Garden Of The Abyss

Akanni and Elena didn't have much to speak about with the encounter, but they remained more cautious now that the prospect of burrowing orcs was on the horizon, continuing to track the lacyrie human transportation wheelbarrow.

"If it wasn't for you, I think that lacyrie would have alerted the ones up ahead, or potential others we haven't taken notice of yet," Felix sighed.

"It's nothing," she assured, "just stay diligent."

"Right, right," Felix bolstered himself, marching ahead.

They soon found themselves at the edge of the forest line and at the foot of the mountain trail, looking ahead to see the lacyrie's corpse transportation still being towed upwards the windy trail.

The trees that occupied the mountain trail took on a contorted shape, augmented by the dark, miasmic presence of the lacyrie.

As the four of them stood there for a moment, the wind howled harrowingly before she was the one that took the first step up the ascending pathway.

Though the group tried to remain low, using the foliage clinging to the mountain path to stay hidden, the towering, muscular demi-human man, standing head and shoulders above Felix, stood out even then. Even his steps were naturally heavy, coming down like bricks against the road.

Elena tugged on the draconic man's arm, though he seemed confused by her action.

"What is it?" He looked at her with his fiery, beast-like eyes.

"You're going to get us seen," Elena told him as her scarlet eyes pierced him, "can't you act a little more…low?"

Akanni looked at her as if not even understanding what she meant, "But I am keeping myself low."

"No, you're not!" Elena hissed.

It was clear the mighty, half-dragon, half-man, was not adjusted to staying unseen most of the time as he begrudgingly lowered himself further, seeming uncomfortable with his crouched position as he followed Elena's lead.

To further cement their stealth approach, Elena weaved a quick spell, "Fisaga: As The Wind Moves."

It was a wind spell cast on each of them; a spell that masked the sounds of their steps, and their breathing all the same with a light envelopment of wind that surrounded each.

"That is not necessary," Akanni said stoically, though it almost seemed as if he was pouting, "I can be low."

"Sure you can, big guy," Elena breathed out before continuing to move along.

"I can," Akanni repeated, following her with the other two.

"Sure," Elena assured him.

In contrast to Akanni, Elena seemed vastly experienced in such situations, perfectly timing her movements from moving to bush, to rock, moving upwards while maintaining a somewhat close trail on the wheelbarrow of bodies; of course, they matched her movements with utmost trust.

As she moved forward, listening to the wheels of the blood-slick wheelbarrow be pulled up the dreadful mountain road, her eyes constantly tried to avert themselves, looking up towards the dark, blue clouds that were pierced by golden moonlight.

After witnessing the group of lacyrie escort the pile of bodies around the corner of the trail, the group clung close to the rocky cornerside, peeking around the turn to see the lacyrie enter an unnaturally made hole in the mountain.

"Have they dug a base into the mountain…?" Felix asked.

Though as quickly as he asked that, Elena promptly covered the man's mouth with her hand, shielding his lips with her fingerless, beige glove.

"...Keep quiet," Elena shushed him, and subsequently the others.

As overbearingly prudent as her actions seemed, it was proven to be the right call as one of the pig-nosed lacyrie looked towards their direction, sniffing the air as the four pressed themselves against the rocky mountainside.

Elena kept her hand over the warrior priest's mouth, only moving her hand once the footsteps of the lacyrie disappeared within the unnaturally-made cavern.

Felix huffed, regaining his breath as he held his throat, "...A bit unnecessary, don't you think?"

"You've seen what those things are capable of, right? I think I acted well within "necessary", sorry," Elena sternly placed her words.

"...Fair enough," Felix caressed his throat, fixing his glasses.

She's strict, but that's not necessarily a bad thing out here. She knows her way around, Iris thought.

Gripping her magical staff in her hands, she stood beside Elena, taking a look around the sharp corner of the trail.

"If they aren't bringing those bodies to the castle…then I wonder," she uttered.

"What is it?" Elena glanced at her.

"I don't know much about the lacyrie, but if they've really grown to this large of a problem, they might have multiple "hives", I'm thinking. That's going off of the assumption that they've taken the castle," she surmised, looking down in thought.

Akanni added, keeping his scale-laden arms folded across his half-bare chest, "More than assumption, I'd say it's the reality we should move forward with believing in. A lord without his people is powerless; if the village was reduced to that, then the castle is already in the hands of the lacyrie."

"...Then the situation is much worse than we thought," she said, looking towards the cavern, "This is probably a phantasm-level quest now, if there are this many lacyrie…"

"I agree," Elena added, "which is why we need to be cautious. One wrong step, and we could have a horde of lacyrie on our heels."

After a moment of pondering the situation between themselves, the four finally took their move towards the cavern, keeping close to the walls.

For some reason, an unsettling feeling rested in the pits of her stomach as she quietly walked across the accursed mountain road, overlooked by the navy clouds.

"Should we–"

–As she glanced to the side to propose her question, her eyes met with something beyond understanding in that fraction of a moment.

Reaching out from the mountainside, two, hulking arms of scarred, pale-gray skin protruding, gripping onto Elena.

"Huh–?" She let out.

Akanni and Felix both noticed as well, both making a swift move in an attempt to attack the arms as the priest brought his hammer up, and the draconic man honed his nails into something resembling dragon claws.

But, it was too late.

They missed their mark as the enigmatic lacyrie's arms pulled the verdant-haired woman through the mountain wall seamlessly as she attempted to reach out, with Iris missing her hand by the length of a fingertip.

It all happened so swiftly; there wasn't even a trace that the wall had been crashed through as the rocky hide of the mountain replaced itself by some dark arts.

"No…!" She let out as she was unable to reach Elena's hand.

They all stood there for a moment of disbelief; Felix looked down at his ivory warhammer as it sat against the ground, having missed its target.

"..." Felix remained quiet, sweating as he slowly picked his hammer back up.

Akanni clenched his fists with a look of anger embedded in his eyes, "We must move fast."

"Is there any point…?" Felix asked quietly as Akanni turned his back.

The demi-human man stopped, glancing back at the priest who brought his own gaze to him in return.

"What?" Akanni asked impatiently.

"She's gone," Felix told him.

His words bathed in some sort of fear stirred up her own fear as she listened to them, but Akanni didn't seem pleased.

"What do you know? It's been moments; she can be saved–if we move with haste," Akanni affirmed.

"What do I know?" Felix wryly repeated as he adjusted his goggle-like glasses, "I know that I've lost more companions than I can count on two hands to orcs and goblins. I know what happens in situations like this."

"Stop it," Akanni planted, "We don't have time for this."

"I know that once orcs get their hands on a human girl, and bring her into their hive, they commit acts that usually result in the girl in question not wanting to even live, if she gets saved, anyway," Felix continued.

"Stop," Akanni said in a low tone as his clenched fists trembled with anger.

The rage that quietly birthed itself from the draconic man took a tangible form in a light layer of fiery aura that enveloped his body.

"Is the truth that hard to swallow…? That's all I'm giving you: the truth," Felix said.

She watched as the two men stood, watching eachother in a standoff that would prove horrible if it set off. It was clear by magical pressure alone that the demi-human man would obliterate the priest, prompting her to finally step between them.

"Knock it off!" She yelled out.

–The two men looked at her, though the animosity between them hardly budged with her presence.