Apprentice Cleric was drenched with sweat as they continued on towards the ruined castle, the bright sun overhead making her feel sick to her stomach. Rookie Warrior had used his rain coat as a cover for his friend and made sure she stayed within the shade avoiding the sun as much as possible. The rest of the adventurers were concerned as they continued through the forest, from what the Dhampir Hunter had mentioned, Apprentice Cleric would burn and eventually turn to ash if she was exposed to too much sunlight.

"How are you holding up?" Rookie Warrior placed his arm around his friend and continued to help her along.

"I feel sick. Like I'm on the verge of throwing up." Apprentice Cleric frowned as she looked towards her colleagues. "Can…can I get some water?"

"Of course, just a moment." Priestess was quick to reach for her water pouch and pass it to Rookie Warrior.

"That will do no good."

The party looked ahead to see Dhampir Hunter slowly trotting ahead atop his giant steed, never looking at them but only at the road ahead of him.

"What do you mean? She's thirsty, surely some water can't hurt?" Fighter was confused and angry as she heard Dhampir Hunter comment in such a cold manner.

"He means because of her vampirism." Half-Demon Thief corrected with a frown on her face as she looked back toward her colleague. "Vampires can't drink water, their bodies can't tolerate it."

Before Half-Demon Thief could finish, Rookie Warrior gave the water pouch to his friend who greedily drank the water down only to moments later begin coughing. Apprentice Cleric dropped to her hands and knees and began to cough violently before vomiting up a black fluid upon the ground. Rookie Warrior was quick to rush to the side of his downed friend while the others looked on with wide eyes.

"Are…are alright?" Rookie Warrior helped Apprentice Cleric back to her feet.

"Far…far from alright, but at least I'm no longer vomiting." Apprentice Cleric felt her body ready to collapse on her as she clung onto Rookie Warrior's arm for support.

"What can we do for her?" Rhea Fighter looked toward Dhampir Hunter hopeful he would give them a useful solution.

"She can eat raw meat, the more blood in it the easier it is for her to digest." Dhampir Hunter continued to move forward, completely leaving the others behind while they waited around with Apprentice Cleric.

"Please wait, she's not ready to travel just yet." Priestess was worried that this man seemed to have no sympathy for what had happened. "Even Goblin Slayer is easier to work with."

"If we waste too much time, your friend here and at the castle will be lost. My only goal is the death of the Noble." Dhampir Hunter stopped his horse to looked back toward the group of adventurers. "Other than the raw meat, she'll need blood, even animal blood will do, but I have no intention of cutting my horse's throat."

Rookie Warrior growled in frustration at this man's indifference towards his friend's plight but then again, this man didn't have the connection to her as he did. Apprentice Cleric continued to grip her sword then looked toward Rookie Warrior, her eyes growing wide as she looked toward his neck. She found herself licking her lips as she eagerly imagined tasting his blood; he turned his attention back to her and saw the look upon her face.

"Oh I'm…I'm sorry." Apprentice Cleric was quick to turn her gaze away from his neck. "I'll…I'll manage."

Rookie Warrior could see his friend was suffering, he looked up to see the sun still high in the sky, they were barely approaching noon, she would not last long at this rate and knew he had to do something.

"Hey, in the pack can you give me that bowl we use for our food, make sure it's my bowl. Priestess, can you and Thief come here to help her?"

Priestess and Half-Demon Thief quickly rushed to help, each taking one of Apprentice Cleric's arms and wrapping it over their shoulder. Fighter was quick to go for the bowl though she and the others were not quite sure what he was planning. While she was doing this, Rookie Warrior brought out his small knife and the cloth he has used the previous night to stop the bleeding on his friend's neck.

"Here's the bowl, what do you need it for?" Fighter was curious as she walked toward her comrade with bowl in hand.

"Okay, hold the bowl under my left hand…when I cut it, we'll collect the blood." Rookie Warrior placed the cloth in his mouth and placed the blade into the palm of his left hand.

