บท 584: Nilfgaardian error

Elsewhere :

A man armoured in ornate heavy black armour briskly walks up and salutes a finely dressed man with long brown hair, powdered face and neutral expression. "Commander, one of our scouts sent through the marsh has not returned, we must consider enemy intervention."

Voorhis "Is that so? Hmm, send a cavalry unit and check until no man's land for the missing scouts." he states.

The soldier salutes and leaves, collecting a few men and riding out as soon as possible. The ride wasn't long and they soon reached the bog, the water beginning to impede their horses.

"Wonder where those men had gone, Nordlings don't usually intercept scouts..." one comments as they ride.

"Rumours might be true, tales of monsters thriving in this muck." one at the back of the unit says.

"Hah! Right, never believe those Nordlings rumours. Remember yesterday when we heard about the so-called "Eternal Fire"?" another laughs.

...

They look back to see if their friend was paying attention but is shocked to see they're missing someone in their unit... "Halt! We're missing someone!"

They all quickly stop and warily look around, the dark, damp swamp starting to frighten some. A gurgling noise can be heard in the distance but they are hesitant to go check it.

"Enough! We are elite units of his Emperors army! We must see if that sound is the enemy or not!" the captain shouts and turns his horse towards the direction, which just so happens to lead deeper into the swamp.

The horses move at a crawl as the gurgling gets louder, the men eventually spot someone being pushed under the shallow water by many small figures. As soon as they arrive the figures run off, revealing the gurgling man to be their lost unit... They looked pale and slightly blue due to lack of oxygen, other than that though they shake and tremble while muttering things about "sharp teeth"...

The captain gravely examines the area around them, realising that he had no idea where the way back was, "Get him on one of your horses! Do any of you remember the way back?" he questions.

They all shake their heads, looking anxious at what lives in this place... A distant inhuman roar can be heard echoing around them, though they can't make out where it's coming from. A sadistic giggle is all it takes for the men to break ranks and flee backwards, hoping that it'd lead them out of the swamp.

The captain shouts for them to all remain in their formation but fear prevents them from following his commands. However, as he tries to follow them he finds that the tree's themselves seem to restrict his path, causing his men to leave without him, all having split off int various directions.

Now alone in this place without his men, the captain feels a cold sweat drip down his back, his breaths are quick and short while his eyes dart around rapidly looking for any threats.

*ROAAARRR!*

His eardrums are almost burst when something not far behind him roars, he quickly turns to look at it and sees a huge beast standing on four legs and covered in ragged fur. A Nilfgaardian gauntlet drops from its mouth as it glares at him, drool stringing out from its lips.

"M-M-MONSTER!" He shouts, kicking his horse to flee, not minding the thick foliage in-front of him. It seems he isn't the most scared however as his horse whinnies and moves as fast as it can. The huge beast audibly following closely.

The captain's heart beats rapidly as he preys to his god for a safe arrival back to camp, but his prayers come unanswered as a nearby tree branch seemingly bends downwards and collides with him, knocking him clear off of his horse and into the bog below, the only thing preventing his neck from snapping at the impact being his armour that's now covered in muck.

The huge beast sprints after the horse but manages to step on one of the man's arms with its clawed foot, crushing it and causing his armour to penetrate his flesh and restrict his blood flow. He stifles his scream to prevent the beast from hearing him though and quickly gets up, fleeing in the opposite direction of the monster while it's busy with his horse.

He begins to calm down once he can no longer hear his horse's dying groans, though the blood dripping into the swamp from his arm seems to have attracted other creatures. Two Drowners emerge from the water and leap at him, he draws his sword and manages to cut halfway through one's neck, paralysing it but not completely killing it. The other grabs ahold of him and sinks it's teeth into his cheek, tearing out a chunk as he pushes it away.

It attempts to jump at him again but his elite training kicks in, allowing him to slash the at the beast while redirecting its momentum. It falls onto the floor where he brutally stabs his sword into its eye, and subsequently into its brain. Killing it.

He breathes heavily but spots the treeline thinning in one direction and begins moving towards it, eventually finding himself outside of the swamp, causing tears of gratitude to shimmer in his eyes.

The captain eventually makes it back to camp, now having lost all feeling in his arm and feeling feint. He's found by nearby scouts and taken to the infirmary where Commander Voorhis visits him and requests to know what'd happened.

"M-M-Monsters C-commander... D-did any of my men make it b-back?"

Voorhis shakes his head solemnly, "My apologies Captain Strickut, but you are the only one who returned."

Stairrde Strickut sadly nods at the news and shudders in pain as the doctors try to prey his indented armour from his mangled arm, they give grave looks at each other when they see what's beneath it and bring Voorhis to the side to speak momentarily.

The man in the infirmary bed looks up at the ceiling, tears finally allowed to flow from his tired eyes, the large wound in his cheek seemingly not hurting anymore as he grips his single hand in fury. "Monsters."