Edited by: tommyjl7

The howl broke through the night’s silence. It was like nothing any of us had heard before, it was filled with such creepy joy, and pleasure and desire, that even I shivered. It was like an announcement, it said: I have arrived!

All of us knew that we had failed, that we did not make it in time. All of us, except for Marie, she still could not comprehend what it meant for Johann. That he is most likely already gone, and would never return. Not in the way she knew him. The fool has crossed the warp and right now his mind was on one of hell’s plane.

Don’t get me wrong, he was not suffering, even more, he was most likely enjoying himself as he was allowed to hunt together with hellhounds. As long as spirit did not hold any kind of grudge, he tried keeping him drunk with pleasure so he would not resist. This way the devils could keep the bodies of mortals in possession. Docile, not fighting back. Although now, as he was already allowed to be let in, chances that single human could force him out were almost non-existing.

The fastest way was just to kill him. Without a vessel the devil would be forced to leave our plane of existence and Johann would keep hunting for eternity.

If we would try forcing him back… let’s just say that in planes of afterlife time flows slower. The Halloween world in which Heira decided to put me in was one of such places. The whole event took a split second in the real world, Marika and the rest of the team didn’t even notice I was away.

So right now, every tick and tock of the clock might be another day, month, year or century for Johann. Day, month, year or century he spent in the body of the beast, hunting and killing with savage devils on his side. This is why nobody comes back unchanged.

- “May the night swallow it all!” Rupert cursed under his nose.

The air in the forest within seconds appeared to become thicker, denser, suffocating. Even though it was late evening and it should be cold and refreshing, the temperature and wetness started resembling that of a bog in the middle of the day. Sweat started covering our bodies.

And then I heard it, I heard them. The trees, the forest, as if they were weeping. The spirits that used to live here and take care of the forest, altar and village, the spirits that were forced into slumber and were lying dormant as the devil started taking control of its life forces have awoken now. And they were crying.

That sound, their mourning filled my heart with such sadness and pain, that I stumbled and fell to the ground, Gisele managed to catch me at the very last moment.

- “Zari, are you all right?” she asked with true concern in her tone

Since the night I became an oracle I felt nature itself in a bit different way, but surely much more… clearly.

- “I will be fine.” I lied with a soft smile

Barghest, by possessing a body of mortal gained a vessel that could purify mana for him, mana that normally was unreachable for it. He already started using it to corrupt forest and animals around it. I felt how sickness was being poured into the ground, how roots sucked it up together with its taints. The beast’s greed appeared to know no bounds. Seconds after it claimed Johann it started to create himself a land he could rule.

Yet, now it should be weakened. Not from the physical point of view, no. When it comes to its body he should reach a peak of peaks, yet as no longer an astral being his magical powers should be greatly used up.

That would be a wonderful news, for me, because it would no longer be such a pain in the ass, and for Gisele, for she could find herself an opponent that would make her break a sweat.

- “What now?...” Jasper asked “… are we going to find him or…”

- “That wouldn’t be wise. You have failed to defeat it in the daytime. Now he would fight in his optimal environment and at the top of its powers… It would be best if we managed to lure him into the open space, maybe even into the village.”

- “You would risk the lives of innocent people?” Samuel asked with disgust

- “I hate it as much as you do, but we can either risk the lives of few and finish the threat, or do nothing and kill all of these people and put at risk many more…”

- “You say it as if it was a mere calculation to you!”

- “LISTEN NOW! If you would manage to live as long as myself despite spending your life in dungeons, crypts, and bogs, hunting creatures that can snap you in half like a twig, you would start understanding what needs to be done! Yes! It is merely a calculation! We face two possible situations, either risk and possible gain, or certain loss! If you have any other ideas, I am glad to hear them out! Please, Sam, tell us! Tell us how do deal with this matter in a way that wouldn’t harm anyone!”

Sam lowered his head in anger.

- “There must be a way…”

- “But of course there is! Tell you what, let’s do it this way, go to the clearing, pick up some flowers and present it to the werewolf as a gift! I am sure that he will be so overjoyed that he would stop attacking humans, even more, he may become a vegetarian!”

- “Actually…” I raised my voice “… there may be a way that would please both of you.” I finally regained my footing.

The gazes glued to me were asking a silent question, urging me to continue.

- “It started corrupting the forest… I mean, even more than before. The creature thinks with patterns – processes. It would not do the second task before finishing first, we can assume that it would leave the village alone before it would be done here. We could provoke it, I think I can… No, I have to, fight the taint back. If it would sense that I am interfering with its job, it would most likely pay us a visit.”

- “Another camp bait? I think Johann would not fail for the same trick twice…” Jasper said with sadness

- “Johann would most likely not, but…” I looked at Marie “… that creature is no longer Johann. It does not share his memory. It would view us as a nuisance that slows it down.”

