Everyone other than kai and louis fall asleep, henry was the last one and with a strict order from kai he agreed to sleep. "Louis, something is wrong within this forest. This feeling, I am having since the accident in Sanlow. Its definitely not good. And that beast, we never saw such thing before." Kai was right about the beast. No one had ever saw such creature in this forest.
Yes, there were beast like lizard men, goblin in empire, but this was first in this forest. Louis agreed too after all he had lived in Duke Caspian's territory his whole life and this was first he saw such thing in forest.
"Yes, my lord. You are right about it. This forest has been changed from last time. We can just wish for our upcoming journey to be safe. "
Unfortunately, the sun didn't show up next morning and it was too dark for them, louis magic helped them a lot in this difficult time. They walked and walked for hours, scenery didn't changed much, tall trees , snow around and darkness. "Wait." Kai realized something. He looked around again and then turned to knights. " why there is no animal around? It's like no life exist in here. This is not right." The sudden realization hit all of them. Knights visited this forest many times before and creatures were always present, snow rats , leopards, wolves , even small fluffy animals like rabbits, Treloms.
Treloms are similar to cats but in huge sizes and they are not very friendly type but easy to tame. This forest was home to Treloms and other such creatures and kai grew up watching them , playing with them. The absence of life right now was threatening.
Knights faces changed many expressions, confusion, realizing , observing and then alerting fear. "Maybe they have gone into hiding because of last night snowfall" louis convinced himself and others, although he wasn't sure himself.
"They are not scare of such climate. They love it. So why would they-" William was cutoff by a light hit on back of his head. Henry stared at him, his sharp eyes made William stop talking.
"We don't know what's going on. So just stay alert everyone. Keep an eye on your surroundings." Kai spoke with confidence which made other relax a little.
Louis eyes shone with happiness and acknowledgment. Kai acted exactly same like Duke. during war with Zorvath, they were outnumbered , injured, losing all the courage but then Duke came in front and gave them that courage back. He was a leader who was reliable and took everyone under his wings. They fought and won the war, and he got the title.
The hero of Aethoria.
Bushes and canopies were getting think, the eerie silence was deafening. The only sounds were snow crunching under their boots and their shallow breaths.
It was Jerry who noticed it first. "OH GOD WHAT'S THAT?" he screamed terrified.
Kai gasped what he saw in front will give give nightmare and traumatized the person who saw it. Snow turned red, knights stopped beating , William threw up everything he ate. Henry was Patting his back but even his heartbeat was rocketing.
5 men.
No.
5 bodies.
Hanging upside down on tree and their eyes were out of their sockets barely hanging. Limbs were missing, stabbed multiple time in chest and stomach. It was gut wrenching sight.
Jerry hid himself behind louis, covering his eyes and tears dripping continuously.
"What? Ho- wh-who?" Kai stumbled on his own words.
Louis stepped forward to look closer.
"They are from Zorvath." He spoke. Zorvath the neighbor empire which is only empire exist other than Aethoria.
"How do you know?" Kai asked.
"Their armors. Same as Zorvatharian soldiers."
"How did they even entered in Aethoria?" One of the knight asked.
"Who did this is more important to know. We are in same danger." Kai covered his mouth to stop throwing up too.
Louis checked the bodies once more but found no clue. Only senior knights were checking the bodies closely, younger ones stayed back holding their stomachs.
"Lets move forward." Kai announced.
"Are we not going to bring them down?" Chris asked.
"No. Whatever did it will know of our presence."
As they were ready to move forward, a scream stopped them. It wasn't human. It wasn't good , a vibration entered their bodies. Whatever was screaming was dangerous and deadly.
"Run." Kai whispered. But no one moved. Another scream but it was closer.
"I SAID FUCKIN RUN" and they ran.
Growling and screaming increased. The creature was near and it wasn't any normal one. Kai felt like something or someone was following them , running with them on trees. He felt watched by someone. It was creeping and shaking.
They stopped near a frozen lake, breathing so hard. "What the fu... fuck was that?" William asked between his breaths.
"Dont know." "But it was dangerous. " Henry spoke calming down.
Kai looked up and stared between leaves and branches, searching for something but there was nothing.
Maybe it was hallucination. He thought.