With his eyes wide open, William lay on his back and stared up at the sky, lost in thought. They had set up camp among dead trees and provisionally stretched a tarp for shelter, although they probably wouldn't have needed it. Since they had crossed the mountainside, the sky had been eerily clear. Even now, William could see each star beautifully, they were competing with the moon to illuminate the whole dead area. Almost peacefully, William exhaled. Since Cale had burned the dead creature with his magic, the stench had gone away, so all the members were grateful to him. However, judging from the mages reaction, he himself was not so happy about the situation. He still seemed to wonder what exactly had killed the Morvioso.

Quietly, his eyes wandered to Ben, who was sitting a few meters away from them. They had agreed to take turns keeping watch so as not to be surprised by creatures. Therefore, his friend crouched vigilantly at the entrance of the camp and let his gaze glide through the landscape. He seemed to be as wide awake as William himself, although the latter had already finished his watch.

Rustling followed by soft murmuring caught William's attention and as he turned toward the sound. Abruptly, he paused in his turning, for he noticed that Cale had fallen asleep sitting up. Cale didn't seem to sleep very often and when he did once, it wasn't for very long. That much he had noticed in the last few weeks. Most of the time he was just dozing, he rarely really slept. So he wanted to avoid moving next to him at all costs, otherwise he would probably wake up from the noise.

He liked Cale. More than he wanted to admit to himself and that despite the fact that he didn't particularly trust people. But the last few weeks he had proven more than once how honest and kind he was. He always tried to appear untouchable and cold, but especially after the night in which he gave away his Igrikum, he seemed to drop his charade slowly. He talked a lot with Philippa about traveling, goofed around with Ben and seemed to be on a wavy line with Aletta - in a unique way.

Inevitably, William had to smile. There was something peaceful about people sleeping next to you and dropping any concern for your own life. William knew it took a lot of trust to sleep next to strangers like that, after all, he felt the same way. Since childhood, he was taught to be cautious of strangers and never show weakness. He always dutifully followed the rules until the day he couldn't take it anymore. He wanted to get out and see the world, even though he was very afraid of it.

The peaceful moment didn't last long because a soft scream was heard. Surprised, William and Ben looked up as if searching the depths of the woods for the source of the sound. William slowly straightened up, which made Ben realize that his friend was awake. They both had the same, irritated look on their faces.

"What was that?", Ben gave a soft voice, so quiet that his voice was almost indiscernible. But Philippa, who was lying in his immediate vicinity, was also awakened by it.

Again the voice screamed, this time a little louder as if it was coming closer.

William straightened up and Philippa was also wide awake now. She didn't seem to have slept, at least not deeply. They both walked cautiously towards the exit and took a look into the shadows of the forest.

"Was that a woman's voice?", gave Philippa questioningly, trying to make out something in the darkness. The screaming lit up the area again and abruptly it sent chills down everyone's spine. It was clearly the voice of a desperate woman. Immediately William got goosebumps, someone was in trouble.

"That's definitely a woman. I think she needs help."

William's statement was instantly supported by the call for help. This time it was clear. A woman, a fairly young woman, was crying her heart out for help. William hesitated before glancing back at Aletta and Cale and then dropping his gaze to his weapon. Every cell in his body bristled. On one side, here was his group that he didn't want to leave behind, but on the other side someone was probably dying right now. To the sounds of it, this woman was not far from them, so a moment later he decided to intervene. Determined, he grabbed his sword and ran away from the camp in light clothing.

"I will have a quick look."

"Liam, wait!", Ben called after him in a muffled voice, almost as if he was afraid the woman would find out they were nearby. Perplexed, he stopped at the entrance as he watched his friend, whom he was supposed to protect, disappear. Ben couldn't help it, he ran after him. "You stay here, please!"

Ben's statement was directed at Philippa, who was in the same quandary as William. For a moment, she watched the two men disappear into the darkness before realizing what had just happened. She turned to the sleeping two people, intending to wake them, but Aletta was already awake on her own. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and caught sight of her friends face before they quietly asked what was wrong.

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"There seems to be an Anuxer in trouble. Ben and Liam ran to her," Philippa explained, causing Aletta to wake up instantly.

"They did what?"

Startled, the two jolted by Cale's outcry. Horror was written all over the face of the man with the usually neutral expression. He had been sleeping peacefully until he heard Philippas voice. With a leap, Cale was on his feet.

"Where did you go? When did they leave?"

Without even waiting for her answer, he let great masses of mana flow from his body, more than Aletta had ever felt from him. She immediately realized that he was checking the area to locate them.

"I don't know for sure, they just left", Philippa explained calmly, having also stood up.

