Cries In The Dark

The two journeyed back to where they started and sat down for a moment to decide where they should head next. Ammine reasoned that they needed to come back here since the entire area that they had been in was that creature's territory and that if they wanted to find another high leveled undead, they would have to leave and find another place entirely.

"I think we should go this way," said Kies. He pointed in the direction that was opposite of the bone monster's territory. His reason was simple. If the undead didn't like each other then they probably wouldn't be next to each other. It would make sense for them to be on opposite ends of the forest.

But Ammine turned it down instantly. "That way won't work."

"Why not?" asked Kies.

"I'm sensing a presence in this direction." Ammine pointed towards the direction that was right next to the bone undead's territory.

"Didn't you say that you couldn't feel anything the last time we were here?"

"The presence is really small, but I could feel that it is not weak. Whatever is in that direction is adept at hiding itself. It was probably already here the first time I checked but I overlooked it," Ammine explained.

"Alright, I guess we're going that way then." Kies followed behind Ammine as she made her way to wherever the presence was hiding. He made sure to be extra careful of his surroundings, especially being mindful of the ground since he didn't want a repeat of before. He didn't want to get caught off guard by an undead hiding in the dirt again.

Ammine saw that Kies was only paying attention to the dirt and told him that what he was doing wasn't a good idea since it wasn't the only place where an enemy would hide. "Don't just look at the ground, look up as well, who knows what might be lurking in the trees."

"Hm?" Kies looked up at the trees. He didn't think that there would be anything hiding in them since the trees were bare and skinny, making it incredibly difficult for anything to hide in or behind it. They would have to be very small to conceal themselves using the trees. But Ammine knew more about these things than him so he followed her advice and kept his eyes straight ahead of him so that he would be able to see the ground ahead of him along with the trees.

***

"We're here," said Ammine. They entered a clearing with nothing but a single boulder in the center of it. Ammine walked up to the boulder and gave it a kick. It didn't budge.

"Are you sure we're in the right place," Kies asked. A clearing in the middle of a dense forest was pretty unusual but he didn't see anything special here.

"Get behind me," said Ammine. Kies was a little confused but he did as he was told and positioned himself behind her. Ammine's hand flared up with magic. She clenched it into a fist and punched the boulder in front of them.

*Crack!* The boulder broke apart to reveal a giant hole in the ground. Following its destruction, a strong wind shot up from the hole and pushed Ammine back into Kies. He placed his hands on Ammine's back and pushed her to keep her from falling over. They slowly slid backward as the wind continued to blow out of the hole in every direction. After some time the wind died down and Kies removed his hand from Ammine's back/

"What was that?" Kies slowly walked over to the hole and looked down into it. He couldn't tell how deep the hole was since he saw nothing but darkness. He went and picked up one of the broken pieces of the boulder which had surprisingly not been blown away by the powerful winds and tossed it down the hole. There were a few clacks as the rock bounced around the sides hole and each time it was more distant. After a bit, he couldn't hear it anymore. They had no way of seeing what was inside the hole and whatever was lurking down there was probably quite powerful.

After Ammine fixed her hair, she walked over to the hole as well and started investigating it. "I can feel it, the presence is much stronger now. There's something-" Ammine's voice was suddenly cut off by a loud screech from somewhere inside the hole.

Kies and Ammine instinctively jumped back from the edge. They waited a few seconds and heard another shriek but this time it was a lot louder. A few more seconds passed and there was a rumbling sound and it continued to grow louder as whatever was in the hole was making its way up. The two of them backed off from the hole and prepared themselves for what was coming.

---

Grammar errors, story errors, other errors, and advice, email flightless05@gmail.com

Thanks!