Now arriving in the Forest Of Lost, it was dark out when we arrived, and when we entered, we started walking down the isolated dirt trail. Edgur, Aurora and Locust were standing beside me as we walked with the Red-Dawn forces closely following us, covering our back. The group was told by Edgur earlier when we arrived to proceed to walk in 2 lines of 8 with Edgur, Aurora and Locust in the middle of the 2 rows standing beside myself.

The 19 of us continued walking down the path in the forest, down the lonely path. The forest this time of year I always found was beautiful. However, no light shined through it, giving you a sense of time. It stood still inside, hence its name, the Forest of Lost. With a looming mist that casually enveloped the area, one would think it would be a dead and desolate place with no life. On the contrary, however, there was still all sorts of floral life within the forest.

A lot of plants thrived in these rough conditions in Algia. For example, there were various kinds of glowing mushrooms and different fluorescent plants that grew exclusively here. However, not all the flowers in Algia needed sunlight. Most preferred the dark like the exotic rare Gergango flower, which grew in murky waters before rising from the bottom. Slowly ascending to the surface untouched from the pollution surrounding it, beautiful and delicate this flower was. It had snow-white petals and purple pollen which misted from the flower. This flower just happened to be one of my absolute favourite flowers, as it was only found in our province and was unique to Algia.

Running past me I noticed, Locust bent over, trying not to stare at her. I did not see her grab a mushroom, but I heard her saying towards me, “Hey Silvar, look at this little guy. It's got a face.”

When I looked over at what Locust was referring to, I noticed she had a little Mushol in her hand and not an ordinary mushroom. Mushol were unintelligent plant life creatures that lived in the dark forests in the Demon Coalition provinces.

I squinted my eyes and began laughing at the sour face it was making, having been plucked from the ground. Once I gathered my composure, I then told her to. “Put it back down and get back in line. Another day we can wander the forest if you like when we are not busy.”

‘: Back on track and the path, everyone continued walking towards the last known sighting of the human group. Some time passed since they began their walk, and now they had to get off the path and go into the thick brush.:.’

Everyone began to step off the trail now, and one by one, we disappeared into the mist. This was the dangerous part of the forest and where it originally got its name, The Forest of Lost. Not too many people could find their way out, adventuring off the main path. After we left the main path and stepped foot into the unknown mist, everything around us began to look similar. It was starting to confuse me, and I was losing my sense of direction.

Claire, and Edgur I could hear speaking from behind me. Now I could hear Edgur reassure me that they had been in here a lot. So many times, in fact, that they knew their way back out without the use of magic. As did most of the Red-Dawn special forces on their daily patrol watching the forest wall.

Satisfied with his answer, I then said.”Let us get a move on then towards the path and head towards the last known sighting of the humans; hopefully, we won't be wandering too long trying to locate them; this place is giving me the creep’s today.”

Turning now to Aurora, I told her, not knowing where she was standing,” If you keep quiet about our trip today, I’ll make sure to reward you later.” Aurora began making a weird noise. I could hear her breathing heavily. Then appearing right in front of me with her red eyes glowing in the mist, I could see the serious look she was giving me; she then grabbed me, scaring the life out of me in the process and said,” I don't need a reward or anything” Looking at her I could see through the mist her face was deep red. She was still breathing heavily. I could see the heat from her breath as she exhaled in the dark, confused now only mustering up the word...”Right...Sure you don't, just make it reasonable, Aurora.”

Looking now to the Red-Dawn, and their captain Edgur, I readied my weapon next, telling them to, “Take the lead going forward from here on out.”

Edgur, then I could feel grab me by my arm before saying to me, “Alright, Mr. Lord, and our esteemed V.I.Ps, We need to make some things clear. we are now changing formation, so you all know will need to rearrange file and get into the middle and allow us to take the lead, listen to my orders closely.”

’: Edgur’ began pushing Silvar forward to the middle before continuing to say to him.:.’

