Chapter 33
Infestation
"I still think it's kinda weird that they knew so much about our journey just from the tales of our ancestors. The details are just too close..."
"Elric, will you give it a rest!" Link finally burst. "You haven't shut up about it since we left the city, and that was over an hour ago!"
Tikal gave the archer a concerned look. "You have been focusing on the topic a bit heavily..."
"More like obsessing..." Rand said with a chuckle.
"I was not obsessing! I was..." He was silenced by Shadow raising his hand.
"We are almost there. This forest is home to many vile creatures, so it would be best to travel as quietly as possible." Looking hard at Elric, he added "The monsters you are accustomed to from Jarai are nowhere near as ferocious as those here. Move your concerns about the play to the back of your mind now, or stay behind. Such distractions will only lead to your death."
As the Darkman turned back towards the forest, Sol fluttered over to Anri and whispered "Is he always like that?"
"You get used to it..."
"Yeah, well it sounds like he has a bug or three in his shorts."
"I heard that." Sol went from his normal yellow to a vibrant orange at Shadow's words, mentally kicking himself for forgetting how well that race could hear. "...and speaking of bugs, INCOMING!"
Everyone sprawled to the dirt as a trio of gigantic hornets divebombed them from the tree canopy ahead of them, still a decent distance away. "What the hell are those things!"
"War wasps! There's no way we're that close to a hive..." Anri, annoyed at her brother's blindness, tapped his shoulder and pointed to the structure in question. It was actually quite close, only 20 feet from their current position. "Oh."
Shadow quickly closed the gap between them and the hive, leaping into its tree. As the first three wasps turned around for another pass, a second group of six stormed out of the nest to deal with the intruder. "I don't think so." Darting between the angry insects, the warrior positioned himself directly above the hive before crashing down into it, Berserker blazing.
With a shrill shreik, the wasps halted in midair, writhing in agony. As their queen and hive burned to ashes from the Darkman's attack, the lifeless insects fell from the sky, shattering into clouds of dust as they collided with the earth. "More Chaos creatures..."
Shadow shook his head. "No. These things do that naturally, they're not Chaos-bred. Come. We should move quickly."
The cursed forest definitely looked the part. The trees, while thick and tall, were all an ominous black, their leaves a dark red blocking most of the light from above, and the ground was covered by an eerie white mist. As they progressed deeper into the woods, Lance noticed that a number of the trees also had a strange reddish substance on their black bark, a shade lighter than that of the leaves. "Hey guys, look at this..."
Cautiously touching it with his gloved hand, Rand brought his fingers back to his nose to examine it. "Lance... it's blood..."
As Elric moved to get a better look, he heard something snap underneath his foot. Looking down in surprise, the archer waved away the mist to reveal he was standing on a small pile of bones. "Oh God!" He yelped, leaping off of them, making even more noise as he landed on more stray bones.
"I guess it's obvious why they call this place 'Skull Woods'..." Link said to no one in particular.
Meanwhile, Shadow was looking around somewhat anxiously. Though the darkness of the forest nearly hid his dark form entirely, the others could tell that something was bothering him. "Shadow, what is it?"
Arming his weapon, Shadow answered softly "We are being watched..." As soon as he said that, a huge gray creature tackled him from behind. The others never got the chance to help him, as they, too, were quickly surrounded by more monsters.
Sword drawn, Lance sidestepped one while barely blocking a slash by another, but his defensive move left him entirely open from another angle. "Ow!" Landing hard on his side, Lance raised his shield, barely intercepting a swipe aimed for his head. Whatever they were, the creatures were moving far too quickly for him to get a good look at them. "They're too fast!"
"Time Stop!" The twin flash from the fairies froze all of the evil creatures in their tracks, many of them mid-attack. However, the hefty energy cost of the high-level spell caused the siblings to fall to the ground in exhaustion.
In the meantime, the others were able to get a better look at their assailants. The creatures were almost humanoid in shape, though they bore extremely sharp claws on each of their four limbs. The tail was relatively short, but still appeared to be strong enough to crush a stone wall with a single blow, which the beasts' muscular frames also appeared quite capable of. To top it off, the elongated head bore a spiked crest, giving it the look of a demonic triceratops, needle-sharp teeth lining its snout. Shadow growled in recognition as he rose from the mist. "Mants... the scourge of the forest..."
"Mants?"
"The Mants are descendants of a demon tribe infamous for their speed. They ambush their prey as it passes within their territory, creating illusory surroundings to prevent escape..."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's kill these ones and get out o' here!"
"No, Rand! Wait!" Shadow's warning came too late, as the dwarf had already cleaved a Mant in two. "The drones reproduce by fragmentation! The only way to kill these things is by destroying the king!"
