New Terrors
Robin clutched his sword like his life depended on it. It probably did. He led the group, Gerrick and his dog behind him, Alestrio and his ax behind Gerrick and Hydra and his flintlock behind that. The mad employer had warned them about new...creatures they would face. "The Weald is taken by.... things...unpleasant things... I'd avoid them if I were you.... yeah..." were his exact words. Helpful. The mushrooms growing here were repugnant, horrifying and certainly inedible, Robin thought. He looked at one and turned away before turning back. Did that mushroom just.....blink?He tilted his head and said, "Hey, guys, did..." he never got to finish his sentence as the mushrooms jumped out, screeching, and took a swing at Robin who was barely able to dodge. More grotesque creatures jumped out. Robin adopted his combat stance and readied himself.
Gerrick could not believe the sight he was seeing. Those things had hands! What.. .what were they?! He took a step back, trying to calm himself. "Calm, boy, calm! Stay calm!" He was saying it more to himself than anyone else but his dog was also visibly distressed. He looked carefully at one of the creatures and stopped dead in his tracks. That.... that thing had a skull. A human skull. Oh my god, they were people! They were going to do this to us! "NO! NEVER! STAY AWAY FROM ME!" He screamed at the monstrosities, losing his composure and letting the paranoia control him.
The team was not in a good position, those things had control of the battlefield. Alestrio thought to himself, trying to find a way out of this. Maybe if Hydra took one or two out with a well placed shot then AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Alestrio screamed in agony as one of the mushroom people cackled in joy. It had shot him with some kind of poison dart in his stomach! He felt the toxins burn him from the inside and continued screaming in sheer agony as the fear consumed him.
Robin had bisected a couple of these monsters and hacked a third one to death when he finally heard the screaming. He turned around, afraid of what he would see. What he say was Gerrick bashing one of those things heads in with his blackjack, maniacally yelling at them to stay away, Alestrio desperately crawling away from one of the mushrooms while screaming his lungs out in pain and Hydra running in circles around a tree trying to avoid a mushroom person while hurriedly reloading his gun. What Robin failed to see was one of the mushroom people running straight at him at swinging until its claws had ripped a part of Robin's armor off. Robin fell, ran his sword through his attacker, then sat down. This was hopeless, they were going to die here.... the despair and hopelessness took control of him and he just sat down in traumatized horror.
Hydra pulled the hammer back on his freshly reloaded pistol, spun around, fired and was greeted by the image of his pursuer's....face? Head? Did these things have those? His pursuers...thing exploding as the grapeshot disintegrated it. He quickly reloaded and took a look at the battlefield before his jaw dropped in stunned horror. Gerrick had gone mad, Alestrio was wounded and Robin had just....given up. Hydra turned around. He was in the clear. He could flee. He could leave them behind and save himself. The doubt and temptation was whispering into his ear, crawling in his mind like spiders. He closed his mind and focused. He couldn't leave them behind. He couldn't. He. Wouldn't.
One of the monsters stood before Robin. He just stared at it. It raised its arm, ready to strike. He just stared. The arm started coming down before a shot rang out and the creature screeched, dropping to the floor. Hydra ran up to Robin, grabbing him by the shoulders screaming "GET BACK IN THE FIGHT, DAMNIT! NOW!" Robin picked up his sword in a daze before he got back into the fight.
The fight was over. All of those things lay dead, not that Gerrick was sated. He still jumped at every shadow. Alestrio had passed out from the pain and Robin was still in a daze, in absolute disbelief. The battered team began the long, lonely journey back to the Hamlet.....
