Chapter 104: News From the Forest

By the time Tanaka returned to the council chamber that afternoon, Malachiel was already gone. After the meeting with the Velmoran delegation ended, the True Dragon had politely excused himself, apparently having taken up a hobby in recent days. Apparently there had been a pond near the eastern residential district that had become populated with several newly birthed slimes, and also a clump of moss turtles who seemed to have more fun just struggling to swim than the other creatures did and Malachiel decided watching them was more interesting than listening to another diplomatic meeting.

Tanaka hadn’t argued.

Now Tanaka was standing at the head of the council table with Sora at his side, as Raizen, Eldrin, Raveana, Ryuken, Torga, Raizen, Zephyr, Drakar, and Razer gathered around. Raizen had just arrived from the north-eastern part of Eldoris about five minutes ago, and the look he had immediately given Tanaka as he stepped into the chamber had made him shift his stance.

"What happened?"

Raizen placed a scrap of bark on the table. "My wolves found this." Tanaka stared. A dark smear marred the section of bark in a jagged line. "It looks burned." Raizen shook his head. "Except there wasn’t any fire."

Razer crossed his arms.."My hunters found similar markings." Tanaka looks towards Razer. "Where?" Razer touched the map.

"The animals in the area are also vanishing."

Tanaka stood closer to the table. "How many?" "Enough that we’ve noticed." Razer tapped the map. "We’ve been rotating the hunting grounds for months to let the game populations replenish before we return. Yesterday one of the teams found sufficient game in this area." He tapped a place on the map. "This morning there was barely anything." Torga frowned. "Did they possibly migrate somewhere else?"

"They could have," Razer rumbled, "but not an entire population at the same time." Raizen gave a low sound of agreement. Tanaka glanced between the three. "So this isn’t some bad year for the hunting grounds?" Raizen’s reply was negative.

Zephyr suddenly called from the chamber window; Tanaka glanced up. The Mana Bird landed on the back of a chair and indicated with a series of sharp exclamations. Tanaka’s gaze went toward the map, and then at Zephyr. "Another route?" "Yes Lord Tanaka." Zephyr answered.

Ryuken came closer for a better look. "What is he talking about?" "The scouts have seen animals travelling south." Zephyr started.

Razer frowned. "Predators?" "Both." Zephyr replied. Tanaka frowned. "Both?" Raveana echoed in surprise. Tanaka nodded. "Predators and prey." Razer’s scowl deepened. "That’s not normal." "It’s happening now." Tanaka sighed. Raizen’s gaze went toward the northern section of the map. "My wolves have seen the same thing. He tapped the table. "Deer moving in the company of slightly smaller monsters. We’ve even seen a group of wild boars wandering the territory designated to a larger predator."

Raveana leaned back, thoughtful. "Did the larger one leave?" "It did." There was an uncomfortable pause, and Tanaka studied his subordinates’ reactions. "If the entire area is being abandoned, then something must be the cause of it." Ryuken nodded.

"We should find out what that something is, then." Eldrin approached the table. "Could it be connected with the dungeon?" Tanaka considered that, and finally gave a slow nod. "It’s possible, given the changes we observed after Malachiel’s awakening and blessing. The Monster Lord class creatures in the dungeon’s ecology had already been becoming far more unpredictable and aggressive with their expansion, but the forest’s patterns had been following its own schedule.

Long before Eldoris existed, the monsters of this forest had developed their own patterns of life and habits. It would be worth determining if that changed anything. Tanaka turned to Sora. "You noticed anything unusual while we were in the dungeon?" Sora shook his head.

"Nothing that could be responsible for this.

The dungeon may be changing, but the creatures in it were more or less adapting to it. Tanaka nodded. "In that case, we don’t assume the forest is following the same patterns." Raizan gave an approving look.

"Good. Tanaka turned back to Raizen. "What else did the wolves find on their trip?" Raizen hesitated. "A trail." "What kind?" Raizen frowned, "Large." "That narrows it down somewhat."

Raveana said sarcastically. Raizen ignored the remark.

"It ran through the woods, without taking any known forest paths. There were several trees felled as well." He indicated the location of the new trail. "The wolves continued north." There was a pause as Raizen studied the map. "Any tracks?" Tanaka asked. "Yes." Raizen replied. He looked up, his expression serious. "Two sets of them." Tanaka looked up. "Two?" "One was made by something large," "The other trail?" Raizen’s amber eyes met Tanaka’s, "A humaniod creature." Tanaka turned, towards Raveana, Relia. And Ryuken. "The trail is leading somewhere specific?" Raveana frowned. "They don’t have any reason to leave the safety of the city unless..." Her brows furrowed, "...unless they’re running from something."

