Legendary: Darkness Awakes

Chapter 16- The Crysoul Woods

After being sent after the wagon by Tim, the five novs eventually lost it as it got too far ahead of them, disappearing on the horizon. "Damn! We lost it!" Dona said as they rode forward, three of them carrying the wounded.

"If nothing alters its course, I'm sure the horse will continue going straight. We'll catch up to the wagon soon. As long as we continue forward, we should be fine." Ben told them as they approached the forest.

"But we can't keep riding for long with the injured bleeding out like this. Sentinals are like sharks, they're attracted to the stuff." Dona told him as she shrugged Cole back upright, behind her.

"Okay, we'll stop at the forest entrance and I'll bandage them up.  For now, we should just keep moving!" Ben responded. They soon reached the forest and stopped their horses. Ben bandaged Cole, Charles and Caitlyn while Dona and the rest checked their equipment. "Those things really did a number on these three, Cole and Charles look the worst though, got cut really deep. Do you guys think Tim did alright against those things?" He asked as he wrapped the bandages.

"Come on, Ben, this is Tim we're talking about, a total powerhouse, I'm sure he is just fine on his own, even with those freaky things after him." Dona reassured him.

"You've got a point." Ben commented after thinking for a minute. A moment later, he finished bandaging their wounds "Alright, let's go find Daniel. I mean, that horse couldn't have gotten too far ahead of us, it had a wagon attached to its back." They mounted their horses once more and rode into the forest, following the path with one tree root just barely sticking out of the path. The group easily climbed over it, except for the last person, for the root wrapped around their horse's leg and the ground under him rose, forcing the soldier to jump off of the horse as the ground clamped down on the poor creature.

Once the ground rose higher, they realized it was a massive, carnivorous plant "It's a Floor Trapper! Come on, get on!" one of the soldiers said as they urged the one who lost his horse to get on their own.

"Let's go, while it's distracted!" Ben told them as they followed him out of danger. "We're going to have to be careful in here and remember our Monster Classes, because I'm pretty sure we're going to see them in the forest. Except this time, there's no cage to protect us from them..." He said. They followed the wagon's tracks for a little while, diving deeper and deeper into the forest full of dangers, death literally at almost every corner. The wagon's tracks went off the path as the horse's hoof prints kept on along the path. "I'll go off the road to search for the wagon with Matt. Dona will lead Alex and Rose in the search for the horse." Ben announced when they stopped at the turn.

Ben was the unspoken leader, he was a natural-born leader, even if he doesn't know it at the times he's being one. So everyone did as he said, he and Matt, who was carrying Caitlyn, went into the forest off the path and found a steep hill, with people lying at the bottom. "It's too steep for our horses; we'll have to climb down. But we should lower Charles and Caitlyn down first." Ben told Matt as they dismounted. Matt climbed down first and grabbed the injured as Ben lowered them, then he climbed down as well. They noticed the wagon was at the bottom of the hill and flipped on its side, they went to investigate and found the wagon's bottom to be smashed out from the inside, which was empty. "He's not in the wagon. Matt, search around, he has to be somewhere around here. I mean, the man was shot in the back with a crossbow bolt; if he left he couldn't have gotten far." Ben said before he entered the wagon for a better look. The hole is smashed outward, meaning something busted out of here... As much as I don't want to believe it, the evidence is clear. He must've been taken...but then the question becomes who took him and why... Ben pondered in his mind before he noticed something on the wood. It was a symbol branded into the wood, a dagger that was half darkened in with a droplet hanging off of the tip of the blade. Then they heard the loud screech of a wyvern as it swooped down low above them, almost bringing down the trees of the forest as it skimmed across the treetops. "I still can't believe Draconas did that..."