Once everyone was inside, they instantly began looking for enemies. Chase was still a little lost. This was a vast forest. was the only option to check every nook and cranny?
"They should be around what they are looking for right"? Chase said, looking back with his eyes squintied. It was kinda embarrassing for the leader to not know directions.
"I'll be the look out"
Donnie was his saving grace. Running full speed, he jumped over a tree in a single bound and began darting between the treetops, all the while making almost no sound.
Andrew planted his staff in the ground before pouring mana into it and closing his eyes. a light blue wave rushed in all directions, flooding through trees like-
WATER. He's a water mage.
"Can you guys see anything?" He said. He looked extremely focused and was hinting at everyone that he couldn't do this for long.
suddenly everyone could see little ripples, indicating footsteps coming from certain directions, 3 to be exact.
one to the left, one to the right and one down the middle, where Donnie had just went.
POV:Donnie
While essentially flying through the trees, Donnie cast a spell that hides his mana signature and shrouds noise around him.
eventually he saw men in red robes and knew he was on the right track.
they between every 3 of them, one carried torches. their were 27 overall with most being mundane humans. Others were on horseback, carrying carriages with things of unknown origin inside.
they were moving slowly, so every few seconds, Donnie jumped to another tree to keep even pace and pick up on some conversations. Listening in, he could here a grating, high pitched voice.
"they are in a corner, with no idea of what to do next. By tomorrow, with the forest itself beneath us, they stand no chance."
So they were not in control of the forest and instead are instead making an attempt to control it. 'It's good to know it was more of a free for all than us against them and whatever these things are.'
suddenly the camp came into sight. Their were a few tents, along with cages filled with wolves that had blood red eyes biting them, itching to get out and tear at something. But most importantly,
every tree from this point on did not look normal. The bark looked darker. He could feel hints of mana coming from it some how.
even the ground was weird, shifting in some areas.
But in some it opened. then the carriages stopped and the men began unloading what looked like… "bodies?"
they began taking them in droves and dumping them into the holes where they then closed. As if a rite of passage.
Donnie scowled. these were most likely people from the villages that were raided. Some were probably locals who didn't move from the battlefield in time. As Much as he wanted to just run in, impulsiveness meant an early grave. His eye was a testament to that.
'need to get closer' he thought. 5 men went to a tent. The others were picking up and feeding bodies to…something. suddenly a wave a blue mana flooded the camp, making it look as if everyone was standing in a small lake.
"OUTSIDERS! INTRUDERS!"
They quickly realized they were not alone in the forest and some began charging in the direction where they thought mana came from while others went to go alert the 5 who were likely the few mana users here.
Donnie wasn't going to let that happen. zipping to the trees near where the men were running, he jumped down, throwing knives at the heads of two men and using the his fall to land on another, pinning him down and snapping his neck.
the surrounding men looked shocked, wondering how long he been there.
Donnovan didn't care much. Walking forward,
he unsheathed his short sword.
"Hello."
POV:Chase
after hearing those words coming from the front, every member of the group prepared to throw down.
getting into stance as they feel the ripples getting bigger and approaching from the middle .
"enough of that" Andrew said, shutting off the spell and readying the spells he already had saved.
"FINALLY, some action" Damian was a little scared but he was sick of the suspense.
with that they heard footsteps and saw torches approaching. with the enemy in sight,
Damian moved first. Rushing past everyone else, he poured mana into his dual axes and a wild blaze of fire erupted from them.
upon seeing around 15 men he wasted no time, boosting himself with mana, he dived onto the enemy faster than they could react,
swinging his axe overhead. he cleaved a burning line through the middle of a man's body. Cooking his insides before both of his halves fell over.
Chase quickly sped behind, stabbing one man who hadn't fully recovered from the shock, his sword piercing through his skull, impaling his head to a tree. he quickly withdrew it and continued his onslaught.
while damian was walk through, cleaving people in half, Chase was used his raw strength to run people over and crush their skulls with punches.
a few men slipped past them and tried to run at the rest of the group. Andrew put up his staff and simply pointed at the men his staff glowed and a small magic circle appeared. Out from it shot a giant water bubble that encased the men.
he then presses his thumb and index fingers together and suddenly the bubble got small and smaller, crushing their bones with the pressure and destroying their bodies. eventually it looked more blood than water.
once the spell ended all that was left were mangled pieces of human remains.
once they were done, they turned to check if everyone was okay, only to be met with looks of surprise. it wasn't shocking to be brutal.
but they made that look like nothing.
"I never knew you were a fire mage" Chase said in surprise. "Im not." Said Damian, a little offended. "I'm an elemental brawler."
Andrew chimed in "Donnie could be a dead man." getting their attention. " let's go save him and you can explain later."
Chase looked at Andrew a little differently too. despite not seeing what was done, what he did see was a lot of blood and body parts, and not a scratch on him. despite only fighting with them once, he knew these people were the real deal.
Once the group recovered, they began the walk again. on the way to Donnie's location, the group noticed an oddness with his forest. Now the ground moves, almost shakes.
every so often they come across patrols of around 20 or so human patrols who are quickly disposed of. If the enemy didn't instantly die to the big three, just one group member could handle multiple of them.
every group member is on guard. They now even have someone to watch their backs. Suddenly, a bunny comes into view from behind. leaping along the dirt path closely behind the group.
the man furthest back notices it and does nothing and continues advancing like Normal.
a few hops later, the bunny eyes turn blood red, all of its hairs stand on end and it leaps onto his ankle, ripping off half of it. As he tries to fight, the ground slightly moves under his feet sending him falling down.
Desperate screams erupted from the back line as he tries to stab the ravenous creature, risking his foot without care.
Andrew being one of the furthest back, casts a measly water bullet with pinpoint accuracy, leaving it in two peaces.
the remainder of his leg was gruesome. His foot barely had anything connecting it to the leg and the red blood was turning an eerie black. The man was holding his leg, not sure what to do. His head slowly turned to his fellow soldiers. surely they would help him out of this pickle.
they didn't have any medical equipment. Hell The physician barely had any. And what was worse, his wound was entirely purple. Even his bones seemed to be changing.
"Someone, anyone! carry me!" The man said.
everyone looked at him as what could only be described as how people treat a homeless man in real life. They felt pity but weren't willing to risk it. Their faces like glaciers.
Chase had seen way too many zombie movies. Neither he nor the group would be dealing with this. Looking at the path forward and saw many's beady eyes in the distance, glowing red and glued to the group.
For a moment his blood ran cold.
Andrew got shivers. He was the most mana sensitive and right now he didn't need a spell to see they were up against something terrible. "What are those things?"
one by one mutated creatures came into view, mutated wolves, some with two heads, moose with irregular horns that would jut directly out of the front of their heads.
even mutated deer.
they were approaching slowly in the dozens, cutting off their path and forcing a fight.
Damian was not taking any of this well. But he had to be a light in the darkness. He spoke to the group.
"Don't get bitten or scratched. If these thngs breathe on you, the battle is lost." Everybody readied their weapons and got into combat formations. the poor man who got back duty was left out, pale as a ghost, looking to the sky.
Damian turned to chase, his irises shrinking to essentially a grain of sand as he spoke. "This entire swath of land is being uprooted including the next ten feet of soil."