Hera removed her fingers from the eye sockets of groll’s skull. The blood and brain mixture left a viscus trail from the tips of her fingers to wound. She flicked her and spreading the gelatinous good all over the ground, leaves and a little on the elf. She sat there, eyes widened and a shocked expression. The groll stood no chance in combat. Hera’s face was still twisted with the fresh disgust of the ‘abominations.’ The artificial smell was enough to make her anger surface. The smell was nothing but purely offensive. To a lesser magic sensitive entity, it might have sent them into an uncontrollable rage, but she wasn’t a lesser being. Hera looked back to the elven female once she finished scraping off the flesh as best as possible. The elf had no idea what to do. She went from one monster to another monster, the only saving grace she had was that Hera wasn’t trying to kill her. However, she’d most likely keep her distance if possible. Even if she was her only protection, she had no idea what Hera’s true intentions are.

Hera stood there waiting for the elf to get up, it wasn’t like she was on a time limit to return to the hive. Her appearance was also probably horrifying, bloodstained hair and claws dripping with blood. It took a little while, but the girl finally came to her senses. Upon standing, she did not make any communication as she tried before. She also stayed at least a proper five steps away from her, throwing over an occasional glance over her shoulder. They walked like this for several miles until they came to a clearing. The area was plain, the grass was tall, and the spacing was vast. A slight breeze made the grass move in waves as if it were a green sea.

The elf finally spoke after being silent for so long. “My village is on the other side of this plains.” she took another step going over the treeline. No longer under the darkness of the forest, the sky was bright orange, and the sun was dipping underneath the horizon. Knowing this area pretty well, she knew it would get pretty dangerous to continue to travel during the night’s sky. She turned around reluctantly, thoughts raised in her head if they continued throughout the night they could most likely get to the village by early morning. But, the creatures that inhabit these fields are typically dangerous, and she wasn’t sure if she could trust Hera’s protection against these predators. Setting up camp was the best option at least a fire would keep some of the things that go bump in the dark at bay. “Can you cut down a few branches for me?”

Hera didn’t acknowledge her request, mainly due to the confusion on what they were used for. Eventually, she did go on the fetch quest. Unfortunately, the elf wasn’t there by the time she decided to gather any.

A green aura enveloped the elf. The magic branched out like tentacles, they reached out to everything, waving gracefully in the air, just as the grass did when the wind blew. Balls of green light fluttering off like balloons. They danced around their caster like they had sentences. The tentacles fell softly to the ground, laying flat. Gentle pulses of the magic emerged from underneath the elves feet.

The land was not as dark as it once was as she cast, the soft glow was more than enough of an illumination. Each pulse that touched a blade of grass turned it into a ball of green magic. The balls swirled around her going high into the sky and leaving into every direction. Soon enough all that was left was a circular patch of grass. It was done almost as quick as it started. The elf’s hair fell back down as though gravity took no part in this specific part of the world. Hera approached the elf standing in the dirt. She jumped not expecting her presence.

“Ah!” she yelled. Hera did not react to any of that. “Did you bring back the wood?”

Hera simply presented the wood to her, it wasn’t a whole lot, but it was enough to keep a fire going for a few hours. “Thanks...” She said with unease taking them from her claws. In the center of the dirt circle, she arranged the sticks in a fashion so that each one was touching the ends. She took a rock and placed it before her. Hera became intrigued with what she was doing now. The elf took a few blades of grass; gently she blew on them, the color began to fade, in gradience it went from lush green to a dry tan. In Hera’s vision, she could see the magic gradually being pushed away. Once the color was gone, she placed it on the rock and rubbed a stick on it. Whatever she was trying to do confused Hera, she cocked her head to the side. White smoke began to rise. The elf stuck it underneath the wood formation and blew. In moments a fire broke out. Hera recoiled, the sudden burst of heat was enough to make her want to back away. The female elf chuckled seeing that a tiny fire was the scariest thing to her guardian. Perhaps she wasn’t so monstrous after all, the elf thought.

