In front of the raid a prairie stretched. It was an endless sea of tall grass that rippled in the wind like waves on water.

The raid was spread wide enough to avoid presenting a single target yet close enough to respond to threats.

Reidar walked near the front with Lena and Jake. Lena was leading the raid because the advantage her trait gave her.

The Crimson Briar Patch waited somewhere ahead, and based on the quest description, it was in a bad situation.

The place should have been a kind of paradise, which explained why monsters decided to head there and to claim it as their home.

This was true for the entire valley. Based on what the System, and the Velia's regional map said, the land had been rich, nourished by the blood of the earth, and the corpses of the people that lived there when it was a city, but it was particularly true for the briar patch.

Reidar imagined it as it must have been before whatever took a hold of it appeared.

Based on what the other raid members said, there was a town there, which was now completely engulfed by the forest. The buildings would have been large. Reidar didn't know the name the place had before it became a forest nestled inside a valley, but it didn't matter.

Now, the skyline was a jagged silhouette, broken and overgrown, ruined.

"Metastasized. An odd word choice," Reidar said as he was reading the quest's description.

Lena nodded. "The description mentioned wildlife strangled, survivors trapped, and something called Thorn-Lashers. The quest's goal is to eliminate 2500 of them plus an Elder. I wonder how big that thing will be."

"I'm not so happy to learn it."

"Oh… c'mon… you are so boring…"

Reidar gave a wry grin. "You know, if I had a choice, I'd rather not face down a hundred of these Thorn-Lashers. They sound... unsettling."

Lena chuckled. "You forget, I come from a place where unsettling and ugly things were part of daily life." She was referring to the monsters constantly attacking Havenwood because of the Church. "Besides, someone has to keep you on your toes."

"Or prevent I get stabbed in the back," Reidar quipped, though his eyes were already scanning the prairie ahead.

Lena's expression turned serious. "Don't worry about that. I'm keeping an eye on these people. If they get too close I'm going to fuck them up. We're in this together, remember?"

Reidar nodded. "Yeah. It's just that I didn't expect to be a target so soon after Havenwood. I wonder who these guys are. Do they want to kill me because of my powers? Or is it because they are part of the church?"

Spies could be everywhere, after all.

"It doesn't matter," Lena said. "We will get to the bottom of it once we have them on the other side of our blades."

She paused. "Ready now?"

The man sighed. "As I'll ever be. Let's go see what this 'paradise' actually looks like."

Seraphine walked several paces ahead, she seemed to have noticed something. Helga's group occupied the left flank, while Aldric's people were on the right.

The survivors were silent. Conversation was sparse. Everyone understood they were going into another dangerous place. Maybe even more than the Chittering Tunnels.

Reidar pulled up his status screen, reviewing his resources.

He had 8570 mana points. Full health. As for his summons, he only had his mounts at that moment. He, Lena and Jake were riding three, while the other two were behind them.

Jake was on his right, unusually silent. The kid's eyes were fixed on the forest. He'd grown since the raid started, not physically, but in presence. The fear was still there, but seeing so many strong people, particularly Reidar, Lena and Seraphine, he felt safer, and that gave him more confidence. The battles he went through also helped.

"You good?" Reidar asked.

Jake nodded. "I was Just wondering how the forest will be like."

"It is red."

"Red?" Jake asked.

"Yes, based on what the system says. Weird, isn't it?"

"It is!"

But those words made Jake eager to see the place. Which was something he shouldn't wish at all.

Reidar turned to look at Lena. She hadn't slept at all, and Reidar could see the toll the lack of sleep was taking.

Then movement caught his eye.

In front of them, perhaps a mile away, shapes moved across the prairie. Large shapes.

<Ah… fuck…>

Reidar raised his hand. "Wait."

The raid stopped. Heads turned toward him, then followed his gaze.

A herd of massive creatures thundered across the grassland. They were as ugly as gnus, but scaled up to monstrous proportions.

Each monster stood eight feet at the shoulder, with thick horns curving from broad skulls. Behind them, predators gave chase.

