Chapter 213 Say ‘Ahhh’

He awoke with a scramble. The darkness of the forest still surrounded him. He glanced at his watch.

12:30 am

He didn't quite know how long he had been out. His watch was moving at a snail's pace. His head naturally started to spin in circles as he tried to shake off the sleep feeling. His nose smelled something next to him. He glanced over and found the large bird cut in half. Purple blood was oozing out of it and the spikes on its wings were in the middle of regrowing when it had died.

He forced himself up onto his feet. He staggered left and right, trying to find his balance but never found it. He leaned against a tree and took a deep breath. He didn't have his katana nor his scabbard. They must've fallen out of his hands and scattered somewhere in the chaos.

"Dammit." He shook his head. "What the hell does that bird have? It knocked me out with a couple of spikes…" His brain began to think about the toxins in the spike. He wondered if he could use them and coat his weapons with it. He stumbled off the tree and towards the large bird. He found his katana clattered a couple of feet to the right and the scabbard off to the right of his katana.

He picked them up and sheathed the blade. He shook his head and looked at the bird. The spikes were halfway done growing but there were many spikes on the ground. He had pockets in his outfit so he decided to carefully pick them up. It took longer than he thought it would and found himself with two large fistfuls of spikes in his pockets.

The toxins were still coursing through his veins, but he could feel it letting up. Lee Seng didn't remember which way was what, so he randomly chose a direction, and descended the hill. The sounds of the forest were quieter.

'Was it always this quiet?' Lee Seng wondered. He followed a random path for a while. He eventually felt the toxins of the bird let up and decided to jump up onto a tree. He looked around and noticed the slightly taller tree was really close to him. He stared at the tree for a long time and realized the tree had 'eyes' that were poking out from the treetops. The top of the tree was indeed open and hollow.

'What the hell…?' Lee Seng thought. He could hear a strange noise coming from the opposite direction. The sound of groaning. He turned and looked down. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary. He wondered if there was anything tailing him, but he continued to hear the groaning. His eyes wandered back onto the slightly taller tree. It swayed back and forth.

'When did it start doing that?' Lee Seng wondered. The tree lit up with purple and red energy. The groaning noises behind him turned into a screech. The ground erupted as root tendrils shot out, destroying the forest around it.

Lee Seng slashed at the roots, forcing himself backwards into the air. The tree split in half as Lee Seng jumped into the air. The ground beneath him erupted and roots grabbed at him. Lee Seng spun and slashed in the air, tearing the roots apart as he pushed himself into a tree. The roots erupted out of the ground and swarmed him.

'Shit.'

The roots lashed at him and pierced him. They pulled him off of the tree and wrapped itself around him.

'KENG, HELP!' Lee Seng screamed as the tendrils pulled him beneath the ground.

—

"What does it feel like being away from him now?" Nabi asked. Keng rested his head on his arm and closed his eyes. He was exhausted. He had never been physically out and about for more than a couple of hours in the morning, so he was growing tired.

"I dunno." Keng gave a half-hearted answer. "I don't really feel much of a difference." Lady Vix'i was casually reading through a book while Zixin had decided he had enough and went patrolling around the Tomb. Nabi's curiosity didn't bother Keng much. He had learned she was probably just as curious as he was.

She leaned back into her chair and nodded. She folded her hands as her ears perked up. She looked at Lady Vix'i who read her book.

"What is it?" Lady Vix'i asked, not even removing her eyes from her spot.

"It's been awhile since the other foxling left, right?" Nabi asked.

"It's been… a while. Why?" Lady Vix'i agreed. She removed her eyes from her spot and looked at Nabi. Keng had opened his eyes and turned his attention to his older sister. "Are you getting one of your 'feelings,' again?"

Nabi nodded. She looked at the exit to the small lounge room.

"Something's happening. I feel it." Nabi spoke aloud.

"Like wh–"

"Lady Vix'i! Nabi!" Zixin rushed into the room. The three turned to look at the bewildered Zixin. He was huffing and puffing. "The forest! It's moving again!"

