Erryg Ambush

Ardenn reacted with swift precision, he spun on his left heel and jumped, barely dodging the second assault. The second Erryg gnashed wildly, it stumbled clumsily and came to a halt not far from the first creature, it smiled the same foul smile. Ardenn clutched Ignis' grip firmly, his eyes remained focused on the two Erryg in front of him, Ignis burned brightly, Ignis' deadly point aimed at the Erryg nearest to the tree where Ardenn had set up camp. 

He waited for one of the creatures to make the first move, the two devils swayed from side to side, fidgeting about with their skinny wings. The two seemed to be communicating, with deep, disturbing, guttural noises, and spasmodic high pitched caws. Then, they inched closer, the one nearest to the tree lowered it's head like a cat prepared to pounce it's prey. Ardenn readied himself, if the two pounced at once, he would move back and cut left. Just as Ardenn moved his right foot to prepare himself, the Erryg farthest from the tree went low, and ran forward from his right, simultaneously the other leaped forward from his left. Ardenn, reacting quickly, leaped forward and above the first Erryg slashing below him as he past, Ignis' fine edge sliced open one of it's wings. Ardenn failed to dodge the second, it bit shallow into his shoulder, ripping into his flesh and taking a large chunk of his shirt with it. The wounded one shrieked, Ardenn turned round to see it writhing in pain, it's face now contorted into a nastier expression, it's raw gums still exposed, the creature growled. The one that had managed a bite spat out the bloodied rag in it's mouth, it too growled. The two moved forward together, wildly, growling and cawing. Ardenn stood his ground, the two beasts now raced neck and neck towards Ardenn. When the two were in reach, Ardenn spun fast in a forward circle to his right, jumping with his left foot, Ignis split the air as he spun, Ardenn landed on the wounded Erryg's left as it ran forward to where Ardenn should have been. In one fell swoop he split the beast in half, Ignis cut through wing and bone, the beast screamed an awful screech as it fell in two, dead. The other now turned around in fear to face Ardenn. As it did, Ardenn leaped forward and slice upwards, splitting the second Erryg's ugly face from the chin up, it didn't have a chance to scream.

The forest was silent again. Ardenn would return to the road with no sleep, there was no way he'd fall asleep with two dead Erryg by his bedside. With a disgusted feeling in his stomach, he walked on in the night. The moon lit his way as he traveled. The sun rose soon enough, so Ardenn decided to rest up by a small stream. 

He awoke, the sun was high in the sky. He continued down the same dirt path he was following before, the trees were becoming much thicker, and soon he could only see the sun as it broke through small patches in the tall branches and thick greenery above him. The path became unclear, the simple dirt path became obscured by rocks and vines, and roots. Ardenn struggled to see the path at first, and soon, it become impossible to see any path at all. He walked forward with blind hope.

He heard strange sounds, like voices, whispers. Adventurers who passed through Roediina had many stories to tell about the forest, they told tales of forest spirits, white foxes that appeared and vanished. One man who passed through told the townsfolk about a strange light late at night. An eerie glow in the dark hours of night, when even the forest spirits were believed to be still. The story scared many, but not Ardenn. He was, like his father, an inquisitive and optimistic soul. The white light could have been anything, really, perhaps another traveler far off. Few traveled through the forest for one reason, fear. There was a more sinister rumor that spread about the forest, long ago a woman lost her son while traveling through it, she cried for days, then weeks, and finally collapsed, dead. Many believed that the forest spirits haunted her until her death. Most people call it the Weeping Forest, for obvious reasons. Ardenn thought of all these things as he continued, deeper into the forest. Through the leaves above him, Ardenn could see that the light was soon to pass, he planned to continue through the night, but with no moonlight, he would have a hard time seeing anything. He unsheathed Ignis, Ignis knowing why his master unsheathed him, glowed brightly, lighting the way for the young adventurer.