by J E Mueller
“What are they doing following us?” Kip questioned. “Addison can’t very well take care of herself out here.”
“My thoughts exactly.” Benz sighed. “Let’s see if they follow us into the forest. If they do, we’ll just have them team up with us. They have no way of knowing we’re grabbing a Creator artifact so we’ll just keep those facts quiet.”
“Fine by me.” Season shrugged.
“We don’t have time to waste. Let’s get moving.” Ellyn motioned for me to continue.
I clicked my tongue and Midge happily carried on alongside me. This adventure was not going to go well was it. I didn’t even want to think what Canton thought of this team, but he could sense us and already knew we were a mixture of alliances.
Upon entering the forest, everything was almost instantly darker. Several feet in, and everything already felt cooler, and something in the air made me uneasy. In the distance I could hear birds and various woodland sounds, but nothing near us. After a few minutes of walking, it was clear the two from Steel Oath were intent on following us. I waited for a good spot before pausing.
“Canton, we know you’re there,” I called, well aware he had in fact caught up a bit once they entered the woods. Addison lingered near the tree line for a few moments before heading back toward the house, likely not wanting to be a part of whatever it was Canton was up to.
There was silence.
“Canton, just come out; you know Mare is also a Tracker. Why would she be wrong about this?” Benz called, exasperated.
There was some rustling in the bushes and then they appeared.
“What the hell are you doing with this crew, Benz?” Canton asked, getting straight to the point.
“We both ended up getting the same lead to an artifact. Weird things are going on. A huge team out here means someone will actually get it. Now come on before it gets dark,” Benz replied and motioned for us to continue.
Nodding, I set the pace once more. Midge kept looking back at Canton. It was almost the face of distrust, if an otter like thing could make such an impression.
“How the hell did you get a freaking lead? There’s no Finders here,” Canton pressed on.
“Most don’t usually travel with a polycoy either, do they?” Benz chuckled. “I don’t want to get into the horror today has been. Just relax and if we survive, we’ll have an artifact.”
“What if they try and keep it?” Canton spat, aiming a sword at Ellyn who did not look the faintest bit impressed or scared.
“Oooh, then we keep it!” Ellyn rolled her eyes. “It’s worth it to see if it's any good. For all we know it could be an amulet of blowing bubbles. Great distraction for Hedgeish but useless overall.”
“Exactly; relax, Canton. You can’t get this thing yourself, so you work with others,” Benz reiterated.
Canton didn’t reply, but I knew he was not cooling down at all. I didn’t trust him with us, but I trusted him following behind us even less. I bit my tongue and continued on.
23
Mare
It didn’t take long before we ran into something. It never seemed to take long once you stepped foot outside.
“We’ve got something to the right, a few hundred feet. It’s likely they’ve already heard us and that’s why they’re heading this way,” I stated, stopping to point my sword in the direction of the creatures. Everyone stopped to look, but was unable to see anything yet.
I didn’t dare look at Benz and wondered if he would use the coin while Canton was around. I didn’t trust the fool with that information.
I wasn’t sure what was ahead, this feeling was a new one, so something I haven't physically encountered. What could it be?
Probably a Dilus or a Rikettet, neither of which are going to give you a huge problem, Lydia’s voice chimed in.
I nodded, taking in the facts. “Be ready,” I whispered. I had no idea what the second creature even was.
Nothing came, and it seemed with the lack of noise from us, the creatures had lost interest in us.
“Psh, there’s nothing,” Canton finally scoffed as we stood in silence.
Benz shrugged. “If something is ahead that Canton can’t sense we’re going to have to be careful,” Benz spoke his words carefully. “If that's the case, I’m sure you’ll adjust quickly, Canton. You haven’t dealt with these creatures much yet.”
“I know what I’m doing.” Canton started to storm on ahead.
It wasn’t a surprise to me that Canton still sucked at Tracking. His ego often got the better of him. I let him take the lead, sword readied as I felt the creatures move toward the sound of his walking, more like stomping, through the brush.
