Walking forward, I could once again instantly feel when we crossed the threshold and into the corruption. The dank, dark sense of corrupt death hovered thickly in the air around and clung to everything. Even the flows of earth and fire which I’d always felt so close to, now felt distant and harder to reach. I really didn’t like the path we were walking, but I was too stubborn to turn back a second time.

Crystal’s presence did a lot to keep the darkness at bay – or I suppose I should say the blade she was now wearing at her hip did. I could feel the energy of the taint weaken and recoil as she walked along with us. “Dino, Jess,” I warned them lightly, “you might want to stay up closer to Crystal. The sword she has now will help protect you and your magics from the corruption all around.”

Taking a moment to stare at each other, they both seemed to come to some sort of silent agreement and rapidly moved up much closer to Crystal. “How the heck did you even do all that? What is that sword now, anyway?” Dino asked, too curious not to. “And what type of damnable wizard are you? I’ve never even heard tales of anything like that! Not ever!”

I couldn’t help but chuckle slightly to myself. Dino had been acting all superior to everyone, and now that he had a chance to witness my magic in action, he looked almost like he was going to shit himself. Poor fellow; I almost felt sorry for him. “To be honest,” I replied as calmly as possible, so as to not excite or worry him and Jess anymore, “I don’t have a clue what type of sword she has now. There’s ore buried in the ground, in a circle around this whole area, and it’s what keeps the corruption from spreading. All I did was alter her sword to make it the same as that ore. I didn’t invent that ore. I don’t know what is it, in all honesty. And I don’t know that much about it; all I needed to know is that it repels the tainted darkness, and I thought that’d be something we needed.”

“I guess,” Dino said doubtfully. “I haven’t seen or felt any corruption, with my magic.”

“You can’t even feel the flows of magic around you,” I told him, with a snort. “I’ve been working my magic each night to do little things while up in my bunk in the room, and you’ve never noticed it once. Spatial awareness isn’t a talent of yours,” I told him honestly. “Jess seems to feel it somewhat though.”

“I feel something,” Jess admitted. “It’s like there’s somebody or something watching us all the time, and the hair on the back of my neck won’t settle down. It’s not as bad when we’re close to Crystal, but it’s still there. Truthfully, it’s starting to creep me out.” Her eyes were darting left and right frantically, as she scanned all around for anything out of place.

“And as for my magical talent, I really don’t know how I’d be ranked,” I told Dino, to change the subject. No need to focus on whatever Jess thought was out there watching her. Talking about it would just make it seem more real. More dangerous. “I’ve never really been subjected to much formal testing to see what my limits are, and I don’t have a clue how I rank compared to others. As a male with magic, I never advertised my gift much.”

“And why not?” Dino asked, incredulous. “You could have whatever you wanted from the school, if they knew about your talent! It seems a whole lot stronger than mine,” he admitted quietly, as if he was embarrassed to say it out loud.

“It’s because mine seems stronger, that I hide it,” I told him. “There’s a ton of powerful female wizards out there. Some of them have lived a long time, made a ton of money and contacts, and would love to get their hands on a young male who could live and walk through the world with them. Strong magic can extend one’s lifespan. How long do you suspect you’ll get to live with your talent?” I asked Dino.

“I dunno,” he shrugged. “I’ve never gave it much thought. One of the teachers told me that I’d probably see a hundred, maybe a hundred and fifty, once.”

“So twice the lifespan of a normal male,” I guessed. “And they treat you like a pampered prince already. In a way, you’re lucky; for a wizard who’s going to live four or five thousand years, that extra time of yours isn’t enough to worry about. Only the young, weaker wizards who don’t have that much longer of a lifespan than yours, like Jess, are really going to end up chasing you and trying to be with you. “

“Hey now!” Jess pouted and shook her head slightly from side to side. “That’s not true. You make it sound like we’re after him just because of his magic!”

“Aren’t you?” I asked, while glancing back at her. “If Dino didn’t have any talent at all, would you, Sarah, and all the others be fawning all over him like you are? Even Dino knows it’s his magic which makes him stand out and special to you guys.” Jess didn’t say anything; she simply blushed and chewed on her lower lip guiltily as Dino stared at her.

“Look at the attention you’re getting, with your talent developed like it is now, Dino, and then try and imagine what life could be like for you if the world thought you were hiding your true strength. Can you imagine what it’d be like with a higher class of suitors chasing you? Women who’ve lived thousands of years, mastered tons of magic, and aren’t used to be told ‘no’ on anything?”

