The next day was much like the last, uneventful. The traveling party couldn't help but feel relieved in the apparent in-abundance of demons as they headed down the trade road. Earlier in the day they had passed the remains of one of the two other villages that had been a part of the trade market before it was taken out by the plague that had struck it, but the party had made no effort to investigate it. The memory of the plague demon they had encountered at Springton was still too fresh in their minds. The party did, however, stop shortly into the afternoon to catch a few more fish from the stream that seemed to parallel the trade route. Their few breaks to eat were the only times that the group had to rest as they made their way following the trade road east. It was reaching into evening when the group finally stumbled across the other town that had been taken out by the plague.

"Looks like the road ends here." Brandon stared at the ruined town sitting before them.

Ray nodded. "This is about as far out east as the trade goes because of the density of the forest, so we should be getting pretty close to the Sea of Trees by now." The dragon rubbed the back of his neck in consideration. "Looks like we'll have to take to the woods again to keep moving. I doubt we'll find anymore trails like this until we hit the next village, and that's still a few days away."

"So now how do we keep from getting lost out in the forest?" Janet crossed her arms and gave Ray an uneasy look. "We could just end up going in circles out in those woods and not even know it."

"Simple," Ray shrugged. "We'll follow that stream that's been running along this route. It's gotta go somewhere, so it's probably going to continue out farther east until it empties, and generally towns are built near sources of water so we should run across a town eventually if we keep following it."

Janet wasn't too thrilled at the idea, but it was the only option they had. Grudgingly she followed as the group headed past the dead trade town and out into the forest as they started to follow the creak.

"Well, look on the bright side," Lucy's words weren't directed to anyone in particular. "At least we've got the nice noise of the stream here." No one argued with her. The babbling noise of the water seemed to have a calming affect on the group as they headed through the woods. The group stopped again later in the evening for more fish, and then finally at dusk to set up camp.

"There goes those damn birds again." Jason muttered as he, Ray and Brandon worked to put together a fire. "Didn't notice them earlier."

"Neither did I actually." Lucy glanced at the woods around her. "Wonder where they are, don't see anything."

Janet shrugged. "Doesn't matter. As long as they don't keep me up at night I don't care." She yawned and stretched her arms before settling herself down to watch the guys get the fire together. Jason was standing aside, waiting for Ray and Brandon to give him the okay. They did and the windian ignited the pile of sticks with one of his fireballs. The group settled themselves around the fire, listening to the noise of the stream and the far off whistling and chittering noises.

"I'll stay up again tonight." Jason poked at the fire with another long stick.

"You need your sleep." Brandon shook his head. "You were up all night last night."

"I can't fucking sleep!" Jason snapped loudly and dropped his stick into the fire.

"Jason?" Lucy gave him a startled look. "Are you alright?"

The red haired windian shook his head and muttered. "I can't get to sleep. I fucking tried all night long last night and I can't get to sleep."

"Why not?"

"How the fuck am I supposed to know?" Jason shook his head. "I just can't, alright? It's like... I dunno, it's like something won't let me sleep..."

Janet glanced at the dark woods around them and rubbed her arms. "I know how you feel... it's creepy out here... took me a while to get to sleep last night, and when I finally did fall asleep I kept having these nightmares." The windian sighed.

Lucy shrugged. "I haven't dreamt for the past few nights. Well, I think I have once or twice, but I can't remember."

"Your lucky." Janet stared into the fire. "I'd rather not dream then have to put up with these nightmares again." The conversation around the fire died down a little and the sound of the water and birds filled the night air again.

"Did anyone notice those birds during the day?" Ray was now looking around, trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. His question was greeted with the shaking of heads.

"I just thought I hadn't noticed them earlier..." Janet shrugged. Lucy stared thoughtfully into the fire.

"Come to think of it, it was pretty quiet today." The raven-haired windian glanced over to Ray. "The birds didn't start up until about dusk."

"So maybe they're night birds or something." Jason muttered. "Whatever the hell they are they're FUCKING ANNOYING!" He shouted the last part out into the darkness that surrounded the small camp. "And they need to shut the hell up before I put an arrow through their little heads!"

"Lack of sleep makes you pretty irritable, you know that?" Janet raised an eyebrow at Jason.

"No shit." The windian rolled his eyes in response.

"Alright you two, let's try and get some sleep. We've got another long day ahead of us tomorrow." Brandon stretched his wings before turning to Jason. "Sure you'll be alright tonight?"

Jason nodded. The group settled themselves down for the night, slowly drifting off into sleep and leaving Jason to watch the fire.