"All around us…" Jake repeated, his voice cracking.

"What do you see," Serif asked.

"I don't know…" He answered, eyes wide.

"What does that mean," Zhadra shouted.

"I…don't know…," he repeated, lifting his bow, "I see silhouettes…but I can't make out what it is."

"Huddle around," Serif muttered, the group standing back to back, Tavena in the middle.

Without warning, Zhadra sent another arrow flying, boom, an explosion rocked the forest again, the light illuminating the dark jungle, trees catching fire.

Serif narrowed his eyes, there was nothing there, unless, his eyes widened, the trees.

At that second, the trees creaked and pulled back around them, creating an open field, forming a cage around the group smack in the center, looking around warily.

Serif's eye narrowed as he saw something, pulling itself out of the tree wall, the creature landed on the ground and gazes locked with Serif, its eyes were hollow, black flames within.

Its entire body seemed to be made of wood, black rotting roots and vines coiling around it, moving like worms penetrating into its wooden frame.

Overall its figure was based around a human, a tree human, an ent perhaps, but this wasn't pleasant to see.

The creature roared, a shrill sound as if nails scraping on glass resounded.

As if on cue, the tree wall started moving, more of the creatures freeing themselves, pouring into the cage, dashing towards the group the next second.

"No way…" Jake muttered, taking a step back.

"Snap out of it boy, you have a bow right," Orivin's voice thundered, as he prepared his shield.

"Shoot, ensure none gets close to you, just keep shooting what's in front of you, we'll take care of the rest." He said, looking at Serif with a grim expression.

Serif nodded and swung his chain, the chain snapping through the wooden bodies of the monsters approaching from his direction, black liquid spraying out, wood splintering as the chain passed through.

Boom, an explosion sounded behind him again, glancing over his shoulder, He noticed Zhadra, drawing her bow again, the tip of the arrow glowing red and she released.

Upon impact another explosion rang out decimating the monsters in front of her.

Now the group was huddled up together, facing four sides with Tavena in the middle, Serif, Jake, Zhadra and Orivin in that order, and the creatures were coming from all directions.

Zhadra seemed to be doing okay, preventing them from getting close, Orivin slamming his shield, waiting for the clash, and Jake, he was struggling, out of all sides, the monster at his side weren't finding it hard, he was hardly concentrating, fidgeting, his arrows lacking power.

Something had to be done, Serif thought as his chains snapped through more of the creatures.

"Jake, Orivin, you have to work together," He said.

"Jake, levitate and focus on shooting, Orivin will focus on defense, leave this side to me," Serif said, the chains on his left hand extending down.

"Now," he shouted out, swinging both chains, snapping through the creatures easily.

Orivin broke into a boisterous laugh, "I see, Jake just focus on stragglers, I need them to reach me." He slammed the shield into the ground, a gigantic glowing circular projection of the shield forming over it, projecting forward.

Jake nodded in response, levitating into the air.

Serif frowned, an effect of his anima then.

As the creatures slammed into the projection, Orivin's leg dug into the ground, yet he held, the creatures kept mindlessly slamming into it, the shield glowing more with each slam.

Then boom, an energy projection shot out from the shield decimating all the creatures in front, turning them to dust, except for a few, which Jake swiftly ended with a shot to the head, his aim significantly better now.

But without wasting a beat, more of the creatures emerged from the trees filling in the gap, attacking again.

Serif frowned as his chains snapped back, the creatures weren't as tough as expected, he swung again wrapping the chain around one and slamming him into the others, destroying more.

He was effectively, preventing them from approaching, Zhadra had switched to a hammer, slamming the creatures, breaking them with one hit, occasionally and explosion following each hit, and Orivin and Jake were working well together, his energy projection stopping the monsters.

Yet Serif still felt that chill, something was wrong, they couldn't keep doing this, Jake would eventually run out of arrows, not to mention they'll eventually get exhausted, after all after every row they decimated more emerged, endless, relentless.

"We can't keep doing this," Zhadra roared, an explosion following her hit, "we have," her hammer shattering another, "to find a way…out of here."

He agreed with her, this was pointless, the monsters appeared to be just wearing them down, more replacing the destroyed ones, they had to break out of this cage.

"Hey Tavena," Zhadra shouted, her hammer smacking into the side of one of the monstrosities, folding it, sending it flying, destroying everything in its path, fire flaring from the edge of the hammer, causing an explosion, giving her a breather.

She turned to Tavena who was whimpering, sitting on the ground, hugging her knees, "What do you sense, is there a point where the energy is weaker."

But she didn't answer, instead she covered her ear, eyes staring blankly at the ground, tears dripping.

The ground trembled as Orivin discharged another blast, he placed a hand on Tavena 's shoulder, her shuddering ceasing immediately.

