Dalen shot up from his bedroll caked in a cold sweat, his heart pounding as his mind once again sped through everything he had just seen. He had seen Kal again. It had been happening every few nights since they had left The Order’s camp.
Every time he saw Kal fighting the unseen Winds of Desolation and every time he saw Kal just barely keeping ahead of it. He never ate, he never slept, he never stopped. His entire focus was on the challenge at hand.
This time Dalen had noticed a wound on Kal’s shoulder and two missing toes. He wasn’t sure if Kal had just received the injuries or if Dalen had just missed them the last few times but they didn’t seem to bother Kal as he continued his insane trial with that same bloody grin on his face.
At least he was having fun…
One thing Dalen had forgotten about from all those years ago when he had first decided to travel to Farninghold was that he fucking hated traveling. Their current form of it was even worse. They were running every step of the way. Sure it was faster, but gods it was hard. He was incredibly glad he had put those points into endurance but they were nowhere near enough.
Even still recovering Leo ran literal rings around both Dalen and Melisia as they limped along in the disgusting heat of the jungle. And the mosquitoes only got worse as they slowly got closer to Ilavania.
Today was the morning of their fourteenth day on the road. His leveling had slowed somewhat since he had been forced to save the ingredients he had for emergencies and had little time to waste crafting but he had still managed to level three more times along the way as they came across several insect nests.
Better or worse yet most were giant mosquito nests. Those bloody things deserved every fire bomb he could lob into the place. They shared the kills for the most part though which was fine with Dalen anyway since a few of the different insects were worth scavenging parts from for his alchemy. His Alchemist’s Eye was proving more and more useful as their journey continued as he found different types of herbs and creature parts that could be used for all kinds of recipes.
Alchemist’s Eye gave him some great descriptions and after a few samples were gathered it even gave him a rundown on what essences could be extracted from them. That could be done without the skill but it sure made the process much faster so that even on the move he could at least build up a little stockpile of useful essences.
They were pushing hard through the foreign terrain, only stopping to rest for a few hours each night where Dalen and Melisia spent as much time as possible sleeping while Leo stood watch. He assured them he didn’t need sleep just yet but Dalen could tell he wasn’t feeling at his best despite the ease at which he outran them each day.
Dalen didn’t bother trying to sleep any further so he dragged himself out and began packing away his stuff, readying himself for the next day on his feet. According to the very rough map of the area, one of the scouts had copied for them, they were close to a small settlement named Vendu.
The group of them had decided to stop by the place on the way past if for nothing else than to ask around to see if Elendria was really in Ilavania and if they could find a more accurate map that would be great as well.
Dalen stepped out of his tent put it away and wandered over to Leo who was sitting on a log he had cut from a nearby tree,” Sure you don’t wanna sleep? I’m up for now.”
“No, I will be fine for a few more days at least,” Leo stood and stretched his back as he looked out across the dense jungle. They had made camp on a relatively elevated position so even through the dense overhangs you could see a decent distance, especially if you had good perception.
The sun was just starting to peak over the horizon so the sky was just beginning to brighten. Leo stiffened, then frowned,” We are supposed to be near Vendu, correct?”
“Uh, yeah the map says we're close and if we still want to go there we should be there by tonight. Why?” Dalen could feel the tension in Leo’s voice.
“Then we should get moving… I can see smoke.”
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They quickly packed away their tiny camp after waking Melisia and got on the move. Dalen had checked to see if he could spot the smoke as well but he couldn’t see anything. But he wasn’t about to contest Leo’s crazy attributes so they all rushed through the next couple of hours of running at an even harder pace.
Only after several miles did Dalen manage to see the smoke. A tiny column of smoke rose into the sky in the distance at first Dalen thought it looked more like a campfire's smoke but after another hour of running it soon grew much, much larger.
“Gods! Is that Vendu?” Dalen panted as he ran, “The whole place must be on fire if there is that much smoke!”
Leo nodded grimly but stayed silent.
After another two hours, Dalen was about ready to collapse but then they finally broke through into a clearing free of the dense jungle. Now that they were completely free of the trees the column of billowing smoke filled the sky and the afternoon sun shining through gave the world a red tinge.
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They had exited out into what looked like a rice field, multiple levels filled with shallow water. Agricultural tools were strewn around the place haphazardly as they made their way up the slope. As they reached the top it was obvious why.
Just over the rise lay a village of charcoal and ash. Dozens of buildings were in ruin either totally consumed or still crackling with days-old flames. In the streets, hundreds of people lay dead in various states of mutilation and decomposition. The ground was stained black with stale blood and the wind whipped around to bring the smell of death to Dalen’s nose.
