Abner spotted flashes of movement and turned his head to see a pair of figures jump from the trees on either side of the bizarre arm and into the river. Instead of plunging into the waters, they skipped across the surface as though it were solid and, in a single leap, went from the middle of the river into the branches of the trees of the opposite bank, firing arrows as they went. Abner turned back to the creature. More trees splintered and were pushed to the side as an enormous leg emerged from the woods.

  Then, the creature's body was in full sight, and Abner had to crane his neck take it all in. It stood over thirty feet tall and had a tiny head in proportion to its body, which was a blackish brown and appeared to be made of liquid mud.

  “What is that?” Abner gasped.

  “A mud golem,” Gen replied before beginning a chant.

  “No fire!” Abner and Brynn warned in unison.

  Gen stopped chanting, and Abner’s blood turned cold when the creature turned its head towards them. A pit appeared where its mouth should be, and the creature let out a deep bellow before picking up a fallen tree in one of its hands.

  “Move!” Abner roared.

  Together, he and Brynn lifted Gen by the shoulders and dragged her out of the path of the tree smashed into the ground a hairsbreadth away from them.

  “Buy me some time,” Gen gasped. “I have an idea.”

  Brynn looked from Gen to the creature and then at Abner. “You heard her, go on!”

  Abner arched an eyebrow before slinging his hammer across his back. “Your idea had better work.”

  “What are you going to do without your weapon?” Brynn shouted.

  “Watch!” Abner replied.

  He took a deep breath before waving his hands in the air high above his head and running off to the side. “Hey, you, ugly! Over here!”

  The creature’s head turned to track Abner until a pair of arrows struck it. It abruptly turned to the archers on the opposite side of the river and let out a roar before lumbering towards them.

  “Well, that works too,” Abner muttered.

  “No, it doesn’t!” Brynn cried.

  Abner turned around to see that Gen’s eyes were glowing blue. She raised a hand towards the river and raised it, and the waters began to swirl. An unseen force drew the water away from the banks as Gen’s chanting grew louder, and the swirling grew more violent.

  “Stay away from the water!” Brynn warned.

  Abner ran up the bank onto higher ground just as Gen bellowed. “Surge!”

  The swirling waters burst forth violently, surging around the creature, coming up to its knees. The creature braced itself against the waters, which carried mud off with it as it surged past. However, Gen wasn’t done.

  “Cold Snap!” she cried.

  The temperature dropped dramatically, and the water around the creature’s knees turned into ice, locking it into place. The creature’s movements, too, had slowed as its body froze.

  “Harwick!” Brynn cried. “Make yourself useful!”

  Abner gritted his teeth and unslung his hammer as he ran forward. The ice was already turning to slush under his feet, which meant that Gen would not be able to keep the creature frozen for long. She wouldn’t have to, though. Abner was upon the creature in a flash. He muttered a prayer to Voldrus and felt his ring turn warm. The head of his hammer began to glow, and he swung his weapon with all of his might at one of the creature’s legs.

  The frozen appendage shattered under the force of the blow, and the creature began to fall. Abner scrambled to get clear, and ice cracked and shattered as the creature’s bulk fell on it.

  “The core!” Brynn cried as she tended to Gen, who was collapsed in a heap beside her. “Find the core and destroy it, it’s close to the head!”

  Abner looked down at the fallen creature and quickly found the head. Around them, the ice was melting rapidly, and mud was beginning to coalesce around the creature’s body. Abner cursed and looked around frantically for something that might resemble a core and cursed before removing a gauntlet and plunging his hand into the viscous mud. The mud began to solidify around his hand, making it hard for him to move it around and slowly, the creature began to stir under his feet.

  Gritting his teeth, Abner redoubled his efforts as the creature began to stand. In the corner of his eye, he saw the creature lift its arm and move it towards him and was about to pull his hand out of the mud when it brushed against something hard. It was long, and shaped and sized roughly like a human index finger. Praying that it was what he was looking for, Abner quickly closed his fist around it and attempted to crush it.

  Try as he might, he couldn’t and, desperate, decided to change his approach. He readjusted his grip and snapped an end off with his thumb. Almost at once, the creature seemed to disintegrate around him, flooding the area with mud.

  Abner looked around to ensure that the creature was truly defeated before looking down at the broken clay rod in his hand. He quickly decided to slip it into his pocket before pulling his gauntlet back on and joining the others. Brynn was sitting on the ground, cradling Gen’s head in her arms. The younger woman’s face was pale, and her breathing was ragged.

  “Is she alright?” Abner asked.

  “She’s just tired,” Brynn replied.

  Abner nodded and looked around for signs of the figures he’d seen earlier, and frowned when he didn’t see Stride on the far bank. Had the boy gone back already? Brynn gasped, and Abner felt a presence behind him a moment later. He drew his dagger and whirled around, only to feel a blade at his neck.

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  “Where did that one learn to call upon Scarath’s power?” a melodious voice hissed.

  Abner glanced to the side and saw a fair haired male with piercing green eyes holding a longsword to Brynn’s neck. He and his companion were dressed in brown-grey armour that appeared to be made from the bark of the trees around them.

  “She is from the Society of Sorcery,” Brynn replied evenly, seemingly unperturbed by the blade at her neck. “Your people taught her.”

  The elf’s face contorted with hate. “Do not lump us in with those heretics.”

  His companion, the elf with the blade at Abner’s throat, spoke rapidly in elvish. The reply was terse but incomprehensible.

  “No, Captain, we can help,” Gen croaked weakly. “It would be a waste for you to turn back now.”

