Curse of the Crystals

Chapter 12: Unexpected Allies - part 3

"Yes, I'm afraid we are. With how the enemy operates, they are capable of taking out small groups like it's nothing, so we need to stick together and cover each-others blind spots. One bite from them is enough to take you out, after all." She looked around, and as the group nodded in confirmation, she spoke up again. "I'd like for the five of you to stay at the centre of the group. I've got no doubt that you're all skilled, but we will most likely need your talents more at the Heart of the Forest itself, so I'd like for you to reserve your energy until then."

None of them was eager to do so, as it felt like they were going to use the others as shield, but they eventually agreed. It wasn't long before they felt the first effects of the area. They instantly reached for the herbs, which were boiled down into flasks of extremely bitter water. It was tough to swallow a decent amount of it as it made them gag, but they knew how much it was needed. For the first hour or so, they encounter only the occasional animal, some forest rats, a wolf here and there, and a fox on one occasion.

The animals were easily beaten on their own, but the fact that each of them had immediately attacked them showed just how unnatural the situation was. Maiara was already trying to draw new conclusions, as it seemed like the affected animals were limited to specific species. In the capital, it had only been rats, but here, canines seemed to be included. She couldn't imagine how difficult this fight would become if birds were to become infected. Having an incredibly mobile enemy attack them from above would have been to their detriment. Luckily enough, their mysterious enemies didn't seem to be able to infect any flying creatures. For now at least. With just the rats and canines, they were progressing surprisingly smoothly. It wasn't all that big of a surprise, with a small army of highly skilled Forest Elven archers, but the irregularities were living up to their name more often than not, so there was a lot of tension in the air. They were all fearing the unexpected.

Their luck ran dry around after having walked for four hours. As the light started to grow dim, more and more animals started attacking them. The first victim fell when he tried to retrieve some arrows after they shot a wolf. The wolf had been able to get pretty close to them, so the poor guy didn't think there was a big chance of him being attacked during the few steps he'd take to gather his arrows. You could never have enough arrows in an area like this, after all. It turned out the wolf wasn't dead yet, despite the large number of arrows sticking out of it. Like the odd man they had battled in the inn, it seemed like some animals were also displaying a total lack of pain and some extreme endurance. The unsuspecting Elf was bitten before he realised his mistake, and as he fell to the ground due to the dizziness, the wolf had bitten straight through his throat before the others could send another volley of arrows to pierce through the animal.

The fallen Elf gurgled for a moment longer, then stopped making sound altogether. From that point on, the tension seemed to have increased to the point where it was suffocating. Arethusa had to put all her leadership qualities on display to prevent the others from aimlessly shooting their arrows at any shadow, until she eventually decided that it was getting far too dark to continue. They couldn't find a clearing, so they were forced to spent the night between the trees.

"We'll climb them." Arethusa stated, as she indicated which trees were the most suitable for their purposes. "If we tie ourselves to some high-up, thick branches, we should be able to safely get some rest. It's going to be incredibly uncomfortable, but it worked during the guerrilla warfare against the High Elves all those years ago, so let's see if we can use it against these creatures as well." As she led by example, by started to climb one of the trees, she recalled something. "Oh, and don't forget to take a double dose of the herbs before you go to sleep, and to have someone wake up you after a maximum of four hours to get another dosage. Otherwise there's a fair chance you'll never wake up again."