Dawn- An age of Darkness
Chapter 96 - Island Of The Dead

I was still skeptical, so I couldn't help but warn them. "We should be careful. I'm getting the feeling this place could be full of those monstrous monsters." I Might have phrased it wrong, but I was pretty sure the other two knew where I was going with this.

Brend looked at me with pity, as if I'd only stated the obvious.

Jowy sighed. "Though I hate to admit it, I think you're right." And I was glad for him to think that. Though Jowy probably pitied me a little too.

As we moved ahead, the forest got denser and denser; luckily if we didn't bother the trees they didn't attack and there weren't any large insects either. There were an awful lot of mosquitoes though. I didn't mind the situation. As long as the undead or the goblins weren't here, everything was fine.

But as if to punish me even more, things began to change. Is it me or does this look familiar? The area looked darker than the rest of the forest as though the sun had set, yet it shouldn't even have been noon. Yup, we were right in the middle of the damn stuff I never wanted to visit again. And yes, it was very familiar if nothing else.

"What is going on?" Brend asked.

There was a familiar scent in the air too; the scent of death.

"Undeads." The word escaped my lips without my consent.

"What! But it's broad daylight!" Brend shot me the most stupid surprised faces I'd seen. Was he really being serious?

"Which part of the world are you living in?" I said. Now, I pitied him.

Jowy inspected our surroundings. "He's right. This place smells ominous. We should head back."

We nodded. There was no denying the fact that this place was bad news. We didn't need to exchange words. But as we were about to go back, something changed.

"Where did we come from again?"

We couldn't tell left from right. Every direction looked the same. The forest suddenly looked exactly alike. We were stranded in the middle. When looked directly behind, we couldn't tell if that was the right direction.

There were no birds, there were no animals. All there was were the undead and the monsters.

"Didn't we come from this way?" Brend said.

Jowy pointed in the other direction. "I think we came from this way."

We were in a serious predicament; we were lost. Although both of them kept track of the situation, we still couldn't tell our location. What is going on? Is something messing with our senses?

"Wanderer…"

"What was that?" I said. Cold sweats went down my forehead. Oh boy. Please tell me it's not what I think it is. Every single time I heard voices and that name, things happened. Bad things. Very bad things.

"What? Don't tell me you hear voices in your head or something?" Brend said.

"No, but that sounded like…"

"This way…wanderer," a faint voice said.

If it was a voice only I could hear then there was a very high chance it could have been an angel. But if it was then it could only mean trouble for us. "There it is, again!"

It must be…. It had to be an angel. But that also meant trouble for me. But at least that was better than being lost.

I ran toward the voice. It was a very nostalgic voice. I'd heard something similar before. I could faintly relate that voice to that of Misrael and even Sisrael. So I took a gamble.

"Hey! Wait!" Brend shouted and started following me. Jowy did the same.

On my way, hundreds of undead roamed around in broad daylight; although they were in the shade so they weren't vaporizing in the air. Something about this forest was different. The sacred forest in front of the village had undead in daylight too, but they never came near sunlight. But these undead were literally sunbathing and nothing was happening to them. They still couldn't see me or the other two, and it was clear that in the past humans must have lived here. But for some reason, the undead looked humanoid yet not human. They were dead so I couldn't blame them for not looking the part. But something about them felt different and I didn't like it.

As I imagined, within moments we arrived at a statue: It was still intact. Did I have a statue sensor inside of me or something?

The air was flowing and the rotting smell was, minimum in this place. And so was the fog. I knew it. Yup, shit was about to go down.

"Wanderer, I welcome you."

"I didn't expect to see one of your kind in an island like this!" I did but honestly I hoped to not run into one of them. Every single time I met one of them, only bad things happened. Granted they weren't at fault but still….

"Hey! What are you talking to!?"

"Shush, Brend. Let him go on," Jowy said. Jowy was a suspicious fellow. I had a feeling he knew something about me and the angels. But I decided to ignore it for the time being.

"Before sunset, I plead that you leave this place." This angel was being rather sincere, even more so than Misrael.

"Why is that? But before that, why are so many undead here? Isn't this place uninhabited?" I asked.

