The fauna decreased. The insects decreased in number but increased in aggravation. The flora started to change.
A hooded crow flew near them. One of Elphis’s minions broke and ran away.
“That was no normal crow! I sensed evil! And powerful Magick!” Eyerthrein asserted.
The trees changed from tall plush and tropical to short, gnarled bushes that squeezed life from the poor soil. The soil changed from fertile dark color to dry red clay then dry sand. All living plants disappeared.
They saw a stoat near a dead branch. Another of the minions ran away. The stoat was a white thin weasel-like beast.
Elphis (Marryce) said, “We enter the Dead Woods.”
They traveled in an alien dead landscape with petrified trees and fallen wood approaching dust. There were no animals, insects, nor birds in the air. They walked for an hour.
A large hare perched upon a dead log. The last minion ran away. Erinnia fired an arrow at the hare but the beast ran away.
Now the dead zone extended in all directions as far as they could see. They saw in the distance a cluster of loosely assembled dead trees- unlikely stacked by chance. It was a stretch to call the place an abode. No self-respecting elf, man, or dwarf would inhabit such a structure.
A weasel sat on a log before them. Marryce shuddered. The weasel’s red eyes penetrated the Dark Elf’s guise and he knew it!
“This is as far as I go,” the ersatz Elphis said succinctly.
Cara paid the agreed fee.
She said, “We appreciate your leading us. You saved us many days of wandering in the swamps.”
“I fear I have led you to your deaths, pretty lady,” pseudo-Elphis replied.
“That remains to be seen,” Cara said.
A thundering sound filled the air!
Hoof beats!
An immense black coach rumbled toward them!
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