The corrupted boughs stirred weakly in the breeze, a pale sun striving to see through to the forest floor which had become choked by overgrowth. A sickeningly sweet scent hung in the air, emanating from numerous blossoms bloated and warped beyond recognition. Nettles and thorns hung from every branch where had once been healthy, verdant foliage. Such as it was for miles around in the region now colloquially known as the Weald.

Dark, misshapen things had taken to making their homes beneath those sickly crowns, further poisoning the land with their very presence and threatening any would be passerbys. Choked with all manner of foul creature, the woods weren't the quiet paradise they had once been, if the tales of the locals were to be believed. And that was we were here.

Marching in a solitary file through the sullen trees, none of my companions said a word. Exotic warriors from far off lands, each tempered by their own campaign for survival, none were strangers to hostile and insipid domains. Perfect arbiters for the task at hand, though perhaps not the sort I would share a drink with. A dutiful warrior who slays from afar, a loathsome savage who worships gods long since dead and a man who is only loyal so long as there's coin in your purse.

Each might as well have been at home in these unsavory places but I considered myself to be somewhat more civilized. I'd been to my share of mires and barrows but I much prefered the open road or quiet city corner. The more purses to slice from unwary passerbys. Or throats should the need arise. But out here beasts and monsters had no need for such things, instead preferring to gore and claw upon encounter. Such made for a rough night's sleep.

Not that we did much sleeping. That savage seemed determined to end the task at hand with as much haste as possible, no doubt to return to whatever heathistic rituals her ilk performed. Not that I held it against her. To each their own perverse nature and there was no denying the surgical lethality of the fanged glaive she wielded to cleave whatever opposition happened to present itself. I just wish she would consider rest a little more often. We'd just departed on our voyage and already I was feeling the hints of exhaustion.

But the moment I made mention of it I was met without contempt and sneers. Claims of hardly wandering away from the hearth and a desire to crawl back to my hole. Of course I bit my tongue, knowing myself to be better than folk such as this, yet they insisted on pressing forward so I decided to make a stand.

"I'll go no further. Not without something to eat."

A exasperated hiss sounded from beneath the helmet of the hunter but I ignored him, knowing who held real sway within our party. Giving the barbarian a defiant stare, I unslung my pack and deposited to the earth beside me. While they could no doubt force me to press on they also were aware how effective I was at my trade when properly incentivised. So when the hunter's gloved hand wrapped about the handle of his war ax and she gave him a glance I knew I'd had my way.

"Fine. We'll make camp for tonight," she replied with a hard stare while unslinging her own pack, firmly planting her glaive in the damp soil. "Caen, light a fire. Saisset, see what we have left for supplies. And you, Edwin. Since you're so eager to stay here then you can scout around, lest something call this lair home."

At first I thought to object to such a brusque remark but ultimately deemed it wiser to comply. I had won this round yet it would not do to overplay my hand and risk consequences or retaliation. "Very well. But if you feed without me again."

"Just go."

It was all I could do to not betray a gloating smirk as I turned away, striding into the verge as they set about the tedious task of camp. After all, let the peasants tend to supper while the wolf guards the den. As I walked, though, I couldn't deny there was some truth to their words. All I wanted was to retreat to the reclusive safety of the hamlet. A palatable plate of sustenance and a coin for a night of companionship. Perhaps Glendwin. She'd said she no longer wished to serve me but I was sure I could… persuade her to reconsider. Why even leave that squalid tavern at all? Within its shelter lay all the debaucheries a man could desire while these squalid lands offered nothing but corruption and decay. Surely this crusade was doomed from the beginning. I had only joined with the promise of payment and comfortable residence, neither of which were sufficient.

As I strode betwixt the trees with these thoughts besetting my mind, though, mine eyes beheld something the likes I had never seen.

Before me was a darkened glade, the sickly sunlight strangled by the diseased canopy overhead. Forest loomed all around but nothing could divert my rapt attention from the altar before me. I had seen numerous shrines throughout these lands built by the local denizens to whatever deity they saw fit to call god, though those were crude and primitive. Shambles scrapped together by whatever could be found and easily dismantled upon discovery. But this was something else entirely.

Crafted from seamless stone, it was a solitary pillar as black as night, twisting like a questing tentacle to a grown man's height. As though it had been carved from a solitary block harvested from the cosmos above. Skulls and faces had been engraved upon its length but it looked beyond the craftsmanship of anything I had hence beheld, human or otherwise. As though it was something from beyond.

But as impressive as the spire was it was nothing compared to the gem affixed to its center. Larger than a man's skull and perfectly flawless, the sphere was embedded at the altar's core and was akin to the color of blood. The crimson jewel glinted there maniacally, the torch's light dancing across its ruby surface. Yet beneath that shimmering shell the core was blacker than the darkest shadow as though devouring any and all light. No matter how I shifted my torch I could no more discern the depths of that gem than the heart of night.

And… was it calling to me?

The tepid suggestion of a whisper echoed in the back of my mind, beckoning me closer. Or was that the wind? Almost as though it wanted me to peer closer. To see what lay within those shrouded depths. If only the light wasn't so eager to flee it. Perhaps if I held the torch just a little closer…

"Stop!"

