We traversed the river's edge for thirty arduous minutes, yet Dagen remained elusive. My frustration neared a breaking point, an internal storm threatening to burst forth. Survival had become paramount; we could not afford to succumb to the perils that lurked in these treacherous woods. Every step along the riverbank felt unbearable, navigating the unforgiving terrain of rocks and mud proving a daunting challenge for all.

Klayden, panting, called out to me, "Zarek, I think we should stop."

I halted, my frustration etched on my face as I turned to face him. "Would you have had me cease the search if the situation were reversed?" I retorted, annoyance evident in my voice.

Klayden, attempting to reason, gasped for breath, "I don't mean to anger you, but the Duskfangs have trailed us for the past thirty minutes. We must find our way out of this forest."

"To hell with the Duskfangs! This concerns Dagen, one of our own. I won't cease until I find him. If you choose not to continue, feel free to forge your own path," I declared, the pain of Dagen's uncertain fate cutting deep.

My outburst, born of frustration, was unintended.

The river was bending, and if we persisted, the Duskfangs would seize the opportunity to attack. Klayden's warning resonated with the impending danger.

Rain loomed, threatening to drench us. The impending downpour, curiously more intense than usual, arrived as distant Duskfang screeches echoed. Our path darkened as rain clouds obscured the moon's meager glow.

"Damn it, Zarek, we must go!" Klayden insisted, their silhouettes fading.

"I concur with Klayden. It pains me to say this, but if Dagen hasn't appeared, he likely met an untimely end," Shael admitted.

The possibility had crossed my mind, though hope clung desperately.

Rain cascaded, and I raised my eyes to the darkened sky, soaking in the deluge. Accepting Dagen's loss was agonizing; he had perished in solitude, with only us left to mourn.

Suppressing tears, I sighed, "Very well, let's find our exit from this forest."

Departing the riverbank, we delved into the dense trees. A thick canopy created an opaque darkness as if the forest enticed entrants to an abyss from which escape was forbidden.

Silent footsteps echoed through the forest; even the trees stood still, and only raindrops broke the silence.

Saturated and hungry, my thoughts lingered on Dagen's final moments, so near to safety. Glancing back at our despondent group, their morale was palpably low.

No time for Dagen's memory; the living demanded attention.

Coming to a halt, I gathered the group. "I apologize for the turmoil we face. Whether you question my leadership or not, I vow to ensure our safety and survival."

Their shadowy figures exchanged glances. Roger, stepping forward, reassured, "Dagen's demise isn't your fault. We stand united; your leadership is unquestioned."

His words lifted a burden, a brief respite in the gloom.

"Thank you, Roger. Let's secure a resting place."

As we trudged through the forest, rain ceased, leaving a chilling air. Spotting a Uachrus tree, its lifted trunk and dense leaves provided ideal concealment.

"We've found shelter!" I exclaimed, invigorated.

Klayden sighed, "Thank the gods, I could go no further."

"Stay vigilant. Spread out and check for danger," I cautioned.

Spotting thick bushes, an idea surfaced.

I unsheathed my sword and cut clumps before returning. The leaves tickled my face as returned to the group. "Why carry those?" Shael inquired.

I released the bushes, a silent thud as they settled on the forest floor. "Glad you asked! I'll be covering our resting place with these, and I'll appreciate it if you all could also get some." Each of them returned with a bundle, placing them at the base of the tree.

Akibrus nodded approvingly. "Looks good!"

Klayden yawned, "Alright then, I'll be going to sleep now...hope that's not a problem." He looked at me, awaiting a response.

"No problem at all."

We crawled beneath the tree, finding spots to lay our heads. Sleeping in armor would be uncomfortable, but it was a necessary discomfort for survival. I took a seat, resting my head on the bark. It hurt, but I wasn't here for comfort; I was here to survive. I bore the pain, closed my eyes, and felt it gradually subside.

As I sat there, a gentle breeze found its way to us, and I drifted into sleep. A sense of comfort and safety enveloped me like a warm blanket.

A dim light gradually emerged, and I opened my eyes. I stood at the edge of a tree line, placing one foot onto an open field that stretched before me. A river lay ahead, crystal clear. Its gentle murmur soothed my soul. Beyond the river stood a majestic tree, with lush green leaves and a robust trunk, unmoving as a statue. The sky, clear and blue, held no clouds to mar its beauty. I yearned to sit and gaze at this scene for eternity, but a compelling force urged me to look down.