I motioned for them to keep silent, and pointed to Gretta, Ellyn, and Consta who had ranged weapons to come closer to me as we continued forward. The trio of ladies had their weapons ready as we easily followed Canton by sound alone.
In less than a minute three creatures appeared in front of Canton causing him to swing wildly with his sword as he tried to block claws along spikey arms. Feathers along its body hid most of its features. Gretta and Ellyn threw their weapons as Canton stumbled back and Consta followed up with her explosives.
Benz rushed in, clashing sword and claw and Kip shot fire around him at the trio of creatures. To my surprise, Midge took one down from behind as I rushed in to take the third one on.
Stab the heart. Lydia supplied as I blocked and pressed the creature back, looking for that exact opening. The moment I had it, the creature crumbled.
I saw Benz had already done the same, and the rest had helped Midge end the final creature.
“That wasn’t as bad as expected.” I nodded glancing at Midge. “Though you look horrifying.” The polycoy's face was covered in blood, and either dirt or flesh was caught in its claws. I prayed for dirt as it happily squealed at me.
“It’s happy to have helped,” Season said. I forgot she could understand them. “Though you can probably tell from its smile.” It chirped another few times. “They used to come outside all the time. It misses hunting… Because that’s not creepy and surprisingly deadly.”
Benz gave a small laugh, “All right, let’s head on. Mare, lead the way.”
Canton scoffed. “She doesn’t know where she’s going.”
“Says the one who doesn't know what we’re looking for, hasn’t been told a location, and can’t sense outdoor creatures,” Gretta taunted.
Canton took a swipe at her with his sword, but Gretta was ready for it, summoning up her ice shield.
“What?” Gretta smirked, “Can’t stand to be wrong, so you’ve got to fight?”
“Shut it.” He hit the shield again but not so much as a dent formed.
“Let’s go, angry child.” Gretta laughed, dispeling her shield. “There will be plenty more creatures to fight for sure.”
I continued on, calling Midge over to me. Midge hissed at Canton before making it to my side.
This was going to be a longer trip than I planned.
Of course Canton couldn’t seem to be silent, and we had creature after creature to fight. The next set, I was surprised he didn’t feel coming. The Dilus was one we saw outside all the time, and I knew he had at least a few adventures out here.
“Aim for the good eye!” I called the reminder to everyone as we took on four of them.
Canton swore I was lying and that you aimed for the heart, but everyone ignored him, disposing of the creatures in record time.
It amazed me that the things that we feared so much days ago for their crazy high pain tolerance and unwillingness to just leave us alone could be fairly simply killed.
Canton had a much more muffled outburst as we pressed on, taking on another set of four of what I assumed was called the Rikettet, before finally making some good headway.
As things stayed quiet, Canton started to get louder and louder once more. Benz could only tell him to keep it down so much before he tuned us out. I had no idea why he even insisted on coming with if
he was just going to be trouble.
“Quiet down guys. We’ve attracted company. It’s Dilus again.” I motioned in the direction they were coming from. Thankfully, they were making noise so I didn’t need to explain anything again.
Ellyn flipped her throwing knives restlessly. “Aim for the small eye?” I nodded and she smiled. “Awesome. I’ve got this.”
Consta readied her explosives. “I’m also ready. Hopefully it’s not too many…”
“I don’t think it is,” Ellyn stated. “Though if they keep screeching when we fight them, they may attract more. We should focus on getting them in as few hits as possible.”
Canton grumbled to himself. “There’s just two.”
“Perfect. One for each blade.” Ellyn smirked.
“Can I get one?” Benz pleaded with her. “These don’t even bite.”
Kip let out an obnoxious laugh. Before anyone else could reply, the two creatures quickly were upon us. Ellyn hit one in its good eye causing it to crumble. The other one got hit in the skull and didn’t pause in its attack. Consta pushed in front of Benz and managed to strike the creature in the eye with her explosive rocks from a distance. The thing didn’t even consider blocking until it was already too late. Benz shook his head in defeat before laughing it off.
