Its still dark as we and three other people edge into the clearing.
The torches had been relit so everything in the clearing was illuminated.
The once brown carpet of needles had been dyed red.
While most of the corpses were removed, a few small body parts remain scattered around the clearing.
I ignore it and lead us closer to the middle, where the survivors had gathered.
The other party entered across from us, two of them are covered in light wounds. While the third also looks exhausted, he seems to be uninjured.
A woman in a white and green robe greets them, and after a short discussion, the two with injures step aside with the woman while the third heads to the middle of the clearing to join the crowd of people.
I can see the womans mouth moving, as if she's muttering to herself, but I'm too far away to hear what she's saying. When her lips stop moving, a green light envelopes her two patients. Within a matter of moments, their injuries are gone.
The two had looks of surprise and wonder on their face, however I wasn't nearly as dazzled. It was still fascinating to watch, but after watching my forearms basically be rebuilt, their healing process wasn't as mystical.
The difference in the magic itself was what interested me. While Burch's was a dark green and mainly concentrated on my arms, this woman's magic was a light green and coated their entire bodies.
A different healer walks up to us, takes a look, and motions for Natalia to step aside with him.
While she goes to get healed, Matt and I walk toward the crowd. We start a meaningless conversation to distract ourselves from the scenery, and it's not long before Natalia joins us.
Within ten minutes, five more people come out of the woods, each entering with varying levels of confidence. One of the more confident 'or should I say careless?' is the guy that picked a fight with Rat.
Another person is with him, but they immediately separate themselves and went to a healer.
After flipping the guy off, he also goes to a healer for the multitude of cuts running across his arms and face.
"Okay, I think that's everyone."
Burch is standing at the head of the group.
He waits to continue talking until everyone had joined the main group.
"Greetings, I am Burch. Some of you know me, others don't. I know you all have questions. Here are some short answers. You're in the world of Folterod, not even we know how you got here, and that whole goblin thing was not supposed to happen. Congrats on surviving, now we need to get to town."
As he turns to someone in the crowd raised their hand.
"Excuse me, I need more than 'that wasn't supposed to happen'! My friend was brutally murdered!"
A few people air similar feelings, which only makes Burch tilt his head down.
In the forest it was hard to tell, but the sun had started rising.
Burch's hand now rests on his sword hilt, pointer finger tapping systematically.
"I'm sorry," he shouts in an impatient tone, "but we don't have time for your whining! None of you have memories, so you just met these so called 'friends'. You were traumatized, whoopty doo. Now we need to get a move on before-"
*BOOM*
He's interrupted as a cloud of dust and pine needles erupts behind him.
Everyone around me becomes horrified, and I understand why.
Draken steps out of the dust, murderous energy flowing from him. His head slightly cocks as the sight of Burch.
"Huh, I didn't expect you to be here so early."
"Felt something was off, and I'm never one to doubt my gut."
Burch responds quickly to Draken, turning to meet the gaze coming from behind the smooth mask.
"Well, I'm supposed to make sure you guys get no more recruits. Can't leave without finishing the job!"
An explosion of murderous intent floods from Draken, which is met by a similar energy from Burch.
"And I'm supposed to get them to town. We've danced this ballad before Draken, which limb are you ready to lose this time?"
The clearing is overflowing with their energy, making most everyone fall to their knees.
I'm locked in place, watching the two titanic forces get ready to collide.
Burch loosens his sword.
An annoyed *tsk* comes from behind Draken's mask and his energy withdrawals.
"Fighting you isn't on my agenda today. I'm sure that the goblins killed the person they needed to, so I'll end the rest of your pathetic lives another day. Including yours Burch!"
With an angry shout, the dust from around him jumps into the air as he vanishes yet again.
Burch's sword *clicks* as he lets it rest back in the sheath. With a sigh, he turns to look at everyone.
"Are you ready to follow me now?"
With a silent agreement, everyone follows him towards an opening in the trees and out of the blood soaked clearing.
***
Now that it's day time, I can fully appreciate the beauty of the woods.
As we're walking, birds sing all around us, some with beautiful, high chirps and others with lower, singsong voices.
Rabbits hop around, stopping occasionally to sniff something they find interesting. Mice scamper away as we draw near.
The vibrant hues of flowers contrast with the light brown pine needles that carpet the entire forest floor.
Taking a deep breath in, I can smell the flowers aroma mixing with the smell of fresh and decomposing pine needles.
The forest almost has this humidity in the air, but it isn't suffocating. Instead, it makes me feel at peace.
The tops of the pine trees are so tightly knit so that, even when the sun is up, the entire forest floor is covered in a carpet of shadows.
As we are walking through people constantly trip and stumble, unable to avoid the roots and other loose objects hidden in the shadows of the trees.
After a while, a few of the guys in the back start getting restless. They start horsing around, shoulder checking each other and conversing more loudly.
A part of me feels an impulse to join them, but completely resist after spotting the disapproving glances that the rest of the group gives them.
'Also, just thinking about trying to interact with a large group of people gives me a weird feeling.'
After a couple of the people in the back look like they're going to wander off the path, Burch finally speaks up.
"If you don't want to die, I would continue following me and stay on the path. And shut up."
They jump, quickly getting back on the path and walk quietly.
I catch them looking around with wide eyes, their bodies tense. They must be afraid that more goblins might attack.
'Honestly, Burch would probably protect us. He already did from Draken, so we must have some value to him.'
I notice a girl slowly creeping towards the edge of the path. Her eyes are locked onto the beautiful flowers.
As she bends down to give them a sniff, I find Burch sweeping his gaze across the forest, hand resting on his sword.
It was too dark to see before, but now I notice that the hilt is all black, same as his clothing, while the sheath of the sword is a dark grey wood.
Hearing some rustling coming from the trees on my right, I glance in that direction. It's from the same direction as the girl currently smelling flowers.
Thinking nothing of it, I go back to walking and following Burch.
Who is no longer there. A small poof of dust has replaced him.
I snap my head back to where the girl was kneeling. She's now on the ground, Burch standing above her.
A bluish greyish creature is impaled on the end of his curved sword.
It's bat-like wings and long, coney ears twitch as it grasps at the blade buried is it's chest.
The grey, leathery skin stretched across its chest shudders as the monster takes a final breath.