The four at a steady pace traversing across an abandoned lakeside village in what should be early next morning. The sky is filled with dense clouds, they seem whitish, tainted by grey stains. The top thin layer of the ground is muddy preceded by a hard surface underneath. All around them are old wooden remnants of houses. Their foundations are old logs of wood plunging into the ground and holding them off of it. They are dark and gloomy, warped and rotting, bumpy and lumpy. As they move forward what was previously a mild fog increases gradually in density, reaching a point that grants it the capability to resist forward mortion effected by the average man. Then again, these are no average men, these are the woodsmen.
Angus who carries a small wooden boat on his right shoulder slips on the mud from time to time. He he does a quick tap dance before regaining balance and each time Zamar who follows behind with the other two, laughs a little. Indra seems to have the easiest time navigating the terrene.
"I wish there was a device with which I could record this comedy, one that could capture motion and trap it time. To be able to watch this fiasco over and over. I'd call it the pho..." Zamar says but is interrupted by Kai.
"Photokinetic modulator?" Asks Kai.
"Uhm, sure, that sounds better than what I had in mind anyway," says Zamar.
As they move along the non existent path, almost past the last row marking the end of this micro civilization and onto the shore bordering what is obviously the infamous Green Lake, the fog gets even denser. In fact a couple of metres onto the lake is an opaque wall of fog. The lake forms a sort of bay with the fog, almost as if it's welcoming them onto the lake, creating an opening for them to enter so it can swallow them.
"This place is awefully quiet," comments Angus.
"Hmm, I wonder if it's because of the eerie lake full of rotting water. Anyway, let's just dive right in, I'm sure it'll be fun," says Indra.
"Don't worry Indra, we won't dive into the lake, it does look quite manky," says Angus.
Indra heaves a sigh of relief, glad that at least the big guy came to his senses for once.
"We're going to heave through it, with our boat!" Says Angus with a wide smile on his face, instantly slapping the relief off of Indra's. He felt disappointed, not in Angus however, but in himself for once again thinking that they would actually take the most rational initiative at hand.
They finally get to the water, Angus drops the boat onto the lake water and close as it is to the land, with only a few inches of water, it floats with ease. The lake water is irregularly thick. Zamar gets on first and Angus follows second, he has to sit in the middle, he knows his physics brawn and all. Indra follows and then finally Kai at the back.
Zamar and Angus take the only too paddles present and begin to navigate across the lake. It's slow but seemingly effective. The fog keeps it's distances following them as it covers their non existent tracks on the water while it allows a four metre radius of some what clear vision all around them.
A constant stream of ripples appears just by the boundary that marks the beginning of the fog behind them. It steadily follows them but between Kai who's on constant alert and Indra who's almost wishing something attacks them, it gets immediately detected by the two.
"What is that?" Asks Kai.
"Trouble, Zamar! Angus! Row!" Alerts Indra.
The two increase pace rowing faster, the acceleration triggers a similar effect onto their stalker. The ripples move faster towards them.
"This isn't working," says Kai who then points the head of his axe at the ripples. It blasts a gust of wind that boosts them forward at higher speeds, Angus and Zamar pulling their paddles back to the boat. The ripples fast behind and still on their track. It follows them hot on their trail, accelerating and catching up before vanishing about a metre to them.
They speed on as Indra sits back relieved of their escape but before his posterior interactes with the plank for a seat on the boat, the vessel is shattered by a rising force from underneath. They're all thrown into the air flying, an infinite number of interconnected water droplets forming a tree-like structure of splashed water impurified by planks of wood from what was once their boat. Amidst all of this and from the centre of the splash emerges a horse like creature that squeals dreadfully. It has fangs projected as it stares at the woodsmen. It's eyes are goatlike with most of it being orange stripped by a singular horizontal line that darts from woodsman to woodsman.
Indra is quick to act and takes his axe off his back and throws it at the water, the axe plunges four inches into the water before immediately releasing a sort of blizzard that grows like circular ripples on water. This growth is in paralleled with a three inch layer of ice that forms an island of seven metre radius pushing back the fog further and creating a bigger field of view. The splash is also frozen forming a sculpture with water branches and wood poking out of it.
The four gents land on the ice, Angus shifting the weight equilibrium on impact, countering that of the ice sculpture and of both Indra and Kai who stand on the opposite side of Angus and Zamar respectively.
"Do not hit the ice with your element, I'm talking to you Angus!" Warns Indra as he walks to his axe and pulls it of the ground. The island has stabilized, Indra walks back to his post. They stand at four cardinal strategic points each with a clear view that slightly over laps with those on their back right and back left. Indra with Kai to his back right and Angus to his back left. Angus with Zamar to his back left and Indra to his back right. Zamar with Angus to his back right and Kai to his back left. Kai with Zamar to his back right and Indra to his back left. They form an imaginary square. All of them taking their axes off their backs ready for battle.
The water settles with only a few riffles drifting from the edge of the ice. From the water, about two metres up front from Indra, a humanoid creature leaps at him. It reassemble a female human but this only goes as far as the hair on its head. It's eyes are fish-like yet they express anger. It's mouth is full of eneven homodontal fangs and a bump at the centre of it's face thats supposed to be it's nose. It's face is a brighter grey which gets darker down its neck to it's body, down to the lower half that looks like tuna. On its back, along it's spine is a giant fin. It's finger extend to spiny claws aimed at Indra. It appears to be a siren.
Another leaps out of the water a short moment later to his left, heading for Indra as well.
