Garden Of The Abyss

"The village should be this way…" She said.

"...If that's the case, I regret to think why the scent of the lacyrie leads there," Felix said as he adjusted his strapped glasses.

Keeping her staff held in her hands, she watched as the others moved, also keeping an eye on the surrounding trees that were clad in darkness–watching for any potential malicious figures.

"...Elena," she called out to the green-haired, pale woman dressed in light protection.

"Yeah?"

"It'd be best if you kept an eye out for our surroundings," she said, "that's your specialty, right?"

Elena didn't answer for a moment, much to the dismay of her, but eventually seemed to go along with the request as she jumped up to one of the tree branches, hopping silently from tree-to-tree as she kept an overhead view.

After traversing the moon-veiled forest for some time, the tall, draconic man came to a stop, prompting the others to stop as well.

"What is it?" She asked.

Akanni answered, "It's much stronger now; their scent."

The demi-human man scrunched his nose at the abhorrent stench that seemed exclusive to his powerful sense of smell.

"Should I cast a light spell? It's impossible to see beyond the nearest trees," Felix suggested.

The decision was left to her as both Akanni and the nimble woman occupying the tree above watched her for her answer.

"No," she shook her head, "not yet. We can trust his senses–we need to do our best not to alert the enemy before we find them."

By the very slight smile given to her by Elena, and by Akanni, it seemed to be the correct choice as they continued moving with stealthiness in mind.

…I'm still not where I want to be as a person. I've honed my magecraft over the years, but…taking initiative still seems like such a faraway goal of mine. But, I'll do my best…you trusted me with this, Ren, she thought.

Continuing on their path, the air seemed to slowly shift, becoming more thin, or rather occupied by another element–a faint stench that grew the further they went into the forest.

"I see the village," Elena notified them through her stoppage atop a branch, standing upright.

"What does it look like? Are there people?" She asked.

Elena paused for a moment as she looked onward, but shook her head, "It's hard to tell in this darkness. They don't have any lights on, though."

"That's understandable if they're dealing with a lacyrie invasion nearby," Felix added, resting his warhammer over his shoulder, "it'd be in their best interest to stay low.

"No," Akanni simply said.

"...No?" Felix replied, slightly confused with a raised eyebrow.

The demi-human seemed to smell something in the air as he stood there with an intense expression upon his royal face.

"They wouldn't be able to hide by staying in the darkness," Akanni told him, "lacyrie are ones who live in the darkness below the ground."

"That's a fair point…" Felix wryly accepted.

Their movement was hastened by the dreadful fact established by Akanni as they approached the dim village together.

–However, they were all promptly stopped by Akanni as he raised his arm. Sitting behind the veil of foliage just on the outskirts of the village, they all sat in confusion.

"What is it…?" She whispered.

"They're here," Akanni answered in a taut whisper.

It was then that they each peeked through the foliage at the unlit, quiet village to see what the draconic man meant.

For a moment, nothing was seen, but only for a moment.

It wasn't apparent right away because of the abundant darkness, but she could see it; blood staining both the grass and the wood exterior of the cottages.

After that, as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, it wasn't long before she saw the bodies strewn across the village in an abhorrent, gruesome fashion–and then, the ones responsible for such brutality.

Lumbering through the village, towering, hunch-back orcs dragged with them lifeless bodies, bringing them to a wheelbarrow and dropping them inside with a stomach-churning squelch.

"What is this…?" Felix let out in disgust and horror.

"Are they storing the bodies…? I thought they eat whatever they find, right away," Elena asked, holding her disgust well.

"No…" She said, putting it together, "...they're transporting bodies. But…why?"

They watched as a group of five lacyrie dropped the bodies into the now overstacked, blood-soaked wheelbarrow as a line of entrails overflowed from the sides of the repulsive transportation.

She wanted to hurl from the sight, and smell, but she held herself–seeing in the faces of the others that it wasn't her reaction alone. More than disgust, she felt anger at the sight; even children weren't exempt from the savagery of the lacyrie.

However, she forced herself to her feet.

"What're you doing…?!" Felix asked in a whisper.

"This is our mission, did you forget?" She swallowed her fears, though her voice still trembled slightly, "...by the looks of it, I don't think they're occupying the forest anymore."

"What do you mean by that?" Akanni asked.

"It's just a hunch…" She answered, "but I believe they're transporting those bodies up the mountain. If that's the case, why would they go through the trouble if they had a group on the forest floor anyway?"

"I see…That is reasonable," Akanni nodded.

"You want to follow them?" Elena asked as she looked at the azure-haired woman.

She nodded, "...I think it's better than going in wildly. They might lead us to more of their own."

"Sounds like a plan then," Felix accepted with a smile.

Still occupying some semblance of stealthiness, the group set out in the formation that she discovered during their initial travels.

Elena stays on the trees, giving us a bird's eye view of the forest ground. Akanni stays in the front, using his heightened sense of smell as a further layer of reconnaissance. Felix and I will be the first to confront the lacyrie once it comes to that, she thought.

Moving through the desecrated village, she was forced to cover her mouth and nose as the horrid state of it.

The verdant grass was more crimson than green, and puddles of blood dampened the soil as if a storm had just passed through; there were no bodies left, but pieces of entrails and flesh were left strewn across the raided village.

"...These are definitely related to orcs, that's for sure," Felix said out of quiet disgust.

"It's horrible…" She muttered.

"If the village turned out like this, it's safe to assume the Desmas' domain as a whole has fallen," Felix figured, "otherwise, why wouldn't Lord Desmas send his guards down here to help?...I pray for their salvation."

As Felix held his hands together in a quiet prayer as they walked, a sudden, inexplicable rumbling occurred beneath their feet.

"What's…?" Felix muttered.

–Bursting from the soil of the forest, a figure burrowed from the ground into an attempted attack on the priest as he dodged at the last moment.

"Hyperion: Divine Chamber–!"

Acting quickly, before Felix would retaliate against the assailant, or Akanni could so much as turn around, Iris launched a spell towards the revealed lacyrie.

Around it, a box of translucent light formed, trapping the hunch-back orc in its bounds as it attempted to break free as it thrashed against the solidified walls of light.

"Nice reaction," Felix complemented, catching himself as he nearly tripped over from his impromptu dodge.

From within the cubular box of light, the lacyrie attempted to weave its dark arts, but was stopped as the burning essence of the purified light scalded its skin.

Though its screams of agony were muffled by the light imprisonment, Felix held a wry expression.

"Mind if I finish it?" He asked.

She shook her head, prompting the hammer-wielding, adolescent priest to bring himself in front of the box.

"One, two…" He counted as he lifted his massive, ivory warhammer above his head.

Just as "three" left his lips, Iris released the cubular imprisonment for him as his hammer was brought down atop the lacyrie's head–smashing it into a fine paste.

"Phew…" Felix huffed, setting the hammer on his shoulder as he returned to the group, "sorry, but I'd prefer not to leave even despicable creatures like that to an agonizing death."

"It's fine," she assured.

Even if he says that…he killed it brutally himself–he seemed almost angry when he slammed that hammer, she thought.