The odor of the black sap blood the Husks had was trapped in Hill's nose. They used it to sustain their lanterns, even a small glass filled with the blood would burn for days. Compared to how fetid the Husks smelt, the sap like blood they produced was very pleasant. They would’ve used the fuel for the rest of the kingdom, but it would evaporate almost as soon as it was taken past Hurns’ borders. The cutters in the front of the party cleaved away at the vines with their machetes, clothes getting caked in sap with each swing. They have only been on the move for thirty minutes or so since they packed up their camp, some were still in the process of waking up. Even for the ones who could sleep, it didn’t come easy. The swampy forest never did, trying its hardest to make sure they couldn’t either. It’s been almost a month since they left the charted paths at this point. Hill looked over the map he’d been working on since they left, impressed with the progress they’ve made. One hundred and ten miles, much better than he was expecting, might be a new Yerna Company record.
Hill heard something off the path to his left up ahead, snapping his fingers to get the attention of two guards to follow. The low croaks came from a dark bog, all the grass patches had turned a dark black, still covered in morning dew. In the midst of the black patches that were held up by dirt mounds above the water's cold surface, a dark stone laid alone in the stagnant water. The murk the water had produced made it hard to discern how large it was through the thin veil of mist. He knew, though, it was a Killers’ Toad, they were about as large as an average sized dog. Hard to kill, but docile most of the time if unprovoked. The thick, rock skin was hard to get through unless you had a large hammer or pickaxe. Hill took a few more steps towards the edge of the bog. He didn’t plan to kill it, it wasn't in their contract for this expedition. If Kirolokian had funded it, though, it would have definitely been in writing. Assassins from the tropical landmass would use the Killers’ Toads blood to deadly effect. Even a drop could kill somebody slowly over time, spreading throughout the body along the bloodstream; eating away at their body from the inside out. The dead grass below him started to rattle, building up slowly. Hill put his arms out to his sides, signaling the other guards to do the same. The croaks got louder and louder, each one could be felt in their chests, like somebody had been pushing them with each one.
“Don’t.” Hill spaced his words out to emphasize each of them. “Run.” The three took a few more steps, the ground rumbled more and more as the croaks got louder and louder. The whole group now had stopped, readying their weapons. The young man to his left began to panic from the sounds, darting his head back and forth between Hill and the stone. Waves that came from its vibrations sloshed up and over the edges of the land perimeter, soaking the black grass with every wave. The soldier had heard about the toads, but seeing one so close terrified him. Hill looked at him. Barely could even hear his own thoughts over the constant noise. “Just keep backing up slowly. It won’t attack if we just keep doing th-” Before the prospector could even finish the sentence, the terrified man bolted to the rest of the group behind them. After only a few steps after he did, the toad leaped towards Hill and the other soldier that remained. “Move!” he yelled as he pushed the other soldier to the right, before he leaped to the left himself. The toad began to fall like it was hurled from a catapult towards where they were moments before. The acidic mist came out of the multiple holes the rock skinned creature had opened on its sides, following its falling path and spreading out overhead in a wide area from the pressure. “Keep moving!” He said to the other soldier as he crawled further away, who froze from the sight of the thing falling towards him. Once he regained his composure, though, it was too late. The Killers’ Toad had only landed four or five steps away. Because Hill was so far gone, and the other soldiers kept their distance. The toad focused on the petrified man that laid before him, spewing as much deadly mist it could in its direction. The man screamed in indescribable pain, the acid ate through his leather in moments. The exposed skin had already been eaten down to now exposed bone, putting his hands out as a defense mechanism. His hands were the first to go, being eaten away in full, the tendons between his bone hands had now dissolved. Each finger joint fell to the ground one by one, becoming just steaming white piles of mush after a few seconds. The man’s whole body went limp soon after, finally passing from the excruciating pain. The acid still did its work, reducing the soldier's entire body and whatever else he had on him into a steaming pile of flesh on the dead ground.
“Take it out!” Rold yelled at the rest of the lot, grabbing a war hammer from one of them that was still in shock from what he just witnessed. Then, as the creature turned its attention to the group, Rold struck it hard. A full, overhead swing from the hammer hit dead center on top of it, planting the toad into the soft, engorged mud. “Strike!” He yelled once more, looking back at the others that also had war hammers among the party. “Now!” He said as he struck it again, forcing it down a bit more. The ones that got the hint ran over, all taking turns planting it farther and farther below the surface. The thing struggled and shook violently after each strike as it tried to free itself, but each subsequent strike was timed perfectly; rendering the monster immobile. After a few slams from each, the thick, stony skin finally gave way. A small puff of the dark green acid fumed out of the large crack that had formed, making the men stumble back. It was dead, acidic steam smoked out of its gaping wound. A beam from the morning sun had forced its way through the dense canopy, making the gas sparkle and reflect off of the dark brown foliage all around.
