Rise of the Champions

by Nicholas Joslin

  “It wasn’t. The land was like the rest of the forest. The ruins are close ahead as well. It seems that something is destroying, or perhaps controlling the land here,” Anna replied.

  She nearly held her breath in anticipation as she stepped on the almost spongy surface. It quivered under her step, and she almost fell ill as she stared down at the nasty, black ground. She knew they had to press forward, but something didn’t feel right.

  “It’s like the land is living…” commented one of the warriors from behind her.

  Others agreed as they all hesitantly stepped onto the strange living flesh. To Anna, it felt as though she was walking in a semi-dried puddle of mud, but the sound, appearance, and slight odorous smell of it prevented her from pretending it was anything but a strange growth.

  “The ruins are just ahead,” Anna said quietly over her shoulder. “Let’s slowly make our way there. Keep your eyes open.”

  “Oh, I won’t have a problem looking away from this disgusting abomination,” Titus replied, frowning at the ground.

  As they continued, Anna was stunned to see all the flora of the forest had fallen victim to the strange material as well. Plants on the ground had begun to wither, and the bark of nearby trees had turned dark black as the living ground crept up their surfaces. It was a terrible sight, and she shuddered to think what was causing it.

  They continued through the tainted forest, finally coming to the abandoned town. As they walked through the town, there were no signs of the Horrors. In fact, the quiet was tormenting Anna more than the sight of the Horrors themselves. There was no way they had simply vanished, and she knew their group was probably walking into a trap, but they had to press on and see what was going on.

  “This is incredibly strange. These buildings are so … decently constructed,” Titus said, clenching his greatsword.

  “Yes. Whoever lived here had superior craftsmanship. I wonder if whatever is happening now happened to them,” Anna replied.

  “I only hope they were not as strong as we are,” Titus quickly added.

  Anna had the same fear. If these lost people had fallen to this strange enemy, then what chance did the Narsho people have? Everything pointed to these ruins being from a more advanced, or at least more intelligent group of people. If the Horrors had caused their demise, Anna feared for her people.

  Continuing down the flesh-covered cobblestone path, Anna noticed her warriors entranced with the surroundings. Interestingly, the buildings didn’t seem to be covered by the strange living ground. She looked closer at a small home they were passing and saw that it appeared as though the strange fleshy substance was having a hard time taking hold of the buildings. In fact, it appeared to overtake anything living with great ease.

  As they continued toward the town square, Anna’s anxiety mounted with each fleshy step. She could see the well in the distance, which was only feet away from where she had seen Fredrik fall. She knew what she may see, his lifeless body still lying there. In fact, she had tortured herself over every scenario in her head. Still, she was ready for whatever came, or at least she hoped she was.

  However, as they reached the center of the town, there was nothing in sight beyond the strange ground and untouched buildings. Fredrik’s body was nowhere to be found. Briefly forgetting about the world around her, she looked around the cobbled square, scanning around all the buildings. She even ran into the large building they had searched together.

  Unfortunately, there was nothing inside the large building either. The growth had already seeped in through the open doors, yet Fredrik was nowhere to be found. Not only that, there were also no Horrors around. She closed her eyes for a moment, part of her feeling cheated at being denied closure. A tear dropped from her eye as she felt a mix of anger and sorrow.

  It took a few moments to regain her composure, knowing her job here was not yet done. No, it seemed the foul growth was spreading from a certain direction, and if they found the source, they may be able to find out how to destroy the deadly new foe. She straightened herself out, took a deep breath, and walked back outside.

  She found the warriors had spread out, examining the nearby buildings and heading down the other paths to other parts of the ruined town. Titus had been standing by the well looking at the building she had been in, obviously waiting for her. She approached him, not in the mood for his usual sarcasm or rudeness.

  “Is this where you fought them?” Titus asked, the slightest hint of suspicion in his voice.

  “It was. Right here. I’m sorry I ran off like that. I just expected to… well, find Fredrik’s body here,” Anna admitted.