Before the others could say anything, he closed his fist around the blade then pulled it out as quickly as possible. He grunted from the pain as he continued to clench his fist tightly, the blood spilling through his fingers into the bowl underneath. They looked towards him with wide eyes as he continued to clench his fist over and over to collect as much blood as he could before he finally moved his hand away and wrapped it with the cloth. With the blood collected in the bowl, Fighter quickly brought it over towards Apprentice Cleric who eagerly took the bowl in her hands. She brought the bowl to her lips and drank the blood, though not as much as she would have liked it was easily enough to sate her thirst, she even went as far as to lick the bowl clean.

"That…that was delicious." Apprentice Cleric licked her lips before she looked back at the bowl then remembered it was his bowl and it was his blood. "He…he cut his hand and gave me his blood to help me. Was…was he always this cool?"

Apprentice Cleric looked back toward her friend to see him wrapping his hand before downing a healing potion given to him by Rhea Fighter.

"That was damn impressive." Harefolk Bowman clapped the adventurer on the shoulder with a big smile. "I would not have thought of something like that."

"Before you start congratulating me, that hurt like hell." Rookie Warrior chuckled before turning back toward Apprentice Cleric smiled. "How are you feeling now?"

"Uh…better, thank you." Apprentice Cleric had a small smiled as she gave the bowl back towards her friend. "I should be able to better move now, I'll stick to the shadows, I won't hold any of you back."

"We've wasted enough time."

Once again, the group looked toward Dhampir Hunter, for some there was a frown on their face while others had a worried look that he could be so insensitive to what was happening to their comrade. Dhampir Hunter was as calm as he looked toward the group of seven, he could understand their sense of wanting to aid their comrade during this difficult time but was also aware that time would not be on their side.

"If we're going to save your friends, we need to keep moving."

With a final sigh, the party continued to follow behind Dhampir Hunter, they themselves knew there would be no point in continuing to argue, all they could do was reach the castle as quickly as possible and deal with the Noble.

xxxx

"Is the blood to your liking Mistress?"

Vampire Noble smiled as she gracefully sipped the blood from her wine glass quite comfortable upon her throne; she gently swirled the blood within her glass, marveling at how the dim light reflected off the crystal glass. To her right was her ever present and faithful Attendant, off to her left leaning against the wall was Wizard Boy. A frown present on his face as he stood there with his arms folded, they could see him anxiously tapping his finger along his arm.

"Mmmm, this Harefolk blood is quite delicious, a welcome change from the constant human blood. Though if given the option, I'd much prefer to have the blood of an elf, that would be quite the luxury." Vampire Noble chuckled as she brought the wine glass to her lips once again. "What troubles you? If you're thirsty, you need only ask?"

"I grow impatient, I thought those people would have been dealt with. Aren't there wild animals in the forest to deal with them, so that we may crush the village of the Harefolk?" Wizard Boy growled as he looked towards his mistress.

"Listen to you, wishing to crush the village when only a few hours ago you were on a quest to save it." Vampire Noble laughed as she finished the last of the blood in her glass. "You're not quite in full control of yourself it seems, acting on my will to attack, however, I'm in no rush to attack the village."

"What do you mean? Surely you realize that those adventurers are on their way here to slay you?"

The Attendant calmly refilled a new glass with blood and calmly walked toward Wizard Boy while his mistress continued to chuckle.

"Oh I'm sure of it, but you need to learn patience. You're a vampire now, meaning you have eternity ahead of you." Vampire Noble turned her full attention towards Wizard Boy. "I'm well aware of the hunter joining your friends, and we shall deal with them when they arrive…if they can arrive."

Wizard Boy growled as he knocked the glass out of the Attendants hand, the glass shattering as it hit the floor, the blood splattering around him. Wizard Boy growled as he heard his mistress refer to the adventurers as his friends and her nonchalant attitude towards their approach.

