Despite the eager look Cassandra was giving balter, Walter ignored it as did the goat lord that was more focused on his blade that was much easier to control as he manipulated its shape from a claw to a long spike.
After Quinn did its usual thing which is to collect whatever spoils it could find and stashed away via the stomach of holding it attempted to return to its favorite spot only to be tackled in the air by the new addition as it, too, wanted to lay on the same spot!
With some squeaks and somewhat loud chirping, Quinn and the other blood hawk were now fighting for supremacy, for who gets the shoulder and gets the comfy head!
Balter was enjoying to new changes and upgrades he received while Tarka was doing her best to keep herself from lashing out at the Amazonian woman that seemed hostile in her eyes, then again she was also acting as Walter's support despite the recovery he received phantom fatigue and mental stress still lingered.
So he said this to Cassandra that was slowly moving closer to Balter as she really wanted to fight him.
"I need to head back to the encampment and talk to Akara about this scroll that I have here."
the Rogue was just waved her shaking hand in a gesture 'get to it' as her eyes were still locked on her new target, who transformed into a wisp then entered Walter's chest, which resulted in the woman's face warping to sadness, anger, disappointment, and some other emotion as her gaze was locked on to him as he hastily passed through the warp portal to escape while the two blood hawks rushed to follow him.
The other rogues began their tasks as they made a sweep of the area to find any strays or remnants of the Corrupted druids.
But once Walter was gone Cassandra landed on her butt as she was exhausted, in a lot of pain, and was going in and out of consciousness from blood loss while she was eager to fight this woman did not like showing her weakened self to men, which resulted in her earlier actions.
The healer in the group was already treating her wounds as many of her insides weren't doing so well from the poison arts of the werebear, and from how difficult the fight was for her.
Balter sensed her state thus he didn't care for the heated gaze no reaction was needed for a warrior that was more injured than she let on, should the said person keep this act up any longer there would be some dire consequences.
When Walter arrived at the encampment, his three extra summons created quite a stir, they were familiar with the blood hawk that usually rested on either his head or shoulder but not the two goat people and the extra blood hawk.
Thinking that these monsters snuck into the encampment, they almost sounded the alarm but thanks to Akara who was already waiting assured them that nothing was wrong...
with how she was acting, made them somewhat relax but still maintained their vigilance, Walter with a raised eyebrow looked at her with a questioning look, but her usual smile prevented any of her thoughts to be known, not a single hint was left for him to read as to how did she know that he was coming at this exact moment as she held her hand out.
Yeah, she knew something, and this priestess isn't going to fill him in on anything again...
with a tired sigh, Walter asked as he knew what was coming.
"Where do I go next?"
But the answer he received was like music to his ears.
"you can rest for now as I need time to decipher this scroll."
Walter practically yelled in glee as he jumped with the sudden surge of energy from joy!
But quickly stopped himself as Akara was looking at him with a look that said many things one of which meant, 'go ahead, keep doing that, see what happens...', so once he managed to reel in his excitement to get some rest he ran to his tent like his ass was on fire to escape just in case Akara suddenly changed her mind!
not even a minute later he reached his tent that was already started to get dusty from the lack of usage, so after cleaning up, the man quickly fell asleep it was one of the most blissful moments since his arrival.
he dreamed of his transformation from a regular person to what he was now, the tor- training he received, the connections made, the people he met, the trials he endured, and now his struggle to find Silvia.
A dream that was both bitter and sweet but that wasn't all after all of that he found himself in a dark place, that was unbearably cold as he could see his breath, with red rain that smelled of blood wrapped in rusted chains with countless runic markings, as the words that tickled his ears whispered full of yearning and malice.
"free...us... join...us... )(*&...!@#%$%^...!"
at the last two words, that were rendered inaudible, the place that he was at then showed a bit of its true nature the area wasn't truly dark he was just surrounded by hundreds if not thousands of different monsters as their eyes all opened at the same time and their hands, claws, paws, and whatever they used to grab things all reached out to him, with a beckoning call that made his ears begin ringing, but like all things, this dream of his was about to end as a pained whisper that begged for forgiveness reached his ears at the end of it all, awakening him, as a single tear dripped down his cheek.
Tarka was at the side of his bed trying to wake him drenched in a cold sweat, Walter recollected himself, as his summon handed him a bowl of water to wash his face, only that his reflection for a moment looked like a myriad of monsters twisted together in a sadistic manner before a blink of his eyes made it change back to his original looks.
it was a skin-crawling moment, but now he had enough rest it was time to return to what he needed to do, and hopefully, Silvia was alright and that he'll see her soon since Akara was now done deciphering the scroll.
But as for the dream...
was it a memory?
simply a nightmare?
or was it a premonition of some sort?
only time will tell...