THE MYSTERIOUS VISIT II

A naked sky spread over the night, bare with no clouds and only the moon to give it purpose. It made the search a bit more agonizing. However that was never going to hinder Alicia from turning the forest inside out in search of the intruder. Reene grew worried. The search party had been traversing the forest for hours, they were nearing the edge of the forest where a border between them and a horde of Vurhans was.

“Commander, we are nearing the border, if we get too close we might alarm them and I am afraid the squad is a bit under sized, were are not fully equipped to take on a full horde. We should turn back and continue the search tomorrow…” one of the men whispered to her.

He dug deep into the core of his agitated soul and found courage needed to pose that question. Alicia turned and whispered back to him, “If anyone one of you isn't comfortable with this search you can turn back, I am not holding anyone hostage!”

The scared guard turned back to see if he had influenced some supporters to subscribe to his opinion, yet all his eyes met were frightened men who were too confused to turn back, some wondered where he got the courage to even suggest such a thing. There was no more to be said, it was obvious they were too chicken to turn back so they advanced, seeking safety under the feint shadow of their dark bender.

Once they reached the edge of the forest trees became scarce little by little, in no time they found themselves approaching a stretch of land filled with nothing but wide holes dug by Vurhans. What made it worse was that Vurhans were nocturnal, meaning they were somewhere amongst the trees roaming in search of food, if only they knew how lucky they were that food brought itself to their hideouts. They had an acute sense of smell so it was only a matter of time before the soldiers’ scents were picked up and an alarm was raised. Attacking in packs was a trait they religiously enforced because they knew one Vurhan could be easily dispersed by a trained soldier, but attacking in packs made them invincible.

Once they set foot on the tract of open land, a once breathable air transmuted into a heavy scent of bile and rotting waste. The ground beneath them seemed to have dissolved, when they stepped on it their boots sunk into the mud. Alicia focused all her attention on the manna she felt around her. She was following a trail of blue manna left faintly dangling on the atmosphere, it needed the utmost concentration for a person to be able to see it. That was never lacking in her case, once she focused on something it was hard for anything else to distract her.

The air was so sulfurous temperatures rose. The scared soldier clung on to his lance so tight the sweat under his palms evaporated, infusing into the chaotic odor surrounding the field. He got used to his boots sinking into the mud with each step he took that the firm object under his sole got him by surprise. He seemed to have stepped on something solid, harder than the ground under him. In his mind he figured it might be a tree branch, but it seemed to react to the increasing force as he leaned forward adding weight to his step, it produced crackling sounds, like a boulder falling on a hill of raked leaves.Upon looking down his eyes examined a greenish hand with its fingernails painted with mud.

The solider was ready to exercise the power of his lungs, he filled them with the odorous air ready to let out an intense cry as the fingers attached to the arm began twitching. Reene jumped in and slapped his palm across the man’s face from cheek to cheek. He held the grip in place enveloping his mouth and dragged him backwards. Alicia turned around just in time to see the Vurhan's eyelids slowly roll upwards, revealing wine red eyeballs.

She dived for the Vurhan and locked a strangle on its neck, constricting its voice box as hard as she could so that it does not raise and alarm. They both tussled and wrestled on the ground, rolling on the stinking mud until Alicia got the better of it and stuck her arm inside its mouth. She yanked its tongue out with one hand and ran a blade across its neck with the other. The carnassial dagger peeled scales off the neck and dug its way through the flesh, silencing the beast in one swoop. She waited for it to stop kicking then loosened her grip.

The soldier was met with a deathly glare, he would have soiled his pants were it not for Alicia looking away. She checked to see if the disturbance alerted any more Vurhans lurking in the shadows. Fortunately there wasn't one close enough to take notice of the commotion. She figured engaging the clumsy soldier would waste the valuable time she needed so she got up and continued like nothing had happened.

Reene pushed the soldier back and took

position behind Alicia. The soldier sunk into the rest of the cavalry who had even forgotten that just moments before they were celebrating and dancing their stress away until their bodies would shut down from exhaustion.

They were miraculously managing an impossible task of clearing the field undetected. From afar they could see the trees. Alicia was still following the manna trail when it suddenly derailed from its predictable path and started heading upwards. Alicia stopped midway through the last stretch before they exited the field. She shot a look up at the trees and saw silhouette on one of the branches at the top of a tree. It straightened to its feet and faced their general direction. It was hard to make out its face but it was clear it had its eyes set on the group below. Alicia was certain the flow of manna originated from it.The figure flipped its over-sized hoodie up and the fabric swallowed its head, the excess cloth resting on its shoulders. Alicia tried hard to keep her anger in check, but her locks were not tight enough, she was boiling with rage.

The figure clutched its abdomen and shuddered as if it was in pain. It pulled its hand away and Alicia noticed a viscous liquid dripping off the ends of his fingers. it seemed to have been wounded. No wonder they caught up to him so quickly- she wondered.

She was ready to shoot down the intruder but Reene gently tugged her shoulder. Letting the stranger off her sight was not an option and Reene knew that so he circled her and stepped in front of her.

“If we do something irrational right now we might put ourselves in danger!” he softly said, making certain his words were aggressive enough get to through her.

“I have him on my sights! I can end this right now, let me worry about our escape, I can’t let him run away when I’m this close! I have waited five years for this Reene nothing is going to come in my way! Not even you!”

“I know that! But engaging him right now is like announcing the whole forest of our presence,”

“He is injured Reene, I can take him out easily!”

“Which makes it even better. If he is injured that means he is not going to get far! That’s why you were able to track him. We can just follow him. If he escapes he leaves behind his trail and we can finally find a way out of the walls, its a win win situation here! We have control not him. So please just don’t do anything irrational because not all of us can defend ourselves against a horde.”

“Nothing you say is going to change my mind Reene!” she answered, pushing him away.

For some reason the figure continued to stand on the branch even after realizing its presence was noticed. As Alicia began her advance towards it, it slowly raised its hands and cupped them over its mouth. With a voice as loud as a Vurhan it let out a ghoulish scream that echoed across the forest. The soldiers froze in fear, all except Alicia. The scream reverberated for some time before sounds of rustling leaves began accompanying the echo. Growls shot up from the beneath them as sounds of bumping bodies sang from underneath, turning their spines to gelatin.

The first Vurhan popped out of one of the

burrowed holes and instantly sniffed them out, another shot out of the ground like a geyser, spraying soil all over and knocking the slaughtered Vurhan into the air. One after another they multiplied and headed towards the cavalry with screams that sang of revenge and hunger, hunger for flesh.

As the Vurhans were closing in on them from every possible direction Alicia shot another look at the figure above the trees, jumping from one tree to another with great effort and clinching its abdomen after every jump and finally disappearing into the canopy of leaves. She was debating whether to stay and help her men fend off the horde or go after her nemesis. She had not confirmed its identity but all the bread crumbs of evidence left behind were leading to an obvious conclusion.

A great debate was rumbling in her mind, save her men and let him escape, or leave them behind and hope they might hold out as she goes off to finish her pledge of seeking revenge!