The young lad spins his axe once on his right hand changing his grip to a reverse grip. With inhuman speed he swings his axe horizontally at the siren's face cutting through it's left cheek and part of its neck. The axe on impact has the markings along it's handle and faces glowing white. This almost instantly freezes the top half of the first siren. The momentum of the axe swings it's body at the second one forcing a collision so hard that the frozen half of the first siren shatters into chunks of crystalline flesh. The bottom half drops into the water while the second one slams onto the ice knocked out and disoriented. Indra follows it up with a left toe kick almost as if he was playing soccer with its head. The siren is flipped back falling into the water with is disfigured face.
A siren ejects high into the air in a trajectory that ends at Kai's exact position. Kai spots it and swings his axe horizontally at the creature. This releases a blade-like gust of wind that severes the top half of the siren clean off the bottom half. It's journey cut short as it falls back into the water.
"Damn it," he thinks to himself. He miscalculated the attack and sent the blast at its waist instead of its neck. A slow painful death it must've been for siren.
Blood stains slowly building up on the misty ice. A second siren attacks Kai climbing onto the ice, clenching onto it with it's rickety fingers and thin claws, the boy swings his axe from above cutting into the sirens head down to it's lower jaw. He pulls back the axe that easily slides off as the siren sinks back into the murky water, adding it's blood to whatever compounds concentrated the lake.
The kelpie that had initially destroyed their boat leaps out of the water, a plank of wood skicking out of its neck. It charges for Zamar tackling him to the ground. Zamar hardly takes on its full weight and momentum, instead he rolls back using his axe to guard his face from the ferocious jaw of the creature. It bites the handle of his axe as they fall back onto the ice, its tail slams the ice sculpture in the middle crushing it and shifting the weight equilibrium once again towards them. This tilts the ice platform for a moment before it falls back. Zamar, tall as he is, kneels on its chest.The front limbs are like those of any other horse with hooves at the bottom end, however it's lower half resembles that of an eel. It is long and converges down to a large tail fin. It has ragged hairs on the back of its neck poking out like hard brush bristles. Fits all the definitions of a kelpie, a creature with the strength of a dozen horses. Still, with all the might and strength granted to him by his nature of being a woodsman, he pins it down to the ice pushing on the handle of his weapon with both hands.
This is no struggle for him, in fact he smiles before saying,"You really thought, didn't you?"
The creature squeels swinging it's frontal hooves at Zamar who dodges them while still pinning it down.
"Not quite," he says as the markings on his axe glow bright blue. His pupils also glow the same shade and electricity from the axe conducts itself onto the kelpie electrocuting it. The voltage is so large its tail dances around the ice as its skin and flesh peels off exposing part of its skeleton. Painful as it was, it happens so fast and with so much output it barely gets time to react to the pain. It dies instantly. Zamar steps off of the creature still staring at it, a siren uses this opportunity to leap at him but he catches it by its neck, his eyes shift to the siren, a glowing death stare that wipes the anger of it's face. For a moment it stares into it's executioner's eyes, realizing it really wasn't worth the bite. Zamar fries it, it suffers the same fate, completely torn apart by the electricity from Zamar's hand, nothing is left behind.
A siren leaps at Angus from his right, he turns to it throwing a heavy right hook that lands on its face covering most of it. The impact is so immense it sinks its neck into its chest as it darts back into the water, dead.
From his front, a kelpie leaps at him. He smiles then says, "You'd think after all of your slain comrades, there would be enough fear to trigger second thoughts. If mankind was this fearless, he would be unstoppable."
His axe's markings and pupils glow red, he raises his right foot and stomps on the ice a foot behind him. This immediately begins to vaporize the ice and steam rises from it. Heat waves appear to rise from his axe as he retracts it back with his right arm, he then throws the axe hard at the kelpie. It flies towards the kelpie and ignites, spinning like a flaming buzz saw, it slices through the kelpie exposing it's charred anatomy. It's halves fall to the water while Angus stretches out his arm at his axe. His fingers open and stretch out immediately stopping the axe in its tracks, it the flies back in a slower but similar motion to his hand. He catches it comfortably.
"What did I say about using your elements?!" Asks Indra having spotted the now water logged hole caused by Angus. His glare is turned to concern as the platform begins to suffer multiple bombardments from sirens and kelpies underneath it. They hit the ice so hard a crack begins to grow from the hole Angus created. A siren's hand stretches out patting around the hole searching for prey.
"They'll break the ice," says Zamar.
"Indra!" Calls Angus.
"I...know!" Yells Indra as he dashes over to Zamar's corner throwing his axe. It follows a motion similar to Angus' but his travels with a trail of ice underneath it on the surface of water that creates a path. They all dash running along the ice road following the axe that finally reaches an island plunging onto the shore and releasing thorn-like ice pillars on impact that rise all around it. They keep going while sirens and kelpies dive at them trying to get a bite but to no avail. Some fall on the ice path and crawl with their frontal limbs barely gaining any ground. As they hit the ice blood smears all of it and freezes almost instantly.
The woodsmen finally reach the shore of the island and jump onto it. They walk past the ice pillars and closer to what seems like a village. A group of people who were going on their business having stopped and staring at them. Women with sisal trays and men with hoes ploughing the bits of what hardly seems like farmable land. Children holding their mothers garments.
A figure walks past all of them, some of them give way while others stand there in awe unaware of the figures presence. They squeeze through the spaces and walk over to the front. They wear an outfit similar to that of Doctor Emma, a black coat with a greyish plague mask on their face. They take a few steps forward towards the woodsmen before saying, " The woodsmen, you're finally here."