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Caleb sat on a large stone by the fire. A pot was bubbling with root vegetables and forest herbs while fresh caught fish were grilling over the coals. Maryana was tending to the food while Cara set up a few tripwires around the outer edge of the campsite. Ever since a pair of goblins tried raiding the campsite a week ago, Cara insisted on it.

“Dinner is about ready.” Maryana called out.

“Just a second!” Cara called as she rigged some line to a bush. “There, that should do it.” The bronze-skinned golem dusted off her hands and returned to the camp proper.

“Mmm, smells delicious!” Cara said as she sat down on a log by the fire. “You are a way better cook than Caleb.”

“He contributed by catching the fish, otherwise it would just be potatoes and turnips for supper.” Maryana deflected as she pulled the fish away from the embers.

“You don’t have to spare my feelings. I know the best I can do is make toast without burning the bread too badly.” Caleb smiled as he stretched his arms over his head.

Cara laughed and Maryana quickly joined in. Soon three large bowls were full of steaming hot food and passed around the fire. They began to eat as the sun slowly set below the horizon. Caleb enjoyed his dinner, but he ate slowly. He was starting to notice their packs getting lighter. Maryana’s talent at foraging and Caleb’s contributions of fresh fish and game helped to stretch their supplies, but they were still days from their destination.

“I wish I had some bread to go with this, I’d even settle for a rock hard stale piece.” Cara said as she scraped her wooden bowl with her spoon. “Are you sure this job is worth the walk to Chayathana?”

“The fact that the news of the Duke is recruiting qualified adventurers made it to the coast tells me it’s a big job. And don’t worry about the bread, according to the directions I got from that old teamster we should be hitting the village of Ponia soon, maybe even tomorrow.”

“We should get an early start then.” Maryana said as she added wood to the campfire.

“The only time you two ever start late is when you have an actual bed for a night, not that I’m complaining.” Cara smiled.

Caleb chuckled before getting up from his seat. “Let’s get cleaned up then.”

***

Cara sat at the campfire. She was leaning back looking up at the night sky. With her second chance at life the thief had learned to appreciate many of the small things she had ignored her first time. She heard some rustling from the tent, and her connection with Caleb told her it was him. Cara was fine watching through the night, since as a golem she didn’t sleep. It was sweet of her traveling companions to sit watch with her so she wasn’t completely alone for the entire night.

“Hey, surprised you can still walk after what I heard earlier.” Cara smiled, her coppery skin practically glowed in the firelight.

Caleb sighed, but smiled as he sat down next to her. He placed an arm around her and she cuddled up against him.

“You could have joined in.”

“You two need some alone time every now and then, and I don’t mind.” She leaned in and kissed him softly. “Really, I’m more than happy with our arrangement.” she climbed into his lap and wrapped her arms tightly around him. “And even though I don’t need to be kept warm at night, you and Maryana do a fine job of it.”

Caleb smiled before pulling her into a long deep kiss.

***

After breaking their fast and the camp, the trio continued down the dirt road. The weather was pleasant enough and they were the only ones on the road. Caleb was smiling listening to Cara tell one of her many stories of misadventure when he saw something up ahead. He focused his third eye on the clouds and something seemed off. The sky was otherwise clear, and the mass of dark clouds seemed to just hang in the air, as if they were tethered to one spot.

“Do those clouds up ahead look strange to either of you?” He asked his companions.

“Looks like maybe a storm is ahead.” Maryana said after a moment.

“No,” Cara shook her head, “it doesn’t feel like a storm is coming, and besides that, those dark clouds look…small. If there was a storm there would be a lot more of them.”

“It almost looks like they are just hanging over that forest up ahead.” Caleb said now that they could see the treeline above the horizon.

As they continued down the road the clouds did indeed stay hovering over the forest, keeping the trees in shadow. Before long they could make out the village of Ponia, standing just outside the cloud cover.

