The Fury in the Forest (BT)

[Mila]

Dear Mila, may this letter find you well. Please head to the town of Southern Springs and investigate the disappearance of Sir Ringham and his mercenary company. If alive, return him to Veritas. If deceased. Return with proof of his death.

Mila sighed softly. She had read and reread this letter a million times since she received it. The piece of parchment came to her on the legs of a messenger bird. And she wondered how the hell the academy managed to track her down when she was half way towards the Ryerde-Worde border. She really wished she could just burn the letter and continue on her way Southwards towards Nabata. But, of course fate dictated that the very town Sir Ringham was last seen at just so happened to be southwards.. towards her destination. She almost cursed the gods for that. Traveling by herself had become incredibly difficult. Especially, when going through Worde. 

Worde was close to becoming a monster infested green land. The baels and the undead have become such a problem that many villages and towns have been outright abandoned out of fear of the ever encroaching horde. And Mila didn't blame them one bit. She knew the horrors the various array of monsters were capable of inflicting. And those were just of the monsters she knew of. There were rumors of other more terrible beasts out there that put Baels to shame. Zombie infected Baels. Horrible Sea monsters. Blood sucking ghosts. Mila had made notes of every rumor she came across in an attempt to try and piece together what would have caused the disappearance of Sir Ringham and his merry band of fighters. Of course those monsters might be nothing compared to the cut-throat mercenaries that are out there. Perhaps, Sir Ringham had an altercation with his own guards. Perhaps they killed him and robbed him shortly after leaving the borders of Ryerde? Mila mused to herself in between her reading. 

She was sitting in the back of an old rickety wagon. And the poor sage could feel every single bump, rock, and hole in the road. Her body would thrash around mildly at the sudden dip whenever the wheels went over a particularly nasty holes. An old man and a horse were pulling her closer towards her destination. The man and his horse were guarded by his two sons, and their mighty weapons. Pitchforks. Mila was grateful the man and his sons even bothered to stop and pick her up off the side of the road. She offered them some coin for their troubles and they accepted. The men explained that they came from Southern Springs and that the only reason that they were traveling the roads was to see if they could find their missing livestock. Mila lamented the fact that she didn't see any live stock recently. 

But she did ask if anyone with magic had passed by here recently. They explained that there was one fancy pants mage who came through the village. But he went into the cursed forest and didn't come back out. When Mila asked why that particular patch of woodland was considered cursed, the boys made a strange hand gesture. A sort of spiritual blessing or ward of some sort.

One young man explained it's cause of a banshee. When ever anyone trespassed into the woods with out the woods blessings end up angering the banshee. A horrible scream would come out of the woods at night, and then that's when the village knew someone had died. Sir Ringham went into the woods with out heeding any of the villager's warnings and then there was a scream at night. And Sir Ringham didn't come back out. What few villagers remained, treated the woods with both great respect and fear. Mila sighed.

"What else can you tell me about these woods? Have other things beside people gone missing when they enter the woods?" Mila asked.

"Aye Ma'm. Sometimes horses run in. But, there's no scream. They just don't come back. Cats sometimes come in and out of the woods. Dogs avoid it all together." 

"Any other signs? Strange fur? Large batches of spider webs? Strange scratch marks on the bark?" 

"We wouldn't know Ma'm. But ye can ask the Mayor once we get into town. He was the one who spoke to Sir Ringham last."

[Mila]

The rest of the ride to the village was uneventful. The two boys did try to entertain the sage with tales of their farming adventures, only for the old man to tell them to shut up. Apparently, the old man was tired of hearing the same three stories over and over again. Two of those stories he was present for. And they were supposed to be quiet anyway, the road was dangerous and they needed to be wary of every single little noise. 

Mila at this point was on her back inside the wagon cart. Staring at the canvas colored ceiling and mentally cursing at every rock that rocked the wagon. She tried to read. But, the constant swaying motion made it nearly impossible to do so. The moment she felt herself focus even a little bit on the words, her stomach juices would churn, and she had to stop before she felt really sick. She tried to sleep, but couldn't. She probably wouldn't even be able to sleep if the Sandman came up to her and slapped her with his sack of sleep dust. 

