WARNING: The following chapter contains descriptions of death and violence.
The silence of the forest was loud, deafening even in its mournful loneliness. Every crack and crunch of the detritus underneath their feet sounded loud enough to rouse the monsters that seemed to sleep in the belly of the forest. What made it worse was the oppressiveness in the air that suffocated the mages. While Syryn swore he could hear his heartbeat, Lucien had gone utterly silent. The tight grip he had on Syryn's hand felt solid enough to assure the older boy that Lucien was still with him.
"We're almost there," Magnus informed them in a low voice.
"This is supposed to be a level 8 forest," Alka whispered.
There was a general classification of danger level in the areas of the Sigil kingdom. The levels 8 - 6 were considered safe for travellers. Levels 5 - 3 were marked as dangerous for solo or unarmed travelling. At level 2, the highest amount of caution was recommended. If alternate routes were available, Level 2 was to be avoided. Level 1 areas were considered a death sentence. The final level that had never been explained had been designated level zero and nobody knew where it was.
"Wait." Syryn stopped and got down on his knees to take a look at something that had caught his eye. At his feet grew a mushroom and it looked like a shrivelled up human finger pointing west.
"Is that what I think it is?" Alka asked in a hushed whisper. He crouched down next to the boy whose grave attention was focused on the mushroom.
"If you guessed at it being a Banshee's finger... " Syryn replied with aversion thick in his tone, "then you're right..."
"What's so special about it?" Magnus stood next to Syryn and asked.
Syryn was starting to regret this trip. "It only grows under special conditions, the most important one of which is the presence of death, lots of death and resentment." Syryn paused and looked at where the finger was pointing. And for Magnus' sake, he explained further. "Each finger points to the other till they form a boundary around the area that tastes blood frequently. The circle formed is called a Banshee's circle."
He paused to let it sink in and added a final piece of information. "Magnus, we are on desecrated soil, a place where many lives have been reaped. Something terrible lies ahead."
"Syryn is right. And there's one more thing, a curse will soon set in if the Banshee's circle is allowed to close. We can't go further." Alka's grip on the straps of his satchel showed how tense he was despite his projection of calm.
It never occurred to Syryn that he could die. It was the lives of his companions that he worried about. Alka and Magnus could take care of themselves to some degree but Lucien was defenceless, a lamb waiting to get slaughtered.
"We have to turn back." Syryn faced the other two mages. Going further for the sake of a few rare herbs could not justify the weight of danger that awaited them.
Alka nodded but Magnus gave Syryn an answer that made the younger boy reassess his opinion of the taller mage. "This involves the lives of innocent people that will pass by this forest. Someone has to check the parameter of the circle so a warning can be sent out. And if it's as dangerous as you say it is, there's no sense in risking all of our lives."
"No! you can't go alone, Magnus." Alka's breath caught in his throat at the thought of leaving his friend alone in the forest.
"Syryn and Lucien cannot be left by themselves either Alka. You have to go with them." Magnus pressed on. "Time is of the essence. If we don't get more information today, someone else will have to enter and gauge the danger levels for the appropriate class of Cleaners to be dispatched. At the very least, that's a week of waiting for clearance. Consider how many people might lose their lives."
Syryn who had been quiet this entire time pulled the mushroom out of the earth and stored it away. He patted the dirt off his palms and spoke to Magnus. "Why must it be your burden? Self-sacrifice for a group of strangers that will never know what you've done. How annoying." Yes, Syryn was a hypocrite.
Magnus raised his chin and looked heavenward at the canopy of trees that seemed to crowd in further and further in a claustrophobic kaleidoscope of branches. "Syryn, we're wasting our time here. Go home with Alka." He pushed his hands into his pockets and began to walk away.
It was then that Syryn knew with startling clarity that Magnus would never return. He would die alone in the forest, sacrificed to whatever god awful monster that was hunting in the breeding grounds of this forest. This was why he had never heard about Magnus in his first life. Syryn hoped he was wrong but his guts had never lied to him.
"What a noble prick. Look at you handing out orders and expecting blind obedience. Who the hell do you think you are Magnus?" Syryn's challenge was just arrogant enough that Magnus stopped moving. Alka and Lucien faded into the background as the two mages held a staring match.
"You wish to follow me?" It was Magnus that broke the silence first. He had completely discarded any pretence of agreeability. As the oldest, Magnus felt responsible for the group. He was focused on one thing and that was keeping his companions safe. Anything getting in the way of his goal had to be dealt with quickly.
Syryn was well aware of the danger he was putting Lucien in but it was a risk he was willing to take, one he hoped would tide the scales in favour of Magnus. "I want to see for myself what manner of creature has allowed a Banshee's circle to grow."
Not waiting for Magnus to respond, Syryn marched off with Lucien in tow. The stubborn set of Syryn's jaw and his mulish behaviour convinced Magnus that there was no point in arguing with the boy. Relenting to Syryn's wishes, he reached out to grab the boy's wrist. "Wait, Syryn. Let's go back together then."
