Lorth ran on. It had been a mistake. A massive puss filled mistake that might cost him, and his fellow elves, their lives. Once they’d received the hushed command that they would be leaving this cesspit of a city, he had a wonderful idea. Gather a group of elves, then plunder the center of the mana forest. The fact that no expedition that went that deep ever returned, didn’t really register as something that could happen to him. Mana beasts were a known threat. He was confident that their group could deal with it. The cultivators… well that was another issue entirely. Who would have guessed they were in the mana forest? Kin in such a place was such an oddity that no one had even considered it. His failure to do so might very will kill him.

The expedition started normally enough. The twenty elves that were interested weren’t the best nor the worst. They had experience in such delves. That was the important part. They knew what to look for and were eager at the chance for wealth. Once they entered the forest things seemed normal enough. A few mana beast attacks. Nothing special. The nothing became far more evident as they moved on. Soon, there were no more attacks. It didn’t make sense. At such a depth they should’ve seen something. They weren’t close to the center at all. It didn’t make any sense at the time. It was like something had culled all the beasts in a certain area. Reflecting on it now, Lorth realized that was exactly what had happened.

The first attack had been subtle. A loud crashing from ahead had alert his group. They tensed ready for some large mana beast as the noised continued for a minute unabated. Then, silence. They waited nearly five minutes, tension straining their patience. Confused, the group was ready to move on when they finally noticed what had happened. Their band of twenty was now seventeen. The rear most three elves were gone. Simply gone. It must’ve happened during all the commotion up front. A brief search found only a splash of crimson. Some had argued to turn back then. Lorth and most of the others were against it. How he’d wished he’d listened now. At the time he thought it had been an ambush predator. Now that they were aware it shouldn’t cause any more issues. He’d been half right.

They proceeded more carefully from that point on. Each elf made sure they had their body spells continuously active. It was a drain on their mana, but a frequent rests would allow their pools to refill. They’d made their way deeper. That was when they’d come upon the cloaked figure.

The figure stood covered shadows a good distance away. Whomever it was chose the spot carefully. The unknown person was far enough away to be relatively safe yet close enough to talk.

“Most groups turn around after losing a few,” the cloaked figure had said.

Of course at this point things weren’t really making sense yet for Lorth or his fellow elves. They’d spat out the typical stream one would expect. Who are you? What are you doing here? Don’t interfere… How naive they’d been. The distraction had cost them dearly.

Rat-kin had burst from the sides, silent harbingers of death like their smaller counterparts. They hadn’t scream a charge. They’d hardly made any noise. They’d just sprinted at them. The speed… The entire group must have had a haste spell active. Perhaps even greater haste. They’d moved so fast. They didn’t engage them in combat. Instead they’d ran past knives slashing at throats or jabbing into exposed weakness. Their body spells had helped. What would’ve ended them all in seconds only killed three. Two had been slashed to ribbons by the passing kin. They’d cut elves into sliced beef despite their body spells. Sure they only knew the steel body spell but still… It should’ve been enough to protect them. Either the weapons all had cutting enchantments or the kin were using strength spells. The last poor elf had a dagger in his eye.

It was then that it finally clicked. These were the cultivators. All semblance of order vanished as they turned and fled. The elves all blindly fleeing down the path which they came. Several cries of pain sounded behind him. Lorth never even look back. This was the situation he was in now.

“GREATER HASTE!” Lorth chanted as several did likewise. If he could only move faster perhaps… his brief hope ended as movement ahead showed the cloak figure blurring forward past them.

“Gods above…” Lorth whispered. He’d must have superior haste active. How else could a kin surpass them?

“Stand your ground!” Lorth shouted. Most of the elves obeyed gathering in a tight cluster. Three ignored his command dashing ahead. Their screams of pain made their fate clear.

“BARRIER!” Lorth shouted. He began channeling his mana into the shield as two other elves assisted. The others readied spells for any kin that approached. Such a formation had been drilled into them early on. It was a standard tactic three on defense with the rest free to cast. It’d been proven across many wars over the centuries. It should hold against the cultivators. Lorth sweated as he waited to see if it was true.

And he kept on waiting. For twenty minutes not a sound came from the surroundings. Only the rustle of wind or the snuffling of small mana beasts could be heard.

“I, I think they left,” One elf said.

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“Of course they didn’t leave you twigged brain idiot!” Lorth shouted.

“Well, where are they?” Another elf asked.

“Obviously they’re waiting for our guard to drop!” Another elf growled.

“So, you expect us to wait here? For how long? They could be getting the Magebane while we wait!” The elf’s panic began to spread. The Magebane… Lorth suppressed a shudder. If she showed up they were all dead.

“We should make a break for it,” the first elf said again. “They might have gone to fetch her.”

Lorth wanted to argue, but couldn’t. After all staying here wouldn’t save them. He reluctantly nodded.

“Get ready. Let’s drop the barrier in three. Keep your body spells active,” Lorth said.