The old man made an announcement once they finally arrived in the village itself. Mila pulled her body off of the wooden floor and poked her head outside. Almost immediately she was met with glares and cautious stares. The people that looked at her were deplorable. Most of them were dirty, some were very thin, and others were just wary of her presence. Mila herself was miserable and unkempt due to her travels but, compared to these poor saps she looked practically divine. The houses that dotted the territory were in slight disarray. It must have rained recently as the scent in the air was heavy with the scent of water. The forests of the village surrounded the town save for the small path that was cleared out for traveling in and out. The scent of pine and oak tickled her nose. The old man dropped her off at the mayors manor. He lived in a large long cabin, that he shared with his family, animals, and servants. The old man knocked on the mayor's door and gave the servant instructions. Mila stepped out of the wagon and gathered her things. She thanked the two young men for their attempts to keep her entertained. 

The mayor of the village stepped out and beckoned Mila to come into the cabin. Once, inside Mila could see that this long house had been there a long time. But, it was very well maintained. There was a roaring fire in the middle with some sort of stew cooking in the middle. The animals were penned into their respective places. And there were two floors. Half way within the long home was a second floor used for storage it seemed. The walls were adored with simple things. A long cloth with a family crest. A sword. A shield. And towards the fire there were things on the wall meant to hold cookery. A cast iron pot. A skillet. And a bundle of dried herbs, garlic, and gourds. 

Mila was introduced to the mayor of the town. He was a tall fellow. A bit portly around the edges. But he had dark brown hair that trailed down past his shoulders and a beard that could rival Perun's. He wore simple clothes but carried a pin with an emblem on him that flickered among the firelight. Bjark was his name. Behind him was the lady of the house, his wife Iona, and his four children. Two of which had children of their own. 

"Good Day, sir. Thank you for your invitation to your lovely home." Mila spoke. 

"Aye, lass. What brings you here? The old man says you've come to find your missing kin?"

"Not my Kin. But, he is one of my coworkers. Veritas Academy sent me to investigate his disappearance. Sir Ringham was supposed to arrive here about two weeks ago. Did he ever show up?" Mila asked. Hoping that the man said no, so he could write back to the academy to let them know Ringham died on the way over.

"Yes he did lass. Showed up two weeks prior and then disappeared. He went into the woods and never returned." 

"Damn. The Academy needs me to bring back proof of his passing then. I've.. heard a few things about those woods. Have they always been so dangerous?"

"No." One of his son's chimed in behind their father. Bjark turned round and gave him a bit of a stare.

"They used to be relatively safe, but then the damn undead came after the fall of Ostia a few months back. Our people have a shrine within the heart of the woods. The shrine's dedicated to the forest gods. When boys or girls come of age, a wedding, or if we were to go in battle, our priest would go into the woods and ask for protection. But it's been too dangerous to go in. And our priest fears the shrine has been damaged and this is all a curse of the gods."

"Did.. Sir Ringham go into the woods towards the shrine?"

"No. The fool ignored the warnings of the dangers and went in. Without any protection. He said something along the lines of "I don't need no Pagan god giving me no blessings. I have the power of the divine saint!" Or somethin like that." The wife chimed in this time. And did her very best impression of sir Ringham.

Mila sighed and shook her head. Sir Ringham was a moron who ignored the whole.. basic.. mechanic of doing an intelligence job correctly. 

"That idiot. Ugh. What about his body guards?"

"They went in with him.. and also didn't come out. Though the guards did listen to some reason.. and at least packed  a few torches and a map. Not that those torches did much. It was raining heavily that day." 

"What.. do I need to do to ensure safe passage into the woods? Do you need me to see if this shrine of yours is.. still standing? And wait.. if you need to go into the woods.. to the shrine.. to get the forest god's blessings.. for safe passage through the woods?" She spoke that last bit slowly. As if trying to wrap her head around the whole concept of going into danger.. to find something to save you from.. the current danger.

"Yes. Yes.. I understand how that sounds lass. But, our ancestors didn't exactly plan for the woods to be full of monsters when the shrine was built."

"I see. Well, I won't be running in blindly into the forest just yet. I need a place to stay and get my baring's. Did Sir Ringham have a room? Is there an inn?"

"No. He spent his first night in his wagon. We don't have an official inn, but let me see if there be anyone willing to rent a spare room. Ye might need to work for it though."

"I understand."

[Mila]

Mila spent about two days just being in the village. She wasn't very well received until she started to show off her magic. Any initial inquires she made about Sir Ringham and his group were met with coldness and talk about the cursed forest. She learned that the wagon Sir Ringham had used to travel here was looted by the more desperate of the villagers. Some of it was on sale at the local shop, to which Mila. Mila was very tempted to buy some of the school's products back, but decided not to. She didn't need Sir Ringham's information anyway. What she needed was clues as to what mystery monster was haunting the surrounding woodlands. 

