The Monster of the Forest

“So, the question is: how long have those Rose warriors been here?” asked John as the group as they continued their trek through the forest, the fog even thicker the further they went. The forest’s eerie silence still continued as the king and his entourage continued to follow the ancient path.

“The Order is known to launch raids in the Abyss when they believe something so heinous is happening, that it must be destroyed. Perhaps there was something here that had to be destroyed?” Mikuru answered John’s question with one of her own.

“Do you know who used to own this castle, master?” asked Idena.

“I don’t, no. Gaia gifted it to me as a quest reward, so I’m sure she knows, but I doubt she’d tell me. She likes for me to find these things out on my own, it seems,” answered John.

“Well, let us hope the mighty Goddess Gaia, creator of all that is, will bless us with the knowledge we need for this. May her radiance shine down on us!” Gali prayed, sure that her prayer would reach Gaia.

“Thanks, Gali, maybe she will,” John said as the group came upon another group of zombies. The team quickly dispatched these undead with little problem. They seemed to have dispatched most of the zombies during the large battle where John had gained two new moves. Now, they’d stumble into a small group of zombies or a lone zombie, and could quickly dispose of the undead.

“Bah, more skeleton bones and rusted pieces of armor. Why can’t they drop useful stuff?” asked John as he pocketed the drops he received. “Ah well, I’m sure I can find some use for them,” mumbled John as the group continued.

As they travelled along, they noticed the treeline getting thinner. While it was hard to tell how much of the treeline was gone thanks to the fog, the group quickly took up a more defensive position. As they entered a clearing, the fog dissipated around a small area. In the center of the area was a pile of bones, charred from fire. There was no ash from a fire, long blown away by the winds that swept through the forests. The group looked around, making out what appeared to be some sort of buildings right along the edge of the fog but they couldn’t be sure.

“Stay here, I’m gonna go examine that pile of bones,” John said as he made his way to the center of the cleared area.

“Be careful, John, we still don’t know what’s causing all this undead and fog,” warned Mikuru as John nodded. He cautiously made his way closer to the bones, taking each step very slowly, prepared for anything that could happen. Once close enough, John cast Observe on the pile of bones.

Pile of Bones
A pile of burnt bones that belonged to members of the Order of the Golden Rose, tainted by a dark power. The Warden of the time had the bodies burned to prevent the infection from spreading to her troops, leaving the bones in the conquered kingdom that the Order locked away from the rest of the Abyss, declaring no others shall find its dark secrets.

John quickly read the description and swiped it away just in time to see the bones begin to glow. A huge gust of wind blew through the forest, and, for a moment, cleared all of the fog. The quick glimpse showed John and the group where they were: in the middle of some sort of base camp. As quick as the fog disappeared it reappeared. The girls quickly rushed to John’s side as he retreated back a few feet.

Countless screams assaulted the group’s ears. They listened to the cries of men and women, saying they weren’t tainted, were faithful to the Order, or just plain begging not to be set ablaze.

“Oh… Goddess… they burnt them… alive?” asked a stunned John, who tried to shut out the screams. Tears streamed down Idena and Gali’s faces, not wanting to hear the pleas of these long dead people. Mikuru stood in silence, no emotion showed on her face as she listened. She was, however, keenly watching the bones that now spun around in the air, glowing ever so brightly. So bright that the others, too, took notice of them.

“What… is happening?” asked Idena, fear clear in her voice.

“Something… evil is coming,” warned John’s High Priestess.

“Prepare yourselves, we’re gonna have a fight on our hands,” said John as he tightly gripped his blade in his hand. The others obediently followed orders and readied themselves as the bones began to stick together. Countless bones swirled together, each locking into place. First, a spine was formed, from which various rib bones attached to it. Those bones, however, also attached on the other side of the spine, giving this creature spikes on its back. While it did get a hip bone to float near the chest, no legs were formed. Instead, two arms with a long reach were made, with spikes attached to various parts of the bones; the group was both amazed and scared as this creature put itself back together. Skeletal wings protruded from its back, a sharpened bone at the end of each of the four deadly wings. Four skulls spun around the creature as they slowly made their way closer and closer until they locked in place, with one at the top and the other three underneath it. Finally, a few more bones were used to make a double bladed axe with its blade made of bone. Dark and powerful magic emanated from this creature, which the group was sure of. It let out a piercing howl that shook the team to their cores.

“W-what kind of magic does this?” asked Idena, dread in her voice.

