“It looks different.”

Samuel, Shigeru, and Grimr had finally reached the edge of the Dagorra Forest. The massive wood loomed over their head. At first, Samuel thought that perhaps he was being a bit fanciful for using that word, but there was no better term for it. The tall trees were paler than the last time he’d seen them, and the overall feeling from the forest, despite the bright light of the sky above, was dark.

“Indeed,” Shigeru said simply. The foreign swordsman looked highly uncomfortable, his left hand reflexively gripping the handle of the long sword attached to his waist by a simple gray sash.

“What do you think is causing the forest to die, Grimr?” Samuel asked, turning to the Ancient. He was afraid he knew the answer already but didn’t want to believe it.

Grimr didn’t answer his question, apparently focused on some problem in his own mind. He paced forward to the nearest tree and placed one hand against the rough bark, closing his eyes. A deeply troubled expression came over his face as he stood there, and Samuel wondered what he was about, though he didn’t dare interrupt whatever he was doing. It had the feeling of something deeply spiritual, a private ritual that he was intruding upon by watching.

The trouble on Grimr’s face changed slowly to rage as he took his hand off the tree and stepped back, his eyes still closed. Then it changed to sorrow, as he opened his mouth and muttered something, perhaps a silent prayer or vow. When he did open his eyes again, Samuel saw the evidence of a single tear rolling down his cheeks. The violet eyes were burning now, though, with grief or rage, Samuel couldn’t tell. All other aspects of the Ancient were controlled.

Quick as a flash, Grimr drew the dagger that was sheathed on his belt. Once again, as it caught the light of the sun above, Samuel thought that it couldn’t possibly be made of metal. It was a pale white, more closely resembling bone than any iron or steel that could have been worked by man. Grimr swung the dagger through the air and stabbed the point into the tree he had just touched. It sunk into the tree to the hilt, as if he’d stabbed nothing more than dirt, and stuck there.

“The land is cursed, and dying.” Grimr finally said as he took another step back. “The druids have succumbed to Neratas’ own corruption, and have stopped trying to heal the grove and surrounding forest.”

Samuel looked along the line of trees that marked the edge of the dark wood, then down the road from where they had come. There was a sign of many trees that had been cut from the forest, presumably dragged away to build homes or use as firewood in a village nearby. He recalled stories from long ago, where this process required permission from the local druids, and that theft of the trees was punished with brutal violence.

“Well, now we’re here to put Neratas to rest and restore the forest,” Samuel said. Even as the words left him, he wondered whether he was trying to convince Grimr or himself.

Grimr shook his head and raised both hands in the air in front of him. “There is no saving the forest now. I have come too late.”

His hands described a gentle curving motion through the air, each hand moving independently. His own senses for the presence of magic and other energies sharp as it was, Samuel could feel something awakening in each of the trees around them, for nearly three hundred feet. Glancing back to Grimr, Samuel saw the Ancient’s face was contorted by fierce concentration as if he were struggling to lift a large burden. Then, ever so gently and slowly, he pulled his hands backward.

The reaction from the trees was immediate and very strange. Already rather gray, they rapidly darkened to a color that was almost pitch black. Then, as if they’d been dead for centuries, they turned into a fine powder and dissolved, fading away on the afternoon breeze. What existed in their place were large deposits of dark, dead energy. This energy was drawn towards Grimr, who turned on the spot, seeming to control the energy’s flow and direct it into a spiral around him.

Samuel and Shigeru hastily took a few steps back to avoid the energy as it slithered towards the Ancient. Grimr, with his eyes open and staring unfocused, was lost to sight as the energy formed a complete wall around him. The last glimpse of him showed his eyes burning as bright as if they were on fire, a terrible expression of grief and pain on his face.

“What is he doing?” Samuel asked softly, leaning towards Shigeru. “Isn’t that energy bound to be poisonous?”

Shigeru nodded. He did his best to appear passive, but Samuel could see trouble on his face as well. It was clear that this action, while unpleasant to behold, was expected. He could see Shigeru sweating as he gripped his sword, clearly longing to jump in and assist his companion.

“He is pulling the corruption out of the forest and the land,” Shigeru muttered back, just as quietly. “He hopes to cleanse it and take it for his own. This is how he hopes to strengthen himself to take on Neratas.”

“He hopes?” Samuel asked, noticing the hesitation in Shigeru’s words. “I thought he knew exactly what needed to be done?”

