The voice was barely audible, weak and riddled with fear. Naryn tightened his grip on his sword as he glanced at the others. Liana nodded, her staff glowing faintly ready to cast a spell. Osrik and Gerrick flanked the doorway, weapons drawn. Marek stayed back, watching the surroundings with an almost preternatural awareness.
"Stay ready," Naryn murmured, stepping into the house.
The interior was dark, save for the faint flicker of a small lantern in the corner. Broken furniture and debris littered the floor. Naryn's boots crunched against something brittle as he advanced cautiously. Then he saw the source of the voice a gaunt figure huddled against the far wall, their face pale and gaunt, framed by tangled hair. They clutched a tattered blanket around themselves, their hands trembling.
"Please…" the person rasped again, their eyes wide with terror. "Don't… don't let it take me·"
Naryn lowered his sword slightly, keeping it ready but nonthreatening· "We're not here to hurt you," he said gently· "What happened here ?"
The figure coughed violently, their body wracked with spasms. Osrik stepped forward, kneeling beside them and muttering a quiet spell to summon a faint glow of healing magic. The figure flinched but didn't resist as the light began to work, easing their breathing.
"They came," the survivor whispered, his voice raw. "The dark ones… they brought the crystal. It… it grew… and then the light—" He broke off, clutching his head as if the memory itself caused pain.
"Dark ones ?" Gerrick prompted, his expression grim. "Who are they ? What did they look like ?"
The survivor shook their head frantically. "Hooded… shadows… their faces weren't right. They spoke in whispers that burned in my ears. They… planted it in the square… and then the ground—" Their voice cracked, and they began to sob, their frail body trembling.
"They didn't stay ?" Marek asked, his voice calm but commanding. He stepped closer, his piercing gaze fixed on the survivor· "Where did they go ?"
The figure hesitated, as if struggling to remember· "The forest…" they managed, pointing weakly toward the south· "They… went deeper… said something about… waking… it·"
Naryn exchanged a look with the others· "We're heading that way," he said quietly· "But we need to help him first·"
"He might not survive another night without proper care," Liana said, her voice laced with worry. "This corruption… it's eating them alive."
"I can help stabilize them," Marek offered, kneeling beside the survivor and pulling a small vial from his satchel. "But it's temporary. If we leave him here, he won't make it."
"Then we bring him with us," Naryn decided, his tone brooking no argument· "It's dangerous, but leaving him here alone isn't an option·"
Osrik groaned· "Great. As if we didn't already have enough to deal with."
Marek worked swiftly, pouring the contents of the vial onto a strip of cloth and pressing it to the survivor's forehead. The trembling subsided slightly, and their breathing evened out. "This will buy us time," he said, standing. "But he will need proper care soon."
Naryn sheathed his sword, lifting the frail figure with surprising gentleness. "We'll find somewhere safe for them."
As the group left the village, the oppressive silence seemed to follow them. The charred crater in the center of the square felt like a watchful eye, a reminder of the growing danger they pursued. Behind them, the village stood as a ghostly monument to the devastation they sought to stop.
The road southward grew darker as the sun dipped below the horizon, the twisted trees casting long shadows across their path. The survivor rested fitfully in Naryn's arms, occasionally muttering incoherent phrases. Marek walked alongside, his expression distant as though lost in thought.
"You seem to know a lot about this corruption," Liana said quietly, falling into step beside him. "More than you've let on·"
Marek glanced at her, his amber eyes glinting in the dim light· "I've seen it before. Long ago."
"How long ago ?" she pressed.
"Long enough to know it never truly went away," Marek replied cryptically. "The old wars didn't end the way the academy teaches. There are things buried in those ruins that should have stayed forgotten. But power always calls to the desperate… or the foolish."
"Do you think these dark ones are trying to harness it ?" Liana asked.
Marek hesitated· "Perhaps Or perhaps it's worse they might be trying to awaken it."
The group reached a clearing and decided to camp for the night. Gerrick and Osrik set up a perimeter while Liana tended to the survivor, who had fallen into a restless sleep. Naryn unrolled a map, tracing their path with his finger.
