"So the Duke of Loria did not give you any reinforcements?" Deimos asked Phobos with a quizzical look.
"No, that is expected though," answered the man in black.
The knights saw the newcomer and said nothing, they knew that this was Deimos" comrade. They observed his features. He sported silver long hair that clumsily hung over a craggy yet radiant face, bloodshot blue eyes were set narrowly in their sockets while wearing a moustache that handsomely complimented his hair and cheekbones.
This person before them seemed brooding and looked like a thoughtfully cautious fellow.
"He is a va.s.sal of Primarch Wildfire. You know their stance. They oppose Rex Imperia openly, only the Rex is a friend of the four knightly orders." continued Phobos.
"We"ll let me introduce you to the knights of Bren," said Deimos as he pointed toward the five knights.
"Pardon my manners, Knights of Bren. I am Sir Phobos, h.e.l.lsp.a.w.n Slayer of the Order Demon Hunter," apologized Phobos as he bowed.
"I am Sir Rycharde, Captain of the Reitz"s Reaver, the first platoon of the Blackfyre Guard."
Rycharde sported a gleaming black hair, and a st.u.r.dy build while his war hammer was tucked behind his back.
"I am Sir Evered, Lieutenant of Reitz"s Reaver"
"I am Sir Galwell of the same platoon," answered the knight as he bowed.
"Sir Oswyn."
"Sir Dynham."
All of the knights looked impressive on top of their steeds as they wore their matte black plate armour, their aura was a domineering one.
"I thank Lord Blackfyre for aiding us with his most elite," Phobos declared.
"Aye," answered all the five at once.
"Now that introductions are over let us go over the plan," resumed Phobos.
"We will traverse Irriton at daybreak tomorrow, and set up camp here for today within the bounds of the circle no beast will attack, the felbeasts and the Preacantae are much more aggressive at night but we are safe as long as we stay here, the watch shifts will be two hours each and the first watch will be mine, followed by Rycharde, Phobos, Evered, Oswyn, Dynham and finally Galwell.
"Deimos will lead us toward Anticourt tomorrow, be wary of the felbeast droves in the inner grove, your Quintil Steeds will outrun most felbeasts, but we must be vigilant there are many that are faster than our steeds.
"As for the bear meat, while we consume some ourselves tonight, we will not be keeping any of it. Phobos and I will capture felboars and tie the meat to them, they will serve as diversions to the felwolves, felwolves and felbears loathe each other and devour each other"s flesh. Once felwolves smell felbear meat they immediately pursue no matter what, even if they already set sights on a target."
After issuing out the orders the Knights went about their a.s.signed tasks, Dynham and Oswyn roasted the bear meat, Galwell gathered the firewood, while Evered and Rycharde conversed about what to do next.
Ezra was panting, he was experiencing increased heart rate.
"That"s peculiar, it feels I still have adrenaline pumping, Ever since I entered this forest there seems to be something odd that keeps on gnawing at me, it"s like a warped sense of awareness and agitation at the same time"
Ezra tried to keep calm but his blood was still boiling. There were places in the forest that his body seemed to be drawn into.
"What the h.e.l.l is this?"
Ezra then saw a rabbit he immediately pounced on the rabbit and killed it.
"Why do I feel so agitated? It"s like I crave to kill more."
His body was feeling very tense and very light at the same time.
He did not notice he was drifting further away from the Demon Hunter"s camp as he dislodged from the tree he was on, he was on the ground now.
"I f-feel really angry. It"s like I want to tear something apart, it"s like I"m drunk or something."
"This is an altered state of consciousness! My serotonin levels seem to be going down. I"ll try to control it using magic. . . No use there seems to be interference, I can"t think straight. The rage is just building up."
A felbear suddenly crossed paths with Ezra, It charged toward him.
He noticed but it seemed that his senses were dulled and his movement slowed.
"The bear. . . I must. . . Get . . . away."
Ezra thought of running away but instead of running. Ezra charged toward the bear holding the dagger.
"It seems that I can"t run away, my body won"t let me."
"GRRAAAAAGH!!!" Ezra roared to release the seemingly pent-up rage.
Ezra ran swiftly and charged faster.
"If I can"t stop raging at empty s.p.a.ce then I"ll just direct it to the bear!"
Ezra was nearing the bear.
"What? I feel a little clear headed now, my anger is still there but manageable. Hmm, 45kmp/h?"
Ezra jumped sideways as the bears swiped left. Then it roared the bear seemed to be abnormally agitated as well.
"Run! I need to run again,"
"Ugh, my mind is going blank all over again, seems that this rage must be directed at something, this is gonna be troublesome."
Ezra directed his wrath at the bear again, this time he planned to kill it. The bear roared as it charged at Ezra once again.
Ezra jumped on top of it and stabbed it again as it howled in pain. It tried to roll over to sweep Ezra.
"It"s a good thing this thing can only charge and sweep and its attacks are predictable" thought Ezra as he regained some sense from his bloodthirst.
The bear kept on charging and repeating the attacks. Ezra kept on doing the same thing jumping on its back and taking advantage of the enormous disparity in dexterity.
After a while of repeating the attacks, the bear was covered in stab wounds.
"This bear is just too tough. How much damage can it take?"
However, Ezra noticed the bear"s movement slowed considerably.
"If this bear dies, I won"t have anything to direct my fury toward and I"d probably become feral. Think, what do I do? I need to get out of this forest somehow or at least find a safe haven, but the opening is five hours away and my control over my body is erratic." Ezra was panting now as the control of his body and fighting the bear took a toll, he estimated that about he had used up around half of his magic already.
Ezra dodged the sluggish bear attack once again.
"What if I run while I"m still mad at the bear?"
"No that doesn"t work. It"s like I can"t be both mad at the bear and flee at the same time. Maybe there is something magical in the surrounding area that promotes bloodl.u.s.t? But why do the knights not seem to be affected? Wait! That Pillar with runes might be the solution. That"s my only chance, for now, I must go to it. But how?"
After five more attacks from Ezra, the bear stopped moving but Ezra once again was consumed by the outlandish rage that was numbing his senses.
"What if I direct my anger to those knights? Will that work?"
Ezra"s attempt was successful, his wrath directed towards.
"Urgh hating something without knowing why."
Ezra"s senses were limited but he could at least think while he was raging and running to the pillar, he attempted to look up and saw that the canopy did not give any more dim light. It was night time already.
Approaching the 100 meters of the pillar, with great effort, he regained total sanity as his attempts at controlling his anger was successful thus he moved stealthily. He realized that he was still using a substantial amount of mana, his mana ebbed away at a frightening speed but it grew less and less as he moved closer to the pillar.
Around 30 meters Ezra decided to climb up a tree. Finally, he was around 10 meters above the circle. He rested on a st.u.r.dy branch above the pillar with runes.
"Wow, I have only around a third of my magic. This is risky. I shouldn"t have come, I thought I could already venture with my abilities, I guess I became too c.o.c.ky maybe this has something to do with Reitz"s genes? Although I am conscious of what I do there are still some things in my body I cannot fully control so it seems, or is it if only when I notice it then I can control it? This needs to be an experiment for another day.
"I guess I"ll go back to Bren tomorrow" Ezra yawned.
"I"ll have to rest here. I guess I"ll drive some magic to my skin and my ears while I sleep, this will help me perceive any dangers as I sleep. Hopefully, I recover a considerable amount of magic for my journey tomorrow. For now, I must eat," Ezra thought as he opened his backpack and took out the dried meat, he took a bite
Ezra closed his eyes as he leaned on his backpack sleeping beneath the canopy of the forest.