Everyone was nervous as they slowly made their way in the forest. It had been only 5 minutes and the howls were getting closer. These were not like normal wolf howls. They sounded more distorted like the creatures were trying to speak in the common tongue but not quite working.
Seeing what those things looked like it would not surprise Doric if they did speak some kind of language they had intelligent-looking eyes and a knack for tactics. They kind of reminded him of the Gnolls from the tabletop games he would play online.
He could hear Skia's whimpering as she tried to control herself. He also could hear every gulp Nissa made as she pressed forward. It suddenly became very silent.
"Why aren't they making any more noises?" Skia asked nervously.
Welsher looked a little confused and turned to the group. "Be careful I don't know what's going on but something has changed."
They continued onwards and after a few very long silent minutes they finally heard something. It was something that terrified them to their core. A death scream of multiple Zologs. The sound was similar to a dog whimpering and crying but mixed with a slightly bizarre cadence.
Welsher stopped everyone right away. "We need to hide, Whatever is out there is more than we can handle." He quickly started moving backward and looking for a good place to hide everyone. "We need to regroup and rethink our strategy."
Doric was very concerned now, he had never seen Welsher look so distraught. He followed his orders exactly and they all found themselves a thick covering of bushes to hide behind while they rethought their strategy.
Mauve chimed in first as she had realized a problem. "So, if something just killed that pack that means its dangerous right?"
Welsher nodded to her hoping she would continue her train of thought.
"If that is true what will happen to the other two groups we were going to meet up with?" She finished and everyone went pale.
Welsher gritted his teeth and his knuckles went white. "Dammit, you're right, we need to go warn them but if we shoot a flare-up now then whatever killed those things might come for us. I don't know how we are going to get to them in time…"
Doric and the rest were sitting in silence as they contemplated the situation. It was not until Onyx spoke up and offered some advice. "I think it would be best if Skia and I warned them."
Skia looked terrified about the idea. "But, I'm…" She could not continue as the words stuck in her throat. She felt helpless and weak. She wished she could return to her prison where at least it was safe.
Onyx grabbed her by the hands and looked her in the eyes. "We are the only ones who can safely get to the two groups in time. With our shadow magic, we can skip through the shadows and get to them much quicker than the rest.
She tried her best to reassure Skia. "Remember our training? The Shadow Step? You knew it already but had trouble controlling it. It's now your greatest skill."
She continued with a smile. "You are stronger than you think, if you put your mind to it you can accomplish anything. Think about the group you would be saving from potential death."
Skia looked Onyx in the eyes, a panic attack was on the brim of her mind. Her heart was racing, her mind going a million miles a minute. Everything told her to run away. But when she looked into Onyx's eyes she could feel a warm sensation that drowned out the worry.
It was a feeling that she had never felt before. The warmth of Onyx's hands on hers the reassurance in her eyes. Skia took a deep breath and steadied herself. "Alright…I'll do it." She whispered not losing eye contact.
Standing up, Skia dusted her pants off and slapped her cheeks with her hands. She was reminding herself that she was no longer weak. With her teacher at her side, she knew that she could overcome the trials that awaited them.
Onyx smiled and started in with her plan. "Alright you take the west group I will go for the east group. We will stick to the shadows only and work our way to the two groups. Once we make contact whisper in the shadows and I will hear you."
Nodding, Skia took a deep breath in and waited for the signal. Once i was given they both vanished into a puff of smoke. Leaving no sound as they left.
Welsher looked to Mauve and sighed. "Do you happen to have anything that can mask our scent it would be best if we could wait here undetected until they got back."
Pulling out a spray bottle from her bag, Mauve handed it to Welsher. "It's a spray that is potent. It will mast our scent and make anything that comes near it want to leave right away. Its very sensitive to most animals' noses."
Doric looked at the bottle and its yellow/purple mixture inside and scanned it with his spell.
Symbol- Death, Nature
Tags- Potent, Area of Effect, Deterrent
Whatever this was it did not sound good. Welsher sprayed himself and immediately began choking on it. The pungent smell of death was surrounding him and Mauve shrugged. "If you hate it imagine what the animals think of it."
They sprayed each other and the surrounding bushes and waited. Eyes watering and noses clogged they all looked like they were allergic to the mist. But it was the common side effect of spraying yourself with ghoul skunk mist.
Doric of course was not affected by it at all. Some time passed and they all waited patiently for anyone to return. To their surprise, Skia returned with the group she was tasked with finding. She ran towards the group after smelling the stench and worried that they were dead. Only to find them all smiling at her with tears in their eyes.
"What the heck is that smell?" Skia asked as she coughed up a storm.
Mauve waved the bottle to the new group and insisted they all spray themselves. "It's just ghoul skunk mist. Good for deterring animals."
The new group without much hesitation sprayed themselves knowing that Mauve never let them down when it came to potions but also knew that because of her immunity to poisons, there would be mixups sometimes—seeing as no one was dead from it though they worked with her to keep the spray on.
Skia smiled and whispered to the shadows. "I found my group and reunited with our group."
She waited for a response but what she heard chilled her bones. In a dry and weak voice she heard Onyx on the other side.
"Run."