more peaceful time." He started moving away. 

"Are you coming Pyzis?" He looked back at her as he took his long strides in the mud. 

The mud started to suck at his legs as he moved on. And he stop in his tracks. "Dang why the heck did you jump out here?" Looking straight into a banshees eyes. 

The banshee floated there with its mouth open with maggots crawling into her gums, she raised up her rotting hands as if wanting to embrace him and let out a terrible wail

Mid wail Cordura let out a roar, more animal then man, back at the beast and punched the banshee in the chest. It rested in there a second as the banshees wail started to fade. The banshee had grabbed his arm and slid away as she disintegrated to dust and left holes in his arms dripping blood. 

"Dead" cordura said saddend as the white banshee disintegrated in his hands. He opened his hand and let the dust blow from his hand. Turning to Pyzis he handed her a blackened heart. "Here will this work for you?" He handed her the heart with a huge grin upon his face. 

Pyzis smiled at Cordura; he was trying to keep her mind off of the cursed place. At least he is friendly she thought until he reached his hand into the chest of a banshee and pulled her heart out. With a nervous smile on her face, Pyzis took the blackened shriveled thing and placed it in her sack. It was better that she had two of the item either way, then if she destroyed one before she could find it uses she had another. The sight of a man ripping a heart out would never leave her mind. She was a gentle person and avoided confrontation. The Banshee situation was the worst that she had ever encountered, and it hurt her heart to be killing things, even undead things. 

"Yes, we should move on. The longer that we stay in one place, the more likely uglier things will come to haunt us," she admitted as she began following the large man. Back into the stinking mud they went. Each few feet of progress she felt her ankles sink below the surface of the muck. It would take a strong pull and an unattractive squelching sound to keep moving. At least she wasn't alone and could recover some of her energy before she needed to summon another fireball. 

"You are looking for glory to match your stories?" she asked as they continued, seeing a break in the banshee attacks. "It's nice to see someone who believes that such a thing is achievable. I have never witnessed anything worth making a story out of." Pyzis figured they could pass the time getting to know each other. Since they were forced to march through a swamp, the company may as well be pleasant. "I come from the city of Hoja Mesto, at least that is my current resident. It's an entire city built on top of a giant Golem that lumbers around the countryside. It was quite hard to find seeing as it moves, but I have a little flat there that looks over a garden. I'm here because I took an apprenticeship with an Alchemist, and now that he has taught me as much as he could from our town, I need to find rarer ingredients to expand my knowledge." 

She missed the protection that a roving city offered along with the constant companionship apprenticeship offered. Sh would return as soon as she was finished here, but the dark cold of the swamp was nothing like her home. 
There she could spend hours on the balcony overlooking the garden full of fresh herbs. She had spent months now pouring over every book the Alchemist had in his small shop. The rate at which she was learning surprised them both. That was why she was here in the muck and hopefully why she would be finished here soon.

Seeing Pyzis cringe after seeing him rip the heart out of the banshee he felt very sad that she had to watch it. He reached down to put his hand on her shoulder. His hand was huge compared to her shoulder. His first two fingers were the only ones that actually fit on there the other two just dangled. "I'm sorry I had to do that in front of you. Women should not see things that men must do." He tried to give a smile but it was weighted heavily. 

He turned around and kept walking. He began talking about his people. Thinking very highly of them his voice brightened up."My people are from the hills of a distant land across many oceans." He started, "I lived in a small village where the men grow up strong and tend to everything. We are fierce warriors and gentle farmers. The name of my village was Farlong in the land of Char. But there are many different clans on the hills." He looked down to her and gave a smile. "Competitions are what kept each village in line. We fight no wars in our land but send one person per clan to the pit to fight out any problems." Cordura puffed out his chest and proudly proclaimed, "My clan has never lost. I was the champion for 20 years. Fighting in the pits was my life. Many good men died by me and i tell there story."

He raised his hand to scratch a spot on the top of his head. "Your village sounds strange. I have never seen a village on any beast. How many men live there?

He continued to trudge through the thick mud. Taking mighty steps so that he can get out of the mud faster, seeing another rise in the ground where it was dry. 

"How many years have you been an… Oi!!!" Cordura let a yelp as he sank into the mud. It was sallowing him. It was cold and wet. First up to his hips then to his chest. He could feel the pressure of the mud pushing him down further and further under. "Quick help me!" After that his head sank under the mud and disappeared. His hand swam around franticly till it found Pyzis leg. He grabbed on with his mighty hand squeezing tightly around her little leg. As he was being pulled down deeper and deeper, thinking his lift was ending, he closed his eyes and prays to his gods. 

