The group walked through the whole day, only stopping intermittently for short breaks to eat the hard jerky and bread that Sir Eric gave them and drink from their leather flasks.
The sun was high in the sky, beaming down a pleasant heat. The sky was clear, and there wasn't much of a breeze.
Siege found the walk to be mostly enjoyable. He hadn't ever experienced nature like this, only through videos and pictures from outside the Citadel walls.
Still, there was trepidation within his heart as he thought more about his daunting task.
'Killing a dragon....is that even something possible for a mortal?'
Even among the higher ranked mortal gods such a feat was nearly unheard of. After all, most dragons were on the level of lesser true gods and some even surpassed that.
As the group walked, the numerous grassy hills began to flatten out and sparse trees began to decorate the scenery.
Siege stared at the trees in wonder. They were absolutely massive. Wide as seven or eight men with their arms spread out. They dwarfed for of the sky scrapers visible in the center of the Citadel in height.
Siege's fascination only grew as the number of trees grew and he witnessed an expansive ancient forest filled with these ancient giants.
Siege was not the only one awestruck. Many of the other village boys had never left the village before and such a scene was new to them.
Almost all of their mouths were opened wide in an amusing shock.
Turning his head, Sir Eric spoke to them.
"Were about to enter the forest of Mortar, beware and stay close to me. Various fae and monstrosities dwell here."
Siege's face hardened as he felt that his trial was truly about to start.
The group entered the forest accompanied by the songs of birds.
Siege's vigilance was at an all time high. Any rustle of the bushed or trees, any movement in the corner of his eyes, anything at all put him on high alert.
Their pace slowed down noticeably as the group made their way through the enchanting, yet daunting forest.
As a result, idle chatter rose among the men.
A teen with sandy blonde hair, Godfrey, turned to face the majority of the group and spoke with some excitement.
"Do you guys think that we'll be able to see the king in person?"
And older man with dark brown hair responded.
"Excited are we, huh? There's no way we'll meet the king. We're just here to be appetizers for the dragon."
Another man with lighter brown hair and determined eyes cut in and spoke with conviction.
"Shut up Gallan. Maybe you're here to be an appetizer, but we will survive! "
"Are you stupid Ludwig? Do you really think any of us have a chance? It's better to just accept our fate and die. You will never see your wife or kid again!"
Gallan spat this out with an acidic look on his face, but his eyes showed an internal struggle and pain.
"Shut up! Do you all want to attract every beast in the woods?!"
Sir Eric turned back and roared with an angry stare.
The argument abruptly ended and the group kept walking in silence, but Ludwig glared at Gallan with hate.
'This illusion is pretty good! Ten out of ten!'
Siege watched them with slight amusement, but quickly focused on his task at hand.
Turning to one of the older men who had a ratlike face nearby, Siege quietly asked him question.
"Hey. How much do you guys know about the king, I'm curious."
Siege tried to make himself seem as curious and friendly as possible and it worked. The man responded almost immediately.
"I heard that when the king was young he travelled to a kingdom named Denmark to slay a monster, and ogre named Grendel. He killed it bare handed! When the beast's mother came for revenge he killed her too!"
The man had a look oof reverence in his eyes while he added on.
"They say he's as strong as 30 men and has never lost a fight in his life!"
After Siege exchanged a couple more pleasantries and words with the man, Wigalf, he reassessed king Beowulf.
'He sounds like has has round rank 2 strength , but I can't be sure. I don't think he stands a chance against the dragon, specially since he's really old now."
Siege felt that his task was going to be way harder that he would like.
The group continued on for a couple more hours until the sun began to set and the sky began to blacken.
They continued for a bit until they found a small clearing, just enough to fit them all.
Sir Eric told the group of men to stop and handed them a couple more pieces of bread and jerky from the sack on his horse, while stating that tomorrow they would come upon a river to refill their flasks.
The men sat down or laid down while Sir Eric continued to search through his sack until he produced a bag of white crystalline powder and what looked to be iron shavings.
He then walked around the clearing while spreading them on the ground until a full circle was completed.
"Salt and iron shaving to keep out fae and other things. Don't break the circle no matter what. I won't even need to kill you, what's out there will."
The men shivered and nodded.
Siege laid back down and stared at the starry sky that looked as if it was pulled out of a painting.
Soon the sounds of the movement of the men stopped and there was only the chirping of crickets, the buzzing of mosquitoes, and the occasional owl.
Siege didn't even realize when he fell asleep.
.....
Siege sluggishly opened his eyes.
It was still dark, but the moonlight alone was bright enough for him to make out the scene.
He needed to pee.
Raising his head slightly he looked around, all the men, except Sir Eric were still a sleep.
Sir Eric was standing up and Siege couldn't make out his face, but his body language was tense. His left hand was resting on his sword.
Siege was confused as to why he was still awake, but turned his eyes in the direction that Sir Eric was facing in curiosity.
He didn't notice anything, just the same dark trees as earlier. Though there was something vaguely morbid about the forest at night.
Each tree was like a pillar of darkness holding up the vast night sky. It was slightly claustrophobic, as if the forest itself was a hug cage.
Siege then noticed something strange that he didn't initially think of.
'Why is there no sound?'
The forest was dead silent, as if all life had vanished.
Dread slowly built up within Siege's heart. Something was horribly wrong.
Squinting his eyes and scanning the forest fervently, Siege finally noticed something else.
Behind one of the trees close by, he could barely make what looked like the head of a deer.
Siege's confusion only grew, there was nothing strange about a deer in a forest.
The deer took a tentative step forward and more of it came into view.
Siege's breath caught in his throat and Sir Eric's breathing became heavier.
Instead of a hoof coming into view, it was a hand.
A large hairy hand with crescent shaped nails that sunk into the ground.
Another step, and more of it came into view.
It true head was now visible
A wolfish head with four ears, four glowing yellow eyes, and the horns of a ram. It was smiling.
The front part of its body was streamline and almost human like in nature. A black hairy torso of a man, but its arms ware far too long and slender to be proportional.
Its back half was the body of a deer, and on its tail was the head of one.
Sauntering forward on all fours....it spoke.