They had been traveling for a day. Being on the airship, there was no way that Kaleb was aware of what was going on down below. Being a mage and in tune with magic, he could sense a strange feeling in the air. Then again it could just be the air in this land was different than what he was used to. He was seated on the airship, with his head in his hands. One might think that he was sleeping, however he was contemplating the things that have transpired the last couple of months. A delicate hand slowly was placed on his shoulder, belonging to a woman as he lifted his head up out of his hands and glanced at her with his green eyes. The captain of the airship, Summer had sat down beside him. Smiling at him faintly she just looked back at him. The young mage let out a long sigh before she finally spoke up."We are about ready to dock in Mamlak. I hope you find what you're looking for here in Canelux, but if you're looking for peace and quiet, I doubt you'll find it in this great city."

He sat up some and smirked a little, something he hadn't done in a while. Then again he hadn't had this kind of social contact in a long time. "I'm just sight seeing right now. The peace and quiet will come later. If this land is where I plan to stay then I must explore all facets of it. I must search in every body of water, in every mountain, and even in every glorified city. I need to know all there is to know about Canelux." His response was a shocking one to Summer, but it only made the airship captain smile and even chuckle a little as she brushed a piece of blonde hair out of her face. "Well don't worry, if a glorified city is what you're looking for, Mamlak is the place to be."

The airship began to lower into the city, close to docking. A voice was heard from up front of the ship, calling Summer's name. They had told her she better come look at something. She excused herself from Kaleb and quickly walked towards the front of the ship. Kaleb arched an eyebrow before running a hand through his short brown hair. What in the Gods could possibly be going on now. Standing up slowly, he began to walk towards the front of the ship as well. Maybe the authorities were stopping air traffic or worse, maybe the authorities found out who he was and plan on turning him back over to his people. However it wasn't anything like that at all. As he walked into the cockpit of the airship he glanced outside he couldn't believe his eyes. It was beautiful. The city looked amazing, however something was off. The rivers flowed and the waterfalls looked grand but they weren't blue. In fact they didn't even look like there was water in them. Leaning closer, his curiosity once again getting the better of him.

"Are you sure you want to visit here right now?" Summer had asked Kaleb. "Something is definitely wrong." With no hesitation the young mage nodded to her. "Bring her down. I told you, all facets." He smiled some. The airship captain admired this young man's courage. Then again maybe it was stupidity. She looked at him for some time before turning to look back outside. It was then she noticed a key detail about the city. "Wait, where are the Golden Lion Statues?!" She began to think of all the strange things happening in Canelux recently and grabbed Kaleb's arm. "I know you think you need to do this but I urge you not to go out there. We drop you off here, we aren't staying, and we will not come back for you. Our deal was to drop you off where you wanted and we would be on our way." He turned his eyes away from the city before placing a hand on her hand that was placed on his arm. "I will be fine. Summer you and your crew get out of here. I need to see this." Kaleb had replied. She let out a sigh, a worried look on her face and she finally told her pilot to dock so Kaleb could get out.

As the airship slowly approached the dock, the pilot eased it down before other crew members opened the door quickly and attached the airship to the ramp. The young mage didn't hesitate to head towards the exit. Before he got fully to the door, Summer had stopped him again. "It was nice meeting you Kaleb, good luck." He arched an eyebrow and nodded to her with a smile. Not saying a word, he walked off of the airship and slowly down the ramp. The smell in the air was something almost putrid. It had him like a smack in the face. Finally stepping onto the docks off the ramp, Kaleb began to walk towards the city. His first endeavor was to check out the rivers and that waterfall. Why were they red? His interest was peaked and he needed to know. At the end of the docks were two small pillars on either side that looked as if there were suppose to be statues sitting on top of them, however they were missing. Taking in a deep breath, he walked passed the two pillars and into the city.

