Bones And Marrow I

Kies was the first one to spot the werewolves running towards them. He pointed in their direction and informed the others, "They're back."

"You sure took your sweet time," Ammine said to the werewolves. It has already been around five minutes since the white flash of light. Hopefully, their late departure wouldn't affect the battle too much.

"Hmph, why don't you try having one of our noses. See how you can deal with a smell that horrendous," Bloodmane shot back.

"I rather not have the nose of a dog."

"How dare you. You're really itching for a fight aren't you!" The werewolves behind Bloodmane also growled angrily in response to Ammine's rude comment.

Before matters could escalate anymore, Lisler stuck his sword between the two of them and said, "Internal conflict achieves no purpose. Refrain from bickering, we're already tardy as is."

"Hoot, he's right," Haro agreed. "We better stop fighting amongst ourselves and start moving. The witch's forces are already in combat." As proof of what Haro just said, a lesser undead came dropping down from the sky and landed right next to them, its guts splattering everywhere. "Hoo dear..."

Luckily, the body landed a few meters away which was far enough for the blood to not spatter onto anyone. Though barely recognizable, Kies saw that it was the undead that he and Ammine had encountered and got surrounded by when they first arrived at the forest. At further inspection, Kies saw that the body was also missing its head.

"Hmph whatever, let's start moving already," Bloodmane unhappily grunted. The longer they argued, the more time they were wasting. They might as well get the mission over with and never see each other again.

Lisler lowered his sword and brought it back to his side. "Observe my trail, for this will be a treacherous path. The road to the old bone will be no quick journey."

"Sorry, but what did he just say?" Bloodmane looked at the masked swordsman with a strange expression. He didn't understand a single word that the undead had just said.

"Hoot, he's telling us to follow him," Haro translated, and then added, "He's the one that is going to lead us to the Bone Whistler."

"O-kay..." Bloodmane scratched his head. "That's a rather weird way of speaking."

Lisler scratched his head embarrassingly. "Centrolio is not mine mother tongue. Do forgive me for any fumbles I may have with my tongue."

"Hm, that explains a lot." Centrolio was the language of the humans and since the human population was the largest during the time, it was agreed upon by all the other major races to be the universal language. "What are you then? Elf, dwarf, or something else? I don't see a tail, so I doubt you're a beastman," Bloodmane asked the undead.

"Time flows as speedily as the tears from the clouds, we have not the time to converse," Lisler reminded everyone that they were currently in the middle of a battle.

"Oh right. You're leading, correct?" Bloodmane pointed at Lisler.

"Yes."

"Let's go then." Everyone followed Lisler through the forest. It was as he said, traveling through the forest with a large-scale battle going on was quite dangerous.

All around them, they could see undead clashing with more undead. It was impossible to tell which ones were allies and which ones were enemies. But what was easy to tell apart were which ones were the greater undead and which ones were the lessers. The greater undead were fairly easy to identify since on average they were bigger and much more intimidating than the lesser undead. That, and the fact that they were also the ones overwhelming everything else.

It was chaos in the forest right now. It looked like even the unaffiliated undead were partaking in the battle, using it as an opportunity to consume and grow more powerful. They ran for a couple of minutes before their guide suddenly stopped in his tracks. "The old bone seems to have foreseen our approach. He has sent a fierce wave of underlings to devour us," Lisler told everyone.

"Where?" Ammine and Bloodmane both asked simultaneously. They shot each other a cold look before turning back to Lisler.

He unsheathed his sword and pointed directly in front of them. "Set your eyes to where mine blade points. They obstruct this path of ours." At his cue, numerous slow-moving undead appeared from the dark trees in front of them.

"Hmph, it's only these guys. They're a joke to deal with," Bloodmane says as he walks up and stretches his arms. He then swipes at an undead that got too close and cuts its head off. The headless body stops in its track with blood spurting from its head and falls over.

"A beauty of an attack," Lisler complimented him. "But they are many. One kill strays far from enough."

"I know. You don't have to tell me twice," Bloodmane grunted. He then strides up to another undead and grabs it by its torso and throws it into another undead. He turns back to the group and asks "What are the rest of you doing!? I could handle all of them by myself but then we'll be here forever. Get killing already!"

At Bloodmane's command, the rest of the werewolves scramble into position and begin fighting the huge wave of undead. Ammine and the masked undead also do the same, leaving only Kies, Haro, and Issie back to watch.

"Hoot, this is a good time to try out some new spells, child." Haro points at one of the undead slowly stumbling towards Kies. "These undead aren't very intelligent. You won't find another chance to have training dummies like this. Best use this opportunity to the fullest."

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