''My Prince! Please reconsider such actions!'' Selene said, determined to stop me. ''We don't know what's out there!''
''Come with us,'' I replied, then looked at Garrick. ''Can you take command until I return, old man?''
''Just be quick,'' he responded, smiling. ''Bring back our new soldiers and commander.''
''Will do,'' I said before walking toward the Deadwoods.
Evangeline and Lagertha fell in beside me as the others secured the fort. Selene stood ready to answer the signal the lavender-haired half-elf had agreed to send up if trouble found them. As we headed toward the forest, I glanced at the lavender-haired beauty. ''Eve, if the enemy finds us, fall back and use magic.''
I then turned to the blonde warrior. ''You defend her. Make sure no one lays a hand on her.''
Lagertha thumped her fist against her chest. ''Yes, Master. I will protect her with my life.''
''I can look after myself, my prince,'' the Half-Elf responded.
But she couldn't hide the smile, which made me chuckle as we continued. After a few hours of walking, my senses picked up something coming from a couple of miles away, prompting me to stop, catching the women's attention. Lagertha appeared beside me, axes at the ready. ''What's wrong, master?''
''Something strong,'' I replied, causing Evangeline to ready her magic.
The blonde looked toward the treeline, narrowing her blue eyes. ''I can sense them, Third Circle creatures, but I don't know what they are.''
''Neither do I,'' Evangeline added with a shiver. ''Though their mana is sickening.''
When Eve said that, a shiver rippled across my skin. I shook my head, trying to ignore the unease crawling up my spine. ''Well, Lagertha is Seventh Circle,'' I said. ''We should be okay if anything happens.''
The words tasted like a curse the second they left my mouth. I'd just jinxed us. I pushed the thought down and stepped into the forest. The moment we crossed the treeline, every sound died: the birds, the wind, the distant rustle of leaves, gone. Nothing but heavy, unnatural silence remained.
Just then, something moved to our left, prompting Evangeline to cast Magic Bullet into the darkness on instinct. Lagertha readied for a fight, but nothing happened. I looked at the lavender-haired beauty. ''Everything okay?''
She didn't lower her hand. ''I know something was there,'' she murmured, eyes scanning the trees. ''I'm sure of it.''
''Well, keep scanning our surroundings,'' I reassured.
Following that, we pressed on down the narrow, overgrown road, the silence pressing against us like a living thing. The trees here were ancient and twisted, their bark blackened as if scorched by fire. Lagertha walked ahead, both axes now drawn and held low, the blades catching what light managed to pierce the canopy.
I flexed my fingers and summoned my claws. The weight of them felt reassuring. Evangeline stayed between us, her hands still faintly glowing with prepared spells. Without warning, the silence was shattered. A First Circle pale humanoid-looking creature dropped from the branches above Half-Elf, all elongated limbs and jagged teeth.
Without a second thought, I lunged forward, claws flashing, and intercepted it mid-air. I raked across its torso with a burst of violent sparks, like steel striking flint. The creature shrieked, an awful, wet sound, as the impact sent it crashing into the underbrush. More of them poured from the shadows.
Creepy, hairless things with slick grey skin and hollow white eyes. They moved wrong, joints bending at unnatural angles, claws scrabbling against the dirt and tree trunks as they swarmed us.
''Contact!'' I snarled.
Lagertha roared and spun, her axes singing through the air in wide, brutal arcs. One creature lost its head instantly. Evangeline thrust her palm forward and unleashed another Magic Bullet, the spell punching straight through a beast's chest and exploding out its back in a spray of dark blood.
I twisted to meet two more as they charged her, my claws slashing in a frenzy. Each strike threw off bright orange sparks where bone met claw, the impacts jarring up my arms. The things smelled of rot and wet earth, and their blood, if it could even be called that, burned where it touched my skin.
''Stay together!'' I shouted, carving through another lunging horror. ''Don't let them flank us!''
The creatures rushed us from every direction. One dropped from the branches above while another lunged low for my legs. I reacted instantly, claws flashing. Sparks burst from the impact as I tore across the first creature's torso, then drove my fist into the second one's face hard enough to send it crashing into a nearby tree.
Seconds later, it cracked from the force. More pale humanoids poured from the shadows, shrieking horribly as they moved toward us on twisted limbs.
''Too many!'' Evangeline shouted as mana flared around her hands.
Seven glowing projectiles appeared around her, then shot into the swarm. The missiles curved unnaturally through the trees, slamming into the creatures with explosive force. One lost its head instantly while another was blown apart mid-leap, spraying dark blood across the dead leaves.
Still, they kept coming. A humanoid suddenly burst from the underbrush and lunged straight for Evangeline, who cast another spell. ''Magic Shield!''
A glowing blue barrier appeared around her just as the creature slammed into it. Cracks rippled across the shield while the thing screeched and clawed against the magic. Then Lagertha reached it; she moved like death itself. Her first axe split its skull apart while her second buried itself into another humanoid rushing from the side.
Blood sprayed through the air as she ripped the weapon free and spun, both axes carving brutal arcs through the swarm. Limbs hit the ground around her. Then heads. Gods, she was terrifying to watch. Meanwhile, another creature rushed me on all fours with unnatural speed.
I dismissed my claws and met it head-on with a punch. The impact exploded through the forest. Its chest caved inward as the body flew backwards several meters and smashed into a tree hard enough to shake the entire thing. But another leapt onto my back. Sharp claws tore into my shoulder, ripping flesh apart.
