Under the cover of darkness, boat after boat opened a path in the mist and landed on the shores of Black Tern Island.
The soldiers from the Order of the White Rose disembarked methodically onto the island and dragged the wooden boats into the nearby grass and bushes to hide them.
Behind the grass, the land to the edge of the island was quite wet and soft because of the long-term corrosion by the lake’s water, leaving behind columns of footprints.
Under the light from the oil lantern, they could see many bizarre footprints left by creatures with three webbed toes surrounding the humans’ own bootprints.
“Vodyanoi…”
Both Roy and Letho took out a bottle of “cat” and quaffed it down their throats. Black veins began to appear on their faces as their pupils turned into diamonds at the same time, glowing in the night like a cat or wolf’s eyes.
Before they took the potion, they’d had blurry vision, but now, they instantly saw better than during the day.
Their eyes followed the tracks of these bizarre footprints. They marched away from the beach and continued into the dark forest ahead.
An extremely lush forest grew on the island in the middle of the lake.
“Princess Adda…” Roy approached the woman and asked her in a low voice, “Have you entered the forest?”
Adda shook her head as she looked at him. “We only explored near the lake the first two times. We never reached the island, so we had never explored the forest, naturally. What happened this time was a great success.” After she finished that, she held her whip by her chin as suspicion filled her eyes. “However, why are there no vodyanoi on the island at all? Did they send out all available hands in their ambush just now?”
“That better be the case… Either way, we can’t afford to be careless,” the witcher reminded everyone. “Keep your eyes open!”
They should be fast asleep, but the degenerated vodyanoi had launched an ambush as if they had anticipated their coming.
That was a dreadful sign. Who knew if there would be other traps in the forest?
***
Shield-bearing knights carefully walked in front of the group as they bent their bodies. Knights with crossbows followed after them, carefully scanning their surroundings.
Meanwhile, Roy drew a reversed triangle in the air, using his finger gracefully. There was a flash of light, and a yellowish oval globe appeared from the rune and then covered the surface of his body. Its light began to cover him, and it would momentarily appear and disappear again.
“Is this magic? There’s no need for you to chant any incantations?” Adda, who was being protected in the middle of the two witchers, asked curiously.
“That’s a witcher sign…” Roy explained in a whisper, and then put his index finger by his lips lightly, signaling her to be quiet.
Inside and outside of the forest seemed to be two different worlds. The moment they stepped in, frigid air instantly swept towards them.
The faces of the knights who led the group became white as ghosts the moment they stepped in. They felt a chill down their spine, as if the invisible hand of a corpse had just brushed through their skin.
Other than the chills, something made them terrified for no reason. They were holding back the urge to simply turn tail and run.
But their training had managed to make them hold their ground, and continue their advance.
“This place is too quiet… Be careful, everyone!”
The ground they were walking on was also no longer sand and dirt, but a thick layer of decaying matter.
Other than the dark and black rotting branches and rotting leaves, there seemed to be something else in between. When they stepped on it, they felt something sticky. It was also oozing a faint, rotten smell.
Their surroundings had also become darker and more constrained. Due to the radiance from the torches, the huge ancient trees cast down their threatening shadows, even as they simply stood there in silence.
They extended their limbs to the extreme as vine after vine slowly crept down from the branches, forming a green color that shrouded around them.
The wind blew, and the vines and branches swayed along, as if they were pulling countless numbers of webs and would hurl those nets upon them at a moment’s notice.
“Boy, stay alert,” Letho warned as he examined their surroundings. “Something strange is afoot in this forest.”
Roy nodded as he closed his eyes and let loose his senses.
After a moment, he had the impression that every one of them was standing on a giant creature’s tongue and stomach wall.
He quickly unsheathed Gwyhyr and brutally stabbed the ground. But when he drew his sword out, he noticed that other than a thick layer of damp dirt, there was no blood, no meat.
“Was I overthinking?”
It was going to be another difficult period for him.
The squad’s formation once again got tighter, becoming similar to a turtle shell.
Roy quietly gave Letho a spherical, black, and heavy item. It was an alchemical bomb, a Dragon’s Dream.
He noticed that despite the coldness among the trees, none of them had moved much. But some of the knights were already sweating profusely as they breathed heavily.
“What is happening? The knights aren’t supposed to be this weak.”
