However cut-and-dry Kaldalis wanted to make the decision, he still agonized over it. Ultimately, he decided to split the difference.

He wanted to hunt for more of these grizzled dragons - and perhaps other new foes as well - but he had ranged very far away from the other quest areas. In fact, he hadn’t seen another player since the beach, and the grizzled dragon had been an even fight. He’d managed to get away only taking a little damage, but he didn’t seem to be passively regenerating. Or, at least, if he was, it was going very slowly. If he bit off more than he could chew - especially something that moved a little quicker than the burly bearlike lizard - he would be unlikely to see any kind of help, no matter how loud he shouted.

Intelligently, he should work to get to safety.

But at the same time, he had so much to gain from a little bit more adventure. The research notes he’d acquired were of unknown value to him in terms of quest rewards, but to the expedition as a whole they could be of immeasurable importance. Providing more to the Adventurers League might help everyone.

Splitting the difference was a simple matter, thanks to his minimap. He elected to circle around through the wilderness, keeping his same relative distance to the camp they were setting up on the beach, just to explore a little bit more, before returning back towards the encampment to finish his quests. He made a deal with himself that if he found something he would investigate, but if he didn’t discover anything of interest, he would stop hunting and get back to work on the rest of the quests. He still had to gather some medicinal herbs and soil samples, after all. He was more than capable of satisfying both his obligations and his curiosities.

As Kaldalis picked his way through the jungle, he did his best to remain quiet and aware of his surroundings. He was no woodsman, but he focused on what he’d read in books. He watched where he put his feet, planning his steps, but while keeping his head up at every opportunity. For the first ten minutes, the life in the forest was much as he noticed before. He considered a few of the smaller creatures that flitted through the woods. There were a number of smaller beasts. Flitting around the area were more of those orange-winged birds, and in the undergrowth he saw more than a few other smaller furry things. Nothing that struck him as important.

There was one monster of interest he saw.

It looked to be about waist-high to him, so he wasn’t sure if it was really a monster or just an overlarge ambient creature. It looked like some sort of aquatic weasel, but bipedal. Its hind legs were squat, of proportions he expected for a ferret or ermine, but its forelimbs were longer, to more human proportions.

Kaldalis thought to investigate further, perhaps to see if killing it might grant him some additional research notes, but as soon as it saw him, it turned and vanished into the undergrowth with an angry chittering noise. He thought to give chase, but it ran through undergrowth, not along any existing path.

With the pace it set, giving chase would be a good way to sprain an ankle.

He let it go for now.

The next few minutes of the jungle were uneventful. He watched his feet, and watched his surroundings. He thought for a moment that he saw another grizzled bear in the undergrowth, but what he actually found was an unusual piece of brush with large waxy leaves in roughly the same color. The texture of the leaves had looked like scales from a distance, but from within a few feet it was easy to tell the difference.

Of course, Kaldalis learned it was just a bush after having stabbed at the leaf with his spear. At least he hadn’t been surrounded by other players, or had made some manly yell right before attacking.

Hopefully no one was watching his stream.

With a grimace, Kaldalis went to move on from that little misadventure. But he stopped himself. Something wasn’t quite right. He couldn’t put his finger on what until he took a step.

His footfall sounded so loud.

That was what gave it away.

The entire jungle around him had fallen silent. No more little birdsong, or rustling brush, or distant mating calls.

The forest was still.

Hiding.

Kaldalis did his best to quietly get underneath the broad leaves he’d just attacked. The wide-leaved plant offered a surprising amount of cover, and he patted the thick woody trunk of the shrub, whispering a quiet apology for his earlier rudeness, hoping that it might hide him from whatever threat the rest of the jungle was respecting.

He felt it before he saw it.

Like out of a movie the jungle itself seemed to rumble at its strides. He wondered that anything needed to hide, but it was possible if he was still making noise, it wouldn’t be a slow plodding series of thumps. It might be coming on at speed, thundering through the jungle ready to attack.

He didn’t see it clearly, but it wasn’t enormous. Only giant. At least ten feet tall at the shoulder, but twenty feet from snout to tail. The bulk of the beast was feathered in a blue-purple shade, though brown-green scales poked through in places, especially around the snout and feet. It didn’t pass right over him, but on the other side of some trees, so he only saw flickers of it between the branches. He only got the view he did by peering through the narrow hole he’d stabbed through the leaf that gave him cover.

As the thumping of its feet faded into the distance, he blew out a breath of relief. “It might seem a lot to ask,” he said, patting the stalk of the bush that had covered him, “but you wouldn’t happen to know what that was, right?”

The stomping stopped for a moment, and then began to grow louder again. He slapped a hand over his mouth and tried not to make a sound as he hunched back down in his hiding place again. He found himself silently mouthing apologies to the plant and trying to figure out how he could try to outrun something that size.

It passed right over him this time. He had gotten a good view of its size before, but seeing it up close was something else. Its enormous snout was filled with teeth, each one the size of one of his fingers, and it just barely passed over his brush as its beady yellow eyes scanned the area, hunting for the source of the noise that had drawn it back.

Kaldalis held his breath. He had stopped moving in a slightly awkward position and his leg was cramping, but he stayed perfectly still, ignoring his muscles’ protests. He tried to focus his attention away from the animal parts of his brain and towards the analytical directions. What could he discern about the creature? It was huge and feathered, yes, with very sensitive hearing. But what else?

It had a command of the jungle. Everything feared it, and rightly so. It was giant, and as he watched he could see purplish fluid in its saliva dribbling down its feathered chin. Poison? A deadly bite, then. Something to be feared. Something that could chase a whole settlement of adventurers off of the island, and leave them traumatized by the struggle.

The Infernal Horde.

This creature had to be one of them. This was the big threat to the expedition. And with this one hovering over him, sniffling at the air, he could understand why. A poisonous bite would mean that survivors would see their friends die slowly even after the battle, which was no doubt awful for morale. If a group of them came within aggro range of the settlement, they would wreak untold havoc, destroying the group’s numbers and crushing the temporary shelters with its raw size during the fight. Even if the settlement won the fight, they would have to rebuild all over again. And if there might be some larger than even this one? Winning the fight might not be possible.

The beast eventually gave up the search and started to stomp off again. Kaldalis waited patiently this time, not wanting to draw its attention back to trap him beneath this plant for the rest of the day. Once he started to hear the jungle sounds around himself again, he got back up to his feet, thanking the plant again for giving him the cover he needed to avoid an unwanted encounter with the giant monster that just walked over him.

He turned towards the camp - and his next quest objective - before he paused. What he’d just seen was the biggest threat to their mission here. The Infernal Horde has been barely discussed on the whole trip, and even then, only in whispers. Even the NPCs didn’t know anything about them besides their reputation.

He thought again of the research notes in his inventory.

He took a deep breath and made a choice. It wasn’t a choice an accountant would make. But he was no accountant. Not anymore. Kaldalis was bold. He only hoped he wasn’t a fool as he followed the giant tracks through the jungle, tailing the giant feathered creature.