Blackgrave

The road was quiet and the sun was high. A chilly breeze lingered from winter and most trees, aside from pine, had only just begun to bear their leaves. Lord Gremmelt’s mind weighed heavily on the burden he was faced with. Unsure exactly who was buried at Eddlesreef and who he would find in Sossaboro, he knew no matter what, a pain to his heart was fast approaching.

“The journey may take us up to the entire day,” Lord Gremmelt told them. “Naja.”

“Yes, Lord Gremmelt?” she answered.

“I want you to scout ahead and stick to the treeline. Get about two or so miles and keep that distance until just before the moon starts to shine.” Lord Gremmelt had trained Naja since she was only a child. The two spent many years together as master and student, and he had instilled in her everything he had known. She was adept with a blade, could creep like a cat, and had taken to learning Rituals with ease. He could trust her with hard tasks, and never missed an opportunity to test her skills.

“Leave it to me, Lord Gremmelt.” She took off running down the road.

Naja kept a steady pace to get ahead. She wasn’t the fastest of the group, but her endurance was among the best. The forest grew more dense around the road the deeper she went, and soon she found it hard to move at a fast pace through the brush. The forest was quickly turning into a swamp.

She wasn’t sure how far ahead she was, but she felt with how long she ran she must have been far enough away to slow down. She kept her head on a swivel as she crept along the treeline. The swamps of Scrydell’s southern lands were perilous. Danger could lurk around any tree. It was as if evil itself spawned within these sinister woods.

The sun had shifted and was now on its way to slumber. The moon would be out soon, so she scoped out the road as far as she could see. There was nothing along the path or anywhere near it the whole way, so she decided it was best to return to the others.

She had spotted them on the road sooner than she thought, and when she saw how fast they were walking, she made sense of it. Either I went too slow or they went too fast, cause I shouldn’t be able to see them already. She shrugged. O’well, hopefully we're almost to Sossaboro.

Lord Gremmelt led the others down the path. Darkness was fast approaching, so he held a torch up high. The road at night was dangerous, and any manner of beast could become twice as deadly in the dark. Up ahead, Gremmelt could faintly see an outline of a figure. It moved slowly and suddenly at its hand flashed a ball of fire.

“It’s Naja,” he said to the others. He waved his hand in front of the torch to produce the same flashing effect she had done with her orb.

“What's that beside her?” Ra’Selas said as he stepped up beside Lord Gremmelt. They focused their eyes on the shadowy figure. It was large and covered in fur. It had massive claws and a large snout. It was a werewolf, and it towered over her the instant she noticed it. The beast shredded her leathers and latched down on her shoulder, sinking its fangs deep into her flesh.

She reeled back and set her blade aflame with a quick stroke. The fire startled the beast and she broke from its grasp. Can I do this? I don’t have any silver… She took a deep breath. I don’t have to do this. I just have to wait until the others get here. Naja raised her sword up and broadly swung it back and forth.

“Back!” she yelled, “Back!”

The others charged in groups of two with Ronso and Kangee leading the way. Full of bloodlust, Ronso darted ahead and swung her halberd at the beast's neck. But the werewolf was swift and ducked before her ax could find its mark.

Kangee’s sword burst into fire as he swung into the beast's side. The blade bounced off, but the flame seared its flesh and hair. The werewolf let out a deep and painful howl before fixing its eyes on Kangee. Before he could even move, it was on him with both claws and lunging for his neck. He sacrificed his arm to the beast's mouth and seared its chest with his flaming sword, breaking free from its hold.

Akecheta and Lord Gremmelt arrived side by side and both with weapons aflame. “Surround it, quickly!” Gremmelt called out. The five of them circled the creature in an instant.

Ra’Selas hung back, channeling his enchantment over the creature. He, like all Zeniditions, had an affinity for Arcane. His power over minds was fairly weak compared to physical manifestations of Arcane, but it was a useful tool against simple minded enemies.

With it he blurred the beast's vision and made it see bright flashing lights.

The werewolf snarled its fangs and wildly swung its claws all around. One struck Kangee and he was thrown hard to the ground. The opening was enough for the beast to escape. It let out a nightmarish howl that shook all but Lord Gremmelt to their core. Frozen with unexplainable fear, the Witch Hunters all trembled beneath its primal gaze.

It turned to run, but as it did, Lord Gremmelt buried his dagger into its thigh and tore out a meaty chunk of flesh and hair. Blood hit the grass and the werewolf stumbled away, dropping to all fours and running as fast as it could through the treeline.

“Quit standing still!” Lord Gremmelt yelled. “After it, it won’t get far!” He waved his flaming dagger in the air and rallied them to follow him into the woods.