“That goes especially for you, Silvar; these are my units at the moment I am the captain. I also personally trained them to do not interfere if things go wrong or do anything reckless. You are not here to fight or to give orders. You are just an official investigating the disturbance like Aurora with a personal bodyguard attachment. Would you please stick to your cover I just made up now, and don’t try to go announcing yourself either unless it's vital? I would rather you did not have a target on your back. We still don’t have a clue as to why they are here, to begin with. For all we know, it could be a clever trap to lure and ambush us.”

I could tell from the way Edgur was speaking he was dead serious about me following orders. Responding to Edgur, I simply said while replying. “Thanks, Edgur, But do not be too reckless and acquire a target on yourself. Hopefully, we can avoid a fight altogether, and I know these are your “trainees.”

‘: Silvar’ then proceeded to make the finger quotes with his hands before continuing.:’

“But I will respect what you ask of me for today, and I will follow your orders while trying not to step on your toes. Your lucky you're my cousin not a lot of captains in our military get to order the Lord around.”

In the new formation, we proceeded slowly, straying off the lonely isolated dirt trail into the unknown. The team and I proceeded to enter into the thick mist. Not before long, the path behind us completely disappeared.

I could hear Edgur saying out loud, now speaking to everyone,” It won't be too long till we reach a clearing, and I will activate my scout magic, stay close and information. We will start our search and look for footprints as soon as we arrive. Vince, we will need your talents; everyone stays on high alert from this point forward.” I could hear the shouts of all the Red-Dawn Special Forces answer him yelling, “SIR.”

The time passed rather slowly, but finally, we arrived, walking up on the spot where the human party was last sighted by the Red-Dawn scout forces earlier. Edgur reached out with his hand, and I could hear him begin to chant the words in our language. “A night's haze turned today to send the mist away, ‘Full Dispense.’” After I heard him say that, a magical circle began to envelop Edgur’s forearm running up it with runic markings before it magically activated, which only took a few seconds to do so. Before suddenly, another runic text began to radiate off from the circle, then the mist slowly started to retract in the distance before making a clearing for us the area was visible. I had a look of astonishment on my face as I looked to Edgur and told him, “Fancy spell Edgur, why do I not know that one?”

Edgur turned his head to face me and, lightly responding, said to me, “I do not think you learned any spells that were scout magic. You're a lord. After all, your magic cap cant is wasted on these petty spells.”

What he said was true, but everyone started to spread out once Edgur activated the spell and the area was visible. It did not take us long to arrive at the last spot the scouts saw them at earlier, and I watched the team begin their search for footprints. Edgur and Claire stayed with me and the other V.I.P’s while the other 14 Red-Dawn searched the area. Claire, who was quiet most of the trip, suddenly turned and faced Edgur. I noticed Claire was looking at him strangely since they were at the Guards building.

I could see her opening her mouth to tell him something, but before she could finally build up the courage to say something to Edgur. She was interrupted by another Special forces member addressing Edgur, who I heard calling him over. I heard the Special forces yelling, “Hey Boss come over here. We found some footprints leading off in this direction. By the look of how close the footprints are, they were all running away from somethin’ in a hurry. I can also see more pairs of footprints than 15. I can't be certain until I activate my magic, but there are diffidently more than 15 people here. The shape and size of each print look to be a human’s; shall we pursue them? Give us an order.”

I was a little upset they did not even address me once, but I listened to Edgur answer him.

“Hmm, our intelligence was incorrect. Who would have guessed that...You are certain there are more than 15 pairs of shoes, first officer Vince?”

The man shouting before was apparently a vampire named Vince. I could hear him now just starting to apologize to Edgur for not following the group the other day, which led to him giving a bad report. I could clearly then hear Vince answer, in a disappointed tone, “I Am, sir; I just used the scouts spell eyes of a hunter to confirm if you don't believe me, your welcome to use it too, but I now can see each pair in a different colour, and their scent is of all human...Also, there are 28 pairs of footprints. So if what I am seeing is correct, there could be a large group of humans waiting for us at the end of the sight trail...Captain, that is a good size force. So something is off here; why were they running?”