"Stay close to me Bran. there's something lurking about." He'd been in Mamlak only a few days before it all went pear-shaped. Suddenly the water was turning to blood, and the golden statues the people loved so much had come to life. On second thought, maybe statues of a fierce predator wasn't such a great idea. The black jackal kept close to the orc, as he tried to pick his way through the city. He had to move to the edge of the city and make trips to the Laeto Rainforest since it all happened. The humid heat made the waterfalls of blood reek up a stench worse than a fishmonger's on an Ignius day, and Delanac had been breathing through his mouth since then.

Bran let out a whimper and he paused to see what was wrong. "Hey boy…easy now." Following the jackal's gaze he saw a golden maw growling not more than ten feet away. "…Knickers." The orc muttered, and hefted his battleaxe. The lion charged, snarling and he lunged to the side. Swinging with all his might, he hacked at the back of the animated statue, taking off one of the legs. Gold was pretty soft for a metal, so it helped ease the fact a whole lot of it was trying to maul him. Exposing the stone structure beneath, he only had a few moments before the now three-legged lion swiped at him again. The jackal was barking and growling, but seeing it was larger than it the dog was staying behind its owner.

After removing all the legs, he swung down with a final blow–and the statue was lifeless. Wiping sweat running down his brow, Delanac picked up Bran and began to look for a safe place. Taking one of those down had worn him out, and he wasn't too keen on meeting another one today. The lions seemed to focus more on staying in the city, so he'd have to hide out in the jungle not too far away. Still, it was too dangerous to trek through it all without a guide and the airships not docking due to the danger meant he'd be stuck here until somebody came by. "I'm glad my pa was a blacksmith." He said to the dog. If it wasn't for him, he wouldn't have to strength to keep those golden lions off his back. The city was pretty much deserted or everyone was in hiding. Moving was a big risk, as drawing the attention of the lions was a fast way to end up on their menu. It was a good thing Bran was being good, or they'd be in trouble.

For such a magnificent city, it was really quiet here. Not quiet in the sense that he was here at night and all the shops were closed. It was the kind of quiet that you knew that something was off, that something was wrong and that if you stuck around long enough you were going to find out exactly what. The green eyes of the man walking along the outskirts of town scanned over the abandon parts of the city, as he didn't care too much about that. He was curious of the state of this city. He wanted to know why the water was red. He wanted to know why it was quiet. The young mage wasn't a fool though. He had an internal warning in his mind telling him that he was most likely in danger. It occurred to him that the use of concentrated magic may be needed here. As he slowly reached into his robe he pulled out his wand. "Hard to stay out of trouble if you're suddenly looking for it…" Kaleb slowly muttered to himself.

Something had been following him. It had been since shortly after he entered the city. The young mage had no idea though. His eyes followed the river as he intended to try and find the source of it. He didn't realize that it would take him closer to the jungle. It had taken some time but he finally decided to walk up to the river now that he was within view of the jungle and knelt down slowly beside it. The smell itself was awful. Was it the smell of this river or just the smell in the air in general. It almost reeked of decay. That is where this smell was familiar to him. Dead bodies. As he was knelt beside this river it had looked almost as if he had frozen in place, like he wasn't with the world anymore. Not too far behind him traveling in hiding as best as possible was an animal with a golden body.

He was breathing heavy from running. It was very fortunate for him and Skyler that they found this small little hut in the middle of these woods. Trevin was following after them hard and he wasn't sure if he had it in him anymore to fight back. He just wanted to collapse and pass out. He felt his weak body fall against the wall as started to catch his breath. It was then he finally smelled something horrid. His traveling partner and the girl he swore to protect had been frozen the moment they walked into the hut. She was staring at a hole in the floor. His green eyes looked to her for a second before they slowly followed her gaze and they settled on the hole in the floor as well. Flies were hovering over what looked to be a pit and flying all around. Some type of beetles were also present, crawling all over what was in that pit. At least a dozen stiff, bloody, dismembered bodies lay there. Who knows how long they had been there but the smell was awful. He only assumed at least a week.