“One…”

“Two…”

“Three…”

The barrier dropped. Lorth half expected a rain of daggers to descend on him. Instead, nothing happened. Had the others been right? It seemed ludicrous. Suddenly two elves bolted before he could shout out a warning. They ran past the group. Lorth watched as they disappeared. He was half tempted to follow suit.

“Move together. Watch each other’s back. Have your spells ready,” Lorth said. They moved in unison for the next five minutes without anything happening. That was when they saw the first dead elf. He laid in a pile. Not that he was crumbled into one. He was in an actual pile. Dismembered limbs formed a teepee over the torso. The hands and feet had been lashed together forming a crude bowl. Resting in the bowl was the elf’s head. He’d been one of the ones who ran after the barrier had dropped. The kin had done all that in just a few minutes. Lorth felt his bladder threaten to dump its contents as he made his way onward. Another minute passed before they found the second elf. Well, most of him. It was only clear that the pile of flesh was an elf thanks to the head left on the meaty remains.

That distraction cost them. A massive rat-kin plowed through them with no more difficult than a bear parting brambles. He’d never saw it coming. How’d he miss such a large kin was beyond him, but he did none the less. The black fur rat-kin simply knocked them all over as he grabbed two elves his rampaged un-slowed. Before any spell could be fired they were gone past thick foliage.

“BARRIER!” Lorth shouted again as the elves huddle near him for protection. There were only four of them left now.

“FORCEBLAST!” A cry came followed by another voice.

“ICE STORM!” Those chants were from the two that were taken.

A cool wind flowed around them as Lorth hopes rose. Did they get them? He glared at the surrounding vegetation as if he could part the foliage with his will alone.

“Gods above!” One of the elves cried followed by a scream of agony.

“FUCK! MY ARM! YOU FILITHY KIN TOOK MY FUCKING ARM!” More cries came from the doomed pair. Lorth had enough.

“RUN!”

He dropped the barrier, renewing his haste spell.

His heart hammered as the pair of shouting elves suddenly went quite. He wished they suffered longer so he’d have a better chance. That became redundant as the four elves entered a relatively clear area where the cloaked figure stood at the far end.

The figure blurred toward them moving in a spiral that seemed to float above the ground like a high speed ballista bolt. Before Lorth could do anything the figure of death was past him. No less than five slashes had raked across his flesh. Thin lines of blood soaked his clothes. Only his recently mastered orichalcum body spell saving him. His companions weren’t so fortunate. They laid in blood tatters on the ground, the cloaked figure above them.

“Bastard!” Lorth shouted. He no longer thought about running. He only wanted to hurt this fucking kin who had hunted him like an animal.

“BODY OF THE THUNDER GOD!” It was his greatest spell. It would have qualified him to be an elite if he had a larger mana pool. As it was he could only maintain the spell for a minute. Less now as his mana was already half gone.

Energy crackled as it surrounded his torso filling his limbs with raw power. His mind became sharper his reflexes tripling. He would tear this kin apart if it was the last thing he ever did. Which it would be. Mana starved, the other kin would kill him immediately afterwards. He didn’t care as he charged.

The figure simply cocked his head as if slightly impressed. Lorth raised his fist back. His blow had the force of a lightning bolt behind it as it came for the kin’s head. The figure leaned to the side avoiding the blow. A guiding hand and shove added to Lorth’s own momentum as a tail tangled his feet.

Oh yeah… kin have tails… He crashed with an explosion of lightning that killed everything in a small circle around him… except for the kin. Blood splattered from his mouth from the force of the impact. The power unleashed was so great it caused him to bounce upwards as he screamed. The kin seized his head with both hands at the apex of his unintended ascension. A paw planted in his back pinning that part to the ground as the kin pulled. Lorth neck stretched to an almost comical length. He vaguely felt like a toy in the grasp of a cruel child. At least there wasn’t time for much pain. His neck even with the spell active couldn’t withstand the might of the kin. Blood splashed on the forest floor as the head tore free along with a good chuck of spinal column. Lightning arced briefly between the severed head and the body before puttering out. Lorth died the way an intrusive bug might. With no chance of resistance.

Hamal tossed the head aside. His hands were slightly numb, but nothing more. The technique had truly been impressive. A year ago he would’ve been killed. Now, it wasn’t even a consideration.

“You got the last few?” His brother Tallous asked emerging from the forest. He was the largest of Hamal’s siblings. He had shiny black fur which he spent far too much time fusing over. Fatania had whacked him on the head for such pride several times, but it never took.

“They’re all dead.” Hamal tossed the head off the side. Let the beasts eat them. It was better that way. He looked down at his hands. He’d done all that with just mana. How much stronger would he be with ki? He’d soon find out.

“Let’s report back to mother,” Hamal said as the other rat-kin gathered.

“Sure. Mom will know what to do,” Tallous agreed. “Perhaps she can tell us why they’ve been so many more incursion lately.”

“I hope so,” Hamal said as they kin spread out. The mages in Deepmere have been acting weird lately. It was odd. Then again… Hamal looked to the west where he knew the wall of mist was approaching. Perhaps not. He hoped his mother had a plan. They needed one.