"These tracks don't seem to end. It seems impossible.." Edon said as he sniffed the ground.

"Well I imagine that if it smells like us, it must be us." Fang said. The moon was up now, and the forest was dead silent. An eerie glow was cast upon them, lighting up the ground in a shady gray, giving the investigators a bit of light to work with.

"That isn't true.. Not in this case. It could be anything."

"You're nose might be playing tricks on you Edon." Fang said in an ominous tone. He walked by the wolf who stopped and directed his attention to his nose, studying it and wondering if it were true. The face he was making forced a smile out of Zepp, though it quickly faded.

"DAMMIT!" Fangs voice echoed a bit through the trees, causing a couple birds to flee.

"What is it?"

Zepp and Edon caught up with him and despaired. In front of them was the Crimson Swamp.. For the sixth time. Zepp fell to his knees, "I give up.. I give up. I can't do this."

The moon crept behind the cloud cover, casting darkness across the land. Almost instantly it seems Edon could feel a change in the atmosphere. If he could see better he was sure every animal large and small crawled into any sort of hole or cave they could find, knowing that something was coming.

CRACK! The sound scared Fang, causing him to jump and stifle a cry. It came from in front of them.. From the swamp. It was closely followed by the sound of water being violently disturbed, like a large creature was bounding through the bloody swamp. Footsteps squished onto the wet ground, and Edon began to have micro spasms. A low, powerful growl echoed through the blackness, siphoning whatever courage was left between them.

Zepp swore he heard a something snap. Whatever creature was in front of him was strong enough to break a large branch.. Though it sounded as if a skeleton was being torn apart.. "We need to get out of here..."

There was a long pause. The only thing they could hear was the sound of their own breathing, rapid short breaths that only added to their already overbearing fear.

Slowly, and steadily, a quiet, suppressed cry began to sound out from the swamp. It was agonizing, as if whoever was doing it was in a severe amount of pain and suffering. It filled the investigators ears, and no matter how much they wanted to, they couldn't shut it out.

Then there were two voices screaming.. Then three.. Then ten.. Then twenty.. And slowly the voices intensified, growing louder and stronger. Edon squinted, attempting to find the source, but couldn't in the darkness.

Then, as quickly as they came, the voices simply vanished, leaving three frozen animals to rationalize the experience.

"Kenway, this is what you dedicated your life to? This creature?" Rose was gazing at the page, aghast at what she was seeing.

"Yes my dear, and I found it to be a perplexing one at that. Those hillsides I traveled to? Everything I witnessed... Everything.. Was conjured by it. I'm not sure how it manages such a thing, but it does, and there isn't a way to fight it."

Rose sensed a bit of maliciousness in Kenways approach, a sort of insidious desire for the creature. It was as if he felt he needed more of it, to see it again. "The investigators, where are they?"

Kenway frowned, "I'm not sure my love. They probably left to go check out a crime scene or something."

Rose didn't believe him. "Kenway... You were with them last, they didn't tell you?" She hinted at her disbelief in his claim, which he didn't take lightly. His demeanor seemed to change, turning a bit more hostile towards the subject.

"Why worry? They'll be back," he opened his arms, "Come to me, dear."

Rose took the leap, "You sent them out there.. To those hillsides, to that place didn't you." She began to pace a bit, nervous at this idea.

"Rose.. Come here." He advanced on her, closing the distance. She staggered and fell, hitting her elbow on the ground. She winced at the pain, but attempted to get back up. She was quickly overtaken, her slender body no match for his own. He pinned her, taking rope and binding her paws together.

"I told you, you are important to me.. To my work my dear." She screamed, but was quickly silenced when he hit the side of her face.

"AAAAAAGGGHH! I JUST WANT TO GO HOOOOME!" Fang screamed to the heavens in the hopes that someone would hear. Now nearly pitch black, no one but Edon could guide them to their destination which seemed all but impossible to get to. Fang and Zepp used their sense of touch as their guide, holding onto patches of Edon's fur so they didn't get lost.

