Moss & Menace

The sun was hanging high in the noon sky, and many were taking a break from their work and daily chores to rest for a while. The eateries were filling with patrons, and the smell of food washed down nearly every street. As Robina and Kennedy walked away from the training grounds, they could smell the fresh foods being prepared.

“Smells like lunch time!” Robina excitedly exclaimed, the sound of hunger soon followed.

“I agree, lass! Let's eat.” He enthusiastically replied. They stopped by a street vendor that was selling roasted skewers of meat, fruits and vegetables. The smell was enticing, and a promise of delectable flavors to come. They ordered a few extra to take with them, and continued along their way out of town.

When they reached the gates the sounds of the town's residents became muted, and before them laid the very same road that Robina had used to travel there. The guards bid them a safe journey, and warned them not to be out too long due to the increased activity of the Biloko. The sight of the road had brought back the unpleasant memory of awakening into this world to the redhead's mind, causing her to take a few calming breaths. Her companion pressed ahead with determination, and she felt some reassurance in that.

Beams of afternoon light were the only illumination in the dense woods, each step away from Nzete Moke amplified the sound of insects and birds. The pleasant smell from the fruit trees marked the border of the territory, but something else began to mix with it as they neared the edge of the orchard. A moldy smell sickened the air.

“Robina, keep your guard up. They get more active later in the day.” The gruff adventurer warned, readying his weapon. Robina nodded silently in response, and readied her weapon as well. They carried onward with an increased sense of vigilance, the smell of mold and moss grew stronger with each step.

Silently as they could, they moved from cover to cover. Using the trees to obscure their approach. Suddenly a sound started to grow, it was quite faint at first but it grew as they came closer to the source of the smell. Something new started to break through, a scent of iron and copper…blood. The faint sound grew into a disquieting squelch, like that of a wild animal rending flesh fangs. ‘This is so gross…’ Robina spotted the source, Biloko. There were three of them gathered around the corpse of a horse, each of them greedily supped at the freshly slain creature. The horse still had a rider's harness attached to its head, and a partially eaten saddle still adhered to its disfigured remains. There were no signs of a person having survived the encounter, a testament to the vicious nature of these grassy hunters.

With only a few dozen meters between them, the situation was quite tense. The road lay nearly the same distance away, on the other side of the dense greenery. “Well…what do we do now?” Robina whispered to Kennedy.

“Hmm… well, it may look like there are only three but we can’t just go trustin our eyes, lass. I think we should lure them to the road. We’ll have the advantage there.” His plan was simple, lure them back into the open and exploit one of their fears. “You go back up, I'll watch your back.” he pulled a vial from his pocket, “And when you get there, smash this against a tree. They’ll come straight for it, and I’ll attack from behind.” He held it out, encouraging her to take it.

“Oh, right… you want me to carry the very breakable lure…” Robina felt uneasy about the request, “What if I drop it or trip or something???”

“You’ll just have to trust that that won't happen.” He pushed it into her hand, ensuring she had a firm grasp of it. “It’ll work… just trust me will you, Robina.”

She was incensed by his forceful action, “I guess it better work for both our sakes…” She began moving back towards the road, but kept one eye on the goings on by the horse. It looked like one more joined them, she quickened her pace. Kennedy kept an eye out on the Biloko, who were quickly running out of their meal.

Each of the ravenous creatures were tinged red, as they singlemindedly consumed their latest fix. Robina was nearly at the road again, just a few steps away but then she heard a ringing. Looking back she saw there were only three of the creatures again, ‘That can’t be good’ she scanned the area but didn’t see it. The ringing got closer, and now it was more familiar. Robina reached the road and turned around and threw the vial, it smashed into a tree and released a foul smell. The Biloko that were feasting immediately perked up and began sniffing the air, their wicked little eyes began to search with feverish anticipation as blood and drool ran down their mouths. Together, the grassy figures began to shamble towards the smell of the bait. Robina took that time to move further up along the road away from the location she just smashed the bait vial, and looked for a tree to hide behind.

The unmistakable toll of a small bell grew closer to Robina, but it was coming from the other side of the road. “That bell… it sounds like the one from yesterday.” She couldn’t see where it was coming from yet. ‘They’re surrounding us…’ She looked to see if Kennedy was still there but he was gone, and the creatures were all getting closer. Feelings of panic began sinking in, ‘was I the bait?!’ her mind was racing. The sounds of insects and birds began to die out as the foul smell of the creatures encircled her. The world felt as though it was closing in around her, threatening to snuff her out, and yet… She held fast to her weapon with grim determination, ‘I refuse to die here.’