Roy was walking ahead of Lina and Yiss, until he noticed Dil had disappeared.
Then he began to start fuming.
"Dil! If you don't show up, we'll leave without you!"
He screamed, but there was no response.
"It must be when we were studying the corpses that he vanished!" Lina said.
"This is Blood Forest! He should have stuck with us!" Roy said pissed off.
"It's getting dark. Let's set up camp here. Maybe he'll come around cause there's no time for us to search for him'' Yiss said.
But in a forest that has had its trees watered by the blood of travellers, there is no rest.
All night long, they only heard the howling and screeching of wild animals.
Making it impossible to sleep.
And the screams were so loud, it sounded as if the animals were in agony.
And they were.
This is Blood Forest.
{5 hours later}
"Aaahhh!!!!"
The screams of a man alerted Lina, Yiss and Roy who were half asleep.
Dil was running towards them and stopped and turned his back and was pointing in the direction he came from.
"See! The a-animals are crazy!" He said in panic.
But something's wrong.
Nothing is chasing him.
"Dil, where were you?" Roy asked greatly disturbed.
"I was with you people and then all of a sudden, I'm running from bats and eagles with red eyes!"
Everyone shook at his words.
Yiss spoke up and said
"But there's nothing—"
"SHUT UP!" Dil said enraged.
"Come see and I'll show you all what I'm talking about" he commamded.
Everyone was distressed and followed him.
And Dil was moving at a fast pace for someone that's been running all night.
As if he had an energy spurt instead of depletion.
Lina took notice of this but kept it to herself.
"Slow idiots! Move faster! Ha ha!" Dil said laughing.
"What's with you!—" Roy wanted to throw a tantrum, but what came into his sight made him terrified.
Before them was a large tree with hundreds of berries.
"Dil, you stupid genius! You found this? Incredible!" Remarked Roy.
But Yiss just shrugged and said
"Nothing impressive. Let's move—"
"Where did Dil go?" Lina interrupted, feeling tensed.
For he had vanished.
Before they could react, a large rock came falling from the top of the tree and dislocated Roy's shoulder.
"Aahh!" he screamed clutching his shoulder.
A man with unkempt hair jumped from the top of the tree.
Landing hard on the ground on his feet, the figure of Dil emerged.
"Now you're done, Roy" he said with malevolence.
Roy's senses were fixated on Dil with a terrified expression.
"Let's water this tree with you three's blood."
***
A blacksmith was at his work when a tall young man emerged in his workshop.
The blacksmith looked at him and said
"Young man, welcome! I've done—"
"Thank you for your services." Tye interrupted him and handed him a sack of gold coins.
The blacksmith shrugged and began to check if his payment was complete.
"You count your money to see if it's complete. Now I shall check if my request is complete."
Tye said while inspecting gauntlets made of rare iron.
The blacksmith looked at him and smiled malevolently.
"I made these to withstand a slash from a sword. And—"
"The sword" Tye interrupted picking up a sword
"What about the sword?"
The blacksmith grimaced and said
"It has been made to be protected from rusting. And, it is thinner than a giant sword but rivals its cutting abilities."
Tye smiled with a wicked grin at the blacksmith's words.
"It was worth the money. Have a good time."
He exited the workshop and went to an inn.
The innkeeper saw him and was highly disturbed
"Young man! You didn't show up from the other night that you paid for—"
"I know, a lot happened. But I don't really have the—"
Now he was interrupted.
"I don't want to hear it! No preferential treatment! The fee is 10 gold—"
A man on a horse came and interrupted them.
"*Greetings! The Duke of the South-eastern region has answered your request!"
The innkeeper was baffled to hear that a commoner had made a request to a Duke.
Tye was handed a scroll from the messenger.
On it read:
[Confidential: I am the Duke of the North-eastern region of Misk.
Someone of high importance to my household is missing. Locate them and you name your price. My messenger will show you the way.
Come as soon as possible.]
Tye grinned and glared at the innkeeper.
"You're right! I won't be staying here, there's somewhere I must go" He said and hopped on the messenger's horse.
And they left for the home of the Duke of the North-eastern region.
While the innkeeper could only stare at them as they left.
Questioning himself for treating Tye harshly.
For Tye was a commoner in Misk.
But being invited to a Duke's home?
That's uncommon.