It was a peaceful night in the Heartwood grove. The sounds of distant banshees never ceased, but the aura of the trees protected and gave peace to their minds, allowing them to have a restful and uninterrupted night.

The next morning, Leon got them moving again as quickly as he could. He had no idea what the punishments could be for overstaying his welcome in the grove, but he had no intention of pressing his luck. He’d never stayed more than a single night in the grove, so he figured that was a good pattern to stick to since it had worked out well enough so far.

Maia and Valeria were a little nervous, though. Going east meant different things for all of them, but for Maia, it meant an increased chance of running into the gorgon, while for Valeria, it meant potentially getting closer to her father. By what scant evidence they had, it seemed that Justin had gone east and never returned.

Knowing Justin’s power, that one hypothesis was enough to have Leon feel like he was walking on broken glass that was only growing sharper with every step he took deeper into the Vale. All of his nostalgia and delight in being home again had mostly faded, leaving little else save for the dread and instinctive fear that came with being back in such a dangerous place.

At the very least, he wasn’t sure where they might be able to sleep for the night. He wasn’t keen on attracting the attention of any ice wraiths, but if they had to sleep out in the forest, they’d have to rely on his ability to ward the wraiths off. Leon had always trusted Artorias to protect him in his childhood, but that protection was now gone, leaving all of the pressure on Leon to keep the small group safe. He was confident in his skills, but the knowledge of what might be testing those skills was enough to have his heart hammering in his chest all on its own, without even adding the stress of the inevitable confrontation with Justin, finding whatever might’ve prevented him from coming back west, or of finding out what the Thunderbird Clan had left out there.

And so, the three proceeded out of the grove and back into the forest proper early in the morning and began the trek southeast toward the troll’s bridge. If they wanted to get east, they’d have to cross the gorgon’s river or go around Banshee Lake far to the south, and the bridge was the only place they could safely cross the river without going so far out of their way.

With their power and their silent focus on just getting where they wanted to go, they reached the bridge in a matter of an hour and a half. There, they paused and waited.

It didn’t take long for the troll to show itself. Leon had thought that maybe it might be out hunting or whatever it did to find food, but he was disappointed.

It looked much the same as it had years ago. It was a huge creature, taller than Leon by a good margin, with a hunched back, long arms that hung down far enough to brush against the ground, and a fur-covered body. As soon as it reached its end of the bridge, it began to beat the stone beneath it and roar in a clear show of intimidation as it tried to scare them off.

For just a moment, Leon froze. The last time he’d been here, his father had lectured him on how reasonable people used means other than violence to accomplish their goals. That it was better to avoid violence where possible, that killing everything that inconvenienced them rather than saving such means for their mortal enemies was not the way that thinking, feeling men act.

Leon’s face burned in shame as he wished he’d taken those words to heart more than he did. He wanted to think that those he’d killed in his time had all deserved it, that everyone he’d killed and the actions he’d taken had all been necessary.

But he knew that wasn’t the case.

Slowly, Leon inched forward and took out three silver coins as he did his best to appear strong and confident, to project power and prevent the troll from thinking it might be able to extort more from him. Fortunately, the troll accepted the toll and allowed the three to proceed.

However, as they crossed the bridge, Maia paused for just a moment as her eyes turned north toward the river’s headwaters, the center of power for her people in the Vale. But then the moment passed, and she kept following Leon deeper into the Vale.

An hour later, at about noon, Leon brought them to a halt in a clearing to rest.

[Why are we stopping?] Maia asked. All three were strong enough that rest wasn’t strictly needed, nor was there much of a need for any of them to eat.

Valeria didn’t say anything, but Leon could see that the question was on her mind, too.

He sighed, knowing that they should be moving as quickly as they could. From her obvious impatience, Leon could tell that Valeria definitely wouldn’t enjoy taking a longer break.

But he could see ahead that the forest was growing darker. It wasn’t really getting much denser, the trees and the underbrush remained about the same as in the western half of the Vale, but the trees seemed older and were certainly much bigger. Their canopies stretched higher and their leaves blocked out enough of the sun that the forest in the east was significantly darker than it was in the west, even at such a sunny time of day.

Besides, as he turned his head southward, he could see a few glimpses of the mountain upon which he’d awakened his blood. It was the clearest sign that this was the furthest east he’d ever been in the Vale.

“After this point… be ready for anything…” Leon said in response. “I have no real idea what awaits us in this half of the Vale. My father never allowed us to venture this deep. I can’t sense anything dangerous, but still.”

Leon made quick eye contact with Valeria and Maia. Valeria swiftly nodded her agreement, while Maia frowned and projected her magic senses. Then her frown deepened, and she projected her magic senses again, but much stronger this time, strong enough that the forest seemed to pulse around her.

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“What is it?” Leon asked in concern.

[My magic senses are being disrupted…] Maia answered. [Out in the northeast corner, there’s something that’s just swallowing them up. There’s a ‘hole’ there that I can’t see past…]

Leon projected his own magic senses out as far as they could go, hoping that he might be able to sense what it was that Maia was talking about. His maximum range was just a little over ten miles, so he wouldn’t be able to reach the edges of the Vale, but it was still worth a try.

His magic power washed over the trees and the plants, plumbing the dark depths of the forest and moving on, sending a flood of information back to Leon. Most of this information was immediately discarded as the magic senses-equivalent of white noise. Even with his brain adapted to magic power, there was no way he’d be able to interpret so much information even if he tried.

As his magic power dissipated into the surrounding land, his awareness dimmed until he could neither see nor hear any more. His power wasn’t disrupted in the way Maia described, but he believed her nonetheless.