“All energy is from Ahya,” Shigeru explained, his eyes still focused on his friend. “Grimr thinks that, as an Ancient, he should be able to change that energy as he wishes. This means that, if his thought is correct, he can change corrupted energy into clean energy, and use that to save the forest.”

They both continued to watch, hearts pounding, as the energy around Grimr swirled violently. The dark energy seemed to have a life of its own as it whirled around, slowly closing in on the Ancient. For a moment, Samuel feared that it would overwhelm Grimr, causing something horrific. He let out a deep sigh of relief, however, as the wall expanded once more.

The energy, a dark gray, almost black in color, slowly began to brighten. It didn’t happen all at once, and it wasn’t fast. It took nearly thirty seconds, but finally, the energy changed to deep green in color, and it no longer felt contaminated. Where before it had felt like dead, heavy energy, it now hung in the air like a gentle green breeze, rotating slowly around the Ancient who was now visible.

Grimr was grinning from ear to ear as he turned to see Shigeru and Samuel, and gave a single nod. The other two relaxed a great deal at this silent message, knowing that it had all gone well. The energy that he had changed so drastically began to slowly draw inwards, taking a direct path instead of spiraling as it had done before. Grimr closed his eyes briefly as he took in the warm natural energy, then opened them once the air was still and calm again.

“That was fascinating,” Samuel said. “I didn’t know you could change energy like that. Was that natural magic?”

Grimr shook his head. “No. It was something that I created and tested on a smaller scale. I was using my connection to Ahya to accomplish that.”

“So it was more… Ahyan magic?” Samuel asked, his curiosity growing. “How do you gain enough energy to do that?”

“Grimr pulls the energy from this magic from a special place,” Shigeru explained. “He borrows it from Ahya herself.”

Almost of its own accord, Samuel’s notebook was already open, and he was scribbling yet another note down. Grimr and Shigeru both stared at the notebook for several seconds, their faces sent, then in unison, shrugged.

“Another Ancient might be disturbed that you recorded details of their life with such eagerness,” Grimr said drily. “Be glad that you show such promise.”

Samuel glanced up from his notebook, mouth hanging open, not sure how to respond. At first glance, Grimr seemed deeply annoyed at his activities, but Samuel had been around the Ancient long enough now to see the faint signs of a smile breaking through the frown on his face. It may be a rather sadistic method of expression, but Samuel didn’t mind. He grinned back and responded in kind.

“Well, if you find a better writer for the job, let me know.” He said. “I’d be more than happy to stop.”

Grimr let out a guttural laugh at that and held his hand out. The bone dagger, which had fallen to the ground as the tree evaporated, flew back to his hand. Samuel made another note in his notebook upon seeing it, then snapped it shut. He frowned as he went to put it back into his rucksack. Some of his other possessions had shifted around as he’d pulled it out, and it took him a few minutes to move them and fit the notebook back in.

“Well, let’s push on,” Grimr said, once Samuel had finished tying his rucksack closed. “I will move ahead to find where Neratas is lying in wait, then come back for the two of you.”

Shigeru, already pacing between where the trunks had previously stood, stopped, and gave Grimr a piercing stare. “You will return?”

Grimr returned the stare with a raised eyebrow, almost offended at the implication in Shigeru’s question. “Of course I will return. Neither of you is skilled with stalking a target through deep forest such as this.”

“Samuel can hide his energy now,” Shigeru pointed out. “We can travel undetected.”

“That may be so,” Grimr said, already turning to leave. “But if I stumble across Neratas accidentally, I can’t spare the time to watch over you two while we escape.”

“I thought the point of this journey was to find and kill Neratas?” Samuel asked. “Or was there something I missed?”

Grimr didn’t answer him. It could have been that he was already out of earshot, or simply ignoring him. Either way, the Ancient crouched, then dove into the darkness of the forest with a single powerful jump and was lost to sight. Samuel turned to Shigeru instead, noting the worried expression on his face, and directed the question at him.

“I do not know,” Shigeru admitted reluctantly. “I thought it was as simple as hunting him down as well. But I trust Grimr, so there must be a good reason he is not telling us the whole plan.”

