Day 151: Playing catch-up

     Oddly enough, last night I didn't have the same dream that I have had four time previous... I still can't tell if there is any meaning to them, and I've yet to even decide if it's worth telling anyone about them. I know no-one would laugh at me, that's not the issue, but whether they would believe me is... Well, not actually believing me; it's not impossible for me to have had those dreams, but whether they think there is anything to them aside from them just being dreams... For all I know there very well could be, but it just seems so hard to determine which is the correct one... Then again it could just be a serious of different outcomes depending on who or what activates the portal. If that is the case then the only thing that needs to be determined is why I am the only one having these dreams...? After waking up, we set off almost immediately, stopping only to pack up our gear and ready some food we could eat as we went along. THEROS seemed desperate to start off the day quickly, and within half an hour or so of waking up, we had already walked a great deal of a distance.

"What are the chances we'd end up coming across the guard team that are ahead of us? Like how would we deal with them if we found them up ahead setting up a camp or just further along the trail...?"

"Same way we always do, surely. The blowpipes! Knocking them out from a distance would be a lot better than stalking them otherwise they could see us and deal with us before we get the chance..."

"Is that the plan then...? If we see them up ahead we take them out with the blowpipes and move ahead of them?"

"Definitely! If we do that it buys us at least an hour's travel time to move ahead of them and get to the next structure! It doesn't matter so much about who has the next Eye as we'll both be in the same position..."

"True, but I'd feel more comfortable if we had more than them... It'd make it harder for them to take the ones we would have then."

"Yeah, but what's stopping any Elite guards nearby from either knocking us out or killing us, and taking the one we have now, and then heading back to our base to get the other one?"

"Keep it down! We can't say stuff like that out loud! We don't know who's watching or listening! I suppose there's nothing stopping them if they are close by, and we wouldn't have much of a choice to be honest."

The wall we had been following along our right now began to bend around even further across, causing us to change our path. I was getting the impression that THEROS was sticking close to the wall to ensure the overlying shadow hid us from anyone that might either be ahead looking back, or following behind us. I was still under the impression that if there was anyone else out here, the HoN Co. guards included, we were still following them, not the other way around... It wasn't long though before we were forced to follow the wall a little more closely than I would have liked. The pathway narrowed significantly, exposing a long drop to a fiery death below. At some parts we were practically hugging the walls to ensure we didn't fall or stumble off the edge, but luckily they were few and far between. Eventually we had reached a section of the wall that had curved sufficiently for us to now be heading pretty much due West... According to the map that THEROS was now studying, we were very close to the South edge of the map, and in danger of dropping off entirely. Luckily the long drop to the lava below was stopping us going any further South.

"How much farther do we need to travel? Surely it should be close by?"

"It is... Very close... In fact we should be able to see it..."

Looking out across what little expanse of dark stone we could to the West, we tried to look for the structure. Then I got the idea it would be easier to see it if we searched the lava lake below us and looked for the struts that held up the bridges. It wasn't long before we found it, and a few minutes later, we stood before the last structure!

     We had continued along to the West following the wall and running alongside the passage of one of the exposed tunnels of the structure, pretty much parallel for some time, trying to find a way in. Looking out across to the far South side we had hoped to see a slightly larger bridge network, but we just saw a large collection of enclosed buildings which suggested the actual main structure. That would mean, logically, the bridges would span further out towards the North. We continued to follow the wall, hoping to find a break in it somewhere to allow us to travel North, but for the time being we were stuck heading due West. Eventually the break in the wall we were looking for was visible, allowing us to head in the desired direction, but we stopped a moment, a little confused. Large columns of Nether stone brick propelled themselves down from the ceiling and met with the stone floor.

"These must be the struts that hold up the bridges... It must have been built partially over land for easy access, although that kind of contradicts what we've seen with the others."

We headed North West through the large obelisk-like towers of stone brick hoping to find a more direct route onto the bridge network so we could get inside. But there were no signs of a staircase that we could exploit, nor did the Nether stone seem to angle upwards to allow us to travel back on ourselves... Then I stopped... THEROS and THEXIS continued walking, but I was more intrigued by an odd light source up ahead. Peering into the distance, I could make out a series of torches that seemed to illuminate one of the struts that supported a bridge section. Thinking this was odd, I moved a little closer to get a better look and realised what I was looking at! Calling THEROS and THEXIS back, I pointed up to what I could see and a THEROS smiled.

"I think we just found our way in!"

THEROS seemed happy that we had found a way up to the bridge. I was still grappling with the idea that a wooden staircase wound its way around the base of the strut, right up to the top. HoN Co. was here! They had beaten us again!

Syeonyx signing off