Zepp felt something slimy crawl across his foot and he yelped, only to quickly regain his composure. He himself was giving into the forest, feeling his will to resist dwindling. "Fang I uhh.. I'm sorry I dragged you into this. It's my fault we're in this mess."

Fang shook his head, "No, it isn't your fault. I joined because I wanted to make sure you were safe. Besides, there was never a case where I wasn't there." Zepp knew this to be true, and it comforted him a bit. Before Edon, it was always those two doing what they did best: taking down crooks.

"And I'm sorry for holding that grudge against you, Edon. Without you we would probably be stuck neck at that Swamp, waiting for daylight. I'm glad you came."

Edon smiled, "Somebody had to be your eyes and your nose," he chuckled, "No, but I'm over it, I just want out of here." Silence became of them, and after a couple minutes, Edon brought his nose break down and began to track the scent again. It was a bit tough due to the fact that he couldn't keep a straight line from the weasels bobbing back and forth as they walked, their paws gripping his fur was a distraction as well. They were on opposite sides of him, and he was quite surprised when he felt a tiny paw touch right beside Fangs.

"Fang, are you alright? A little off balance there?" A "hmm" escaped the weasel, questioning his comment. Another paw gripped his fur on Zepps side, and he figured Zepp must have been in the same situation.. Until another grabbed him lightly, and another.. And another.

This raised alarms. Although he couldn't see them, what Edon lacked in sight he made up for in touch.. And his sense of touch was going wild. He tried to regain his composure, hiding his fear to keep up morale. It was in vain however, as he couldn't help but scream as he felt multiple tiny paws lightly grip his fur in the near pitch blackness.

"GET ON!" both weasels obeyed, not willing to argue out of fear. They couldn't see much, so whatever it was that was happening couldn't be easily identified by them. Within a couple seconds, Edon was sprinting, using his night vision to guide him through the seemingly endless land of trees. His paws never faltered, weaving in and out of the net of giant green towers.

He quickly took note of a light glowing ahead, and wanted it. To him, all he could think about in that very moment was getting to the light, everything else was secondary to it. He didn't care where it would take him, he didn't for one second care if it was a fire and they ran into a pack of wolves. He just wanted out.

He kicked it into high gear, hearing footsteps chasing him just a few feet away. His heart began to pound at the thought of whatever monstrosity it was, and his imagination wasn't helping much. He let deep, quick pants in procession to his own rapid footsteps, looking to gain as much distance from his unseen pursuer as possible.

The footsteps quickly grew in volume, sounding as though it were right behind him. In Fangs panic, he let out a loud yelp as he attempted to break his limits. His legs began to ache horribly as the pursuit continued, not helping towards the situation at hand.

BOOM BOOM BOOM, Edon was sure that whatever it was could've grabbed right ahold of his tail right then and there. He was half glad that the two animals on his back couldn't see, and that only raised his fearful curiosity as to what it was exactly..

He took the chance. He spun his head around swiftly, and was stopped abruptly by a large, furry animal.

"Hey!" A deep voice bellowed. Both weasels were flung instantly upon impact, sliding along the rough dirt. Edon rubbed his head, which ached from the impact. He looked up at what he was stopped by, and quickly realized that he was staring at the back end of a large mammoth.

"Sorry, sir." He said. The mammoth turned and made eye contact. Edon felt intimidated, not so much by the authoritative stare as much as the size.

"Who are you?" The mammoth said inquisitively. He didn't show himself as a threat, and Edon took this as a sign of a socialized animal.

Fang and Zepp quickly got up and were met with a bunch of animals glaring at them. They were standing in front of a rock wall, which displayed several anatomically inaccurate drawings of animals. Zepp sighed, recognizing the group of animals, with the help of the fire in front of them.

They found the herd.

"Hey! Listen, we just got out of the hillsides, and there was something chasing us. I couldn't get a good look, but it was big. It may be heading this way." Edon said to Manny.

"Oh yea?" He said, completely brushing the warning off.

"Yea, just watch out."

"Uh.. Thanks for the warning, Wolfy, but I don't see any big scary monster behind you.. In fact, all I see is a bunch of land."

