Amalia and Mateo followed the flickering blue flames, and every second felt like the fog closed in on them. The eerie fog was suffocating, not enough to make either of them react the same way that Elizabeth had but enough to create an oppressive pressure somewhere in their throats enough to feel that something was affecting them.

“Hah. I can’t see a damn thing.” Mateo said laughing at the situation. “Do you think it’s a trap?”

Amalia’s armor tinked every time she walked. Some of the armor bits were overlapping and causing them to collide. “It is possible.” Her caution was showing as she walked. The fog continued to entrap them, after moments it was impossible to see anything but the torches and where they stood. Her eyes darted back and forth, and the choking presence was not the only thing she had been feeling, there was something... ominous, lurking, something dark, empty like a void lurking on the edges, never moving yet staying just beyond that of reach.

Mateo turned around and squinted. There appeared to be a group of black silhouettes in the distance. They moved faster each second; their voices sounded like a mixture of children laughing and screaming. It was unnerving. The closer they got the less their forms made sense. The creatures had no faces except for a mouth, they were all black and leaked like ink, falling into themselves. The spindly black arms reached out for anything; it propelled itself forward doing this movement.

Amalia unsheathed her sword taking notice of the creatures. “Mateo draw your sword,” she said in a hushed voice. And he did, the light somehow penetrated the fog and bounced off the metallic blade.

“Lady Amalia...Do you recognize these things?” He asked keeping a focus on the creatures accelerating towards him.

She gripped the handle of her blade tightly, “I know of them.” She poured magic into her sword only to have it flicker out seconds later. “They’re called shades. Alchemic beasts that were outlawed seventy years ago.” A sweat bead ran down her forehead.

“I think I can tell the reason why the creation of them was barred.”

“Careful, Mateo. They do not make noise when they move.”

“Alright milady, I’ll watch your back if you have mine.”

She nodded. The shade’s approach was shockingly fast; the strikes were faster. Amalia would have taken a direct swipe if it wasn’t for her heightened reflexes. She caught the creature’s claws with the flat of her sword. It’s finger’s leaked the black ink that comprised its body. She swung downward pushing the creature’s wrist back far enough to get a clean cut on the arm. The severing broke the connection between her and the monster. It shrieked as its arm was wriggling on the wooden platform leaking its inky blood. “Hmph.” She grunted. Even if they looked like they didn’t have much to them, it felt like she was trying to slice through solidified molasses. “Careful Mateo they are resilient!” She yelled.

“Understood!” he yelled back. Although the two had become slightly separated. They were still close enough to see their silhouettes through the fog. The created barrier in between them made them look like spirits in a forgotten world. Mateo stepped forward. Slashing through the neck of one. The ink covered the sword as it’s featureless hand tumbled to the ground; unfortunately, these creatures didn’t need a head to continue moving, in fact, it merely went over and absorbed the fallen appendage. Restoring what was once lost.

“Damn,” said Mateo. The creatures shrieked at him almost swearing an act of vengeance against him. He started to walk away from the Shades. They were technically undead. Killing them once was probably not enough. Sweat began to bead on his face, the humidity of the swamp was not doing him any favors in his clothing. A familiar smell hit his nostrils, it burned and smelled very vinegary. He followed the smell until it reached his sword, and an idea came to him, he lifted his sword to the torch, it lit almost instantly spreading the blue flames to the blade. The Shades surrounding him instinctively hissed at the squire. “Amalia! Their blood! use the torches!”

~^~

A wild dog burst through the grass; its teeth latched onto Hera’s arm. Its bite was too weak to break through her chitin, the most that it did was wear down its teeth and slide off. Hera reacted by raising her hand unamused. A second one appeared and bit down on her raised arm, she pulled it back. She pulled both her arms forward bringing both the attached dogs in front of her. Their persistence was apparent from how connected they were to her appendages. A third one also burst from the background latched onto the nape of her neck bringing her to the dirt. Four more jumped onto her scratching and gnawing at her back and legs. Hera tried to get a vision of them but couldn’t these creatures had a severe lack of magic.

She growled in retaliation; she flared the spikes on her back managing to spear one through the abdomen. It squealed as its last breath was escaping the lungs, the elf woke from the commotion. She attempted to scream, but she stopped herself. She was in a dangerous situation and her benefactor, no doubt stronger than all of the dogs was being held down by them. Their constant dodging kept her pinned. She tried to bite a few of them. The elf steeled herself for what she was about to do.

She knelt down on the ground and closed her eyes to concentrate. The green aura returned to her; the created light was faint. Her hair levitated into the air. The atmosphere that surrounded her reached out to the surrounding area. The grass began to grow until it formed a tentacle, it wrapped itself underneath the leg of one of the dog’s and pulled. She threw the hound that was chewing on Hera’s arm clear across the field, freeing her arm from being held down. Hera looked at the elf controlling the foliage tentacles; she was starting to look mighty tasty. But first thing first she grabbed one of the dogs by the throat and stood up, instinctively the pack backed away still enclosing her. The dog clawed at her arm, wiggling its way out of her grasps. She put a single claw to its chest and moved downward. The dog screamed, its organs dripped out inch by inch. Unfortunately for the dog, she wasn’t letting it go that easily. She shoved her hand in grabbing whatever she could, vital organ, unessential organs, whatever she could and threw them around. She then threw the corpse to the center of the pack, they hissed and barked. It only took a few seconds for them to realize they’d have more casualties facing this “prey” they retreated into the tall grass, and that's what the elf thought until a fireball flew over her head.

