Thalia whispered the truth none of them wanted:
"…We weren't supposed to see it…"
The mist shifted.
The skeletons kept coming.
Endless.
Relentless.
Watching.
For a moment, none of them spoke.
Not because they had nothing to say.
Because every word suddenly felt too small for what stood beyond the trees.
A skeleton lunged through the fog.
Frauner stepped forward and cut it down.
SSSHHHHLAAANG!
BOOOOOOM!
Bone fragments scattered across his armor.
He didn't step back.
He stared into the mist.
Into the place Thalia had pointed.
His voice came low.
Certain.
"…Then we find it."
Leah turned sharply.
"What?"
Another skeleton rushed her.
She pivoted and drove her sword into its chest.
SHHHKKK!
BOOOOOOM!
Frauner didn't look at her.
"If it's controlling them," he said, cutting down another attacker in the same motion,
SSSHHHHK!
BOOM!
"…then killing these things won't end this."
Mauris understood instantly.
He thrust his spear forward.
THHRRRKKK!
BOOOOOOM!
The skeleton shattered.
Mauris stepped beside Frauner.
"…He's right."
Henry looked between them.
"You mean… go toward it?!"
Fear cracked through his voice.
Frauner glanced back briefly.
"Yes."
Another skeleton dropped from above.
Frauner stepped into it and split it apart mid-air.
SSSHHHHLING!
BOOOM!
"If we stay," he continued, calm even as death surrounded them,
"…we die slowly."
Mauris nodded once.
"If we move forward," Mauris said,
and drove his spear through another glowing core,
THHRRRKKK!
BOOM!
"…we might live."
Leah's eyes shifted to Thalia.
Thalia was pale.
Her breathing uneven.
Her fingers trembling against her bow.
Leah stepped closer to her, killing a skeleton on the way.
SSSHHHHK!
BOOM!
She grabbed Thalia's arm gently.
"Thalia."
Thalia blinked.
Focused on her.
Leah's voice softened.
"…Can you guide us?"
Another skeleton rushed them.
Mauris intercepted instantly.
THHRRRKKK!
BOOOOOOM!
He stayed in front of them.
Shielding them while they spoke.
Thalia hesitated.
Her lips parted.
Closed.
Her eyes drifted toward the mist again.
Toward the place only she could see.
Fear lived there.
Real fear.
"…It saw me," she whispered.
Frauner stepped back toward them, cutting down another skeleton.
SSSHHHHLAAANG!
BOOM!
"It doesn't matter," he said.
Thalia looked at him.
"It does," she said weakly.
"It knows I exist."
Henry stabbed another skeleton and stumbled back toward them.
SSSHKKK!
BOOM!
"But you're the only one who can find it," he said.
Not bravely.
Not confidently.
Just honestly.
Thalia's fingers tightened slightly.
Leah placed both hands on her shoulders.
"Thalia," she said,
"…look at me."
Thalia did.
"You don't have to fight," Leah said.
"You just have to help us reach it."
Another skeleton broke through their guard.
Frauner moved instantly.
SSSHHHHLING!
BOOM!
His voice came without hesitation.
"We'll protect you."
Mauris added,
"Nothing reaches you."
He killed another skeleton.
THHRRRKKK!
BOOM!
Henry nodded quickly.
"I won't run."
He swallowed.
"…Not again."
Thalia looked at all of them.
Frauner.
Unshaken.
Mauris.
Unbreakable.
Leah.
Unyielding.
Henry.
Terrified.
But still standing.
Because of her.
Because they chose to.
Another skeleton screamed and lunged.
Leah killed it.
SSSHHHHK!
BOOM!
Thalia closed her eyes.
For a moment.
Just one moment.
She reached inward.
Past the fear.
Past the exhaustion.
Past the thing that had seen her.
She could still feel it.
Her eyes opened.
She nodded.
Slow.
Uncertain.
But real.
"…I can guide you."
Relief flickered across Henry's face.
Frauner didn't smile.
But something in his shoulders eased.
Mauris adjusted his grip on the spear.
Leah squeezed Thalia's hand.
