Blight Ghouls

The trees of the forest were ash-white at the base of their trunk and splintered as they stretched upwards. The grasses were sickly grey, and animal life seemed to be oddly absent from these corners of the woods. Seth's slow trek through the outer fringes of the forest to recollect his arrows was less eventful than he had hoped.

He recovered all of his arrows a little while back but still lingered on, in hopes he'd hear or see something. It would be a shame to venture that far from camp, just to turn back without hunting down at least a hare or woodland elk. He spent nearly every moment after he opened his eyes, starring at an intangible screen or receiving bad news; he wanted some good news for a change.

He was anxious to see how his blood abilities functioned, and he was even more curious to learn of what advantages his enhanced physique gave him over beasts, magical and non-magical since he would spend most of his time moving forward, hunting them.

The forest was eerily quiet though it was scarcely dusk, and his enhanced senses revealed that nothing moved in his immediate vicinity. Seth strolled to the base of a large Oak tree. Its ashen trunk was thicker and fractured than most, and its limbs peaked above the canopy of green that darkened the forest floor. Seth summoned one of his two new Urum daggers from his dimensional ring, and climbed, stabbing into the trunk of the might oak, whenever he needed purchase. He didn't stop climbing until he broke through the treeline, and could see everything clearly around.

He watched lush green of the Ash woodland turn grey the farther they strayed from the border and roads. He saw massive spiralling copses of ancient wood, scattered throughout the forest, and awed at their majesty. He could also make out their destination, Acerno, which laid a few miles to the west, off the paved road.

The canopy covered much of the forest floor from the branch Seth sat on, and he was almost certain searching for prey with this much foliage obstructing his view was an exercise in futility, but he searched anyways. He scanned the leafy opening closest to him for movement or life.

He combed over every tiny opening and found himself inching towards the fragile end of the branch each time he spotted an indiscernible dark patch, only to be disappointed when he found out it was an empty nest or a strange mutation that afflicted most of the larger trees in the forest. After ten minutes of searching, he grew weary, and was just about ready to head back to camp and explain away his disappearance with his most cunning lie yet; he heard an inhuman screech.

It travelled the expanse of the forest and sent a near-crippling chill down his spine. The noise came from the maw of a gaunt, pale, humanoid creature east of the oak. It battled a bloodied white-furred wolf and looked to have an advantage on the beast. Seth estimated that two or three more attacks would've been all it took for it to subdue the wolf. After the battle's been won, it would likely stop to feed or lick its wounds- there would be no better opportunity to attack.

Seth descended the Oak, leaping from branch to branch and ran in the general direction of the battling beasts. The pained growls and eerie screeches of the clashing beasts grew louder as he drew closer. Just as he about to emerge to the clearing where the magical beasts battled, he took a sharp turn left, and climbed up a large tree at the edge of the battlefield. He cloaked himself in green and ash and summoned his bow and lined a shot just as the strange beasts dug his claw into the heart of the white wolf, ending its life.

Up close the beasts were much larger, almost as tall and wide as humans. The gaunt humanoid beast had large yellow bare teeth and no eyes- only scarred masses covering both eye sockets. Its hair was slick and patchy, and its skin, white. It was no natural beast, born from Gaia's love and care; it was an abomination.

A patchwork of heretics who worshipped Narza, the god of Undeath. The beast that stood in the clearing gobbling up the carcass of its prey was a Blight Ghoul. It was one of the races of bloodkin, that Emperor Tanu stamped out when he seized power five hundred years ago. There were rumors that the vampires might revive the creatures, use them as soldiers in the ongoing war, but he never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that there'd be some truth to the stories. After all, every child in Mormon grew up on tall tales of the vampires' cruelty and malevolence, the last thing they'd expect was for the atrocities of their nightmares to be real.

Seth bow hand slightly quivered. He expected to find some scraggly, enfeebled beast he could take down with a few well-placed shots, not a mythical creature with untold strength. He thought of fleeing. If the stories about the beast were true, he knew didn't stand a chance. Its strength grew the more it killed, and ate, and it never physically changed regardless of how much power its lithe figure held. The screech let out stunned the creature would be a pain to deal with in the heat of battle.

The beast before him could be a few days or centuries old. Engaging it would be very unwise. Seth sent his bow back into its dimensional ring, all the while still watching the beast. It ate flesh and crunched bone. Its deathly white physique was marred in blood and gore. Seth muffled a watery, hacking cough, and looked down to the ground below, to plan his retreat.

Slowly he descended from the branch he perched, careful not to scrape the tree bark as he climbed down.When the branches ran out, he took extra care not just to slide down. He, very slowly, using one limb at a time, lowered himself until his feet touched the forest floor. He turned around one more time and looked to the Blight Ghoul, just to make sure it was still there before he briskly walked in the direction of the camp.

