What Lurks Behind The Trees

Amethyst

"If we carry on like this, none of us will survive"

"We're left with thirty-two men,"

"What do you suggest we do?" Alan said

"I suggest we only move during the day," Earl said while stroking his long beard.

"But even if we don't move at night, the creatures will still find us,"

"That's true"

"What do you think?" Aden asked Gregor who had been quiet the whole time, seeming lost in his own world.

"I don't know," He said, "But I have something to show you," He took out a piece of parchment from his pouch and unrolled it, showing a map of some sort. "I drew this; it vaguely shows the map of the forest, what we've crossed so far,"

Everyone leaned in and looked at the map. The map was not completed, it only showed the parts they visited, but it was separated with a line.

"What does this line mean?" Alan asked

"Well, I noticed a change in the forest at some point, after we jumped from that cliff into the river, we stopped seeing the regular Night Slayers and started to see Beast form ones."

"Hm, you're right," Earl said "You are smart"

"I thought maybe this meant that the forest had stages or sections?"

"I see what you mean; maybe the deeper we go into the forest, the more different creatures we encounter," said Alan.

"I also thought about something else, in the second section of the forest, we met the beast creatures, maybe that's because there are more animals there. So when Abe was bitten by the beasts," He shivered at the name "he turned into a regular Night Slayer and not a beast, that might be because he's human."

"So when animals get bitten they become beast Night Slayers," Aden said

"That sounds correct" Earl said

Gregor's mouth opened agape when he came to a sudden realisation "Which explains why there are so many Night Slayers in the first section of the forest! These were probably humans who walked into the forest and got bitten."

"But how did the first Night Slayer come about?"

"This is just a prediction, there's no real evidence," Alan said, "But let's keep it in mind when we go deeper into the forest."

"Now let's go before night falls"

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"I don't understand, I sent wagons of resources specifically for Demondale"

"Master Cedric, we captured the men who were meant to deliver them and they won't say a word"

"Bring them to me"

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"We are under threat by Demondale because of something you did!" Cedric shouted, making the men in front of him flinch in fear. "What happened to the millions of coins worth of resources? Copper, iron, diamonds and even fish? Where did they disappear?!" He was starting to lose patience now.

"Master Cedric, we really don't kno-"

"Stop lying! If you do not answer me, I'll have your heads off one by one, until one of you says something useful."

One of the men fell to his knee and started sobbing "Master, they took it, they threatened us with magic!"

Cedric stood up slowly "Who?"

"They were cloaked, we couldn't see their faces, and they said they would destroy our homes and families if we told you anything"

"How many were they?"

"Four or five, I-I'm not really sure"

"You couldn't handle five men? How disappointing."

"They did magic," The man looked nervously at the other men and they avoided his eyes quickly, looking down at the floor in fear.

"What kind of magic?" Cedric said, walking up to the man.

"Master, I-I can't say"

"What kind of magic?"

The man looked down, eyes darting in every direction but Cedric's

"What kind of magic?"

"D-Dragons, made of fire and ice,"

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The cloaked man smirked, his teeth glinting in the moonlight. He stood at the top of the mountain, looking at the kingdom. His right hand reached beside him, placing it on icy scales that poked his palm with their texture, but he stroked them, gaining a pleased purr from the owner of the scales. The cloaked man turned his head, his own purple eyes reflecting the white, icy creature. Its eyes were purple amethysts, its white icy skin appearing almost blue, its wings delicate yet powerful and big. A row of sharp crystals decorated its jaw, displaying them as a dangerous threat. A tail swung behind it, long and sharp, covered in icy scales. Its nostrils were flaring with every breath it took.

"Zaveo, are you ready?" The cloaked man said as he stroked the dragon's scales by his large, gleaming eyes.

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A short chapter but has lots of new info. A dragon! Magic! 

I'm so excited to carry on writing this story, I have a lot to write about.