"Those people are not my friends. I can think of only one I wouldn't mind making a vampire to stay with me, they others I want them dead!" Wizard Boy thought of Rhea Fighter, the young woman who had continued to accompany him for nearly a year and one he grew fond of. "Were it up to me, I'd have taken care of them already."

His outburst made the Vampire Noble's eye widen and the smile on her face quickly vanished, a sudden sense of fear washed over him as she locked eyes with her, yet it was not her who acted by her Attendant. The Attendant took hold of Wizard Boy's throat and effortlessly lifted him off the ground still pinning him to the wall using only his left hand. Wizard Boy struggled to break the man's grip, but even with his new strength he could do nothing, he suddenly stopped his thrashing when the Attendant drew out a wooden stake and firmly pressed it against his chest.

"It would be wise for you to remember who you serve and then understand that even as a vampire, you are not immortal." The Attendant spoke in a calm manner, even as he threatened Wizard Boy his face showed no signs of emotion. "If you even consider speaking that way to your mistress again, I shall end you myself."

Attendant released his grip allowing Wizard Boy to drop to the ground, where the young boy massaged his throat as he looked up at the man before him.

"He…he is human isn't he? What strength he has."

"I would advise you to think very carefully about what has just happened, thought I turned you…I will have no trouble killing you." Vampire Noble stood from her throne an intense look in her eyes as she stared at Wizard Boy.

Wizard Boy felt afraid as he gazed at Vampire Noble and quickly nodded his head, he turned his attention back to the Attendant who was already cleaning up the broken glass. Once again he felt as if he was being cast aside when he was just as capable if not more so than others, even this human here was treating him as an inferior.

"I'll show them…they'll regret looking down on me and my sister."

xxxx

"There's a fork in the road, which way should we head?" Rhea Fighter looked down either path, after last night feeling comfortable about either route.

"We take the path on the left, if we take the right it will take us to the next village about four days away from the castle." Harefolk Bowman looked down the path to the left, a slight chill ran down his spine despite the calm surroundings. "This path though…something about it doesn't feel right."

"You wouldn't think it but this forest…I'm starting to get that same feeling I had when we dealt with the undead." Half-Demon Thief too had a frown on her face as she looked down the path.

"There doesn't seem to be anything odd at first glance." Rookie Warrior saw what looked like a pleasant forest scenery, much nicer than the bare woods they had seen up in the north.

"Not at first glance, but there is something very unsettling about it. None of the people in the village speak of this path, we avoid it and the legend says those that do enter this forest will never be found again."

The others looked towards Harefolk Bowman to see the nervous look on his face, but everyone focused on the sound of the demonic steed snorting before calmly moving forward.

"Legend or not, our destination lies down this path." Dhampir Hunter kept his neutral face as normal while he spared a quick glance back towards the others. "I'm sure that with all of us, we'll be able to handle any situation."

Reluctantly, the group followed behind Dhampir Hunter, though they did feel a bit better with his words of reassurance.

"He could of at least said it with a smile." Half-Demon Thief whispered to Priestess.

"He does remind me a lot of Goblin Slayer, his sole focus on the task at hand and ability to encourage with no emotion in his voice." Priestess smiled as she whispered back toward her friend.

"True, but with that said…which do you think is more handsome?" Half-Demon Thief thankful her own hood helped hide the blush that covered her face.

"Wha, what are you talking about…that…" Priestess covered her face with her hands, feeling the heat present as she thought about both Dhampir Hunter and Goblin Slayer.

The others around them heard the discussion and laughed as well, save Dhampir Hunter, but that brief bit of conversation helped to lighten the mood. The party continued down the path unaware of the unseen eyes watched them from within the treetops. Though massive in size, the figure above watched the adventurers with its eight eyes and smiled, its mouth filled with razor sharp teeth.

