Arata continues down the path, noticing that everyone else appears to be in great condition. The knights remain stoic, clad in armor and prepped for battle. Yet that fails to portray the inner turmoil that the soldiers face, putting their own mortality at risk.

  Only two go into combat without fear of death. Arata knows that he cannot die; thus, his life is insured. Gavian is the second man, yet the look in his eyes is different; he has no fear left for death, as he never even considered it. Hatred… In such an unforgiving world, everyone’s got a good reason to hate. The demons have taken from everyone yet sometimes I feel like it boils over. This war is also a scapegoat for rage, all that makes life unfair.

  Morgan points out, “Gavian… get a grip. We’re only at the camp right now. Wait for the battle to begin before you go insane.”

  In front of them is a fort, a pile of monotone stone, patched together full of wood, with nothing but a gray sky cast above it. The place was very much unpleasant, a mess of mercenaries, soldiers from the kingdom and wounded who had no medics to come to their aid. The situation was very dire.

  “Sir Morgan- I thought there would be the hero arriving here? These soldiers are ill-prepared when it comes to fighting; this position can’t be defensible.” Alexander is the first to point out.

  Not the best when it comes to military tactics… there’s something I gotta ask Ravenna. Arata pushes his palms together in prayer.

  Ravenna looms over him before asking, “You wanted my assurance you guys had a chance, right? Unfortunately for you, Arata… this group is to be used as a diversion. The hero’s party was only told they were sent this way to get here faster because the Baker was afraid Clemence would put those facts together too quickly before the battlefield was reached. Since you didn’t want to join his side, he sees you now as a threat.”

  Seriously? Why didn’t she say anything… Arata begins to glare at her in annoyance before realizing. “Hey, Ravenna… you can recreate spaces I’ve seen in the theater, right? Did you get a map for this area?”

  “Yeah- that’s why I couldn’t get this info to you sooner… sorry, man. But I can try reading the wavelengths of the soldiers here to give you a more concrete answer… the fact that this squad was meant as a diversion doesn’t mean the situation is doomed.”

  Arata decides to help the other knights move their stuff and tents in while Ravenna collects information for him. She looks at many of the soldiers.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Alright… the soldiers don’t trust each other… foreign mercenaries don’t get along, but there was something else. Couldn’t quite tell. Something reminiscent of paranoia. Please remember to sleep with one eye open.”

  Arata couldn’t forget what she had said when night had rolled around. Soon enough, the camp grew quiet at night, all except those standing guard. Yet something was wrong… the footsteps of the guards had come to a sudden halt. Something’s off… heeding Ravenna was a good idea!

  Arata pokes his head up, creating a small fire to make his way around the camp. The area was pitch black, he couldn’t tell where he was going. In fact, he was doing so poorly that he ended up kicking Leon in the face.

  Leon wakes up after Arata’s toes smack into the side of his head, “Hey! What the hell, man! I’m trying to get some real sleep here-”

  Arata covers Leon’s mouth, “The night guards are too quiet… one of the torches dimmed.”

  Arata makes his way out into the darkness, the light of his flames as the only source and he hears a human panting, it sounds almost like it’s asphyxiated, trying to preserve itself rather than just plain exhaustion.

  Arata then bumps into a night guard’s back, feeling the warmth of his skin and a slick plant structure… Leon jumps, tackling Arata to get him away before it’s too late.

  “Hey man! What the fuck is that?! It’s not human-” Leon shudders. Despite his strength in saving Arata, he trembles as the creature comes into view.

  The man was revealed to have been cut open, lacerated and maimed across its entire body before plant fibers were used to stuff it back together… small wings stuffed its lost entrails, barely hanging from a cavity in its gut. The humanoid’s neck extends like a llama’s as it stops trying to pant; now it looks more like trying to vomit. The creature reaches its hand back into its throat to relieve itself from what was choking it, an elongated tongue stretching down to its chest. Across the creature’s massive tongue and person’s face, roses grow out of the organic material as it begins to speak. “To dust you shall return… invaders of the forest.”

  Arata readies the cauterizer, planning to melt his sword when suddenly, he watches a knife penetrate through his ribcage from his blind spot. Arata’s vision fades but before it does, he gets a glimpse of the culprit. Leon begins to shake just before he dismembers his own form. Gore sprays out across Arata’s fresh corpse.

  The theater’s lights come on as Ravenna looks at Arata with an “I told you so” look.

  She clears her throat, “Arata… that monster damages your sanity… that’s the feeling I got from the soldiers earlier. You’re just not affected by that type of monster, the theater… it carries some of the mental toll for you, storing it within these confines. It's a necessary step to keep your mind stable through looping back and warping between planes of existence.”

  Continuing, she explains, “Fight it alone, then make sure to kill it… I’ll examine the creature once we acquire its script.”