To my surprise, I found myself kneeling. The once lively river now lay still, not a ripple to disturb its surface. My reflection stared back at me, Scarlett red eyes piercing the mirror-like water. I marveled at my own beauty. The wind blew, stripping leaves off the tree.

I gazed at the sky; massive clouds began to shroud its beauty. When I returned my attention to the river, Dagen's face replaced my reflection. His green eyes bore into mine.

"How could you leave me?" his image asked.

Tears trickled down my face. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry."

"I believed in you...I trusted you, and look where it got me...at the bottom of a river!"

"I tried to find you, I followed the river, but to no avail... I'm sorry!"

The compelling feeling to look towards the tree intensified. I wanted to apologize to Dagen, but my body wouldn't obey. I turned towards the tree, and its beauty faded. The once vibrant tree now appeared leafless, gnarled, and coarse. The sky darkened, turning from blue to night in the blink of an eye.

Now bone-chilling, I found myself in the river, shivering uncontrollably. Darkness engulfed everything, rendering my hands invisible. On the horizon, behind the tree, a dim red light illuminated the sky. The crimson light spread, revealing a crimson moon rising.

The entire sky turned blood red, and fear surged violently through me. A metallic scent rose, pungent and nearly overwhelming. I realized the source of the smell but dreaded confirming it.

The compelling feeling to look down grew stronger. I resisted violently, shaking uncontrollably. Yet, my eyes widened in horror as I gazed into a crimson pool. Mangled body parts floated, and my reflection showed a pale face with glowing red eyes, like hot coals.

Panic set in; my breaths quickened to shallow gasps. The river's reflection reached out, fingers emerging to grip my cheeks. Without warning, I was pulled into the bloody river, and darkness consumed everything.

I awoke with a piercing headache, head throbbing as if on fire. I rubbed my face, sighing. "What a weird dream."

Glancing around, I saw Shael peacefully asleep in front of me. I considered waking her but decided against it, letting her enjoy the serenity of slumber.

My bladder demanded attention, so I quietly left the safety of the Uachrus tree. The outside seemed more beautiful than the past days, the forest bathed in sunlight.

Taking in a breath of cold, fresh air, I walked a distance from the tree and found a secluded clump of bushes. As I stood there, I marveled at the perfect place for reflection.

Uncertain of our direction, our best bet was to follow the path the Apostles came from.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Thoughts were interrupted by distant voices. I quickly buckled myself, hiding behind the bushes. Fear stabbed briefly, but I regained control. Two heavily armored men emerged from the trees, their bone-like armor gleaming in the light. One had a skull helmet, the other an open helm, revealing a scarred face.

Their gruff voices carried through the woods. The one with the open helm seemed angry. "Why do the apostles have to get this child? We already have everything we need to complete the ritual!"

The one with the skull-like helmet stopped, glaring. With a grunt, he shoved the other against a tree, making it tremble. "Our apostle's orders are absolute. Question me again, and I will have your head laid in front of Nekulla on a silver platter!"

Apologies, Master Kane, I did not mean to offend you," the scarred soldier stammered.

"Save your meaningless apologies. Focus on our objective."

The tension hung thick, and I pondered the ritual and their search for me. Thankful they didn't discover me, I realized they were heading toward the tree.

Breaking cover, I sprinted to the tree, finding Shael and Roger chatting. "Guys! Get under the tree, quick!" They stared at me in surprise. "What's going on?" Shael asked. I grabbed their shoulders, rushing them beneath the tree.

Klayden, Akibrus, and Caldor were still sound asleep. Panting, I struggled to speak. "Heavily armored soldiers are on their way. Arm yourselves and wake them up!" Their eyes widened.

"Are you serious!?" Caldor unsheathed his sword, crouching. "Who is attacking?"

"Two heavily armored soldiers. Be quiet," I whispered, as the confident voices of the soldiers approached.

We stood crouched, swords poised to repel any attack. The soldier's boots echoed in the wet dirt, each step sending shivers down our spines. Akibrus's breath was loud and rapid; I gestured for silence, and he covered his nose and mouth.

"I received a vision!" The man's deep, muffled voice revealed him as Kane. "It was hazy, but this is where I saw them!"

Fear spread across our faces as we exchanged glances.

"If they were here, they might have left already."

"No! I can feel their presence!"

Klayden eyes were wide with terror, and turned to see Roger mouth silently, "Oh, shit."