Ellyn smiled proudly as the creature crumpled to the ground. “What’s next? This isn’t as bad as I thought.”
“We keep moving,” Benz instructed. “Those things give me the creeps.”
“More than the spiders?” Gretta asked as she started to follow behind Benz.
“That’s a tough question,” Benz considered, carefully navigating over some unearthed roots.. “I don’t think I want to rate which things are the creepiest. That’s like asking the universe to find something worse.”
I chuckled. “I agree. Let’s not.”
I carefully followed behind everyone, dodging branches, and trying to not trip over roots, while keeping close tabs on everything close to us. I wanted to know if anything stood a chance of finding us before it could be trouble.
It seemed like we had walked a long time before something finally popped up on my radar once more. I couldn't help but wonder how much quicker this could have gone if we didn’t have Canton to deal with.
Before I could call out to Benz, Canton did. “Something ahead. Not the same thing as before,” he stated rather gruffly.
Benz halted the group. “Everyone remember how to kill the things we’ve taken on already? If one spot doesn’t work, try another. Don’t waste time retrying the same old method.” His voice was low, but I couldn't mistake the earnest look on his face. He wanted his all to get out of here quickly, and alive.
Midge gave a low growl.
“Shhh.” I tried to calm it. “We’ll attack when it’s close.”
Ahead, it took a moment, but I could see something moving very slowly and deliberately along the darkening tree line. Something about its shape seemed more animalistic. Maybe it was slow and relied on not being noticed. That seemed a fair guess but I didn’t hold my breath. Everything seemed to want us dead in a rush.
To my surprise the creature broke through the trees and didn’t stop running toward us. It seemed surprised to see us and crashed into a tree while distracted. The creature looked like an awkward cross between a human and a wolf. While it was running on all fours, it could stand up right. The thing was covered in patches of hair and seemed to have almost gray skin and glowing orange eyes.
Benz didn’t let it recover before charging at it, his long sword drawn high. The creature shook off its stupor from hitting the tree and growled before charging at Benz. The creature hardly picked up speed before Benz faked a swipe at it, causing the creature to try and jump. Benz was ready for that maneuver and cut upwards getting it in the ribs. The creature let out a blood curdling scream before Benz could deliver the final blow to the guts. The scream was horrendously loud before it went limp.
I looked from the dead creature back to the treeline. If it wasn’t running for us, what was it running from? I let my magic flow forward. Seven more creatures I sensed were coming toward us in almost a U shape. Midge began to growl even louder and I didn’t bother to hush it. Midge could, and would, take care of itself. The creatures were still incoming, and were all different distances away, but with their rate of travel it would be no time.
“Seven incoming!” I called, not caring who knew.
Canton was about to argue with me when one emerged from the trees near him, turning things quickly into a battle for all. The creatures were dark, and appeared to be dressed in black cloaks, but from the looks of it, it was more likely their skin and bodies than clothing.
I managed a headshot before Midge tore out its guts with their teeth and claws. Midge horrified me with how quickly she went from super cute to alarmingly menacing, with blood dripping from her mouth. Midge didn’t wait to see if it was going to move again before going onto the next creature.
Kip took several steps back toward me, all the while casting fire at the creature Midge had decided to take on from behind. “I am now really glad they are on our side.” He was as shocked as I was. Kip let off his fire and looked for a new target.
“Cute and deadly has a new face,” I agreed, mostly speaking to myself as I moved to help Season. “I’m not going to stop them.”
While Kip agreed with me, I could hear Canton grumbling as they took down the remaining creature. The rest didn’t seem to mind the help.
“Stupid pests…” He made to kick at Midge as the polycoy let go of the creature’s backside but Benz pulled him back.
“Are you stupid, man? Didn’t you just see what it did?” Benz shook his head. “That, and never kick someone's pet. Geeze.” Benz gave Canton a disgusted look.
“It’s a nightmare creature that’s tamed by a bitch Creator. We don’t need them.” Canton grunted.
