King stepped deeper into the territory. The ash-colored trees gave way to creepers and ruins. Vines covered every stone surface. Wild grasses reached his knees.
The path sloped downward, carved into the earth by centuries of rainfall.
Maya clung to his back, taking occasional peeps at the path before them.
King had barely walked deep into the territory when he heard it, a growl from fifty meters away.
It sounded maddened, guttural, and familiar.
He turned toward the sound.
A demi-human clung to a collapsed wall. The creature looked the size of a full-grown man but hung like a wild beast. Its skin was gray and cracked like dried clay. Its fingers dug into the stone, leaving gouge marks. It stared at king, with eyes glowing red.
The berserked state.
King had fought these creatures during the First Woe. They had been dangerous then. Fast, strong and most annoyingly, relentless. But king wasn't the same man he was during the first woe.
This one lunged.