Dalen bent over and wretched at the sight of it. So many dead.
When he was done he tried to steady himself and look back at the horrifying scene,” This is horrible…How could this have happened?”
“Nothing good… I’ll take a look,” Leo growled before walking towards the village.
Melisia looked as pale as Dalen felt but they both nodded to each other and followed Leo into the village. Finding out what happened was the least they could do.
The smell got worse when they entered the streets as the miasma hung in the air. No matter where Dalen looked he could always see the bloody remains of some poor soul. He didn’t need to inspect them to know how they died. They had been quite literally torn apart. Some had arms ripped from sockets, others had their chest torn open and their insides filling their laps. Others were burned to the bone and blackened skulls littered the streets, watching them as they walked.
Dalen Identified a few as he went. His stomach tried to revolt several more times as he did.
[Azana Lendas | Laborer 13 | Half-Elf] [Deceased]
[Leon Uman | Hunter 43 | Human] [Deceased]
…
..
.
[Jullu Nahm | Null | Human] [Deceased]
He stopped after that,” Gods… Even the children…” Dalen gagged again at seeing the smaller form among many but quickly moved on and tried to look elsewhere for some kind of clue about what happened here but after seeing the bodies Dalen knew it couldn’t have been human.
Beneath the sickness and mourning, he felt a simmering anger was starting to build in his heart. Whatever had done this needed to die. He would make sure it was nothing but specks of gore left once he was done with it…
“Over here!” Leo called from the center of the village.
Melisia and Dalen jogged over to him past several more buildings to find another grotesque sight which was enough to finally send Melisia over the edge, she turned and wretched while Dalen held his similar reaction back to look over the horrible scene.
What was once like the village’s small market square was filled with corpses stacked on top of each other in purposefully disturbing positions. Their heads were snapped around to face the wrong way and their joints were bent and twisted several times making them look more like hideous dolls than people.
But what Leo was focused on was between the piles of corpses and as Dalen’s eyes crossed over it he staggered as a wave of disorientation washed over him. Leo grabbed his arm which kept him from falling over but it took several seconds for the feeling to pass.
“What the fuck is that thing?!” Dalen said when his tongue worked again.
Dalen looked again and the disorientation hit him again but not as severely so he had just long enough to get a look at it before once again turning away. On the ground in a large blood-stained circular were eight scorched black skulls, each of them with glowing inscriptions that pulsed between two different colors, dark tainted purple then pure black absence that seemed to draw the light into it.
All the skulls were facing the center of the circle where what looked to be a human spine jutted out of the ground, still covered in half-decomposed flesh. The spine was what twisted Dalen’s perception so looking at it further was out of the question as Leo kept him standing once again.
“I don’t know but it isn’t good. I’d recognize that demonic mana anywhere,” Leo replied looking grimly at the disgusting display.
Melisia, having recovered from her stomach's revolt, walked over to stand beside them. Dalen didn’t think her face could get any paler but when she saw whatever was on the ground she proved him wrong and turned practically white,” Gods…”
“Do you know what this is Melisia?” Leo asked.
Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she spoke,” I think it's an array.”
Both Leo and Dalen took a step back from the “possible horrible demon array” but Leo spoke first while Dalen cursed and stepped even further back.
“Should I destroy it?” Leo drew his sword and his bright orange flame flashed to life around it.
“No!” Melisia shouted, “No, we don’t know what it is doing yet and it could do anything if we break it the wrong way. Let me take a look with my skill.”
Melisia’s eyes began to glow bright blue as she passed her gaze over each of the skulls and the spine. But she didn’t stop there and her gaze continued along the trail of bodies they had just walked past and her frown only deepened,” Oh Quotz, I was right… It is an array.”
“Do you know what it does?” Dalen asked from safely away from the circle of skulls.
“I… I think so,” Her eyes widened and returned to normal as she deactivated her skill,” We need to destroy it right now!”
As she said the words all three of them received a notification.
Quest Received: Abyss Infiltration
A demon from the Abyssal Horizon has infiltrated your world and soon more will come. Slay the demon and prevent the destruction of your world.
Slay Sanguine Reaver 0/1
Bonus Objective: Abyssal Anchors
An Abyssal Anchor has been detected in your area if left intact its presence will accelerate the arrival of the hordes.
Destroy Abyssal Anchor 0/3
Reward: Title, Rare Chest
Without hesitation Leo brought his burning sword down on the rotten spine, it shattered more like glass than bone and the black skulls began to glow bright with their dark purple light.
Leo turned back, “Run!”