They continued down the road. It was good to be back on the path again after their detour to the Lizard Men Village. The path was smooth, well-worn and, since Mary had just been through that way dragging her giant net of people, quite clear of any obstructions. Liam wondered how it felt to be on the bottom of that net, with a bunch of people smooshed on top of you and then to be dragged along the ground.

As they moved farther along the path, they came to a rise in the road. Coming to the top, Liam found he was able to see out over the land for miles in all directions. Ahead of them and a little to the south of them, the Achtor River ran from the east, flowing back toward the west. As he twisted around to look back along the west, he could see it turned slightly south after a little ways. It was a huge river, wide enough in spots that it might even be mistaken for a lake. On the other side of the river, Liam could see a mountain range spread out into the distance, many of the snow-capped peaks hidden in the clouds.

On Liam's side of the river, just a short distance ahead of them, he could see the path split off to the right and become what Jrasta had called the River Road. From a distance, the River Road didn't appear too dangerous, but he remembered Jrasta's description of that way. The path also split off to the left and disappeared into a large forest with massive trees. Liam assumed that was the jungle Jrasta had spoken about.

In less than an hour, they came upon the point where the path split. There were no signs to indicate where each path might lead. Without a word, Jrasta led them to the left, and the path became steeper as it climbed toward the forest. Liam had to work hard to keep from sliding off Lenny, but the horses did not appear to struggle.

Liam looked up ahead at the forest, admiring the huge trees. He had never seen trees that large before.

Jrasta spoke up, interrupting his thoughts. "We're just about at the Dark Jungle. Be careful, everyone. There are some dangerous man-eating beasts in there. We need to stick close together. There is safety in numbers. Don't stray away from the group at any cost!" Jrasta warned them. "Should be fun!"

They rode on for a while in silence. Liam took in the sights and watched the trees get closer. After some time, Liam grew tired of the quiet. He wanted to make some conversation. He knew whenever he did that with his Arestanian friends, it left him frustrated, and something told him he should just keep quiet. He decided to ignore that little voice inside his head which told him he'd be frustrated with the conversation and spoke up anyway.

"So, why do they call it the Dark Jungle?" Liam didn't really care to know, nor did he think it was all that important, but he hoped a conversation would be fun.

"What would make you think there is any reason why it would be called the Dark Jungle?" Jrasta asked, as he pulled out a pipe and popped it in his mouth. Liam had never seen him smoke a pipe before and Jrasta didn't seem like a pipe kind of guy. After he popped it in, he pulled a small flask out of his shirt, unscrewed the top and poured a little in the end. In a few seconds, Liam realized the liquid was soap of some kind as Jrasta began blowing bubbles into the air. Jrasta had a pipe for blowing bubbles. Odd, but not surprising.

Liam watched the bubbles for a few seconds before he responded. "I don't know. I would just think that if someone came up with a name for something like the 'Dark' Jungle, there would be some reason for calling it 'Dark.'"

Jrasta considered that for a moment before responding. "Sometimes, Liam, you make no sense whatsoever. Why does there have to be a reason for the name?"

"I don't know! Why didn't they call it the Fun Jungle or the Happy Jungle? Why not call it the Tasty Jungle or the Stinky Jungle? Or why not just plain, Jungle?" Liam felt that familiar frustration begin to grow inside of him.

"Well, those are pretty dumb names," Jrasta said as he blew more bubbles into the air from his pipe. The others looked over at Liam like he wasn't making sense.

"Why is it dumb?" Liam asked.

"Well, what's happy about it? If you call it the Happy Jungle, shouldn't it be happy?" Jrasta rolled his eyes.

"I don't know what's happy about it! Tell me what's dark about it! If you call it the Dark Jungle, shouldn't it be dark?" Liam felt his argument was pretty solid, or it would be anywhere else. Sadly, he knew he was still in for a world of frustration. He just couldn't seem to stop himself.

"I don't think you're making any sense, Liam. I think we should just drop this and head into the Dark Jungle," Ezra said as he brought his horse up beside Liam. "If you keep going with these strange arguments, you're just going to embarrass yourself more."

"Fine. Forget I brought it up." Liam wondered why he bothered with these conversations. Sometimes he thought it would be best if he didn't ask any more questions.

By that time, they had come to the edge of the jungle, and Jrasta spoke up. "Alright everyone, remember, keep close. This is a dangerous jungle, and as we get in there, you'll find the trees block out the sun. It'll be hard to see one another during the day and nearly impossible at night. It's pretty dark in there."

Liam just hung his head in frustration and muttered to himself, "why... why... why...?"

I hope you are enjoying Arestana: The Key Quest. Keep reading to find out what happens next! If you want to get a hold of this entire story, you can pick it up from Amazon, Chapters, Foyles or just about everywhere else!

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