Meanwhile Brend seemed a little restless. Maybe he was weary of the heaps of undead around us.

"It is, but in the past hundreds of adventurers have come to this place seeking power. The result is what you see."

"That does make sense. What is this power you're talking about? And besides, I thought Trerortra positioned you guys in places where undead roam around and are a threat to mankind."

Brend was shaking but Jowy looked totally composed. Both of them were quiet so my conversation moved on without a hitch.

"You are not entirely incorrect. You see, this place used to be a great city in the past. But as time went by, the inhabitants of this land used sorcery to artificially create undead for wars. But one particular undead had lost control, and wiped out the entire population. That was a very long time ago. And most of the city's remains are hidden beneath the earth and sea."

"That strong huh?" My face went kind of pale. If there was an undead that could move in daylight and lay waste to an entire city, then that only meant, shit was very bad. And I didn't want any part of it.

"I don't know what yer talking about but hurry it up. This don't look good." Brend was sweating more than me. Jowy on the other hand, stayed quiet and cool.

I ignored Brend's plea. "But what does it have to do with power?"

"At the end of this forest there lies a cave. A cave where that undead dwells. Even after millennia, he still roams around and slays all who dare venture deep within. I have no power over him, thus he can move around even in daylight. And as he's an artificial undead, he isn't weak to sunlight. He won't die but will be severely weakened if he comes under holy powers. Although I cannot move from this spot I can sense the great power emanating from that cave. I believe there lays a powerful weapon there. And that undead protects that weapon. Perhaps it was created to destroy the undead…"

Maybe the creators of that undead had made it for that purpose but we didn't have the luxury to go on a picnic inside the cave and confirm it. Honestly, if I ever met those creators, I'd smack 'em good. Though, I had no plans of venturing to the heavens just yet.

The undead wasn't good news and we still had no idea how we'd get out of this damn forest. "I see. Do you know how we can get back?"

"This forest has a very dark aura which eludes all who enter; the fog is also partially responsible for the aura. The only way to leave is to close your eyes and travel straight north." She made it sound so easy.

"But the monsters-"

"I would provide you with my protection." It was a godsend. Then again she was a godsend, to begin with.

"One last question. How did you know who I was?"

"You have a fragment of her soul in you. My sister's soul."

"Sisrael, huh? I suppose I owe her much more than I thought." I kind of knew that. Sisrael really helped me a great deal. If it weren't for her, Moire would probably not exist. And I had a feeling that my magic stemmed because of her.

"Now leave before it is too late. Good luck wanderer. May lord Trerortra's protection be with you."

"Thank you." It was kind of awkward but I got the necessary info I needed. I must properly thank these angels one day. But no matter how I looked at it, they were probably the reason I was still alive, and yet… I had no idea how I could do anything for them. "You two close your eyes and head north." I didn't have time to explain anything.

"Close eyes? That's nuts. And what the hell were you talking to till now!?" Brend said.

"Calm down, I'll explain everything later." I tried to be as specific as possible, but under the circumstances, it didn't seem likely that they'll believe me.

"Very well. I shall trust you," Jowy said.

Although I hadn't noticed before, the elf was not speaking like a pirate. He was fairly normal and trusted me too much; almost enough to make me suspicious. Then again, I was suspicious to begin with.

We closed our eyes and headed north. There were groans and moans around us but we kept our eyes closed. It was not good for the heart. My muscles stiffened up in various instances but I kept going. Time slowed and I could hear leaves fall, the wind blow and monsters wanting to tear our flesh. It was almost like an eternity.

The waves crashed against the shores. I opened my eyes and we were outside the forest.

Brend couldn't believe it. "Whoa, it worked!"

"I knew it." Jowy on the other hand calmly analyzed the situation.

This guy feels like trouble. Could it be? I still kept my suspicions at a minimum. I had better things to worry about.

Gack screamed from the beach. He had a pile of pelicans near him. None of them had their heads. "What are ye three doing? Where be our fruits?"

"This isn't the time to worry about that. Are the other's back?"

"Nay, not yet."

"Take me to the captain, quick!" We had no time to lose.