Pyzis listened intently to Cordura as he told her about his life, she wasn't used to people telling her their story, but it was comforting to her. In the darkness and slick mud at least the company was warm and inviting. The large man placed a hand on her shoulder in sympathy, but she cringed. She still wasn't used to the casual touches of anyone. After pain being the only form of touch she knew for forty years, it was hard to break the habit. 

"I hadn't heard of it either until I was inquiring at an inn for a place that taught Alchemy and was directed to Hoja Mesto. It took me months of asking around until I found the actual city as it doesn't stay in any one place. When I first laid eyes upon it I couldn't believe it. The gigantic golem with two heads had situated itself in coastal waters. I took a boat out and climbed up the stairs upon its leg. There is a rather large city there, composed mostly of refugees and those too afraid to live elsewhere. You see the Golem defends the city when necessary and each of the buildings practically vibrates with the breath of the beast." she reminisced. Pyzis hadn't really thought about the brilliance of creating a home on top of a large creature. As she explained it to Cordura she realized she actually missed it. 

As they walked Cordura shouted and began to sink into the mud. She hadn't had a problem thus far with the sucking mess, but she wasn't nearly as big as he. As he wrapped one hand around her leg she shouted in pain. His fingers would leave bruises on her. Pyzis turned to him, panicking and trying to think quickly as he was already up to his chest. She summoned the fireball and carefully aimed it for around the man. If she could dry out the mud he may be able to pull himself out.

"Don't move!" she shouted as she released the flames around him. The mud cracked audibly and she could step closer to him on the dry ground. She used both of her hands to grab the top of his shirt and heaved as hard as she could. Cordura stopped sinking and Pyzis hoped he would be able to haul himself out since she wasn't helping much even using her entire body weight.

"That was some quick thinking Pyzis. Thanks for saving me but I think down might be the right answer." He grinned as he shook his foot around feeling no mud. The was an empty spot right below him. 

He started to move his hands trying to dig into the now dry mud. It had become like clay and was hard on his hands. He tried to dig in front of him but the mud would not move. It was solid. He dug around his axe trying to free it so that he could dig better with his blade. 

"Do you have any tools? Can you help me dig out my axe?" He said as he look at her with hopes of any kind. "My lower half is stuck so far under I can not move up."

His entire lower half was completely stuck in the hard mud and he wanted free. It had become like brick amd would not budge even with his arms digging for his axe. He knew if he could free his axe he could use it to dig his way down. He wanted to go down and explore the tomb. 

"Watch out behind you!" He yelled to her. He saw a white shape appear behind her. It became a banshee. It wailed!

Pyzis turned quickly knowing that Cordura would be okay while she took care of the Banshee. A quick burst of fire and it was gone, but Pyzis was left exhausted. She had spent so much time now trying to move through the thick mud and sending of flames to kill banshees. If she could get Cordura out, then they could leave this place. Pyzis had no weapons on her as she had come looking for plants not looking for a fight. Frantically she searched around her and found a long stick. She plunged the end of it into the now dry ground and used her weight the lever some of the dirt up. It wasn't ideal, but at least she was making her way towards the axe. If she could get to that, then Cordura could help her.

"I don't think it is wise to linger here after I get you out. I can't keep killing these banshees much longer and I have gotten everything I need for now," she told Cordura as she continued chipping at the mud around her axe. After she had loosened the dirt around the axe, she grabbed the handle. Throwing her whole weight into it, the weapon began to move. Carefully she pulled it free and handed the axe to Cordura. With a gasp, she sank to the ground trying to catch her breath. 

She watched Cordura as he used the blade to dig himself out efficiently. When he was done Pyzis stood shakily and leaned heavily against his side. She was beyond exhausted and required the assistance in order to stand. It would be hard to get through the mud again, but she had assistance. As they passed hundreds of twisted trees Cordura finished the story of the three men he had started earlier. When he spoke Pyzis no longer felt the grip of fear that this cursed place sent her. His words wove into a scene before her and she was transported to the barbarian plains to the village of Ugg. 

In no time, they had made it to the border of the forest, the tight ring of trees that had pieces of paper with runes written upon them hanging from branches. Now that so many of the banshees were dead and the full moon was over the villagers here shouldn't see as many evils escaping from the woods. At least the two of them were to safety and she no longer had to worry about brushing up against the trees.