“I’m not certain I’d like all that much attention either,” Dino said thoughtfully. “It might be a case of ‘too much of a good thing’.”

“Now you’re catching on,” I told him, smiling slightly. “So, if I can, I’m going to hide my talent as much as possible and let you guys take credit for anything we do. I just want to be a plain old hunter, which helped track the way through the forest. Nothing more, nothing less, as far as the school and all’s concerned. Deal?”

“Sure,” Dino agreed. “Me and Jess will take the credit and help you hide your secret. Won’t we, Jess?”

“We sure will,” Jess verified, while staring over at Crystal for some reason which I didn’t understand. I guess she was waiting on her to confirm her silence as well, but Crystal never said anything. Honestly, I’m not even certain if she was paying attention to our conversation; she was staring around and watching our surroundings so intently.

“So, you’ve noticed it too?” I asked Crystal, and she simply nodded in return.

“Noticed what?” Dino asked, looking puzzled.

“The forest is changing,” I pointed out for him. “The trees aren’t as healthy; they’re stunted and twisted more and more, the deeper we go into this mess. The grass is changing color and becoming a blacker green, the ground itself is harder, drier, and less fertile here than it was before. And, I haven’t seen many blooms or flowers of any kind on the plants around us.”

Crystal laughed lightly and shook her head, while Dino looked around amazed. “I didn’t notice all that,” she confessed. “I simply noticed that the birds are gone. I haven’t seen or heard one for some time now, and the insects here are all silent. We’re walking in a void of silence.”

Pausing for a moment to listen, I had to agree that she was right. My magic helps me feel the earth and makes me aware of it on a level that others simply can’t duplicate, but I’d completely overlooked the birds, and the lack of noise from the insects and all. I don’t suppose I’m half the hunter I’m pretending to be; Crystal did a better job picking up on the things most hunters would notice, more so than I did.

Dino on the other hand, simply stared back and forth between Crystal and me as if we had suddenly grown horns or something. I really think he’s been fawned over and put on a pedestal for so long, that he doesn’t believe that other folks will notice or know things which he doesn’t. In a way, it’s stomach curdling how pitiful those girls and half-assed wizards-in-training at the school has made him. I’ve got to say, I’m truly grateful my mother never treated me like that, nor did she let any of her students at the island. Someday, his naivety and overconfidence is going to be the end of Dino. I just hope it’s not when I’m around; I don’t want to get caught in the fallout.

“We’re nearing the dead,” Jess pointed out all at once, drawing my attention back to my surroundings and away from Dino once again. Sure enough, I could feel corpses and bones in the ground not far in the direction we were traveling. It seems Jess has a natural talent for sensing life and death; it’s probably a product of her training as a healer.

Dino was looking around nervously, but didn’t bother to ask how she knew. I guess looking foolish once was enough for him, and he didn’t want to say anything which might harm his image any further. Idiot! Not speaking up and asking questions is worse in my book, than pretending you know everything. Only a fool knows all there is to know; a wise man knows there’s no limits to the things he hasn’t learned yet – with yet being the keyword.

Moving on forward, it was another half hour walk, or so, before we noticed the first grave markers – or perhaps I should say I noticed the grave markers. They weren’t tombstones like one would see normally; instead they were crumbling piles of rock and gravel which were almost completely obscured by the grass and plants grown up around them. I could understand why hunters might travel across this section and never see them, and with the lack of game in this area, it wasn’t a place where most hunters would stay or return to. It’s a wonder that anyone ever stumbled across this place, honestly. The only reason I knew what they represented was because I could sense the bones lying underneath them, and I could feel the difference of the stones and the surrounding earth. If it wasn’t for my magic, I don’t think any of us would’ve realized what they were.

“Prepare for trouble,” I warned everyone, after we’d walked amongst the markers for a short while. “Something is moving ahead and to the sides of us, and it doesn’t seem to travel in any normal pattern across the ground, that I recognize. There’s something out there, and it’s coming this way” Crystal nodded silently and slowly drew the blade I’d created, and Jess moved to place herself between me and Crystal, while Dino just continued to look around stupidly. I suppose, in his defense, that was how Dino prepared for trouble; look around for it and try to use his magic, if he could, on it.