Samuel nodded and fell in step behind Shigeru. The two of them trooped deeper into the forest, keeping their senses sharp and on the lookout for threats. The forest was an eerie place, filled with the same dead energy he’d sensed from the trees earlier. It wasn’t nearly as dense in its current state, but it still put Samuel on edge. He felt as though his senses were being compressed, aware only of the faint prickle on the back of his neck, as though someone was lurking, just out of sight, watching him.

The vague feeling of the absence of life was nothing compared to the bleak appearance of the trees. Rather than being full of vibrant colors, the trunks were a pale greyish-white, matching the color of a deathly sick person. The leaves that each tree bore had a little color to them, but it was as if someone had put a dark sack over his head, and each color was muted.

It’s as if the entire forest is dying. Samuel thought, then reminded himself that it was in fact dying. Though he didn’t know much about the current situation, he knew enough to realize what was causing it. Neratas, somewhere deep in these woods, had been corrupted. Instead of dying, as would happen with any mortal creature when poisoned, Neratas’ Ancient nature was allowing it to persevere, and continue to kill the forest it lived in.

There was something else missing from the scene, and it took Samuel nearly ten minutes to place it. Then he realized. In a forest like this, even in the densest part, there should be a light breeze to blow between the trunks. He thought back to his past trips into the forest from Harlest and recalled a light breeze that always teased his hair, bringing fresh air from the plains down into the peninsula where he lived. That would mean that it should come from behind him.

The silence was overwhelming and grew even more so the deeper that he and Shigeru went. It pressed upon their ears, giving them the uncomfortable sensation that their sense of hearing had been left at the forest’s edge. Still, they continued to push on, in spite of the overwhelming sense that they shouldn’t be in this dying place. Shigeru kept one hand clamped tight around the hilt of one of his swords, though Samuel noticed that his hand would occasionally move close to the long, thin parcel that remained strapped to his back.

Samuel, for his part, kept a close watch on his mana, making sure that it stuck close to his body. He didn’t want to hide it away in case they were attacked without warning, but he made sure to avoid allowing it to touch the gray trunks around him. He couldn’t be sure what would happen if he allowed them to make contact, but he knew it couldn’t be anything good and didn’t take the chance. He even went out of his way to avoid touching those branches and trunks that had fallen to the forest floor and noticed that Shigeru did the same.

There seemed to be no end to the trees as they trekked on, slipping, seemingly unnoticed, through the lifeless atmosphere. There were no signs of predators, nor even small life as they walked. The air was still and cold, and the leaves and moss underfoot turned into powder at the slightest touch. Samuel longed to create a flame in hand to light the way but thought it might not be wise.

Grimr did not return in the first hour, nor in the next seven. It wasn’t until nearly ten hours into their trek, when they stopped at a patch of dirt free of any plants for a break, that they finally noticed a change in the scenery around them. Here, the trees were a darker shade, as if the dark energy inside them was closer to the surface.

“We must be closer to the heart of the forest,” Samuel mentioned as they sat down, letting out small sighs from the aches in their joints. Even Shigeru seemed tired, though Samuel supposed that was more due to the tension they both felt, rather than the physical exertion of walking.

Shigeru nodded but didn’t say anything for a few moments. He took a leather canteen from his belt and took a long swig of water, peering at their surroundings with quick glances. Even seated, he still had one hand firmly attached to his weapon, ready to draw it at a moment’s notice. He offered the canteen to Samuel then, who nodded his appreciation and took several long drafts, also unable to stop himself from looking around constantly.

A bright flash of metal flew past his eyes, faster than he could blink. There was the sound of metal screeching on metal, and Samuel turned to see Shigeru, half-risen from the ground, one sword in hand. He’d obviously risen to deflect whatever had been thrown at him. But there was a slight expression of pain on his face, and Samuel looked down to his shoulder, spotting a widening spot of red there. Whatever it was, he’d not deflected it properly and had been lightly wounded.

Then, almost as if in slow motion, his hand relaxed, and the sword fell from his grasp, landing silently in the dirt. Samuel jumped to his feet, sending his mana in the direction of the attack, and felt a presence there. He whirled around, acting on instinct and throwing a protective wall up. A literal wall of stone grew up out of the ground, nearly seven feet tall, and he registered the sound of three impacts against the rock. He had narrowly avoided another thrown attack but was more concerned about Shigeru.

“What’s wrong?” He said, his voice cracking in concern. “It only scratched you!”

“I cannot feel my arm,” Shigeru grunted. “The blade must have been poisoned.”

