Moonlight Lands: Fallen echoes

Chapter 6

Ekrill couldn't sleep. He kept waking up every five minutes or so. Ryker seemed to sleep very well, he had been sleeping on hard stone for the past week or so, sleeping on a makeshift bed of leaves wouldn't be worst. Natrium didn't even try to sleep, she stayed uprights the whole time, she was also glowing a faint silver, looking intently at the marsh, from time to time she turned to look at the forest. She hadn't remove the arrow from her shoulder yet, and Ekrill started to worry the wound might get infected.  After a while he decided to get up. "Why aren't you sleeping?" Asked Natrium, not taking her eyes of the marsh. "I could ask you the same!" snapped Ekrill. "Draklies sleep every three nights, i slept last night" She said.  Ekrill yawned. "What are you looking at?"  

Natrium pointed the marsh. "Look carefully"  Ekrill looked at the marsh, some of the vegetation seemed to be glowing a faint blue, altough the source of the light was invisible or hidden. "Lights?" He asked. "keep watching" Natrium's tail twitched. At the same time, a floating, blue-ish fire floated away from behind a rotting tree. "Will-o'-whisps, our actions are being watched by them. That one's been hovering around the edge since sunset." Declared the Drakly.  Ekrill nodded.

A crack in the branches behind them made them jump and woke up Ryker. Natrium took out her bow."Nightmares, can't belive i didn't notice the red glow around the lake!" She yelped. "We are circled by them?" Asked Ekrill, helping Ryker, who was sleepy, to get on his horse. "We can go on the north bank to get to the marshes, we need to be quick though, nightmares are faster than horses or hippogriffs." Said Natrium, startled.  "How fast can a drakly run?" Asked Ryker, now perfecly awake. "Faster than a horse, slower than a flying hippogriff" Replied Natrium.

All three of them ran on the north bank of the lake, trying to get to the marsh as fast as they could. The whisp had vanished from where it was, and was now a bit further into the marsh. Now they could hear knights yelling ad shooting spears and arrows at them (They aren't good at aiming). Natrium was running in a way similar to a cheetah, and similar to a cheetah, she was starting to get exhausted. When they finally got to the marsh, Ryker's mare and Dusk attempted to stop, but their riders tolf them to keep going. The nightmares didn't continue and trowed their riders off them and ran away from the marshes. But other Acerbus knights started to come out of around the marsh, eventually circling them, but the three travelers didnt know.

A whisp appeared a short way off, and the way the blue fire was moving, it seemed to want to be followed. They followed it of course, for no one can turn away from a whisp that demands to be followed.  When Ryker arrived close enought to touch the whisp, it disapeared an reapered about ten meters away, still showing them the way.  The whisp eventually appeared behind a rotting tree and this time, it did not disapear when they go close. "hide..." It whispered before disapearing like always, but didn't reappeared. Ekrill looked at the surroundings, there was alot of rotten trees, here and there laid the bones or animals(or people). One skeleton was impressive, it was just a rib cage, but it was so long that both ends sank underwater and it was large.  "Get down!" hissed Natrium as a couple dozen knights where heard. They kept complaining about how wet it was, how their Nightmares didn't want to go in the marsh, ect. Dusk stayed very still this time.

A thick mist slowly crept in like a cat stalking its prey. Amongst it where blue lights. It soon became so tick that Ekrill could barely see his hand if he held it a couple of inches from his face.  But that was just the start of things, sooner than later, the blue lights all rushed in a single direction, and that direction was presumable the skeletons of the things that died here. Before long came the shreiks and yells of the Acerbus knights, who where getting killed on scene or draged into the water underneat.

A couple of minutes after the cries died down, the mist disipates and reveal most of the skeletons Ekrill saw, but they where all moved, even the large ribcage had sunk a bit more and moved 4 meters left. "Well... that's not creepy at all" Mutered Natrium sarcasticaly. Sudenly a whisp apeared about 10 meters from them... and as always, they where forced to follow it. And it led them out safely from the marsh. It even seemed to wave good-bye when the travelers left.

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A day of walking later, they stumbled upon an old house. Its wall where made of cobblestone an pilars of wood. The roof was tatched and it looked rather demolished. Natrium looked at it. "Since we are near the borders of your kingdom, do you know who and if anyone lives in that house?" Asked Natrium to Ryker, who shook his head. "Never been here before" He replied.  "Why don't we investigate, if its abandoned we might be able to scavenge someting, and if someone lives here, we might get help, Dusk needs to drink clean water" Sugested Ekrill. "Fine with me" Answered Natrium.

The inside of the house looked larger and newer than the outside. Sadly, the house contained only a cauldron, empty bottles and a small amount of furniture. Natrium quickly turned at the back or the room, where a dark figure seemed to run to another room. "Someone else is here!" She hissed. "Where?" Asked Ryker. Natrium pointed the room, when they got into it, the window was opened and the figure could be feen disapearing into the woods. "We probably startled him" Said Ekrill. "Come on lets get going, theres usefull for us noting here" Said Natrium

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Welp, this took long to whrite .-.  and im not pleased about it....

Anyways, hope you enjoy, im still recovering from having my ribcage almost crushed (heavy dog is heavy) so... ya... CYAAAAA