*sob.. sob..*
A lone figure sat hunched over on the ground. They quivered with sadness as they caressed the corpse in their arms.
A pretty girl, no more than 25, she had been murdered along with her companions in the clearing.. Her lifeless eyes stared upwards, as the tears of the figure fell on her face..
"Such a tragedy.." they said, their voice ambiguous.. One couldn't discern whether it was a man's voice or a woman's voice. .. They sobbed further, setting the girl down gently before closing her eyes with two long pale fingers, well kept and not in the slightest bit dirty..
Standing, the figure wiped the tears out of their eyes and looked around.. there were three others in the clearing, their blood filling the air with an acrid smell..
The crimson sat like paint spilled on a blank canvas. The Fain was a dull grey everywhere, and only when blood spilled did any sort of life get breathed into it.. If only for a moment..
Shaking, the figure started to move away, making their way to the edge of the clearing..
Surprised, the figure jumped as a person leaped out from behind a tree.. They held a sword covered in blood, and their eyes said simply, "I will kill you..."
The figure, shaking, put up their arms and begged for mercy, saying, "please.. spare me.. let me bury these companions.."
They wore agony perfectly on their beautiful face..
"No! You monster! I saw the whole thing!" The man with the sword shouted. They charged then, and it was clear to the figure they were about to be cut down as they screamed in terror.. a high pitched wail that made the blood curdle..
"Die!" The man screamed, swinging the sword.. the figure put up their arms in a vain attempt to block it, but the swing never came.. The man with the sword fell to the ground, blood shooting out of the back of his neck..
The figure, still shaking, backed away from the dead assailant..
"What.. what.." they said, surprised... seconds passed in silence as they stood, confused...
"Ha.. Ha ha ha..." The figure laughed. "Oh I love the closing scene!"
Looking around at the dead, the figure shrugged and quickly pocketed two things in their tunic. Reaching up, the figure pushed aside their medium length black hair, and brushed off the dust from their regal attire..
It was a vibrant set of clothes.. Much akin to what a noble wore, or a wealthy merchant.. It fit them like a glove..
Slowly, they moved away from the clearing, before disappearing into the wood...
...
*huff huff*..
Ward breathed heavily. It was early morning, not that you could tell.. Having lived in the grey hellscape long enough his body knew the time.
Liza was still asleep.. He didn't want her to worry, or to bring her blue lantern. Ward has training to do, and he knew he would never beat the ravagers if he slacked off..
And he definitely wouldn't beat them if he just shied away from every creepy crawly thing in the woods...
*Bam! Dodge! Whack!*
He swung his staff deftly, and with great care to minimize extra movement.. Across from him, a bleach white skeleton stood, a long rusty sword and an ancient shield in hand..
He had been fighting it for ten minutes or so.. It was a greater undead.. it wasn't anything like the turtle monster, but it wasn't far off either..
The real problem was it seemed no matter how many fatal blows he hit, it would collapse into a pile of bones before reforming a moment later, as if by magic...
"damn.. what do I do here.." the young boy stood shaking in the cold, his sweat sticking to his skin..
Twisting, he slipped past the slow thrust of the skeleton.. the rusty sword cut the air where his head had been before he smacked it hard in the head with his staff.
"Crunch!"
He felt it that time, he had done damage. Looking into the hollow eyes of the monster, he could see cracks in the bone where he had hit it.
His feet move quickly, sliding and dancing across the grass as he dodged and attacked, blocking and kicking..
The skeleton had become more defensive after the blow to it's head.. it held up it's shield and sword to guard it's skull, and only attacked if there was a clear opening.
"That's it's weakness then.." Ward smiled, "thanks for telling me.."
He took a deep breath then, backing off for a second. He slowed down.. It was no longer a sprint, it was a test of endurance..
An opening.. That was all he needed..
He tightened the grip on his staff and then intentionally left his guard open..
"take the bait.." he thought..
He left a gap for the skeleton's sword to reach his neck.. Sure enough, the creature dashed forward to strike, but in doing so it had lowered it's shield just enough...
'Bam!'
Ward's staff flashed like lightning and he felt it connect with the skeleton's head. The crunch of bone shattering reverberated throughout his body. He smiled as he watched the explosion of white shards land in the grass..
A moment later the skeleton crumpled to the ground.
He sat down himself then, and leaned back on his hands. Ward breathed deeply as he watched the remains of the skeleton fade away.. A dark mist seemed to come off the bones as they slowly disappeared, until nothing was left but the shield and sword...
He laid down in the grass then and rested. It would probably be another hour or two until Liza woke up.. So he thought he could get a nap too. He closed his eyes and his heartbeat slowed.
