I was in awe at the sight around me. Red as far as the eye could see, yet none of the Scarlet Rot I knew was present. And in the distance, chirps and squawls of birds called to one another. To me, this was paradise. A place long away from the Lands Between, where chaos reigns and death is a certainty.
Looking down at myself, I was still in my [Bloody Wolf] armor with my [Bastard Sword] and [Iron Round-shield] lying next to me.
As I got up, I felt my armor shift familiarly, in the same way it clung to me like a second skin, comfortable, but still noticeable weight. My sword, the weight was familiar as it hung in my hand. The shield was the same.
I did a small jump in place to see if anything was missing. That's when I noticed my [Bottomless bag] was still on my hip. After checking its contents, I found nothing missing. Hell, even all of my talismans were there.
As I went to equip my favored talismans, I felt the forest around me change. Gone were the bird calls and squawks, and in their place was an eerie silence. Without waiting for whatever it was to appear, I gripped my sword and raised my shield.
Soon, the beast emerged from the brush, a bear. Tall as a Rune Bear and as wide. However, that was where the similarities ended. Where the Rune Bears were brown, this one was black with red eyes, and bone plates and spikes were upon it. Then I felt something from it.
This feeling...
This sense of dread...
It feels familiar...
Like an old forgotten story I once read...
My musings were cut short as the black bear roared and charged. Seeing as its speed was far from the speed of Rune Bears, I waited for it to get close. Once it was within range, I sidestepped it. With a graceful arc, my [Bastard Sword] cut clean through the beast's neck. The bone plate protecting its neck did little to stop my swing.
I then watched as the beast began to decay into black particles almost as soon as its head was separated from its body.
.
'Odd,' I thought as I watched it decay. 'There's no runes.'
.
I could usually see or feel the runes after the death of an enemy. But not with this beast, it was as if it were already dead before I took its head. As my mind wandered to this strange instance, the bushes rustled once more.
I whipped around just as another creature emerged from the bush. This time, it reminded me of Blaidd the Half-Wolf, but this version was far more feral and monstrous. And this time it was flanked by four others like it. Seeing as there was no way to talk to them, I readied my blade and shield.
The leading one, whom I suspected to be the leader, growled, and the others launched themselves at me without any coordination. The first one came at me with a lunge, and I just parried its arm and gutted the beast with a quick slash. The other three came at me with more of a plan. Two circled to my sides while the third one tried to jump on top of me. I backstepped the jump and shield bashed the one on my left, crushing its skull, while parrying the right one with my sword before stabbing it in the neck.
The final one, the largest of them, swung his claw at the ground and shot a chunk of dirt at me. I blocked it with my shield as it appeared in front of me. It bashed my shield aside and went for my neck with its jaws. I let myself fall backwards as the jaws missed me by inches, thrusting my sword up into the bottom of the beast's jaws. My sword pierced through the beast's head as if it were wet sand.
As I backrolled to my feet, the five wolves were already decaying. And yet again, I felt no runes entering my body. The feeling was surreal. It was as if their deaths didn't matter. I wondered if they were some sort of Ash of War, but almost disregarded the thought as soon as it came.
They weren't spectral or ethereal in any way. They were solid creatures. But their red eyes and bone plates and spikes spoke volumes of dark sorcery of some sort. Plus, the feeling of emptiness from them, it felt like they were controlled in some way.
I was about to walk away from the area when a third type of black beast appeared. This time, in the form of a rabbit with a long horn on its head. I just stared at the little beast. I had to admit that the beast was kind of cute. I watched as it scratched its head for a second and had the urge to coo at it.
Then it suddenly disappeared.
My body moved before my mind could process it. The horned rabbit shot at me faster than an arrow. Its horn impacted my shield hard enough for me to take a step back from the blow.
.
'Not cute!' I panicked a little, 'Not cute at all!'
.
Without thinking, my sword struck out for the rabbit. Only for it to twist midair and dodge the edge by a hair. Just as I was about to strike out once again, the beast used a tree to shoot itself back at me even faster. I raised my shield in time for it to impact once again; however, this time, I was ready.
As soon as I felt the impact against my shield, I redirected the force of it up and away from my body. The rabbit's momentum followed the shield, and I struck out with my sword. This time, bisecting the rabbit in half.
.
'That was far harder than it needed to be,' I thought as I watched the rabbit decay. 'Still, what is it with this place? It feels so familiar and foreign at the same time.' Soon afterward, the bird call and the sounds of insects came back in full swing.
"What are you that is so familiar and foreign at the same time?" I asked aloud and got nothing in return.