Chapter 5: Retreat into the Dark Forest.
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Three quarters of our knights lay dead in the battlefield, and yet we had failed the mission. My heart was heavy. They all died for nothing, and we were on the verge of death as well.
They bore gruesome appalling wounds not only on their bodies but on their faces as well. Most did not even have faces anymore, some did not even have heads for that matter.
The Unkindness was a terrifying force. Even individually, the ravens posed a grave threat to the knights. They were much larger than ordinary ravens, and their speed was simply tyrannical. They had beaks as tough as steel, and wings that caused a small hurricane when they took flight.
The main problem however, was the precision of their attacks, well as their well coordinated formations. They moved purposefully, exploiting weaknesses they could spot on their enemies. That was exactly how Dawnshield had received the gruesome wounds on his back.
They realized that his strength was dwindling and his speed had decreased, so they took advantage. They rained down on him, furiously attacking the Zenith Shield. As powerful as the shield was, it was not going to hold for long. Visible cracks were starting to show on its surface. That is when I joined him.
We fought off hundreds of ravens back to back, while I healed his wounds. He defended my back as well, but it was useless. No matter how many ravens I cut down, no matter how many ravens he bashed with the mighty shield, there we far too many ravens. And my strength was running out.
I collapsed into his arms as I felt the world around me slowly come undone.
I was having trouble formulating even a single thought. I felt blood dripping slowly from my nose and mouth.
Yeah, I had gravely exhausted my soul energy, and I was paying a heavy price for it.
I heard shouts and voices all around me, but I was already falling into the cold embrace of darkness. I was unconscious.
#
We rode through thousands of dead ravens - as well as knights - into the dark forest. That was our only hope of surviving. We hoped that if the ravens refused to cease the onslaught, then they would have to clash with the Creatures of the Dark Forest.
The Creatures of Darkness.
The monsters found in the Dark Forest differed from each other, but they all weilded similar profane powers. We had grown to classify them into three classes over the years: The Demons, Devils and Titans.
Even though we did not know very much about these creatures, considering that almost all Kingdoms wary of the forest, we did know that the gaps in power kept on increasing the higher the class a creature is. We were not even certain if these classes are all there was.
They are some of the ones found on the outskirts of the Dark Forest and we do not even know the horrors that dwell deeper inside.
I slowly opened my eyes and realized that I was on a horse, laying on my stomach on someone's lap. I realized it was Dawnshield because I could hear his Zenith Shield bashing dozens ravens each second.
There was so much noise.
I wanted to cover my ears but I realized that I could not move my arms. I could not move my whole body. My head to toe, my whole body felt limp and heavy. The bashing sound continued for a few long moments, until something changed entired.
I heard a sound of something large cracking, and I was dazed for a while. Then after that, I felt a powerful shockwave wash over. It was almost instantaneous. I did not even get the time to comprehend the large crashing sound from before.
I collapsed into the embrace of sleep once more.
#
I suddenly plummeted to the ground violently, not even sure what was happening. My view upon the world was distorted and dizzying, so I did not even try to open my eyes and kept them tightly shut.
Even as half of my consciousness slowly drifted away, i could feel my body aching terribly with pain. Every cell on my body cried out in terrible agony.
I gritted my teeth and tried to roll on the ground, and try to get up. It was of no use. I could not even open my eyes, where would I even find the strength to get up. It was useless.
All I could do was lie there helplessly and wait for someone else to pick me up. Like the worthless trash I was. If only Moonlight was by my side. As I contemplated life helplessly on the ground, something else shifted on the world making me shiver.
I had not noticed before - I guess it was because I was already half unconscious, but now i was slowly regaining awareness - that the atmosphere did not feel to domineering as before. That meant one thing; we were free from the Raven King's Domain.
But something was not entirely right either.
I felt something else cold and unfathomable caress my cheeks without any recollection of what was. I was cold deep and almost non- existent, as if i could only feel the concept of it. By this time, i was already fully awake.
I struggled to open my eyes and I saw something that shook my whole being. I was surrounded be cold, impenetrable darkness that moved slowly towards the edge of the Dark Forest.
The darkness alone did not phase me, but what I realized after seeing it did. I was laying laying helplessly on the outskirts of the forest. I dragged my body to a nearby tree with all the strength I had, and leaned on his trunk.
Breathing was laborious and painful, but i drew those deep hoarse breaths nonetheless. I looked around me and tried to assess the situation, and what I saw made me pale.
Just as I was wondering where the others were, I saw something else happened a small distance from where I was. Something I did not understand, but quickly had an idea of what was happening.
A furious battle between the Knights and something else was happening a few dozen metres from when I was. I heard sounds of battle as soon as I realized what was happening.
It also dawned on me that if i did not get up at that instant, I might get myself killed be one of those beings they were engaging in battle with.
I looked around, looking for Moonlight but I noticed something else. For starters, there were no ravens anymore, which was a relief even though I did not know which of the two was more terrifying: the infinite Unkindness, ot the unknown horrors i was about to face.
Also saw another appalling sight that made me flinch, sending shocks of pain all over my face. Two horses were tied on a tree and one of them lay on the ground, dead.
It was terribly mangled that one might even argue if it had been a horse in the first place. It was barely recognizable. I also realized that one horse was missing, and so now we were short on three horses.
I crawled towards the one mangled on the ground, and retrieved Moonlight, who was strapped tightly on its left side. I brandished her a few times, and felt her restoring my dwindling reserves of soul energy before I collapsed again.
The energy was not much, but i was enough to survive. And fight! She shone with a pale silver light, as if responding to my embrace. I gripped to hilt tighter and rose to my feet, then ran towards the battle.
I was still tired and my body hurt all over though, but that did not matter anymore. Nothing did. Nothing except being closer to my brothers on the verge of death. Especially in the Dark Forest.
I reached the battle in just a few minutes and the appalling sight i saw was nothing short of traumatic. My brothers were engaged in a fierce battle with monsters i had trouble comprehending, at least for a while.
They were taller than us, but also not that tall either, about an average of 2.5 meters in height. They had flawless obsidian skin, two crimson horns as well as two pools of impenetrable darkness nestling where their eyes should have been.
They were not exactly precise or purposeful, it was as if they were just fighting on instinct or bloodlust. They did not seem very intelligent either. They only seemed interested in devouring the four human souls in front of them. Which was not to say they were not dangerous though.
They were bipedal, but as if that was not horrible enough, they were incredibly fast too. Almost as fast as we were. Almost... I gritted my teeth and mumbled curses under my hoarse breath. That was because I knew exactly what those creatures were.
They were Creatures of Darkness, the Demons to be precise.
And there were hundreds of them.