A sudden gust of wind, followed by the metallic clang of a weapon striking the ground, heralded the arrival of the Skull Knight. "Nekulla, lend me your sight!"

The Skull Knight's thunderous laughter reverberated. "There you all are. Show yourselves or be blasted to oblivion!"

"Dammit," I muttered, glancing at Shael and Roger. "What should I do?" I inquired.

"Well, I don't want to be blasted to oblivion," Shael retorted.

I led the way out of the tree, followed by Roger. Soon, we stood before the tree, swords drawn. Though we outnumbered them, the opposition looked capable of inflicting serious damage. The Skull Knight focused his attention on me, and I assumed a defensive stance, prepared for any tricks he might employ.

"I'll take the scarlet-eyed boy...kill the rest!" Kane commanded. With those words, a soldier with an open helmet grabbed a sword from his back. My eyes widened in surprise; he pulled a massive claymore from seemingly nowhere, its pommel adorned with a skull whose eyes glowed an eerie green.

Without hesitation, the soldier charged his heavy armor clattering. He closed the distance and swung at Caldor, but he wasn't fast enough. Caldor deftly evaded his wide slash. Everyone attacked the soldier, but despite his heavy armor, he moved surprisingly fast. His powerful blows made their hits seem trivial, causing them to stagger.

My focus returned to the Skull Knight, who never took his eyes off me. He outstretched his right arm.

Was he planning to attack with magic? I imbued my arm with magic, runes forming on my hand. I intended to strike before he could. Suddenly, a black cloud surrounded his hand, spinning widdershins; in the center, a glowing green light emerged. The green light started to move, the black cloud dissipating to reveal what was forming.

I charged at him, attempting to close the distance. The glowing orb on his staff began to emit a light blue glow, and the area beneath the staff froze with ice. Charging might have been foolish, but I wanted to reach him before he could cast the spell. I was too late. The spell formed quickly, producing a sound like a knife being dragged on a piece of ice.

His spell took too long to cast, but unexpectedly, it hurtled toward me at an insane speed. The trail beneath the ice dart froze rapidly. I sped toward the dart, but in a split second, I turned my body sideways, allowing the dart to pass me. It struck the Urachrus tree, and the ice rapidly enveloped it.

I wasn't unscathed. The ice dart's passage left a sharp, cold pain on my left cheek, and the ice slowly melted away. "What a foolish attack; now you're left wide open," I declared confidently. I sprinted toward him, the ice trail breaking beneath my feet.

"You are the fool!" the Skull Knight shouted. As I ran through the icy terrain, my movement gradually slowed. I looked down, finding my feet encased in a thick layer of ice. I was now immobile, but my arms remained free.

The Skull Knight lowered his staff and approached me. In the distance, swords clashed. He confidently neared, convinced of his victory. "Be a good lad and stay still; you're coming with me!"

I struck the ice with my sword, but it might as well have been a rock. Not a chip came off. I crouched, opened my hand over the ice, and uttered the words my master used for fire magic. "Grant czek vensh flamesz." I repeated the words, and sparks began to sputter.

Suddenly, flames erupted from my hand, melting away the ice. The Skull Knight halted, surprised I had freed myself. Infusing my feet with magic, I sprinted toward him, fearless and confident. I leaped, sword raised high; my body exposed, but my attack would be swift. With a determined grunt, I struck at his helmet, hoping for blunt damage. Swiftly, he used his staff to block. I landed on the ground, my sword pressing against his staff. He stood several feet taller, giving him the advantage.

"Submit yourself to me...and spare yourself some pain, lad!"

I tightened my grip and yelled, "Go to hell!"

He sighed and pulled the staff to his chest, scraping my sword against his helmet. With a powerful grunt, he forced me back, and I stumbled. He shifted his staff to his left hand, and a black cloud emerged in his right hand. He revealed a gigantic sword, the pommel also a skull, and the blade adorned with runes.

"Enough playtime, boy!" The Skull Knight twirled the sword effortlessly, runes appearing on his arms. His attacks would be perilous. He thrust the sword toward my chest, but I deflected it quickly; sparks from the sword hit my face. Another attack followed, an arch from right to left. I brought the sword close vertically to my body, and with a hard clang, I was thrown back, landing hard; the wind knocked from my body.

