The group was riding along a narrow path that cut through a wide forest. A towering peak that reached the clouds was on their left. The cold air of eternal snow was blowing towards them from there.
Aurdis and Aerchon led the group with a stern expression. They both wanted to reach Sylvan Haven quickly, but they couldn't just go there and had to travel a long way.
The sun had already set now and the air was getting colder. Aurdis and Aerchon had forced to speed up their pace for this journey, so they only brought a few warriors.
To be exact, fifty warriors were in the group. Aerchon of course chose his best warriors for this journey.
That number was clearly too small to travel to Sylvan Haven. This was the smallest number that had ever been with them when they went to that sacred place.
Aerchon was a little anxious about security. However, Aurdis once again insisted on only bringing a few people because they had to move faster.
And she was right. They had covered a distance that should have taken one day in just a few hours with that number.
Aurdis didn't feel anxious at all about their situation. If they hurried and moved quickly enough, they would be able to avoid danger before it came or outrun it.
However, they didn't expect to encounter a problem like what they were seeing at that moment.
Aerchon raised his clenched fist in the air and the group immediately stopped. They also immediately stood ready to put their hands on the hilts of their swords.
The road in front of them was cut off by a very wide crack. From what it looked like, the ground had collapsed below by something. The distance from their location to the continuation of the road was about 1 kilometer.
Their Unicorns could actually fly for a few minutes and they should be able to use the animals to cross the crack. However, they all felt a strange energy emanating from within the large crack, making them hesitant to fly over it.
"(What do you think it is?)" Aurdis asked Aerchon with her eyebrows furrowed tightly, staring at the large crack in the road that they had to cross. When they had to move quickly to meet their father, the road they had to cross was damaged.
"(You can feel it, right?)" Aerchon said.
Aurdis nodded briefly.
"(Maybe... there's something at the bottom of the hole. Or, whatever it is has already come out of there.)"
Aurdis bit her lip. She felt anxious because she had to meet her father quickly. However, what was happening at that time was also quite worrying.
"(I'll check it out for a while.)" Aerchon decided to get off his Unicorn. He ordered some warriors who were about to follow him to stay on their Unicorns. He then walked towards the edge of the crack.
"(Be careful,)" Aurdis said. Aerchon only nodded briefly without looking at her.
Aerchon felt the strange energy becoming stronger when he was at the edge of the crack. He looked inside and frowned because he saw a reddish light from below.
The light looked like fire, but what surprised Aerchon was that the light was moving. The movement was erratic, but it was enough to prove that whatever was there was likely alive.
Realizing that the situation could be serious, Aerchon immediately walked back to his Unicorn and got on. "(We have to get out of here,)" he said.
"(What did you see?)" Aurdis asked with a worried tone.
"(I don't know. But whatever it is, it's alive and moving down there.)"
The Elves who heard that also felt anxious and looked at each other. Even worse, their number was now only 50. Whatever Aerchon was worried about was usually something big that couldn't be overcome with just 50 Elves.
Aerchon shouted orders in a firm tone for them to turn back immediately. And they did, they turned back with high speed, trying to get as far away from the crack as possible.
"(We have to take a detour,)" Aerchon said. Hearing that, everyone, including Aurdis, immediately agreed.
The group circled the path and entered the forest. The journey here would be longer because they had to get off their Unicorns and pass through a dense forest area. Despite that difficulties, they had no other choice.
Along the forest, they all remained silent with a vigilant attitude while looking around. Their silence revealed something even stranger. The forest was so quiet.
There were no sounds of birds or other animals that usually filled the forest. Aurdis and Aerchon, who realized this, immediately linked this event to the arrival of The Great Calamity, even though they had nothing to really prove it.
The silence of the forest made the Elf warriors anxious. They gripped their weapons and Unicorn reins tightly. Their eyes never stopped looking around and they became jumpy even at the sight of leaves blown by the wind.
Then, suddenly, the forest shook with a great tremor.
"(Be ready!)" Aerchon shouted to his warriors while drawing his sword. They all drew their swords as well.
A few meters in front of them, the ground collapsed, causing several large trees to fall into the ground. A hole with a diameter of five meters formed in front of them in an instant.
Not long after the hole appeared, a hand with reddish-brown skin like molten lava appeared at the edge of the hole.
Aerchon, Aurdis, and all the Elf warriors immediately braced themselves for the creature that might come.
Another hand reached for the edge of the hole. Afterward, the creature that owned the hand pulled its body from under the hole. The creature climbed out and revealed its true form.
It was a creature with a height of 5 meters, a pair of red horns on its head, and its entire body was glowing red like molten lava.
Its eyes, which glowed yellow like blazing fire, stared at the Elves. Smoke came out of its nostrils when the creature breathed.
There was a whip in its right hand. The whip was also a yellowish-red color, as if it were made of magical fire strung together to form a whip.
"(Flamefoul,)" Aerchon muttered with a pale face.
Aurdis turned to him. "(Are you sure it's him?)"
"(The characteristics... It's unmistakable.)"
"(But... Isn't that creature supposed to be in the land of the Dwarves?)" Aurdis asked.
"(Yes. I don't know why he is here.)"
The Flamefoul had already set them as its prey. Aerchon was sure that the creature was the one he had seen at the bottom of the hole earlier.
"(We have to fight!)" Aerchon said to his warriors.
ROAR!
The Flamefoul let out a loud roar that shook the forest. It then charged while raising its whip.
~~~
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