What Lurks Behind The Trees

A song to his ears

After escorting the last of the villagers to safety, Alan took off to the sky again with his bird friend. He rushed through the clouds, ready to head back to Cruin when something in the distance caught his eye.

"Could it be?..." he muttered to himself.

An icy flame flared in the distance and as he got closer, it shaped up into a dragon.

"Zaveo?"

He flew closer and landed beside the dragon, spotting Venkalth sitting on the ground. Alan hopped off the bird and walked towards the hunched over man, his cloak was bunched around his body.

"There's more..." Venkalth suddenly whispered, his eyes didn't lift off the ground.

Alan's eyebrows lifted in confusion "More?"

"Night Slayers, they're coming from the North and soldiers, they're coming with them."

Alan gulped nervously "And no one knows?"

The magician shook his head in shame "I tried to stop them but..." he pointed at the two bloody arrows laying beside him.

"We should head to Cruin, they need you,"

"I can't," Venkalth lifted his cloak to reveal his blood-soaked armour. Alan gasped and crouched down next to him. "If he's hurt, I'm hurt, I won't make it in time..." he heaved "I'm- I'm dying... go without me, quickly..." He wheezed and coughed.

Zaveo growled lowly, snuggling next Venkalth and nudging him gently.

Alan patted Venkalth on his back, he held him by the back of his head and laid him down gently.

"Let Lazarus lead the people of magic and...don't let my brother get away with this... please" he sniffed as his eyes glossed over with unshed tears.

Alan nodded, "I'll come back for you... just close your eyes and sleep,"

Venkalth chuckled "Well it'll certainly be a long sleep,"

Alan stood up, took one last look at Venkalth and jumped on his bird. His face lit up in realisation, he snapped his head towards Venkalth and jumped off his bird again.

"Wait! Don't die!" he tripped on air as he ran to Venkalth who was now smiling with his eyes closed.

"What a disturbance you are," he grumbled.

"Silent Silverglow!"

"What?" Venkalth opened his purple eyes in question.

"The Silent Silverglow, a healing plant, I know someone who has it,"

Alan walked to Venkalth and slung him across his shoulder. "You're coming with me,"

"Hey! you're going to kill me... oh my lord, I'm going to faint," Venkalth's eyes spun.

"Oh yes, sorry," He put him down, placed one hand under his knees and one hand under his neck and lifted him up. "Better?"

When no response came, Alan looked down to see that Venkalth had actually lost consciousness.

Alan gasped, cursed under his breath and ran to his bird and flew away.

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It became a song to his ears, the sound of swords colliding and men screaming. A song he greatly despised and wished he could rip his ears off because it was constant and never-ending and all he wanted was quiet. And like ants, he felt those imps crawl all over him, he swore he was beginning to see things, the tiny hands grabbing and the evil big eyes staring, but the imps weren't there. They were surrounding a large pit of fire, Gregor could swear they dug in two seconds.

He looked behind his shoulders, paranoid that something, someone would reach for him. He looked like a mad man. And in the fast turn of his head, he caught sight of something. Just like that, his entire body stopped. His skin went cold and his heart sunk to the back of his ribcage. Laina, her golden hair recognisable from the farthest distances, the crimson blood spilt from her lips like a waterfall of death. The blade that was dug deep into her heart slipped back out agonisingly slowly. She fell. She fell face first into the dirty soil beneath her and Gregor shook, his body shook really hard.

Before he could move, before he could think, fumes of red invaded his vision. His mind drowned as the swirls of red flowed uncontrollably and he fell to the ground.

"Hey, Greg!" Aden rushed to his side and immediately his face distorted in fear when he saw Gregor's face.

Black veins ran from his bite wound to his face, neck, and his entire body. His eyes opened, revealing a set of blood red pupils staring straight at the sky above him. His arm grew bigger and darker, claws sharper than before and Aden knew this was his cue to back away slowly.

Gregor stood up, his eyes stalked the surroundings like a predator. But with the red evil controlling his brain, everything and everyone he saw was prey. He growled showing off his sharp fangs.

Aden stared in horror, backing away from Gregor's line of vision.

In a flash Gregor jumped on the shoulders of one of the King's soldiers, claws digging deep into his skin, reaching for his heart.

The people around him watched panic and ran away. But Gregor was fast and strong, he galloped, using his claws to pull himself forward on the ground and his legs to push himself forward. Soon he was jumping on the shoulders of everyone in front of him, slashing and slicing them as he went.

"King Raymond's soldiers, retreat!" Aden yelled, catching the attention the thing he was trying to get away from, Gregor.

Gregor's beady eyes narrowed at him and Aden barely had time to blink before Gregor was galloping towards him.

"No, NO! Gregor stop!-" Gregor pounced on him, sending both to the ground. He lifted his clawed hand up, ready to slit his head off. Aden closed his eyes and shielded his face with his arm, anticipating the worst, but what came was a bone-chilling shriek from Gregor. He opened his eyes and Gregor came crashing over him.

Behind him, Dyron stood, with his chest heaving and his sword bleeding. Aden's green eyes widened. He lifted Gregor's limp body off of him.

"No." he whispered, "What have you done!?" 

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:O

Omg, it's been a minute! I'm sorry for not updating in a looong time, I haven't been very inspired lately, until today when I thought of something amazing, I can't promise that I will be updating very often but I can promise that I will finish this story no matter what. 

Now I know you probably forgot what happened before, so go back to the last few chapters to understand what's going on better. 

Do you think Venkalth will die? Do you think Gregor is dead? 

Also RIP Laina, you were a good sis.