  “That’s understandable. I’d want to try to find one of my men if I had to leave him. Although, I’d do anything in my power to not leave them in the first place…” Titus replied, seemingly unaware at how offensive his statement was.

  Anna ignored it and simply walked off, shutting Titus out of her head. Based on the direction she had come, she could somewhat tell where the start of the corruption might have been. However, she didn’t want to venture too far, and felt slightly defeated. Between Fredrik and not finding anything here besides the living ground, she began to lose hope.

  She sighed, staring at the wretched land around her. Now the Cursed Lands truly began to look like their namesake, though part of her believed it had gotten its name under different circumstances. After all, it hadn’t been here only a week earlier. If this odd sickness had been what wiped out the prior people here, why would it have disappeared? Wouldn’t it have spread? She didn’t know, but something in her gut told her this was a new threat to their realm.

  “Champion Fardson! Scout Myhre!” a young warrior yelled as he sprinted up the farthest pathway out of town.

  Anna quickly walked toward the man, Titus following her. As she neared the warrior, he looked as though he had something truly disturbing. She recognized him as Wil Tukor, potentially the youngest of the group. If she remembered, he was still but a teenager.

  “What is it?” Anna asked as they approached each other.

  “I found something strange, I don’t even know what to call it. Please, you should see it for yourselves,” Wil replied as he caught his breath.

  “Alright, lead the way,” Anna replied, glancing at Titus. “We should bring everyone.”

  “Warriors! We’re leaving!” Titus barked at the top of his lungs, looking around the town square.

  The group formed as Anna followed Wil, wondering what the young warrior had found. Based on his lack of description and the fact he was still breathing, she knew it wasn’t a Horror, or Fredrik for that matter. He must have found something quite out of the ordinary.

  They followed him down the relatively short path leading out of the city, and as they turned a corner around the final home, Anna’s eyes were instantly drawn to something. Not far from them was a strange, large object on the ground.

  “There, that’s it,” the warrior said, slowing his pace as though he were afraid to get near it.

  Anna didn’t hesitate and passed Wil, walking closer. It was a strange looking thing, like a sort of tendril, root-like object that had grown straight along the ground for so far that she couldn’t see where it began. It was quite large and easily was six or seven feet in circumference. If it wasn’t for the sickly, purple color and flesh-like appearance, she could have been convinced it was the emerging root of an enormous tree. Interestingly, the living ground didn’t try to take control of the tendril and was just as far in the distance as the tendril was.

  “Anna, be careful!” Titus yelled from behind her.

  Anna ignored him, now standing inches from the tendril. The closer she examined the foreign object, the more disgusted she was. Its flesh seemed hardened, with only small holes here and there coating it. It looked like it was made of the same substance as the Horrors. She could only assume following the tendril would lead them to the heart of the issue.

  “We need to follow it back,” Anna quickly said, turning and facin
g her stunned warriors.

  “Er, are you certain it is necessary?” Titus asked, trying to hide his fear.

  “Yes; the chieftain must know the size of this threat,” Anna quickly answered, turning back around and walking.

  She could hear Titus swear under his breath before ordering the warriors to follow her. At least the Champion’s pride wouldn’t let him turn back, something Anna could use. She needed to know what lay in the distance, and if possible, find Fredrik’s fate in the process.

  She pressed on, following the tendril through the thick, corrupted forest. A strange odor was in the air, one that reeked of death. The tendril had carefully wrapped its way through any opening between the trees, rocks, and other obstacles in the forest. While the path was not a straight one, the tendril itself could easily be followed, and as they did so, its size increased slightly.

  “This is disturbing,” Titus said, quickly walking his way next to Anna.

  “Yes. Yes, it is,” Anna replied, noticing she too began to feel some fear.

  The world around them now looked like an entirely different realm. Between the pungent, black flesh covering the life of the forest and the large tendril, she could only wonder if they had crossed into Folm, or if this is how the legend had been created.

