“Indeed, he didn’t.” The voice that emerges from the fog of the forest is heavy and foreboding.

  “I have concerns for the young wolf that we met so long ago, surely you agree?”

  “I do, Moeris.”

  Both Moeris and Vivienne turn to see a huge man making his way towards them, with the coldest gaze that no man or beast could summon – it’s the mark of a ferocious and brutal warrior that could kill as easily as it were to breathe. The Usurper of Avaron, then the King of Avaron, the Lord of War. Harald Vestris.

  He is a tremendously tall and powerful man, almost reaching seven feet tall. His garments remain the same from his days on the battlefield – facing enemies, both internal and external. If there is a threat, he’s ready and willing to deal with it. With relentless ferocity.

  “I gave you an order.”

  Moeris stands defiantly. “You did.”

  “I asked you to wait, now, they will decide to act quicker than intended.” Harald Vestris remains calm and in control, there’s no inflection or pitch to it. It’s a smooth gravel, a thick and regal voice that commands Moeris to look up at him. “She should’ve had more time, it seems that our hand has been forced as well.”

  He doesn’t direct this towards Moeris – rather to their pack.

  “I didn’t mean for this.”

  “I can’t fault a man for acting on his instincts.” Harald Vestris looks towards Starfall Cliffs. “But your decision has pced our young pup in danger. You will correct this, Moeris, that is all.”

  Vivienne sighs heavily. “He won’t go alone. I’ll join him, my lord. With your permission, of course.”

  Harald Vestris examines his hand, flexing his fingers. “At most we have one more day.”

  -

  John is stomping around like a madman. “It’s time to wake up!”

  “So, the general summons his troops.” Nathen groans loudly. “I need ten more minutes.”

  “I’ve already given you those minutes, brother, get up.”

  “My, how generous of you.” Nathen turns over, trying to go back to sleep.

  One by one, they get up for the day. As they start to stomp around the grounds looking for trouble – it slowly starts to dawn on them that something is terribly wrong. Thomas Carlson is gone. The rest of the staff remain weirdly elusive; it’s like a fog is lingering over the grounds.

  “Man, it really feels like an abandoned park now.” Harley admits. “They’re probably checking in ter, anyways, let’s get back to the hunt.”

  “I know that we want to make the video, Harley, but shouldn’t we search for them first. What if something happened to them, to Thomas?” Amber asks, appealing to the group.

  “Look, Thomas can take care of himself. I’m sure he’s just having a te morning.”

  “The head of security having a te morning, that doesn’t sound like him at all.” James crosses his arms.

  “Oh, so you know him that well now, do you?” Harley snaps.

  James raises his hands up defensively, keeping them wide open in front of his chest. “Hey, don’t shoot me down – I’m just raising a point here.”

  Vukosava pces a hand on Harley’s shoulder to cool her down. “Let’s check the carpark at the very least. The other staff should be here and they’re regurly in contact with Thomas. They’ll know the reason he’s away.”

  “I couldn’t have said it better myself.” John points to the cameras.

  They start walking down to the carpark.

  “So, guys, this is the start of the second day at Starfall Cliffs, and currently we can’t find the staff. We’re going to be heading around – just to check up on them.” John is keeping the show moving and this drama could generate extra interest. “Now, our man, Thomas is currently not on the grounds and we’re going to make sure he’s okay.”

  Everything feels off. At the carpark, they can see some of the employees vehicles. They’re empty.

  “I don’t think we can dismiss it anymore, John, something is going on.”

  “So, what happened to them?” Harley directs her question to Vukosava.

  “I don’t know, we haven’t seen any of the staff. We need to cover ground fast.”

  “Woah, woah, woah, slow down.”

  “Whatever is happening, it’s bad. They should be here; there’s at least twenty staff that attend to this ground.”

  The search goes on for a while, before they finally come across one member of staff, it’s like a missing persons investigation. It’s Darold Price, one of Thomas’ guys that helps him to run security. He’s looking around urgently, concern written all over his face.

  “I don’t know what’s happened to them, I’ve checked the footage. I assumed they were here – just walking around. Something is messing around with the cameras. We decided to pull an all-nighter like you guys.” Darold is going at a rapid-fire pace. “I did a whole sweep, checking everything from top to bottom. Some of us went home after -.”

  “Slow down, man, it’s okay.” John walks up to him.

  “How many have gone missing?” Vukosava cuts to the chase, they cannot afford to waste any time.

  “Five. I saw them throughout the morning.” Darold is holding his fshlight up, at his hip is a pistol. “I think they got picked off one by one, but I can’t be sure.”

  “It might take more time to do it that way, but it lessens suspicion.” Vukosava could see the logistics behind the kidnappings, pacing it out and slowly taking them away is a good pn. “Is there a commonality between the disappearances?”

  “They were checking on the fringes of the park; I saw some activity going on. We figured it was some animals trying to get in from the forest.”

