In the shadowed depths of the dense forest, the team remained crouched beneath the thick canopy, the air heavy with moisture and unease. The forest itself felt wrong—too quiet in some places, too active in others. Even the wind seemed hesitant to pass through, as if it were avoiding something unseen. From their concealed position, the group watched the Draeths below, their movements methodical and disturbingly coordinated.
Mye kept her voice low but firm. "We should pull back. We've already gathered enough to report irregular behavior."
Jax didn't even look at her. His eyes stayed locked on the cavern ahead. "We're not leaving."
Mye's jaw tightened. Being assigned to mixed guild teams was already frustrating, but with Jax in command, it was becoming dangerous. Still, she tried again. "You're not seeing this clearly. They're transporting materials. Organizing. That's not normal behavior."
Ray, crouched beside her, nodded slowly. His brow was furrowed as he watched the Draeths closely. "What are they doing?" he whispered. "Are they… digging? That doesn't make sense. They aren't a digging species. None of this is adding up, Jax."
Jax finally glanced back, irritation clear on his face. "It's Team Leader Jax," he corrected sharply. "And I've already decided."
Jax shifted forward, signaling movement. "We get closer. If these things are evolving or mutating, we don't leave without something solid."
Ray exhaled quietly, exchanging a look with Mye. This was exactly what they had feared. Still, they followed. They had no choice.
s they advanced, the forest seemed to tighten around them. Every step felt heavier, every sound louder than it should have been. Mye's instincts screamed at her to stop, to pull back, to reassess, but Jax continued forward with aggressive confidence.
"Mye," Ray whispered, "how many?"
She scanned. "At least fifteen standard Draeths. And those two… they're not normal. Their mana signatures are… layered." Mye knew something was terribly wrong.
Ray's expression darkened. "If a fight breaks out, I can hold my defenses maybe two fronts. Three if I push it."
"That won't be enough," Mye said bluntly.
Ann rolled her eyes. "You two sound terrified."
"We sound realistic," Ray shot back.
Jax stopped suddenly, turning sharply toward them. His patience had clearly run out. "Enough," he snapped. "I am the team leader. You follow my orders."
Silence fell.
"If you don't like it," Jax continued, his voice colder now, "If you don't like it, you're welcome to head back, but remember the consequences of abandoning a Warlord mission."
Both Mye and Ray clenched their fists. They both knew he wasn't wrong. Walking away now would brand them as unreliable at best… traitors at worst.
Ann crossed her arms, her smirk widening. "That's right," she said quietly. "Know your fucking place."
The tension between them thickened, but there was no more arguing. They moved forward again.
However, Ray's acute senses soon picked up a change: several Draeths had vanished from their initial spots. "Hey, where did they go?" he questioned, a hint of panic in his voice.
Mye glanced at him. "What?"
Ray's eyes darted between the trees. "Where did they go?!"
"What are you talking about?" Ann asked.
"The Draeths," Ray said, his voice tightening. "Several of them… they're gone."
Jax turned, finally alert. "What do you mean 'gone'?"
"I mean, they're not where they were supposed to be!" Ray snapped quietly. "They didn't move through the open... so where..."
Before any magical defenses could be raised, Ann's body remained standing for half a second longer than it should have. Then her head fell. It hit the ground with a dull, wet sound before rolling slowly to a stop at Jax's feet.
For a moment… no one moved.
"They're in the trees!" Mye shouted. Chaos erupted.
"Impossible! How did they detect us?" Jax cried out, his voice laced with disbelief and fear as the team retreated deeper into the woods.
Ray didn't answer. He was already moving.
"Stay close!" he barked, slamming his hands into the ground as a barrier of earthen energy surged up around them. "I'll cover you, just move!"
Ray quickly cast his protective spells on Jax and Mye.
Mye didn't hesitate. She raised her hand, summoning a glowing construct, a message hawk forming from condensed magical energy."Sending report—now!"
Before she could finish, something whistled through the air.
Amidst the chaos, a wooden dagger narrowly missed her and struck Jax. The force pinned him against a tree, the impact knocking the breath from his lungs.
The response was immediate. Draeths swarmed him. Piercing and clawing with precision.
"No! GET OFF!" Jax screamed, thrashing as claws tore into him.
"Jax!" Mye shouted.
"Mye, don't look back! Send that message!" Ray's command was desperate, but Mye couldn't ignore her teammate's screams as the Draeths began to devour Jax alive. She couldn't look away. Jax's screams turned into sounds no human being should make until they went completely silent.
Ray gasped in horror as a massive force drove through his torso. He'd lost focus trying to snap Mye out of her stupor that one of the mutated Draeths appeared, impaling Ray with brutal force.
Mye froze. Her mind refused to process what she was seeing. The Draeth purposely missed her and went after Ray. The creature tilted its head slightly… observing, then it pulled its arm free.
Ray collapsed.
"Mye…" he coughed, blood spilling from his lips. "…run…"
The mutated Draeth stepped forward and raised its hand. It formed a magical energy ball and began to inspect it as if it were the first time it had done it. It then looked at Mye, and Mye could swear it was smirking. Then it did the unthinkable: the ball of magic was cruelly forced into Ray's mouth, his head burst violently, the sound echoing through the forest.
Frozen with terror, Mye stumbled, tripping over a branch. As she looked up, the mutated Draeth Her entire body trembled as she looked up. It smirked at her, displaying Ray's mangled corpse as others feasted. It dawned on Mye that these creatures were not just mutating; they were evolving, gaining abilities that defied their known biological constraints.
Frantically, she inscribed everything she had witnessed into the message hawk, her eyes streaming the memories directly into its magic-infused body. Resigned to her fate, Mye steeled herself, her final thoughts a whispered apology to her loved ones. "I am sorry my King, I've failed you." She quickly dispatched the hawk as another mutated Draeth landed before her, encircled by others.
Her heart sank as the lead Draeth spoke, its words a garbled but unmistakable threat, "No escape… Warlord die."
Mye stood up and steeled her resolve. "Well, what are you waiting for you bastards! Get on with it!
As if a silent order was sent, they fell upon her. She managed to take out two before being quickly overwhelmed. Her screams echoed through the forest, a warning to a world that wasn't ready for what was coming.