  As they continued forward, she noticed even the leaves of the trees had been corrupted and now sprouted nasty black tendrils of their own that reached out to other leaves. It almost looked as if they sought to darken the sky above them, merging the trees together that were close enough.

  Anna shuddered at the thought of the artificial darkness, hoping they wouldn’t have to find a torch somewhere. Given that it was midday, she didn’t think she would need anything of the sort. However, as they followed the growing tendril, the leaves had progressed further along in their dark goal.

  Finally, after walking for what was probably twenty minutes, they found themselves shrouded in darkness. Only small beams of light managed to penetrate the few openings here and there. The trees of the Cursed Lands were thick and copious, allowing the strange affliction to overtake it with ease. Anna felt dread rising within her and longed to see more light. Out of nervousness, she found herself curling her one long lock of red hair around her finger. She thought she felt eyes watching her, and she constantly looked around for the source, but saw none. Fortunately, they were only minutes from her desire.

  Light from the distance protruded through the forest, and Anna picked up the pace. She and the warriors quickly ran towards the light, following the tendril, which had almost doubled in size. Anna felt slight hope as she began to emerge in the light, but it only took a moment for it to be crushed.

  In the middle of the forest was an enormous, treeless clearing. The only thing in the clearing was the center of everything they sought to follow. Dozens of tendrils were split out from one central location, which somehow seemed empty. As Anna stared in shock, it looked as though the space where the tendrils met was somehow contorted, or blurry. She had no idea what she was looking at.

  “What … What is that?” Titus asked.

  “I don’t know. But whatever it is, it looks to be draining or controlling the life around it. I’m sure the Horrors must’ve come from here,” Anna replied.

  Tendrils from the strange shimmer in the air shot out along the ground in all directions. Not only that, but the strange plague covering the ground also seemed thicker there, making her believe it all must be centered in this location. She could only stare in horror, unable to speak. However, it wasn’t long before something else did.

  “…Anna…” a pungent, dark voice whispered from somewhere close.

  Anna spun around, feeling a violent chill run up her spine. She looked everywhere, not seeing anything. She began to breathe heavily, trying hard to remain calm.

  “Did you hear that?” Bernol asked aloud.

  “I did! It knew my name!” Wil replied.

  “What? It said my name!” Titus insisted.

  “I think we should go,” Anna said, looking at everyone else.

  “Anna … Join us. You can be with Fredrik again…” the thick, nasty voice whispered.

  “Anna!” Fredrik’s voice called out.

  Anna’s heart stopped as she heard the voice of her former lover. She felt frozen in time, and slowly turned back toward the shimmering air. As she saw him standing there, she forgot everything else—her mission, the warriors with her, they all were tossed away as she saw him again: walking to her from the strange anomaly was Fredrik.

  “Fredrik?” Anna asked quietly, feeling her eyes water.

  She stumbled toward him, enamored by his beautiful bright red eyes. He was as handsome as she remembered, and she almost tripped as she continued to walk toward him. He was only twenty or so meters away now, and she longed to be in his arms.

  “Anna! My love!” Fredrik called, holding out his arms and stopping.

  Anna continued forward, picking up her pace. She felt so desperate and knew the hole in her soul was from his absence. Now she could be with him forever; she could find somewhere safe and live happily. Thoughts ran through her mind as she approached him, unable to focus, but someone else was loudly calling her name from behind her, though she could barely hear it. She turned to see Titus running toward her, waving his arms in the air.

  “Anna! Get away from that thing!” Titus yelled, his greatsword at the ready.

  As she turned back to Fredrik, she shrieked, stumbling back and falling in terror. The man she remembered wasn’t standing before her any longer. The Horror standing only feet away may have been Fredrik at one point, but now it looked to be consumed by the corruption around them. It lurched toward Anna, gnarled claws for hands.

  Anna flinched, unable to do anything but stare at the familiar yet distorted face of her love. She braced for the worst, feeling her heart sink.