She spun and hugged his hand, gripping into it tightly, "Is there a weak area," He whispered, clenching his jaw as the monsters collided with the shield again, his leg digging into the ground.

She did not answer, hugging his hand tighter, Orivin pried his hand free and patted her head, a warm smile spreading on his face.

Tavena smiled back and wiped the tears on her face, then she pointed forward, the direction Serif was facing, "weaker," she muttered.

But at that moment, wind blew her hair back, a fist stopped in front of her face, a chain creaking around the arm, digging into its rotting flesh.

Serif groaned and pulled, dragging the hand away, a creature pulled along with it.

He slammed it into the floor, yet a frown appeared on his face, that was faster than the others, it had passed through almost killing Tavena, and he barely stopped it.

And worst, it was not dead, it slowly stood up out of the crater, it's hand barely hanging to it's remaining body, then with it's free hand, it caught one of the original creatures.

Slowly the vines around it dried up, the injured hand slowly recovering, rotting flesh growing over it.

It was different for sure, it was a lot closer to humans than the others, no it was more of a hybrid, its frame was replaced by flesh, rotting flesh, worms digging into it, vines coiling around it like a snake.

Its emotionless eyes flickered between Serif and Tavena, the black flames within flaring.

Ding, the sound rang out, Orivin groaning as something heavy collided with his shield.

Serif frowned, eyes darting between the creatures, then he saw it, mixed within the monsters were unique ones, similar to the one in front of him, weaker, but they seemed to be growing stronger, absorbing the others.

Another clang resounded, Orivin groaning even more.

They had to get out of here.

"Serif, can you hold them for a minute," Zhadra's voice came from behind him, swinging her hammer.

"A minute and I can make a way out,"

Serif frowned, it was not possible, not with the new ones, if he focused on them, the more mundane ones would slip past, if he doesn't, it will be worst, he could do it, if there was nothing to protect.

"I can't guarantee they won't get past." He replied.

Energy discharge and Orivin's laughter broke the serious conversation, "did you forget about me and Jake."

"You can do it if you focus on attack right," he turned to Serif, who nodded in agreement.

"Alright," he looked up at Jake, "can you keep our friend off for a second."

Jake nodded, as the monster got up from the rubble, scrawny, white skeleton beneath, but still fine, it gripped one of the emerging ones, absorbing it's essence, it's rotting flesh reforming.

"Good, you might want to come down" He muttered and pulled out the shield from the ground and straightened, lifting the shield above his head, he roared, golden energy spreading out from the shield, forming a dome over the group.

He grinned, looking at Serif, "go on lad, nothing can get in, but you can go out," he said.

Serif turned to Zhadra, her hammer planted on the floor, eyes closed, energy pulling towards the hammer head.

Good enough, he thought and dashed forward, leaving the dome without resistance, heading for the mutated treeman, chain spinning ahaed of him, shattering wood, black liquid spraying.

As he approached, the mutated treeman realizing he was close swung his fist, it's hand not fully healed yet, Serif tilted back, fist flying overhead, chain lashed up, rotten flesh flayed open as it went flying.

But he wasn't done, jumping up, he threw the chain forward, wrapping it around the creatures leg, he pulled it back, left hand cocked back, chains wrapped tightly around it.

"Increase density," he muttered as the creature came screaming towards him.

Then boom, his fist dug into its head, rotting flesh exploding out, the entire head shattered.

Serif landed, swinging the creatures remains, slamming into the normal treemen, the space around him cleared momentarily.

He took a deep breath and looked towards the dome, the creatures clawing around it, but it still held, Jake's arrows piercing there heads, at this point he was borrowing Zhadra's.

As for the other mutated treemen, they ignored the dome, absorbing the others getting stronger.

Not on my watch, he dashed towards the closet one, chain wrapped around it's head.

He pulled the chains straining, squashing it's head in.

Without waiting, he was heading for next, but this time, as his chain lashed towards it, an arrow came screaming at him from the side.

He leapt back, avoiding the arrow but terminating his attack.

Looking to the side, he saw one of the mutated treemen, a bow in it's hand formed from it's vines, another vine extending, forming an arrow.

His eyes narrowed, looking to the one he was about to attack, it stopped absorbing, looking back at Serif, it's vines forming a shield.

To the right another with a hammer approached, they were learning, imitating the group or something, then boom, something landed behind him.

He glanced over his shoulder, two vines hanging from its limbs, like chains.

They were really learning, and it looks like they had seen him as a threat, as more of them approached, some with chains, some with shields, bows and hammers.

They all ignored the dome, the normal stickmen, the only ones attacking.

Serif looked at his wrist watch, two minutes, thirty seconds left.

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