“Something tells me we are going to have a bit of an extended stay here.” Cara sighed, “And, of course, it’s when we’re finally getting close to Chayathana.”

Maryana shook her head. “We don’t even know if we can help. This looks like something beyond just swinging a blade.”

“Let’s wait until we find out what is going on before we start making any plans.” Caleb said as he kept all three of his eyes on the strange clouds.

As they grew closer to the village they came across some outlying farms, several of which looked abandoned. The ones that weren’t took one look at the group of adventurers and booked it towards the town proper. Caleb put on his headband before he could spook any of the villagers with his fae-touched gift.

By the time they reached the rickety wooden gate of the down, there was a large group of people waiting for them. At the front was an older man, given his slightly better clothing it was easy enough to guess he was the village headman.

“Thank the gods!” He said softly before approaching them. “They have sent us three powerful adventurers.”

Caleb looked between Maryana and Cara, both of whom looked just as strong and capable as himself. He took a deep breath to calm himself before addressing the headman.

“We are adventurers, but I don’t believe this is any more than a coincidence.”

“Of course it is, that’s how the gods like to work. My name is Decimo, please, come with me and I can explain everything.”

Caleb wasn’t given any chance to reject the offer as they were ushered further into the village and into what was both the local pub and village hall. Caleb, Maryana, and Cara were sat at a table and were served ale and fresh bread. Cara was content to have some bread and tore off a hunk as Decimo cleared his throat.

“You no doubt noticed the clouds hanging over the forest nearby.”

“Yes, do you have any idea what caused it?” Caleb asked.

“We have a pretty good idea.” Decimo sighed. “Several years ago a hag, specifically a red hag , moved into the deep woods. We were scared, of course, so we stayed away. No sense in angering a monster when you can just avoid it. She kept to herself anyway, deep in the forest with her domain clearly marked. We only ever entered the edge of the forest anyway. For years nothing happened, then there was the last full moon.” Decimo paused and took a long drink of his ale before continuing. “That was when the forest grew dark. Several villagers were attacked by flying stones and other debris while gathering firewood. This has never happened before. What's more, horrible unearthly sounds echo out from the forest, especially at night. Several families have already fled and I fear for the rest of us because things are growing worse.”

“So this hag was continent leaving your village unbothered for years, but now she’s suddenly hostile towards you for no reason?” Maryana crossed her arms. “I find that hard to believe. What did your people do to piss her off?”

“No! We did nothing!” Decimo held up his hands. “No one is stupid enough to cross into her borders, or even go that deep into the forest! Even before she showed up!” Decimo let out a long sigh, “She was never the only dark thing in there. Now I fear she’s raised up those things for some dark purpose. Please, we need your help.”

Caleb believed the headman’s story. Glancing over to Cara she gave him a slight nod. If the thief believed the story, there was little chance of him lying.

“Maryana, I think he is being truthful with us. Look at this village, do you think they would willingly provoke someone like her?”

“People do stupid things all the time.” She let out a sigh, “but I see your point.”

“Decimo, we can look into the situation.”

“You will?” his eyes lit up, “I’m afraid we don’t have that much coin to scrape together.”

“We are traveling to Chayathana, if you can provide us with fresh supplies and a good bed for the night we will consider it a good trade.”

“Done! Whatever you need we will supply.”

“We’ll set out momentarily, in the meantime, it’s best to keep everyone away from the edge of the forest.”

***

After dropping off their packs and non essential gear, Caleb, Maryana, and Cara followed a path into the forest. They didn’t have to go very deep before they started to see signs that something was very wrong. Trees had been knocked down, and seemingly tossed around like twigs. Huge boulders had smashed through the undergrowth leaving gouges in the earth. The trail ended, but as they continued deeper, the destruction only became more dramatic.

Maryana stopped when she saw something hanging from an oak tree. It was the skull of a deer, along with several branches lashed together into a rough triangular shape. Looking to her left and right she spotted a few more similar markers.