- “… You are aware that your plan relies completely on speculation? You don’t have enough data to make such a statement. You could be just putting our lives on the line…”

- “Either that, or we can go and wait till it would decide to raid a village, but, if my assumptions are correct and he is trying to take control of the whole forest, he would not come alone. Eight of us can fight on more or less equal ground here, can you say the same about the moment when it would arrive with a backup and you would be bothered by saving villagers?”

Rupert became quiet for a moment as he was considering my idea.

I did not ask for this because I cared about villagers, no. Simply, the toxin running through the forest was setting my body in fever. I felt it under my skin as if the roots of the trees and my veins changed place. I was fighting back the urge to start furiously scratching myself.

Rupert finally raised his head.

- “Let’s do this.”

Somewhere, west from the capital of Neira, where the forest was meeting the bogs, an Omega Bee was flying full of pollen back to its hive.

Not many creatures decided to bother 2-meter tall insect. It was big, it was strong, it was agile, and it was a pack-monster, meaning that if you would attack one of these, in next minute you could expect two of her sisters to come, if you would kill these two too, in her place the four would follow, then eight, sixteen… and the whole hive, if necessary.

The creatures were actually docile, not bothering anyone as long as they wouldn’t make any violent moves next to their hive. They would just collect pollen from Florum Titatnium – colossal plants that grew in some areas.

There was only one exception where it comes to the creature that hunts these bees. These would be Arachne Giganta – the spiders that learned to sense the smell of the flowers from hundreds of kilometers, for they knew, that flowers, meant bees. It was a kind of spider that was even bigger than already mentioned insects. They grew webs so big, that lesser animals could just pass through the holes between single threads. The reason why they did not bring the attention of the hive – is that they have evolved in the way to not let the bees call for help.

The secret was blood. Bee’s blood. It had a special property that would call for help if it would be splashed, like a pheromone signal. The spider, after catching a bee, would use needle-thin fangs to inject a venom directly into the body. The venom would literally melt its insides into a musky pulp which he would later suck. Not a single drop of blood would leave the body.

A flower that could be pollinated by a single type of insect, a predator, that hunts exactly same one type of creature. A horrifying balance, so easily disturbed. The role of Omega Bees was to allow the Florum Titanium to spread, the more bees, the more flowers, yet nature hates vacuum, and when one species starts to rapidly overgrow the predators would be lured in. The predators would decrease the number of bees, which would cause fewer flowers to grow, the lack of bees would force predators to either leave or die, which could once again let the bees, and later flowers to regrown.

A perfect circle.

Until something else would appear. A creature that would break the circle. A creature, that would hunt bees, spiders EVERYTHING alike. The creature that would consume and adapt.

Because victory of the spider over a bee was not always assured. Bee caught in the web would start to shake, to pierce its stinger in every direction in hope of ending life of the predator together with its own, so no more of her sister would be devoured.

And sometimes, the stinger would land, paralyzing a gigantic creature and causing a terrible pain.

That’s exactly what happened. Spider bite a bee, bee stung the spider, both of them froze paralyzed on colossal, ten meters wide web.

And then, the other creature would emerge from the bushes. With mismatched body, with wolf’s head growing deer-like antlers, with humped back that couldn’t fully get up and walk as bipedal, not it could run across the forest like a wolf. Only oversized jaw would determinate how the beast managed to survive for so long.

It was good at waiting, most of the preys it feasted upon he hunted with primitive ambushes. When seeing a predator greater than himself, his instinct told him to wait. Wait for leftovers. For maybe, a colossal creature would drop a piece of meal that normally the abomination could not hunt by himself?

Yet, what he was rewarded with for his wait, was something far greater. Two beasts on top of the food chain of the local forest. Omega bee and Arachne Giganta, both paralyzed, dying on the web that could not contain it.

The beast carefully started climbing up, though it was gluing himself to the single threads, he did not stop, slowly, yet steadily he was overcoming difficulties. Eyes of paralyzed spider were gazing in panic over the creature that normally wouldn’t be even worthy to be treated as a meal. The creature which was opening its jaw wide, a truly colossal jaw.

Beast was patient. And apparently sadistic, for it started biting off spider’s legs first. Or maybe it was just securing himself in case if bee’s venom would stop working? Merely reducing the mobility of the monster that he would not be able to eat in one sitting?

Who knows. Only the outcome of the feast is known – the birth of a completely new creature. The eight-legged abomination that grew bees wings, which though could not let it fly, were more than enough to support the body to perform huge leaps. The abomination that could start producing spider’s web, though it found bit different use for it, instead of building a 2 dimensional web, it build an orb-like nest in the crowns of the trees, an orb, from which it spread hundreds of threads, the threads would be attached to the bushes, trees, ground, waiting for the passing animal to touch it. Then, using it monstrous eight legs it would jump in the sky, using wings, it would hover attacking the prey from above. With a single leap from the higher ground, it could instantly kill the creature within a 50 meters range.

In the day when it swallowed a spider and a bee and new monster would arise, the monster known as Horror of Omega Forest.

Few days passed before someone saw it, few more before someone would survive seeing it, and yet few more before it was reported to the authorities, adventure guild included.