  “Fredrik…” Anna whispered in sorrow.

  “No! Foul beast!” Titus yelled, charging forward and ramming his heavy metal pauldron shoulder first into the Horror.

  Anna watched as the Horror flew back and fell onto the fleshy ground. Titus quickly helped her up, but she couldn’t take her eyes from what once had been Fredrik. She almost reached back, wanting to somehow save him.

  “Anna, we need to leave now!” Titus urged, holding his hand down to help her up.

  She shook her head, trying to snap herself out of it. She grabbed hold of Titus’s metal gauntlet and was quickly lifted by his great strength. He put his arm around her and began to run, Anna barely able to keep up.

  Hearing yelling, she looked back to where the warriors had been standing. To her shock, they were now fighting Horrors that were emerging from the forest around them. She winced at the sight of the terrible looking creatures; while they all had the same purplish, gnarled skin and other abnormalities, she noticed they did not all have the same bodies, not like a same group of humans or other animals.

  Tempered by her desire to fight, she lightly pushed herself away from Titus and grabbed her sword and buckler. There was no question this was the center of it all, but now they had to escape from here. She found it hard to concentrate, but knew their best bet was to follow the same tendril back out to where they had come from. But first they had to deal with the Horrors.

  Anna prepared to strike as she neared the Horrors, taking aim at a thin, tall looking one that was trying to flank the now encircled warriors. The Horror turned around just before she reached it and flailed its long-clawed arm at her.

  She ducked under it and let loose a mighty slash at the Horror’s leg. She managed to slash almost clean through it, sending spurts of putrid black blood spraying. It bellowed a nasty yell, its mouth full of teeth, and hobbled back for a moment as other Horrors took its place.

  Anna turned to see Titus hacking his way through more of the creatures, his greatsword looking like a metallic flurry in the air. However, it seemed he had forgotten her advice and wasn’t aiming at the heads of any of the creatures. She kne
w if anything, that’s how they could be stopped.

  “Aim for the heads!” Anna yelled to the nearby warriors.

  She wasn’t sure if they heard her, but she knew this wasn’t the place to fight. She was suddenly blocked by a larger, six-legged Horror that began to roar at her, nasty bile erupting from its mouth. She took a step back, now shoulder to shoulder with Titus.

  “We need to break through, get to our warriors, and get out of here!” Titus said.

  “I couldn’t agree more,” Anna replied, sharing a glance with the Champion.

  They fought side by side, barely holding their own against the Horrors. Given they were outnumbered, Anna found herself frequently having to dodge and deflect the attacks of other Horrors around her. They seemed to fight in a strange unison, somehow knowing the move each other made. This made anticipating their movements difficult, and Anna soon felt outmatched by the creatures. Fortunately, the power and skill of both her and Titus allowed them to clear a path, joining the group of warriors that was still valiantly fighting. As they merged, Anna realized three had already been killed, including young Wil. She knew if they stayed, they’d share the same fate.

  “Warriors! We need to move into the forest and follow the tendril back!” Titus yelled as he took the head clean off a Horror, sending the body crumpling to the ground.

  Anna found herself barely deflecting a blow with her buckler, being knocked back. She felt a moment of panic as she took in the dire situation—more Horrors were emerging from the woods and shimmering area in the field. Their numbers seemed endless.

  “Fight toward the forest! Defend your brethren!” Titus ordered, taking a nasty blow that luckily didn’t penetrate his armor.

  Primal roars, clashing of metal against flesh and bone, and heavy breathing of the warriors filled the air as they began to move toward the forest, their defensive circle managing to hold the Horrors back for the time being. Anna could tell fatigue was already setting in, as fighting the Horrors was nothing like fighting another human.

  As they reached the edge of the forest, two more warriors were stuck down by Horrors. Sharp claws tore through their chainmail, the warriors letting loose cries of agony. Anna wanted to help them, but knew it was too late. As it happened, their line began to collapse, a couple of the warriors fleeing into the woods too early.