Bound Evil

Emily tightened the leather straps of her bundle. The new letter was secured in the safest spot she had. It was made from some dark brown fiber with a slightly waxy finish.

Claire had gone through the trouble of writing a letter explaining her bridge situation to the keep’s hand. That along with the red wax seal would be an introduction when they arrived. The hope was the letter would get them through the checkpoint a little easier.

Alex's voice called her from her thoughts.

“Emily. Unfasten the mule, it's had enough water.”

“I told you, it's Cupcake, and he’s still thirsty Alex.”

Claire’s sweet gesture aside, they were still preparing to leave the camp. She’d tried to convince Emily one more time to stay and wait for the return of the guard unit, but Emily had simply waved her off.

Ashe and Journ gathered their things, while Emily and Alex got Cupcake to the front gate.

It then occurred to Emily she didn’t even know what an Elven burrow was. However, if those ugly little beasts were involved, then it couldn't be a fun experience.

Looking towards Alex she asked as much.

His grim face said a lot.

“An Elven burrow is on par with a natural disaster, it usually happens when too many of the creatures gather in one spot. They burrow into the warm soil and breed like rabbits. Expanding their range and attacking anything in their ever-growing territory. This one will be decently large, and the fact that the Keep’s hands are here means a subjugating force will arrive any day now. We do not want to be here when that happens.”

“Why?” Emily asked

Alex shrugged.

“These men are just containing it at this point. It will be chaos when the truly powerful titled individuals show up. Which reminds me-”

Alex glanced at their surroundings before continuing in a lowered tone.

“How did you fool the Spyglass? I know for a fact you have to have some title related to blood, do you have a cloaking skill or item?”

Emily mulled it over and decided if she didn’t at least try to trust Alex she wouldn’t get the answers she was looking for.

“Well, as of yet I don’t have any titles. The things I can do are all inherent, but my rank is almost at my first title, and I gotta say titles look sweet.”

Alex’s eyes widened for a second and then flickered over her shoulder to the tent entrance where she could only assume the others had just exited from.

“I’m not saying I believe you but we’ll talk about this later, I’ve never heard of something like this in humans. For now, try not to use your… abilities in front of them.”

Emily shrugged.

“Almost out of juice anyway, though if I find a place to recharge, I’m taking it.”

Alex looked like he wanted to say something to that, but Emily heard Journ chatting with Ashe as they approached.

“The journey should take no more than half a day, right? Stop worrying Ashe. I still have a couple of snack traps”

“Okay, but we don’t know how the burrows have affected the landscape.”

Alex had gotten Cupcake's bridle fastened and started walking ahead. Emily followed with Ashe Journ in tow a they headed for the gate. It was a large affair, blocking off the road and forest for dozens of meters in each direction. The wooden wall was around four meters tall with a simple gate in the side of it allowing two people through at a time. Several keep hands remained on top as sentries, looking out over the forest beyond.

When they got to the quiet gate, a guard Emily didn’t recognize barred the way.

“Please listen, everyone, I’m assuming you all want to leave without the escort unit. We will not stop you but be warned the burrows have attracted predators to the area, if you still want to do this, we’ll open the gate in a moment.”

Emily looked back to see if either of them had gotten cold feet but was happy to see they all looked focused.

Nodding to the guard Emily stepped forward as the man moved to the gate, unbarring and opening the door for them all to pass through.

Luckily Cupcake was on the smaller side so he could squeeze past the checkpoint. Once all five of them passed through, the wooden door slammed shut behind them.

The forest looked no different on this side, its quiet branches reaching up into the late afternoon sky.

Alex stepped to the front as Emily leaned against Cupcake.

“Right, I’m on point. Emily, you’re second, while Journ and Ashe will bring up the rear. The burrows have an outer and inner ring. If we can get through this portion we’ll have some breathing room before we hit the next. Let's go”

No one argued, so when Alex moved forward they all fell into position.

The man kept just ahead of them but just like the Scout from before, Emily struggled to spot him amongst the trees.

They were barely an hour into their journey when large holes in the ground began to appear. Clumps of earth bulged out of the earth like molehills, stacked against trees and rocks. Emily quickly lost count of the number of small burrows dotting the landscape.

Each was big enough to accommodate a child but fully grown adults would have trouble squeezing into the space.

The most unnerving thing was the quiet. All the signs of forest life had stilled, insects and bird calls alike had ceased. Washing the forest out with an air of loneliness.

The shadowy holes became more common as time went on. Emily tried to peer into them, but past a certain point, it was impossible to pierce the darkness.

The trees surrounding the holes were covered in claw marks up their trunks as if to mark territory. The burrows didn’t seem to break up the road itself. Instead, they lined it on either side.

As disturbing as all this was Alex kept them all moving along a winding path. He would appear every five minutes or so, press his ear to the ground, and then change their course slightly.