I could see once Vince finished speaking, the other Red-Dawn Special Forces now looked a little distressed, and I saw them all begin drawing their weapons one after another and begin getting ready for whatever was to come our way next.

I turned to see Edgur looking towards myself and Locust before I could see Edgur walk over and ask us, “What do you guys think?” But before I could answer him, I heard Aurora chime in, talking towards Edgur, telling him, ”Excuse me, Edgur, I am right here too? I am a Military tactician...How about my opinion...HELLO?”

‘: Smiling while looking down, Edgur replies to Aurora.:.’

“Oh, I forgot about you Aurora, Maybe if you got out from behind Silvar, I would involve you. But if you have an idea of what's going on, I will be glad to listen to your thoughts on the matter. I am just giving you a hard time after all.”

After he finished saying that, Aurora stepped out from behind me. I noticed Edgur begin smiling towards her but looking at Aurora, and she was mad. Then Edgur proceeded to stick his tongue out at her, which made me shake my head.

Aurora looking visibly upset now, I could hear answer Edgur, “Well, I do not have enough given information at the time. However, if I were a part of a team of 30, there would have to be a serious threat for me to order a retreat. Even then, they did not turn tail and return home. Instead, they went deeper into the forest. What's in the direction they headed in Edgur?”

I could see a pause and think before I could hear Edgur answer, “If I am correct, Aurora, in that direction is the path. If they have Advanced scout magic like we do and are using it and can see where they are going, eventually they would hit the main path and exit the mist.”

I was kind of stumped myself. We all looked a little confused, and Aurora then could be heard talking to everyone listening, ”Ehhh, well, I am stumped. What is even the closest village to the forest.”

I could see Aurora begin now turning towards me to expect an answer. Cutting me off like she normally did before I could say anything, she then followed up with, “Silvar, you don’t think they are getting ready to attack the town or something. What do you make of this?”

Finally, giving me some time to respond, I looked at her and Edgur and said, ”Aurora, to be honest, I am lost to I can’t make anything out of the information in front of us either. And for the closest town, well, that is still quite far away. I doubt they would attack it with only 30 soldiers unless they had some sort of cannon or crazy magic casters with them. This is now getting me a little worried, but before we meet our uninvited guests, we should familiarize ourselves with each other if we decide to proceed any further. First of, how many of you are Elite Officers with Elite fighting skills and magic?”

After I said that, I could see 7 Red-Dawn Special Forces members, including Vince, raised their hands.’

Pausing for a moment, I then said next to everyone gathered around now,” Alright, what about Support? Who is a Lesser Vampire, or Succubus?” 6 Members of the Red dawn force, including Claire, proceeded to raise their hands after the first group.

Then I looked over at the remaining 2 Red-Dawn special forces and walked over and said, “ Lastly, Specialists, I assume?”

Both the specialists were Succubus. However, one was the male equivalent. Known only as a higher Incubus Demon, they were a rare offspring in Succubus society.

Now looking at the pair, I followed up and asked, “What do you two specialize in?” The girl had a soft squeaky voice and replied.”I am a Saboteur, also known as a bombs expert with a unique skill called “Accelerate magic recovery,” My brother is a Magical Sniper with the unique skill “Seeker.”.

The man slowly pulled his magical long-neck gun out from behind his back and gently brushed it with his hands. Almost like you would an animal. I swore I saw these two from somewhere. I was curious. This was a strange introduction. First, I needed to know the names of the pair; when they finished talking, I asked them,“ What are your names?”

The girl replied first to my question and said, “I am Shei, and my brother is Lei. We were born as twins in the capital. Also Silvar, we even went to school with you...Have you forgotten?”

I was shocked that I had forgotten about them completely; I did not remember them other than this one time at a school tournament. Pausing for a moment, I then replied,” I must have. I do apologize.”

