Chapter 62: Dead Woods (2/2) [Bonus ]

Fog so thick that you could only see three feet in front of your face, carpeted the forest floor. A horrendous smell lingered in the moist air, one that smelled of death and decay. It was unnervingly quiet, the lack of any noise at all from the wildlife gave credence to the fact that this forest was dead. An orange light pierced through the fog, struggling to illuminate the worn animal trail just a few feet away.

A group of ten people marched slowly but steadily through the mist. The man in the lead, carrying a burning beacon of flame, was dressed in heavy plate armor and a full helm. He carried a large shield on his back and a three-foot-long morning star was strapped to his hip. A golden medallion, radiating its own orange glow, hung from his neck. It was shaped in the familiar image of the burning sun.

"Michael, what do you think is causing this?" A quiet voice asked from the middle of the group.

The man in plate armor stopped, prodding the sickening mold with his armored boot. "I've never seen anything like it before, but I do know that it isn't natural."

"Is that why the church sent you and Kain?" Another voice asked.

The man named Michael was a holy paladin sent by the church of Thesan, the Goddess of the Dawn. Kain was a holy priest of the same denomination. The church operated much more broadly within Morgania than it did in Amine, so when it was reported to the Adventurers Association that the Clessian Forest had developed a thick mist, they immediately worked with the Adventurers Association to investigate.

They had traveled several miles into the thick forest, and the fog was only growing denser. The appearance of the strange mold and lack of animals only heightened their anxiety.

"Yes. We suspected that a dungeon had grown past its boundaries. Although none had been documented in the forest, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that one was hidden away here. Now, that seems to be the case."

A woman with short brown hair, wearing light leather armor, and armed with a long bow with an arrow already nocked, spoke up. "What kind of monster would be able to contaminate the forest in such a way?"

Kain, the holy priest, was the one to answer her question. "No known monster is capable of this, unless there is an unknown species within the hidden dungeon, there is only one other answer..."

"That's impossible." Michael cut him short.

"What's impossible?" This time, a man dressed in red scaled armor spoke up. "I need to know everything, no matter how improbable it may seem."

Michael looked in the direction of Kain, who was somewhere in the middle of the group. "Go ahead and tell them, it's not a secret, just your strange hobby."

"Well." Kain started. "I dabble in the research of demons..."

"Demons? Maybe we should turn around now." The man adorned by the red scale armor said, hesitation in his voice.

"Since when do you spook so easily Carver?" The woman with the bow said with a light chuckle, the others from their group joining her.

"Quiet!" Carver shushed. "Did you all forget where we are?"

The low laughter cut off abruptly with his harsh words, the silence of the dead woods pressing down on them. Carver had led the eight of them for several years now, they were all experienced adventurers, so they knew better than to make unnecessary noise while on a mission. The fact that they rarely had an assignment outside of a dungeon, and the seemingly simple objective of this mission had given them a false sense of safety.

Kain continued after a moment of silence. "The ancient tomes of the church tell of a demon's nest transforming the area around it. It did not go into great detail, not mentioning what the changes actually consist of, just that everything living would die."

"So, this could be demons?" Carver asked.

"I highly doubt it." Michael said. "There hadn't been a demon walking our plane for hundreds of years, and to have so many that they made a nest, well, that's improbable at best."

"Could they have been trapped inside a dungeon and just recently broken out?" Kiara, the bow wielding woman asked.

"I... suppose that could have happened." Michael admitted.

A silence befell the group as they simultaneously looked around, suddenly much wearier of the obstructive fog. The same silence that filled the woods when they first entered was still present, only the wind whistling through the crooked branches could be heard. Imaginary monsters could be seen swirling within the mist as their imaginations tortured their rational minds.

Michael turned back to the animal trail, holding the torch out in front of himself. "No matter what is out there, we need to keep moving, we need to at least find what the cause of all this is."

Before they could move on, an ear-piercing snapping sound rang out. In the same moment, a golden film covered Kain's body, shrouding him in an iridescent glow. "Contact!" Carver bellowed out. The highly experienced group reacted instantly, drawing their weapons, and taking their positions.

Carver, along with two other men holding large kite shields, placed themselves in front of Kain, Kiara, and six other people. Michael also threw the beacon he held in his hand off into the distance before pulling the large shield off of his back as well. Just as he brought the heavy piece of steel up into position, an arrow impacted his shield, accompanied by the peppering of wooden shrapnel.

A downpour of arrows fell onto the group, some bouncing off their shields and armor, while others were intercepted by the adventurers themselves. The accuracy of the missiles could have been better, but being that they still hit their target even in such thick fog told them that whoever was firing at them could clearly see them. This alone put them at a huge disadvantage, they could hardly see each other, let alone their enemies.

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"Trevor, do something about this gods damn fog!" Carver called out.

A lanky man taking refuge behind Tim, one of the shield wielding men, grasped his staff and began chanting a spell. His casting speed was most definitely not the best, but the fact that this group of adventurers even had a mage as part of their group spoke volumes to how high their ranking was. The arrows continued to fall sporadically as his chanting continued, one slipping past Tim and lodging itself into the head of Trevor's staff.

Ignoring the near miss, Trevor finished his spell. "Downdraft!"