"Moving?" Keng asked, confused. Lady Vix'i closed her book and stood up. Nabi followed suit and they began to make their way to Zixin.

"Where did you feel it?" Lady Vix'i asked.

"What's happening?" Keng asked.

"To the East of here!"

"We need to go then." Nabi looked at Lady Vix'i.

"We'll have to go. It's been too long for the vessel to leave and come back. He should've been back by now." Lady Vix'i nodded.

"Wh-what's happening?" Keng asked. He stood up and slowly wandered over to his older siblings. They were devising a plan.

"We'll need to head East. Zixin will have to lead. We'll have to be alert and try to find the source." Lady Vix'i continued.

"What's happening?" Keng asked a little louder. They continued with their plan.

"Can we even find the source? It moves every time." Zixin added.

"We'll have to find where it is this time. I got a strong feeling about this one." Nabi told them.

"What the hell is happening?!?" Keng shouted. The three stopped and turned to look at Keng. He was shaking as he glanced back and forth between the three.

"The forest. It's cursed because of a certain tree." Nabi answered. "It claims those who are strong and move spots so it's never spotted."

"It makes a lot of noise when it's hunting." Zixin told Keng. "And it's hunting right now. If your vessel didn't show back up here, then–"

"He's out there, probably." Keng finished. They all slowly nodded. "Then we gotta go right?" The three older siblings looked at each other. They were hesitant to include him but he stepped forward. "If Lee Seng is out there, then I need to find him. It's my responsibility."

"Who said you weren't going?" Lady Vix'i asked. "We'll all go together. Stay close. It's night so the larger beasts are out."

"The larger beasts?"

"Gnawers aren't going to be a problem because they're probably hiding from the Vulture Bats. The Corrupted Walkers are probably out, too." Lady Vix'i spoke in Fox tongue.

"Just be careful. The bats have toxins that could put you out if you're not careful. The corrupted are rarer than the bats, but we should be careful of their gazes." Nabi summed the two beasts up.

"There's more walking about, but we should worry about those two." Zixin warned.

"Enough talk. Let's go. Let's hope it isn't the other foxling." Lady Vix'i motioned.

'KENG HELP!' Lee Seng's voice connected. Keng's ears shot up. He pushed past the others and turned to the door.

"He's in trouble!" Keng shouted.

"Let's go." Lady Vix'i moved. The group moved out of the Tomb and down the steps. They moved to the East, Zixin taking front while Nabi took the rear. Lady Vix'i took up next to Keng as his eyes darted left and right.

"Can you feel him?" Lady Vix'i asked.

"I can't feel him." Keng shook his head.

"Keep close. The forest is reacting." Zixin shouted. The ground shook as beasts screeches lit up around them. Vulture bats from the air zoomed past them towards the source of the loud noise as Gnawers flew past them.

"They're all moving towards the noise?" Nabi asked.

"They're going to that thing." Lady Vix'i threw her hand up and watched as a small group of Gnawers coming at them were instantly crushed. "How fast can you run, foxling?"

"I can go way faster." Keng answered.

"Zixin, Nabi. Let's pick up speed. This is our chance before the forest moves itself, again." Lady Vix'i commanded.

"Yes, m'lady!" The group blazed through the forest. Keng easily kept up with the older foxes as they quickly moved towards the source of the noise. Vulture bats, Gnawers, and all kinds of creatures were pierced as they passed.

'Roots?' Lady Vix'i thought.

"The creature would always vanish after it took what it wanted. Dead bodies of monsters would be sprawled across the destroyed forest and there would be no trace of the monster. The only thing that it left was roots." A scout fox's voice replayed in Lady Vix'i's head.

"What if the blight started because of a single corrupted tree?" Lady Vix'i theorized.

"Watch out!" Zixin shouted. Roots swept from the right. The foxes jumped as the roots swept the ground. A loud roar erupted from in front of them. The roots began to pull, clearing the forest and revealing a huge hollow tree with red and purple eyes.

"What in the Realm is that!?!" Nabi shouted.