Page 14 of X'nath

The orcs growled in understanding, shifting their tactics. But the creatures just kept coming, more emerging from the swamp’s depths with every passing second. They were relentless, overwhelming. The orcs were formidable, but the creatures seemed to be endless, their numbers swelling with each moment.

I gritted my teeth, pushing through the terror threatening to overtake me. There was no running. We were trapped. The fight was all we had left. I had to protect the girls.

X’nath’s voice cut through the chaos, filled with both exhilaration and a strange, dark amusement. “Not so easy now, is it?” He swung his blade down with brutal force, cleaving through another mass of writhing tendrils.

I didn’t answer. The creatures were closing in on us from all sides, and the swamp was no longer just a murky, treacherous terrain—it had become a battlefield. The only thing that mattered now was survival.

8

The Swamp of Uncertainty

X’NATH

The swamp was eerily quiet for a moment, the air thick with the stench of death and the rhythmic breathing of the men as they wiped blood from their weapons. The last of the grotesque creatures had fallen, twitching and crumpling to the earth. For a brief instant, it felt like the battle had ended. The oppressive atmosphere lifted, and I allowed myself a breath, my muscles burning from the exertion.

Greag grunted in approval, his large hand wiping the blood from his axe on his tunic. “Good work,” he muttered, his voice rough but pleased. His eyes flicked to me, then over to Gorruk, who was checking his smaller blades, the battle barely leaving a mark on him.

"Good as dead, all of ‘em,” Gorruk said, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow. “A good fight.”

But before any of us could relax, a shrill scream cut through the air. It was one of the women. My stomach tightened as the scream echoed off the trees, a cry of terror that ripped through the stillness like a blade.

Without thinking, I spun around, my eyes scanning the area. The air felt charged again, as though something else was lurking, something far worse than the swamp creatures we had just vanquished.

And then I saw her.

The swamp bog crone.

She was back.

A dark, swirling energy radiated from her as she stepped out from the shadows, the mist swirling around her feet. Her presence filled the clearing with a sense of doom, and the magic that crackled in the air made my skin crawl. Her eyes glowed with malice, and the evil smile she gave us was the kind of grin that spoke of curses and death.

I could feel the blood drain from my face as she raised her hands, a wicked chant spilling from her lips. The words were foreign, ancient—imbued with power that twisted the very air around us.

Then, with a scream that almost matched the one of the women, the bodies of the creatures we had just killed began to stir. The moss, the strange coverings that had concealed their grotesque forms, began to ripple and writhe. It wasn’t just the creatures’ limbs that were moving; their bodies were being reanimated by some dark magic. The creatures—those things we had fought so hard to kill—rose again, like puppets pulled by unseen strings.

“No…” I breathed, the realization sinking in. She had controlled them all along. And now, they were returning to finish the job she started.

“No!” I shouted to my comrades. “Kill her!Now!”

Greag was already moving, his giant frame lurching forward, his weapon raised. The swamp bog woman’s laughter echoed, a high, cold sound that twisted something deep inside me.

“You think you’ve won?” she spat, her voice dripping with venom. “These creatures aremine, and you—allof you—will fall before me.”

I didn’t wait for anyone to speak. My blade was in my hand before I knew it, my instincts pushing me toward her. The orcs roared, charging forward with weapons raised as the reanimated monsters began to advance. I knew what I had to do.

She was the source of all this—she was the true enemy.

I didn’t have time to think, didn’t have time to second-guess. I charged in behind Greag, my gaze locked on the old crone, the one who had orchestrated all of this madness. The sounds of battle surrounded us, the clash of steel against bone, the grunts and roars of the orcs as they took on the grotesque creatures. Their weapons rang out, slicing through the swamp’s heavy atmosphere, but the reanimated monsters didn’t fall as easily as they had before. They didn’t stay dead.

The swamp woman’s maddening cackles filled the air, like a chorus of nails on a chalkboard. She stood there, floating in the midst of it all, her eyes glowing with cruel delight as her dark magic flowed around her like a storm.

“You can’t kill them again,” she mocked, her voice echoing in the swamp. “And I see you’ve brought me gifts this time. They are mine now.All mine.”

A few of the females whimpered as we tried to circle around them for protection.

The creatures—the very ones we’d killed only moments ago—were rising once again. They hadn’t stayed dead. Their bodies jerked and twitched, their limbs reattaching, blood seeping into the swampy ground as they returned to life under the power of the swamp woman’s magic.

I swallowed the bile rising in my throat, forcing myself to focus. The reanimated monsters had once again become grotesque abominations. Their eyes were dull, clouded over withsome kind of dark magic, but their movements were anything but slow. They lunged at the orcs, their flesh hanging off their bones like a grotesque mask, their claws and jagged teeth snapping.

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