“Evil magic, Idena,” Mikuru answered.

“No, not magic, not always,” said Gali, seemingly aware of what this creature was. “That’s a bone wraith, one of the most power undead creatures there is. While it can be made from only the most powerful of necromancers, it can also be made from the very anger and hatred of a large group of people killed for a reason they see as unjust,” explained Gali, whose faith seemed to give her strength despite the foul creature they now faced.

“So, it was created by the emotions of the Rose’s soldiers as they burned them alive? Fine, let’s put it to rest!” John said as he rushed the creature, his sword in hand and ready to strike. The creature roared and brought down its axe where John was at, who used his sword to block the incoming attack. He took this chance to cast Observe on his latest enemy.

The Soldier’s Anguish
Lvl 15 Bone Wraith Boss
A bone wraith formed from the negative emotions left over as they were burned alive by the very warden they swore to serve. Their bones make its body and their souls fuel its life. Its hatred curses this forest, and as long as it lives, the forest will always be restless and uninhabitable.
1,000/1,000 HP
500/500 MP
STR: 28 AGI: 10 INT: 10 END: 20 WIS: 10 CHA: 0 LIB: 0

“We kill this, and we’ll save this forest!” John shouted his findings to the group, his voice stirring them from their fear and rallying them to his side.
“By the power of the Goddess, begone, foul creature!” exclaimed Gali as she called down holy fire to blast the creature. The Soldier’s Anguish let out a howl of pain as it swung its sword in her direction. Mikuru, however, intercepted the blow with her rock covered arms, the blade only getting halfway through the rock and dirt. Idena launched a flurry of lightning enhance punches and kicks against the bone wraith’s flank, using her wings to dodge its bone wings intent on impaling her.
John’s blade made continuous contact with The Soldier’s Anguish’s bones, but no damage seemed to appear on its bones. Not even a few hits of Crusader’s Strike followed by Templar’s Verdict affected the creature. Exorcism did seem to do some damage to it, as did Gali’s holy based magic. Seeing this, John came up with a plan.

“Gali, I’m going to try something, be ready with your holy magic!” John told his companion, who quickly affirmed she would be ready. John fell back and let Mikuru and Idena distract the bone wraith, waiting for an opening. It was when the creature swung its mighty axe that John saw his chance. He quickly dashed at The Soldier’s Anguish’s unguarded back and sliced at the joint holding a few of the bones together. The attack severed the magical connection between the bones, the severed wing fell to the ground. “NOW, GALI!” shouted John. Gali unleashed a torrent of holy magic on the severed wing, burning the bones to ashes. The Soldier’s Anguish let out a roar so powerful a gust of wind blew the group back.

“BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORM!” cried the creature as it swung its axe in a circle. The group wasn’t sure what was happening until it was too late. The bones that were scattered around the makeshift battlefield rose into the air and began to swirl around the direction The Soldier’s Anguish swung its axe, with John and his group in the path of the bones. Mikuru attempted to protect herself with a wall of earth but she barely got the dirt up to her knees before bones began to impale her. The first one hit her shoulder with enough **** to make her stumble backwards, and with her concentration broken, the rest of the bones quickly found their way into her flesh, tearing through her legs and getting impaled in her chest.

“Jo…hn…” was all she could get out as she fell to the ground, blood flowing from her mouth.

Idena fared little better, she could only knock away and dodge so many bones before they clipped her left wing. The loss of that wing caused her to fall to the ground but was able to land on her feet. This was short-lived, however, as three more bones tore through her right wing. Idena brought her hands up to protect her face and neck but was unable to stop the bones that impaled her thighs and stomach.

“Master…” were the last words on her lips as Idena collapsed to the ground, her blood soaking the ground as she laid on her stomach, bleeding out.

“No…NOOOOOOOOO!” screamed John as he watched Idena and Mikuru fall to the ground, seemingly dead. His armor provided some protection, but even it could not stand against the torrent of bones impaling the armor. “Not… like this… we weren’t supposed to die… like this…” John said as he felt the warmness of his blood ooze inside of his armor. His eyes glanced down to see two bone spikes stuck in him. A third one quickly joined the other two. John’s sword suddenly felt too heavy to hold, so he let it drop. His arms, too, felt heavier than they should be, so he allowed them to fall to his side. His body now felt more like a sack of bricks than its normal weight, and so he fell to his knees. A fourth bone spike impaled him center mass, and so John collapsed.