Deep in a forest, a young man stood in white, blood splattered full plate armor. Armor was etched with a golden crown on the chest area. His orange hair was a tangled mess and his weary, deep brown eyes were fixed on the corpses scattered on the ground. He felt a dreadful knot in his stomach, an emotion unfamiliar to him. He gripped his crimson, blood-drenched halberd harder, his knuckles whitened.
The corpses looked like a canvas for a mad sculpture, with protruding small horns that pierced their skin. Their eyes were crimson red just like the flowers around them and hair that had already abandoned their scalps. Bodies that were grown in unnatural ways, most of them had one leg or arm bigger than other, some of them had their skin pierced by their bones.
Ariel stared down at these corpses for a good minute, then he forced his knuckles to relax. Their pleas and screams still echoed in his mind.
He sighed and turned to Amy. She was kneeling, examining one of the corpses. "Could we have saved those people?"
She moved her hands across the cold, barely human body. Her plain white dress with twisted black lightning symbols was somehow untouched by the mess beneath. A floating, curious orb came closer to her. The orb was completely black with star motifs, just like a cloudless sky. She grabbed this orb, her detached, ocean-blue eyes reflected from it, a stark contrast from her ebony skin and white hair. By flicking her finger she revealed the text she had stored inside this orb. After a few seconds she threw the orb back and raised it from the ground.
Without looking out "From my observation, this was caused by over exposition to mana." She stated, her voice detached as her eyes. "I don't know if they can be saved at all."
Another young man closed in, sheathing his longsword along the way. He wore chain armor and a few plates. His black, straight hair was tangled up in the battle, His pale skin was reddened, he stared at Ariel and Amy with his golden yellow eyes.
Peter sighed as if he had written these lines before. "There's no time to be sad," he said devoid of his usual cheer. "There will be more casualties if we don't get moving soon."
Ariel sighed, flicked his weapon and sheathed it back in. The spilled blood disappeared without a trace.
"Check your provisions, we need to leave the Crimson Forest as soon as possible." Ariel said, now, his knuckles relaxed.
The group rummaged through their magic-enchanted backpacks. After a long second, Amy spoke, "I have one bottle of water, three cheese chunks, one beef and a box of spice." She stated clinically.
Peter chuckled dryly "A chunk of cheese, a wine bottle, a box of olives and... oh! Three apples." He said, with a smug smile.
Ariel didn't bother even looking "I have just the same." Backpack's metal clicked in place "This won't be enough, we need to hunt."
Peter's stomach growled. Desperate to find a solution he looked around. "Why not collect those fruits?" He pointed at a twisted radish-like fruit with a juicy, golden skin and hollow middle, hanging from the lower crowns of a big tree. At least 12 meters high, with a intricate nature-made design. That was just in reach for a human.
Amy turned her head to face the paladin "Plants in this forest thrive off of blood," She said as she grabbed her orb again "Those fruits too cause uncontrollable anger to the consumer and they fight until death." She stated.
Peter flinched back. "Fuck, they look so tasty..." he said and lowered his gaze. "Let's see how much we can go with what we have on hand." he added, his eyes on the road.
"We don't want to deal with the beasts of the forest," Amy supported him.
The group got on the road for another long walk, to the north. Aiming for the Redroot Village, a farming village on the border. Violent and packed, the Crimson Forest held its breath for the first time. Only noise was twigs cracking and them stomping on the dirt, not the roars of beasts.
After one and a half hours of no movement. Suddenly a ball of brown fur erupted from the bushes, kicking and biting as if gone mad.
This rabbit ran in a frenzy directly at them. Ariel slowly drew his weapon but suddenly Amy stopped him
"How did the rabbit reach the fruit? It should be too tall for it." She said in a whisper, looking at it.
Her nose twitched with a unfamiliar, sweet scent and she saw crimson dust scattering all around the bunny.
"The blossoms." She murmured in a monotone. "Their pollen have the same effect as the fruits." She concluded, and nodded to Ariel.
With one swift motion, the madness of the rabbit was stopped.
Few minutes later Peter pointed to one of the trees. The tree had a gaping wound in the shape of claws, at least one meter high above the ground.
"Whatever that is," Peter said with a pale face. "That fucker is huge."
Ariel scanned the dense undergrowth, his jaw tight. "We can't just wait here. It could be hunting, or sleeping. We need to know its territory so we can avoid it." He looked at his companions, his expression grim. "We'll do a quick sweep. Peter, you go fifty paces that way. I'll go fifty paces this way. Amy, you stay here. Keep your orb ready. If either of us sees anything, we call out and fall back."
Peter nodded, his usual bravado gone. "Right."
"Be silent," Ariel added in a quiet tone. "There are intelligent beasts in this forest."
With a final, weighted look, they parted ways, melting into the oppressive silence of the trees.