Zephyr pondered. "Are you sure they didn’t get distracted leaving the tunnels?" Tanaka sighed. Zephyr was right. Raveana shook her head. "Maybe it ran out of food supply?" She suggested dryly. Tanaka’s attention went back to Raizen. "At what point did the trail terminate?" He inquired. Raizen looked up, then indicated a particular area along the northward route. "We’ll have to visit a few abandoned ruins in that area, actually. One of them’s one of the few places my wolves ever leave alone," "I see. Are there any particularly powerful monsters in the area?" "There are," Raizen replied, "but it’s hardly any danger to an experienced warrior." That earned a chuckle from Razer, "You don’t say." Tanaka gave him an approving smile. Raizen raised an eyebrow. "I take it you don’t intend approaching them directly?"

Tanaka’s smile was more grim than anything else. "That depends on what else you’ve noticed." Relia arrived in the chamber shortly afterwards with Sylva, still with a small bundle of some leaves in one hand. "Sorry I’m late, I was with Sylva..." She paused, taking in the discussion. "What happened?" Tanaka indicated the area on the map again. Relia studied the evidence on the table before asking, "When did you first notice the disturbance?" "About an hour ago."

Raizen replied. The hunter set the leaves down beside the bit of bark that Raizen had previously examined.

"The mana along the northern woods is corrupted," She announced. Sora looked at her. "Corrupted by what?" Relia shook her head, "I don’t know." Tanaka frowned, "Has anything abnormal approached our lands recently?" Relia touched one of the leaves, the dull green at its edges fading away to reveal patches of brown. "The mana was disturbed. The plants reacted as well." Relia observed. "If you mean a mana disturbance, it might have been similar to the phenomenon happening in the dungeon," remarked Sylva. "But not identical to it," Relia corrected, "and this isn’t likely to be an ordinary predator." Raishin looked up. "Any reports from the road?" "No," Raizen shook his head. "Not lately, not near the settlements." "Or the mining trails?" asked Drakar. "They stay clear," replied Raizen, "the resource-gathering parties, too. If anything unusual is happening, I would say it’s concentrated in the woods." Raishin nodded, "That narrows the search area down a bit." Tanaka turned to Zephyr. "I want regular patrols over the northern woodland area,"

Zephyr responded with a cheerful note, "Yes Lord Tanaka. We would not approach unknown creatures." Tanaka chuckled, "I’m sure you can manage that." Zephyr gave a proud little sound in reply before giving Tanaka an annoyed squawk nonetheless; Razer laughed. Tanaka turned to his subordinate. "Reduce the hunting pressure on those tracts of land," "I already have." "That’s good," Tanaka nodded, then looked over at Raizen. "The wolves should be able to follow the trail from a distance," "That will work," Raizen agreed. "Unless the pursuit runs into them, in which case the wolves may engage if necessary," "What if they run into it first?" asked Tanaka. "Then they watch it," said Raizen. "What if it spots them?" "Then they withdraw,"

Raizen grinned faintly. "Seems like you’ve been spending too much time around us," Tanaka ignored the remark. Relia was already observing the direction in which the creature might have travelled. "I’ll go with them," Tanaka regarded her for several seconds before answering, "Why?" "My ’Guardian Princess unique skill should be able to help out in the field." "That might very well work in their favor, Tanaka decided. Raizen spoke up. "And if this ’creature’ isn’t a mindless beast?" Tanaka turned to the map again. "Then we deal with it as if it knows what is happening."

Raveana crossed her arms. "What if it decides it wants to fight us?"

Tanaka returned her gaze evenly, "Then we deal with it." She gave a short laugh. "You’ve got it figured out, don’t you?" "For me it probably always will be," admitted Raveana Tanaka looked around the chamber. "There isn’t anything we know about this situation yet. That’s what concerns me." It was only afterwards, as Tanaka was gazing out of the large window, that he realised how right he was to be concerned. Just beyond the boundary of their lands, stretching far towards the horizon, the Great Verdant Forest covered the landscape like a living sea of emerald-green. It was always dangerous, but in a way that was expected and predictable. The hunters knew where the beasts dwelled, the predators had their hunting grounds, wild animals of all variety travelled these woods according to their needs; even the spirits of the land followed their own specific rules.

That all was about to change. There was a strange disturbance in the forest - what form it would take, and what purpose it served, none of them knew. What they did know, though, was that they would find out. Now Tanaka’s eyes narrowed, focusing on the trees to the north. Far up ahead, beyond even the range of sight, something was moving. Just beneath the canopy of that great forest, a tree bent slightly beneath the weight of something that passed beneath it. Even long after it was gone, the leaves still trembled, and some distance away, something answered the disturbance with a sound that none of the animals in the area had ever heard.