Pain shot through my body, but the wound began healing. Muscle and skin stitched themselves back together beneath the creature's grip, causing the pale thing to hesitate in confusion. I grabbed it by the throat and slammed it into the dirt before driving my claws through its chest.
Black blood splashed across my arm. ''Arthur! Behind you!'' Evangeline warned.
I spun just as another humanoid lunged for my head. I ducked beneath the claws and raked upward with my own, tearing open its stomach. The creature shrieked horribly from my attack. The smell of rot and wet earth filled the Deadwoods. Everywhere I looked, pale figures moved between the trees.
Lagertha hacked through them, her axes crushing bone and tearing limbs free with frightening strength. Meanwhile, Evangeline continued firing Magic Missiles into the swarm while maintaining her shield whenever the creatures got too close. But the humanoids weren't weak.
One slipped past me and slammed into Evangeline's barrier alongside two others. Cracks spread rapidly across the glowing shield. Damn it.
I forced strength into my legs and crossed the distance in a blur just as the barrier shattered. The creature lunged for the Half-Elf, only for me to catch it by the face mid-air. We crashed into the dirt together. The humanoid shrieked wildly while clawing at my chest and arms, tearing flesh open repeatedly.
Each wound regenerated, and the creature noticed. Its hollow white eyes widened as the skin repaired itself. I snarled and slammed my forehead into its skull hard enough to crack bone before tearing its throat apart with my claws. The body went limp instantly. Panting slightly, I rose to my feet beside Evangeline as more creatures circled us in the darkness.
Lagertha stepped closer, axes dripping black blood. ''They're changing,'' she muttered.
She was right. The humanoids had stopped throwing themselves at us recklessly. Now they watched us. Especially me. The pale creatures twitched unnaturally between the trees, hollow white eyes fixed on my regenerating wounds. Then the forest suddenly fell silent again.
Every humanoid froze. A moment later, the creatures began retreating into the darkness, chittering nervously as though something deeper within the Deadwoods had caught their attention. Then a heavy footstep echoed through the forest. Another step followed. Even Lagertha tightened her grip on her axes.
That's when I felt the overwhelming presence approaching through the trees; a shiver crawled down my spine. I shook my head as the aura of an eighth-circle enemy was getting closer, prompting me to look at the Northman. ''Lagertha, we fight it up close.''
I then turned to Evangeline. ''Hit it from a distance. If things get bad, send up the signal for Selene and the others.''
The half-elf nodded and readied herself for battle just as the newcomer stepped out from the treeline. It was enormous, at least seven feet tall, and clad head to toe in blackened armour that drank in the moonlight rather than reflecting it. Heavy plates overlapped across its broad frame, scarred with deep gouges and dried stains from battles long past.
In one gauntleted hand, it carried a longsword nearly as tall as us, the dark steel edge glinting faintly as it dragged against the earth. What truly caught my attention, however, was the helmet. Two jagged horns curved upward from either side of it, giving the figure a monstrous silhouette against the trees.
No face could be seen beneath the narrow visor slit, only darkness staring back at us. The forest had gone silent. Even the wind seemed to retreat as the armoured giant stopped at the edge of the clearing, then it laughed. The sound was deep and metallic, echoing strangely from beneath the horned helmet.
It sent another shiver down my spine. ''Interesting,'' it rumbled.
The figure slowly turned its head toward Lagertha. ''A Northman.''
Amusement dripped from the distorted voice. ''I haven't butchered one of your kind in centuries.''
Lagertha stepped forward instantly, axes tightening in her hands. ''Try it,'' she snarled.
The armoured figure ignored the threat and looked toward Evangeline instead. ''And a Half-Elf,'' it continued mockingly. ''Pathetic little half-breeds. Most humans despise you. Elves reject you. No matter where you go, you people will always be mongrels pretending to belong.''
Mana flared violently around Evangeline's hands. ''Shut up,'' she hissed, eyes narrowing.
The giant chuckled again before its visor slowly shifted toward me. I immediately felt its attention locking onto my body. Especially the wounds that had already regenerated. ''But you…'' it murmured.
The forest fell silent once more. ''You're strange.''
My claws reappeared with a metallic scrape. ''Funny,'' I replied. ''I was thinking the same thing about you.''
The horned figure tilted its helmet slightly. ''You smell human, yet your flesh regenerates like a monster's.''
The giant slowly lifted its sword and pointed the blackened blade toward me. ''Tell me, little creature. What are you?''
''The man who's about to kill you,'' I answered coldly.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then the pressure exploded outward. Mana erupted from the armoured giant like a storm breaking across the forest. Dead leaves blasted away from its feet while nearby trees groaned beneath the force. Evangeline stumbled back as her mana shield flickered into existence on instinct.
Even Lagertha lowered herself slightly. The giant planted its sword into the earth with a heavy boom. ''Kneel,'' it commanded.
The single word hit like a physical blow. Pressure crashed into my body from every direction. The ground beneath my boots cracked while the surrounding trees shook violently. Evangeline gritted her teeth behind her barrier while Lagertha snarled openly, fighting against the overwhelming aura.
But I didn't move, and the horned giant noticed immediately. ''Interesting,'' it repeated.
Then it vanished. ''MOVE!'' I roared.
The blackened blade crashed down toward me a heartbeat later. I barely raised my claws in time to block it. The impact detonated through the clearing. Dirt and dead leaves exploded outward while the ground beneath my feet shattered apart instantly. Pain shot through both arms as the sheer force drove me down to one knee.