Edon turned his head, and was shocked to find that there was in fact no forestry behind him. In his head ran millions of questions, and found himself lacking the ability to form one about the peculiar experience that they had just encountered. He wondered if the area they were in was even physically present, that what was happening had taken place in the worst parts of his psyche, a place that he would never wish to venture to again.

"We're back." Zepp said at the sight of Diego, who chuckled at the comment.

"Zepp is it? You guys look like you've had your feathers ruffled." Shira said, commenting on the sickly expression being given off by Edon. He was now hunched over and staring at the ground, unwilling to speak to anyone.

"Yea.. You could say that. Listen, as much as I'm sure that we would love to stay and chat, we have to leave." Fang said hurriedly. He applied emphasis to the last part, revealing his worry and causing everyone else to do so.

"What's going on? Is someone hurt?" Ellie asked.

"Not yet, well... We don't know. We just need to get back."

"Is it the soul eater?" Diego sat on his haunches as he said this, turning to glance at the shaken wolf, then back at Zepp.

" Yeah, and our home is in danger."

"Well I doubt you'll get far in the dark. Not safe even WITH your canine friend here." Koda said as he took his place by his father. Zepp stared at him, recognizing the resemblance of his parents within the childs face.

"Koda.. My my, how you've grown!" He said.

"Yea, I get that a lot. Thanks again for what you did. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you." Koda replied.

"It's my job. It's what I do. I'm just glad to see you alive and well, you look so much like your father... Just not as big."

Koda chuckled, "We'll see. I've still got some growing to do. Anyway, if you're looking to go back tonight, don't."

"We have to try.." Zepp sighed and walked away from the circling herd outside to Edon. Upon hearing his footsteps Edon tensed a bit, his instincts flaring for but a moment.

"Still in shock?"

"Disbelief more like it,." Edon replied quietly. His voice cracked a bit, giving a hint of despair. "Never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect to experience something like this. It.. It isn't logical-"

"That's something you have to get over. Very weird, isn't it? You know what you saw tonight, but you're in a stage of denial. Denial stemming from the inability to comprehend anything inside the extremities of the unknown."

Edon frowned, "I can still hear it you know, the sound of Yorike choking on his own blood."

Zepp nodded, "You're traumatized, it's going to stay with you for a while," he lifted his paws and curled them, "I've had my own experiences." In his head the sound of a heart beat reverberated in his ears.

"What are we supposed to do?"

"I'm not sure. We'll figure that out, you get some rest."

"I don't think that's going to happen."

"Try." Zepp said. He scratched behind Edon's ear, making it twitch. He smiled, knowing that his companion liked it when he did that. It seemed to be therapeutic to him.

Zepp walked back over to Fang, who had just finished conversing with Ellie and Manny. He was stroking his chin, a sign that he was deep in thought. "Hey, you there?" He said jokingly.

"Funny." Fang replied.

"What did they say?" Zepp asked as he scratched the side of his face softly.

"Well... They don't want us to leave tonight. They've heard rumors of rogue sabers prowling around Eagle Pass, Diego scouted it out earlier during one of his hunting trips."

"If that's true-"

"Then we aren't going to get far," Fang sighed. "I don't like it, but I doubt Edon can protect us against something like that in the pitch black, even with his night vision."

"You realize that the longer we stay, the more lives may be lost."

"Yes.. Zepp, if Kenway IS the soul eater.. Do you realize what that means?"

Zepp shook his head. He had a couple of ideas, but didn't want to say anything.

"It means that he may have led us to do this.. The soul eater, not Kenway."

"Do what?"

"What if it told us to go into that wretched place... What if it told us to do that so it could show us what it could do.."

Zepp shuddered, "You mean.. Like use us as subjects to its power?" He said, not liking the idea of being used for something like that.

"Yes.. More so you."

"Me?"

"You pursued it. It's making a message out of your leads, your beliefs and your preconceptions.. I fear Brandybuck may be next as well."

Another Chapter done! I'm actually enjoying writing this kind of fanfiction. To me it's a lot easier because you can do so much.. And let's be honest, driving these three insane is actually pretty fun.

Hope you enjoy! Reviews are always helpful, I enjoy criticism ;).