The old woman she was staying with was a bit of an outcast in the village. A healer of sorts who dabbled in herbal remedies and was a midwife. Except that these days there weren't much need for a midwife, when most of the people were dying to monsters. But, despite the old woman's semi-ostracized status, people came to her for help. The old woman was about to turn down healing a younger woman due to the lack of herbs needed to make tea. This poor woman was desperate for any remedy that could help her irregularity. The old woman stated that the herbs needed to make this remedy were not in season yet. And Mila, who at this point was living with the old hag as both a guest and servant, put her broom down and got to work. 

The Sage asked the woman to point her towards the herb garden. The garden was full of damp but soft soil. Mila crouched down towards the ground. She put her hand over the dirt for a moment. Then she shifted her body so that she was lying down on the cold muddy ground. Both the old woman and the young woman looked at her with a puzzled look. Mila didn't need to do this. She could have brought the plants up from out of the ground standing up. But, sometimes, when she did that, the plants wouldn't come up right. She held her palm up and focused her Flora magic and gently placed it down on a small patch of garden soil. 

"Oh these.. are little bitty. Just seeds.." Mila spoke out loud. 

"There's a whole lot of them too. Each of them are nipping at my magic.. like a bunch of tiny fish." 

Mila sighed softly, she stopped focusing her magic, and pulled herself back up. She took a deep breath in and focused again. She channeled the power of Flora once again. And this time with a little more exertion, Mila pumped a quarter of the garden with her magic. The section of the garden sprung to life in an instant. Mila stopped casting her spell. She stood up, dusted herself off, and went back into the house. The old woman looked annoyed at the fact that Mila just did that. 

Mila was soon bombarded with requests for her use of magic. To which Mila complied, as long as they provided her with information about the woods, food, or shelter. A farmer needed help tilling his soil. So Mila used Gaea to help break apart the land to make things easier for the farmer's family. The local blacksmith had a problem bringing his fire up to temp. Mila blasted the furnace full of a concentrated and controlled Volcanon magic. Bjark and his family asked for her assistance. She healed one of his grandkids with her staff and helped his wife with another plant spell. She helped Bjark with assembling a wall to help protect the village. By the fourth day Mila felt that she had enough information to begin an investigation of the woods. 

Mila checked off a list of common themes that this supposedly cursed creature or creatures had. Fur. Feathers. A loud wail. Claw marks?

"Well.. I can scratch Bael off my list. Baels.. don't have feathers. Thank god." Mila entered the forest and made her way towards the shrine. Mila was on edge because she was going into these unknown woods. With no idea as to what she would find. Mystery monster or not, these woods were still deep within undead territory. 

"Perhaps.. it might be a pack of griffons? They would be a new species to the area.. and seeing as how smugglers like to use off the beaten paths to smuggle these exotic creatures. That would fit the bill. They could be aggressive since.. they are wild animals." She spoke to herself. Mila looked down at her little lightning elemental in a bottle. The little creature was out and about, observing, and listening to Mila talk. It was also sitting down with it's little feet sticking up out in front of it and it's arms crossed. 

"Oh I'm sorry. Are you bored?" She asked Joules with a semi-sarcastic tone. 

"Well I have to talk to someone about all this junk." She tapped on the glass lightly. The little light ball sparked a bit but didn't change it's position. Then the sage sighed again. 

"I need to focus. I'm supposed to find the remains of a dead guy.. not identify a mystery monster..." Mila sighed again. She came up onto the shrine. It was a simple shrine. It's logs were carved and decorated with intricate design. Most of it depicted a design of flora and vines. As well as some sort of creature with a deer skull head. Mila shrugged. She glossed around the shrine and saw some signs of damage. Scorch marks? They.. are too linear to be lightning strikes. Someone tried to blast the shrine with magic. But the mist laden wood of the shrine resisted it. Light magic.

"So.. Sir Ringham came this far at least." Mila crouched down and did some sleuthing. She found a carefully hidden footprint. And followed it. The more she walked, the more signs she saw of a struggle. There were claw marks all over the trees. And more of the linear scorch marks. She kept walking though the woods. The mist and fog were starting to pick up. She lost her footing, tripped, and fell down a small embankment. She landed on her back with a thud. She opened her eyes and found herself staring at the grey sky. She sage pulled herself up off the ground and rubbed the back of her head. No blood. Just mud.