It was finely made, looking at his rifle, one of the best I had seen in our military before. The fascinating thing about magical guns is that magical guns on both factions prefer to use them in long-ranged battles because of their high power single-shot effect rifles or cannons commonly used by most generals during the great war. They were commonly used in large-scale warfare and castles' sieging before ground forces raided the cities. They were also used in the complete decimation of small villages, though magical weapons were just as powerful; one problem was an affinity for the weapon. Not everyone could use them still, plus they were pretty expensive to make. But rifles shot of a magical round the weapon consumed a lot of mana from the user as did a magical weapon; however, the further the range the magical shot needed to be fired, the more it took compared to a magical weapon that would just basically be a spell in a weapon. Sometimes the wielder of magical guns could only manage to make a few devastating shots before passing out from mana fatigue. That is why most people did not use them except in long-range fights. Still, there was a select few who used them in close-quarter combat. There was a smaller variant made for a while during the production of the riffles, and it was a smaller handheld pistol. Though effectiveness compared to the rifle was poor, most people would opt when given a choice for the pistol to stick to having a rifle. Even though the pistol used 1/16th of the required mana to fire, it lacked the same stopping power as the riffle making it unappealing to most Demon forces. I personally always loved the design of the small firearm in my province. Each gun was unique never were there two of the same made. This was what I used alongside my magical hidden blades made into my bracers for combat when I was growing up. Magical weapons were weapons imbued with the user's own magic, giving the weapon unnatural strength, flexibility or extra combat abilities.

‘: Note, These shots were so fast most people usually could not block them with shields, magic or melee weapons, let alone see them coming. The user could also amplify them with spells for more devastating damage. Most magical armours were ineffective at stopping the shot, especially at a close range when directly shot at it, except for the human's magical robes managed to stop some shots in the past. One could perform the ritual spell with the proper sacrifice to infuse a spell or type of magical energy into the said item. The higher the spell or magic one would choose to use, the more required to sacrifice to keep it from destabilizing and blowing up.:’

After I heard what everyone's ability and magical capability were, I stood there absorbing all the information formulating a plan in my head before figuring out a plan and started saying to everyone, “Alright guys, I think we are well balanced enough to proceed, I mean I think we have enough firepower for what lies ahead. I believe in you guys; what do you think Edgur, are you confident in your force?”

I could see Edgur move over to stand in front of the Red-Dawn Special forces with Claire beside him. He then went on to state, “I am, I am very confident in their training, we should be able to eliminate any threat ahead of us without any problems decisively. Though I have to ask Locust and Aurora, are you guys wanting to head home before we enter the point of no return? This will decrease our chance of success if I have to send some people to escort you home.”

’: Edgur’ turning now to the two girls standing beside his cousin Lord Silvar continued to say.:. ‘

“Locust, I know you had killed before on some missions Silvar sent you on in the past, and I would not think twice with what is ahead of us if it was just you, but I have to ask Aurora are you going to be okay? I don’t think you have actually seen any real combat outside the combat games in school, and those are nothing compared to real combat...There are no rules, and people die. So I have to ask will you be alright going forward? As you can see, things are starting to get a little exciting as our intelligence was incorrect.”

I could hear Edgur begin to laugh a little bit nervous he then went on continuing to say.

“I really don’t think it was Silvar or I’s intention to drag you two into a small skirmish, see normally. We take those on with odds favouring 2:1 on our side...And not in the enemy’s, so I understand if you want to return to the capital. I will be having Vince summon his owl familiar at once and have him send a note back to the Red-Dawn Special Forces headquarters in Vaporic. I will ask them to send for reinforcements to the small village if we fail, as an extra fail-safe. You will be able to remove some more of their force for a personal bodyguard back to the city if you choose; this is not a fight you came ready for.”

When I looked over, I could tell Locust was fired up, and she was the first to respond, saying to Edgur and I, “Well, I had a feeling something like this would happen the moment we set out. I will be damned if something happens to either of you because I left. Besides, I don’t mind Edgur and Silvar.”