"How delicious…it's not often that fresh prey willingly wanders into our forest." The figure effortlessly reaches out towards a near invisible thread and gives it a gentle pluck. "It's time to feed."

With the trees were dozens of giant creatures who quickly, yet gracefully, moved through the trees, their needle like legs allowing them to move in unorthodox ways. For the briefest of moments, Harefolk Bowman, Half-Demon Thief and Apprentice Cleric paused as they turned their attention towards the top of trees only to see some leaves dropping from above.

"What's wrong, see something?" Priestess paused as well once she saw the others stop and look towards the trees.

"Thought I heard something, maybe just the local wildlife." Harefolk Bowman slowly lowered his crossbow still looking towards the trees.

"Something in the trees is watching us."

Everyone once again turned their attention back towards Dhampir Hunter who calmly continued on his horse as if nothing happened. Knowing he would not wait for them, they continued on foot to catch up with the hunter cautiously watching the forest for any sign of trouble. For roughly an hour the group moved through the forest doing their best to stick to the main road, but found it would wind and curve quite often, what they also noticed was the abundance of spiderwebs. Rookie Warrior and Harefolk Bowman were annoyed as they continuously brushed aside the thick webs, the girls around them though bothered by the excessive webs did their best to maintain their composure.

"Look at this mess, there must be hundreds if not thousands of webs round here." Fighter too pushed aside the webs, annoyed and disgusted as she felt strands sticking to her hair.

"They're…they're everywhere." Priestess looked around the area, to her horror saw several small animals such as birds and squirrels tangled up in the webs, nothing but shriveled husks of their former selves.

"At least we know there is game in this forest, though we may need to find it quickly before these spiders beat us to it." Half-Demon Thief joined her friend's gaze at the poor animals caught in the spider's webs.

"Stop. Over there." Rhea Fighter held out her left hand, motioning for the others to stop in their tracks.

Dhampir Hunter sighed in annoyance, these younger adventurers were constantly talking and slowing him down. He figured he could have reached the castle in half the time it would take; he and his steed did not require as much rest and substance as these adventurers. About 200 hundred yards away, a lone wolf was sniffing at the ground in search of food when its nose picked up on the new scent in the area. It picked up its head and stared straight ahead at the group of eight figures and the massive horse ahead of it. Its eyes stared at the potential prey, normally this would be cause to run but with no visible game in the area it would take the gamble and charge towards the group.

"Looks like he's getting ready to charge, let's see if I can get a bolt in him before he gets too close." Harefolk Bowman raised his crossbow, lining up the sights with the wolf's front body.

Apprentice Cleric's eyes were wide as she studied the wolf, she was not afraid but was hungry; eagerly waiting for Harefolk Bowman to strike down the wolf that way she could feed upon its blood. Just as the wolf was preparing the charge, something tackled the beast as it yelped from the impact. Everyone looked on with wide eyes, the attack was so fast they could barely make out what had tackled the wolf, they only knew it was just as big and they saw more than two legs.

"What the hell was that?" Rookie Warrior gripped his sword so tightly his hands were hurting. "I've seen giant rats and roaches but…was that a spider just now?"

They heard the whine of the wolf and watched as something as large as the wolf came into view. The creature's eight legs were clear for all to see, its abdomen had an odd black and yellow pattern while its thorax was a solid black, in its fangs was the body of the wolf. The wolf let a pitiful whine as its body twitch all the while the spider dragged it along the ground only pausing when its eight eyes caught sight of the adventurer's.

"There's…giant spiders now?" Apprentice Cleric has a worried look on her face as she watched the spider. "Why couldn't it be giant butterflies, those don't seem so bad?"

"Looking at it, anything with more than two legs is pretty ugly?" Rhea Fighter was nervous as well as she looked at the thing that was probably as big as she was.

"What about Wolf or Snow, our dire wolves?" Priestess was quick to think about the two dire wolves, actually wishing they were here now to give her a bit more courage.

