By the time we finally crossed the jungle's inner stretch and climbed down yet another plateau step, everyone was exhausted beyond reason.
It had taken us two full days of nonstop traveling at our top speed, and I could not stress enough how many monstrosities we had to fight or run away from.
By the time we neared the end of the third plateau edge, the mountainous silhouette of the caldera we wanted to reach was becoming visible far in the distance.
If my guess was correct, we'd reach there in about ten days.
Yeah, ten more days of fighting and running and hiking.
…Gods.
I never thought I'd say this, but I was starting to miss my father… and my lavish bedroom in his domain. Mostly the bedroom.
But on the bright side, the journey after we reached the caldera was going to be smooth and uneventful… or so I hoped.
•••
Three more days passed, and we were climbing down yet another escarpment—our third one in more than twice as many days.