The canopy of leaves overhead split throughout the woods and the faint blue light shone in from the moon. When they caught up to the beast, it was in a clearing between two trees. The beast had given up on running, and now stood erect. Blood oozed from its thigh, its heavy breathing was full of half whimpers, and its hungry gaze stared down the Witch Hunters.

“Do not underestimate it just because it is injured. It knows it can’t escape, press it together!” Lord Gremmelt yelled, and the Witch Hunters charged it in groups of two.

Naja and Akecheta led the way. As they closed in, the werewolf swung at Naja, but Akecheta’s shield intercepted the blow. He bashed the beast in the ribs with his mace while Naja drug her sword across its hip. The werewolf snarled in pain and thrashed Akecheta with its shoulder, knocking him on the ground.

Kangee slashed his blade across its hairy back, burning its fur and knocking it on all fours directly in front of Ronso. In pure ecstasy, she brought her halberd high into the sky and drove it through the beast's neck with a single strike. Its head fell to the ground, and blood sputtered out of the stump of its neck.

Ronso admired the blood on her halberd, eagerly saying, “do you think there are more of them?”

Pray to Fate there’s not,” Lord Gremmelt sternly replied. He moved to Naja, “are you hurt?” She shook her head.

“I can fight, but he did bite me pretty bad.” She removed her shoulder padding and exposed her arm. Her shoulder had several bloody punctures and was beginning to bruise.

“You’ll live, but you better drink this to be safe.” Lord Gremmelt pulled out a vial full of a bluish liquid. Naja drank the vial without question.

“Witchbane?” she asked.

“That and some other herbs. It should nullify any chance of you contracting the curse.” Lord Gremmelt explained. “Get that bandaged up. How are you looking Kangee?”

Kangee showed the blood on his shirt. “The beast slashed my side, but it will not slow me down.” He grabbed a vial of the same color from his pack and downed it in one gulp.

“Well, get it patched up. Grab whatever trophies you desire, then burn it to ash. We’re getting close to Sossaboro.” The Witch Hunters all took out their daggers or carving knives and examined the body for something worth claiming. Naja pulled out one of the fangs, and put it on a string to wear as a necklace. Akecheta and Ronso each took a few of its claws, while Ra'Selas and Kangee had no interest in trophies and saw to burning the body when the others were finished.

When they returned to the road Lord Gremmelt realized how close they actually were. "We will be there soon," he told them. “Naja, light our way."

Naja pointed her index finger directly at the tip of her blade. In an instant, a bright light manifested directly on the tip. She held it high and the light stretched out all around them.

The surrounding woods quickly turned into a swamp as far as the eye could see. In the distance, faint light cut through the leaves and looked like wisps or fairies dancing in the air. As they broke past the dense trees, they spotted Sossaboro. There were marshes and pools of water all around. The road cut through the swamp before breaking off in two. The straight path led to Sossaboro, while the other circled around the swamps and headed north towards the Wounded Peaks.

The road into town ran across the only stretch of dry land that connected to it. An almost perfect moat surrounded the town and protected it from unexpected attacks. Half of Sossaboro was built on dry land with stone foundations and careful carpentry, while the other half consisted of straw or mud huts with raised wooden foundations above the water. Wooden walkways stretched across the water, with some connecting the homes together, and others connecting sentry towers to dry land.

Lord Gremmelt nodded to the Bryarsmen in the sentry tower as they passed. Even though he had left that part of his life long behind him, he brought his bronze shield on every hunt. Three Bryarsmen strapped in bronze and leather armor approached when they entered town. The leader of the three stepped forward.

"Good evening, Witch Hunters," he said. He wore a bronze chestplate over a green coat and looked young. His skin was pale like a Sun elf, and his hair was gray. “What business do you have in Sossaboro?”

“Good evening,” Lord Gremmelt plainly replied. “We believe a few of our brothers’ bodies are in town, and we would like to reclaim them.”

“Oh,” the man replied. “Let Vassal Altera know of our visitors,” he said to one of his men. “I’ll take you to your brothers.”

A flash of realization swept across the man’s face. “Wait, I know you.” He raised his hand and pointed his finger directly as Lord Gremmelt. “You used to be a Bryarsmen, right?”

Lord Gremmelt lifted up his bronze shield. “That was a long time ago.”

“I was still just a child then,” the man said, “you probably don’t even recognize me.”

“Like I said, it was a long time ago.”

“Captain Wellers.” The man extended his hand to shake.

“Well, Captain Wellers,” Gremmelt shook his hand, “lead the way.” Wellers gave him a nod and led them into town.