At so point during their hike, Stark felt sothing land on his face from above, and then when he raised his hands, more water drops landed on it, the rate of its descent slowly increasing.
'Rain?'
Jasmine sighed from beside him and stared up at the sky. "Of all things, why did it have to rain?"
"Don't worry." Kael assured, looking up to the clouds as well. "It's just a drizzle, it won't get any worse."
A few minutes later…
Bang!
Lightning streaked across the sky with a thunderous howl and along with it ca a downpour. It was a storm far worse than anything they had seen in the past three months!
As the water thoroughly soaked Jasmine, she glared at Kael, who blinked out the rain from his eyes and adjusted his robe in silence.
Stark smiled, resisting the urge to laugh. "The mountain has very wild weather, the higher we go, the more intense it will get."
"Is that so?" Kael cleared his throat. "Good to know."
The storm was intense. In less than five minutes, they were completely soaked. Their clothes stuck to their bodies like glue, and with each step, their boots were making squish sounds.
And then they began to hear sounds…
Stark was in front, so he raised a hand to stop them. "Do you hear that?"
Jade created a sword and stared into the darkness of the forest. "What?"
"Listen."
Everyone remained quiet, and soon they began to hear it, a sound different from the pouring of the rain.
It was like war drums being beaten in a rhythmic manner, a tune that sounded too strange to be human.
If Kael could use his notebook in the rain, then he would have been scribbling by now. But he could not, and it seed even he understood the gravity of the situation.
"We are close. Be on your guard." Kael said, holding his glaive firmly. "There may be more monsters than we thought, make sure you never get separated from the group at all costs."
They all nodded, and those who had weapons unsheathed them as Stark summoned Chubby.
Imdiately the little guy appeared, he was suddenly bathed with water. He stared up, making an annoyed sound, then turned intangible.
'Scout ahead, hum if you find anything weird.'
"Huuu!" He humd in understanding as he turned around and left. As Chubby charged into the forest, Kael gave him an approving nod.
It took less than two minutes for Chubby to go into the forest and return, and the mont he did, Stark could tell that sothing was wrong.
He was acting very agitated, flying from place to place, his eyes wide in shock.
Kael walked forward, his lips drawn in a thin line. "What is it? What is he saying?"
"Is sothing wrong? Why is Chubby acting this way?" ca Jasmine's concerned voice.
Eurus, on the other hand, pulled out a blade from the shadows, his eyes locked ahead of them.
Stark grabbed Chubby from the air and raised him to his face.
"Did you see sothing?"
Chubby nodded vigorously. "Huu! Huu!"
"What did you see? Describe it." Jade said, and Stark let go of him.
Imdiately they let go, Chubby suddenly started shaking vigorously as though he was possessed.
He darted from place to place, repeating the sa motion over and over, without stopping.
A tense silence settled over them, the beating rain only making the situation more eerie.
"Stop!" Jasmine said, unable to bear watching him any longer.
Following her command, Chubby stopped and flew into Jade's arms. Strangely, the little guy looked scared.
'What the hell did he see?'
Stark glanced at Kael, who had a finger on his chin. He stared in the direction Chubby had co from and frowned.
"What's the move?" Stark asked, half expecting his reply.
"What else? We ca here for sothing, and we aren't going back till we have gotten it. We will proceed."
He walked past them, leading the procession into the forest. They all gave each other uncertain looks before following him.
They had walked for about five minutes when Kael suddenly stopped and ushered them closer.
There was a thick covering of bushes around them, the trees drawn so closely that it seed unnatural.
The beating sound was louder now, so loud that it seed only the bushes in front of them separated them from the source of the sound.
Slowly, careful not to alert whatever fiend was hiding behind it, Kael pushed the bushes apart, revealing a wide clearing.
Imdiately the leaves parted even slightly, there was a sound of rushing footsteps and the drumming sound completely ceased.
All they saw was a wide clearing devoid of any trees, and in the center of that clearing—
"What the hell is that?" Jade said as they all watched with a strange mix of awe, disgust, and shock.
In the center of the clearing was a creature shaking around in a deranged manner.
Its entire body was shaking, its head, its fur, its tail… they were all shaking as though dancing to so demonic tune.
But that was not the strangest part.
The beast was never one thing—
At tis it would look like a silverback bear, only for it to twist into a diamond-tooth crocodile. Sotis it would be a bird of prey, other tis it would be an indescribable creature.
It was horrifying to watch.
'That must be the mimic, but what is it doing?' Stark wondered.
Kael, on the other hand, stepped out of the clearing, his weapon raised by his side. "Let's bag him up and leave this place. Stark, as per our contract…"
"Yeah yeah."
Stark pulled out his sword and began creeping towards the beast with asured steps.
"Huu! Huu!!" Chubby scread in Jade's arms.
"Shhhh!" Stark cautioned and looked back at the monster.
The creature did not seem to notice them, either that or it didn't care. It just continued its strange ritual as they all proceeded.
"This feels weird, it can't be this easy, right?" Jade asked, staring down at Chubby.
Stark glanced around him, his expression sharp. Chubby would not be reacting this way if there wasn't sothing else...
But no matter how much he stared, there was nothing in sight. Nothing but endless trees that towered up into the sky.
"Wait…"
Jade looked at him and then followed his line of sight. "What is it?"
"Don't those trees… seem a little closer?"
Her eyes narrowed as she watched them. "You might be right, they seem a little closer than I rember."
Stark paused and kept his eyes on them, watching, paying close attention to every single detail.
That was when he saw it—
The shadows of the trees were unnatural. Instead of tall poles with a bushy canopy, the trees' shadows were in the shape of monsters!
"It's the trees! Get away from the—"
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