Around the time the burrows had started choking even the paved road, he had directed them off the main path. Emily was not happy to have to once more trudge through ankle-deep snow but at least this time she had a guide, her only complaint was that directing Cupcake was more difficult now. Emily didn’t know when she noticed it but the noises of wildlife had slowly been returning. The birdcalls bouncing through the trees stretched hollowly across the forest. The longer she listened to them the more wrong they sounded. It was as though they were off-key, it was not something Emily could put her finger on, they just sounded wrong.

It then hit her and she realized what was happening.

Whipping her head about to look for Alex, she saw he already had his blades drawn, as his eyes stalked from burrow to burrow.

He already knew.

Alex picked up the pace after that, Ashe kept up, but Journ was falling behind, his smaller stature working against him here. Without hesitation Emily reached down a picked the man up, placing him on Cupcake’s back. Journ wore an expression that was equal parts foul and grateful.

He seemed about ready to speak when the bird calls fell silent. The hairs on Emily's neck stood on end as the forest air shifted back to a grating silence, pressing in around her like a noose.

“Run!” Alex yelled from somewhere up ahead shattering the silent world.

Emily didn’t linger, yanking Cupcake, and pulling them in the direction Alex’s voice had come from.

The silence was dashed by the screeches of what sounded like hundreds of small creatures. Glancing out of the corners of her eyes, Emily saw figures moving through the trees. Some climbed from burrows and joined the chase, while others scrambled up trees.

Emily heard when a rock impacted against a trunk nearby. Taking a risk she looked back and spotted the scruffy gremlin-elf, high up in the trees preparing to throw another. There was no time to stop and kill them or they would be overwhelmed.

At this point, all they could do was get out of range. Ashe ran after them, a rock clipping her shoulder causing her to grunt in pain, but she kept moving. Journ was rummaging through his pack but Emily didn’t have time to see what he was doing.

Alex’s voice came from up ahead, and they rushed to follow it.

The elves, while fast did not have great endurance, their short legs struggled to keep up with larger creatures running at full tilt. They were just pulling away from the worst of the ambush when a couple of elves appeared from burrows up ahead, crashing into their party from the side. They came for Ashe first but this turned out to be a mistake as she threw something out in front of herself, making a series of hand gestures. The item flickering a dull green. Then, as though caught by an external force, the object whipped about and launched itself through the skull of a nearby elf, then another, and finally buried itself into the eye socket of a third before going still.

Journ on the other hand threw something out behind them which looked like a little cloth bundle. The change it had on the battlefield was shocking as the dozen or so elves nearby dove for them with greed in their eyes. Ripping into one another in an attempt to possess whatever treat the man had thrown.

Emily on the other hand drew her new blade as two elves came at her. It took slightly longer longer to draw than a dagger but she managed to get it out in time to clumsily block the incoming strike.

The force behind the weapon almost knocked the blade from her hands. Recovering quickly Emily saw an opening and slashed out toward its throat.

Unfortunately, Emily learned all too quickly, that even their tiny necks could take a decent amount of force, so when the blade cut into the creature, it lodged itself into bone. Emily wasted precious seconds yanking it from the elf before the other caught up.

Unused to the unwieldy weapon, Emily fell back on a tried and tested method, she kicked the thing in the gut. Sending it sprawling into the snow, this however made her a target as stones came hurtling from all directions.

Ashe stepped in at this point and splayed her arms outward, making short dexterous movements with her fingers. Several rocks already on the way halted in midair as though all the force behind them were stolen, and then proceeded to fall to the icy ground.

Emily recovered in time to pull Cupcake forward, unfortunately, more elves poured out of the nearby burrows. Emily slashed her blade wide, not caring if she killed them now, only in making a path forward.

More and more rocks were falling from above and Ashe was concentrating on the air when an elf dove at her. Emily was locked against another one, so when Journ dove off Cupcake's back she couldn't stop him. The two rolled in the snow wrestling but the man got on top and began beating the thing with a pan, only for him to be swarmed by more elves.

Emily tried to turn and help him but all hell broke loose when an elf bit into Cupcake's flank and sent the mule into a rage. The reins were ripped from Emily's grasp and the animal dashed off in the opposite direction, kicking out as it did so.

“Fuck! Cupcake come back!”

Emily was about to lose it and lifeforce churned in her body, rearing to be released when the sound of elves dying came from up ahead.

Alex broke through the encirclement, slashing and stabbing anything that got close to him. But where Emily had only caused cuts, every one of his swings found its lethal mark. Corpses littered the ground as he got to them.

“Go! I’ve made a path!”

Emily glanced after the winter mule but it was already too far, Journ was nowhere to be seen. Grinding her teeth Emily grabbed Ashe and followed after Alex. The creatures behind them scattered in all directions and Ashe gasped.

“Wait! Journ!”

But Emily ignored her pleas and pulled her deeper into the woods.