Less than a mile away, resting in the valley sat the cinders of an entire village. Smoke simmered and circled its way into the sky—Wooden walls lay in ashes while homes were left as little more than smoldering frames and embers.

“What happened?...” I heard Lucia mutter out.

“Feral Beasts,” Sanders answered calmly. “When they form together into a pack they cause carnage wherever they go, feasting on the mana and flesh of anyone they can kill before moving on to the next.”

Morbid silence filled the air, anxiety becoming a palpable substance as Sanders began to move forwards.

“Come on, we have work to do.” He spoke with eerie calm, striding forwards confidently. Nature gave way to him, the roots of trees scuttled away while batches of grass bent before his foot could even reach the ground—Just to fill in moments afterwards, hiding his gentle footsteps as if they were never there.

No one else moved to follow, dread filled the air—I could see the others second-guessing their choices. Erick and Lucia looked at eachother, Anestesia stared at the ground before her, and Tulip balled her hands into tight fists.

“He’s not gonna wait for us…” I sighed out, taking the first step forward to follow. Sparing only a glance back I could see Tulip already beginning to follow behind me—The rest started soon after her.

Trees danced around the edge of the razed village, their branches stopping just feet away from the ashen edges of its boundaries. The rocky soil softened into small chunks of gravel, and then finally a well compacted dirt coated with a thin layer of gray ash.

I paused just at the gates of the village—The stench of death was palpable even from the remaining distance to cover, it was a vile stench I could recognize immediately. I could remember a handful of times I had experienced it, when prisoners were left to rot inside their cells only to be cleaned out when a new tenant had to be moved in.

Even more than that, I could recognize the stench of a burnt corpse—The scent of blackened and burnt hair filled my nostrils, bile rushing into my mouth where it was barely swallowed back in time.

Erick however couldn’t hold it back—I heard a soft thud before a wet squelch hit the ground soon after, hacking coughs following as he groaned.

“What… is that stench?...” He whimpered out, moving a hand to rest near his stomach.

“That ‘stench’ would be the bodies,” Sanders answered with a grim tone. “You will have to handle it for a while longer, until we find where the beasts have gone.” He continued with a sigh, gesturing around from the group into the desiccated village.

“Spread out, if you find anything that could lead to where the Beasts went, call out to me. If you find corpses… give them the courtesy of a burial.” Once Sanders finished speaking he began into the village, turning down one of the only recognizable streets.

I frowned slightly when I looked towards Akemi, she held her paws over the top of her muzzle in an attempt to block the scent out while a low whine escaped from her sealed lips.

“Sorry… you’ll have to suffer through it too,” I consoled the Kitsune, raising a hand to scratch her ear gently. I glanced over as a soft thud impacted against, the wet squelching of Erick emptying his stomach across the scorched ground around him.

With a sigh I started forwards, trying my best to ignore the rancid stench as I went. Each breath I took went over almost as carefully as every footfall before me, my gaze locked in a sweeping motion to take in the piles of ash between the scorched buildings.

I could hear footsteps following behind me—Tulip was only a few paces to my rear, with one hand pinching her nose tightly shut.

“How does this smell not bother you at all?” Tulip asked with a whimper to her voice.

“It does bother me. I’ve just been around similar stenches enough to ignore it.” I had to shutter a little just remembering how awful the prison could have been this time of year—Leaving winter when abandoned convicts who froze to death thawed out and rotted away in their cells.

“Oh…” Tulip shuttered as she replied to my remark. I heard her footsteps slow marginally while I continued forwards, unabated by the smoldering buildings sitting around me.

I ran my gaze across the buildings curiously, taking in every detail I could—Many supporting beams had deep claw marks running through them, walls were collapsed by something large rushing straight through them. The stone underfoot lay cracked and crumbled, jagged edges lay aimed upwards with a threat to stab straight through the soles of my boots.

I could still hear the crackling of embers popping within the frames, smoke lay heavy across the streets in a toxic smog that threatened to close my throat with every choking breath I tried to take in.

A heavy round of coughs escaped my lungs, forcing me to raise my shirt over my face in an attempt to block out some of the smog.

“Kirin! Over here!” I looked over with burning eyes to where I heard Tulip’s voice—I saw her figure, obscured by the smoke but still visible. I wasted no time, turning to jog over to her with Akemi grasping tightly onto my shoulder.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“What is it?” I asked, stopping just beside Tulip. She stood upon the elevated base of what had once been a larger building, the thick stone base was meticulously carved and put together with many smaller pieces—But I couldn’t see anything that stood out directly.

“Look over here,” She answered, carefully stepping over the fallen remains of the wooden ceiling. The walls creaked and groaned, threatening to collapse with the slightest push. “They’re… not eaten.” Tulip stated as she turned a corner inside the dilapidated home.

“What?...” I asked as I turned the corner a few paces behind her—It was a bedroom, scorched sheets lay strewn about while broken glass decorated the floor. At the very forefront, laying across the foot of the bed was a corpse. Whole and unburnt, with only a single wound traveling down their back.

“I thought Sanders said that beasts attack villages to eat people?” I asked, confused. Akemi let out a low, uncomfortable whine that gradually turned to a growl as she looked around. “Akemi what's wrong?” I questioned the Kitsune.

