Chapter 57 - Arriving

Killing the Ringleader before the Aberrations killed them, that was their only hope. Karabell buried his hands into the horse's mane as if telling it to go faster. Before long, they entered the small forest. Karabell closed his eyes as he swayed in the saddle. He quickly opened them, and a shiver ran down his spine. He didn't know where they were going. While they were waiting for Alice and the rest to arrive, he'd offered to help Gull search for the enemy. The Superior had claimed that the strange aura was nearby, before breaking into a sprint towards the woods. Unlike Frederick, Karabell lacked the ability to feel those things. So he had no idea if the information was accurate or not. Aided by the horses, Karabell and his teammates had managed to flee the battlefield without any problems. No matter how uneasy they all felt, following the feathered Superior was their only choice. Gull continued to run, its movements unhindered by the bushes and trees. Was that the same forest he'd seen in the creature's memories?

Een tilted his head back. He couldn't see the sky. He'd always hated that forest. Naturally, they'd mostly steered clear of it, since their job had technically been mapping the city. Why did he hate that forest so much, considering he hadn't been there before? If he recalled correctly, Karabell had once suggested they searched the forest. Both Alice and Shono had opposed the idea, and, although he hadn't said anything, he hadn't liked Karabell's proposal either. Not wanting to venture deep into unknown territory wasn't a strange thing, so the Captain had quickly given up. But it wasn't that simple. One look at Alice was more than enough to realize how scared she was of being there. Shono wasn't with them, but he would've probably reacted in the same way. Besides the Captain, they all loathed that place, and Een refused to believe that it was pure coincidence. That odd feeling had prevented them from entering the woods for such a long time. It had prevented them from accidentally stumbling across the Ringleader's den. Een sighed heavily. Now everything made sense. But it'd taken them too long to figure it out.

"I can think about it all I want, it won't help us in any way..." he muttered.

Alice glanced at her brother. She wanted to tell him that everything would be alright, but she couldn't find the words to do that. Her long, red hair rhythmically danced through the air. They were already pretty deep into the forest. How far away was that thing's hideout anyway? Assuming it even had one. She hadn't expected things to turn out like that. More than anything, Alice was worried about Kei. Lyra, Shono and Annie were all great soldiers, but she was just a child. Kei wasn't even an apprentice. Going against a training dummy was one thing, but fighting Aberrations? Alice tried to wave away her concern. They had all the more reason to get rid of the leader as fast as possible. They'd to do that without getting injured, too. Dying was out of the question. That would mean going against Kar's orders. Plus, she still hadn't given him an answer. Alice stiffled a chuckle. Everything had become so complicated in such a short amount of time. The fate of humanity was resting on their shoulders, yet she was still thinking about such childish matters. She wondered how Kar felt about all that. Siding with the Aberrations, using Gull's strange ability to pinpoint their enemy's location... It all seemed so surreal. For better or worse, Frederick was feeling better, although he hadn't said a word since they'd left the battlefield. Alice couldn't picture him worrying about Lyra and the other fighters. As always, she had no idea what sort of thoughts he was hiding behind that grin.

"At long last," Gull said, suddenly stopping.

Karabell dismounted his horse and took a look around. They were in a small clearing. Other than that, however, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There were no animals around, and there certainly wasn't anything that resembled a hideaway.

"Relax," the Superior pleaded calmly. "Look over there." Gull loomed closer to Karabell, pointing towards what seemed to be an oversized rabbit hole.

The cave entrance was so well-hidden by the tall grass, none of them had noticed it at first. Karabell narrowed his eyes. No, that was impossible. It was painfully obvious that there was something behind those weeds. So why hadn't they been able to see it straight away? Maybe he was worrying too much about it.

"This is why I told you that thing was much more frightening compared to us Superiors," Gull said all of a sudden. "It tricked your minds into believing that this was nothing more than a regular clearing. Your brain purely refused to acknowledge the existence of that cave. However, it looks like those tricks won't work as long as I'm around."

Een grabbed his axe and hacked away at the weeds while Alice and Frederick tied the horses to a nearby tree. Karabell scratched the back of his head. Gull had grasped the situation incredibly quickly. It had really saved them a lot of time. And, without a doubt, the leader was hiding down there. So, it was finally coming down to it. It definitely seemed like the perfect moment for yet another speech... but he was sure everyone was already aware of the things he would say. Alice and Een readied their weapons, walking slowly towards him. Frederick had already put his knuckledusters on. Karabell stared at his spear. Once all of that was over, would they ever need to use those weapons again?

"What're wasting our time for? Let's do this!" Een exclaimed, trying to sound annoyed.

Gull approached the entrance without a hint of hesitation. Its subordinates were all risking their lives, holding the hostile Aberrations back. Een was right. They couldn't let that precious time their friends had bought them go to waste.

A suffocating stench filled the tunnel. It didn't smell like any Aberration they'd encountered so far. To make matters even worse, it was so dark they could barely see two steps in front of them. However, after two minute or so of walking in complete darkness, they noticed a faint light in the distance. Karabell shuddered. Why was he getting cold feet at a time like that? They were so close. One more battle. Only one more battle, and that hell would finally be over.

"What's this?" Gull's voice suddenly echoed through the passage.

The tunnel suddenly opened into a large, well-lit cave. Thanks to the torches on the walls, they could clearly see the creature staring at them from across the chamber. Karabell swallowed his uneasiness. Torches? The Captain's forehead creased. There weren't any other Aberrations there. That thing was, without a doubt, their target. The creature slowly crossed its arms, measuring its opponents with calm eyes. It wasn't much bigger than an Aberration, but it's appearance was a lot stranger. Its head was covered in feathers, and large scales shielded its forelimbs. The rest of its body was covered in dark brown fur. Was that the Ringleader? It had to be. They didn't need Gull's powers to feel that terrifying aura.

"It almost looks like a wingless griffin..." Karabell whispered, in spite of himself.