"I've never met your dire wolves, but fine…anything with more than four legs are not pleasant."

The spider then turned its attention back to the twitching body of the wolf and raised its own body to coat the wolf in webs. The wolf's body was spun over and over, once completely cocooned the spider drug the body away and made its way up the tree taking its meal with it. Both the spider and wolf disappeared into the trees, the only sign of them was the leaves that fell down towards the ground.

"Well…at least it found a meal so it will ignore us right?" Harefolk Bowman slightly lowered his crossbow as sweat ran down the side of his head. "I've never seen a giant spider before…now I can understand why no one travels down this path."

"How can we ignore such a delectable feast before us?"

The group turned around with hands on their weapons ready to attack, but there was no one present, that is until they saw more leave drop from above. The group looked up and to their shock saw the massive creature hanging upside down smiling towards them. The figure had blackish-purplish skin, medium length white hair eight red eyes, four stacked on each side of its face. Though the top half of its body was human-like, the bottom half was massive spider's abdomen that bore the same yellow markings as the earlier spider, eight black shiny legs that clung to the web suspending it from the treetops.

"Hmm, an Arachne." Dhampir Hunter dismounted his steed and calmly few a few steps as he continued to look up at the monster before him.

"There's a human spider talking to us and that's your reaction!" Harefolk Bowman looked toward Dhampir Hunter with a surprised look on his face before turning his attention back toward the arachne. "You adventurers sure encounter the most bizarre creatures."

"That doesn't quite ring true for all of us, but the fact is we have one ugly monster to deal with." Half-Demon Thief drew out both daggers, a glare present on her face. "I'd recommend you get back in your tree otherwise we can't be held responsible for what will happen."

"Oh but that is not a possibility, my mistress has asked that we stop anyone foolish enough to enter our forest. Though you are not the first to face the Spider Monarch, rather you all will be the latest meal for me…and my minions."

The party then heard the sound of multiple claws stabbing into the trees around them and a quick glance upwards revealed dozens of giant spiders edging closer to them, further inspection showed other spiders already along the ground near the base of the trees. The party of adventurers, save Dhampir Hunter, formed a circle with their backs to each other as they prepared to fight the army of spiders.

"Damn it." Fighter quickly raised her fists, her spiked gauntlets helping to give her the courage she lacked in the goblin cave.

"I shall take the arachne, you all deal with the spiders." Dhampir Hunter drew out his longsword, his cold gaze fixed monster before him.

"Got it." Rookie Warrior raised his sword ready to crush the monsters before him. "We don't have to be held up by these eight-legged freaks!"

"O Earth Mother, abounding in mercy, grant your sacred light to we who are lost in darkness…Holy Light!"

Many of the spider leapt toward the group just as Priestess cast her miracle, the bright light flooded the area forcing many of the spiders to shriek out. Those spiders that had jumped, crashed to the ground raising their legs to shield their eyes, completely unaware of the adventurers charging in. Rookie Warrior and Rhea Fighter rushed in with sword slashing the spiders around while Half-Demon Thief used her agility to charge forward stabbing the spiders through their heads one after another. Fighter, Harefolk Bowman, Apprentice Cleric made sure to keep a good perimeter around Priestess while she used her miracles. Harefolk Bowman would fire bolt after bolt as quickly as he was able to, while Apprentice Cleric and Fighter used their sword and spiked gauntlets respectively to beat the spiders back. Thankfully the spiders bodies, though nearly as big as a spider, were also lighter which allowed them to leap around with ease, but the sheer number of them was what could overwhelm a group of adventurers if they got to overconfident in their abilities.

While the party dealt with the minions, Spider Monarch hissed as it leapt down towards Dhampir Hunter. The young hunter effortlessly leapt backwards as the massive arachne crashed toward the ground, slashing at the area he had been standing a moment before. Dhampir Hunter charged in to slash at the spider monster, but the Spider Monarch opened its mouth to spit out a thick purple stream of venom. Dhampir Hunter quickly rushed to the side as the glob of purple venom flew past him and collided with the closest tree, the venom itself immediately began to eat away at the bark of the tree.

