Edward and Joan left towards Plangent castle that was in the northwest of the kingdom in a region called Teutonia. It was on the edge of the grey scale mountains and was close to the frontier with the kingdom of Aurelia and the nation of Sparv.
Castle Plangent lay deep in the great Saxon forest that worked as the frontier between many nations. It was a vast forest that stretched out from the fart coast of the north to the Medelin sea in the south. Saxon forest was an uncolonizable and almost uninhabitable forest with many dangers. When a merchant or people crossed it they always traveled in large groups with private mercenaries working on the edges of the forest that could be hired to protect the convoys.
The earth was barren and no one was able to cultivate the land in the forest. It was though rich in many other ways. The few inhabitants who lived in small village communities foraged the forest for expensive and rare herbs and plants. Hunters hunted for wild game that was prized by the rich and powerful. Through these ways, many people fought against the odds and nature and lived in the forest.
What truly made the forest a hellhole to many was the many monsters and beasts that inhabited it. Normal animals such as wolves and bears were the most common danger but many other more dangerous creatures also made their home in the dense forests of Saxon. These beasts did not attack large groups commonly, but it was still unwise to go walking alone in the night to the forest.
Edward and Joan were marching with the knights of the black sun through the Saxon forest. He looked around nostalgically around. Edward hadn't been to his home in a long time.
"So, is everything as it was eight years ago?" Edward asked trying to spark a conversation.
"Still the same pile of rocks."
A group of villagers was walking towards them with carriages carrying all their belongings. They looked like they were fleeing from something.
"What is going on here?" Edward asked one villager.
"Our village's forests were overrun by galeks. Two children were already lost to them and soon they were crouching ever closer to the village. Every time someone left the village they were in danger to be attacked by the galeks. Since we couldn't leave the compounds of our village we couldn't make a living. No use of staying there," one villager explained.
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"What is going on? The knights of the black sun patrolled the area and hunted down all the dangerous monsters. The galeks shouldn't have ever been allowed to breed to become a problem to the people of the forest," Edward said and looked for answers from Joan.
"Our father saw no reason to put time and effort to cleanse these forests of these beasts. He instead was going with the knights showing off the power of the kingdom and king from one uprising to another. For eight years the forest of Saxon has become more and more dangerous," Joan explained.
The villagers kept moving forward as refugees hoping to find new fortunes elsewhere.
"Let us go," Edward said and rode forward.
"You mean to hunt down the galeks?" Joan asked.
"What else. Time for the lord of this region to do his job," Edward said and winked.
Joan smiled.
~ ~
The knights marched with them across the forest trying to find the galeks that were plaguing the area. They were hard to track and were more than mindless creatures. Normally the galeks worked in small groups of three or two. They hunted large creatures such as deer but preferred humans since they were numerous.
They were also known for being necrophages that entered battlefields after a battle and dragged dead bodies back to the forest. If a soldier was unlucky enough to wander through a battlefield alone, he might stumble upon a galek and he might end up as his dead friends on the battlefield.
~~
Edward looked around and saw a lanky, humanoid being in the distance.
"THERE!"
He got off his horse and started to run after it. The lanky creature started to run away like a human as Edward and Joan gave chase with the other knights running behind them. Edward soon lost eyesight of the thing and looked around. Joan and around ten knights tried to spot it and neither did they anymore see anything.
"Where the hell did it go?" Edward cursed.
"Spread out. Go into three men teams and look around the forest and kill on sight," Joan said and ordered the rest of the knights to go and look for it.
"You think that's wise?"
"Three knights should be able to take down at least two galeks. Don't underestimate your own knights."
The knights spread out to look for it in the dense pine forest. Edward took command of one group of knights and Joan took another group.
~ ~
Joan with two other knights walked in the forest hoping they would find the creature that had ran away.
Behind a tree, a creature was watching them. Saliva was coming from its large gaping jaw and had humanoid hands that had twisted and sharp nails.
Joan was walking ahead of the two knights. The other knights had their swords and shield out and also looked around for the creature.
One of the knights got lifted up in the air with two lanky hands that had surprised him from behind them. He yelled out and Joan and the other knight turned around.
It was a creature that had a humanoid body, but with a lanky and skinny build. It was olive green and the head had only a mouth that was open vertically. The teeth were small and sharp and the mouth had no tongue in it. The creature stood almost three meters tall and easily lifted up the knight. It was a galek.