“Well, that’s a pretty clear boundary.” Cara said as she inspected one of the markers, still attached to an upturned tree.

“I’ve been thinking about this situation since we left the village,” Maryana said as her eyes darted around the far too quiet forest, “Red hags are different from their kin, they can almost be mistaken for a druid living secluded in the forest. Why would she tear her home apart?”

“You’ve had dealings with hags before?” Cara asked.

“No, my tribe left them alone with a wide berth. Humans were trouble enough.”

“Something has happened here, and it’s not good. I have a bad feeling Ponia will just be the first casualty if we don’t find out what’s really going on here.” Caleb drew his massive sword.

Maryana and Cara drew their weapons as well before they crossed over into the hag’s territory. They didn’t make it far before they heard a terrible screech echo through the forest. Caleb gritted his teeth, the sound made his ears hurt.

“It came from that direction.” Cara pointed.

As if on cue, a shower of rocks flew from that direction, pelting them. They bounced harmlessly off of Cara’s body, and Caleb and Maryana’s armor protected them, but still, they were wary as they moved towards the disturbance. More sounds followed. Some were the horrible screeching noises, others sounded to Caleb like potent magical spells going off. All three had their guard up ready for a fight.

Caleb didn’t know what to expect, but when they entered the edge of what was now a clearing he was still more surprised than he expected to be. The first thing that drew his attention was the giant creature. It was almost impossible to describe. It was a mass of limbs, with far too many eyes and mouths. It was no natural creature, that much was apparent. The creature wasn’t focused on them, though there was no way it didn’t see the group with that many eyes.

Instead it was locked in battle with the red hag. It was trying to either crush, slash, or grab the red-skinned female depending on the limb. The hag was battered and bloodied, but her red eyes almost burned with determination. She shouted in some unknown language and held out her open hand. A fountain of her own blood at first erupted from her skin, but as it traveled through the air it burst into brilliant golden flames that engulfed the creature.

The creature howled through its many mouths and fled through the forest, still on fife as it crashed through the trees. The Hag looked dazed and collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air. As she regained her focus, she noticed the three armed and armored adventurers. Her eyes still gleamed red in the gloom of the clouds covering the forest. She reached to the cord around her midsection that functioned as a belt and pulled out a knife. The hag gripped the old kitchen knife tightly in her hands, eyes shifting between the three of them.

“I think there’s more going on here than the Decimo knew about.” Cara whispered.

“A lot more.” Caleb replied.

“No surprise there.” Maryana sighed and lowered her axe to her side, though she kept the weapon in her hand. She took a few steps towards the battered red hag. “Who are you?”

The hag did her best to try and sit up straight, leaning against the broken stump of a tree. “Bold of you to ask my name after entering my home.”

“I apologize but given the situation,” Maryana motioned with her shield arm at the surrounding carnage, “I believe it was warranted.”

The Hag closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again the brilliance of the red in her eyes had faded to a soft pink.

“Vexena.” She said softly, but kept her knife firmly in her hand.

“Vexena, are you responsible for that…thing?”

“What? No! Of course not! Didn’t you see it trying to kill me?”

“We are not making any assumptions. Caleb said as he sheathed his massive sword. “All we know is what the nearby village said about the disturbances.”

Vexena looked at the three obviously powerful adventurers. In her current state she didn’t have a chance against one competent adventurer, let alone three. Being a logical person, she realized it was in her best interest just to explain the situation.

“It’s not my fault.” She said, then seeing the look on Cara’s face. “I mean it!” Vexena took another deep breath to steady herself. “I have no quarrel with Ponia. As far as neighbors go, I was doing alright for a hag. I didn’t bother them, and they didn’t bother me. I never had any adventures sent in to lop off my head or anything. Until now.” she said, giving Caleb a pointed look.

“We told the headman we would investigate what was happening, we never promised him your head.”

