It was the first time Emrys had ever left the forest in all his life. He looked out the window, eagerly taking in the surroundings.
He had only one word for what he saw. "Beautiful." Just outside the forest was a large flat grassland that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Whenever a strong wind blew by it would make waves in the long grass like a vibrant green ocean. It felt like it had been so long since he had seen nature like this it almost brought a tear to his eye.
His heart felt moment was interrupted by the horses. They were getting tired so Emrys told them to stop there for the rest of the day. He brought them some water and some of the berries he gave them before.
Soon the sun fell and they were covered in darkness.
Emrys was sitting in the grass just outside the wagon. He decided to let the others sleep after what they had been through.
Ever since the forest was destroyed and all the nature became corrupted, he felt like he had this empty void that seemed to grow larger with each passing day.
But seeing all the plant life and beautiful brown trees surrounding him made him feel better. Of course it was only a temporary feeling. He was connected to the forest he grew up in and until it was revived and healthy he would always have this void inside himself.
While sitting on the ground he extended various roots from his body into the ground to absorb some water. He stored the water in his body to save for their journey.
While Emrys was lost in thought he heard the door of the wagon open behind him. Marissa quietly opened the door and stepped out. She saw Emrys sitting in the grass in an almost meditative state.
Even so she chose to approach him. It looked as if she had something that was bothering her.
"May I sit with you for a moment?" She asked while nervously rubbing her hands together.
Emrys didn't say anything so she took his silence as a "Yes" and sat down next to him. A few moments of silence passed before either of them said anything. Marissa looked up at the night sky. "Are their many monsters that can speak as you do?" She asked, still looking up at the sky."
Projecting his words into her mind, he replied. "Not as humans do. But many are able to use telepathy to communicate."
"Not going to lie to you, it might take me a while to get used to that." A small smile slowly grew and the previous nervousness vanished into thin air.
They were both just sitting there enjoying the night air when suddenly they heard the sound of chains rattling in the distance.
Emrys's eyes shot open and scanned the darkness for any movement. He noticed that Marissa didn't react to the sound and guessed she might not have heard it.
Even so he was on high alert. One thing he regretfully overlooked was the fact that since he was no longer in the forest where he was known and respected, the creatures outside had no clue who he was and should be considered aggressive and hostile.
Fortunately, he did have a small amount of natural night vision and could see a pretty good distance but he had too many people to protect so he held out his right hand, palm side down.
Slowly, a mass of roots and wood fell from his palm and morphed into the shape of a dog. But it wasn't just any normal type of dog, it was a three headed cerberus.
When Marissa looked over and saw this new creature, her first reaction was to scream. Luckily Emrys was quick to stop her. "Don't worry, its friendly." He spoke using telepathy. "Were being watched."
Marissa had both hands covering her mouth to keep from making any noise. She looked around their surroundings to see if she could see anything but there was just darkness all around as far as she could see.
Emrys ordered the small cerberus to stay and protect Marissa. The cerberus barked in affirmation and curled around Marissa leaving no part of her unguarded.
After that he created another cerberus and then another. Each one taking a portion of his vitality. All in all he made three total cerberus to help him keep his group safe.
This process only took around sixty seconds after he heard that sound. Then he heard it again. The sound of chains rattling to his left, then straight in front of him. Marissa was also able to hear it this time too.
She didn't know why but she was shaking with fear and held onto the cerberus for comfort almost subconsciously. She thought about running to the wagon to warn the others but couldn't move from her spot.
No matter how hard he looked, he could not see what was making those noises. He quickly gave out orders for the other two cerberus to protect the wagon and those within.
They dashed off and stood in front of where the door to the wagon was and stayed alert.
Emrys decided to make a risky move. He couldn't just sit here and wait to be attacked, so he walked a few feet away from the wagon and into the darkness.
He kept hearing the sound of chains all around him. Then suddenly, he felt something tear into his right leg. There were deep claw marks embedded in his wooden "flesh". He ignored the pain and tried to get a look at what attacked him but saw nothing, not even an after image.
With each new piece of information he felt like he was getting close to figuring out was kind of creature this was but before he could he heard a growl coming from behind him.
The cerberus that was protecting Marissa was emitting a low and continuous growl in a certain direction.
Whatever this creature was had moved away from him and went for the easier prey. At least that's what he thought until he felt another set of claws dig into his back.
Emrys swung his fist as fast as he could behind him and surprisingly felt it smash into something tough and furry. Unfortunately, he was still unable to see this creature. It must have some sort of camouflage or invisibility.
Just as he was thinking this he heard a growl and a whimper following quickly after. He would be able to feel it if one of his familiars was attacked but he didn't feel anything. When he looked over at Marissa he saw his cerberus biting into one of the invisible creatures but lost it moments after.
Emrys didn't know how many of them were out there and seeing how things were going, he decided to change tactics and go on the offensive. He ran back over to Marissa who had watery eyes from the fear of the situation.
She was just supposed to be a maid after all. She had never been in any actual danger before.
Emrys stood next to Marissa and ordered cerberus to use its keen sense of smell to try and detect the creatures and take them down.
The cerberus walked slowly forward with its nose to the ground.
Both Marissa and Emrys were so focused on these invisible creatures that they both jumped when they heard the wagon door swing open.
Alannah was standing in the doorway of the wagon looking at the two cerberus posted just outside, and at Emrys and Marissa standing farther away, wondering what the hell was happening.
"My lady please go back inside!" Marissa shouted with a shaky voice.
Sadly, her words were not fully understood as Alannah did the exact opposite and stepped down onto the fluffy grass.
Almost immediately both cerberus guarding the wagon began growling.
"What is going on out here? What are these strange creatures?" She said, starting to panic a little.
Before anyone could answer her, the cerberus that Emrys sent out started to get attacked. It used its sense of smell and was able to get close to where one of the beasts were, but when it did it got pounced on and pinned by an unknown number of the creatures.
It happened so fast Emrys wasn't able to react. Before he knew it his familiar was torn to pieces and was killed.
This seemed to anger Emrys as he suddenly started growing to at least double his original size. Both Marissa and Alannah were shocked to see this. They had only seen Emrys fight once before against the assassins.
So there was still a lot they didn't know about him.
Emrys was unable to control his anger at this point as waves of killing intent covered the area. The creatures reacted to the sudden bloodthirst as if they were all hit in the head and staggered a bit.
Before they could gather themselves, Emrys extended his right arm until it was around twelve feet long and swept it across the area in front of him.
As soon as his arm smashed into one of the creatures all of the roots and vines that made up his arm unraveled and enveloped the creature so it had no way out.