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“Huh.” Her expression was blank. She didn’t believe that one would exist in these plains, but there it was a twin-headed hellhound. It howled making its presence well known.

~^~

Rinae walked to the east of the camp; she passed several maturing broodling cocoons. With a steady amount of flesh from raids and occasional orcs, the brood was able to fill its bellies until they were ready to grow further in the life cycle. A few female orcs were seen cleaning the golden cocoons. But that wasn’t her goal. Her goal was a little further, an experiment she wanted to try.

She took a left at the corner of an orc erected building. Two freshly emerged broodlings grabbed the orc and split it down the middle. The only difference these evolved broodlings had was increased aggression and wings. They pretty much filled their role of being a swarm.

She took a right, leaving them to enjoy their meal. She came out to a clearing where she was immediately ambushed by a black object moving at high speed. Thankfully she was able to run out of the way of it. The object landed directly in front of her, her tail was swinging, and she was hissing. Scarpha went for another strike by lunging at her, and it was sidestepped causing Scarpha to land directly in the middle of where she had been standing. She tried to follow up with a tail strike only managing to pierce Rinae’s barely armored skin. The black liquid started to leak from her abdomen. Rinae grabbed her tail, promptly removed it and broke it. Scarpha screamed in pain and backed off into the shadows. The fight wasn’t anything serious if anything it was just Scarpha trying to hone her skills as an assassin. Besides and damage that was caused would be healed with enough magic and time. She continued to the east until she reached a large hive structure, it didn’t extend very high, but it indeed went further down.

As she descended into the dark depths, she saw orcs carrying torches coming and going. She stepped to the side with her back against a wall; she saw the orcs carrying armfuls of goblins and youngling orc that were deemed unfit for survival. Back when they weren’t under the reign of Rinae this rule never existed. She imposed it just for the sake of the her “experiments.” Once the orcs carrying the “resources” had passed she followed behind. It was structurally built the same as a natural cave only it was much hotter. It had many tunnels leading to many chambers but, she was interested only two for the moment. She entered a room that had her trusted tentacle broodling; it’s massive size barely allowed it a movement at all. Its tentacles stretched all over the place; some even left through holes reaching into other rooms. The creature had become the designated brood caretaker.

The orc group approached the near massive blood of translucent flesh and chitin. They presented the captive prey to the monster; it were tentacles wrapped around its waist and hoisted it upward to the slobbering maw. That part of the process was simple what Rinae was more interested in was the end. The chewed up flesh was not digested it was simply mushed up for several pods that housed the larvae. The tentacle fed them differently in than the others that had been raised through pure parasitical means. Her emotions on the matter were not apparent, that was until she saw the pods that were no longer opaque and had been sealed off. These had been moved due to their maturation in the life cycle. She approached them; A few started to wriggle and writhe, tiny pinpricks would drag underneath until they found the weakest area in the fleshy sack. The small incisions were pushed out more and more revealing large scythe-like chitinous blades. It emerged from the sac hissing and moving its mandibles for the first time, The tiny arms on its stomach moved and flexed. It looked nothing like the brood of before. These were a new caste, a caste that Rinae orientated for combat. She walked over to the creature. It was easily seven to eight feet fully emerged, she placed a clawed hand on its face, at first it winced from the contact but quickly came to realize her touch like that of a mother’s embrace. She turned to the others pods as hundreds emerged, fully ready for combat.

~^~

Amalia’s flaming sword cut the Shade in half the separate halves burst into flames leaving behind nothing, not even ash. Squire Mateo’s discover most likely won them their lives. The shades were cut down easily one by one; their bodies went up like paper to an open flame. As they were still living, they recognized the threat and tried to run. However, Mateo and Amalia did not allow that to happen. They killed every single one without mercy.

“Amalia,” Mateo called out. “The fog is clearing.”

It seems the shades were materializing when the fog was at its densest. The path they were following once again revealed itself, the torches surprisingly ended right in front of them, in front of a circular wooden structure, the door was just a curtain strewn across which they decided to walk into.

They walked in viewing glass bottles with dust caked on them, tables with dried blood and various plant matters and fibers. The room had been an old alchemy lab that had become misused. Amalia wiped some of the glasses to peer inside its contents.

Mateo continued walking around the room; he found a shelf with various items, a tusk, a hand in a jar. “Lady Amalia, I can’t seem to find any significance of this place.”

“Keep looking around. There has to be a reason.”

He did as he was told and continued looking around, A skull, An animal, a human head and a piece of bark. Sensing something wasn’t right he turned back to the human head.

“Hello.” Said the face startling Mateo. He jumped back a few as the face moved from the shelf and revealed a body, A man mostly covered in bandages and ragged clothing, He smiled.