“They’ve proven their worth.” Benz didn’t back down. After a moment Canton huffed and walked off to the side. There was no running away in the middle of horror forest on your own.
I made a note of Canton’s words. I knew he wasn’t team Creator, but I didn’t realize how against them he was.
Benz watched Canton for a moment before addressing the rest of us. “We should be getting close. Let’s keep moving.”
Without a word, everyone followed. I kept my eye on Canton as he stayed near the back with me. I still didn’t trust him, and his actions weren’t any better. Why did he even come along? He hardly looked like he wanted to be here. Gretta and Kip acted as if this was normal. Maybe it was. Either way, I tried to not let him out of my line of sight for too long.
I still had to scope the forest though. Canton wasn’t a reliable Tracker. He hardly seemed to know what was coming or how many. A ways in the distance, I noticed several figures, but before that point was the tree we needed.
Benz gave a laugh when he saw it. “We did it.” He smirked and looked back at us.
I held my hand up, flicking my fingers up and down, trying to explain there were many ahead. “Let’s get to looking.” I kept my voice low, making the point to be quite obvious.
Season glanced at me. “That hushed voice doesn’t sound excited,” she replied in an equal tone.
“I don’t want to attract anything.” I shrugged, giving as best a smile as I could. “We’re too close.”
Season nodded. “Agreed.” She looked to Ellyn and then to Midge. “At least it seems to think we’re okay for a moment.”
Since we paused in walking, Midge was trying to clean its face off. Hardly bothered by the fact we were in a very dangerous place. Its cat-like cleaning motionings were calming at least. We had some time to work before something was near.
Benz had already started moving toward the tree with Gretta and Kip. Consta was eyeing the forest carefully with Season and Ellyn at her side. I couldn’t blame them. Canton was still huffing and grumbling by us. With a shrug I motioned for those of us who hadn’t started for the t
ree to continue on. Midge happily followed close behind.
Before we could get there, Benz was already scaling the tree. He reached the lowest branch he could sit on and started to motion for Kip to join him. I made a slow arch around the tree as Midge followed, the rest spreading out looking carefully. No one wanted to get too far. At least the creatures weren’t too close yet. We had time.
I glanced at the tree to see Gretta had climbed up a little higher than where Kip and Benz were searching. Hopefully it wouldn’t be at the top. It would probably be somewhere annoying like that though.
The creatures hadn’t moved at all and were still a good distance away. Perfect. I turned to look at Canton who was grumbling at his sword. Something about too many plans tonight. Weird. I turned back to the group as Benz was descending the tree and heard Canton say something odd, or odder anyway.
“Better to just kill ya now. Less work for Clove tonight,” he said.
I turned around, confused as he ran at me with his sword. I tried to block with my sword but was too slow, he had caught me off guard. I heard screaming from all around as Canton got me square in the gut. Benz’s scream was the loudest.
I was surprised it hurt more for him to remove the sword. The pain plunged through the wound more roughly than I thought was possible. A fear unlike any other gripped me. This was it. This could be my end. I could die now. At least when I had been alive, I didn’t know the fever was taking me…
I was only pissed off it was to someone as scummy as Canton and not at least an epic creature.
I hardly remembered hitting the ground. Screaming of all sorts reached my ears as did an oddly warm feeling. I saw Midge lunge at Canton, ripping into his sword arm causing him to scream and try to shake the creature off. The polycoy was an outdoor hunter, which Canton seemed to have forgotten. In another second, Midge had torn Canton’s arm off entirely. For a moment, Midge shook the arm before dropping it and tackling Canton to the ground.
Darkness started to glaze my vision as I heard people approach me, their voices blending too much together. It might not be too late, maybe they could apply pressure and get me back. Someone was pressing something on me. While the healing sensation felt warm everything else felt so very cold. I couldn’t feel my toes or my nose. I couldn’t quite cough and it felt like something was stuck in my throat. My vision was spotted black and everything was blurry.