He hopped, ready to stomp on my chest. Quickly, I rolled away, his foot leaving a dent. I got to my feet, light-headed. This fight needed to end swiftly; finding an opening was challenging. His staff vanished from his left hand, allowing a proper grip on his weapon. We charged at each other. He swung, and I reeled back, the sword whistling in front of me, barely missing my head. I closed in, rapidly striking his armor. His sword couldn't reach me due to my proximity. Anticipating this, he raised his fist high, ready to strike my head. I crouched, barely dodging the blow.

I noticed he had a knife strapped to his belt, I also noticed behind his knee armor, that there was no protection. I swiped his knife and drove it hard into his knee pit. He let out an agonizing scream, I would've rejoiced, but I was thrown away at an insane speed. I rolled over, and tumbled over multiple times; the dirt obscuring my vision. I rubbed the dirt out of my eyes, and everything was blurred but it was starting to return.

I kneeled trying to catch my breath and turned my attention to the others fighting against Kaden's companion, and they seemed to be holding their own against him. Roger and Caldor attacked from the left swiftly. Roger struck at the knight's body while Caldor headed for the legs. To my surprise, he was able to halt their attack all the while contending with Akibrus, Shael, and Klayden.

Sneakily, Shael got behind him and struck the helmet of his head. His helmet was gone and they took control of that situation. Akibrus scraped his right eye making it bleed furiously. He grabbed his eye letting out a guttural scream. He ran to the skull-knight and dropped to his knees spitting out blood.

My vision returned to normal but I felt like I was going to pass out.

Kane's soldier finally spoke, "Apologise Master Kane, they were more troublesome than I thought!"

The skull-knight just stood still with his gaze locked onto me. My companions rushed to me. some of their faces were bruised and cut.

"Are you alright?" Shael asked, touching the wounds on my face.

"Yes, I'm fine!" I assured.

"Then get your ass up!" Klayden shouted, keeping his eyes on the knights

The skull-knight pointed his sword at us, he was now kneeling; the blow I gave must've seriously damaged him.

With a loud and angry roar, he stabbed his sword into the ground before speaking, "You all have become a thorn in my side!"

He suddenly grabbed his subordinate's head. The soldier's eyes widened in fear.

"No, Master Kane, please, have mercy!" The soldier let out a blood-curdling scream. Green tentacle clouds emerged from the skull knight's arm, they attached itself to the soldier's head, and it seemed to be taking the life out of him. Dark veins crept up the man's neck, and his face began to turn gaunt, the skin on his face slowly falling off. We could do nothing but watch in horror.

The man was left a lifeless skeleton, in body armor. His body flopped to the ground, and his head rolled toward us. I was receiving many danger signals, the skull-knight was even more dangerous than before, but we outnumbered him. Suddenly he stormed up to his feet, and with a metallic snap of his finger, six dark clouds appeared behind the skull-knight, they spun in a widdershins. And the center of the cloud began to glow green, it soon spread covering the entire cloud. Six knights clad in similar armor as Kane appeared from the abyss of the dark cloud.

We were now at a disadvantage.

"Gods have mercy on us," Caldor whispered.

"We should retreat, let's make a run for it," Akibrus said with fear in his eyes.

His suggestion made an idea pop into my head. "Everyone, I'm going to use a smoke spell, when I do...make a run for the forest." They all shook their heads in agreement.

I outstretched my arms, and the runes began to form on my hand. Smoke began to spread from my fingertips.

"Let's go, now!"

We all ran under the cover of my spell. We dodged trees and jumped over tree roots. While running, I was deep in thought.

We can use this opportunity to find another hiding place from there we can--

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard that sound--that sound that made the hair on my neck rise; the sound of a knife dragging against ice. Only then, did I find out too late.

It got closer and closer. I turned my head, and unfortunately, to see the gruesome sight that would be displayed. The dart of ice struck Caldor in his back, blasting him into bloody pieces. It was so unexpected and massive that it sent us falling. I got up with blood stuck to my face. I looked at where Caldor was previously and I stared in shock, I didn't know what to do. I just looked at the bloody remains oblivious to the danger that was rapidly approaching.

Shael let out a blood-curdling scream, a piece of Caldor lay right in front of her. "What happened to Caldor, where is he?!" Klayden asked, his eyes widened with horror.

I could hear the sounds of branches snapping and falling. A knight was leaping through the air, his sword raised high, and he was right on top of Akibrus who got up trying to seek safety.

Without warning, his sword split Akibrus in half, and the sound of the knight's sword going through his bones and crushing them sent shivers down my spine.

Why was this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this?

The sound of Shael's scream was slowly being drowned out, and I was slowly dipping into a pool, filled with anger.