The forest swallowed sound.
Towering trees loomed like silent judges, their trunks thick enough that even three men couldn't wrap their arms around them. Their roots twisted across the ground like petrified serpents, forcing the group to move carefully, boots crunching softly against damp leaves and moss.
Tani shifted on Adam's shoulder. The little lizard's usual playful chirps were gone, replaced by a low, uneasy clicking noise deep in his throat.
"…Quiet," Adam whispered, lifting a hand.
But Tani didn't stay quiet.
"Mrrrppp!! Gek! Geeekkk!!"
The sounds were sharp, panicked. He shifted again, claws digging into Adam's shoulder.
"Tani—!" Adam reached for him.
A shout cut through the forest.
"HELP!"
Everyone froze.
The voice was hoarse, desperate, tearing itself raw against the night. It was a familiar voice.
From between the trees, a figure stumbled into the clearing.
Red hair, a refined face covered in dirt and blood, light armour torn, claw marks cutting deep into him.
Victor stood there.
"Victor?" Melina breathed.
He nearly collapsed as he reached them, barely catching himself, chest heaving. His face was pale, eyes wide with terror.
"Th-the demon—" he gasped. "It took her. Ophelia— it took Ophelia! It took them all!"
The words hit like a hammer. He spoke frantically, in a panic. His words were engraved with fear.
"What?" Adam stepped forward instinctively. "What do you mean took her?"
Victor staggered closer, clutching at his side. "It came out of nowhere. We couldn't stop it. I barely escaped. We need to hide! There's a cave up there—" He pointed shakily toward the summit. "We have to hide. Now!"
Alaric's brow furrowed. "Slow down. What demon?"
"A shapeless thing. I–it was.. black, crawling with maggots!" Victor's breathing turned frantic. "Please, there's no time. We have to go now!"
Tani let out another sharp chirp.
Louder.
Angrier. He snarled at Victor.
He darted forward
"—Tani!" Adam lunged—
Too slow.
The creature leapt straight at Victor's arm and bit down.
"Gah—!"
Victor recoiled with a wince, violently shaking his arm and flinging Tani away.
The motion was too strong.
Adam caught Tani midair, cradling him against his chest as it hissed, feathers standing on end.
Victor stared at them.
Something ugly flickered across his face.
"Control your damn pet," he snapped. "We don't have time for this!"
That… wasn't right. While they hadn't known Victor for all that long. They knew him to be a kind person, at least, that's what he seemed like.
Melina's eyes narrowed. "Victor," she said carefully. "How did you escape it?"
Victor hesitated. Then he answered
"I...I ran," he said quickly. "It was distracted."
"Distracted by what?" Alaric pressed.
"By Ophelia! It attacked her and I ran!"
The answer came fast.
Tani began chirping again, a rapid, warning trill that set Adam's teeth on edge.
Victor's jaw tightened.
"Why are you still standing here?" he barked. "MOVE!! If you don't want to die—!"
"Victor," Melina said quietly. "Where did it wound you?"
He blinked.
"…What?"
"You're bleeding," she continued. "Where did it hit you?"
Victor glanced down at himself, as if noticing the blood for the first time. "…My side."
"Which side?"
Victor paused again.
"The...left."
Melina stared.
Adam felt his grip tighten on his sword.
Victoria, who had remained silent the entire time, finally spoke.
She was standing directly behind Victor.
"Hey," she said lightly. "Victor."
He turned slightly, irritation flaring. "What?"
She smiled.
"Tell me something," she said. "What was Ophelia's first sword called?"
Victor didn't answer.
Victor's lips parted. His expression hinted at confusion.
"…What kind of question is that?"
"Humor me."
His eyes flicked away. "I don't see how that matters—"
Adam drew his sword.
The sound of steel sliding free rang sharp through the forest.
"Answer her," he said, voice flat, blade resting against Victor's neck.
Victor froze, his head slightly turning away from the blade. He gulped.
Alaric stepped forward, eyes glowing faintly in the dark.
"You smell wrong," he said calmly. "Not human blood. You smell..."
He inhaled.
"…Like the ground."
Victor's breathing turned ragged.
"…You're all insane," he hissed. "I'm right here! I'm not a monster!"
Victoria leaned closer, her voice dropping.
"One more," she said. "Where were you born?"
Victor's composure shattered.
"Enough!" he screamed.
The skin of his face split.
It peeled away like wet clay sloughing off bone.
His scream distorted, voice layering over itself, warping into something hollow and inhuman.
"CURSE YOU! ALL OF YOU!"
The disguise collapsed entirely.
Armor sagged and melted, flesh folding inward, reshaping into a tall, lean mass of gray-brown clay. Limbs elongated unnaturally, joints bending where no joints should exist. A crude face formed—featureless save for a gaping mouth that twisted in rage.