Edgur enthusiastically stepped forward while saying,” Right on, how about you, Aurora, will you be alright to go on?”

I could see her looking towards all of the Red-Dawn, and then she slowly turned back towards me before she paused, then reluctantly she answered Edgur and said to us,” I don’t know how fine I will be when we get there, but I have come this far. I do not want this to be the last time you invite me out.”

I felt bad that she needed to feel like she needed to keep up with us to see each other before she continued. I took it upon myself to interrupt her and say,

“We would never hold this against you if you want to leave Aurora. I understand how you feel about the idea of having to kill someone. I won't expect you to do anything other than add magic to others and buff their abilities; it is a standard role for a novice. Besides, I will keep you safe, I promise, if you decide to want to join us.” staring at the lady, I decided giving Aurora a wink may help her decide, and after I continued asking her, “Well, Aurora, what do you say? Do you accept my proposal?”

I then got on one knee, crouched over, and began reaching my hand out, hoping Aurora would take it as she did on graduation. Then grabbing it with her soft small hands, Aurora agreed to join us. With Aurora’s hands held in mine, I heard Edgur then proceeded to tell everyone next to, “Get your weapons ready for a fight ahead, I don't know what we are all about to expect, whatever it is from this point going forward be on Red-Alert.”

I saw Vince run ahead, and then with haste, he ran off in the direction. With his magic active, he started to lead the way, and it was a walk in the park with his scout magic and Edgur’s. There were no spells jamming anyone of them, and we could feel anything magic in nature blocking the flow of mana from locating what he was searching for. The smell of blood began to linger in the air as I could smell it the closer we got to the source. I could tell all the vampires I was with could sense it, and it was not long before they found a human body lying in the grass. I noticed before we approached them. The cloth draped the human body in a magical tan cloth armoured robe with a cloak sown into it. With metal boots going up to the shins, he wore gloves and a magic-resistant chest plate.

That was when I heard Vince shout to Edgur,” CAPTAIN’ look ahead of us; on the ground, there is a body.” He then began turning him over to see if the human was no longer breathing. It was clear this soldier had his throat cut once he turned him over. The soldier was lying in a pool of blood, with bloody fingerprints over his mouth. It was clear whoever did this did not want him yelling out. I could tell upon further inspection the crest on the chest plate of the soldier was of a lightning bolt.

‘: Silvar began to think, “Hmm,” But before he could even say anything, there were 3 more bodies discovered ahead. With deep cuts across their bodies with visible stabs in their backs.:’

Claire was the person to discover them as she started saying to her captain.

”There is moreover here, Edgur,”

It did not take Edgur long also to notice just how mercilessly each person was cut down. Turning to face the Red-Dawn special forces, I saw Edgur approach while he asked his officer Vince,“ What do you think happened here? This is pretty brutal... We did not have any forces in the woods today, did we, Vince?”

I could hear the young man Vince responding to Edgur as he said. “No, Sir, also these tracks and scents are still all human... I do not smell Demon forces of any race or see anyone else’s tracks that would lead me to believe otherwise.”

Edgur, I could tell, was troubled by this response. I saw him thinking for only a few minutes before he responded,” Well, this is strange. When did humans attack their own? Do you think this was an inside job?”

I could tell that Vince was unsure and unsure how to answer as I heard him just say, ”Sir, I have no clue. But their scent is getting strong; if we continue in that direction, we will be sure to meet up with them in half hours less.” While I continued to watch from the side, I could catch Vince now looking at Edgur confused before he then added to their conversation, ”Please, feel free to ask them when we meet up with them.”

Edgur paused after he said that, then while looking towards the team and he said,” Well, Everyone, whatever is going on ahead will soon be our problem. So everyone starts preparing yourselves, and I fear we will fight ahead of us.”

