Figures moving through the growing dark and circling around their position. And there were at least a dozen of them closing in from all sides.

Myrenne dismounted quickly with this urgent look on her face. "We're surrounded," she said sharply.

These immediately put the rest of them, asides Aiden and shadow, on alert.

The creatures emerged from the forest slowly and revealed themselves.

These creatures had once been human, but corruption had twisted their forms into these monstrosities. Their pale skin was stretched thin over bone, and dark veins throbbed just beneath the surface.

Small horns jutted from their foreheads and temples and their eyes glowed with a sickly red light.

Some of them had claws instead of fingers while others had mouths that split too wide and revealed rows of jagged teeth.

Their movements were jerky and unnatural as if their bodies no longer remembered how to move properly, and they hissed and snarled as they closed in on the group.

"Shadehusks," Myrenne said. "These are the creatures I warned you about. Humans corrupted by demonic energy and turned into monsters."

Aiden stepped down from the cart with his expression remaining calm as ever even as the shadehusks continued to close in.

Laela and Arianna climbed down as well with their hands already glowing faintly with magic.

Shadow growled again and positioned itself between Aiden and the nearest creature with its teeth bared.

The shadehusks stopped just outside striking distance and formed a loose circle around the party, and for a moment the only sound was the low growl of the dire wolf.

Then one of them lunged forward with claws outstretched, but the Amazons reacted first.

Myrenne drew her long spear from its harness on her back in a single fluid motion and dove into the midst of the shadehusks without hesitation.

Aeris followed right behind her and despite how young she looked she moved without a thought of fear, pulling two golden daggers from her belt and launching herself forward with the same ferocity.

Both women moved with explosive strength and speed that made their earlier claims about being blessed by gods feel undeniably real, and watching them fight was like witnessing something beyond human capability.

Myrenne's spear pierced through the chest of the shadehusk that lunged forward.

She twisted the weapon to throw the creature aside before spinning to slash another across the throat in a movement so fast it almost looked like a blur.

Aeris ducked beneath a clawed swipe and drove both daggers upward into the ribcage of her attacker, then pulled them free and rolled to the side as another lunged at her from behind.

Their movements were seamless and instinctive. Every strike carried enough force to shatter bone and tear through flesh with ease.

Well asides the fact that Amazons were already capable fighters from the moment they were given life, the kingdom of Yul'thera also ensured each one received further training to become even greater warriors.

Shadow, the dire wolf, charged into the fight and clamped its jaws around one creature's arm, tearing it clean off before it could react.

The wolf then shook its head sharply, flinging the limb aside, then lunged at another target.

The fight dragged on for a few minutes and the creatures continued to attack with mindless aggression.

But the Amazons moved through them like a storm, and their weapons never stopped cutting down the enemies.

The fight dragged on for a few minutes and the creatures continued to attack with mindless aggression, but the Amazons moved through them like a storm and their weapons never stopped cutting down enemies.

Laela and Arianna stood near the cart with their hands still glowing faintly with prepared magic, but they hadn't cast a single spell because the Amazons seemed to have everything under control.

Laela glanced at Arianna with wide eyes. "They're incredible," she said quietly.

Arianna nodded and watched as Myrenne impaled two monsters at once with her spear and lifted them off the ground before slamming them back down.

"I've never seen anyone fight like that," she admitted. "It's like they were born for this."

Aiden stood with his arms crossed and watched the scene unfold with intrigue on his face, with his eyes tracking every movement the Amazons made as if studying their technique.

Within minutes, the last of the shadehusks fell to the ground with its chest split open by Aeris's daggers.

Myrenne pulled her spear free from a corpse and wiped the blade clean on the grass while Aeris sheathed her daggers and glanced around to make sure no more creatures remained.

Aiden stepped forward and without a word he snapped his fingers once.

Flames erupted from every corpse simultaneously and consumed their twisted bodies in seconds.

The fire burned so hot that the shadehusks turned to ash almost instantly before the wind scattered the remains across the ground.

Myrenne turned to look at him and nodded once in approval.

She sheathed her spear and walked over to where Aiden stood. "Facing these monsters means we're close," she said. "But what we just fought was too small a number. The further we go in the more of these corrupted creatures will show up."

Aiden then glanced back at the cart and horses. "I suggest we continue on foot from here then. The horses won't be able to handle what's ahead and the cart will only slow us down."

Myrenne nodded in agreement. She was going to suggest that herself.

The party worked together to tie the horses securely to nearby trees.

Aiden then snapped his fingers again, sending the supplies behind the cart into his pocket domain.

He could have stored the horses too, but there was a good chance they would panic and wander off—or worse, stumble off the ground platform and fall into areas of the domain he had never bothered to explore.

Once everything was prepared they set off again, now on foot with Myrenne leading the way.

Shadow currently trotted beside Aiden.

They moved deeper into the forest where the trees grew darker and more twisted as if the land itself had been poisoned.

It wasn't long before Aiden's senses tingled again and he raised one hand to signal the group to stop.

Myrenne turned back with her hand already on her spear. "More of them?" she asked.

Aiden nodded slowly but his expression shifted again as he studied the forest ahead. "These are different," he said.

He had faced these creatures once before, that he would instantly be able to know them by their awful malevolent scent.

These weren't humans who had been forcibly corrupted and twisted into monsters…. These were demons.

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