"If the forest is their destination, we'll need to be careful," he said. "The journal mentioned something being sealed beneath the fort. Whatever it is, we can't let them get to it."
Marek crouched beside him, studying the map. "If they've already started, time is against us. We'll need to move quickly."
"And if we're too late ?" Osrik asked, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed.
Naryn's jaw tightened· "Then we do whatever it takes to stop them."
As the group settled in for the night, the survivor stirred, their eyes fluttering open. Then looked around, their gaze settling on Naryn.
"You… you're different," he whispered·
"What do you mean ?" Naryn asked, leaning closer.
The survivor's voice was barely audible· "The crystal… it called to you, didn't it ? It… knows you."
A chill ran through Naryn, but before he could respond, the survivor's eyes rolled back, and they slipped into unconsciousness again.
Marek watched silently from the edge of the campfire, his expression unreadable· "The corruption leaves a mark," he said softly· "On the land… and on those who touch it."
Naryn didn't reply, but his hand unconsciously brushed the hilt of his sword, where faint traces of the crystal's energy still lingered.
As the fire crackled in the quiet night, the group prepared for the unknown ahead. The southern woods awaited, shrouded in darkness and secrets.
As the night deepened, a thick fog rolled in, blanketing the clearing and shrouding the group in a veil of mist. The distant sounds of the forest were muffled, and the usual forest noises rustling leaves, distant hoots of owls had ceased entirely. It was unnaturally still.
Naryn stood up from the campfire, unease stirring within him. He couldn't shake that feeling. His grip tightened on his sword, but he said nothing. Marek, seemed the most attuned to their surroundings, his amber eyes flickering with an unsettling intensity as he scanned the edge of the clearing.
"Something's wrong," Naryn muttered, his voice low enough to avoid waking the others.
Marek nodded slightly but said nothing, his expression unreadable as he knelt next to the fire and muttered under his breath. A soft glow enveloped his hands as he weaved a quiet spell, a protective barrier around the camp. It was a gesture of caution, but to Naryn, it felt like a reassurance of just how far things had already spiraled.
The survivor, still asleep in Liana's care, tossed restlessly. His mutterings were now more frantic, incomprehensible words spilling from his lips. Liana glanced up at Naryn, her face etched with worry.
"He's not getting better," she said quietly, as she adjusted the cloth at the survivor's brow. "The corruption it's spreading faster."
Naryn crouched beside her, his gaze lingering on the frail figure. The survivor's skin had taken on a sickly hue, the veins around his neck turning dark and swollen. His breath was labored, his body twitching uncontrollably.
"Can we do anything more for him ?" Naryn asked, though he knew the answer.
Liana shook her head, frustration plain in her features. "I don't think we can stop it. Not without finding a cure, and we don't even know if one exists."
Before Naryn could respond, a sound broke the stillness the sharp snap of a branch from deeper in the woods. Everyone froze, their gazes snapping toward the source of the noise. Marek was already on his feet, his hand reaching for a dagger hidden at his side. Osrik and Gerrick both stood, ready eyes scanning the darkened forest.
Another branch snapped, followed by the unmistakable shuffle of movement.
"Get ready," Naryn whispered, his voice tense. He signaled for the group to spread out, his own hand reaching for his sword hilt.
The sound grew louder. They were closing in on their position.
"Can you see them ?" Liana whispered, her staff held low but ready. Her eyes flickered with a soft, magical glow, alert for any signs of movement.
Marek remained still, his senses stretched to their limits. "Not yet. But they near."
The tension in the air grew heavier, thick with anticipation. Naryn's pulse quickened, but he kept his breathing steady. His mind sharpened, his senses tuned to the smallest detail. Suddenly two corrupted beast surge from both side.
"Its the corrupted beasts." Naryn shout the beasts surrounding them. Naryn's heart skipped a beat. It was the same corruption they see at the Eryndale village.
Their bodies were grotesque distortions of natural forms twisted limbs, patchy fur clinging to pulsating veins, and glowing eyes that burned with a sickly green light. Their snarls carried an unnatural resonance, a guttural echo that set the hairs on Naryn's neck on edge.
