***
"We should go back." Indres heard voice behind.
"Yes, we will soon... I just want to see what's over this hill." He responded.
"You said the same thing about the hill before..."
Indres stopped and looked at his companions.
Aegar didn't look tired, just frustrated. His thumb ran irritably over the surface of the bow. Arwain's eyes were also puzzled as to why his teacher was rushing him so deep into the forest, ignoring the tracks of various animals the hunters had spotted along the way.
"It is already afternoon. That means that even if we go back right now, we won't be home for two days." Aegar said.
"I know. I'm sorry."
"Forget this waste of time... why do you want to go so deep, so far from home? If monsters show up, we'll be in danger."
"There are only a few of them lately, especially on this side." Indres replied, waving his hand in the direction they were going.
"Think so? It's been too little time since the attack on the village. Maybe they haven't recovered yet?" Aegar made a guess.
"I don't think so... even after the great spawn hunts, when we slaughtered hundreds of them, there was always someone wandering around. So that's... unusual."
"We all started hunting them more actively."
"Maybe... but I still want to look a little further ahead." Indres persisted.
"Fine... but this time, really, if we don't find anything, we'll turn back." His companion sighed.
"So be it."
Arwain nodded. The young hunter did not dare to express his opinion, but seemed glad that the fruitless march was almost over.
The trio moved on, deeper into the forest, having eaten a short lunch and rested their legs. There were no footpaths clear of fallen trees this far from the village. The ground was also uneven, with many gullies and other obstacles. The fact that it was the middle of summer did not help. Although the thick foliage shielded them from direct sunlight, the heat was still torturous, especially for a group of hunters who were dressed in clothes thick enough to protect their flesh from the claws and teeth of the beasts. Indres also carried a war bow, so the man's burden was heavier than the others.
He did not complain, for he himself had insisted on going deeper and further than usual. The man wanted to make sure of something.
The hunting party reached the top of the next hill close to lunchtime. The sun was already lower, but still heated heavily. Aegar and Arwain sat low to catch their breath after the climb up, while Indres just put his burdens beside the two of them, and started climbing the nearest tree himself to scout the surroundings. The man was tired like the others, but could not simply rest until he knew for sure.
When Indres was finally able to move the branches to the side to get a better view of the valley beyond the hill, he was already sweating profusely. Men had to be careful not to accidentally break the branches on which he was supporting his weight. As a teenager, Indres could have made it to the top, but those days were long gone.
Like all the hills around, the valley was covered with thick foliage, like a dark green sea. Concentrating his gaze, the man noticed a darker patch among the trees, a clearing where something was...
It was real. Indres felt himself retreating wearily.
"I found something." He announced to his comrades, climbing down from the tree.
"What did you see?" Aegar responded, though he wasn't going to get up.
He had leaning back against the cool trunk of the tree and was slowly stretching his tired legs, freeing them from his boots.
"Stone tower, in a clearing among the trees." Indres announced before he began to greedily drink water from his leather sack.
"Tower? That deep in the forest?" Aegar furrowed his brows.
He glanced at the youngest of the three hunters as if to make sure he hadn't misheard, but Arwain also looked confused.
"Uh... yeah, a little shorter than the trees around here, but no doubt a tower made of stone."
"You're sure it wasn't a strange rock?" Aegar doubted.
"It would be the strangest rock, resembling a constructed tower. In any case, it's worth investigating, isn't it?" Indres let a little sarcasm show in his voice, which was not typical of him.
"Ugh..." Aegar got to his feet. "How crazy do you have to be to build something in this thicket?"
"Someone who wanted to hide something." Indres didn't have to think of an answer.
Those words made the other two more lively.
"Treasure?" Arwain spoke first, his eyes lighting up.
"Only one way to find out." Indres allowed himself a smile.
Now all three hunters were motivated to go further, to descend into the unknown valley and find the mysterious tower.
Indres was usually able to easily identify the sky directions by signs in nature - the arrangement of tree branches, the thickness of lichen and moss on tree trunks, the slope of anthills and so on. He reminded Arwain, however, to make marks with knife on the trees from time to time so that they would be able to point backwards. A lonely tower in the middle of the forest could be related to magic. In that case, the natural signs were not so certain.
The shadows began to lengthen and the sky to redden as the three hunters reached a clearing in the middle of the valley. Aegar and Arwain were forced to admit that their mate was right: a tall, angular tower of greyish stone did indeed lean towards the sky in the middle of the forest, its dimensions allowing for rooms of reasonable size to be arranged inside, at least five stores high. From the second-floor level onwards, narrow windows could be seen in the walls, which were now sinking into darkness. The grounds were overgrown with long grass and shrubs, and there was no sign of a path or any other sign that anyone had approached the tower recently. One would have thought that the structure was long abandoned, except for something strange.
"Are they animals? Wolves?" Aegar spoke softly.
The three hunters hid in the shade of the trees, taking precautions before approaching the tower. This was wise, as several carcasses of four-legged creatures lay in the ground around the tower.