"Foolish hunter, you and your group can only hold out for so long until my minion's venom paralyzes you to hold you until it's time to feed." Spider Monarch chuckled before rushing in to slash at the hunter with its clawed hands.

Dhampir Hunter easily dodged each attack, never a sign of emotion upon his face while Spider Monarch hissed and snarled with each swipe. Dhampir Hunter suddenly slashed with his sword, Spider Monarch grew nervous at the length of the sword and even as he leapt away, the blade cut into his chest.

"Damn you!" Spider Monarch placed its right hand upon its chest as the pale blue blood spilled over his fingers.

"Then next strike…will take your head."

Spider Monarch looked up with a look of concern on his face as Dhampir Hunter calmly walked toward him with sword ready to kill him in the next strike. A sudden cry suddenly drew Dhampir Hunter's attention away from Spider Monarch, the cry was coming from his steed. The demonic beast managed to do its best to kick and stomp at the spiders that around but was eventually swarmed by four of the spiders that bit into its body and injected their venom into its massive body; with a final shriek the horse dropped to the ground with a heavy thud.

"Damn it." Dhampir Hunter growled in annoyance as the massive beast let out a final whine before toppling over.

"Fool!"

Dhampir Hunter returned his attention back to Spider Monarch, to see the monster lift up its body and squirt a stream of web from its spinneret. Dhampir grunted as the splash of web splatted against him, binding his arms to its body.

"Stupid hunter, now you'll serve as my meal!"

Spider Monarch laughed as he walked toward the now immobilized Dhampir Hunter who had a slight scowl on his face. The others saw this but still had their hands full dealing with the spiders around them, a quick glance back at they saw spider leap onto Dhampir Hunter's body and slowly work its way up toward his neck.

"You damn thing, get away from him, he's my meal!"

"Hang on, we'll get you free!" Rookie Warrior cut one of the giant spiders in two with his blade as he struggled to get to the hunter.

Dhampir Hunter began to growl, a strange blue glow could be seen coming from his eyes. The spiders all stopped and froze, the animalistic instincts telling them they were in danger and should flee but were also paralyzed with fear. They weren't the only ones, Spider Monarch and even the adventurers were worried as they saw him continue to growl, his fangs growing longer and longer.

"What…what the hell…is happening to you?" Spider Monarch instinctively took a step back as he felt he would be crushed by this overwhelming spirit.

Dhampir Hunter snarled before leaning forward to bite the spider near him. The giant spider shrieked as blue blood ran from the two puncture wounds on its body, the sight of him feeding on the spider came as a shock to everyone. The extra amount of blood revitalized the hunter who then destroyed the webs that bound him, the dead spider dropped to the ground, and now Dhampir Hunter was free to focus his attention on the still frightened Spider Monarch. Dhampir Hunter rushed in and with the first slash of his sword, severed the left arm of the monster as it shrieked in pain. While Spider Monarch was clutching at the bleeding stump where its arm had been, Dhampir hunter gave a second slash, and cut the four legs on the monster's left side. Once again, Spider Monarch cried out as it topped to its side, blood running from its wounds as it thrashed about in pain.

"That will do."

Dhampir Hunter sheathed his long sword, once again his face was calm and expressionless as he turned and walked away from the injured monster.

"You bastard!"

Spider Monarch continued to curse at the hunter, but he was not concerned with the crippled monster, his focus was on his downed horse. The others joined him near the demonic animal, the horse's breathing was very labored as the venom from the spiders was slowly killing it.

"I can use Purify and it should…"

"You shall not be their food." Dhampir Hunter drew out a knife from his belt and cut the horses throat.