Then the sage froze in place. Something saw her take that unceremonious fall. Something that was standing about 3 yards in front of her. Something that was large with a set of big yellow eyes. Mila couldn't make out what it was. But it looked like it was covered in some sort of fuzz. The creature let out a horrible shriek that sounded something akin to a predatory bird screech but distorted in some way. Two great shadowy shapes emerged from what Mila perceived to be back of the creature. And it lunged towards the young sage with incredible speed. Mila jumped back. The sage could feel the air of the creature's claw swipe on her face. The sage fell back on her butt again and kept pulling her body back and away from the thing in the mist.

Mila stopped for a moment and channeled a flood of magic right to the ground. The Gaea magic responded by flinging upwards a series of stone and mud towards the creature. The creature didn't like the fact that it was suddenly coated in mud and gunk. It started to throw a fit of violent thrashes until it finally stopped. It was a this point Mila, who didn't move from her spot, for whatever reason, realized that this creature couldn't move forward. At least it couldn't move forward by much.

"The hell is that thing?"

[Mila]

What ever the thing was, it let out another horrible screech. Mila covered her ears with her hands and waited until the noise was over. She did her best to try and study the creature through the encroaching mist. She immediately realized it was not any sort of monster she was familiar with. This thing was not a Bael. As it had too few limbs and wasn't already filling her body full of poisons with a single bite. Not a Mauthe Doog, because of the screeching and just general body movements. She considered it to be perhaps a goyle of some kind, but never in her life had she ever encountered any goyle with fuzz. The creature was still sort of thrashing about trying to get the mud off of it's fuzz.

Mila decided that this creature was not going to be instantly murdered. No, she needed to be rational about this. She needed to study this creature. The creature looked up at Mila with cold yellow eyes that pierced through the fog. Mila held her breath. She switched gears with her spells and started to channel the power of flora. Mila let her breath out and focused. When the creature went to lunge at her again. The sage released her magic. Fines of all shapes and sizes emerged from the ground and surrounded the creature and held it in place. The creature was stunned for a moment. It tried to move out of the slurry of vines. Mila focused again and strengthen the vines with the addition of bark. The creature did not move after that. Mila then sat her butt back down on the ground and just took a moment to breathe. 

While on the ground she noticed that the forest floor was littered in body parts. She grabbed the nearest body part and inspected it. A boot with a foot still firmly attached to the inside. Judging from the smell, color, and rot. She assumed that this body was in on the floor for at least a week. She noticed that the top end where the ankle met the calf, looked as if it had been nibbled on, by something with large sharp teeth. Teeth she assumed belonged to the mystery creature she had in front of her. There were feathers on the ground too. But, they were greyish in color with black spots. Most gryffons she knew about were usually brown.

After, a few moments, Mila got up. And went to inspect what ever the hell the thing in front of her was. As she approached, the thing kept looking at her with those bright yellow eyes. This creature had four limbs, a large set of wings on it's back, a human like head, with a long nose, and long messy white hair. Or what she assumed to be hair, for all she knew it could have been a different kind of feather. The creature appeared be some sort of half human half bird hybrid. In the places where she expected to see arms and legs, she found the long legs of a raptor. The scaly bits of bird legs were a light grey in color. The creature had four digits per leg and each one equipped with a long black claw. It's entire body was covered in feathers. A short feathered fuzz covered it's chest. As she walked behind the creature she noticed that one of the creatures legs, was trapped under a log. No wonder it couldn't move. She found more body parts surrounding the creature. Mila picked up a hand and recognized the ring on it's finger. Well I found Ringham.

"Hey, did he taste good?" Mila joked. As she pulled the ring off of his pale dead fingers. Future her would look back at this moment and comment on the morbidity of it all.

"FULL OF SALT. The thing trapped within the vines spoke then hissed. Mila took a step back.

"Did.. you.. just speak?"

"YES. NOW FREE ME! The thing within the wood was indeed speaking to Mila. But, it's voice clearly wasn't human. It did try to sound human but there was clearly something bird like with it. It wasn't quite like how a parrot spoke human phrases, as birds didn't have to deal with lips or a mouth full of teeth. Perhaps it was something more like a human trying to imitate how a bird would speak.  

[Mila]

"Uh.. no. I will not free you. Cause you'll claw my throat out." Mila replied in a both blunt and somewhat bewildered response. This creature creature not only displayed a human level intelligence, but it was making demands. This creature was something Mila just had to study and suddenly the need to bring back Ringham and his dearly departed crew's remains went out the proverbal window. Here she was standing next to what could be one of the greatest monster discoveries in a life time and she was not about to just release it. The creature trapped within the bark laiden vines began to try and move and lash out desperately at the sage. Mila raised her hand up and summoned an orb of bright orange fire and stared at the creature. 