“How enlightened of you.” Vexena’s tired voice was laced with sarcasm. “Well, allow me to finish your investigation. Deeper into the forest there are some ancient ruins. There must have been a city instead of a forest here sometime in the distant past. As far as I know, all that remains is a large ritual circle. Back on the night of the last full moon some idiot snuck past my domain and did something at the circle. By the time I realized there had been a trespasser, well, you saw the abomination.”

Cara let out a sound of frustration. “Why do people always try to summon stupid crap into our world? Aren’t there enough monsters already in it?” She saw the look Vexena was giving her, “No offense.”

“Maybe a construct should be more careful about who they call monsters.” Vexena lowered her knife. “However, I agree that they are fools.”

“You’ve been fighting the monster since that night, haven’t you?” When Vexena nodded, Maryana shook her head. “And the villagers think this is all your fault. This whole time you’ve been protecting them.”

“It wasn’t out of altruism. I was deafening myself and my forest from the creature. Any benefit to them was just coincidental. I thought I would be able to weaken it enough to perform the banishing ritual, but it was far too powerful for me to do anything other than survive.”

“I think we can all agree the monster needs to be stopped.” Caleb said, looking off in the direction the creature had fled. “Vexena, you know it better than us, do you have any suggestions?”

“The abomination is more than just powerful, it’s just plain wrong for our reality. It’s not a matter of killing it, it needs to be banished back where it came from, after sufficiently weakening it, that is.”

“Can you do that with your witchcraft?” Maryana asked

Vexena sighed and glared at Maryana. “I’m a blood mage, not a witch! They are completely different magical traditions.” She closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “However, to answer your question, I have enough skill to perform the ritual, the problem is I am drained from the near constant battles with the abomination. I can’t even stand up right now, let alone spare enough blood to even light a candle.”

“Drained in more than one sense then.” Cara said, “I don’t suppose there’s a quick fix like a hot cup of tea, is there?”

Vexena sat there, leaning against a stump as she considered what to do. She didn’t want to work with adventurers, but this abomination was a threat that needed to be neutralized.

“I am willing to lend the magical talent your party needs to succeed, however, there is a small sacrifice that will need to be made on your behalf.”

Caleb stepped forward. “What do you mean?”

“I need some of your blood to revitalize myself. Not enough to weaken you significantly, just enough to empower my magic. It would be the blood mage equivalent to the cup of tea your golem friend mentioned.”

“My name is Cara, we asked for your name, show us the same courtesy.”

“Very well, Cara, would you care to introduce your companions?”

“The big guy is Caleb and the big girl is Maryana.”

“You’re all big, but that’s fine. That means you can spare more blood and still be effective, well those of you with blood.” Vexena turned her sights on Caleb and Maryana. “Either of you can give me what I need, but I would prefer Caleb, a male’s blood is more, ah, agreeable.”

Maryana placed a hand on Caleb’s shoulder. “I don’t like this.”

“We need a mage, that much is clear. I’ll be fine, she’ll want me to still be in fighting shape, after all.” He gave his partner a soft smile before going over and kneeling down by Vexena. “I’m ready when you are.”

The hag tapped his lower arm with her sharp nails. “Unfasten your bracer, I need to reach your skin for this.”

Caleb nodded and removed the bracer and pushed back the sleeve of his tunic. He could feel how weak Vexena was as she held and inspected his lower arm in his hands. The hag then reached into a bag tied to her belt and pulled out a charcoal stick and scribed several runes around a prominent vein.

“This will hurt, but try not to jerk away.” Vexena said as she picked up her knife once more.

Caleb nodded and looked away, hoping it would hurt less if he didn’t see it coming. The knife was sharp and it easily cut into his flesh. Caleb inhaled deeply, but did his best not to flinch. Vexena let the knife drop to the ground as she covered the wound with her lips and began to drink. As soon as it hit her tongue she felt a surge of strength, more than she had expected.

