"Kil, I don't think this is the right way?"
The many trees around them had become dense and the air felt cold in their lungs.
The path they were on was made by wildlife and did not appear on the map that Kilian had been given. Regardless they were in the direction they had been told to go.
"They said there were rumors of monstrous creatures in the area here," Kilian replied, deciding to trust the map and directions he had been given prior to the mission but had stayed off the main path through the trees.
Even if they were looked down on, they would not jeopardize the knights who would be heading this way the following day. At least that was the faint logic he was holding on to.
'I can't let some bleed because of others' actions.'
Kilian stepped through the forest's underbrush, and the scent of wet dirt tickled his nose.
Somewhere near them were the monsters they wer investigating, but they knew nothing of what to expect.
They were literally the information the knights needed to shed some light on the many disappearances and tales of deaths in the area.
Drops of water fell on his head, and soon they found themselves drenched in rain, the noise drowning out their walk through dangerous terrain.
To Kilian's dismay, the rain also kept them from being able to hear their surroundings as well.
The cold air added to the shivers of them all who felt it pierce through even more with their clothing wet.
"Kil…"
The voice was trembling and a hand grabbed Kilian's shoulder turning him around.
The defeated faces told him they wanted to go back. The others in the group had no loyalty to this fight, and their pay did not equal the risk they were taking.
Kilian bit his lip.
"I know," he said just loud enough or them all to hear.
He ran his fingers through his hair, pulling it back from his face, and let the cool air calm his thoughts.
"Let's keep going, it will only be worse if we go back without anything to show for ourselves."
He gritted his teeth, trying to sound enthusiastic and convincing, but no one replied.
Kilian sighed.
"At least let's make sure the knights are able to take care of whatever it is, so the people in the area can live without fear again."
There was a slight mumbling that made it through even the rain, and Kilian saw how a few of them nodded at him.
Kilian took out the crude weapon he had been given, and felt his gut turn, knowing his own weapons had been lost to the mercenaries during his abduction.
Regardless of what they were going to encounter, he would have felt more secure with the weapons made of Harpie steel.
It was getting darker and they walked in the shadows of the trees, that blended with the night.
"Ssh." Kilian quickly raised a closed fist to signal the rest to stop.
They all stood behind a large trunk of a tree that was as wide as them standing together.
"There is something there…" Kilian spotted a moving shadow and followed its direction closely.
His eyes had gotten used to the dark, and even in the rain, there were faint noises of the movement he was seeing.
Something large crept towards them, something large and dark.
He couldn't tell the features, and in the dark, the shape looked completely black.
"Aargh!"
A loud scream made Kilian look back, and immediately saw one of his companions slowly being lifted up in the air, his eyes directed at Kilian in panic.
Then the eyes became lifeless.
A large black-looking talon was stabbed through the abdomen, and the man hanging in the air was then instantly thrown aside into the dark.
"Run!"
Kilian yelled to the others, that was still standing rooted to the ground after witnessing the sudden horror.
They moved fast, the little training they had done had still increased their stamina, and they were soon sprinting through the trees.
"Kil, what was that?"
Cal was right by his side and they were running at the same pace, besides the one who had just gotten pierced, two more of their comrades were still with them.
"I.. I don't know."
He had not seen the creature well, he only knew it was many times bigger than they were, the talon alone that had pierced their fifth one had been as long as they were tall.
He only knew one thing.
"There is more than one."
He was confident, the shadow he had been following before the attack had been the same type of creature, so there had been at least two of them.
"We can only find cover, we don't know how many there are, and if we get surrounded…"
He didn't finish the sentence, they were still running, and talking was making it difficult to maintain his breathing.
He remembered a large tree trunk they had previously passed and guided the other 3 to its location.
"Haah! What even was that?"
One of the others, an older man named Frank started cursing while swinging his sword at the shadows around them.
"I don't know," Kilian replied, but he drew his sword again, and looked back over the fallen tree trunk, that after years had been covered in moss and taken over by the floor of the forest.
"Screeech!"
A loud screeching noise rang through the rain, and the shadows around them shifted.
'1..2…3'. Kilian counted the moving shadows moving in their direction.
It had become too dark for him to channel his power through his eyes. He needed to look and perceive the target, to be able to command or manipulate it.
"Shit."
He said it out barely loud enough to pierce the noise of the rain.
'This world is really adamant in trying to kill me constantly'. He thought to himself, the annoyance at the situation pushing the feeling of fear from his body.
"Alright…" Kilian breathed in, looking around at the others, seeing their bewildered and frightened looks all staring back at him as if he had all the answers.
"We still need to get a good look at one. As soon as we know what it is, we will get the hell out of here."
His words did the opposite of convincing the others. Even Cal was just horrifyingly shaking his head, as more screaming sounds were drawing nearer.