Samuel looked at the ground around them, then spotted the weapon and scooped it up. It looked like an ordinary steel blade, save for the faint black aura along the edges. It was poisoned, alright, but not through natural means. He turned and placed one hand on Shigeru’s shoulders, seeking out the same energy and pulling it out with his mana.

“Wait!” Shigeru said, trying to pull away. “Don’t touch it. You could be poisoned too!”

Samuel already had the energy out of the wound, and quickly realized his mistake. The sliver of black energy was attached to his mana, yes, but it began to feed on his energy, quickly growing in size. Panicking, he pulled his own mana away, separating the black mass from himself. Once out of more energy to feed on, the black haze faded and was no more. Samuel staggered slightly as he felt the energy burn away, but it wasn’t too much.

“It was worth it.” He hissed. “I can’t fight them off alone.”

Shigeru didn’t argue, but picked his weapon up off the ground and drew his second blade. He seemed to notice the stone wall Samuel had made now and nodded in approval.

“We’re safe for now.” He said. “From that direction, at least. If they want us, they have to come to us now.”

As he said the words, Samuel heard the sound of feet running towards him from the other side of the wall, and turned to face them. He had an attack ready as the attackers appeared, throwing two balls of fire at the first two who showed their faces. One let out a cry of surprise and ducked low, avoiding the flames by mere inches, but the second wasn’t as lucky. The flames made solid contact, throwing him backward off his feet.

The other attacker was up on his feet in a flash, lunging at Samuel with a small dagger. He didn’t make it far, however, before Shigeru swung from behind, taking him by surprise and slashing his unprotected back. He let out a choking cry as he fell to the ground, and Samuel jumped back to avoid the dagger as it fell out of his limp hand. One glance was enough to know that his weapon was also poisoned.

Three more figures dashed into view. One came from around the rock wall, and two more popped out from behind Samuel and Shigeru. The one coming from in front had no obvious weapons on him, instead raising his hands and chanting in some foreign language as he pointed one hand at Samuel. It was a quick spell, but Samuel avoided it easily, pivoting to the side and retaliated by smacking him back several feet with a gust of air from his hand. It didn’t do much to him, but it took him out of the fight. For the moment.

Shigeru had his hands full with two attackers at once. Both wielded daggers practically dripping with the black auras, and both were wickedly fast, dashing in whenever they sensed an opening. It was only Shigeru’s lightning reflexes that were keeping him alive. He parried each attack as it came, and slashed back, but the attackers darted out of his reach before he could land a solid blow. There were too many enemies for Samuel to keep track of, and he was beginning to lose his grasp on the situation as he turned to assist Shigeru, then had to hop out of the way as the enemy mage came back, trying to hit him with lightning.

Still more attackers were showing out of the corners of his eyes, and Samuel threw spells out as fast as he could, heedless of the massive drain they all caused him. He found his mark over and over again, hearing shouts of pain as he brought attackers down, and Shigeru continued to find openings in his opponent’s movements. The two of them struck again and again, but the numbers of the enemies were beginning to tell.

Samuel let out a shout of pain as he felt a burning cut to the back of his right leg, and felt the limb immediately going numb. Collapsing to the ground, he released an arc of lightning that lit up their surroundings as it struck half a dozen targets. There was a brief respite for a few seconds until more swarmed in. They looked like normal forest-dwelling people, except for their dark grey skin and blazing red eyes that seemed to glow in the night as they surrounded their prey.

A grunt from behind him alerted him to the fact that Shigeru had been struck, and he felt another flash of pain as a dagger slipped through his guard, and slashed across his chest. He pulled the last reserves of his energy to bear, intent upon taking out as many as he could before he fell unconscious, but he couldn’t control his body anymore. The same numb feeling that had filled his leg was now spreading throughout his entire body, and he could feel the darkness falling upon his senses as he fell limp to the dirt.

He moved his head with difficulty as the strange figures moved forward to surround Shigeru, and could just barely glimpse the warrior, one arm hanging uselessly by his side, still standing. His teeth were bared in a ferocious snarl, presenting a truly terrifying sight, much like when he’d faced the bandit. But he was wounded again on his remaining good arm and dropped his last weapon. He continued to move, lashing out with powerful kicks, but it wasn’t long until he was cut on the side, and he too collapsed next to Samuel. The last sight for both of them was of grey faces filling their view, grinning in triumph as they looked down upon their fallen prey.