Hera sat at the furthest edge from the fire and the elf on the other end. The two had opted to wait until dawn to continue moving. Unfortunately, night had just fallen it would be a couple of hours before the sun would even break the skyline. She prodded the fire now and then out of boredom she glanced up at Hera. It wasn’t exactly a time of the year where the weather was particularly warm at night, so there was a slight chill in the air.

“You can come close to the fire.” She offered.

Hera did not attempt to get further. She stayed in the shroud of darkness the lower half of her body was illuminated as the upper half was pitch black. In the failed attempt to bring her closer the elf went back to agitating the fires.The two sat in an awkward silence with Hera refusing to speak and the elf being too fearful to say much anymore.

“Thank you... For protecting me.” Even if the conversation was going to be one-sided, waiting for the sun was not exactly the most efficient. Hera remained the same. The elf sitting in the dirt brought her knees closer to her chest and held them close.

“It was sister’s order; I do not disappoint her,” Hera spoke.

Surprised the elf reacted almost immediately. “You like your sister don’t you?”

There wasn’t any further response from her. The elf girl sank back into her knees as the conversation seemed to be over. She stared at Hera as her eyes began to feel heavy. Each blink felt more oppressive than the last it only took a minute of rest for the stress of the day to kick in really. Just right before she fell asleep, there was a soft rustling in the grass.

~^~

Amalia pulled the reins on her horse; the action caused the horse to slow down to a trot as she entered the village. Her two companions came to the village just slightly behind her. Amalia’s eyes darted around; everything was made out of wood, the typical house was adorned with symbolism that spoke of tales of fallen gods and religions. There was not one shared faith in this ram shack of a town. The entrance of the village had skull totems made from various beasts.

“Whoa,” she said petting the back of her horse’s head. “Easy.” Something in this general area was sending the horses into a fit of terror.

“This village is cursed,” Mateo said pulling next to Amalia. Who already began dismounting. “It gives me a bad feeling.”

“I think it’s worse than that,” she said. “Be on your guard.” she was the one to enter first. The infrastructure was built upon a marsh making the whole place smell like something was rotting. Amalia looked up to the sky; it was about to turn dark. “Find the elder witch; I don’t want to stay here for the night.”

The trio walked the wooden shanty walkways, the further they went into the village the less it seemed that they were welcomed. The trees all around them began to thin; the branches started to droop as if they were melting.

“Amalia…” Elizabeth said weakly. For some reason, her body felt extremely heavy, like she had been carrying nothing but boulders on her back. Amalia turned around to face the woman. Her eyes were forcing themselves closed. “I’m feeling very faint.” Amalia did not need a clairvoyant to see her ailments. Her pale skin was also turning gray.

Amalia approached her with a hand. Only to be stopped by a loud “Stop!” Turning back forward revealed a singular woman, possibly in her forties. Her face was obscured by a hood, but her hair was long enough to be identified as being black. “She’s infected!” The woman spoke again.

“Infected?” She pulled back to placing a hand on her sword. She faced Mateo. “How long had she been there?”

He shrugged. “I blinked.”

The woman passed by, the scent of decayed flesh followed close by. Mateo was the first to react, he drew his blade and stepped in front of her path. “Hey now! Not so fast, witch.” He pointed the sword at her making her stop her advancement.

The woman’s face could be seen twisting into a smile. Elizabeth bent over and began to vomit black goop. She clutched her stomach as the pain washed over her. “If you want to save your friend from the Mire, lower your sword.”

“The Mire? Is that some curse?” He asked still pointing his sword.

“Your friend only has moments before it completely takes her over. I would hope you’ll save the questions for later?”

Elizabeth fell over planting face down on the wood. The noise startled Mateo slightly making him jump.

“Sheath your blade, squire,” Amalia commanded. “If she wanted to kill us she would have done so by now.”

He looked at her and did as she said. “Yes, Milady.”

The woman continued to smile and walked calmly to the unconscious Elizabeth, she bent down and scooped her up in a bridal carry. “Mother will speak to you now.”

All around them blue flames lit the top of posts surrounding them, A mysterious fog began to blanket the area. The fire followed a linear path towards a hut. Turning back around showed Elizabeth had disappeared.