Blood Isle

Chapter Twenty-Six: Dark Lightning

We rested for a week, this land had taught us many things. One of those was that it would require dedication and a long time to traverse it. Also, the storms were clearly power struggles between light and darkness and they were getting much worse than we had ever seen before.

Forked purple lightning arced down to discharge in a fiery display, Showing all of us what we did not want to see. The evil here was far from finished and was still leaching through to our world.

The enemy was summoning assistance, preparing to attack us some time in the future. How does one plan to respond to the unknown, one simply cannot, one simply waits to see what will develope. Then one acts to meet it and hopes for the best.

This morning, a scouting party of four was late in returning and their remains were found by spotting circling vultures. Their bodies and those of their horses had been cruely slaughtered, their flesh was full of gaping wounds. It was clear they had been attacked by something massive and immediately after finding them we realized we were being hunted.

Bemanah, the dark lord had left us a message, for they had posed the bodies in life-like positions. Changa inspected the men's corpses, feeling sickened by what he found. Here these men perished by one who was filled with glee as he killed them.

It had been days since we had last seen any of the enemy, they seemed to have vanished. As the wind howled, we could hear voices that were chanting in an unknown tongue, there were drums that beat in the background as dark lightning lashed the trees around us.

In the forest around us, dark shadows darted among the trees telling us we were not alone. Changa rode to Maska and Donovan's side. "It appears that the enemy is hard at work with their mind games and I recommend that we prepare to repel the enemy," Changa said.

"Tell the scouting parties to report no later than every two hours and double their numbers, I want roving eyes watching everything around us," Donovan commanded.

Two hours later, another party of scouts was found by seeing a swirl of smoke in the air. It rose around their charred bodies and the wood they had ridden through. Their bodies were unrecognizable with their gross disfigurement, their silent remains testified to the acute pain and agony they had suffered. This was the work of a dragon and Changa was sure it was Sadeene.

Something was wrong but Changa could not put his finger on it. The shadows were alive with something at the edge of his vision, as it watched our responses as it left them with more bodies.

An hour later, a third and a fourth scouting party were found. One was at the edge of a glen and the other was hanging from some tall trees. They were facing something new, something that struck from the trees and then vanished into the forest. From the looks of things the scouts had been slain by their own swords.

As they retrieved the bodies, a soft rain began to fall and Changa could not stop from feeling that he was being watched. No matter how hard he tried he was unable to see them.

Nightfall was perhaps an hour and a half away, so Donovan ordered them to make an encampent beside a stream. Everybody was on edge and it was evident by the short tempers that flared that evening.

As the firelight reflected from the trees around them the Centaurs served as guards for the night. A cry sounded from the far end of camp, two sentries were found beside a downed tree by a Centaur captain who was going to command their replacements.

It took Brenna to figure out what they were facing. As she studied the guards still remains, she turned to those around her. "The forest is out of phase, with our ability to see, it is enchanted. She held her staff and discharged a wave of energy at the forest, which instantly erupted into savage screams and thrashing.