The next farms gave us little information we didn't already have. It was the same story for all of them. The monsters had come at night and attacked, usually killing a few or a lot of their livestock. After which, they would eat some and leave others dead. The wounds and tracks were all the same. It was the monsters Lora had spoken of: the bipedal dog, not a wolf. There was no way she would have called it a dog if it hadn't looked more like a dog than a wolf, whatever it was.
We passed farm after farm, heading further north. The entire time we kept trying to piece things together, but we always reached the same conclusions as we had at first. We needed to see one of these things or be there when they attacked.
None of us wasted our time, however. I kept training my sense in any way I could, and Tenna would often use her abilities, one of her favorites being a crossbow ability which let her create a metallic bolt that glowed silver. The first time I saw her use it, it demolished three trees before stopping and had moved as fast as a bullet. It had a long cooldown, and afterward, I made sure to keep out of her line of sight.
Lex did the same, but with his movement ability. He would scout the surrounding area, and sometimes even come back with fresh kills or fruits. It kind of made me feel left out since I had no abilities I could easily use. I could have used boost once, but what was the point when Lex was scouting? I was essentially the walking contingency plan since at max boost, I became a monster. I was really looking forward to getting a normal ability.
After days of traveling, we finally passed the last farm that had been attacked, leaving the only other area the lumber business which was just up ahead.
"No survivors, right?" I asked.
Tenna nodded. "None, just rubble."
The lumber mill was right next to a river that was used to transport the logs down and to a small village that would then collect them and transport them to Winsby. To say it was rubble was very accurate as when we arrived, they were no buildings. It looked like a tornado had come through and wood was scattered everywhere as were tall and thick tree logs, some of which were covered in blood.
"By the mountain's heart," Tenna said, shock clear in her voice. "I know they said it was rubble, but I thought at least some things would be left standing."
"Apparently not," Lex said, his hand resting on his blade. "Let's have a look around, but be on guard. They could still be around or watching. I have a bad feeling about this. This doesn't look like damage caused by what Lora described, at least, the amount needed would be too much for us."
"Looks like a bomb went off," Tenna said.
My sense was telling me something similar, although it was only a faint feeling of being watched mixed with the feeling you get when you look into a very dark area. Not to mention that common sense told me that the group that must have done this had to have been large or something else had been with them, something larger or maybe magic. I'd read that some monsters had magic.
We kept close together and headed first to the largest pile of rubble. It had to be the main building, although now it was just a pile of wood.
"To do all this," Lex murmured. "Even if they were a large pack, they would need to be very strong to do all this damage. I mean, some of the logs look like they were thrown, and they aren't exactly small or light."
He wasn't wrong. The nearby trees weren't extremely tall, but they were taller than common trees back on earth, and with thick trunks. For something to have flung them about… Well, let's just say I was a lot more nervous, and I could Lex and Tenna felt the same. Tenna had her crossbow out, and a bolt loaded while Lex's hand was firmly on his blade's hilt.
My hand was also resting on my blade's hilt, and I was moving my eyes around rapidly while trying to keep my sixth sense open. All I could feel was a feeling of danger, but not overwhelming of even direct. It was more like a warning that danger had been here, and was still around.
"What farm is next?" I asked.
"There's a farm half a day from here," Tenna said. "They were warned, and probably have guards. We should head over there."
"Hold on," Lex said. "I want to see if I can find something, tracks, blood, anything. Just look around. So far, I've seen no tracks like those on the farms, my skill hasn't picked up anything related to them. We need something."
We moved apart but kept close enough that we could see each other. I headed over to one of the logs that had a blood stain on it. The blood stain was large, and there was also a bit of dried flesh stuck to the wood. I grimaced and wondered about what had happened. It honestly looked like someone had been squished underneath it, and then the log had been rolled off him. But why take him if he was dead? None of the animals had been taken, but the people had.
There were also no tracks anywhere, at least none nearby me. I kept on searching but found much of the same. Bloodstains, bits of flesh, and some fabric that had clearly been ripped off someone's clothing.
"Guys, over here," Lex yelled.
I frowned, looking around until I saw him near the edge of the tree line. He was staring at the ground with a wide eyed look on his face. Tenna and I ran over, but we also paused when we arrived.
"Is that…?" Tenna's voice trailed off.
"I think so," Lex said, shaking his head. "You've got to be joking."
"Well, the logs and rubble make sense now," I said, staring down at the giant footprint in the dirt.