With those final words a cylindrical column of cold autumn air, with Trevor as the epicenter, descended from the starry night sky. A wave of air pushed the thick mist away from them, creating large swirls as it did so. The arrows that were pounding them without respite were now much less accurate as the wind knocked them off course. An area of one hundred feet around them was now clear of any obstruction other than the scraggly trees.

"There." Kiara mumbled under her breath as she drew back the bowstring before releasing it with an audible twang.

Her handcrafted arrow sailed through the clear air, riding the currents produced by her comrade's spell. Finding its target, but slightly off the mark, the arrowhead sunk deep into the soft flesh of the neck of one of their attackers. The shot could have been called one in a million, that is, until the next arrow punctured the man's forehead, driving through his skull and sticking out the back. The hail of arrows immediately ceased as their attackers took refuge behind the many trees within the forest.

"What do you see Kiara?" Carver asked as he positioned himself further out from the group.

Kiara scanned the area around them, her eyes burning with an aqua hued glow. "I counted more than fifteen, but they're fast, I almost missed my shot."

"You and William know what to do." Carver said, keeping his eyes trained on the forest. "Jake, stick to Trevor and feed him as many mana potions as he can handle. Jake, keep up the spell, that damned fog is bound to roll back in. Hank and Tim, protect them and Kain; Siena, with me."

With his orders, the members of his company moved with fluid, practiced motions. William, a man wielding a bow much like Kiara's moved to the side of the group. He always made sure to look in the opposite direction than what his fellow ranger was. Jake was a man dressed in all black, he even hid his face behind a black mask. He withdrew a long dagger as he stealthily relocated next to Trevor, ready to intercept any more arrows that would surely come their way.

Hank and Tim were front line fighters tasked with keeping the others safe behind their thick steel shields. Finally, Siena, was also a frontline fighter, but much like their leader, was a sword fighter. She held a curved rapier loosely in her right hand and she kept a low stance, ready to move at any given notice.

An arrow sliced through the air, quickly followed by another from the opposite direction. Both of those arrows were answered with one from Kiara and William each, one finding the mark and the other just barely missing. Loud cursing could be heard from off into the distance, drawing the attention of each of the adventurers.

Michael took a heavy step forward, his eyes narrowed, glaring into the darkness behind the slit in his helmet. A brilliant flash of pure white light engulfed his entire body and brightened the forest around them. The light lasted but a brief moment, but it was enough for Michael to be able to make out his target. His bulky frame, not hindered by his heavy armor in the slightest, moved elegantly as he weaved between the trees.

Steel arrowheads glanced off of his polished armor, only his eyes were a weak point, but only a god could have threaded an arrow through the slit in his helmet. Standing before him, throwing his bow to the side, was a rough looking man dressed in light leather armor. It was hard to see his features through the darkness, but the glint of steel being held in his hand was easy enough for anyone to see.

Brandishing his morning star, Michael swung hard, aiming for the hilt of the man's sword. As a paladin of the Church of the Dawn, he had been trained thoroughly in the ways of battle. His main objective was to disarm his enemy before killing him quickly. His body had been boosted by Kain's fortification spell, so his strength, speed, and reaction time had become superhuman.

Which was why he was so surprised when, instead of the man's hand becoming crushed by the head of his morningstar, it was parried. Bringing his shield up, Michael managed to block the counterattack. Sparks lit up the darkness around them and his left arm tingled from the impact. Feeling that he had made a mistake, Michael took a few quick steps back, giving the man some space.

A grotesque smile spread across the rough looking man's face as he pressed into Michael, quickly closing the recently opened distance. Relieved to see such reckless behavior, Michael sidestepped, allowing the man to slide by him. Not missing the opportunity, he swung his weapon, knuckles white, and impacted the man in the back of the head.

Feeling and hearing the crunch of bone and squelch of brain matter, Michael quickly retreated back to the group. Sporadic arrows would strike his armor, making loud 'Tink Tink' noises as he moved. He made it back to the group safely just as a lull in the rain of arrows allowed them to catch their breaths.

"Something's not right Carver." Kiara started. "I'm certain I've killed the same men several times by now."

"Undead?" Hank asked as he deflected an arrow.

"No, they're not undead, I would have felt it if they were." Kain added as he clutched a small stone he had taken out of his robe's pocket.

Michael looked over in the direction of where he had just come from. "The one I killed is still dead."

The arrows stopped flying altogether now, leaving them with only their thoughts. Then, the noise of bootsteps sounded out from every direction. The mist had been driven away, but the clouds in the sky moved in to block the moonlight, making it almost impossible to see. The many footsteps moved in closer, prompting them to tighten ranks.

"Kain, light." Michael muttered.

In a smooth motion, Kain threw the stone he had been holding tightly in his hand, straight up into the air. As the small stone reached its zenith, it froze in place before it began to spin rapidly. A high-pitched whine came from the small rotating stone, then abruptly, light. Light so bright that every inch of the forest within a quarter of a mile was illuminated, revealing the evils hidden within.

They all could clearly see now that they were outnumbered nearly two to one. Men that had been baptized in violence had encircled them, their eyes all glowing a faint crimson red. Several of them had signs of profusely bleeding wounds that had already healed dotting their bodies. One man even had an arrow still lodged deep into his ribs as he confidently strode towards them.

"Carver, look!" Kiara said, clearly startled, as she pointed at a man that had blood smeared on his face and a fresh scar on the center of his forehead.

Carver took in a sharp breath, taking everything in.. "Do what Michael did, bash their fucking brains in."

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