“Good.” Now, he looked with angered filled eyes for the man that ran and started all of this in the first place. Once he was spotted, he calmly walked over. “I’m sorry I-'' the man could barely get a word out before Rold struck him with a hard punch, knocking him out instantly. “Once he comes too.” He said to the rest of them as he pointed at the now unconscious body. “He’s gonna be a cutter for the next two weeks!” He looked at Hill. “Dock his pay for the next week as well, put it on top of the compensation his family will receive.” Rold now just walked past the group, back to where he usually stood as they moved. In between the men as he made his way back, the heap continued to steam on the dead ground.
*
A couple of hours had passed, the sun at times would still make itself known through the natural cover. Beams of light would reflect off of the men's equipment while they walked. Sounds of brush and vines as they got hacked away had been white noise to them for a while now. Sap and slivers would fly off the sides of the path or on the cutters themselves. The man the others saw as a coward was one of the three in front, covered in the black, sappy fuel already. Rold added right when he came too again that nobody gave him any spare clothes until his angrily given tenure was over. Rold put up his hand in a fist, signaling to stop but to be quiet as well.
“What is it?” Hill said, walking besides his friend.
“Do you not hear it?”
“Hear what?” Rold hadn’t looked in a particular direction, so Hill couldn’t use that as a hint. “I don’t hear anyth-” Hill’s eyes widened, he could hear it now. A hum, a low hum was straight down the route they were making. “A Fallen Stone?.” He barely believed it even after the words came out of his mouth. “How long has it been now since one was seen?”
“About Seventy two years.”
“What would the fetching price be?”
“Enough to never come out here again.” Rold dialed the creaker a few times and set it off, after he got his response, he looked at the prospector. “They’re going to check around it, make sure it’s clear before we get any closer.”
Hill just nodded at him, then he grabbed his weapons. “Fallen Stone”, as a name, it had multiple meanings. First, the tales were it had come from another world, or it is just an ancient relic of some kind. Second, the name was also an omen, the constant hum and reverberation it gave off lured Husks to its spot. Only three have ever been found, two of them had accrued a body count to go along with the fortune those men got. Myths that it would drive the rest of the men mad before they could even sell it off, depending on the size of it.
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“Is it clear, Rold?”
The scout just waited in silence in a crouched posture. He then tilted his head to the side, then looked at Hill. “Clear.” Rold signaled the group to move. “Form a circle around its edge.” They all walked slowly through the brush, some were faster than others depending on the natural route they went. The stone was in a clearing, floating in the center about four feet off the ground. It had been emitting a dense red fog that came from under it, lingering along the ground. The earth was a dark red, like the stone itself. The grass and brush had decayed away. Only cracked, flat rocky ground, and stumps of long dead trees remained now in its reach.
Once they all formed a perimeter just on the forest's edge. Rold got to Hill’s side while he just looked at the rock.
“None of you can touch it.” Rold says, "I know what it can do to the minds of men.” He then pulls out a piece of cloth, made of thin, black silk. What looked to be platinum or silver coursed through it, shifting as it moved in Rolds hands. “We must use this.” Before Hill could even respond after looking at the item Rold had held. The scout stepped into the perimeter, cautiously walking towards the hovering stone. Each one was calculated, avoiding the cracks in the ground he was able to see through the blood-red fog that lingered knee-high. After each step, the earth would be revealed after he took another for a moment; before the haze returned once more. The scouts' dark Mori green eyes focused on it as it was now right before him. The hairs stood up on the back of his neck and his ears began to ring. He felt his heart beat though his chest. The stone pulsed with intense heat, making him sweat under his robes and leather. He held the cloth out now, about to wrap it around the fallen stone.
Just before he did, though, he froze. One of the scouts set off their creaker in a panic, not knowing what they saw. He heard why the scout did that soon after. Something was coming, he could hear it; they all could. The steps from it made the ground quake with each step. Branches and vines could be heard breaking and creaking as it barreled towards them. He now could see a shape in the distance, a black mass running full speed right through the trees. It destroyed everything in its path; its head snapping or moving branches at least eight or nine feet up in the trees. It was closing the distance, fast. “Everybody move!” He yelled as he ran out of the stone's aura radius. The giant, what looked to be Husk stormed into the group. It was massive, looking like it weighed ten men combined. It started to pick them off, it only needed to hit each of them once, sending them into the dense trees as only a blur. Its body was a dark black, and looked more akin to armor than a normal Husks wood-like skin.
The weapons they had did nothing to it. Chaos showed itself, the men screamed, some ran away in terror. Some tried to confront the monster head on, only being launched into the trees like the ones before from the creature's giant arms, or they were smashed into a bloody pulp into the ground.