"They're faster than the ones we saw in Eryndale !" Liana shouted, her voice laced with urgency. Her staff began to glow brighter as she prepared a spell, the energy crackling in the air around her.
Naryn raised his sword, stepping in front of the group as the first beast lunged from the shadows. Its claws slashed through the air, aiming for his throat. He sidestepped just in time, delivering a powerful upward slash that carved into its side. The creature howled in pain, a spray of blackened ichor erupting from the wound, but it didn't fall. It snarled, more enraged than injured, and charged again.
Osrik met the second beast head on with a thunderous roar of his own, his warhammer crashing against its malformed skull with a bone-shaking impact. The beast staggered but recovered quickly, its unnatural resilience a grim reminder of the corruption's power.
"Liana, we need support !" Marek called out, his voice calm despite the chaos. He darted around the battlefield with the precision of a predator, his daggers flashing as he delivered quick, lethal strikes to the beasts' weak points.
"I'm trying !" Liana snapped, frustration evident in her tone as she unleashed a burst of light that engulfed one of the creatures. The beast recoiled, its grotesque form writhing as the purifying energy seared its flesh.
Gerrick use his staff to create multiple fire ball, each one of them fall on the beast. Burning the beasts' limbs and slowing their movements as the light began to spread through their corrupted forms.
"These things don't stay down !" Osrik growled, his hammer striking the first beast again and again. The corrupted creature finally collapsed, its body dissolving into a noxious black mist that dissipated into the night air.
Naryn focused on the remaining beast, as he anticipated its next attack. The creature lunged, and he dodged to the side, using its momentum against it. With a swift, decisive strike, he drove his sword deep into the beast's chest, the blade glowing faintly as the energy within him responded to the corruption. The creature let out one final, bone-chilling howl before disintegrating into the same dark mist.
The silence that followed was deafening, broken only by the labored breathing of the group. Naryn stood still, his sword still glowing faintly in the aftermath.
"Everyone okay ?" he asked, his voice steady despite the tension coursing through him.
"Barely," Osrik muttered, leaning on his hammer· "Those things were tougher than anything we've faced so far·"
Liana knelt by the survivor, who had somehow slept through the chaos, though his breathing was more erratic. "The corruption in him… it's reacting. It's like those beasts were drawn to it."
"They're getting stronger," Marek said, his tone grim. He wiped his daggers clean and sheathed them. "We can't keep fighting them like this. We need to find the source and end it."
Gerrick retrieved his arrows, his expression serious. "They came from deeper in the forest. That's where we'll find the answers and more of them, no doubt."
Naryn glanced at the forest's edge, where the fog seemed to thicken, almost pulsating with an unnatural life. "We keep moving," he said firmly. "The longer we wait, the worse it'll get, if the crystal's energy is still active, we need to find it...and destroy it."
The group gathered their supplies quickly, the tension thick in the air as they prepared to push further into the corrupted forest of southern woods. Naryn couldn't shake the feeling that the beasts were beginning.
As the group ventured deeper into the southern woods, the air grew heavier with a palpable sense of dread. The fog clung to their skin like a living thing, its tendrils curling around their limbs and obscuring their vision. Every sound a snapped twig, the rustle of unseen movement set their nerves on edge. The corrupted forest was alive in ways that defied nature, its very presence a testament to the power they sought to extinguish.
Naryn led the way, his sword drawn and glowing faintly, as if resonating with the corruption around them. Behind him, Marek moved with silent precision, his keen senses scanning the trees for any sign of danger. Liana walked close to the survivor, her staff glowing softly to provide light and a sense of security. Osrik and Gerrick brought up the rear, their weapons at the ready, constantly watching their flanks.
The group's progress were slow but deliberate. The forest seemed to pulse with malevolence, its energy pressing down on them with each step.
"This place…" Gerrick murmured, his voice barely above a whisper. "It's like it's watching us."
"It is," Marek replied simply, his tone devoid of comfort. "Corruption like this...it doesn't just taint the land It becomes part of it. The forest itself is fighting us."