"No, spawns. The skulls and spines are too long, with unnatural growths " Indres replied grimly, also in a muffled voice.
This caused the other two to tense up and study not only the tower, but the entire surroundings.
"Someone does live here." Aegar concluded, nodding his head towards the tower.
"Maybe, I don't see a door. Maybe on the other side?" Indres tried to see better.
The hunters decided to move to the side, still in the cover of the trees and bushes, to see the building from the other side.
It looked like the bodies of the spawns were all around the tower. The monsters were of different types, dozens of them, but all looked lifeless.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
"Why are there no bushes around the tower itself? The grass seems shorter too." Arwain thought.
"And there's no grass around the tower itself, just bare ground." Indres added.
"Spawn blood, I'd say?" Aegar offered an option.
It seemed logical, the blood of these monsters was a poison that tainted the soil, water or anything else where it spilled. That was why Indres and other hunters always tried to collect the cursed blood and burn before it soaked into the ground. People had to go to great lengths to dig up the topsoil near the village gate after the battle and carry it further away from the village.
None of the trio could see any sign of life around or inside the tower. They did find a door on the second-floor level to the south. The wooden staircase leading up to it had several broken steps and a damaged handrail, but allowed to reach the door.
"Stay here, ready if need arise." Indres said and unhooked his war bow from the hook on his shoulder.
The other two just nodded. They already had their bows in their hands, so no big preparations were needed.
Slowly walking towards the tower, Indres watched the windows cautiously, so as not to miss any movement, should it appear. The outer perimeter around the tower was normal, apart from the existence of the clearing itself. The soil seemed to be the same as elsewhere, but without trees. Indres did not see any stumps, so he guessed that the tower had been built a long time ago, that someone had uprooted the trees, or that the clearing had formed naturally.
When the hunter had covered half the distance to the nearest tower wall, he was able to take a closer look at the bodies of the dead monsters. Like most spawn, they were in the shape of disfigured wolves, foxes, lynxes and a few bears - as was usually the case when the animals were corrupted by the spawn plague. Their cause of death was open wounds that looked like they belonged to sharp weapons, not the claws of other beasts. Indres didn't need to make sure the monsters were dead, their flesh had begun to decay, attracting a few flies trying to feed off the cursed flesh.
Damned creatures! May the Eternal and all the Holy ones protect, if this plague spreads to flying insects this far north! A new worry appeared in the man's mind.
He noticed that the soil did not look bad only around the dead monsters. All the grass was slowly turning brown, dry, unhealthy and shorter, until for dozens of feet around the tower itself there was only bare and greyish earth. Some small bushes among the brownish grass also looked strange - tiny, shriveled, with a few leaves of uneven size. The impression was that the sickness was not coming from the monsters' bodies, but from the tower itself.
The grey building didn't stand out for anything in particular, apart from its location, but Indres did notice good condition of the stone. He saw no cracks, gaps or other damage in the wall opposite him. Of course, he didn't see ivy, moss or any other kind of plant on the wall either. Despite all this, the masonry did not look fresh, but rather frozen in time.
All these oddities sharpened Indres' instincts.
This place is dreadful, he grimly admitted.
The man considered just turning around and going back. Within two days they would reach home. With any luck, they would hunt enough animals on the way around to justify this long absence. Indres had warned his wife that he might be away longer than usual, but he was sure that an absence of 4-5 days would still make Sofra worry...
But what if there really was something of value? Indres, however, stayed put.
The loss of Teru was not only hard emotionally. A hunter was much less likely to hunt magical creatures without the special sense of smell of a sereni, but saving up money for a new dog didn't seem likely any time soon. In addition, Sofra expressed her wish to save money for children's schooling.
I need to see more; the men strengthened his resolve.
Indres continued slowly towards the tower until he reached the corner of the building, so that he was not directly under the windows. The stone walls seemed unusually cool for such a hot summer day, as if they were not absorbing the warmth of the sun at all. Unfortunately, the man did not feel relieved, but rather a tingling sensation on his back. Once again, he had to overcome the urge to just run away.
Indres approached the ladder and tested its strength. Like the stone walls, the timber seemed untouched by the ravages of time, but not new either. The broken steps and handrails looked like recent damage, probably due to spawns. Indres claw marks on the steps as well as on the wooden door above. It was closed but without a padlock. The hunter decided to check whether it was possible to open them. He started to climb up.
"Spawns! Behind you!" Aegar's voice came from the direction of the forest.
Looking back, Indres noticed that the two companions had got to their feet and raised their bows in this direction. At first, he thought Aeagar and Arwain were aiming for the dead carcasses of spawn, until he noticed something impossible. Some of them had started to move and were rising to their paws, despite the deep wounds in their bodies... no, there was something under those bodies. At first Indres thought they were disfigured humans, dressed in old, torn clothes and armor, until he realized that they were too thin. They were literally skin and bones, and for some the skin was peeling off to reveal greyish pale bones. When one of the creatures turned his corpse-like head towards the hunter, he noticed empty eye sockets, but with the feeling that someone was still looking at him.
