Our footsteps are the only sound we make. The idle chatter has long since stopped, a result of the padins finally seeing how dangerous this pce is. The three of them walk close behind me. Their eyes dart throughout the shadowed trees as if searching for the unseen threat.

  I've taken to carrying a lit ntern at the front of the group. While we can see just fine by the moonlight, the shadows here are strangely dark. If anyone else is in this forest they will hopefully spot the glow of the ntern and come meet with us.

  Something is on the path ahead. I approach cautiously, thinking it a fallen branch or a mound of dirt. The acrid scent of blood in the air changes my thinking.

  "Stay close to me, padins. Keep your eyes peeled."

  The padins don't question why I would tell them such orders. They're sticking to their training, clinging to my words like I am speaking gospel. I frown bitterly at the sight before me. The ntern light is bathing a group of corpses in orange, each one mangled and gouged beyond recognition. Their armor pieces are all we have to identify them as padins.

  A quick check of the scene yields no survivors. We have no choice but to press on, and hope we come across others who haven't been attacked by whatever demon roams these woods.

  We continue walking only to find body parts and blood. The pathway is marred by hoof prints and signs of a battle. There is no sign of Morning Star's corpse, so I hold some measure of hope in my heart. If we can find him then our victory is assured.

  "Inquisitor Cymore, look!"

  One of the padins following me points ahead. While I was inspecting the corpses of our comrades I failed to notice a glow in the darkness. The orange hue makes it out to be a fme of some kind, so we approach it with cautious steps.

  Standing with their bdes raised is a group of padins. They're stained with blood and mud, gathered around a fire made from the branches of these bck dead trees. The padins quickly go from aggressive to confused upon recognizing us.

  "Is that really you, Inquisitor Cymore?" One of the padins asks.

  "Of course it's me. Have you lost your mind, padin?"

  The padin shakes his head quickly. He straightens his posture and puts away his weapon as fast as he can manage. The others quickly follow his example, and now I've got a group of four fresh padins to add to my command.

  "What happened to those men?" I gesture toward the corpses in the road.

  "W-We don't know, Inquisitor Cymore."

  "You don't know? Were they dead when you arrived?"

  They look uncomfortable with my line of questioning. The one who was first to speak up replies to my question with a measure of worry in his voice. Just what did they see to shake them so? Was it the corpses of their fellows?

  "Before we made this fire everything was dark. We couldn't see what was happening, and if it weren't for Inquisitor Morning Star we would have died like them."

  "Morning Star? Where is he now?"

  Instead of getting my answer from the padin in front of me I get it in the form of Morning Star himself stepping out of the forest and into the light of the fire. His armor is stained with blood and dented in several pces. His weapon is dirtied with matted bck hair and mud.

  "I'm here," he grunts.

  While I have many questions--especially pertaining to what his morning star is covered with--I don't bother trying to ask. Him speaking to me at all is only a result of dire circumstances. For now, we should move.

  "Alright, well now that we've reunited we should move as one. We have cleansing to do."

  "Yes, Inquisitor Cymore!"

  The immediate response from the padins is pleasing to hear. Unfortunately Morning Star doesn't look as keen as they do to work with me. The rge man gres at me for several long moments before hefting his weapon over his shoulder. I clear my throat.

  "Do you disagree, Morning Star?"

  Morning Star walks straight past me and regards the padins I've brought with me. He looks at them one by one, his eyes training on each of them. They look pale and nervous, fidgeting in pce. Then to my horror Morning Star swings his weapon toward one in particur.

  "What are you doing?!" I shout.

  My protest falls on deaf ears as the heavy spiked metal ball smashes open the head of a padin I brought with me. That padin's body doesn't immediately fall to the ground like it should. It stays there, and a grim realization dawns on me as the firelight illuminates something behind the man's corpse.

  Something is standing right behind that man. I couldn't see it, as if it was hiding in shadows like one might a cloak. The thing lets go of the padin and to my horror I see his body fall forward, exposing a number of rge gashes in his back. Cw marks.

  "To arms! Kill that monster!"

  My sudden orders send the padins into action. The two I brought with me are slower to react, and that is their undoing. While Morning Star is bringing his weapon back for another swing the mystery monster makes its next move. Two cwed hands grab the padins by the back of the neck before they can react. The sickening crunch that follows tells me all I need to know.

  It has killed three padins yet I have not so much as touched it.No, far more padins have died prior to this.

  Shaking my head, I swing my cymore at the beast's shadowy form. The darkness sticking to its body like a second skin peels away as my bde slices cleanly into its side. Thunk! Hands trembling, I feel as if I've just struck rock rather than flesh. Looking up I see my bde has hit a strange external rib on the creature's torso.