“Let’s be careful and move a little slower,” he said. Even with Maia’s eighth-tier power, they weren’t invincible. He’d rather believe that Artorias, even with all of his power and skill with the blade, was right to be apprehensive about this part of the Vale rather than arrogantly continue on and stumble right into the jaws of some powerful beast looking for a snack.

He was mildly relieved, though, that he wasn’t able to pick up on any obvious magical auras that would suggest such a possibility was even plausible. A few powerful beasts were roaming around, though; he saw a seventh-tier griffin with gorgeous, sleek black fur and feathers, a pack of fifth-tier wind wolves tearing apart a sixth-tier boar, and even a strange cluster of dead trees that was clearly an unusual grouping of tree sprites, none of which he felt were worthy of too much concern.

‘Maybe Dad was only concerned for my sake?’ Leon couldn’t help but wonder. Regardless, he reiterated his desire for them to continue with the utmost caution and they got moving again.

The eastern half of the forest was fairly different from the western half, if only because of the fact that the trees blocked out so much sunlight. But that wasn’t to say there wasn’t much light; most of the abundant flowers glowed in brilliant colors, casting their rainbow hues all across the forest floor.

Leon found himself being distracted at the sight of the bright and vibrant forest even though the trees above them were dark. It felt like wandering through a mystical cavern rather than the middle of a forest at midday.

All three found themselves unable to stop themselves from admiring the sight, but the forest’s spell was broken when a thread of killing intent wound its way through the air. Their reactions were all the same: coming to a rapid stop, projecting their magic senses, and arming themselves.

Leon, Valeria, and Maia all stood back-to-back, waiting for whatever seemed to have sensed them to make its move, their eyes jumping back and forth through the shadows between the flowers below and the sun shining through thin cracks in the leafy canopy above.

“What the hells was that?” Valeria wondered aloud.

“Whatever it was had power,” Leon muttered, that single thread of killing intent having sent shivers down his spine.

[I can’t see anything,] Maia complained, though none of them moved just yet.

From Leon’s soul realm, he felt Xaphan’s attention come back to the fore.

[What just happened?] the demon asked.

[We felt something watching us and getting ready to attack,] Leon replied. [Their killing intent was potent…]

[I felt it, too,] Xaphan said. [It felt…] The demon didn’t finish his sentence and instead sent a pulse of his magic senses through Leon out into the forest.

A moment later, Leon heard the faint sounds of cracking spreading ice, of the forest ground flash-freezing.

[Something’s coming…] Maia whispered.

“I can hear it…” Leon said as his eyes wildly darted from shadow to shadow, looking for the source of that sound. His instincts were screaming at him what he already knew, but he was refusing to accept. It was too early in the day, the sun was still high in the sky, but that didn’t seem to matter. His childhood nightmares were about to bear down upon them.

“Over there…” Valeria whispered, her voice shaky, her eyes wide and fearful.

When Leon turned to look at what she saw, he couldn’t blame her for that reaction. He felt his legs go weak and his heart rate spike as he saw, for the first time in years, the thin, translucent, malevolent form of an approaching ice wraith. Its eyes glowed bright blue, countless blue veins snaked through its icy body, and its aura was tremendous and oppressive. Leon felt nothing from it other than power and killing intent. There would be no attempt to talk, not that he thought that was ever really an option.

They’d have to run or fight. There were no other alternatives.

And then an ear-splitting shriek ripped through the forest as an inky-black cloud came slowly, almost lazily drifting into view just above the wraith, a skeletal face pushing out of it like the darkness was a veil covering its form.

Then another appeared, and then a third.

[Over there…] Maia whispered into Leon’s mind, and he glanced over to see a second ice wraith appearing on their flank, ice slowly spreading from its feet across the forest floor. This one was also accompanied by three banshees floating above its head.

[Xaphan, any insights?] Leon asked as terror began to grip him like a vise. He turned back around and saw a third ice wraith and its banshees approaching from another flank, and a fourth from another. Given what he could sense of their auras now that they had made themselves known, he knew there would be no escaping them. Their chance to run had come and gone. They’d have to fight now.

[They’re lesser ice demons…] Xaphan observed, his tone one of absolute seriousness. [I can’t imagine how they got here, there’s no way they’re powerful or smart enough to come here on their own. These things want you, or more specifically, they want your blood and the power within it.]

[My blood?] Leon asked as the ice wraiths slowly walked toward them, their auras slamming down on the three like a mountain; all four wraiths were at least sixth-tier, but their auras were so oppressive that even Maia hadn’t yet moved to quell the threat.

[Not yours, specifically, but you’re a mage. You have power in your blood, and they want it. If I had to guess, these are the servants of a much stronger demon that, for one reason or another, hasn’t given them any orders in a while. I can’t imagine any other reason why they’d be acting like this… they seem to lack direction.]

Leon glanced around, confirming once again that they had been boxed in. [Given that they slipped past our magic senses, I question how ‘directionless’ they seem,] Leon replied.

[You’re going to have to fight,] Xaphan stated, a hint of worry in his voice. [My power is ready just in case you need it.]

[Thanks,] Leon almost sarcastically replied, the information only a minor balm to his frayed nerves.

Suddenly, the banshees all shrieked in unison, sending pain rippling through Valeria, Leon, and Maia, tearing their magic power out of their blood. All three screamed in pain. Valeria hit the ground, barely catching herself before her face hit the dirt, but it didn’t seem to Leon like she was in fighting condition anymore. She stayed there, limply kneeling on the ground as the banshees sped towards them.

He and Maia, on the other hand, managed to remain on their feet. Barely. They circulated their power and called upon more from their soul realms, but they had no time to truly recover before the wraiths were upon them and the fight began in earnest.