"Undead!" Indres exclaimed loudly to warn his comrades and also just out of dread.
This was not the first time he had seen this curse on the bodies of the dead. But then the man was with a large company of soldiers, battle mages and Temple servants who had specially set out to eradicate this evil.
Deftly crawling out from under the monsters' bodies, more than 20 undead, armed with spears, swords and other weapons, headed for the tower stairs to block Indres' way back. Arrows from the forest side slammed into running undead backs, knocking some off their feet, but not for long The dead feel no pain and do not bleed. It is not living blood and flesh that move their bodies, but ancient curses. The fallen get back on their feet to continue moving forward.
Indres also instinctively raised his bow to shoot, until he realized that in his hand was a war bow, the string of which could not be moved without the help of the spirit power.
Concentrate, breathe! the hunter commanded himself.
After taking aim at the chest of the nearest living dead, he summoned his sinsura to increase endurance of muscles, and immediately afterwards used asari that allowed use spirit power to draw the thick bowstring. Most of the young hunters concentrated their strength on the arm that pulled the bowstring, failing to accept that it was just as important to strengthen the other arm, otherwise they would miss the target. Indres was too experienced to make such a mistake, his hands were solid.
*BANG!*
The heavy steel-tipped arrow crashed through the three undead who began to climb up the stairs. Dead bodies were thrown back, their chests shattered, skulls and other bones splintering in all directions. Indres took the next arrow, waiting for the next group. He did not want to waste the precious steel arrows, and every battle was based on the tactical use of spirit power. It was better to hit more enemies together with each shot.
Twice more Indres shot through the bodies of the undead trying to get close to him, stopping about 10 opponents in all. Having lost their heads and part of their central bones, the undead torsos continued to move weakly, but did not seem able to stand up.
Meanwhile, Aegar and Arwain had managed to delay the approach of the others, which was perhaps not too good. Indres reasoned that he might have been able to shoot through more opponents at once.
"Save your arrows! I'll manage!" he shouted to his comrades.
But the remaining undead made no further attempt to attack the hunter on the stairs, ignoring the arrows in their bodies and skulls, the living dead spread out in a wide semicircle around Indres and remained standing as making a siege.
They avoids climbing the stairs so I can't shoot through several at once... too clever. Indres sensed something suspicious.
The living dead were usually mindless, like most monsters, and only hungered to devour living souls. The exception was if someone else was controlling them. Indres risked a glance at the tower behind him, just in time. As the sun was about to set, at first the man thought he saw a strange shadow in the door frame, but then he realized that the shadow was moving of its own accord and was more like a dark mist. The hunter could see that the upper part of the fog was somewhat like the shape of a head with two pale yellow lights instead of eyes. The strange figure began to descend towards him.
Indres did not hesitate to shoot an arrow, right in the middle of the two points of light.
*BANG!*
The arrow hit the door with force, but instead of piercing it or get stuck in the wood, it shattered with sparks. The misty specter paused for a moment, then began to approach again, untouched by the attack. The arrow had run through it, just like an ordinary fog. Indres felt an unnatural chill coming from this apparition; he knew he must not allow himself to be touched by it.
The hunter turned and jumped over the railing. Fortunately, Indres was only in the middle of the stairs, so he was not too high above the ground. The problem was that when he landed, the undead all rushed towards him as one. Looking back, the man noticed that the dark mist was also closing in, faster than before.
No time, Indres could only think.
Concentrating the spirit power in his legs, the man took a mighty leap forward, towards one of the undead, who was armed only with a short sword. He reached forward with war bow and slammed its horn into his opponent's chest, shattering it no worse than a heavy arrow. Indres also fell to the ground, but wasted no time and jumped to his feet again. He ignored the pain - without the sinsura, his muscles could not withstand the excessive might of the spirit power- and rushed towards comrades, who were delaying the other undead warriors with arrows.
"Faster! Indres, hurry!" they shouted loudly as they continued to fire arrows one after another.
When Indres reached his friends safe and sound, he dared to look back. Most of the undead had been knocked to the ground by arrows, but the others continued to close in, though not as fast as before. The fallen ones were soon on their feet again, while the dark mist had stopped halfway between the tower and the tree zone. It, whoever it was, was watching the three people who had tried to break into Death's domain.
"Indres! Let's run! This evil is not to our hand!" Aegar dragged his companion by the arm deeper into the trees.
In his eyes was pure fear of this horror of death. Arwain didn't look much better either, although the guy kept shooting arrows one after another, his face was so pale that even his lips seemed to have lost their color.
"Yes, let's retreat! Remember the directions! Stay together!" Indres shouted to his comrades.
The three hunters left the cursed clearing and hurried back towards home. Indres and the others occasionally looked back, ready to use their bows and arrows, if necessary, but the bodies of the dead lagged far behind and soon could no longer be seen among the trees.
***