Just then, the spell freezing the monsters in place wore off, the dazed creatures realizing they could move once more. "Run for it! We gotta find the King of the Mants!" Scooping up the fallen sprites out of the mist, Lance sprinted at full speed into the depths of Skull Woods, his partners and pursuers both right on his tail. Even though Shadow managed to cast Agility on the team, they had to endure several minutes of narrow escapes and lucky blocks before they entered a clearing of sorts. As they broke the treeline, though, Lance tripped and rolled into the clearing's center, but to his surprise, the Mant horde didn't jump him. Looking back, he saw that they were all cowering in place, before they all bowed. "Huh?"
As the others skidded to a stop, Link warned "Uh... Lance? You might want to move..."
"Hello child..." Looking behind him, the blonde hero made unexpected eye contact with an exceptionally large Mant. This creature boasted five spikes along his crest in comparison to the drones' three, and it also wore a blood red cape. From such close range, the boy could easily make out the dark red blood stains on the creature's claws and grinning fangs, prompting him to roll backward to his feet outside of the immediate attack range. "I understand you were looking for me?"
Noticing the scar across the giant Mant's chest, Shadow exclaimed "Zera! So it was your brood who attacked us!"
The Mant king smirked, chuckling as he realized who he had before him. "Well well well! If it isn't Bel'Tasur! Imagine, the fallen Darkman getting lost in my forest... how amusing! I shall take great pleasure in gnawing your bones..."
It was then that the fairies began to regain consciousness, stirring in Lance's hands. "Ooh... my head... AGH! IT'S BACK! IT'S BACK! IT'S... ow!"
"Sol, you idiot, we sent it back here, remember! Master sent it back to Skull Woods where you, like a fool, summoned it from!"
"I told you it was an accident! I didn't mean to..."
"Those fairies..." Zera's voice silenced the bickering instantly. "Ah yes... the Red Mage's, aren't they...?" The giant Mant licked his chops, making all three of them tense up. "Well... I suppose I could go for a little appetizer before my feast!" With a roar, he pounced for the pair in Lance's hands, who each screamed in fear.
Luckily for them, the demon never even got close, a small volley of Light Arrows slamming into its chest, forcing it back. "How about a 'light' snack instead?" Link sneered, fitting another glowing arrow onto his bow.
"Insolent worm!" The furious Mant roared, the swarm scurrying into position behind him. "You shall die for that... KILL THEM ALL!" As his minions charged for the others, Zera snarled "You are mine, boy!"
As his friends did their best to fight the swarm without breaking pieces off of the attackers, Link struggled to maintain his defenses against the blinding speed and ferocity of Zera's assault. His shield arm was growing numb from the numerous impacts, and his supply of tools was rendered useless from the relentless onslaught of attacks. He just couldn't pull out anything without taking a heavy hit. "Guys! ...A little... help... here... Agh!" The enraged demon had finally broken through the defense, slashing just past the edge of the boy's shield toward his chest. By sheer luck, the Hylian managed to twist his body enough to escape, but the move cost him his balance, spilling him onto the dirt.
"Time to die, child!" Rearing back, Zera lunged for Link's throat.
Suddenly, a curved blade of ice slammed into the ground directly under the airborne monster, sending a fierce pillar of frost upward into the beast. The force of the blast launched the surprised Mant King up high enough to sail clear over the Hero of Winds, its magic encasing Zera in solid ice. Shadow then completed his work by firing a wave of pulsating fire energy at the frozen creature, the intense heat vaporizing it. "You're welcome."
With Zera dead, the other Mants shreiked in pain as they burst into flame. Without their leader, they each self-destructed, ceasing to exist. As he tried to catch his breath, Link asked "Shadow... how... how did you...?"
"Save your ass?" The Darkman anticipated the question, he smirked "Level 2 elemental attacks. Lucky for us the charged Frozen Sickle can make a Frost Tower if it hits the ground... my shot actually missed." Incredulous and still a bit winded, all Link could do was nod.
"So now what?" Lance asked, using a cloth from his pack to clean his blade. "We really shouldn't still be here when night falls."
Looking around their position, Shadow smirked. "Looks like the chase took us through a majority of the woods. We should be able to reach the southern edge in about an hour or so... we've already crossed the threshold into Makai..."
"I think I might have a way to get through the rest of the forest undetected." All eyes turned to Tikal. "During the festival, I read a book that had a spell to cloak oneself from view. We could use that spell to escape the forest without being seen."
Elric nodded his approval. "Good idea. We don't want to be ambushed again." Of course, no one disagreed with that.
However, as Tikal prepared to cast the spell, Lance brought up a crucial point. "Wait. One question... How will we be able to stay together if we can't see where the others are going?" The flustered look that overtook the girl revealed that she hadn't thought of that detail.
"Maybe we could combine spells." Shadow suggested, "Tikal can cast this cloaking spell while I cast Reveal. We'll be immune to the illusions of the others, but still be protected by the invisibility."
Rand smiled. "Good thinkin', Shadow. A damn fine idea that is!"
"All right, that'll work. Ready everybody? Then let's get outta here!" With Lance's final words, the spells were cast and the party progressed to the forest's edge without further incident.
End Chapter 33