"Should we go after them?", added Aletta a moment later.

Aletta's question left Cale stunned.

"Yes, of course, but right away. Are you guys even in your right minds?"

Cale grabbed the two by the arms and pulled them to him. The healer could clearly feel Cale's mana instantly surround her before he began to walk out of the camp towards the forest.

"Cale, wait."

Philippa tried to speak as she was pulled through the forest by Cale's firm grip and quick steps. She had difficulty keeping up his pace, but his mana was visibly helping them. A few moments later, she could feel an invisible platform beneath her feet before realizing that Cale was taking off into the air with them.

"Shouldn't we stay in camp instead?"

"Forget about the damn camp. How can you even think of splitting into two groups? Have you forgotten where we are?"

Instantly Philippa understood why Cale was so agitated. It was still dangerous to be out here, let alone just the two of them. They were much safer as a group. Her instincts told her that it would have been better to wake up all the members first and then decide together whether or not they would help the woman. On the other hand, she had also been quite inclined to follow the shouts.

"Ah, the shouting!"

Cale looked at her in surprise. He had already been able to locate the direction in which the two had set out, but he had not yet found it himself. They had to move quickly if Cale couldn't find them with his mana.

"I can't hear the screaming anymore."

"Oh... by the elders beard, that may ..."

Philippas heart skipped a beat as she heard Cale's words and his face shone chalky in the moon. His movement degenerated into powerful leaps before he began to fly and the two girls were literally carried by the mana. Cale had found them. And also the third figure. No. There were clearly more than three.

"How can they be so stupid?"

The blonde-haired girl tightened her grip. The magician's statement frightened her. He apparently knew exactly what was going on. At the same moment, Aletta could hear Ben's voice, which was screaming out. She was scared to death as they approached the sounds.

"Stay with me and do exactly what I tell you", Cale ordered without regard to the girls' opinions. For a moment there was silence, but then Philippa recognized a dark spot in the sky, which was illuminated by the moon. It was William, who was slashing through the area with his sword drawn, and then falling to the ground. The others had noticed it as well. Cale felt the girls start to tremble, pulled them both close to him and looked down at William and Ben from above. He didn't care how much he revealed of his abilities. This situation was a complete disaster.

"Ben!"

"Liam!"

The two girls screamed almost in sync, causing Ben to look up in surprise. The three were now directly in front of what was happening. A dead figure lay on the floor, decomposition had not yet set in. Next to her stood a young, weeping woman, with thick, black worms crawling out of her mouth and jumping around like crazy.

"Aletta", Cale's voice rang out, jolting the blonde from her state of shock. "Heal Ben. If someone gets hurt, heal them too. Save up your mana as much as you can, but be sure to stay at least 10 meters away from those creatures. Even if someone is badly injured just in front of it. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

Aletta's whole body shook with fear and tears streamed down her face. In her whole life, she had never been in a real fight, so she was very scared. But then she heard William's sword and Ben's desperate groan, caught herself with a deep breath and nodded firmly. At the same moment, Cale elegantly dropped the healer to the ground before she rushed to Ben.

"Idiots", Cale exclaimed loudly, wiping his finger through the air. At the same moment, a bright glowing line drew itself on the ground before a bright wall separated Aletta, Ben, and Philippa and himself from the woman. His Igrikum. He held his finger intently in front of his face as he called loudly for William. "Liam, get back on our side IMMEDIATELY!"

The black-haired swordsman was a bit irritated by Cale's statement, as he was about to kill the worms which were rushing towards him. However, the bright light made him assume that this was for protection and followed his instructions without argument.

"Philippa..."

His voice was softer now that he had everyone on the safe side. Inwardly, he weighed whether he should take care of the creatures himself or rather, like a normal person, go the right way. Hesitantly, the archer next to him turned to look before noticing that he was holding a longbow in his free hand, along with a basket of dozens of arrows.

"Where did you get...?"

"Listen to me, will you? You have the most important job of all", Cale interrupted. Philippa felt a chill run down her spine; she had an inkling of what was about to happen to her. Therefore, she reached for the weapons, which were made for her, and looked at the worms on the other side. "These are parasites. They have taken over the woman's body and spread inside her. I want you to kill every single one of them. While you're at it, concentrate on the ones that are getting too close. Ignore the number of arrows you have, I can give you more than enough."

Philippa didn't hesitate for long and started killing the maggots with precise shots.

William, who was a little out of breath getting a picture of what was happening, takes a moment to realize that his whole group was there, working together. He watched as Ben picked himself up and glanced in amazement at Cale.

The mage had just taken full charge and had not given them a task.