He clenched his fist and noticed that a layer of sweat was covering his palm. Even he wasn’t spared.
“Stop! Stop right now…”
“Be quiet!”
The bald-headed man suddenly roared, stopping everyone from doing anything.
After taking in two breaths, the grass some distance away suddenly began to sway and a strange, sharp noise began to resonate.
Tweet! Tweet!
It was faint, but it made everyone shudder when it sounded in such a quiet and strange forest. A group of them held their weapons in their hands tightly as their eyes were fixed on the grass without blinking.
The grass swayed even more rapidly as if something terrifying was going to burst forth.
The two witchers prepared their signs as they held their hilts. They walked to the front of the group and held their position.
The grass stopped shaking, and the thing that was hidden finally hopped out and revealed itself to them all…
It was a white and fluffy animal with a pair of long ears… It was a rabbit.
“Huff…”
A long sigh echoed in the forest.
“This little thing? It must have a death wish to jump out at us like that.” A young knight bent down as he cursed.
He was a little bit too anxious just now. All the tension that had accumulated in his heart was instantly swept away as he couldn’t help but start stroking the soft and smooth fur of the rabbit.
However, the little animal didn’t care about the friendly knight, and it kept on nibbling with its head hung low.
“You’re going to die soon, and here you are, still eating.”
“How wonderful. Even a rabbit doesn’t care about a knight from the Order of the White Rose!”
“This thing isn’t afraid of humans at all,” another knight said in surprise.
Whoosh!
A sharp sound of something whooshing through the air rang in the forest, and the rabbit dropped dead on the ground, with a bloody arrow in its stomach.
“Stay alert!” the witcher yelled out with a cold expression as he put away his crossbow. “This is Black Tern Island, the home of the degenerated vodyanoi. Nothing in this place is harmless!”
“He’s right,” the knight Cleveland said as he knelt down. He then revealed the dead rabbit’s stomach in front of everyone.
Hidden in its white fur, a black piece of flesh grew on it like a fungal infection.
“What is this?”
Adda was unafraid. She began to touch that growth with her glove excitedly.
“The same symptom as the degenerated vodyanoi.”
“Princess Adda, please step back and… let me investigate.”
The knight then opened its mouth and began to investigate.
The light from the torch showed its two unusually large buck teeth. However, behind were a pair of extra sharp teeth growing from inside. He lightly pressed on the end of its limbs, and claws like that of a feline instantly extended.
“Hiss… This thing has already mutated. It became a carnivore…”
“Seems like other than the degenerated vodyanoi, the other animals have also mutated because of something.”
Letho then began to watch his surroundings. “For safety’s sake, I would advise everyone to leave the forest immediately and head back.”
“No!” Adda’s eyes were fixed to the darkness between the trees, a fire burned within her heart.
“We are already halfway through. Are you sure you want to give up now?” Adda questioned them loudly as turned towards her men, and she extended her arms sideways. “Not to mention the pitiful villagers from Connor Village are still waiting for our good news! Are you going to permanently quell this danger in Lake Vizima and return as heroes, or turn your backs on us and become deserters?”
When the knights heard her words, they instantly became resolute.
Meanwhile, Adda continued to charm them, saying, “We’ve only encountered a small animal that we easily killed since we landed on this island…”
“A mutated animal…” the witcher stressed.
“So what?!” Adda gave him a stare as she slightly flushed “The real danger on this island, the degenerated vodyanoi, had already been killed back in the lake. We won’t have any problems facing a few mutated animals if we are careful! We’ll continue onward. I believe we can destroy that evil altar this time. And then I will reward all of you. I am not stingy, and you all know this!”
Adda looked at all the knights who obeyed her once again, pleased with herself. She then turned to the witchers.
“Masters, this expedition is under my command. Please don’t say anything that might lower morale.”
“Your highness, aren’t you worried at all?” Roy argued. “If the altar could affect the bodies of the animals, who knows if it could affect us as well?”
“Do not talk back to me again, witcher.”
Adda gave him a cold, icy stare before she stepped forward, following the rest of the order.
“Let’s follow them for some distance,” the bald-headed witcher whispered as he looked at the woman striding away. “If the situation gets out of control, we will use some unusual tactics, tie the arrogant princess up, and retreat!”
