We were walking up the mountain with no path to follow while checking our surroundings for prospect prey. I wanted to catch some tigers or lions to brag to my family and just thinking about it makes me feel kind of giddy.
"Your grace." Ajax moved his horse beside mine. "Something does not feel right."
I raised my hand to motion for everyone to stop moving. Ajax is someone I trust, so if he says there was something off, there must be something off. I was also feeling somewhat on edge since we came in the forest and I also noticed that the knights are feeling the same way from how anxious they have been.
"Haktor, take some knights and check the surrounding for other people." I ordered. "Marionne, get ready for any possible surprise attacks."
Both generals nodded. Haktor took some knights with him and went to scout the surroundings. Marionne and the remaining knights took a defensive stance in case of any attacks. We waited for Haktor's team to return.
"Hey, do you think there are demon beasts around?" A knight asked the other knight beside him.
"I don't think so." The other knight shook his head. "It would be more possible for wild beasts to appear here than demon beasts."
"If it's wild beasts, then it would be like killing two birds with one stone." The first knight said happily. "We get to hunt a wild beast and we could return earlier or we would have free food."
"Hopefully it's not some dangerous ones." The other one answered.
I listened to them talk and realized that they do not know what true danger is.
"Be it a wild beast, or a demon beast, it would not pose a threat to us alone unless it is a herd of thousands." An older knight spoke behind them. "What we really need to watch out for are not beasts but humans."
The knights who were talking earlier turned their heads towards the knight who spoke.
"Humans are the most dangerous type of beast." The older knight added. "Always keep that in mind young lads."
The knights nodded their heads and went back to facing their front. They were young but I know that their abilities would be better than most. How else could they pass Sebastiene and my daughters hell tests?
We heard footsteps from the side, making us wary.
Not long after, Haktor and the other knights emerged from behind the bushes.
"Your grace, we found dead animals some meters away from here." Haktor reported.
"Dead animals?" I frowned.
"There were no traces of a fight or of any attacks on them. No blood was spilled, making it hard for us to notice." He added.
"Do you have any idea about the cause of death?" I asked.
"No, your grace." Haktor replied with a slight shook of his head.
"The animal could have some kind of disease or ate a poisonous plant?" One of the knights popped up.
"I don't think animals would accidentally eat a poisonous plant, also, that would only be applicable if there was only a single animal or animals from a single herd." A knight who is our scout for the hunt spoke. "But the animals were from different species and all of them appears to die at the same time as all the bodies were still warm."
"Were there any signs of them being distressed before dying?" Ajax asked.
Haktor and the other knights shook their heads.
"Some still has grass on their mouths, pertaining that they were still eating before they suddenly died." Another knight who once worked as a hunter answered. "It was as if they just dropped dead in a second."
I furrowed my brows and thought about the bizarre phenomenon. This also happened on Earth but it was a mammoth who was flash frozen during the ice age. What could have caused the animals to just suddenly drop dead?
"Let's just continue on but be more vigilant to your surroundings. If you notice anything off, inform immediately." I ordered and we got back to moving deeper into the forest and up the mountain.
As we moved, we also hunted several beasts, some to bring back as our hunt while others are for our food. We moved and hunt as a group and I did not allow anyone to go further that the range where we could sense them.
We were focused on the hunt when an explosion was heard on the other side of the mountain and in just a few seconds, black smoke could be seen rising.
"Your grace!" Haktor and Marionne immediately flanked me.
"Was that an ability from the other group?" A knight asked.
A foul smell started to float in the air carried by the wind. It was like rotten eggs mixed with rotten meat. We covered our noses with the mask that came with our armors. It was designed to prevent us from inhaling any poisonous gas and was designed by Mel and Elaheh.
` "What is that awful smell?!" I asked.
"It seems like it came from the explosion, your grace!" a knight pointed at the black smoke that was moving overhead like clouds.
"Th-this smell.." One of the knights muttered while trembling.
I turned to look at the trembling knight who was sweating profusely that his face was soaked. Fear was clearly written on his face.
"Do you know what it is?" I asked him.
The knight's eyes focused on me, fear dissipating from them.
"That smell, it's the smell of a necromancer."