He left the clearing, with the sound of gnawing and crunching echoing behind him. Sweat trickled from his brow as he walked on. He increased his pace ever so slightly the farther he got from the clearing. He was about to break off to a full sprint when he heard the crunching stop. His body froze, and his heart thump so hard, it nearly burst. Slowly, he turned back to face clearing and saw that the beast was no longer hunched over the body of the wolf. He sprang for the nearest tree and hid himself behind it. He summoned his estoc and daggers. He sheathed both daggers and clutched his estoc till his knuckles were white.

He spent over five minutes in silence waiting. He heard no hoots, or squeak, or growls. Only the soft ruffle of the leaves and empty quiet of the night. While he waited for the beast, his eyes inspected the tree he hid behind. Its bark was rough and splintered, and it had the same mass he saw from the top of the oak. At the roots of the tree, he found a large hole that reached deep into the earth. A notification screen popped up in front of him when he peered deeper into the hole.

[Mission: Hunt down five Blight Ghouls

You have stumbled upon the entrance of a nest of Blight Ghouls. Clear out the nest.

Difficulty: C

Reward: Life Sense: This ability allows you to sense large pools of blood in your immediate area. Its reach will increase with time as will the quality of information it contains.]

'Wait, five! I have to kill five!' he spat.

He shook his head, 'No, no, no.' One or two of those beasts, he was sure he could deal with, but five. If all five came at him at once, they'd overwhelm him and tear him apart in an instant.

This was not the time nor place to carry out such a mission. He sun had already set, and it wouldn't be long before night came. Fighting multiple enemies blind was one of the surest ways to die. He had to run, run so fast he'd make it to camp before the ghoul caught up to him. He knew it was close, lurking somewhere in the shadows waiting for him to drop his guard. Running through the forest with a sword in hand would only serve to slow him down, so sent it to his storage ring, and readied himself for the run.

As he was about to set off, he heard ruffled scratching and grunts coming from somewhere near him. He whipped out both daggers, eyes watchful of trees and shrubs that surround him. The sound came to him once more, clearer and less subdued this time. Seth kicked off the tree and spun around as he distanced himself from the hole beneath the tree.

The growls grew louder and soon changed to the same unnatural screech the closer it got to the surface. Another screech followed the first, and then a third, and fourth. The screeches blended into a petrifying cacophony that almost glued Seth in place.

Though he was scared witless, he felt a primal urge well up inside him. He felt a nearly all-consuming desire to greet the hoard that pursued him, daggers in hand. He wanted to bathe in their bloods. Add theirs strength to his own, and hunt down every single one of their kin.

Seth found this sudden build-up of rage alien to him. It was as though the anger and lust for blood didn't come from his mind. He subdued the bloodlust by breathing slowly and reminding himself that it was neither the time nor place for such. He turned around and ran as fast as his lithe figure would let him.

His heart raced as he blitzed past trees, and shrubs. His body moved faster than he ever thought possible and he felt only a fraction of the strain. In minutes he cleared the large oak, and he could see the borders of the forest a few hundred meters ahead of him.

He felt his body lose momentum as he inched closer to the forest border and his muscles groaned and ached. The edges of the trees faded from his vision as total darkness descended over the moonless sky.

Just before he lost all light, he spied quick ghostly figures racing alongside him as he ran past trees and thickets. The ghouls were almost indiscernible in the darkness, but their gaunt, emaciated figure was too distinct to be mistaken for any other creatures.

Now conscious that ghouls were stalking him, he turned to check both his left and right sides. The ghouls flanked him on both sides, and he even noticed a few giving chase from trees. He was completely surrounded.

The chill of the night's air enraptured him. His concentration faltered and he misstepped. The beasts pounced almost immediately. A shadowy figure lunged at him from his left. He glimpsed enough of the creature to avoid its attack by jumping out of its reach. While mid-air, another lanced at him from the branches of one of the trees. Seth discovered the attack too late and scarcely had time to brace himself before the Ghoul slammed into him. The attack plucked him from the air, and sent him and the beast sprawling. He bounced off the foliage and crashed at the base of a large tree.

Seth coughed blood as he tried to inhale. He forced himself back up to his feet, all the while clutching his midriff, the area where ghoul rammed into him. His vision was blurry, and every muscle in his body ached. All he saw was black. He blinked and blinked again, but nothing changed.

"Damn it!" Seth screamed. Nothing had changed. He was still as weak and as powerless as he was a few nights back. First it was blood mages, now Ghouls, trouble seemed to follow him wherever he went. Life had been unfair to him, and that would be putting it mildly. But things were different now. If it were only his life at risk, he wouldn't be so inclined to fight and hold on desperately. Tessa sacrificed her freedom for his, and he couldn't so carelessly throw away her gift. That was why he ran instead of facing the ghouls back at the clearing. It's also why he couldn't hold back now that he was cornered and blind.

"Come get me!" he snarled and unsheathed both of his Urum daggers. The ghouls closed in and pounced.