Nyctophobia - 3 The One Who Watches

-Day 23-

It had been observing the orc villages and watching as they all descend into madness their violent deaths only leaving a client gust of wind in the night blackened forest and their cores forfeit to the creature as it takes some stones of a few it decided no to observe then watch the chaos unfold and once the last one remains it will take its stone and the stones of all the deceased. It required more knowledge and a stronger presence if it was going to get more stones so it needed to find more orc and goblin villages to empty of stones. The human stones gave it great power and knowledge when it absorbed them, it learned how to spread the madness to others who come in contact with the one it observed and then it takes the stones of the few remaining select few leading to the already described process.

It also knows how to claim the forest but it has found a blockage allowing it from doing so and it doesn’t appreciate the denial of its freedom. Only when it claims the forest can it stay out side during the time of the sun without being hurt and it will control the forest meaning easier access to stones. But now it doesn’t matter as the creatures bright red eyes glow in the deathly night.

-Day 24-

Doctor Adam reached a stump once again in his research, he had theorised that ‘the one who watches’ could be a metaphor for the disease due to the extreme paranoia experienced by the infected individual. He asked the Maiden of it only for her to completely ignore his questioning this time over and he continued to press only to notice the look of fear in her eyes as if her very life was on the line.

He had enough of the secrecy of the village and so did his comrades as they needed to know what was causing these deaths if it was indeed a new or ancient disease or something else entirely. Sighing, he sat up from his desk and looked out of the window and noticed something odd. Two red eyes were staring back at him from the darkness outside his window, bright red they were illuminated in the darkness and constantly staring unblinking for hours until it suddenly disappeared as if it was never there in the first place. He ran over to the window and forced the blinds shut and checked the locks around the house before sitting down and trying to find find out who or what was staring at him from the woods and at night as well.

He chalked it up to him being exhausted from work and went to bed oblivious of the eerie silence in the woods around the village. Not even the cicadas cried as they cowered in fear at the darkness that covered the village.

-Day 25-

Doctor Adam awoke to a very busy village whom seems to be setting something up at the base of the shrine and upon asking he found out it was a festival to celebrate harvest and many were going to mention a second reason however stopped abruptly and continued working on the festival ignoring him. Soon he met up with Eric once again and the two watched as the village priced together the festival with stands seen all around and other such things.

The night of the festival was joyous to say the least, people were cheering and laughing; the children were playing; and young couples held their own romance under the light of the full moon and stars. Adam was observing the festival and noticed several odd things about it such as the rule which dictated that none enter the woods during the festival and at some point the festival came to a sudden halt because of a girls scream.

Adam and a few others rushed over to the girl and inquired what was wrong and she shakily pointed at the woods and began to cry. That was when the shrine maiden came and escorted the girl into the temple and said that she maybe stressed but Adam and Eric didn’t buy it and waited for her to leave before going to the area the girl pointed at. They noticed that something was off with the woods in the sense that it was pitch black all the way around the village like a curtain of darkness was blocking the village from view. Adam told Eric to gather the adventurers and tell them that they were leaving in the morning and bringing more men the next day so that they can understand what is happening more clearly.

The festival continued as usual and soon the villagers returned to there homes and the village went into complete silence not even the songs of night creatures echoed through the woods only the sound of the wind battering against the village and soon rain broke the eerie silence putting Adam’s paranoia to rest as he climbed into bed and went to sleep once more.

-Day 28-

They had left the village the day before and were now returning wit h essentially an army and hoped that the village had not contracted the disease in their absence. Adam talked to the FHI when he was in town and they reported to him that the entire province had containment teams sent in case of increase of infection area.

Soon they arrived at the forest once again and was perturbed by the eerie silence that clung to the woods putting everyone on alert for any sound amongst the echoes of their footsteps as they trudged through the woods towards the village. They arrived back at the village at dawn and noticed something terrifying the village was covered in the bodies of the villagers as if they were under siege and died of the disease on the spot. Many seemed to have tried to escape the village and most were gathered at the festival area. Upon inspection the soul stones of the now deceased villagers were missing very similar to the death of Lilac Brighten, he noticed that there was no survivors in the immediate village however upon searching the temple they found the shrine maiden and several children and adults seemingly hiding from something. Luckily they were alive and this time they talked and retold them the tale of what happened that fateful night:

-The Previous Night-

The village was filled with the laughter of villagers as the festival continued, the Maiden was slightly saddened by the sudden leave of the Doctor whom bugged her so much for information she did not know. She now knew however that she may have to deal with the epidemic on her own if he does not return with a few days like he said and she feared that the village will succumb if that were the case.

She climbed to her feet and exited the temple, now that she had prayed for the lives of the village she was protecting. That was when she noticed the panic unfold when a strange creature emerged from the woods completely black in colour and seemed to be made of a sky without stars, it had the body shape of a little girl and even hair was visible swaying with the wind. Its most identifying feature was its red eyes that stabbed through the darkness of the night as it looked upon everyone in the village before leaping into the crowd causing a panic as people began to flee. She watched as it reached into a woman and pulled out her spirit stone leaving no mark or wound on the woman however she was now dead and watched in horror as it absorbed the stone into its body. It continued to chase and kill the villager and so she took the surviving eight children and two other adults into the shrine where they hid until dawn when Adam had found them in the temple.

-Day 29-

A letter had arrived at the FHI’s desk, it seemed to be a follow up on the disease discovered by Sir Adam Pablovich during his stay in DarkWood.

‘To whom it may concern,

Count this as my final words as I write to you the very cause of what I thought was a disease. It wasn’t a disease, it was a creature that was as black as the night. Its ravenous red eyes pierce through the darkness like knife as it searches for its prey. I beseech you find and kill this beast as it has now claimed the lives of hundreds and the only survivor I am afraid will be a small girl who will arrive at the nearest town.

These woods are cursed, there was no disease! It was a being of darkness that clouded even the minds of men in its ravenous pursuit. The being consumes the very souls of its prey allowing no respite through the wheel of reincarnation as it deletes those it claims from the annals of existence. I beg of you, do not let anyone near these woods for ‘the one who watches’ will claim all who come here, the child will have the letter with her as I am too injured to continue onward.

May the gods have mercy on us all,

Adam Pablovich.’

The letter ended up at the FHI after a shaken little girl arrived at the village and was quickly taken the health organisation contacted the guild shortly after receiving the letter and hero class adventurers have been sent to the town to talk with the little girl in regards to what had happened in those woods.

-Day 30-

“What happened in DarkWood.”

The girl began to cry upon hearing the question eliciting a feeling of anger in the adventures a the thought of a creature that would push such a small child into the torrent of despair. When they said they were to go into the woods the girl began to scream “THE EYES! THE EYES! THE EYES! THE EYES! THEY WILL TAKE YOU TOO! PLEASE WHATEVER YOU DO DON’T EVER GO INTO DARKWOOD!”

The girl went pale and collapsed onto the floor and the nurse rushed over and carried her out of the room in a hurry. One of the adventurers spoke up breaking the silence in a concerned voice disturbed by what just transpired.

“Just what the hell happened in DarkWood?”