"Great," Osrik grumbled, gripping his hammer tightly. "As if we didn't have enough problems."
The survivor stirred weakly in Liana's arms, muttering incoherent words. Liana paused, adjusting his weight and listening carefully. "He's saying something… but it's gibberish. I can't make it out."
Naryn glanced back, his brow furrowing. "Keep listening. He might know more than he can consciously tell us."
They pressed on, the fog growing thicker and the forest darker. The towering trees loomed overhead, their twisted branches clawing at the sky like skeletal fingers. Occasionally, faint whispers seemed to drift on the wind, indistinct but unnerving.
Then, without warning, Marek stopped, raising a hand. "Wait."
The group froze, their hands moving to their weapons instinctively. Marek crouched low, his amber eyes narrowing as he scanned the shadows. The forest was silent too silent. Even the unnatural whispers had ceased.
"What is it ?" Naryn asked, his voice a low murmur.
Marek pointed toward a cluster of trees ahead. "Something's is close."
As if on cue, the shadows seemed to shift, coalescing into forms that stepped forward with an eerie fluidity. Hooded figures emerged, their bodies cloaked in black and their faces obscured by darkness. Their movements were unnatural, as though they floated just above the ground. In their hands, they carried twisted staves that pulsed with the same sickly green energy as the corrupted beasts.
"The dark ones," Naryn said grimly, gripping his sword tightly.
One of the figures raised a hand, and the forest seemed to shudder in response· The ground beneath the group's feet trembled, and a low, resonant hum filled the air. From the earth, corrupted tendrils began to emerge, writhing and reaching toward them like living chains.
"Spread out !" Naryn shouted, his instincts taking over. He slashed at a tendril as it shot toward him, severing it with a burst of light from his blade. The severed tendril hissed and dissolved into black mist.
Liana raised her staff, channeling her magic into a barrier that encircled the group· The tendrils slammed against it, but the barrier held firm, its surface glowing with a radiant energy that repelled the corruption.
Gerrick notched his staff, aiming for one of the dark figures. He loosed the shot, and the fire ball streaked through the air, striking its target. The figure staggered, but it did not fall. Instead, it let out a soundless scream, the green energy in its staff flaring brightly.
"We need to take them out !" Marek shouted, already moving to flank the figures. His daggers flashed as he engaged one of them, his strikes precise and unrelenting.
Osrik charged another, his hammer glowing faintly as he brought it down with a mighty swing. The impact sent a shockwave through the air, knocking the figure back but not breaking its unnatural composure.
"These things don't go down easy !" Osrik yelled, the frustration evident.
"They're channeling the corruption," Liana called out, her barrier faltering slightly under the relentless assault of the tendrils. "We have to break their connection to it !"
Naryn nodded, his eyes narrowing as he assessed the situation. "Go for their staves ! Without those, they're powerless !"
As the battle raged on, the group fought with everything they had, each of them pushing themselves to their limits. The dark ones were relentless, their attacks coordinated and their corruption spreading with every moment.
Naryn felt the pull of the crystal's energy again, stronger this time. It called to him, its presence a whisper in the back of his mind. He couldn't afford to question it now. Gritting his teeth, he channeled the energy through his blade, the sword's glow intensifying as he struck at the nearest figure. The force of the blow shattered its staff, and the figure let out a keening wail before dissolving into mist.
"Focus on their staves !" he shouted.
One by one, the group targeted the dark ones' staves, their combined efforts breaking the corruption's hold on the forest. The tendrils receded, and the oppressive energy began to dissipate. Finally, the last of the dark ones fell, their forms dissolving into nothingness.
The forest fell silent once more, but this time, the silence felt different less oppressive, though no less eerie.
Naryn lowered his sword, his chest heaving as he caught his breath· "Is everyone alright ?"
The others nodded, their exhaustion evident but their resolve unshaken.
Marek stepped forward, his gaze fixed on the spot where the dark ones had stood. "This was just the beginning," he said quietly. "Whatever they were protecting, it's still ahead."
Naryn nodded, his grip tightening on his sword. "Then we keep moving· We're not stopping until this ends."