Syryn thought about it for a second and discarded the suggestion. This was the graveyard destined for Magnus and if it wasn't cleaned up right now, the mage would be lead back here to die without Syryn around to try and save him. A strong sense of urgency had begun to grow inside his heart and he knew that if they left the forest, it would be too late to help the shapeshifter. Magnus was in grave danger.
"No, I'm going in with or without you." Why did he care whether Magnus died or lived? He barely knew the mage. Would he have done the same for Alka? Yes.
"Rowan you bastard." He muttered softly enough that nobody heard. He had caught Rowan's disease and was now terminal.
"You're ok with risking Lucien's life like this?" Magnus pointedly stared at Syryn. How the tables had turned. When Syryn ignored him, Magnus growled. It was a low rumbling that came from his throat and it caught them all off guard. The deep feral sound of it revealed to Syryn that Magnus was no tiny pussycat. When agitated enough, Shapeshifters sometimes lost control of their beasts and parts of it slipped through. To his credit, Magnus appeared apologetic about the slip-up.
Magnus' words had, however, stirred Syryn's resolve and he internally debated the wisdom of taking Lucien along. If they left the forest, Magnus would be damned, if they didn't, Lucien might be. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
"Syryn, let's go." Magnus chose for Syryn. Setting aside his tangled thoughts, he turned his back to the forest and that was when they all heard a spine chilling cry from behind the trees.
"H-heelp mme... Oh g-god plea puuhpuuh god hellhel"
The moaning and sobbing raised the hairs on Syryn's neck. There was something very wrong with the voice. It was a human voice but didn't sound like one. Syryn's grip on Lucien's wrist became bruisingly tight. There was a horrifying familiarity about the voice and as much as he searched, the memory of it remained elusive.
"Stay here," Magnus warned Syryn with anxiety tight on his face. He then began to run towards the voice. The wheels of fate had begun to move.
"Magnus no!" Syryn shouted but the mage had disappeared into the maws of the forest.
Syryn reacted immediately by grabbing Lucien. They ran after Magnus with Alka right behind them. The closer they came to the sobbing voice, the farther it seemed to go. After running for what felt like forever, they stumbled upon a clearing at the edge of a cliff. The sight that greeted them was a scene pulled straight out of a hellish nightmare.
Bared before their eyes were tall mounds of bodies upon bodies, both humans and animals. These bloated and putrefying remains were all in varying stages of decomposition. Every single rotting body had been flayed off of its skin. And from the horrified and anguished expressions that were frozen on the faces of the victims, it was easy to infer that they were skinned alive. The corpses were also missing parts of their limbs and faces, most likely eaten by the thing that had killed them. Rising from the mound of bodies was the stench of death that seeped into their skin like an oily miasma.
Shock held the group hostage in its icy grips. Syryn had seen worse in his lifetime but it was not so for Alka, Magnus and Lucien. They had never witnessed so much butchery and horror.
"Magnus, Alka, we have to run, NOW!"
Syryn's memories had finally released to him a long-forgotten memory, one that was tucked away in the cages of torture that Traxdart kept. That guttural, broken voice mimicking the last words of its victims to draw in unsuspecting humans, the mound of flayed bodies, it was so obvious what they were facing. Syryn was confident he could face the creature alone, but he could not account for other hidden dangers. They had to run!
Before they could escape, a loud crashing sound in the trees was followed by the entrance of a nightmarish monster. It stood 8 feet tall on two legs that resembled those of a deer. Over its body, the creature wore several layers of human skin that were rotting and turning grey. Patches of skin had fallen off and they revealed more rotting skin underneath. Only Syryn knew what kind of monster hid deep under the layers of rot.
"Heelppp mmme... " It sobbed. But the cry sounded like a taunt, "hhelllpp.. ahhh." Its jaw fell open and revealed several rows of serrated teeth that faced inwards. Any creature caught in those jaws would find itself lucky to have a quick death.
Syryn pulled Lucien off his back and pushed him towards Alka who was frozen by the sight of the thing. The creature watched them move with an eerie focus, its inhuman eyes following the sight of Lucien, their weakest member. With a disgusted feeling in his stomach, Syryn knew it was enjoying their fear. Prey, that was all they were to it.
Just when Syryn had pushed Lucien behind him, he heard the horrified scream of the little boy.
Syryn's heart plunged into the pits of his stomach because Lucien was quickly being dragged off by a thick vine that had coiled around his feet. Amid their distraction, a predatory plant had snuck upon them. Lucien's screams echoed out as the vine flung him off the cliff that it had come up from.
Time seemed to come to a crawl and Syryn's mind went into autopilot. He registered that the monster had moved and was bolting towards him on all fours. He faintly heard the sound of Magnus yelling for Alka to run. And from the periphery of his vision, Syryn could see Magnus rushing between him and the creature with not a thought for his own life. A hero to the very end. But Syryn had made his choice.
He chose to follow Lucien off the cliff. Magnus was going to die after all.