The weakness in her body did more than just go away, it was replaced with a fierce powerful burning warmth. Vexena’s heart pounded inside her chest as her body absorbed the rich powerful blood. On top of it all it felt so good, like a powerful drug wiping away her pain and weariness.

Maryana watched the red hag intently. Her axe was still at her side, but it was gripped tightly in her hand. It was easy enough to see Vexena regaining her strength as she sat straight up, but then something else started to happen. Before her eyes she saw the muscles in the hag’s arms twitch, then start to swell, growing more defined and stronger by the heartbeat.

“Cara, do you see what I’m seeing?”

“Yeah, Is it supposed to happen though? I’ve never met a red hag or a blood mage before.”

It was more than just her arms. Her legs, torso, every muscle fiber in her body was energized and growing from this sanguine meal. The simple wraps of hide and fur that covered her body were stretched as her upper body grew not only more muscled but larger. Especially when it came to her chest. The red orbs pushed past the simple wrap and spilled out for everyone to see, her dark pierced nipples standing at attention.

Vexena pulled away from Caleb’s arm, gasping for air. She touched the wound gently and it healed, not even leaving a hint of a scar when Caleb looked down at it. Vexena breathed heavy, though not from exhaustion this time. She slowly got to her feet and realized she was taller than she had been when this mess had begun. She looked down at her exposed and, more strangely, enhanced breasts. After a quick look at Maryana and Cara, Vexena started to re-wrap her chest.

“I see you have a type.” She said softly to Caleb.

Cara chuckled, but Maryana smacked her in the arm to stop.

“I, ah, I didn’t do anything.” Caleb said as he watched the now buff red hag redress herself.

“Not on purpose, I know you're no mage, especially after tasting your blood. There was…” Vexena shook her head, “never mind, we can discuss this later." She made several more adjustments to her clothing to fit her new frame. “We must deal with the abomination before he recovers too much from our last battle.”

“He shouldn’t be too difficult to track.” Cara said as she pointed to the path the beast had torn through the forest.

“There is no need to track, I know where it is going. We will find it back at that damned circle to lick its wounds and regain strength.” she said as she searched the ground. She found her staff and inspected it for any damage. “Come, let’s finish this.”

“Caleb?” Maryana asked as he buckled his bracer back into place. “Are you ready to fight?”

“I’m fine, I don’t feel weak at all. Vexena is right, we can talk about what happened after the danger has been dealt with.”

Maryana nodded, but there was still a look of worry in her eyes. Vexena led them through the woods, not that the path of the creature wasn’t clear. Along the way the hag found herself slowly getting used to her increased size and strength. As unexpected as her transformation had been, it seemed there was a silver lining to it. Her endurance had increased and she had a feeling that with proper time to rest and recover she would have more blood to call upon for her magic.

They could hear the cries of the creature once again as they drew close to the ruins. Vexena stopped them and they readied their weapons.

“The creature will need to be weakened for the ritual to work. You don’t need to defeat it, just damage it enough.”

“Yeah, while not getting killed.” Cara said as she tested the edge of her short swords.

“So get in, strike and pull back.” Caleb said before cracking his neck.

Vexena closed her eyes and pricked a finger with one of her long sharp nails. She traced bloody runes onto her staff and chanted. The staff started to glow faintly red. When she opened her eyes they were already shifting from pink to red.

“Are we ready?” The other three nodded. “Then let’s finish this.”

The four of them spread out. There was no sneaking up on a creature covered in eyes, it was instead to force the creature to spread out its attacks. It screeched loudly and swung out with a large tentacle at Vexena first. She sidestepped the blow and brought her enchanted staff down on the limb as hard as she could. Even though Vexena was aware she was stronger, the effect of the blow still surprised her as much as the creature as the tentacle split open like an overcooked sausage.

Caleb was the next to strike. He brought his massive sword down on an arm covered in scales and armed with long powerful claws. The creature tried to defend against the blow and lost two claws to the sword strike. Caleb dodged away from a counter attack and put a ruined wall between the creature and himself, taking cover before his next strike.

