The Messenger of Death

"Argh!!" another person screamed.

"What do mean by they aren't dead?!" Amelia freaked out.

"Argh!!"

They heard another cry. They couldn't tell what exactly was happening.

Amelia flinched and moved closer to Sara. "This mist is unnaturally thick, I can hardly see more than 4 meters ahead." She surveyed her immediate surrounding as she touched backs with Sara.

"Camron, come to my side!" Alex called out. Weirdly he didn't know why he said that, all he knew was that he was concerned about Camron's safety.

"Where?! I can't discern your position." Camron asked.

"Just follow the sound of my voice." Alex guided.

"What are you guys getting scared of? The creatures have no cultivation, so stop acting like they have any chance to do anything harmful to us. Those that screamed were all people that had been poisoned" Lenny furiously bellowed at his companions.

With the night vision, Alex could see all that was happening clearly. He caught one of the creatures trying to sneak up on Camron.

"Camron, bring your weapon out and slash at your 3 o'clock now."

-Slash!

Camron did as his friend directed and just as he did, he felt a slight resistance in his movement. Like he had sliced through something. There was a warm, slimy feeling coming from his right hand.

He looked down on his hand and saw that he had been stained by the blood of what he had sliced in two. A red, thick, and sticky blood.

"Thanks, Alex," Camron said.

"Argh!!"

Alex watched as the creature attacked those that were already poisoned, they bit them first and drag them away.

['Why aren't they putting any kind of resistance when they are being dragged away?'] Alex thought.

['The bites of these creatures might have some kind of paralyzing effect on those they bite.'] Xander hypothesized.

"Sh*t!" He cursed.

"Don't let them bite or scratch you!!" He warned everyone around him.

['This freaking mist.']

['Set yourself on fire, it will help disperse the fog temporarily.'] Al suggested.

-Fwoosh!

Alex set himself on fire once more and soon the mist around him dispersed. "Camron, can you see me now?"

"Yeah, I'm heading over now." Camron picked his pace up. Alex was now a beckon for everyone, the light of his flames could be seen even with the thick mist. It illuminated their surroundings for them.

-Bam!!

Camron heard a loud sound behind him. He stopped and turned to see what happened; but only saw the familiar face of his sister and Amelia.

"I've got your back little bro." Sara pointed at the twisted body of the creature that tried to sneak on Camron, on the floor. Its waist was broken and neck bent in an unnatural position.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Now let's head over to where Alex is. It seems like he wasn't lying when he said that his eyesight is very good. He can even see in this foggy weather." Sara urged and the three of them hurried over to where was.

"Ahh!" they exclaimed when they were 6 feet away from Alex.

The heat of his flames was not comfortable.

"Why did you stop?" Alex questioned.

"Your flames are too hot, can't you do something about it?" Camron complained.

['I can't do anything about that.']

['That's because you still don't have good control over your powers. Tell you what, you switch with me and watch as a professional does it.'] Al suggested while he was trying to hide the excitement in his voice.

['Hell no.'] Alex rejected his offer.

['F*ck you'] Al cursed.

"Arghh!" Another one had been taken away.

"Wait a minute."

Alex had an idea. He rushed to the side of a huge tree and used his spear to savagely break off the sides of the tree from its trunk. His idea was to make a torch for them with his flames, at least, even if the heat from his flames was uncomfortable it wouldn't be as unbearable as being close to him.

When Alex was satisfied with the amount of wood he had now, he picked two – one in each hand and brought it closer to his mouth.

-Vooshh!

He breathed fire on the wood. Unfortunately for his plans, the wood wasn't capable of withstanding his flames. They burnt to ashes once they caught on fire.

"Why!?" Alex was confused. "I blew gentle flames at the wood, it wasn't meant to burn this fast."

['As I said you don't have full control over the ability. You are just a kid playing with a flame thrower. Hmph.'] Al said.

['But my clothes and mask are safe from the heat, even my spear doesn't have much change when it comes in contact with the flame'] Alex reasoned.

['Call it an unconscious mechanism of self-defense. You like to keep your nudity to yourself and also you know that you need the help of the skin crawler, so you are able to control the flames that they come in contact with.'] Al explained.

"What you said makes no sense at all. Sh*t!!" Alex's frustration increased. He put the flames on his body out.

"Alex, are you okay? Your flames went out." Camron asked.

"Yeah, here." He threw the useful parts of the tree he broke at Camron and the rest.

-Thud!!

"Ouch!" Some of them that weren't able to notice the wood coming at them cried out as they were hit by it.

"Sh*t."

"Sorry, I forgot that you are all partially blind at the moment." Alex apologized.

"What do you want us to do with the wood!?" Lenny inquired.

"Isn't it obvious genius? Light it on fire and use it like your torch." Alex snapped at him. "It should help disperse the mist around you a bit." He added.

They all did as he said and put the pieces of wood in their hands on fire. One by one the silhouette of their torches could be seen by everyone.

"Only 16!? Where are the rest?" Amelia said frantically.

"Oh, yeah I forgot to tell you guys how many of us are left." Alex sighed at his forgetfulness.

"What!?" Many of them screamed at Alex.

"Why didn't you do anything!? You just watched as they were killed." Amelia shouted at him.

"Quit your b*tching!! I have no obligations to save them. And I didn't say that they were killed I only saw them being taken away." Alex snapped at her.

"What's the difference!? They were probably dragged away to where they would be eaten." Amelia was angry at Alex. His attitude towards their companions being taken away ticked her off.

"And what did you expect me to do to creatures that I can't kill? Go and submit myself to them in exchange for the others. I'm very sure that they would have taken me away along with them. Keep your self-righteousness away from me, I do what's right for me." Alex sneered at her.

"Can't kill," Amelia whispered. The creatures resurrecting again after being killed had scared her greatly, to the extent that she couldn't function well.

"Get yourself together or you'll be part of those that get dragged away. We should all gather in one spot and watch each other's backs." Alex suggested.

"Who in this world would want a heartless weakling like you to watch their backs?" Amelia shot at him.

"I am the weakling here but it is very clear that I'm not the one acting like one."

"Stop!! we shouldn't be going at each other like this. Save it till we get out of this creepy place. We will do as Alex said. We watch each other's backs." Sara interjected.

They all headed to one spot and stood with their backs facing each other. Everyone in the seraphim team was okay and present. The nior team had 6 people left and the aegis team, 4.

"How the f*ck did my team members get taken away by those stupid weak creatures!?" Lenny was enraged by the number of teammates he had left.

"Zombies??" Amelia uttered in fear. Her face had started to turn pale.

"Weak? I doubt that. I don't think they are as simple as you thought that they were. They are calculative hunters that had been following us for a day without the rest of you noticing. They waited till we found this hell place of an illusion, I reckon that if I didn't do what I did we would have been taken without even knowing how, when, or by whom."

"What do we do now?" Emma asked.

"We leave for the exit of this creepy forest. As we move we fight off any of them that approaches us. Remember not to let them scratch or bite you. If they are as weak as Lenny thinks that they are, then we should be fine. But if they are not, then you better count your lucky stars." Alex answered.

Since no one had any better idea they did as he said. Inside thick mist, the silhouette of several torches could be seen moving slowly.

-Blleee!!

One of the Zombie creatures chased after them.

-Thud!

Sara kick its jaw as it approached. The zombie flew back and crashed into a tree.

The impact of the crash broke the skull of the zombie and it fell on the ground with a deep dent on its head. They all paused to see what was going to happen next.

-Scrunch!!

The Zombie's head started to heal and in no time it was up again, ready to chase after them.

-Blleee!!