Artemis Unveiled:The Descent

Untitled Part 25: The Vanishing Heart

"Why didn't you stay with the group? It's too dangerous here." Aria dismounted and stepped into the shadowy thicket.

Neven extended his finger, a faint silver glow at the tip. "There's blood here."

The silvery blood sparkled under the moonlight, like stardust. Aria immediately knew what it was. When Lucius killed the executioner, this was the color of the blood that flowed out.

"Demigod blood..." Aria's voice was carried away by the night wind, tinged with awe.

Neven stood up, eyes fixed on the bloodstains, following the trail into the dense, dead forest. Aria quickly followed, her heart filled with an unknown fear.

"This blood... it looks fresh," Neven speculated.

"Is he still alive? Is the demigod still alive?" Aria's voice trembled with anxiety.

"Yes, it seems likely."

"Neven, we need to inform the others. We can't handle a demigod alone."

By now, the night patrol had disappeared into the darkness, leaving just the two of them wandering in the wilderness.

"They won't believe me. I'm not what I used to be." Neven quickened his pace. "If it really is a demigod, I think he must be severely injured."

"Wait, Neven. You've never seen a demigod's power up close. They're incredibly powerful."

"If we go back to find the group now, we might miss our chance to find the demigod. Look, he went this way." Neven pointed to the blood on the branches, not looking back. He paused, squinting, his face serious. "Seems like... that direction." They continued following the blood trail, the moonlight obscured by thick leaves, the wind howling like ghostly wails.

A piercing howl echoed from afar.

"Sounds like a Night Ghoul," Aria said, fearfully scanning the darkness, which seemed to blur everything around them.

"That sound isn't a Night Ghoul." Neven corrected her. "Stay close. There's a field of rotting corpses ahead. I've been here before, many years ago."

Aria's breath hitched as a sudden chill prickled down her spine, a foreboding sensation settling heavily within her. Ahead loomed the haunting presence of a mass grave, its existence a grim testament to the horrors that had unfolded in this forsaken place. With a mixture of apprehension and morbid curiosity, she shadowed Neven, his determined stride leading them closer to the eerie scene.

The air was heavy with the stench of death, an oppressive weight that hung thick in the stillness. Aria's gaze flitted uneasily over the unburied corpses strewn haphazardly around, each one a silent witness to the unfathomable tragedy that had befallen them. The sight of their mangled forms sent a shiver down her spine, her stomach twisting with revulsion.

Bathed in the soft glow of moonlight, the grotesque tableau before her seemed all the more surreal. Long, eerie shadows danced across the twisted limbs and contorted faces, casting a macabre spell over the desolate landscape. With each step closer, the darkness seemed to close in around her, a suffocating embrace that threatened to consume her whole.

As they reached the edge of the mass grave, Aria's legs threatened to give way beneath her, the overwhelming horror of the scene threatening to engulf her entirely. With a trembling hand, she reached out to steady herself, her fingers curling tightly around her knees in a desperate attempt to anchor herself in the face of such overwhelming darkness.

Neven hurried over, his voice filled with concern. "Are you okay?"

Aria waved him off. "I'm fine."

At that moment, a sudden sound of snapping twigs emanated from the nearby woods.