The Mask that was delivered to me

Encounter

After jumping abruptly through the portal. I landed on a huge grass patch.

The Spirit Turtle materializes into a physical shape, to my surprise.

Previously back home, the spirits were not materialized in a physical form. They were almost more of a ghostly figure.

Imagine Peter Pan's twinkle bell, like that but translucent.

So how did the turtle tug me previously?

To be honest, I have no idea.

It does look like it used up a lot of energy just to materialize its beak just to pull me.

Then again that was only based on what I observed.

The turtle tends to point to the trail mark left behind by our unknown assailant.

From there we proceed to where the direction of the trail leads to.

The path gradually took us to different terrains the further we went.

It went from:

Grassy Patch ---> Heavy Rainforest ---> The Deep Swarms.

Though as the journey went deeper, it seems that the issue doesn't end with a simple kidnapping.

When we were in the Heavy Rainforest, there were signs of civilization that a certain tribe lives here, but was forced to flee. The town per se was built alongside the Rainforest, meaning as the trees grow thicker and bigger, so would the village prosper even more.

"Hello? Anybody home?" I yelled at the entrance of the supposed village, surprised that this time I was able to project my voice out when using the mask.

However, not a single life form was heard or seen.

It was a ghost town.

There were books, food and tools all scattered and thrown everywhere. It seemed as if they abandoned their homes.

No dead bodies were found as well.

The village was well-built, and the structures were made of wood for the most part. It was really sturdy due to the Rainforest itself being a support for the housing. The town was also using the Rainforest's denseness as camouflage as well. It was pure luck because of the trail that I was able to stumble upon it.

But the town was built on a smaller scale not fit for humans.

Which meant it was not meant for humans.

After scanning the village, the turtle and I continued on the path which lead to the deep swarm.

However, from here it got apparent. The path took a dark turn when signs of struggle starts to show up.

Corpses. Corpses of what I could only assume as the supposed species earlier on.

There were body parts that were scattered everywhere. Looks like whatever killed them did it fast because most of the dead bodies ended with bite marks.

The species of the tribe looked like a bunch of dog-like creatures. With hands and feet instead of paws.

As I surveyed around for more clues, looked like some of them tried to fight back. However, it seemed that there was no chance.