"I do not want to kill you." She decided to make her intention's clear. This thing was clearly intelligent perhaps she could make it understand logic and reason.

"Make no mistake. I will defend myself if threatened." Now illuminated from the fire ball Mila could see that this creature was old. It looked like an old hag with an elongated nose but all of it was still covered in the same grey fuzz. Mila could see bits of moss growing within and around certain parts of the creature's body. She wasn't sure if this creature had moss growing on it because of it's time being grounded or if it was somehow also part plant. 

The creature hissed but calmed it's movements. 

Mila could also see that this creature was not in the best of health. It was thin and had several of it's claws chipped, broken, and discolored. A clear sign of malnutrition in any creature, human, or other wise. 

"You've.. been stuck here for a while, haven't you?" Mila slowly made her way down towards the creature's leg. Which appeared to be trapped under a rather heavy log. The leg reeked. A clear sign of infection. And the part where the leg and the log met were black and appeared wet. As if it was actively oozing a viscus fluid. Mila looked back towards the base of the fallen tree. She saw that the tree had been struck with lightning. Or perhaps with a very strong light spell. Despite, his arrogant attitude, Sir Ringham was quite capable with light magic. And she suspected the "blessed" man used some sort of advanced light spell. 

"Can you tell me how long?" Mila asked.

Another hiss.

"Okay, I get it. You aren't in the mood to talk. That's fine. But, if you want me to free you. And I really mean free you from this place.. not just my vines. I would like a little bit of cooperation." 

"POX. PESTALACNE. PLAUGE. UPON YOU HUMAN! I REFUSE TO BE PRISONER!"

Mila sighed. Clearly she wasn't getting anywhere with this like of talking. Mila grabbed a nearby branch and turned it into a crude torch. She let her fireball dissipate. Then the sage went and grabbed from her bag a small piece of jerky. She grabbed another nearby stick. Then stuck the jerky bit to the end of it and presented the meaty morsel to the bird monster's mouth. The creature instantly grabbed it within it's mouth and began chewing it. Then gulped it down quickly.

"You are probably really dehydrated too. I can give you wa-" 

"GIVE ME MORE!"

"Please answer my.."

"14 MOONS!" The creature practically shrieked. Mila ripped off another bit of jerky and fed it to the creature. 

"Do you have a name?" She asked the beast.

The beast responded with a series of soft shriek's. Mila looked puzzled. The creature gave the same series of soft shrieks. Something, that Mila could not even try to pronounce. 

"I don't think I have the vocal cords to pronounce that. I will just call you Grey. Fair?" Mila asked as she gave the creature another bit of meat.

"FAIR." 

Mila put the meat jerky back into her bag.

"I can't give it all to you. You are too emaciated. You've got to be fed slowly. The same rule will go with the water." Mila took a step back. She grabbed her leather canteen and thought for a moment. How to best distribute the water with out losing a finger or hand. Mila cracked her knuckles. She focused a small amount of magic and summoned a flexible vine of plant matter. She had it "hold" the canteen and then summoned another vine to squeeze the water out. The vines slowly made their way towards the creature's face. Grey caught on to the idea and moved it's head towards the nozzle. Mila commanded the vines to dispense the water and the creature gulped it down greedily. Mila pulled the canteen away after a few moments. 

"If I help you.. do you swear not to kill me?"

The creature was about to yell something obscene at the human in front of it. How dare the human make such demands? The second it got out of this mess she would kill the human and eat her bones. Then it would fly away and return to it's flock and resume it's business. It would recover it's strength and swear vengeance on all humans for putting it in this situation. Salty taste of human flesh be damned. It would simply wash down the taste of those humans with the blood of it's animals of the farms.

It tried to go for the human but stopped mid movement. It wanted to curse and burn every living plant right then and there. Then thought to itself, what other choice did it have? Sit here and starve to death? It was already exhausted from the entrapment and being exposed to the elements. The creature sucked in a breath. It's chest felt heavy and the insides felt wet. It knew that if it didn't accept the human's help, it would die in the place. It knew it's leg was lost cause. As the creature had lost sensation in that limb days ago. But, at the same time it just felt that it couldn't stand for this human's arrogance. It was a creature of antiquity and it deserved the respect of an elder. 