Maryana threw a sharpened stick like a make-shift javelin at the creature, which it easily batted away with a hammer-like fist. It was just a distraction, letting her land a solid blow on the inside of its arm with her axe. As blood sprayed from the wound she rolled away from fist as it slammed onto the stone floor of the circle, leaving a cracked impact crater.

Cara relied on her speed and flexibility, dodging the strikes from a large pincer-tipped appendage. Once she was close enough she threw a dagger into the closest eye. Cara smirked at its scream. She jumped up as it swept the ground where she was standing and landed on the limb. She jabbed it several times with her short swords before she leapt to a nearby ruined tower.

Watching the creature take its frustration out on the tower Cara was rapidly trying to escape from gave Vexena an idea. She started casting a spell as Caleb and Maryana tried to distract the creature away from Cara. Vexena threw her arm up to the sky as a spray of blood drops flew out high into the air. They hung unnaturally in the air for a moment, the blood drops elongating into needle-like slivers and turning black before they rained down on the abomination.

The needles pierced its flesh, but Vexena’s target had been its eyes. The worse it could see, then the easier evading its attacks would be. The abomination swung out wildly with all its limbs as it bellowed in pain and frustration. It was doing far more damage to the ruins than actually threatening the ones it was fighting.

Caleb took advantage of its confusion, running between patches of cover and slashing at the flailing limbs as he moved. Maryana homed in on the creature's new blind spots to strike deep and doge away when it blindly countered. Cara did her best to poke the creature and get it to swing its limbs into structures, harming itself far more than her tiny blades had any chance of doing.

Vexena took in the carnage and carefully made her way to the head of the ancient circle. The creature had no place to run to, this was the only place in this reality where it could absorb the energy that trickled in from its own home plane to heal. It was time to start the ritual and banish the abomination. Vexena discarded her staff and pulled the knife from her belt.

As revitalized as she was from Caleb’s blood, she only had one chance at this ritual. Without even a flinch she sliced open her palm in her knife. Her eyes glowed red with power as she chanted the ritual spell. Her blood dripped to the ancient stone pavers and started to glow, soft at first like embers in a neglected fire pit, but they grew bright the longer and louder she chanted.

Caleb, Maryana, and Cara noticed what Vexena was doing and wisely started to retreat out of the area of the ancient circle. By the time the abomination noticed the glow spreading through the circle it was too late. It made one final rush towards the red hag, but it slammed against the border of the circle like a solid wall. As they watched. Vexena’s voice grew louder, supernaturally amplified by the ritual, even overpowering the unholy noises of the creature.

Caleb didn’t know how to describe it exactly, but it was like a chasm opened up. Inside was a pure darkness, worse than the deepest cave he had ever seen. The crack of void widened and started to pull the creature into it. The abomination struggled against the pull but eventually it was swallowed up and the crack slammed shut, as if it had never existed.

The glow stopped and Vexena fell to her knees, drained once again, but victorious. Maryana looked up and saw the unnatural clouds overhead were breaking up and letting the late afternoon sun stream into the ruins once again. Wary of the circle after what they witnessed, the three of them walked around it to join Vexena.

“Is it over?” Caleb asked softly.

The hag nodded. “It’s back where it belongs.”

“It certainly did enough damage while it was here.” Cara said looking at the forest that surrounded the ruins.

Vexena sighed deeply. “It will take years, centuries even for the forest to recover on its own, but damage like this is going to get the attention of the closest druid’s circle.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Caleb asked. “I thought druids cared for natural places and helped to heal them.”

“It’s good for the forest but, eh, I like my privacy.”

“Is that our clue to leave?” Maryana asked as she slipped off her shield.

“Not yet, we have things to discuss,” She slowly got back up on her feet, “but back at my camp, I don’t want to spend any more time here.”

_________________________________________

Characters and setting belong to the Commissioner

Writing by Syntaxerror37

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