  This time the monster howls. The deep guttural scream is a blend of human and monster, the sound chilling me to my core. I pull back just in time to avoid an overhead swipe from the beast's cw. The beast has arms corded with muscle beneath bck fur.

  "S-Stay on guard! It is much faster than expected!"

  Morning Star has recovered from his missed attack now. He steps in front of me and swings his weapon in a wide horizontal arc, which leaves the bck furred monster no room to escape. If it tries to back up it will be met with the brunt of the momentum. Moving closer will be met with the chain and haft of the weapon.

  The monster does something neither Morning Star nor I expect. It doesn't bother dodging, and instead it catches the spiked head of the morning star with one of its rge cws. The thing hisses as if in pain as it holds the end of Morning Star's weapon aloft.

  "Demon!" Morning Star roars.

  I've never heard him scream like that. He doesn't get to scream for much longer, as the beast swipes at him with its cws. The strike nearly cuts Morning Star's face up, but the man raises his armor cd arm to block the attack. The screech of cws meeting metal stings my ears.

  The padins were not idle in the time we have been engaging the monster. I'm relieved to see the four men behind me rush ahead to meet the monster with their combined might. Longswords are swung in wide arcs meant to mimic Morning Star's attack.

  Two bdes meet with flesh, eliciting a shrill cry of pain from the monster. The other two bdes hit the strangely sturdy ribs of the beast, doing little more than stunning the wielders themselves. I bring my sword up and prepare to drive the bde deep into the belly of the beast-

  Darkness envelops me completely. I blink in confusion, finding my comrades nowhere to be seen. The sounds of battle are absent. There's just the faint crackle of a fire and the occasional hint of orange light from behind me.

  Goosebumps erupt all over my neck. I duck on instinct, only to see cws cut the space where my head was moments prior.

  The darkness is broken once more. This time wholly, revealing the entirety of the beast we're facing. Two wicked antlers atop a deer's skull cover its face. An agape maw of teeth drips saliva to the earth below. It's legs end in hooves, rge enough to crush limbs and skulls alike.

  My eyes widen as I realize the padins are nowhere to be seen. I notice the blood on the beast's mouth and then catch a glimpse of corpses at my feet. The only other person still on their feet is Morning Star. He's bleeding profusely, his arm completely missing.

  It's almost sad how he doesn't even make grunts of pain.

  "Cymore, run."

  Morning Star's words are followed by the abomination trying to bite my head off. I barely manage to stumble out of the way, but Morning Star is now in its path. The man is wielding his weapon with his off hand. He swings the spiked ball at the monster's belly.

  I don't want to abandon him to this fate, but if I don't run now I will not make it.Swallowing my pride, I run.

  The thump of my boots hitting the dirt rings in my ears. I can hear the sounds of the fight, howls of the beast and the occasional impact of that morning star hitting something. There are never any human screams--Morning Star really is a man of few words.

  Eventually I can't hear anything but my own footfalls and each heavy breath I take. I'm not sure if it is because the battle is over, or if I've just put a considerable distance between the fight and myself. I pray it is the tter.

  My pace slows. There's no sound of pursuit, nor is there the scent of blood. Overhead I can see the moon is nearing the horizon. Distant bck mountains are preparing to swallow the moon up. The strange part is how I don't see any sign of the dawn's light.

  Come to think of it, I don't see much light at all.

  Blinking, I fail to find the moon I was just looking at. Armed, I stop my walking and look around for any sign of the beast. This could be one of its strange tricks. The ground beneath me feels strange as I spin slowly in a circle, searching for the threat. I can't make out anything in the bckness.

  It is as if the shadows have swallowed me whole.

  A shiver goes down my spine as I take a step forward. I'm not met with the familiar feeling of earth underfoot, but instead with a strangely soft texture. It is like I'm walking on a bed. The squish of the ground beneath me perplexes me almost as much as the darkness.

  Raising a hand in front of my face, I move it left and right.I can't see my own hand. What is going on?

  My fear of the beast and where it might be hiding is getting to me now. I reach down, fumbling for the ntern I had previously tied around my belt. It is not there. Of course I removed it when I lit it and started carrying it by hand. Now it is nowhere to be seen, likely back at the site of the battle.

  "Hello?" I speak into the bckness.

  There's no answer. I begin to feel my heartbeat pick up speed. My legs start to move as I attempt to stumble my way out of this dark space. My hands reach out in front of me, yet I find nothing. There are no changes in elevation, no trees, no walls. Only darkness.

  Snap. The sound of a twig breaking underfoot stops my spiraling thoughts. I raise my foot and look down to see a loose twig. The wood is bck, resembling that of the dark forest I was in moments prior.

  Have I even left the forest? Where am I right now?

  LightNovelNovice