"NO PROMISES." It replied back to Mila. The feathered fiend was seething with quiet rage.

"ONLY TOLERANCE."

[Mila]

"I.. will accept tolerance." Mila spoke, then sighed. She fed grey another piece of meat on a stick then sat her butt down on the ground and just looked at the creature in front of her. She rubbed her cold clammy hands over her face and slowly pushed then down her eyes and cheeks. The excitement of the situation at hand was slipping away and now she was forced to face the reality of the situation. 

"How.. am I going to get you out.." She thought out loud.

And the creature still trapped in vines looked at her. Bewildered for a moment at the question. The solution was obvious to the creature, remove the log. The feathered fiend shrieked a bit before answering the green haired woman's response. 

"REMOVE LOG."

Mila looked up at the creature and shook her head. 

"I can.. do that. But I.. don't think you'd survive that." The sage quietly and gently removed the vines away from the creature's face so it had more range of motion.

"Your leg's been pinned for a while. Like two weeks.. it's all rotten by now. The only thing keeping MOST of that infection from the rot in the leg is the log. If I move that.. all that bad stuff will go up the leg and into the rest of your body." Mila pointed downwards to the creature's foot. The feathered half woman tilted her head and looked down at her pinned leg. Then it tilted it's head back to human in front of her and let out a noise that sounded like a hiss.

"ME FIGHT SICKNESS. MOVE LOG NOW!"

"You are not strong enough to fight the sickness that will come. Not like this. You are weak from being exposed to the elements and starving." 

Mila was met with several hisses at that remark. As if the creature was insulted about being called weak. It squirmed under the might of the vines and it even managed to break some. The creature freed it's arm and began ripping away at some of the other ones before panting then huffing. It's feathers puffed up and looked like an angry chick. Which would have been adorable if those feathers weren't attached to a giant murderous quadruped bird woman. 

"I REFUSE TO DIE HERE!" 

"And.. I don't want you to die here. Grey I want you to live. But.. I.." Mila bit her lip. 

"I think I need to remove the leg." 

That comment did not end well. A series of angry hissing and screeching were thrown all at Mila's direction. The bird woman was shouting at her in a language she did not understand. Or what she assumed was a language. The whole thing sounded like a flock of angry birds that were shouting at a bunch of other angry birds. Mila had to cover her ears at one point during the whole thing. Eventually, the creature stopped screaming and calmed down. And when Mila pulled her hands away from her ears she could still hear a faint ringing. 

"I hope all that angry yelling had a different solution to your problem." Mila spoke as she tried and failed to shake the ringing out of her ears. Another series of hisses came at her but they tapered off fairly quickly. The creature couldn't figure out how to get itself out. It hadn't been able to get itself out in days. 

"HOW TO REMOVE LEG?"

"With fire and a sharp instrument." Mila said that with a the flattest expression she could muster.

Grey then proceeded to look at it's leg, back at Mila, then back at the leg. She screeched again but cut it short with a sort of birdy screechy sigh. 

"I..If.. I am going to do this.. need to go back into the village for some supplies." Mila was about to cover her ears again. But, the creature didn't screech at her again. Grey seemed to accept the fact that her continued survival is going to have to rely on the power of the green haired woman in front of her. Mila took in a deep breath in then let it our. She pulled herself up off of floor dusted herself off. She released Grey from her nest of vines. The sage then cracked her knuckles. She mustered her magic and created a primitive but effective structure around the creature. A simple tent made out of leaves and sticks that are held together by vines. It would be enough to keep the creature hidden and protected from the elements. Mila then removed the cloak from her shoulders and gently passed it to the creature with the help of the stick again. 

"Wrap yourself in that." 

She then made a very small fire near the creature. She put some special leaves into the logs that gave off a strange scent. 

"The smell helps to keep the bugs away. The fire is small to reduce the chances of it spreading. Try to keep warm. I promise I'll be back." Mila looked at Grey right in the eyes as she said that. Grey didn't speak she just gave a large huff through her nose. Mila nodded and then slowly backed away. Mila climbed out of the ditch area and made her way back towards the shrine.

[Mila]

Run! Run! Run! That was the only thought that was in her head as she made a hard scramble back towards the shrine.  Mila got up to the wooden shrine and then stopped. She put her hands on her knees and felt, her body wretched, and a horrible spew of vomit exited her body. Her body was quivering and everything on her felt either cold or wet. The entire encounter with Grey, the cost of her magic, the waning adrenaline, and the running, all of it had caught up to her at this very moment.

