Melbon knows the way through these twisting forests the best, so I'm happy to let him take the lead, as he seems pretty reliable. We meander north for a couple of days, and the constantly changing scenery is refreshing. Jane, also, is good company, even though she's very naive. That girl may be smarter than I am but she lacks experience.
Mel tells us that great-ape like people live in the forests, and frald takes the oppertunity to attempt to tease me by saying I look like one. So I thought, why not, and wild shaped into an ape. It took them a little by surprise, and brought a smile to my face. The next day I realised I'd not thought of home for the longest time since I left Sari. I don't know how that makes me feel.
It was only a stroke of luck that I remembered an ape I saw once in a travelling circus in Cidalas Mont, when I was new to this land. It's good to know my utter confusion and fright from seeing its form - like a cross between a frost devil and a human with an elk's fur - has lead to laughter in the long run.
Anyway, the events of the last day: we found some horrific mouldered forms on the beach. I helped frald purge all but one of their essences; it's interesting how different dianchet's magic is from pure everstorm, the god must be doing something to make it easier for frald to handle. The last essence became a truly terrible form, that filled my heart with such fear sometimes I could not stop myself from running. At one point it grabbed me, and the burning pain was almost more than I could handle. Fortunately, we fought it off together, and I'm impressed by them all. Apart from poor george, who was truly paralysed by fear. I don't blame him, my experience with rift-creatures means I'm used to it.
It was a hard fight, but a good one. Frald and I took a rest on the beach for a while, and he begged me to let him style the hair of one of my wild shapes. He did help me out in that fight, so I let him. Kauri was very surprised by a horrifically neat and bright pink frost devil, but it brings me joy to be a creature so connected to the storm isles, so I stayed as one as we ventured into the forest again. To sort out the mouldering ones is our next task, so more fear and fighting are coming our way.