A clay golem.
The thing lunged.
The fight exploded into motion.
Adam slashed, blade carving a deep groove through its torso, only for the clay to fold back in on itself. Melina hurled a burst of mana, blasting chunks free. Victoria fired, silver rounds tearing through its shoulder, mana flaring bright.
The golem shrieked.
Then it turned.
Straight toward Alaric.
It attacked relentlessly. Each strike was heavy, precise, almost focused. Alaric blocked, countered, drove it back step by step.
The golem twisted suddenly and struck at Melina.
"—Melina!"
Alaric moved without thought.
That was the opening. The golem seized him.
With a roar, it threw him, hurling his body like a missile straight into the cave entrance.
The ground collapsed.
Stone shattered, the sound echoing through everyone's ears.
Alaric vanished into darkness. A drop was heard. He had fallen somewhere.
The golem straightened, its form cracking, unstable.
It looked east.
Toward Victor.
Toward Ophelia.
Its voice echoed, hollow and hateful.
"KILL....THEM..."
And then it fled. Its form vanished into the forest, between the impossibly tall trees.
Silence followed. It was heavy, like a boulder.
Adam hit the ground, consciousness fading.
Melina dropped to one knee, blood staining her sleeve.
Tani curled against Adam's chest, trembling.
The forest screamed.
From above, came the sound of large wings flapping through the wind. The shriek of an eagle, but larger. Much larger.
Monstrous shapes descended. Eagle-serpent beasts, eyes glowing, fanged beaks snapping as they landed around them. They had fought their kind before, but those were now clearly the babies. These were the adults.
"One problem at a time. Damn it."
Victoria stood alone.
She raised her guns.
"Come on," she muttered. "Try me."
One lunged.
She fired.
The shot cracked like thunder. Mana flared bright as the bullet tore through the beast's eye, snapping its head sideways mid-charge. It slammed into the dirt, shrieking, wings flailing wildly.
Victoria didn't watch it fall.
She rolled to the side as another swooped low, talons scraping where her head had been a heartbeat earlier. She came up on one knee and fired twice.
Both bullets hit the wing joint.
Bone snapped.
The beast screamed, crashing into a tree trunk hard enough to splinter bark.
"Two," she breathed.
The third was smarter.
The ground-level beast lunged while the flier came from above.
"Damn it—!"
Victoria spun, firing upward. Too late.
The flier's fangs grazed her shoulder as it passed, tearing through leather and flesh. Pain flared white-hot.
She gritted her teeth.
'Not fatal. Ignore it,' she told herself.
The grounded beast struck.
She sidestepped at the last second, slammed her gun barrel into its jaw, and pulled the trigger point-blank.
The shot didn't kill it.
It staggered back, skull cracked, still snapping.
"Figures."
The flier came back around.
Victoria dropped flat as talons ripped the air above her. She rolled, came up behind it, and emptied the rest of the chamber into its wings.
One wing folded wrong.
The beast screeched, spinning out of control before smashing into the ground.
The grounded one pounced.
Its fangs sank into her abdomen.
Victoria screamed, but she didn't stop.
She shoved the gun under its jaw and fired.
The beast jerked violently, blood spraying as it collapsed on top of her. She shoved it off with a grunt, clutching her stomach as warmth spilled between her fingers.
"Still standing," she hissed. "Still standing."
Another shriek.
The last beast dove straight for Adam and Melina.
"No!"
Victoria ran.
Pain exploded with every step, but she forced herself forward, firing as she moved. One shot missed. The second tore through the creature's tail, severing the snake head completely.
It screamed, flailed, but didn't fall.
It landed between her and them.
Good.
It lunged again.
Victoria slid beneath its strike, came up inside its reach, and slashed.
Her blade carved clean through the wing membrane.
The beast reeled.
She pressed the gun to its skull.
"Stay down!"
She pulled the trigger.
Silence followed.
Victoria stood there for a moment, chest heaving, vision swimming. Her legs finally gave out and she dropped to one knee, then both.
Blood soaked into the earth beneath her.
The forest was still.
She turned her head slightly, checking behind her.
Adam was alive.
Melina was breathing.
Tani chirped weakly.
Victoria let out a shaky laugh that turned into a cough.
"…Told you," she whispered hoarsely, mostly to herself. "One problem at a time."
She stayed kneeling there, guns hanging loosely from her hands, breathing hard—
—until the adrenaline faded, and the pain finally caught up.
Then, she noticed something. All this time, she had not paid attention to the blood of the beasts, but now...
Tar-like blood oozed out of their wounds. The blood behaved something that should've never existed.
Her eyes widened.
"That...." She whispered, her eyes glued to the trail of blood leaking out from the beasts.
Only one word escaped from her lips:
"Scourge."