A few moments later, the first of our opponents shambled into sight – half a dozen rotting corpses, followed by perhaps a dozen skeletal figures. The first thing that drew my eyes was the state of decay and poor shape of the creatures; they all seemed as if they might simply shatter and collapse at the slightest breeze. The next thing which really got my attention and made me stare the most was the long lizard-like tail that the fleshy corpses had; and even some of the skeletons had partially broken tails dangling behind them. These definitely weren’t human corpses before us!

With a pull of energy, I yanked a chunk of earth from the ground, formed it into a had round ball, and hurled it at the first zombie I saw – blasting a hole through it the size of a watermelon, causing the creature to shatter and crumble everywhere. Without even a moment to enjoy my success; dark, corrupted energy flowed up from the ground and washed over me suddenly in a wave, wrapping itself around me and trying to taint and corrupt my very essence. The agony was intense, forcing me to my knees as I screamed out in pain!

“AAAARRRRGHHH!” It felt as if my insides were trying to twist and push their way to the outside, and I had to simply stop everything else just to fight with the dark corruption to maintain my grip on my own magic. The earth here didn’t like to be disturbed. It didn’t like me pulling on it, using it, manipulating it. When I pulled on it to form a stone to toss at the dead, the corruption followed that flow of magic back and was trying to warp and make me into something besides myself.

For what felt like an eternity, I wrestled with the taint to push it back and away from the earthen energy that I’d always called my own. Time slowed to a crawl, and it took all my concentration to keep myself from changing, or my energy from being ripped out and stolen by the corruption. By the time I’d finally gotten myself back under control and had pushed the taint away, the threat was over with. I’d managed to blast one of our opponents; Crystal and Dino had destroyed the rest.

“Are you OK, My Lord?” Crystal asked as she hurriedly rushed to my side, worry obvious on her face.

“I am.” Slowly, I shook my head from side to side to try and clear up the spots still stinging my vision. “I will be,” I corrected. “The corruption here wanted to make me its own, or barring that, it wanted to steal my magic from me. It was a hair’s breadth from almost turning me into some sort of corrupted shadow of a man, and even closer than that to burning me out and stealing my magic for its own.”

“I didn’t have any trouble with my magic,” Dino stated.

Looking around, I could see that several of the corpses were smoldering and burnt, and that could only be because of Dino’s effort. “Good job,” I praised him sincerely. If it wasn’t for him and Crystal, I would’ve been a helpless treat for the dead while I was fighting off the taint.

Crystal raised an eyebrow and stared at first me and then Dino, but said nothing. It was obvious she was curious why he could work his magic without issues here and I couldn’t. “The taints in the earth,” I told her, to answer her unspoken question. “Whatever you guys do,” I warned Dino and Jess, “avoid using magic to pull or alter the earth around here. The corruption has settled into the ground, and it won’t hesitate to strike back if you mess with it.”

“Is it safe to use my healing magic?” Jess asked fearfully.

“As far as I can tell, it should be,” I told her, not completely certain of anything myself at this point. “Use a trickle and cure this dull headache I’ve got now, but be prepared for any sort of backlash or sense of taint which might try and follow your magic back to you.”

“I didn’t feel any taint,” Dino replied again, as Jess slowly walked up and gently trickled a small flow of life energy to cure my headache. Almost instantly, it was gone and I was feeling back to my old self once again.

“I didn’t notice anything either,” Jess confirmed. “It seems like it’s OK to work healing magics.”

“For now at least,” I corrected her. “You should be careful and be prepared for that to change at any time as we continue on. That taint snuck up and kicked my ass since I wasn’t prepared for it; don’t let it do the same to the two of you!”

“We won’t,” they both promised.

Nodding to myself in satisfaction, I drew in a small handful of fire magic and blasted one of the smoldering corpses into smithereens. Much to my relief, there wasn’t any backflow of taint or corruption this time. “It looks like feeling the ground is OK, as long as I don’t try to do anything with it,” I told the others, “and it seems like its fine – for now – to work fire and life magics. As for any of the other magics,” I shrugged, “I really don’t know. All I can say is be careful.”

Everyone nodded wearily, while glancing around for any other sign of trouble; or for the other team. We’d just started our trek into what could truly be called the graveyard, and we were already encountering more trouble and danger that I would’ve imagined. My hopes of finding the other group whole and well were fading more and more by the moment.