"There's a footprint here," Daren spoke while resting the spear on his shoulder and crouching down.
Rowan stepped closer to look. "They're very large, they must be from some deer."
"Well, well, you're already quite the tracker, brother," I said, leaning on his shoulder.
He rolled his eyes. "Don't start."
It was already daytime. We ate something quickly and broke camp. Today we would try to hunt another ten; with all those tusks we could amass a small fortune.
We kept moving between the trees. The morning forest was still covered by a light mist. The ground crunched under our boots as we walked, mixing hardened snow, wet mud, and old leaves.
Daren stood up again after looking at the footprint. "Definitely not."
"Luckily," Claire muttered from behind, "I don't feel like being chased by a giant grimrat."
I shrugged and followed them. "Maybe the deer eats them."
Claire let out a small laugh. "That would be interesting."
The cold air cleared my head completely. After sleeping a few hours and eating something, the exhaustion from the previous day had almost completely disappeared.
We walked for several more minutes until we all stopped at the same time. This time no one spoke immediately. Daren spoke first. "There seem to be many."
Rowan added, "That's what it looks like."
I stepped closer too. The tracks were clear now: several rounded marks, deep in the mud, with small claws at the front.
"Are you sure we should keep going? I think there are too many." At a glance there were more than a dozen different footprints.
Daren smiled while adjusting the spear in his hands. "Perfect."
Claire looked at her brother. "Don't be an idiot, grandfather said…"
"I know, I know. I'm not saying we attack, let's just see where it leads us. If we see it's something we can't handle, we'll leave right away," Daren interrupted her.
She frowned. "Fine."
Rowan and I nodded slightly and started moving again, carefully following the tracks. This time we walked slower than before. The ground was full of marks, some recent, others half erased by the melting snow.
I looked around while we walked. The trees were just as dense, but something felt different. I didn't know exactly what—just that uncomfortable feeling that we were entering something else's territory.
I looked around while we walked. The trees were just as dense, but something felt different. I didn't know exactly what—just that uncomfortable feeling that we were entering something else's territory.
After several minutes of walking, I smelled something unpleasant. It was like damp, rotten earth.
"Do you smell it?" Claire asked.
"Yeah…" Daren and I replied.
Rowan didn't say anything, but his pace slowed even more.
The terrain began to descend slightly between the trees. Roots stuck out more from the ground and the snow had almost completely disappeared, replaced by dark mud.
"Look," my brother raised a hand.
We stopped immediately. He crouched a little and pointed ahead between some fallen trunks.
We moved forward a few more careful steps. And then I saw it.
The ground in front of us was completely disturbed. Piles of dark earth formed small mounds around several holes opened in the ground.
It wasn't just one. There were many… they were tunnels.
Large holes opened between roots and rocks, some half hidden under branches, others completely exposed. From where we stood, you could only see darkness inside them.
There were also small bones and animal remains scattered around some of the entrances.
Daren spoke in a low voice. "That… must be their nest."
I stepped a little closer, looking at the holes. Some were large enough for a grimrat to run into without any problem. I swallowed.
Daren let out a small laugh. "Well… that explains all the tracks we saw."
Claire crossed her arms. "This is no longer ten."
I looked at the dark tunnels again. For some reason, the forest around us seemed quieter than before.
"So…" I said quietly, "what do we do now?"
"Leave, of course," Rowan answered immediately.
Daren's face fell a little, but he quickly fixed his expression. Everyone here knew this was too much for us.
Claire slowly stood up. "Alright, then let's go—"
Just as she was speaking and turning around, she suddenly fell silent. It must have seemed strange to all of us, so we turned to look. And there it was—right behind us, with its back bristling—there was a grimrat staring at us with fury in its eyes.
As soon as it realized we had noticed it, it stretched its chest and let out an extremely loud and high-pitched screech. I had to cover my ears tightly.
"Shit!" Daren said.
While the animal screamed, Rowan enhanced his arm with pulsar and grabbed his spear, then hurled it with all his strength toward the grimrat. It pierced straight through the creature with ease and buried itself into the ground.
I froze in shock for a moment, but a small tremor pulled me out of it. I glanced quickly around everywhere, finding nothing, until I looked again toward where all the entrances to the nest were.
From all of their holes, dozens and dozens of furious grimrats began pouring out. That damn one had alerted them.
"Run!" Rowan shouted. Seeing that we didn't react instantly, he repeated, "Now!"
My legs reacted before my head.
I turned and started running behind the others. My boots slipped in the mud as I tried to gain speed between the roots and the trunks. Daren was a few meters ahead, Claire ran beside him, and Rowan closed the group, looking back every few steps.
Behind us we heard the first growl. Then another. And then dozens.
I turned my head for an instant and felt my stomach drop. The grimrats were pouring out of the nest like a dark tide—furred bodies sliding between the tunnels and roots, screeching with fury.
"Don't look back, run!" Rowan shouted.
There was no need to repeat it.
We ran uphill between the trees. Low branches hit our faces and the mud made every step heavier. The sound of the creatures behind us kept getting louder: paws hitting the ground, sharp screeches, leaves breaking.
Daren jumped over a fallen trunk and almost slipped on the other side. Claire shoved him so he would keep moving.
"There are too many!" she shouted.
Rowan looked back again. "Keep going!"
A grimrat appeared in the bushes to my left. It wasn't coming from the main group—it had come out of some side tunnel. It leaped straight at me with its mouth open.
I raised my sword on instinct.
The impact shook my arms. The creature slammed against the iron and fell to the ground, but it got back up immediately, screeching.
I didn't have time to think.
I struck again.
This time the tip went into its side and the grimrat rolled among the leaves. I didn't stop to check if it was dead. I kept running.