After everyone was mentally prepared, Vince continued leading our group in the direction of the tracks he could see. Then, Vince started to run with haste, and we all picked up our pace and ran in the same direction Vince was leading us in. Suddenly Edgur stopped everyone; holding up his right hand, Vince had also stopped.

We were all stopped dead in our tracks. All the Vampires quickly could smell the scent of fresh blood in the air as I could hear the sniffing from them, and as they waited to make their next move, we could also hear the voices of the humans coming from the other side of the bush. Finally, we could hear the group begin arguing as they said, “Well, Mortinmer, I did suspect you would be the last one alive from the escort force. You did a valiant job protecting the grand witch, but if you wish to live, drop your weapon and surrender. The council does not wish you to die here. However, if you continue to protect this heretic, we will have no choice. We only need her alive; make the smart choice here.” We continued watching from the side Edgur continued to hold his hand up, giving us the signal to wait.

We waited as we heard a voice in the distance respond,” Heretic, You do understand she is doing what needs to be done; I doubt the whole council approved this action, as we discussed this earlier with them in detail. But, do you forget the Grand Mage or Witch’s word is final at the end of the day? And as a citizen, you need to respect this, or are you acting on behalf of that Light spirit.”

I could hear from the way he was speaking he was struggling to make out the words. So I started assuming he must have been injured in a fight, and that’s whose blood we were smelling.

‘: Still waiting to make a move, the Vampire and Succubus force alongside Silvar continued listening in the distance.:.’

Then we could hear suddenly one of the voices from earlier say, “I guess it's the hard way.” Then the person he was addressing said out loud,” RUN MELA.”

Then I could hear the all too familiar distinct sound of a sword being drawn. Then followed the words in the human's native tongue. ”My blade is true, ‘Final-Strike.’” An explosive noise followed that everyone could hear booming through the forest as we watched from the side. Shortly after, what followed was a thud noise. I could hear a woman's voice now crying out before saying, “Stay back, what have you done...I warn you” She started chanting some magical words in the human, but I could hear the same voice from earlier laughing now, as he went on to tell her,

“Resisting any further would not be smart, and everyone loyal to her was dead or now in prison; even in the capital, people doubted her and her late father's ability to rule, and it was only the citizens who trusted you. That was exactly why they had him killed all those years ago. And now their only job was only to bring you back alive for the Light spirits plaything, in exchange for sparing the capital. They also said whatever we did with you up until we got home, nobody would care.”

I could see now from behind the bush the lady restraining the group of men before they started grabbing her by the wrists. I watched in silence as they pushed her up against a tree before she could cast the spell she chanted earlier in self-defence. The man then proceeded to pull out a knife from behind his back and cut her shirt, which was a sad sight. When he did that, I noticed that it caught her off guard, then violently grabbing her by the throat, I heard the men say. ”I always heard the former Grand Mages' daughter was gorgeous, but all I see is a tit-less girl. A girl who is trying to act like a woman, and ill be damned if I will die fighting anything but demons. Well, Grand witch, you wanted to be a woman so bad I guess it is your lucky day, then miss.” I saw him then throw her onto the floor before looking at his two friends who were also holding her before telling the other 16 men next,” You can all have your fun once I am done.” Then thrusting himself down, he got down onto the ground, telling the other men to hold her.

I looked at Edgur, who still had his hand up, and I was beginning to think he was just going to allow them to have their way before killing them all. But then, I turned back to see the woman was kicking and screaming, yelling for anyone to help her. As each of the men standing around, I could slowly begin to hear them all laughing and telling her, “No one was going to save you here.” Then the soldiers started to claw at the remaining pieces of clothes she had left on and rip piece after piece off until she was almost completely naked.

The woman screamed and cried, trying her best to fight but to no avail. Before managing to speak these words...”Please, don’t, I beg of you, don’t hurt me.” Having seen enough and noticing Edgur still was not ordering the attack, after hearing everything the humans said, I had to stop them and save her from this hell nobody should endure. I slowly got up, ignoring everyone, and stepped out of the bushes with an absolute look of disgust on my face.