"How long before we get there? Feel like another one of those things is gonna pop out the bushes again." Marcus complained.
The team had spent an hour moving further into the forest, with the occasional scream breaking the silence of the forest. Either killed by other people or killed by those beasts.
"Should be any minute now. I'm starting to like this place, feels like home." Quill replied. She was more relaxed than the others, walking freely with little care, but still keeping an eye out for the area.
The sun above was now getting closer to dawn. The team needed to move faster and get to the cave for the plant before night comes.
Along the way, they found spots of grass that seemed to be torn and destroyed, showing the dirt beneath them, as if something had dug into it. Each of them had scrolls lying next to them, probably where the others were killed.
A loud distorted roar rumbled the entire forest, causing birds to start flying and the team to look at the direction where it came from. Quill's calm demeanor had changed to serious with her bow aimed forward.
"If I learned anything from my jobs, night ain't ever a good time to do anything. Quill how long before we reach the bloody cave?" Marcus was trying to stay calm, but his panic for the situation was obvious to everyone.
"Again, probably a minute or two, but you're right. We better start moving quick." The team began to run, abandoning their cautious movement and now rushing through leaves, branches, and bushes.
After a while, the team arrived at the cave. The opening was large, and the inside was shrouded in darkness. The place felt calm, but Colton felt something was wrong with it.
His worries quickly came true upon seeing something emerge out of the dark cave. Multiple large shadowy beasts, identical to the one they fought earlier, started walking out.
A spike of fear hit everyone except Quill and Calliope, who stood in front of everyone.
The beasts had red glowing eyes, larger than the one before, their teeth shined brightly and their mane seemed thicker, and more black.
Just the look of them sent shivers down Colton's spine. He never faced such a beast before, or ever seen one like it.
He expected things to go like before, getting beaten and slashed or torn apart to near death like Marcus.
But next to the beasts, they could see the plants that the commission wanted, bright yellow and swaying with the wind.
"Your weapons won't work against the creatures, me and Quill will attempt to draw their attention and take them out. The rest of you, try your best to stay hidden and away from battle, grab all the plants so we can leave." Calliope explained her plan, still looking towards the beast who were gritting their teeth.
"You sure you can handle em?" Marcus concerningly asked. But got no response.
Without another word, Quill and Calliope moved forward. While Colton and the others started moving back, hiding behind bushes and trees to get close to the plants without detection.
The beasts rushed at the two, raising their claws and opening their fang filled mouths to kill the two. But they only ate the dirt as Quill and Calliope dodged each one, moving fast like the wind.
The team watched while getting closer to the cave entrance. Quill launched arrow after arrow at the multiple beasts as they continued trying to catch her, only to miss and get pelted more.
Calliope slashed at the beasts with her weapon, getting closer to each one but managing to move out of the way of their claws and teeth.
Colton could see the beasts were becoming more enraged as the battle went on, unable to catch the two, they became faster. But they only kept dodging the beasts with no effort.
One by one, the beasts began to fall. But one stopped fighting, and instead turned its head to look at the sky above. It suddenly let out a loud ear piercing howl that caused the bushes and tree leaves to be moved.
"I don't like the sound of that, move faster." Marcus ordered. Everyone began to pick up the pace. Clarissa and Oliver were at the very back, ready to heal with their staff.
After a minute, the team reached just next to the cave entrance. But before they could grab the plants, they felt rumbling. The ground beneath them shook as something was starting to emerge out of the cave. Marcus and the others cautiously backed away, hiding in the bushes again.
Colton noticed that the beasts Calliope and Quill were fighting stopped, simply looking at the entrance of the cave.
After a few seconds, another beast emerged from the cave. Double the size of the ones the two were fighting, its eyes were bright purple, and on the back were three long red spikes, seemingly weapons from someone that tried to kill it.
"What is that thing?" Marcus looked at the creature in terror.
The beast opened its mouth, and let out a deafening howl, far louder than the other beast. Branches started to fall off and trees near it were stripped of their leaves. The other creatures started to move back from the sound.
After a few seconds, it stopped, and looked straight at the two.
It lunged towards them, the two just barely managed to get out of the way, filled with shock at the sight of the beast.
The ground beneath it was destroyed, leaving a small crater. The battle quickly resumed, now with the massive beast joining the fight.
"Seems to be the leader of those things. We gotta get the plants and get outta here." Marcus ordered the team. Everyone hastily ran out of the bushes and ran for the plants.
They plucked out all the plants, taking as many as they could while Quill and Calliope continued drawing their attention. A few of the beasts were killed in the fight, but it was still as fierce.
"Alright, we got 'em all, we gotta move!" In the confusion and loud noises of battle, Marcus managed to yell out at the others, grabbing their attention.
With hands full of plants, the team quickly retreated to the bushes. One of the beasts stopped fighting and turned to look at the plants, quickly noticing what had happened.
In a moment, it lunged towards the bushes near the team, slamming hard onto them and thrashing around with its claws.
Colton could only feel fear at that point, crawling away as the creature continued its assault. Marcus pulled Colton back up and they began running to the path they came from.
Quill and Calliope noticed the plants gone, and saw the rest of their team emerge out the bushes. With satisfaction and delight, they all joined back together and made a run for the way back to the mountain.
Behind them, the remaining beasts chased them down, knocking over trees in their way with the largest of the pack just behind them all.
"This forest is bloody nuts!" Marcus exclaimed, using all his energy to run as fast as possible.
Colton had no time to look back, focusing on just trying to escape, but he could feel the beasts inches behind him.
Myo ran faster than the group, just ahead of them with a bundle of plants in his hand.
They could see the mountain in the distance, but the beasts are too close to them. Colton knew that they would be killed almost immediately if they tried to climb while these things were chasing us.
"We need to get them off us!" He managed to shout at the team. Quill turned around, ready with her bow, as if she already had a plan in mind.
"You all get to the ropes and start climbing, I'll try to draw their attention away from you all."
"Are you nuts!? And why will they choose you over all of us!?" Marcus frantically questioned Quill.
"Just watch." After she spoke, she let loose an arrow towards the largest beast of the pack. The arrow hit it in the head, causing it to become more enraged.
"Alright, I think I got their attention, an angry leader makes an angry pack. I'll catch up with you all!" Without warning, Quill immediately ran to the left, away from the group.
The beasts quickly turned towards her, ignoring the rest of the group and only focused on the one that attacked their leader.
The team quickly made their way back to the ropes, no longer hearing the beasts in the distance, but still no sign of Quill.
Colton couldn't believe what had happened. His mind was filled with confusion, but right now he needed to escape.
The team rushed up the mountain with their hooks, quickly ascending up and away from the forest, but Quill was still not in sight.
Dawn had arrived as the sun was setting, and in a few minutes nighttime will come. Colton hoped that Quill could survive.
But fortunately, they managed to get the plants.