The silence didn't last. At first, it was just one moan, which was low, deep, dragging through the necrotic mist like a warning bell. Then another joined it. And another. Soon, the forest itself seemed to hum with the chorus of the dead.
From every fissure, from behind the crooked roots and the blackened ferns, shamblers began to emerge. Dozens, maybe hundreds. Their bodies were a patchwork of decay and glowing fissures, with some dragging limbs that refused to fall off, others crawled on all fours like untamed beasts. Each of their eyes burned faintly with violet fire, a reflection of the crystal Kelvin had just shattered.
Darius spat, while his knuckles was tightening on his gauntlet. "We woke the nest." Kelvin turned in a slow circle, with his lance heavy in his grip.
Xerion circled him, and flames was spilling from its jaws as though it was ready to ignite the whole forest. "They are drawn to the crystal's energy. We killed their Alpha, but we just made ourselves the beacon."