Feline monsters, or so it seemed, were chasing the herd with terrifying speed. They looked like lions but were far larger, at least twelve feet from nose to tail.

The raid watched in silence as the hunt unfolded. The herd scattered, the weakest members falling behind. The felines closed the distance.

"What are those?" Jake asked.

No one knew. Though, one of the survivors from Helga's group, a middle-aged man, said something interesting.

"There was a zoo near here before everything went to hell. Those things must've evolved from the animals there."

It made sense. The apocalypse had twisted everything. Why not zoo animals?

The hunt continued until the felines circled the herd member that lagged behind.

Reidar had to admit it, seeing these things hunt was cool, and Jake agreed.

The gnu-like creature wheeled, lowering its horns in defense. For a moment, it looked like the beast might survive.

The lead feline then pounced, slashing with its claws before sinking its teeth into the creature's neck. Blood sprayed as the beast thrashed, its legs kicking wildly before going still.

The other felines circled in, eager to claim their share. But one of them hesitated, lifting its head and scanning the prairie. Then, its gaze locked onto the raid.

"Shit."

The feline roared. The other predators abandoned their kill and turned toward the raid. Six of the monsters began to advance.

"They think we are here to steal their prey," Lena said.

"I don't give a fuck!" Helga raised her voice. "Ironsides! Combat positions!"

The raid scattered into formation. Fighters moved to the front, weapons drawn. Mages positioned themselves behind protective lines. Ranged attackers nocked arrows and prepared spells.

Reidar had nothing to do if not to observe and occasionally using a spell to recharge his mana through arcane leech. In the meantime, the feline monsters charged.

Their speed was terrifying, closing the distance in seconds, which Reinforced the need in Reidar to increase his S.H.I.E.L.D. and F.L.A.I.R.

Level indicators appeared above their heads. They were Level around 70. These things were strong, but manageable.

Arrows flew. Spells crackled. The raid's ranged attackers poured damage into the advancing predators.

One of the felines broke through the screen of summons and lunged at Helga's group.

A huge man stepped forward and caught the attack on his shield. The blow shoved him back a good three feet. These things were definitely packing some serious strength. But he held his ground. His sword flashed out right after, slicing a deep cut along the creature's side.

Another feline targeted Aldric's people. One of his people, a woman dashed, meeting the creature's charge with a devastating counter of her short sword. Alien steel bit deep into muscle.

Her blade found its throat. The creature collapsed, blood pooling beneath its body.

Seraphine's group brought down two more. The last feline tried to flee. Aldric didn't let it. A lance of ice materialized above his head and shot forward, punching through the creature's spine.

The other monsters took their prey and left the area.

Silence fell over the prairie.

"That was fun!" Helga said.

"Yeah… really…"

Six massive corpses littered the grass.

"Anyone injured?" Seraphine asked.

Responses came back negative.

"Loot them," Reidar said. "And fast at that. We're exposed out here."

The survivors moved among the corpses, harvesting materials. Claws, teeth, hide. Everything useful. Soon everything ended up in their inventories.

Seraphine, Helga, and Aldric approached Reidar.

"How much longer to the Crimson Briar Patch?" Seraphine asked.

Lena didn't look at her. "Half an hour once we reach the forest edge. Maybe less."

Aldric nodded. "Then we need to move. Standing in the open like this is asking for trouble."

The raid reformed and resumed its march. As they drew closer, the trees resolved into detail. Oaks and pines, were there, and they were as tall and large as Redwoods, which, in turn, reached the clouds.

It didn't take much for the raid to notice something was wrong with them.

There were red patches marring the bark. Crimson vines crawled up trunks like infections spreading through flesh. The leaves on some branches had taken on a bloody hue, as if dipped in paint.

"They are red! They are red!" Jake was happy to see the oddity. The adults weren't.

Weird didn't begin to cover how strange those trees were. Red plants. Red trees. The apocalypse had brought monsters and magic, but this was really too weird, and it felt dangerous. This felt diseased.

The raid entered the forest.

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