She took several steps back away from her mess and collapsed on the floor. The sage assumed the fetal position and just stayed there. For several long minutes she was just trying her best to focus on not dying. Slow.. breaths.. Slow breaths.. The tiny elemental who had been dormant since Mila started running, looked up at it's human. Confused as to why they were suddenly on the floor. It sparked for a moment. Mila let out a pitiful sob of some kind. After about 30 minutes of floor time the sage slowly pulled herself up off the ground. The very act of getting up winded the sage once more. She took a few slow and agonizing steps towards the shrine proper and sat on the steps. 

"Okay. Mila. Come on.. we have to keep moving." Yes but it hurts to move. The tiny voice in her head responded back. The sage forced herself back up onto her feet. 

"Keep.. moving... keep.." Mila looked up in front of her. In the distance she could see a large stag staring back at her. There was a snap of the branch in the distance and the creature ran for it. That's not a good sign.

"Ugrh.. gotta keep moving.. Don't.. want to die. Gotta get back.. gotta.. keep moving." She kept muttering that to herself. She timed her steps to the groove of the mantra. She kept doing that. She pushed past her body's pain and discomfort and just kept going. Through the woods. Through the brush. She remembered the way back to the village, and eventually stumbled down the path and into the mouth of the village. The two sentries ran up to her at first. Spears pointed. Mila pushed herself back up.

"It's me. I'm Mila.. the researcher from the academy." She stammered the words out. She must have been in the forest for several hours. She didn't recognize these guys. And the sun was a little low to the ground. If she had to guess it had to have been late in the afternoon. The spears were drawn back and she was helped up by one of the two guards. One of Bjark's son's came running out to greet them. Questions came at her from all sides. 

"Are you wounded?"

"No. But, I'm exhausted. Too much magic.. I found.. Ringham's remains. I need to send... back proof of his death. I need to.. go back in there. And get the thing that got him."

"We will assemble a search party and hunt it down."

"No!" She coughed. Can't let them know i'm trying to save the beast.

"No.. you guys wouldn't be able to track it. And it would pick you all off one by one. The shrine.. inside.. is damaged. Ringham had a skirmish with the thing and damaged the walls." The group of them were in a small guard station at this point. Mila was given some water. To which she chugged down with no notion of politeness about it. She then coughed again and hunched over.

She could hear someone in the distance shout for a healer. The sage shook her head.

"I need to get back in there.. with survival supplies. Otherwise, I'm going to lose it." She wasn't lying. Grey was going to die out there if left exposed to the elements for much longer. 

"What's even in the forest? What did in your comrade?"

"A flying monster. That's as much as I could gather with what remained."

"You are in no condition to run back in." A familiar voice came in from the crowd. The old woman she was staying with emerged with a strange blue bottle in her hand.

"Is that an elixir?"

"Half of one I'm afraid." The old woman spoke and poured the contents into Mila's empty cup. Mila thanked her before taking small ginger sips of the elixir. She nearly gagged after the first sip. Tolerate it Mila. Tolerate it. There wasn't anything wrong with the elixir itself, but the fact she still had the lingering taste of her own vomit still in her mouth made the whole drinking experience unpleasant.

"You need to rest." The elderly woman spoke.

"Yes. But, I don't have time to rest! The sun will set soon and I am going to lose the trail." She could feel her emotions rising. No. No Mila. Stay calm. Calm. She took another sip of the elixir.

"How much day light is left?" Mila asked.

"About three hours until dusk." Bjark's son spoke.

"Half an hour of rest then." Mila spoke. She pulled out of her bag a piece of parchment paper. Ink. Quill. And Ringham's ring.

"I am writing a letter to the academy to let them know that Ringham is dead. And as to what the situation of the village is. I need a homing pigeon. And some survival gear and a sharp knife. Can you get that for me?"

"I will let my father know you've returned. He's going to want to hear what you've found." The chieftain's son ran out of the guard room.

[Mila]

Bah! What did she find. She found herself in a whole lot of trouble that's what. What the heck was she going to say to them? To these innocent village people? That she is trying to help a rare and intelligent monster not die in the woods? No they would probably tie her to the stake for that. The sage sighed again and gingerly sipped the elixir. Perhaps she could think of a good lie while writing the letter to the Academy. But, she couldn't stop her hand from shaking. She wasn't sure if it was the shock of everything settling down or just her nerves making it all worse. Come on Mila. Focus. We can do this. We can do this. Just breathe. Breaaathe. 