Hill looked at one of the contorted corpses on the ground after he snapped out of the shock. It had a lantern still tied to its belt. He dove to it, scraping along the uneven ground as a sharp rock dug into his ribs. He lit it with a match he used for his pipe and threw it at the beast. That did something, the monster panicked as the sap from the lantern coated its whole back in flames. “Light him up!” He yelled. At that moment, two of the scouts came from the dense treeline, into the perimeter and threw the firebombs they had on the giant. The sap just exacerbated the flames the bombs caused, sending the thing into a frenzy. It didn’t yell at all, its motions made all the noise. It creaked and groaned loud as it threw its arms around, trying to extinguish the spreading blue fire. After a few more lanterns and another firebomb, it was fully engulfed. It sprinted into the woods, setting everything in its path ablaze. After a few dozen steps into the dense foliage, it shook the ground one last time as it fell. It cracked and popped, searing among the dense foliage.
The fire trail the monster left didn’t catch the rest of the woods on fire, luckily. Rold, Hill and a few of the others went down the newly formed path towards the corpse. It left massive footprints, bigger than a horse's hoof. The putrid smell that went with a Husk was still there, slowly burning from the flames that still lingered.
“Have you ever seen something like this?” Hill asked the lead scout.
“Nope.”
“Has anybody?”
“Not ones that had scouts or could tell the tale.”
“I wonder if it can be harvested for anything.” Hill was a prospector after all, he had to find out.
“Alright.” Rold went back to the rest that stayed around the Fallen Stone. He pointed at three of them; “Drag the dead from the rocks' reach and count them. Take what we can still use. Nobody touch the stone either.” Two soldiers with axes just stood there, talking amongst themselves right at the edge of the radius. “You two, come with me.” He now walked back to the creature with the other two in tow. Rold pointed to the head, or what you could call a head. It was just a mound of thick, rigid black wood. “There.” He then pointed to both of its arms and legs, “See what can be harvested.” Rold walked back to the prospector.
“That’s two new or evolved Husk’s in one expedition, and we aren’t even halfway done yet.”
“I’m aware.”
“We aren’t going with what you said last week.”
“I understand.” Rold takes off and opens the small water skin around his neck. About to take a swig when he stopped right before, offering it to Hill.
Hill just looks at it, then snatched it out of his hands; taking a swing. His face cringed and balled up like before. “How are ya not out of that poison yet?”
Rold takes a big gulp, emptying the contents of the water skin then putting it back around his neck. “I bought three bottles.” He smiled big, showing off his perfect white teeth through his scraggly beard.
“Sir!” One of the men said that had hacked at the body, now waving at the two of them to come over.
When the two saw why the axe men had called them, they couldn't believe what they were seeing. Arms and legs of smaller Husks came out of where the head should have been under the black wood. The hole steamed out through the limbs, giving off an even worse stench than how a normal one would smell.
“Cut open its chest.” Said Hill, barely even able to find words to say as he just stared in horror at what was before him. Rold took one of the exes, pointing to a spot where the other one should start at. After what felt like ten, twenty minutes. The corpse chest cavity had been exposed, revealing the putrid contents within. A variety of limbs protruded out of the newly formed hole. Steam shot out, releasing the built-up heat and gasses. Seven Husk heads could be seen, forcing their way out of the opening. “Ho-, how many heads do you see?”
Rold just stood with what looked to be disappointment on his face. “Seven. You’re not seeing things.” He then reached for the water skin, remembering it was already empty shortly after doing so. “Something is going on.” The Mori then looked at Hill. “We need to figure out what.”
“Maybe we should go back, convince Yerna to get as many men as they can. Then find the hive. Perhaps that's why they’re changing so quickly. Maybe it means we are close?”
“Maybe.” He then looks back at the body. After another moment of confusion and anger, Rold goes pale and looks straight ahead. Then, he swings around and begins to run back where the Fallen Stone was back down the path. The soldier he had punished was in front of it, his sap covered hand rested on the floating, dark red stone. Both the rock and the body of him shook rapidly; becoming a blur to the rest of them. The soldier's eyes rolled to the back of his head, he began to scream. Rold snagged a sword that was stuck into the ground, it was next to a soldier that had been relaxed against a tree as he ran past.
Right before the lead scout laid a foot on the cracked, dead red ground. The rock and soldier shook no more. Now, the man's eyes were a solid red, turning in the blink of an eye towards him. In a distorted voice it whispered, sounding as if he were something else entirely from a human; “The ways of old shall begin anew.” It began to say under his breath, struggling to get the words out as he spoke. “The ways of old shall begin anew” The man managed to say once more, before he closed his eyes to what was coming towards him. Rold leaped into the circle; sword held to his side. Everything else that was loose on the ground began to rise slowly. The scout then swung with all his strength, decapitating the man with one swing. All the items that had begun to float fell to the ground, so did the man's head and just before his limp corpse. Rold fell to the ground, then slid out of the circle. He got up as soon as he slid out of it. “I told nobody to touch it!” He then ran over, covering the floating stone with the cloth he had before. “Burn his corpse then bury it in a separate hole than the others.”