"So… Leo asked you guys to take him with you? And all of you agreed without any problems?"
The whole group was in the forest again. Joey was leading the group as the guide. And Alan was on the lookout for monsters. Leaving the others in the group without much work to do.
"No. He promised us new weapons If we let him join us."
"But, he came back with his daughter next time, asking us to bring her too. We were strictly against it in the start, but we have to reluctantly agree to that too...We were in dire need of weapons"
Ethan replied, humming in a snarky tone. He was not very happy with bringing a little girl here in a dangerous environment. Any decent human would think the same.
Arsh understood his thoughts completely. He himself was astonished by the degree of stupidity Leo committed this time. Finding Arsh's eye gazing at him, Leo once again looked away, averting his eyes from him.
'This bastard really deserves to die'
As they reached deeper into the forest, they changed their formation once again. They needed stronger formation now. The risk to their life was getting higher, with every step they took in the silent forest.
"You never told us, Why are you so insistent on going into the forest of silence?... We at least deserve to know that much."
Adam, who was quiet until now, suddenly turned towards him. Giving him a complicated quizzical look.
Arsh had briefed them, about taking a stop in the forest of the silence. Asking them for protection through the way, offering some part of ore in return.
But, he obviously never explained the reason to them. He was still suspicious of them. Which was reasonable enough. According to Arsh, The worst way to die would always be a betrayal.
"....You will know when we get there. It's not a life-threatening place, like that cave of the millennium. We will just make a quick detour there, and come back"
Arsh answered in a single breath. His eyes stopped on Joey for a moment, who was mumbling something into Ethan's ear. Arsh was pretty sure after seeing that. They were catching on to the situation.
"If you say so, Arsh. But, it looks quite opposite to me, by the number of monsters we are meeting on the way"
Arsh's ear raised up, hearing Adam's remark. He was now second-guessing his choice to bring them with him. Even though they didn't do anything nefarious, yet. It was better to just be suspicious and cautious.
"Oh! By the way, what kind of crime did you commit, Alan? To have such a high bounty on your head….. I am curious"
Adam, as the only sociable person in the group, was talking to others to keep the conversation alive. But, on the contrary, every other person in the group was more focused on survival than anything.
"I killed more than thousands. My bounty is well-earned. if I say so myself. If you don't believe me, you can try me out yourself"
Alan replied in a haughty tone, his eyes gleaming with amusement. Adam immediately went silent, as soon as his eyes met Alan's.
'….This bastard really loves to annoy others'
But, Arsh was mostly silent throughout the journey.
He was only trying to focus on the spells that he learned yesterday. But, he couldn't just cast a spell in front of others to test it out. So, he was focusing on his imagination and imitations, for now.
"I never entered this deep into the forest. Is this going to be okay? I had heard very bad stories about the place."
Leo's eyes darted around the forest with fear instilled in them. He was still carrying the ginormous rock on his back. The precious ore they found in the cave.
"Maybe…. I sure hope so"
Arsh had already asked Leo about his chants and spells yesterday. And he decided to not use the mass manipulation spell at all. Due to its stupidly complex mechanism and long chants.
'But, I can still use it, if the need ever arises….It will at least come in handy through day-to-day use.'
The whole group was moved through the middle of the forest completely silent, for quite some time. None of them spoke even for a brief moment. Not even Elsa and Adam.
They can feel the tension on their skin, as they were about to cross the last tree in front of them.
The moment they moved past the last tree. Their breaths caught in their throats, looking at the magnificent view in front of them, with both fear and astonishment.
Every single one of the eyes was plastered at the beautiful veil of fog. The white veil circled the whole of the forest from every direction, making it impossible to see through it.
"...The forest of silence"
Alan announced somberly, looking at the veil of the fog with an unblinking expression.
The place no one was ever able to cross through. Graveyard for any being who set their foot, without the permission of its four-eyed ruler.
"...."
Arsh heaved a heavy breath, nearing his hometown slowly with time. Various emotions and memories, welling inside of him. It's almost been a year.
'....I am he..re. Mother….'
"This can be very dangerous….Joey will be taking the lead. We will follow him behind"
"Stay close to each other, don't let the others get out of your sight. Remember, this is the most secluded part of the whole world"
Alan commanded unfazed, drawing others' attention toward him. He moved forward into the fog with joey. Signaling the others follow close behind.
Arsh also moved inside the forest, holding Elsa's hand. He just couldn't bring himself to trust her with Leo. Not after all the shit he pulled up.
As soon as Arsh entered the fog surrounding the forest. He was completely blinded by the sheer amount of fog around him.
