The trees of the Whispering Woods looked as if they had been painfully twisted by Giants and left to stand that way. The leaves were much too dark and the ground far too damp. Birds did not sing in this place. The maple leaves brandished extra points that did not belong and the oak bore extra lobes and a white powdery feel to them. The dank smell of rot engulfed the group while they moved deeper into the woods as if the forest itself was rotting like a corpse.

"I had forgotten," Wess recalled, "what a cursed place this was." He crept carefully north of the party while Kayla focused on her spell behind Haygen who was tracking. Otis held up the rear with his hammer and shield at the ready.

Haygen tried to remember everything his mother taught him about tracking Men. He rattled off some components of a track in his mind: Primary Dish-Fissure's, Dish Crumble, Crests, Caves, Plating, Toe Ridge Caves, just to name a few pressure releases. Pressure releases on the right side would normally equate a full stomach, however, they were dragging a hostage, so all pressure was centered between the two draggers. What would mom do? He wondered. Speed. He carefully twisted around a few of the butterflies and slid his short spear from the leather straps on his back armor and looked for the appropriately carved notches to measure their pacing.

"Strides show a steady walk pace—not a run," the Barbarian said in a hushed voice. No point in upsetting the locals. "No effort to cover their tracks."

Otis nodded in approval, "Keep going. We must move deeper into the woods before nightfall."

On they crept through the dreary wood with the contrast of Kayla's bright purple butterflies bobbing around them. The Elf was ever staring in the trance that seemed to brighten her aqua blue eyes. Just as she brightened the spirits of a person when they were down, she lifted the darkness of the misshapen trees around them with her magic.

Wess let out a Hsssst.

The other three crouched down and the Assassin made his way to them silent as a spider.

"Cave Bears. At least three with a youngling."

"Dag!" Haygen swore. "We can try and go around."

"We don't have the time," noted Otis. "We have a side wind. We can get close and surprise them. Stay within the spell."

Kayla stared forward and said, "Do not go beyond my spell. I'll stay as close as I can to you."

The Half-orc led the way with Icebane drawn keeping clear of the tracks until they crept up on the lair of Cave Bears. The gigantic brown Bears were covered with a thick fur and their face was mottled with a rocky substance that made them look diseased to the unaware. Their jaws were terribly strong and could bite through metal armor. Their claws were as long as daggers. The monsters didn't seem to be affected by the haunting whispers of their home.

Otis separated his hammer and shield arms wide indicating to Haygen and Kayla to spread for an attack. He pointed at Wess and circled his finger in a southern direction to keep him downwind. They knew the Cave Bear had a strong sense of smell.

Kayla moved as close as she could and when she saw a single butterfly land on the nearest cave bear, Haygen launched himself at the beast and slammed his magical ax into its haunches, buckling it. The Bear howled a screeching belch of pain. This startled the other two beasts with the youngling shifting its large black eyes in a panic.

Kayla took this opportunity to move her spell range to the enemy. "Go!" shouted the Wizard. The butterflies started to buzz in a fluttering panic as if feeding off their master's energy.

Like a sprung trap, Wess ran and slid under the belly of a Cave Bear dragging two daggers dripping with Ghost Frog poison across its midsection. One blade dragged across the ribcage, but the other emptied the monster's innards to the forest floor. Another screeching howl pierced the silence of the woods. He finished it off with a thrust from each blade.

Otis ran to the farthest Bear, but it was outside the spell zone, so he had to wait for it to come to him. "Come on, ugly. Let's play." The Bear came slashing in with its claws and the Guardian parried one with his hammer and blocked the other with his shield. In doing so, he swung his ancient spiked hammer in an upward angle and it crushed the beast's face. A gooey black oil pulsed from its crushed snout.

The young Cave Bear was panicking. It called out in short wheezes. Wess wasn't sure what it was doing. It may have been a call for help. It was a few paces away, so he drew two hand-crossbows from their holsters and with remorse fired them both into the lungs of the monster. It still drew a wheezing breath.

"Tough little bastard," Wess said as he slit its throat with a poisoned dagger, and then looked to see if Kayla was covered.

Haygen did a lumberjack swing down onto his cave bear's spine and it crumpled on the spot leaving an icy chasm in it's back.

Otis punched his shield into his opponent hoping to stun it. Then, with a broad arc swung his war hammer into the side of the bear's head spraying yet more blood. His eyes scanned the battlefield and, sadly, there were no more cave bears left for him to kill.

A/N I hope you enjoyed this chapter!