Dark silhouettes moved between the trees, stalking the group of three who were safe only thanks to the light of the campfire Lucian had lit.
"The Rulerless Territories are mostly lawless lands where monsters and bandits dwell, but in this specific hexagon something different happened…" Lucian said as he added more dry branches to the fire.
"This territory was once attempted to be conquered by a necromancer, but he failed, and ended up sealed inside the Dungeon at the center of the hexagon…" the elf continued speaking while Ebony broke into a cold sweat.
"But without their master, his creations eventually went out of control across the territory, hiding in the forests during the day and coming out at night." As he finished his explanation, Lucian tore a strip of fabric from his clothes and fashioned a torch.
But Ebony could barely hear what the elf was saying. As a Healer, she could sense the life of living beings like a radar, used to identify wounded or sick people.
Life felt like sensing a living part of nature, while death was the absence of life once it departed. However, sensing those creatures felt like sensing life beyond death itself, a living void that devoured life.
"They don't like light, so they won't attack unless the fire goes out. We'll need to take shifts to keep the campfire lit until morning," Lucian said as he lit his torch.
"But first I need to mark some trees just in case. I'll be gone for a while, at least two hours. Until then, don't let the fire die, or you'll die with it," said the green-haired elf as he walked deeper into the forest.
Ebony couldn't form a single word. Sweat ran down her forehead and her legs trembled. In the end, she sat down in front of the fire, trying to ignore what she was feeling.
Cristofer, on the other hand, was worried. The elf had explained everything so seriously that he couldn't even think of a joke, but seeing the blonde so shaken reminded him of his little brother.
He gathered his courage, took off his backpack, and pulled out a small axe he had bought. Its handle was short enough to be used with one hand.
The 15-year-old human began cutting large branches from the illuminated trees, wanting to gather firewood for later.
(Stupid dwarf… If she makes that face, I can't just ignore her… But I guess in the end this benefits me too. I have to survive anyway, I have to go back) Cristofer thought as he carried the cut branches closer to the fire.
"Hey, angry girl, what's with that face? You looked fiercer when we found you with the bears," Cristofer crossed his arms as he sat next to the blonde.
"Shut up, idiot… You have no idea what's stalking us, do you? Those things aren't like forest bears… Those things are…" Ebony glanced toward the forest for a moment and managed to see a pair of glowing purple eyes watching them. "Death itself…"
"Oh please, you're exaggerating. They're just a bunch of bones with rotten meat. At worst there's a ghoul around here."
"Maybe… (This kid has a point… If they're afraid of campfire light, they're low-level undead… I've faced them before in the Forgotten King expansion… But seeing them on a screen and feeling them is completely different…)"
The girl's blue eyes trembled as she tried to endure the deeply uncomfortable sensation running through her body, unaware that among the shadows, a figure made of flesh was listening to their conversation.
.
.
.
Hours passed, and Lucian was returning to where he had left his group, lighting his way with his torch. Those two idiots were probably arguing, or so he thought.
(Those idiots better not let the fire die. Now that it's night, relighting it while under attack would be impossible)
However, when he arrived, the campfire was about to go out, and his companions were asleep on the ground, with streaks of blood running from their ears.
"What the hell?" the elf managed to mutter as he rushed to revive the fire with his torch. Once the flames flared up again, he slipped a pair of knives between his fingers while watching his surroundings.
"Heh heh heh heh, the prey I've been wanting to taste has finally arrived… I knew it was a good idea to leave that pair alive before starting to eat," said a hoarse, heavy voice like that of an old man, lurking behind the trees.
"Who are you? What did you do to my companions?!" Lucian shouted as he tensed his muscles, ready to throw his leaf-sized blades at the first sign of the enemy.
"Who? Who… It's been a long time since anyone asked that. I suppose I never give anyone time to chat… I… am Dream. That's what my master called me. But don't worry, I'll leave your throat intact so we can talk more calmly later," the voice said in a threatening tone.
Lucian knew there were very few intelligent beings among the undead, and among them, he silently prayed it was a ghoul.
{{Dark Magic: Night Lullaby}}
Suddenly, the sound of a flute began to echo, playing an elegant and gentle melody. It was so light and sweet that it started to lull the elf's senses, while a cold presence began to numb his body.
"A damn banshee… Why not… Could be worse…" Lucian muttered as he tore small pieces of cloth and tried to stuff them into his ears.
But from between the trees emerged a two-meter-tall ghoul made of living muscle, with scraps of skin clinging to its body and a deformed face that revealed a jaw reinforced with metal and several rows of fangs.
"Shit…" Lucian said just before being struck by the ghoul's fleshy hand, sending him flying into a tree.
His body could no longer respond properly. The sound of the flute was rendering him useless with overwhelming drowsiness, and his strength was leaving him.
When his ears began to bleed, the sound finally stopped. At that moment, a woman wearing a white dress rotted by time and stepped out from between the trees. Her hair was long and black, her skin a pale blue like that of a frozen corpse.
Lucian couldn't say anything, but for a moment he thought about how beautiful her face was, despite it being the last one he would see in his life.
"You could have run away, but staying after seeing your companions alive was a mistake. Now you will all di—" The woman's masculine voice was interrupted by the impact of a gigantic shield.
"Shut up, you damn bitch! We haven't even met properly and you already think you've won?!" Ebony shouted in rage as she wielded a massive shield of pure metal, green with golden trims.
"You filthy bitch… How dare you stay awake after hearing my beautiful music!" the banshee screamed, then whistled, ordering the ghoul to attack the blonde.
But with a single blow from the massive shield, the ghoul went flying until it slammed into a tree, and Ebony said in a mocking tone, "Beautiful my ass! Even my grandparents' music is better than that crap!"