The fog was thick enough to not let any kind of light pass through. Covering the whole area mysteriously, making it impossible for any human to see anything through it.
'Dammit! I can't see anything at all…..
And where the fuck Alan ran off to?'
Arsh was trying to follow the voices of his companions, the moment he found himself all alone with Elsa.
In the start, he was able to follow them, by random ramblings of his companions. But, they also stopped for some time. Never to start ever again.
After mindlessly wandering around the forest covered by fog, with a little girl. Arsh became sure of one thing.
'Shit!.... I am lost'
And Arsh was too late to notice it. He couldn't just shout for them, and attract every possible monster in the vicinity. He needed something more subtle.
Feeling a pull on his shirt, Arsh looked down to his eye level. Even though it was not clear, he could feel Elsa trembling while tugging his sleeve.
"Brother. Where are the others?"
"Don't worry, Elsa. We are just ahead of them, for now. They will follow us after some time. We will meet them soon. We just have to pass through the fog"
'Fuck! I am useless in this situation'
Arsh knew he can't do anything in the thick fog, without being noticed by any monsters. Except for hoping the others would notice his absence and find him eventually.
But, it was not a practical approach. There was no guarantee. That there were no monsters in the cloud of fog. And wandering aimlessly through the fog, trying to find the exit out of it wasn't a real option either.
'What to do? What to do?... Should I try the spell Joey taught me?..... But, I have never tried it before.'
Arsh again shot a glance at Elsa. Who was trembling uncontrollably near him. Arsh sighed facing toward Elsa.
'Fuck it! It is still far better than standing here, doing nothing'
Arsh closed his eyes, concentrating on the ground spell, the way Joey taught him. `Landmarks and vibration` were the two key roles for using the scanning magic.
Focusing on a patch landmark. Then picking up the vibrations on it. To find any kind of life form on it.
'I just hope, The monsters won't notice us'
Earth Maul|
A tremor of vibration released from his body. Searching in the landmark, to be reflected by anything at all. Reporting the information back to Arsh, by being reflected again and again.
"Come. I found them"
Arsh held Elsa's hand tightly, running towards the heavy amount of vibrations he felt just now.
But, something was off about it too. Even though Arsh had no idea how the ground magic worked. His intuition still told him, he picked up way more vibrations than he should have, for 6 humans.
Ignoring that, He kept running in the same direction. And after 5 min of continuous running, Arsh started hearing the voices of others from the group.
Arsh smiled to himself, he was now pretty sure, they were going in the right direction.
'Hell yeah, I am fcking invincible.'
After some moments of hearing their faint voices, Arsh was outside of the forest of fog. Startled, Arsh looked around. Only to find his companions standing at a little distance.
"Found them"
But, the others were just looking ahead, not even bothering to turn around. It was like they were in a trance. Either hypnotized or frozen by something.
'Something is very off…. Alan should have sensed my presence by now…. Why the hell are he and the others so silent?'
As Arsh inched closer to them. His eyes went devoid of light, finding the cause of horror within his companions.
He froze on the spot, his face contorting into horror, as every remaining hope of survival started leaving him. He knew it was near impossible to survive in that situation.
Arsh met the eyes of the three-headed monster, again. But, this time around, he was not alone.
Instead, there were 3 of them, with 9 heads, in front of him. Along with the army of thousands of other monsters in their back. Consisting of hundreds of coyotes and beasts, even dozens of gargoyles were among them too.
Alan turned around towards Arsh, suddenly sensing his presence near himself.
Alan looked at Elsa and then again at Arsh. His eyes followed through every single person present there. He sighed looking Arsh quietly in the eye and said in a commanding tone his fingers pointing at the monsters...
"....I will buy time for you guys. You have to run away…..Take the kid with you, too. I will follow you soon, after taking care of them."
Alan unsheathed his tar black sword from the scabbard, taking a serious fighting stance. Soon a black fire flared through the blade, lunging rapidly, consuming the sword in pure black color.
"Oh ho! Are you trying to copy my style? Sorry, but I patented it"
Arsh also removed his daggers from the pocket, standing at his side of Alan. Following his example, the others also started unsheathing their weapons. While Amanda moved to the rear, to protect Elsa.
Alan chuckled at the sight in front of him, nodding at Arsh with a dark smile.
"....If you want to die so badly. I won't stop you, kid"
Alan cracked his neck and fingers, jumping at the same spot a few times. Doing a little warm-up exercise before the execution.
Alan threw a mocking grin at the three-headed monster, raising his middle finger in the air.
Every monster looked at him in contempt, before lunging forward at Alan together. Letting their roar sink into the whole forest.
"Ahh shit! Here we go again"