Seconds passed, then minutes.. and his thoughts turned to Dane..
"You better be okay rascal..." He said..
As soon as he felt sleep coming, he felt something else entirely.. Immediately, he shot to his feet..
"Something is coming..." he thought
Whatever it was, it was dangerous...
Glancing back over his shoulder, he saw the blue flame of Liza's lantern flicker in the distance.
"Whatever it is.. I can't be sure that it's an undead or spirit, and that the lantern will Ward it off.. So I can't lead it to Liza, that would be dangerous for her.. But I can't fight this, whatever it is.."
He wasn't sure how he KNEW that the approaching thing was dangerous.. But having fought Mary many times he knew what bloodlust was, and it hung in the air as thick as water..
"They won't talk.. they will attack me on sight.. I need to lead it away from Liza then circle back around.. Is it a ravager? Or a monster??..."
His anxiety rose as he saw a shape come into view.. a singular of figure moved through the forest, heading his way..
....
The Figure moved slowly through the wood.. From their vibrant, tailored clothes to their well kept hair and simple make up on their face.. They were far too stunning for the Fain, or most anywhere else in the world for that matter..
They carried a smile on their face, and moved with a casualness that was chilling to say the least..
Looking at their face, one would find it difficult to pin them as a man or woman.. they were perfectly ambiguous in style, appearance, and voice..
After a while, the figure stopped and turned their head to the left..
"Oh?..." they said, "another stage?"
The smiled widened on their face and they moved closer to a large clearing..
As they neared, they began to giggle, "Yes.. there are some interesting characters on this one.."
Ahead, a young boy stood in the clearing. The Figure's eyes widened as they looked at the boy. "Interesting!.." they said to themselves..
As they approached, the boy seemed to stand defensively, and right before the figure stepped into the clearing another person stepped in front of them, blocking their view..
The Old Man said plainly, "What do you want?"
The figure, not surprised at all, looked the old man up and down and said, "To play of course.."
...
Dane stood stunned.. The past two weeks he had learned a lot with the old man..
Enough to know that the figure approaching was powerful.. More powerful than the old man even, and the bloodlust they exuded told him to flee..
As they drew closer, the old man moved in to intercept them.. Dane made out a tall figure in nice clothes.. Far nicer than anything he had seen people wearing in the Fain, much less back home..
The Old man and the figure talked for a minute just out of earshot, and Dane stood in an instinctive defensive posture: Ready to flee or fight, whichever the situation deemed necessary..
Eventually, the old man turned and mouthed "run"...
Dane, without a second thought, turned and took off into the forest..
*huff.. huff..* he ran as fast as his legs would carry him. There were no thoughts in his mind then, only the instinct side of his brain driving him onward...
That monster back there had shut down all of his emotions and thoughts.. Whoever, or whatever that was, he knew he couldn't face them.. And the Old man...
Well... Dane had to worry about himself...
The Old Man had told him to run.. He was going to run until his legs fell off..
As he ran, he fought the urge to reach out and feel for the person and the old man.. From his lessons, he knew that doing so would only give his own location away... He wasn't experienced enough yet to do it without giving himself away...
So he clenched his jaw and ran.. He used his senses to veer away from monsters in the area, and the stray survivor here and there...
All the while, he hoped the Old Man would be okay, and selfishly.. that the tall person wouldn't chase him down...
...
Ward's breath became visible in the ever growing cold... The temperature felt like mid winter, and the area had grown dark and misty...
He kept his eyes on the figure approaching in the distance.. They wore a dark grey robe over a small frame, under which a face covered in shadow..
The whole scene seemed familiar, and he struggled to remember why...
"What is that? Who is that? A ravager?? No.. they wear brown robes.. why is it so cold? Why is there a fog??"
Then it struck him like a brick in the head: The Floor Guardian...
He remembered the tale Liza had told him about her close encounter with it: Hooded figure, cold air, it became dark...
Shivers ran down his spine, and he resisted the urge to run... From the story, the person who had been decapitated by it had run... He was sure he would face the same fate if he turned his back on the guardian..
"I can only wait for a chance.. I don't know anything about this monster.. I can't die here.. and I can't run yet..."
It approached as if gliding across the ground.. it was far too dark to see if it was walking or not, and the fog hung thickest on the ground..
Ward held the staff out defensively... "What do I do.. what do I do.." he shivered, watching the guardian grow closer and closer..
When it got within fifteen feet it disappeared, and Ward wondered where it went.. He couldn't feel the bloodlust or the monstrous presence anymore..
He spun around, looking for any sign of it.. He then spotted a familiar flickering blue light in the distance and his eyes grew wide..
"Liza!" He yelled...