She let out an uneasy yip, shaking her head side to side with her teeth gnashing in an annoyed manner.

“He did, and this doesn’t look like a cut made by a beast—It’s too clean.” Tulip stepped forwards, examining the corpse further. She gently reached forwards just for Akemi to unleash a ferocious bark that made both of us jump—Tulip fell backwards, landing on her back harshly.

“What is it?” I asked the Kitsune, my tone now filling with annoyance as I approached the corpse to help Tulip up—Until a low groan reached my ears. The rattling of taut skin being stretched over frail bones forced my gaze over, the low drone of Akemi’s growl filled my ear in a constant wave.

“It’s… alive?!” I cried out as Tulip and I both backed away. Tulip quickly scrambled to her feet, I pulled my hands together—My scimitar appeared within my grip, my knuckles tightening around the hilt.

“I—I don’t know!” Tulip shouted as she got back to her feet. The corpse shambled its way up to its feet, turning to face us with a toothy grin and dead, black eyes.

With a guttural hiss it lunged forwards, its arms outstretched while its fingers began elongating into claws. Its skin was pulled tautly over its flesh like a dried piece of meat, its teeth were sharpened and yellow—only barely resembling a human in shape now that it faced us.

“What is that?!” I cried again as I sidestepped its lunging strike. Tulip hopped into the air, floating just out of the feral corpse’s grasping hands.

“It’s an infected corpse! Cut off the head!” Tulip answered with some confidence—She extended a hand, an immense force slamming into the corpse’s body, slamming it down into the ground hard.

Without hesitation I closed the distance with my blade raised high, dropping it down like a guillotine across the extended neck of the corpse—Yet despite the force I impacted it with, its bones were incredibly dense, simply stopping my blade dead in its tracks about halfway through.

“Crap!” I exclaimed, barely tearing my scimitar out of its neck before stumbling back out of the corpse’s reach. “Why is its neck so tough?” I glanced up at Tulip as I spoke.

The corpse growled and hissed, its arms pushed into the stone ground hard. The bricks underneath it began to crack and falter under the force it output to attempt pushing itself to its feet.

“It’s a magical beast! You need to use magic to kill it!” Tulip’s words left my heart racing—She shifted herself through the air, releasing her magic that was trying to force the beast to the ground.

The corpse shambled its way back up, stumbling backwards from the increased force suddenly releasing.

My eyes widened as the corpse regained its composure, its jaw opened with a long green tongue lashing out of it—Acidic slime dripped from its lips, caking onto the stone underfoot where it hissed and sizzled into the floor. It began forwards with a lurching motion, starting a horrifically fast sprint towards me.

I clenched my teeth as the corpse brought its arm up to swing down at me, raising my blade I parried it off to the side—I tried my best to focus inwards, drawing my mana to the surface while the corpse turned and slammed its other arm across into the flat of my blade.

The impact sent a jarring pain through my body, forcing me to stumble backwards several paces. Akemi let out a panicked yelp before leaping off of my shoulder and landing with grace beside me.

Electricity crackled across her fur, a ferociously deep bark escaped her lips like that of a great hound. The corpse however didn’t hear or didn’t care, it simply turned and lunged for me again.

I took in a deep breath, watching the corpse approach with relentless speed—Only to slow down mid step from Tulip once again.

“Now!” She shouted and I reacted. Electricity crackled across my body, my blade illuminating with a violet flare.

I took a powerful step forwards, bringing my blade up and across in a single motion—One that Carmine forced me to practice every day during our training, at the same moment Akemi launched forwards like a ballista bolt. She slammed into the Corpse’s legs, sending it tumbling face first into my blade that cut through its hardened flesh and bone like it wasn’t even there.

My blade found its mark between the upper and lower sections of the corpse’s jaw, sliding through the taut flesh and derelict bones all the way to the other end. I almost winced as I heard the two distinct parts of the corpse hit the ground.

I kept my breath held tight within my chest, my ears ringing while I listened for any more movements—I was so tense that I nearly struck Tulip when she landed beside me.

“Woah! Calm down Kirin, it’s actually dead this time.” Tulip spoke with a calming tone. With a long sigh I let the held breath escape my lungs, my shoulders relaxing forwards. Akemi strode over to me, looking up to meet my gaze with pride in her eyes.

“What… was that?” I asked again, turning my gaze back to the corpse. Blackened blood leaked out of its body, mixing together with the green ooze that it expelled from its jaw. “And thanks for the assist Akemi.”

“An Infected Corpse—Or a Ghoul… but it shouldn’t be here,” Tulip spoke with dread in her voice. Wasting no time she turned to leave the house, rushing to the path we entered from. “We need to find Sanders and tell him about this.” She stated hastily.

“What do you mean it shouldn’t be here?” I asked worriedly. I waited only long enough for Akemi to jump back onto my shoulder before following right behind Tulip.

“Because they’re made by Unspeakables.” Tulip stated—Just to be followed by an ear piercing screech in the direction we had originally come from.

It took only a quick, mutual glance to each other before we were in a dead sprint to the entrance of the village.