Priestess and the others looked on with wide eyes as he casually killed his horse then motioned for them to take a step back. With the horse dead, it's body suddenly burst into blue flames, and within a few moments was reduced to ash. Priestess was at a loss as she looked at Dhampir Hunter, even Goblin Slayer had not killed Wolf when he was injured and dying from the goblin's poison.

"It was a demonic steed, your Purify would not have worked." Dhampir Hunter looked at the young adventurer as he put his knife away. "Let's go."

"But…what about the monster?" Fighter also shocked by how cold the hunter was remembered the arachne was still alive. "Would…would he leave it to suffer and die?"

"We needn't be concerned about it…spiders are cannibalistic."

It was then that the party realized that the spiders were no longer trying to attack them and they heard a horrified shriek coming from behind them. They turned to see the injured Spider Monarch struggling to move away as several of his minions stalked towards him, the smell of fresh blood drew them closer.

"No…stay…stay away…I command you!"

The spiders suddenly pounced on the downed arachne, he screamed as multiple spiders bit into his body injecting him with their paralyzing venom as he failed to knock them off. His movements began to slow as the multitude of spiders began to cover his body in webs, once his body was thoroughly cocooned, several of the spiders drug the body further into the woods much to the horror of the adventurers.

"Well…I think I've seen enough for one day, let's get the hell away from here and find a safe spot to rest for the night." Half-Demon Thief drew immediate parallels to these spiders and the undead she and her friends had faced nearly five months earlier.

"Before you move, I would suggest cutting off some of the legs of the fallen spiders around us."

The group of adventurers looked at Dhampir Hunter, some with a look of confusion, others with a look of revulsion.

"Why in the world would we cut off the legs?" Rhea Fighter was one who was confused by the hunter's comment.

"The meat in the legs is edible and free of venom. Unless you are all willing to give your friend blood, raw meat will also aid in her appetite."

"Gods…even if I wasn't a vampire, I doubt I'd have the stomach to eat meat from spider legs."

"I guess we don't have much choice…though we're going to cook the meat." Rookie Warrior gave a sigh as he surrendered and finally went about cutting off several of the spider legs and placing them in a bag.

"All I know is I'm not cleaning them. I've had enough of giant insects to last a lifetime." Apprentice Cleric shook her head as she internally shuddered at the thought of the giant roach they dealt with in the sewers.

With their victory secured, the party still had a ways to go before they could rest for the evening, though they still scanned the area for any signs of the giant spiders following them. Another hour into the trek, and it was then that they finally noticed humanoid bodies strung up in the trees, they paused to look up and see most of them were humans, but there were some Harefolk, what could have been elves or half elves, and the tiny shriveled bodies of goblins.

"Gods…how many do you think were taken by these monsters." Harefolk Bowman was at a loss for the number of bodies he saw and worried about the ones he could not see.

"Who knows…dozens, maybe hundreds. Maybe that wizard was on to something about burning the forest with his fireball." Fighter also looked at the bodies, though she was not sad to see the goblin bodies among the corpses.

"Do…do you think he's okay?" Rhea Fighter was stilled worried about her comrade especially with the though of these monsters and the vampire to deal with.

"Don't you worry, we'll find him and save him from the vampire." Priestess smiled as she placed a hand on the shoulder of her colleague to help ease her worry.

Half-Demon Thief continued to look up at the bodies of the victims of the spiders when one caught her attention. The figure appeared to be human, even if the body had shriveled up from the feeding, but she could see the black robes he wore and the white plague mask that seemed to dangle from its head.

"Priestess! Up there!"

Priestess quickly looked up to find what her friend was pointing at, and like Half-Demon Thief was shocked at the sight of the body.

"A Faceless Man!"

The rest of the party looked up to see the figure in black robes strung up in the spider webs, many were not there when Heavy Warrior and the others had returned with the body of the Flesh Golem. The presence of this corpse and no visible sign of the Flesh Golem or the monstrous goblins that had been reported earlier filled the two young girls with dread…what else was loose in this forest?