My companion's voice rang out behind me just as the flames licked against the gem and all else was lost as a deafening crack sounded, the torch extinguished by a sudden torrent of wind and I was blown from my feet, landing in a heap some ways away. My head caught a stone and for a moment I was utterly dazed, stars swirling in my vision as I struggled to regain my senses.

Afore long, though, the incessant ringing in my ears dimmed enough that I was able to regain some composure. Rolling onto my side I shook my head as I tried to rationalize what had just happened. Where had that wind come from? And what had become of my compatriot? More importantly, why was it so dark? Surely it had been day not a minute ago. Had I somehow been knocked unconscious and been left senseless for hours? Then why had no one come to investigate my departure?

Slowly sliding onto my stomach with a grown, I at last looked up to see one of my companions at the edge of the glade. But something was… wrong. She was always so defiant, unflappable in the face of the most egregious foe. A warrior who reveled in the heart pounding panic of battle. And yet when I looked upon her face I saw something I'd never seen there before. Dread.

Her eyes were beyond me to where the altar had been, wide and unblinking, her breath short and her mighty glaive leveled in her hands. Those eyes never shifted as she let out an icy hiss. "Edwin. Lie still."

Befuddled by her odd behavior and my exhausted mind's inability to regain normality, I shook my head and mumbled, "Wha-"

Her sharp growl silenced me once more, her gaze still refusing to leave whatever had her so bewitched. "Don't. Move."

At last it dawned on me to see for myself whatever it was she was enthralled with so, in spite of her warning, I rolled once more to peer back at where the altar had stood. Only now there was no altar to see. Or anything to see for that matter. Now there was nothing but an impenetrable veil of black, as though all light were banished from the world. But that doesn't mean I could see nothing.

...those eyes.

Scarlet glowing eyes, staring out of that dark abyss. Easily a half dozen huddled together where a face might be, some closing and new ones opening. And all of them fixated keenly upon me.

In that moment, as I peered back at those eyes, I felt a fear like I had never experienced. A gripping in my chest and frigid knives driving into my stomach as my body seized up, unable to move. Unable to think. All I could do was meet that devilish gaze. And in that stillness I became aware of a simmering sound. It was deep, so deep I could barely perceive it, yet barely more than a whisper. A predatory growl the burrowed through me into the very depths of my soul.

Tears had begun to stream down my face but so deep was I in the grip of fear that I was scarcely aware of them. Any semblance of courage had long since fled and now all that remained was a gnawing desperation. Anything to be delivered from this devilry before me. And in that moment I found my voice again in a pathetic whimper. "...help me."

The words hung in the still air, that growl droaning in my ears and my eyes still locked with… its. All I could do was wait in fraught stillness for my companion to respond. To calmly reassure me as she always did and explain how she would deliver me from the jaws of death. We'd faced countless horrors before and she'd always been the unshakable core to our party, a stalwart rampart against the encroaching darkness. Surely she could save me.

But no reply came.

I sat there motionless, listening for anything beyond my own breath and that wretched growl, sweat pouring down my face and a tremble settling into my limbs. But no answer was given. Finally, at long last, I was able to break my gaze from its to look back at my companion to see that she had yet to shift so much as a hair's breadth, a perfect statue. Only now the fear in her eyes had cleared to reveal that grim acceptance that guided us through the night. With one last muster I tried once more. "Please."

That solitary word seemed to snap her from her reprieve, her eyes blinking and her gaze sweeping to meet mine and I felt a glimmer of hope rise within me. "Save me," I added imploringly.

Yet that hope was ill fated to live as soon as I looked into those eyes. Hard and cold, they held no more compassion than the beast before us as she looked upon me. In that moment a single solitary thought drifted into my shattered mind that froze my heart and scarred my soul. That she had no intention of saving me. Only one of us would be escaping this glenn.

Instantly the paralysis of terror gave way to instinct, a primeval need to survive, and I surged to my feet, darting towards her in one last gamble as a scream tore from my lips. "Save me!"

Without so much as a word or doubt of hesitation she turned, sprinting from me as fast as she could go, her weapon tucked under her arm as she fled to leave me to my fate.

The moment I moved the growl ceased to sound, giving way to a deafening howl that shook the ground and assaulted my remaining sanity. A stentorious lament that no godly creature could muster and I could feel it begin to charge, lumbering after me in my desperate escape. Getting closer with every passing second but I dared not look back, my fading vision fixated upon the fleeing back before me. If I could just catch her then perhaps this was not the end. Only one of us had to die…

And that was when the tip of my boot caught a fated root, sending me crashing to the ground.

Where pain might have flourished only horror could be felt as I grasped at the soil beneath my fingers in a desire to continue fleeing, my hand straining out before me towards the light beyond the darkness. "SAVE ME!"

She never so much as turned her head, hardly breaking stride tearing between the sullied trees to the beckoning sanctuary beyond as I felt something wrap around my foot. Screaming and wailing, I clawed and kicked against my assailant. Anything but the looming encroachment of death. But it was all for naught as I was griped by an unparalleled and insurmountable strength that dragged me into the clutching shadows. Only then was I rolled over to once more gaze into those glaring red eyes and behold the gaping maw beneath them, glimmering with teeth and exuding a thunderous roar as the malevolent darkness fell.