But Thalia added, quietly:
"…I don't know if we can survive it."
Silence.
Frauner answered anyway.
"We survive everything."
Another skeleton came.
He cut it down.
SSSHHHHLAAANG!
BOOM!
He stepped forward.
Toward the mist.
Toward the unknown.
Toward the thing that watched them.
He spoke one word.
"Move."
And together,
Still fighting,
Still killing,
Still afraid,
They began walking toward the thing that was waiting for them.
Thalia inhaled.
Slow.
Deep.
The tremor left her fingers.
The fear did not disappear.
But it moved.
Buried.
Controlled.
Her spine straightened.
Her shoulders rose.
Her eyes hardened.
She was no longer the girl who had seen something she wasn't meant to see.
She was the one who would lead them to it.
She stepped forward.
"Stay close."
FWIPP!
Her arrow flew.
CRACK!
A skeleton exploded.
BOOOOM!
She didn't stop walking.
Didn't look back.
Just reached over her shoulder;
FWIPP!
Another arrow.
Another kill.
BOOOOM!
Frauner stepped beside her left.
His blade became a wall.
SSSHHHHLAAANG!
BOOOOM!
Mauris took the right.
His spear moved like lightning.
THHRRRKKK!
BOOOOM!
Leah guarded behind.
Nothing passed her.
SSSHHHHK!
BOOOOM!
Henry stayed inside their formation.
Breathing hard.
Fighting harder.
CRACK!
BOOOOM!
They moved together.
One unit.
One circle.
One living weapon.
Step.
Kill.
Step.
Kill.
Step.
Kill.
The mist thickened.
The trees rose ahead.
Tall.
Black.
Ancient.
Watching.
Thalia's voice came calm.
Cold.
"…It's inside."
FWIPP!
CRACK!
BOOOOM!
Frauner cut through two skeletons at once.
SSSHHHHLING!
BOOOOM!
Mauris shouted,
"Closer formation!"
They tightened instantly.
Backs nearer.
Weapons outward.
Moving as one.
Leah spoke between breaths,
"How far?"
FWIPP!
CRACK!
BOOOOM!
Thalia answered without hesitation.
"…Not far."
Henry yelled,
"How do you know?!"
FWIPP!
CRACK!
BOOOOM!
"…Because it isn't hiding anymore."
Silence hit them for half a second.
Then;
The trees swallowed them.
The world darkened.
The mist became thicker.
Heavier.
Alive.
CRACK!
The ground shifted.
SHHHHHHHH
Skeletons rose directly in front of them as they crawling on the ground.
Not scattered.
Waiting.
Dozens.
Then more.
And more.
And more.
Henry whispered,
"…Oh no…"
Frauner stepped forward.
Blade ready.
"…Circle."
They formed it instantly.
Thalia inside.
Frauner.
Mauris.
Leah.
Henry.
Facing outward.
Enemies everywhere.
Thalia drew.
FWIPP!
CRACK!
BOOOOM!
Frauner moved.
SSSHHHHLAAANG!
BOOOOM!
Mauris roared,
"LEFT!"
THHRRRKKK!
BOOOOM!
Leah spun,
"RIGHT CLEAR!"
SSSHHHHK!
BOOOOM!
Henry stabbed,
"I GOT ONE!"
CRACK!
BOOOOM!
" Henry! Stay inside with your sister " Frauner yelled
Henry understood the situation and moved inside.
Mauris, Leah and Frauner covered the directions.
They rotated.
Step.
Turn.
Kill.
Step.
Turn.
Kill.
Perfect.
Violent.
Alive.
Thalia fired between them.
FWIPP!
FWIPP!
FWIPP!
CRACK!
CRACK!
CRACK!
BOOOOM!
BOOOOM!
BOOOOM!
Leah shouted to Thalia,
"You good?!"
FWIPP!
CRACK!
BOOOOM!
Thalia answered calmly,
"Yeah ! Let's kill this damn fucker and getover with it "
The skeletons screamed.
The circle did not break.
Not one step.
Not one inch.
They moved deeper.
Into the trees.
Into the dark.