The dark figure glided silently over the path towards the old cabin, a small vial with a misty blue substance was held firmly in his large hand, his thumb across the stopper. He swept his other hand across the handle and opened the door, he walked into the cabin and entered the living room, a large open plan lounge with a dwindling fire that cracked as the pine knots exploded aggressively. This however was of no interest to the man, his eyes settled on another man sat in a chair asleep. His chest rose and fell in a hypnotic manner, his heavy breathing suggested he was asleep. The shadowy figure crept closer, moving his hand towards the sleeping man. He slipped the vial out and pulled the stopper off. The sleeping man's nose twitched, sensing danger like some sort of animal. The dark man was almost touching his sleeping victim. The glass vial touched the man's lips and the blue liquid slipped stealthily into his mouth, he coughed and woke up, grabbing the other man's cloak and throwing him across the room. The hooded man hit the wall with a crash and coughed out a spurt of blood "It's too late commander, the poison will kill you in twenty four hours". Zak's muscles tensed as he felt the poison shoot through his bloodstream, its cold tendrils sending goosebumps over his body. A bead of cold sweat trickled down his spine and he shivered.
The clock was ticking.
The soft wind blew across the long, green grass making a whispering sound. An eagle circled overheard blocking the sun like an avian parasol, looking for something to eat. Aptonoth grazed peacefully, munching methodically on grass and plants, lovingly nuzzling each others grey skin from time to time. Meg sat atop a ledge looking down onto the scene, dangling her legs over the edge while swinging them. A kelbi shuffled up to her and nudged her hand with it's nose, wanting a fuss, she giggled and stroked it while it whinnied in affection. The kelbi sat down next to her and dozed off as Meg watched the sun sink slowly into the horizon, the wind picked up and made her hair flutter freely in the wind. She stood up and walked into the cave, the kelbi following her, it was dark except for a small patch of orange where the dying light of the sun cascaded down from the roof. She trod carefully across the floor which was covered in decaying bones which crunched underfoot, making a quiet moist snap. As she reached the other side of the cave, the sun dropped past the horizon turning day into night. Meg drew her sword and looked round, the kelbi licked her arm and ran off to join a group of the deer like animals sat across from her. She ran back to base camp and dropped onto the bed, she heard it. She knew she heard it.
Zak stumbled down the alleyways of Pokke, hacking up blood. He tripped up and screamed in frustration. His vision was fuzzy and he was having flashbacks of what the man said
"the antidote is in your bloodstream, its just a case of activating it". What did that mean, he thought as he picked himself up. He brushed down his legs as a jolt of sharp, vicious pain shot up his spine. He roared in pain, clutching his back with his hands in a futile attempt to make it stop. A cat meowed at him as Zak kicked up murky puddles of water, writhing in pain. He kept going into the town, dark spots were appearing around his eyes "You may experience some, side effects". Zak fell again, he crawled forward, almost in the town square. He pulled himself along using his arms, they were becoming grazed and the flesh was visible. "HELP!" he cried as loud as he could, no one came. Zak spat blood onto the floor, he was almost at the fountain in the centre. "COME ON!" he screamed in frustration, angry at his unresponsiveness. He slithered up the steps and placed a bloody hand on the rim of the fountain before passing out.
The warm, humid mist lay low against the swamp floor creating a ghostly air. Arran slowly wandered past the skeletal trees, calm but cautious. A Gypceros slowly sniffed around, seeing him but knowing that the hunter wasn't here for him, he was here for a bigger prize.
The rain slowly hammered down on the roof of the building as Alexandor strode down the corridor. He reached a mahogany door and walked in to a spacious office filled with hunting trophies, a man sat behind an oak desk, a wry smile on his face. "Is it done?" he asked, Alexandor nodded and sat down "does he know how to activate the antidote?" Alexandor shook his head. The man nodded again. "Then you have done the shadow order a great deed my son, this man knows too much".