The effects of the elixir were starting to kick in. She could feel her heart rate calming down. And the dull throbbing in her head was starting to simmer down. It was a shame that her stomach still felt like it was doing somersaults. If she made it back into the woods she was probably going to hurl again. Regardless, she was calmed down enough to start putting words on the page. She was sure to detail what sort of fate befell Ringham.

"Sir Ringham ignored the village warnings about preemptively going into the woods. Him and his entourage were ripped to shreds by a currently unknown monster. Please see the attached ring as proof of Sir Ringham's demise. Please give my sympathies to the families of Ringham and the guards that were with him. Will remain in the village to deal with the monster issue. If you fail to hear from me after one month.. consider me dead. Truly, Mila."

Mila read over her letter and she seemed satisfied with the result. Mila wasn't sure what was about to happen to her within the next few hours. She waited for the ink on her page to dry before carefully rolling up the letter and tying the bloody scrap of clothing and ring onto it. She hoped the weight of the items wouldn't be too heavy for the birds to carry. Or that the jerks at the letter office wouldn't steal the ring, thus invalidating her whole proof of Ringham's demise.

Mila tried to get up out of her seat and just felt so heavy. Like her whole body was made of rocks and it was held together by a paste of prickly crawling ants. Everything felt so damn numb. She knew it. Her magic was at it's limit and there was no way to replenish it unless some one gave her some of their magic. Or if she just rested. And she couldn't just rest! Grey needed her. She gripped the table's edge and slowly tried to get herself back up on her feet. The old woman ushered her back down. 

"You are paler than dry bones. Sit still and rest." 

"Mila felt her butt ease back into the chair. Damn it.

Bjork and his son returned. Mila looked up to the gentleman for a moment and greeted them with a nod. The cheiftain sat down across from Mila and wasted no time in asking some very important questions. And Mila did her best to answer them. She told him she had found Ringham's corpse. And that she was following the trail of the monster that killed him. A beast she had never seen before and required further study. She also explained that the shrine within the woods had been damaged by something and that would need repair. The sage explained she tried to fix it with some plant magic. And then put the stag skull back the way she assumed it would go on the pedestal. Then he asked her a strange question about the animals in the woods if they are acting strangely. And Mila paused on that question for a moment.

"Actually yes. While on the trail I barely heard any birds... and the deer. Just.. watch me from the outskirts. And the thing I'm tracking.. I've heard it's cry. Like.. a barn owl's screech mixed with an elk's wail. Why? Is that a warning? Of a predator or an omen?"

Bjork sat there for a moment processing what she had just said.

"And the items.. What are they for?"

"Well the knife I need to cut things. There are some ivy growing around that block my way and I don't want to keep using my magic to move it. Magic.. or rather my energy to use it is a bit of a limited resource. The less of it I use getting around the better."

"The survival gear?"

"The meat is to either eat or bait a trap. A crude tent can be constructed to keep the elements away. And the healing and pain mitigating herbs will be used.. to keep myself alive during the chase."

"The banshee whale is a bad omen. But, the deer are not afraid of you. That's a blessing. What is the monster that you are trailing?"

"Something that can fly. It's been injured by something already. I suspect either in the skirmish with Ringham or by other natural phenomenon. It's having trouble staying in the air. I actually want to catch it alive and present it to the academy." She sighed.

"Though I see there is great folly in that. I will kill it if the capture becomes too great." 

"Is it a monster you have encountered before."

"No. It's a similar size and shape like a gargoyle.. but it's smart. Goyles are smart too.. but this thing.. it.. thinks differently. It knows it's hurt and it's actively covering it's tracks. I know I can get this thing." She felt pretty confident about that.

Bjork looked to his son and the old woman for some sort of answer. He got up and ushered everyone else outside. Mila was sure she probably said something wrong. But, she could overhear bits and pieces of their conversation outside. Something about the wood god watching over her. Perhaps as gratitude for trying to tidy the shrine or going in to expel the creature. Bjork returned. He agreed to give Mila the items. And that she would be allowed back into the woods. She was given an escort to which the sage declined. The less people involved the better. 

Mila was back in the woods within the next hour. She took her time on the way back to the spot where Grey was. She had to. Everything in her body hurt. She didn't rest enough and her body was killing her for it. But, she managed to make it back to Grey. Who was curled up under Mila's cloak and inched as close as she could to the tiny fire. Mila breathed a small sigh of relief to know that her target was still alive. Now, the hard part would be to figure out, how to survive the night.