The night was falling casting a sinister omen on the forest. In the dark night, a treachery plot was brewing.
Deep inside the forest beyond the barrier that protects the village, there lay the sinister Shadow Fiends gazing at the barrier with their beastly gaze.
The pack consisted of thousands of Shadow Fiends grouped together, at the centre lay the pack's leader.
A monster that made fear crawl out of one's heart just by looking at it.
It looked like a wolf but unlike a wolf, it was of a humongous size.
Their black fur helped them to become one with night and helped them to predate on their prey.
The monsters surrounded its leader encasing the majesty of the pack leader. The beast looked at his subordinates and made them bow their head just by the look of his eyes.
The beast glinted with intelligence in his eyes, it looked like he was amused by the loyalty of his subordinates but that was impossible as a Shadow Fiend can't have human-like intelligence
It had a red jewel attached and embedded in his head.
The jewel was a magnificent ruby, its colour a deep, rich crimson that seemed to glow from within.
Its surface was smooth and flawless, reflecting the moonlight in a dazzling display of red and gold. The stone was cut into a classic oval shape, its facets perfectly proportioned.
Unlike 3 years ago it seemed that it had grown from a teenager-like intelligence to an adult's wisdom.
The beast was enjoying receiving the admiration of his fellow race when suddenly came a group of people completely dressed in black robes.
Not a hint of skin could be seen due to these robes, their face was covered by a mask that chilled the heart of anyone seeing it for the first time.
The mask was a twisted mockery of human form, a grotesque caricature of evil.
Its horns, long and sharp like daggers, seemed to pierce the very fabric of space. Its eyes, two burning pits of black, reflected the darkest depths of the underworld.
The mouth was a gaping maw, filled with rows of serrated teeth that gleamed with an ominous light.
Its skin was a sickly green, covered in symbols and sigils that seemed to writhe and twist.
The mask was a tangible manifestation of pure, unadulterated evil.
It was like the physical manifestation of evil had been used to make this grotesque mask.
The tallest man in this group of black robes started walking towards the pack of monsters. The other black robes also started to follow the lead of the tall man.
The pack of thousands stood up and started to shriek with their utmost strength, their mouth opened with tongues rolling out of them and drool started to drop out of their mouth like water.
It was like they had seen a fine piece of delicacy but the delicacy were the people in black robes.
Seeing this the people following the tall man froze in fear but the tall man's footstep didn't halt even after seeing such a frightening scene.
"Grrr!"
The beasts were ready to jump on their food when suddenly a low growl came out of the mouth of their leader.
They again sat on the ground and ignored the people in black robes this time.
"Boris!"
The humongous beast stood up and walked towards the tall man.
The beast was bigger than the tall man so much that it could eat him entirely in one bite but the man was not afraid as he knew the beast would not hurt him.
The beast came to the man and lay down on the man's legs licking them just like a dog does to its master.
The man rubbed the soft black fur of the beast and hugged the beast.
"Purr!"
The beast let out a purring sound with delight in response to the man's action.
"Sir! Are we going to destroy the barrier tonight? We are ready to follow your lead in doing so."
One of the men following asked the tall man a question.
The tall man stopped playing with the beast called Boris and looked at the man who asked him the question.
Even though the expression of the tall man could not be seen due to the mask it was clear he was displeased by the action of his followers.
"Who allowed you to disturb my lovely time with Boris"
The follower was terrified after hearing the words of the tall man. His face turned pale and he opened his mouth to explain but...
The tall man snapped his fingers towards the terrified man.
"BOOM!"
The man burst open from inside to out and splattered all over the ground spilling on other followers.
The meat paste had drenched the followers in black robes completely adding a new colour to the black robes.
The followers didn't move or even look at the ground to see the grotesque scene.
It was unknown whether they were desensitized by the situation or just too afraid to do anything.
"Another useless pawn who overestimated his values. Oh right, do you guys have any problem with the death of this guy? I am a reasonable guy who listens to his people~"
The followers shook their heads without any reply coming out of their mouths.
"Boring!"
The man said after seeing the people he considered worms not even offering any resistance.
"We will attack in Winter during the birthday of D'ar Arcane. The empire security will be focused on the capital and they will not have time and personnel to send on such a barren place no matter what happens here."
The man put his hands in front of Boris and it started to lick the hands of its master with its tongue.
"Unfortunately, we have to wait for so long but we have no other choice. That monstrous woman has created a new force in Arcane Academy to target us or else we would not be so helpless and weak to destroy a village like this and fulfil our mission"
The man said in a sad voice as he played with his pet.