Eclipsed Journeys

S.1, Ep.14: Shadowed Castle: Facing the Unknown

As the group continues their journey, Luna was exploring her new found abilities as Ace and Nova gave her advice on how to expand it. Nats was walking behind them and watched them fully admired. As they exited the forest, they noticed a castle in the far distant.
"According to the scroll.." Ace started as he read it. "LiHa is in that castle over there." He pointed to the castle in the distant.
"Hmm.." Nats looked down at the large plains between them and the castle. "I think we have another problem ahead of us." She said to Ace as she pointed down.
The plains was filled with broken and burned down houses. Between them Nats noticed a couple of Hellhounds and other creatures walking around.
"Goddammit." Nova said as she sighed. "Hellhounds.. again?"
Ace looked down as well. "I don't think these are our biggest problem. Look." He pointed to what looked like a white floating ball. It had no eyes and only a large mouth with thick lips. "SoulSuckers. Those are nasty creatures. Saw one of them feeding on some poor fella once. They can't see anything but they have a good hearing." Ace explained to the group.
"Fuck.. well. Let's find out how we can avoid them." Nats said.
"Just don't make loud noises." Nova said as she grabbed the rifle and made her way down. Ace looked at Nats and shrugged, as he followed her down. "Of course.." Nats said and followed the group.

As the group walked trough the burned houses, Luna noticed a SoulSucker coming in close.
"Psst. Over there." She whispered to Ace as she pointed to it. Ace nodded and gestured the group to remain silent. They slowly walked past it and with succes, the continued walking in the direction of the castle. Almost at the end of the plains, Nova got seen by a Hellhound.
"Fucking hell.." She slowly said to herself as she walked backwards to Ace. "Ace." She said with danger in her voice. "We might have a problem here." Ace turned around. "Dammit. Be prepared people." He said as the Hellhound growled. It made a loud noise, attracting more Hellhounds and even a SoulSucker. Luna readied the orb and sends it to the Hellhound, striking it on a direct hit.
"Nats!" Ace yelled as he pointed at the SoulSucker. Nats knew what he meant and aimed at the creature. After loading a bullet she pulled the trigger, hitting the SoulSucker face first. Nova joined her and copied the exact same thing. Ace ran towards Luna and grabbed her bow and some arrows, ready to assist her in fighting the Hellhounds. He aimed at one of them and shot it, hitting it in the leg. The Hellhound cried as it backed up and Ace turned around. In his turn he noticed another Hellhound attacking him from the side. Before he could react, the orb flew past him leaving a cold trail behind it. It strikes  the Hellhound as snowflakes came of the orb. Ace turned to Luna and nodded. The group slowly made their way to the edge of the plains as the Hellhounds and SoulSuckers backed up and disappeared in between the burned down houses. "Close call.  Let's move on." Ace said as he turned around and looked at the Castle, closer than ever. As the group agreed, the walked their way to the building.

A person was standing in front of the window, looking at the group getting closer. "As I expected." The voice said and laughed as it walked.