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Short NW D6

They had rode across the frontier a day ago and were now on the main road that led to the first Vicini outpost town, it was comparable to Icini and the party had avoided the smaller settlments that were supposed to be on the way, the road was heavily traveled, little more then a churned up mud path now.

Flacidious was stoaking his goatie at the front of the troop, they had been engulfed in fog for hours now and the damp had soaked through his clothes ever so slowly. “Curses” he muttered to himself.

“I don’t like the look of this road.” Feng commented as his horses hooves squelched in the mud.

“It looks like a whole regiment marched through here” Gilnar said as he scratched his scar.

A thick fog had settled from nowhere meaning the group could only see a couple of meters in front of them, they kept on talking.

“Let’s hope we don’t run into them then.” Flacidious with a touch of exhaution yawned at them.

“Of all the things, I really hate fog.” Meredith’s voice sung out from the rear of the group.

“Doesn’t it remind you of being in a blizzard little Mere?” Primela asked from the middle somewhere.

“Not in the slightest.” Meredith let out a yawn.

“It’s mighty queit.” Whispered Sial. He looked around, eyes unable to penetrate the fog.

“A fair point, I can’t recall hearing a single animal for the last few hours.” Long hissed.

Flacidious eyed the shadows behind him.

They all seemed to sit up as the realisation dawned on them, except Flacidious he stayed hunched visibly irritated in his saddle.

“Do you think they were scared away by something?” Erek pondered.

“Or eaten, if a large group of troops have moved through here they could have eaten everything?” Charles countered.

“If there were such a host we’d have seen it by now, or it would have been ravaging Icini.”

Primela clicked her tongue and breathed deeply, she closed her eyes and listened closely, the squalching of the horses hooves, stagnant air, she opened her eyes. “It isn’t just quiet, there’s no sounds at all except the slightest sounds of moisture pooling and dropping from bare branches.”

Flacidious looked ahead a grim look on his face. “Can you smell something?” He asked.

“Just damp and mold.” Sial said.

“Yeah, this fog is blanketing everything in the sent of damp” Feng added.

“Fucking fog.” Gilnar cursed.

The troop continued to follow the road at a snails pace glaring into the gloom as it turned from light grey to dark grey to black as the suns set.

“We’ll have to set up camp here.” Flacidious said with great displeasure.

“Do you think it’ll be safe?” Erek asked as he crouched over in his saddle.

“Hells if I know.” Flacidious rounded his horse. The fog had cleared only slightly they could make out to about ten meters. They hastily built a large fire with prepared bundles of wood from their bags so they didnt’ need to wonder into the trecherous undergrowth.

“It’s going to be a hell of a night.” Sial said standing by the fire.

“Yeah, an army could be a dozen yards away and we wouldn’t be able to see them” Erek growled.

“What is up with this accursed fog.” Gilnar complained as he put down his tarp.

“Let’s hope it lifts at sun up.” Flacidious said as he pulled his blanket over his head and curled up.

The group was arranged into watches, larger then normal 3 of them up at any one time to try and keep an ear out for anything that may decend on them.

“Hey Mere” Primela asked. The two were sat sharing a tarp while Long was walking around aimlessly.

“Yes?” Meredith answered sleepily.

“Isn’t it supposed to be summer here?” Primela asked quietly.

“Yes. Yes it is.”

“And isn’t fog like this supposed to be gone during this kind of time?”

“Yeah” Meredith paused and looked up at the black blanket that enveloped them “yeah it is.” Primela didn’t say anything else during the watch and neither did Meredith.

The next day the fog was still dense and travel was slow, wet and unnerving. They mostly moved in silence in the dark ahead of them was something. Flacidious raised his hand and moved forward slowly.

Something black in the fog, it seemed to stand still, Flacidious slowly moved forward the black figure was silent, Flacidious drew his spear and held it high and pointed at the black thing that showed no signs of motion. As they got closer it became clearer, a horse stood in the middle of the road. Flacidious didn’t reduce his level of tension, the others had quietly drawn their weapons, eyes alert on all sides.

“Fuck me.” Flacidious exclaimed quietly, his face curling up a moment. A rotting face of a horse, its teeth clearly visible where lips should be, its eyes pus filled gauges, maggots dropping from holes in its flesh. Flacidious began to tilt his head in disgusted curiosity when it suddenly made a horrifying wale. “What the fuck it’s alive!” The creature bolted towards Flacidious whose horse paniced rilling up. Flacidious held on tight and tried to calm it as the fell horse screamed past the others all Erek and Sial’s mounts also railed up kicking at the monstrous beast with their up lifted hooves driving the creature into the forest but then a loud shriek Flacidious saw Sial’s horse crumple to the ground the tall man rolling away before it toppled ontop of him. “Shit”

Sials horse was laying on the ground making an awful noise the other horses seemed to be on edge as the group stood around it.

“The damn things lame.” Sial cursed as he kicked the ground.

“What’ll we do now, we were already going to slow because of this fog?” Charles asked while squatting on the ground looking at the animal as it convulsed in a way a child would sit and poke a wounded animal that it felt strange. No obvious malice just idle curiosity.

“Though considering how slow we’re currently going I suppose doubling up wont make much difference.” Gilnar rubbed the side of his head and looked over at Flacidious.

“True, we’ll just have to rotate.” Erek said looking at Meredith a moment. Flacidious stroked his goatie and looked at around at the group. The horse bulked again trying to stand up.

“I guess I’ll do the honours.” Sial said, and plunged his spear through the horses head rotating it a few times as the horse let out a few final sounds and shudders before becoming silent. Charles stood up with a bored look on his face.

“What do you think was with that horse?” Long who had been futher back in the order asked looking at Flacidious and then across at Erek and Sial.

“It had a saddle and other gear, I think the gear was some of ours?” Erek seemed to gesture at the horse on the ground.

“Could have been from the missing scouts?” Sial said as he paused a moment and looked back in the direction the hideous beast had fled.

“Maybe.” Flacidious said, “I didn’t get a very good look but that definetly may have been from Icini.” Flacidious followed Sial’s gaze.

“What in Kiels name was wrong with it though?” Erek grimmaced as though he was recalling the sight of it and turned to Flacidious.

“Some kind of pestilance?” Gilnar offred.

“Must have been.” Flacidious said walking in the direction the beast ran a moment before turning back.

“Was fucking grim though.” Erek commented while he rummaged in his pocket pulling out a slice of dried meat that he procedded to chew on.

“I didn’t get to see it, what was it like?” Feng asked looking at the men who were up front.

“Like it was rotting on its legs.” Flacidious procedeed described it as best he could remember. “I’ll be honest I was a bit to taken a back to really remember it to well.”

“Yeah, ever heard of anything like that before?” Erek asked Geng and then turned to the others.

“There are a few inflictions that bring a victim out in rotting sores yeah, none of them are pleasent.” Feng said as he looked into the air.

“Yeah there’s a bunch of beggers in a town outside of Habruk that need to wrap themselves in cloth because of something like that. I’d advise not going for a visit.” Primela advised.

They nodded and collected themselves a moment, Sial collected his pack from the dead horse and they stood their another moment.

“Ah well, it isn’t like it was my horse anyway.” Sial Said, pack now over his shoulder.

“I guess Meredith you’ll have to share rotate around the others.” Flacidious said and she clicked her tongue in disapproaval but looked like she had already resigned herself to that fate. “We’ll have to pick up a new horse on the way.” He contiuned. They all got back on their horses and Meredith was forced to share with Sial first.