  “You,” the elf holding the blade to Brynn’s neck hissed. “You should be put to death for casting your foul magic on our sacred waters.”

  The other elf spoke again and received what sounded like a rebuke in return. The captain glared at Abner and Gen for a moment before barking an order, and the blades were lowered.

  “You and your friend will come with us,” the Captain said at length.

  “Our friend?” Abner asked bluntly, casting a wary eye at the elf who had threatened him. He cut a lithe figure, but had a wiry strength to him, and the bow slung across his back was almost as tall as he was.

  Gen asked the Captain something in what Abner assumed was elvish, and he scowled. “I am Eskar, and that is Fultri, and I will thank you not to use our tongue, outsider.”

  Brynn’s face turned crimson, and Gen patted her on the arm to calm her. “I meant no offence, Captain.”

  Abner and Fultri exchanged awkward nods while the Captain marched off. “Come, your friend is over here. Do not attempt to escape, or we will not try to capture you alive.”

  “The Captain is reluctant to return without accomplishing anything after losing most of his rangers to that creature,” Gen explained while they followed Eskar upstream.

  “Be quiet,” Eskar snapped without turning around.

  Abner glanced at Fultri, who was bringing up the rear. The elf offered an apologetic smile. His Captain brought them to a stop in front of a tree where Abner was surprised to find Stride bound to the base.

  “Your friend’s crimes in our lands are considerable,” Eskar said before drawing a knife and holding it up menacingly. “Will you be responsible for his conduct if we release him?”

  “We barely know the boy,” Brynn sniffed.

  “Fair enough,” Eskar said.

  Abner’s heart nearly leapt from his throat when the elf captain skilfully flipped the blade to a dagger grip. Eskar was about to plunge it into Stride’s neck when Abner cried. “Wait, I will vouch for him!”

  Eskar’s dagger came to a stop a hair from Stride’s throat, and the boy, who had squeezed his eyes shut, cracked them open slightly.

  “You are aware of what you are promising, aren’t you?” Fultri ventured. “You will be punished for any of the boy’s misdeeds.”

  “If the alternative is that you kill the boy, then I will suffer them gladly,” Abner panted.

  Sweat was streaming down his face as he looked Eskar in the eye, willing the elf Captain to agree. At length, he grunted and twirled his dagger around his finger before using it to cut Stride’s bonds.

  “On your head be it.”

  Abner breathed a sigh of relief. He helped Stride to his feet and ruffled his hair. “You’ll be on your best behaviour, won’t you?”

  The boy scowled. “If the mood strikes me.”

  Stride pulled himself free from Abner’s grip and stomped off a good distance away. Abner’s sweat turned cold, and Brynn gave him a look that said. “Serves you right.”

  “Come, this way,” Eskar said arrogantly before setting off into the woods. “Stay close.”

  Fultri gave Abner a compassionate pat on the shoulder before gesturing for him to follow the Captain. The ladies had already disappeared into the woods while Stride was still standing sullenly on his own.

  “Come on,” Abner pleaded. “We need to go.”

  “I don’t have to listen to you,” the boy sniffed.

  “If you don’t, I’ll have to put an arrow through both your hearts,” Fultri said, his voice matter of fact.

  Stride’s scowl deepened, and Abner was worried he would have to grab the boy by the scruff of the neck and drag him along when he suddenly ran into the woods.

  “Not that way,” Fultri barked.

  Abner turned around and saw the elf had his bow in his hands with an arrow nocked. The look on the ranger’s face left Abner in no doubt that he would shoot to kill if the boy didn’t obey.

  “Stride!” Abner called, though he had lost sight of the boy.

  “That’s better,” Fultri said at length and lowered his bow. The friendliness was gone from his face when he turned to Abner and cocked his head to the side. “Let’s go.”

  Abner nodded and entered the forest. Once he was in the undergrowth, he found he had no inkling where the others were and looked around, confused. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to see Fultri pointing.

  “That way.”

  Abner strained his eyes but could see no sign of the others. He shrugged and started walking. It didn’t take him long to come across the ladies, but Stride was nowhere to be seen. He turned around and shot Fultri a quizzical look. The elf jerked his thumb off to the side, and Abner turned to see a shadow moving between the glowing trees and nodded.

  “If you can’t control the boy, I’ll have Fultri put an arrow through his back and save yourself the grief,” Eskar said.

  “He’ll be fine, he’s just throwing a strop,” Abner said, keeping his voice low.

  “No, I’m not!” Stride snarled.

  Fultri hid a smile. “You are very protective of the boy. Are you a father?”

  Abner’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, no, I think we’re almost the same age, he and I.”

  It was the elf’s turn to show surprise. “Really? How curious.”

  Then, Fultri asked. “Tell me, how did a human as young as yourself come to own a set of dwarven armour? They are very reluctant to see their crafts fall into the hands of other races.”

  “Fultri,” Eskar barked.

  Abner looked up and saw that the trees around them were not glowing and resembled the diseased, gnarled trees they had passed on the other side of the stream earlier.

  “Maybe I’ll tell you about it over a beer when all this is over,” Abner remarked.

  “We are entering the heart of the corruption,” Eskar warned. “Be on guard, we are close to where we encountered that creature.”

  “This is where our brothers and sisters fell,” Fultri added softly. There was melancholy in his voice and grim determination in his eyes.

  Gen frowned and sniffed the air. “The magic here is wrong… this is not her doing.”

  “Whose?” Abner asked, but the sorceress did not reply. He was about to press the issue when Brynn inserted herself between them and shook her head.