The laughter slowly began to fade.
Not because the creature stopped.
But because it moved.
The hooded figure drifted away from Mauris's lifeless body as if the corpse had already become meaningless to it. The long cloak dragged through the air like smoke trailing behind a dying fire.
Leah couldn't breathe.
Her eyes were locked on Mauris.
His head hung forward.
His body no longer struggled against the roots.
No movement.
No breath strong enough to stir the dust clinging to his armor.
"Mauris…"
The word barely escaped her lips.
Then the creature turned.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Its burning red gaze shifted across the clearing until it landed on Henry.
Henry froze.
His entire body stiffened against the roots holding him in the air.
"No… no… please…"
His voice shook violently.
The creature floated toward him.
Unhurried.
Like a predator that already knew the outcome.
The cloak swayed behind it in long dark waves, brushing against the hanging roots as it passed. Some of the dead bodies suspended nearby twisted slightly as the air around the creature distorted.
Henry's breathing became sharp, panicked gasps.
"Stay away from me!"
He tried to pull back.
The roots tightened instantly.
They dug into his arms and chest until the bark cracked against his armor.
"PLEASE!"
The creature stopped directly in front of him.
For a moment it simply stared.
Those burning red eyes examining him.
Measuring him.
Henry's entire body shook.
"Please… don't…"
The sleeve moved again.
That long, unnatural arm slid from the cloak once more.
The same gray hand.
Those long broken fingers.
They reached toward Henry's face.
Henry screamed.
"NO! NO! DON'T TOUCH ME!"
The creature didn't react.
Its fingers brushed against his cheek.
Lightly.
Almost gently.
Henry's scream turned into a choking sob.
His entire body convulsed as if expecting the same draining horror that had taken Mauris.
But nothing happened.
The creature simply held his face.
For a few long seconds.
Its fingers slowly traced across his jaw and temple like a curious observer studying prey.
Henry whimpered.
Tears streamed down his face.
"Please… please… please…"
The creature leaned closer.
Its hood nearly touching his forehead.
The red glow flickered once.
Twice.
Then dimmed.
The hand slowly withdrew.
Henry gasped.
Confusion mixed with terror in his eyes.
The creature tilted its head slightly.
Then a soft whisper slipped from beneath the hood.
"Empty."
The word drifted into the cold air.
Disappointed.
Almost bored.
The creature straightened again.
Its spine cracked softly beneath the cloak.
Without another glance at Henry, it turned away.
Leah watched in stunned silence.
Her mind struggled to understand what had just happened.
The creature began drifting deeper into the forest of roots.
Slowly.
Calmly.
Like a shadow returning to the darkness that birthed it.
Henry's sobbing echoed weakly behind it.
The red eyes glowed faintly beneath the hood as the distance between them grew.
Further.
Further.
The cloak dissolved gradually into the fog.
The figure becoming thinner.
More distant.
Until finally.....
It vanished.
Only the storm remained.
Lightning split the sky again.
The forest of roots stood silent.
And Mauris's lifeless body hung motionless in the darkness.
Leah stared at him.
Her chest trembling.
Her voice barely a whisper.
"No…"
For a long moment after the creature vanished, the nightmare forest remained utterly still.
Only the storm spoke.
Lightning tore across the sky.
Thunder rolled through the endless tangle of roots.
And Mauris hung motionless.
Leah's chest heaved as if the air itself had become too heavy to breathe.
Her eyes were locked on him.
"Mauris…"
Her voice trembled.
No response.
Her heart began to pound harder.
"Mauris!"
She pulled against the roots binding her body.
The bark bit deeper into her ribs, but she barely noticed.
"Mauris, wake up!"
His body didn't move.
His head still hung forward.
Like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
Panic flooded her chest.
"MAURIS!"
Her voice cracked into a desperate scream.
The sound echoed across the graveyard of roots.
Henry whimpered somewhere to her left.
A broken, trembling sound.
"Leah… Leah… it… it killed him…"
His voice was barely recognizable.
He was shaking violently inside the roots that held him suspended.
His head hung low, tears dripping from his chin.
"I thought… I thought it was going to take me too…"
His breathing hitched painfully.
"I thought I was next…"
Leah ignored him.
Her eyes never left Mauris.
"No… no… no…"
Her voice grew softer now.
Shaking.
"You can't… you can't just…"
Her throat tightened.
She struggled harder against the roots.
The vines creaked but held firm.
"MAURIS!"
Her scream shattered the silence again.
Then;
A slow breath.
Behind her.
Soft.
Weak.
Leah froze.
Another faint inhale.
She turned her head as far as the roots allowed.
"Thalia…?"
The massive root pillar behind Henry shifted slightly.
At first it seemed like another trick of lightning.
Then Thalia's fingers twitched.
Her head lifted slowly.
Painfully.
Her eyes opened.
Clouded.
Unfocused.
She blinked weakly as the stormlight flashed across her face.
"…Leah?"
Her voice was barely more than a whisper.
Relief slammed into Leah like a wave.
"Thalia!"
Thalia blinked again, trying to clear her vision.
"What… happened…?"
Her gaze drifted slowly across the clearing.
The endless roots.
The hanging corpses.
Henry shaking violently in the air.
Then....
Her eyes found Mauris.
She frowned weakly.
Confusion flickered across her face.
"…Why is he…?"
Her head tilted slightly.
"Mauris?"
No response.
Henry began sobbing again.
A quiet, broken sound.
Thalia's expression slowly changed.
The confusion faded.
Something colder replaced it.
"Mauris…?"
Her voice trembled this time.
Lightning split the sky again.
For a brief second his lifeless body was fully illuminated.
Head lowered.
Completely still.
Henry whimpered loudly.
"Oh gods…"
Thalia's breathing stopped.
Her eyes widened slowly.
"No…"
Leah shook her head desperately.
"I tried… Thalia, I tried…"
Her voice broke.
"That thing… it… it took something from him…"
Henry's shoulders shook violently.
"He screamed…"
His voice cracked.
"He was screaming and then…"
He couldn't finish.
Thalia stared at Mauris.
Her lips parted slightly.
But no words came out.
The storm roared above them.
Silence fell between them.