We stopped at the edge of the darkness. No birds chirped, no critters rustled in the undergrowth, and the wind was still. I knew for a fact that this was unnatural, even in a world as fantastical as this. Amelie made to forge ahead, but I stopped her.

"Wait." I said, riding over to the her "We ought to dismount first. It's too tight for a gallop."

She hesitated, then nodded, signaling for her men to dismount. Hound appeared from the crowd and did the same. "Glad to see you're doing your job," he said.

I ignored him, staring into the darkness. "What do we have for light?"

"Everybody has a torch, and every mage knows a simple light spell. We even have a few with a flare variant."

"Who?"

He gestured towards two guardsmen, wearing robes over their armor. "Those two, and one of the members of the 'Chimeras'."

Chimeras? Is that the team I just met? "Sophie?" I asked.

He gave me a curious look. "Yes. I didn't think you'd get to know them so fast."

Erudite told me what a Chimera was, and I wasn't too sure I understood the naming sense. "What's their story?" I asked.

Neither of us stopped scanning our surroundings as he answered. "Shouldn't you ask them that?"

I scoffed. "You know, don't you?"

He smirked. "It's an allusion to the fact that they are all a different species. Before the reckoning, Wolfbrunn had a habit of...how should I say it..."

I grimaced. "Try 'relocating'."

"That works. Anyway, they are all refugees of sorts. The guildhalls they were attached to no longer exist."

I was liking this place less and less every day. I wish the only alternative wasn't a mindless monstrosity. I wasn't the type to sacrifice myself for the greater good, but that was because the greater good wasn't usually so damn clear-cut.

I heard a footfall to my left, and I swiveled around, hand twitching towards my gun. It was Luo Liang. "If you need another light, this old man would be happy to assist," he said.

I hadn't seen him on our way here. How the hell did he hide in a group of horsemen? He even managed to sneak up on me. I'd have to learn those tricks.

"Good," I said, brushing away the thought. "We should split up into teams, each with a light."

Amelie came over to the group, probably feeling left out of the impromptu strategy meeting. "Are you suggesting we split up?"

I choked back a laugh. "What? Lord, no. I just think we'll have fewer casualties if everybody knows who to run towards. "

Amelie looked slighted for whatever goddamn reason, and Hound just smiled. "Are you sure you don't want to lead this expedition? You seem pretty comfortable giving orders."

Is that what he was angling for? Why? I didn't understand the slimy bastard one bit. "They ain't orders, just advisements," I snarled.

Amelie just walked away, gesturing towards what I assume are her direct underlings. It didn't take them long to split into two teams centered around the casters. She ignored the adventurers, who were still milling about, waiting for directions.

Hound stared at me expectantly. I stared back. "What?" I asked. "Do you want me to do your job?"

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He shook his head, a soft smile on his face. He ignored my question and turned to Luo Liang. "Interested in leading a team?"

Luo Liang clasped his hands together and bowed slightly. "This one would be honored," he said, then turned around, facing the crowd. "Nuli, come."

The young hooded figure I saw before emerged from the quiet crowd. She bowed, far lower than Luo Liang did. "Master."

Master? I physically flinched at the word, before barely remembering the cultural difference. I'm sure it didn't mean what I thought it meant.

I'd ask anyway.

I grasped Luo Liang's shoulder, grip tight. "Master?"

He turned his head, barely managing to hide his annoyance. "She is my apprentice, and I am her master. Please, unhand me."

I looked towards the girl, and couldn't see under the hood, but her body language suggested immediate violence. Fine then. I took my hand off him.

Hound stepped between us before either of us could say anything further. "Alright, I've decided on the teams! Buck, you'll go with the Chimeras, and everybody else will form a team around Luo Liang."

I scratched my chin, accepting his change of subject. "Won't that make the numbers a tad uneven?"

Hound nodded. "Yes, but the Chimeras work best as a team with minimal distractions. I'm sure you won't be a hassle, will you?"

"...I suppose not. One last concern," I said, turning to Luo Liang. I almost forgot to ask. "Didn't you have a bunch of your 'family' guarding the carriage? Why aren't they here?

Luo Liang smiled apologetically. "Fellow Daoist, those men and women are sworn into service as the personal guards of the Sect Master. We cannot spare any of them for this journey."

Hound gave me a warning glance. I wasn't too sure what he was trying to convey, but I was done anyway. I'm sure they just don't want to actually risk any of their own. 'Alliance' my ass. "Whatever," I said. "Let's go."

----------------------------------------

The torchlight did little to illuminate our surroundings. Shadows danced in the pale light, which was illuminating gnarled wood and dead leaves. The sun hasn't shined here for some time. We could only see 10 feet or so in every direction, and couldn't so much as glimpse the canopy above us.

The group stalked through the dead undergrowth as silent as they could. No order was given, but everybody had universally decided to be as quiet as they could. Maybe it was the unnatural stillness, so heavy that that breaking it seemed intrinsically wrong.

I walked up to Amelie. Her armor made her about as stealthy as I was with my spurs, which was not all that much. "How deep are we going?" I whispered anyway.

She glanced around, hand on hilt. "We lost the link with the communication crystal about half a mile in."

I nodded. "We got one of those, right?"

She gestured to her pack. "I've got one, and so does the Inquisitor."

Good to know.

We carried on through the darkness. It was a familiar feeling for me. The tension. The fear. Every step harder than the last, as every second carries you further from safety. We couldn't see the light behind us anymore, and we had already been walking for 10...wait.

I stopped, turning back. The Chimeras stopped on their way past me, collectively following my gaze. "What's wrong?" asked Tess.

I stared into the shadows. "There's no light."

They stared for a few seconds, before the realization hit them. We were only half a mile in, there was no way in hell that not so much of a pinprick of line shone through the trees.

Something was covering the way we came in.

The Chimeras all drew their weapons. Tess drew her bow and strung an arrow, Aghe retrieved an oversized sword, Sophie unslung her staff, and Alejandro...cracked his knuckles, the sound carrying further than it should have.

I resisted the urge to whistle for Jeff and ran through my options. The biggest question was, how could something block the light from the entrance? It was far too wide for any individual to close off the light. It was like a...canopy grew from nothing.

I carefully walked over to the front, getting both leader's attention. They had noticed the commotion and looked ready to fight. They made eye contact with me.

I pointed upwards, and mouthed flare.

Hound gestured to Luo Liang, who was already on it. He made odd, smooth waving motions with his hands, and then thrusted them upwards. A blue ball of light erupted from his hands, flying towards the canopy. It was far brighter than any torch could be, and quickly illuminated the canopy above us.

I soon wished it hadn't.

There we no leaves. Instead, strands of flesh wove tightly around the crowns of the trees. I've seen exposed muscle before, and could only liken it to that. They were moving, pulsating to some unseen rhythm, spreading slowly down the trees themselves. Small protrusions dotted the pale red, and I soon realized what they were. Dozens, if not hundreds, of yellow eyes, pupils dilating slowly as the light burned them. They were spasming, trying their hardest to avoid the light, but they could not, as they had no eyelids.

The forest came alive. A loud screech rang out, from deeper into the forest, from above us, and from all around us. It bore deep, as if the noise was coming from our own heads. The silence turned into a low drum, like a perpetual scream, while the shadows shook with movement.

Luo Liang's light still held, revealing the 'canopy' pulsating faster and faster, eyes growing in by the second. They swiveled and spasmed, and then, all at once, turned to look at a single point.

Me.

A tendril of flesh emerged from the rest, and snuffed out the light.