A twig that had been close by snapped as the golden creature who had been following Kaleb stepped on it. This had snapped him out of whatever the hell flashback he found himself in and he quickly turned around gathering up energy in his right hand, clenching the wand in his left. He knew that he didn't have enough time to gather up the energy for an offensive attack. So defense it was. The energy forming in his right hand was bright, extremely bright. As his green eyes fell on a golden lion that was now rushing towards him, the young mage flung this bright ball of energy at it and rolled some expecting the lion to be there at any moment. As the ball of energy hit the lion in it's face, it roared annoyingly and the ball exploded into a bright flash as bright as the sun. Fist pumping a little celebrating that he had hit his target, Kaleb got to his feet and quickly began to run towards the jungle. He had bought himself some time as that sunburst would leave the creature blinded for a little bit.

The first few days before things went wrong had been as normal as usual. The markets were busy with peddlers trying to snag a few less-wary customers and shipments were coming in and out. But then, something terrible caused the ground to shake like everything was going to fall down. A strange glow had come all over the statues, and once they came to life they mauled those closest to them. The screams as people were being torn apart in the streets marked the start of a bloody nightmare. The water turned to blood, and people were fleeing into the jungle. Even with its dangers, they at least had a slim chance of getting away. There's nothing more terrible than a beast that can't bleed, with all the strength and wild instinct of the thing it was in the shape of. Spears were useless and swords weren't much better if they weren't strong enough, so he was lucky to have his axe. 

Skulking to the closest point where the jungle began, Delanac thought he and Bran were in the clear when he heard a roar. Holding his breath, he whirled his head around to see if some golden beast was after them and relaxed a bit when he saw none. But then, Bran began to let out a low whine. A large gilded lion with a full mane walked out from behind a pillar, and bared its fangs in a snarl. Then, more in smaller sizes emerged from the city and the orc felt his body breaking out in a cold sweat. Holding the jackal closer, he was clearly surrounded. Even with his axe he'd be in pieces just after the first one was done. "Ah knickers knickers knickers–" Delanac grimaced, not noticing someone also fleeing for the jungle's safety. As the lions began closing in on him, he began muttering under his breath working up that safety spell he hoped he would never have to use.

Seconds were ticking as he began casting a spell of safe passage drawn on a small traveler's charm he'd got a while back. "Come on, work! Don't bail on me now, swyn teithiwr!" He said, half-pleading with the protective trinket as death's jaws steadily drew closer. The lions were no longer staying passive and started to crouch, ready to pounce. "O ragor o ddarn diogel, anfonwch fi i ffwrdd!" The orc cried just as a lion pounced roaring in the air! Closing his eyes and expecting the worst, suddenly a burst of magic enveloped him and his jackal–and they vanished into thin air. The runic symbol which had appeared beneath them lingered a moment longer after it had done its work, then faded away.

Meanwhile, Delanac found himself in an abandoned hut disoriented and dizzy. Did…did the spell work? He hesitantly opened his eyes and found he was inside what was an abandoned building, with planks of wood boarding up the windows and door blockaded from his side. "I think…it worked! Praise the gods, the bangle trinket worked!" Setting his dog down, he peered through the cracks of the wood planks and saw he was on one of the higher residences in the city. So far no lions were in sight, but he wasn't in the jungle. It seemed like the traveler's charm didn't send you directly to where you wanted to be, but randomly transported you to what it considered a safe location. But of all the places, why here? Any further thoughts were interrupted by something heavy smacking into the back of his head right after Bran began yelping.

"GET OUTTA MAH HUT, YE LAND SQUATTERS!" A cantankerous and elderly voice crowed as the orc blacked out. As luck would have it, the spell sent him to the blocked up domicile of an old medicine woman who owned a rather big walking stick. Her hut was on a high point just on the edge of the city where the Laeto Rainforest was the closest, a very defensible location for surviving some plague or infestation of rampaging beasts. Unfortunately said medicine woman had a bad temper worse than a river crocodile starved for days, and she didn't like surprise visitors.