  “It doesn’t sound likely that a bear would try and get in here. That wouldn’t make any sense.”

  “That’s right.” Darold replies. “It doesn’t make sense.”

  “Okay, next question, has there been any suspicious activity as of te, before we got here?”

  “No, there hasn’t been.”

  John nods slowly. “So, we’re firing a bunch of bnks? Shit.”

  “I know it’s not my pce to ask, but I need you guys to help me. Please.”

  “You don’t have to ask us twice.” Amber assures him.

  Darold Price takes the lead, with torch and pistol in hand, crossing them over as they navigate through the grounds. The Ferris wheel and the rollercoasters glow ominously. The pce is alive, but there’s no one around except them. That leaves only one pce to go to – the forest. But for all they know, the threat could be hiding in the trees. A snake lurking in the grass ready to strike as soon as they step close.

  It’s a no win situation. If they go out there to try and save Thomas and the others – they could be taken as well. By whatever is out there. It could be the werewolves, but then again what reason do they have to go after random people? As far as Vukosava can tell, it’s either the entities on the grounds getting active or more likely something or someone is pulling the strings.

  “We have no choice; we have to go into the forest.”

  “We’re going right to the enemy?”

  “If Thomas and the others have been taken, where else could they be?” Vukosava is feeling the hair on her neck standing up. “We can’t waste time on this.”

  A tornado of heat washes over them – it burns their sweat and perspiration. It’s hard to breathe without their lungs feeling like they’re filling with acid. If the staff were out of the way – that means that someone could enter the grounds without getting stopped or checked. This is a careful and methodical pn, get Darold Price to run around searching for his staff mates, trying to figure out where they are, when his post is left mostly unattended.

  A window of time that someone could exploit to set off a domino effect.

  “This nd belongs to me.” A fming spectre rises from the centre of the heat. A star that burns so harshly that no one could stare directly at it without their eyes melting out of their own skulls. It matches the physical description of a Neil Kennedy. The voice of this thing is vicious and cruel; it sounds like the raging pits of a volcano raining down death and destruction. If Mount Vesuvius could speak the tongue of man, it would sound like this. “It has always been mine.”

  “What the fuck?” Darold Price snaps around with his pistol.

  “That’s an elemental.” Harley looks over to Nathen. “We need to get to work fast.”

  *An elemental spirit is a mythic supernatural being associated with the four cssical elements: earth, water, fire, and air. These spirits are often considered the essence of nature, embodying characteristics of their respective elements. A fire elemental is timed to passion, purity, and creativity, all while also representing destruction and rebirth. In some cases, elemental entities can become aggressive if there are trespassers on their nd.

  “You should find some cover, man, you’re going to need it.” John is pointing to James. “I have an idea – batshit insane. But it’s something.”

  “It’s not like we got a fucking better one.” James catches on fast.

  Amber takes a deep breath. “I’ll help with buying time.”

  “Do you think we can seal the bastard back?” Harley is taking off at a full sprint, the Burned One closes in quickly, firing off a bst of bck fire. Vukosava reacts quickly, digging her feet into the ground as she barrels forwards, lifting Nathen and Harley off the ground easily. It happens so fast that Vukosava’s own logical mind couldn’t keep up with it.

  The light is so harsh that everyone looks away.

  “Holy fuck!” Harley and Nathen are blinking hard, trying to get the spots out of their eyes.

  Despite the fact they didn’t get hit directly with the bst, it’s still affecting them to a big degree.

  The elemental looks down at Vukosava, the fmes enveloping its form, occasionally she can see a human body underneath. It’s been given the name, Burned One for a reason, it’s muscles, sinew and bones were still completely bck. A charred corpse.

  “She warned me about you. You will be the first to die.”

  “If that’s the case, you’re going to be disappointed.” Vukosava takes off running, with the thing hot on her tail. A fiery comet of vengeance that wants to put her down for good. It doesn’t consider anyone else a threat but her. She can work with that, if John and James need time to get their pn going, she can py the distraction.

  -

  Harley can finally see. “That thing is a fucking nightmare. We need to get moving.”

  “You think calling upon the mythical council will work, to dispel it?” Nathen is still recovering; he takes hold of Harley’s arm. “Just like the Mist Lady?”

  “If it keeps moving around like that, we won’t get a chance, plus that bastard can turn us into ash in one freaking second.”

  “So, what’s the pn, we ask it to calm down and cooperate with us?”

  “I wish, no, if John’s got a clue, he’d try and weaken it. A natural counter to fire is water.”

  “I guess there could be worse pns, do you think it’ll work?” Nathen asks, finally done with rubbing his eyes.

  “It has to, otherwise we’re barbeque.” Harley is looking around urgently. “We need to get to its pce of origin, where this Neil Kennedy died.”

  “This whole pce is its nd.” Nathen points out.

  “That’s true, but it’s using Neil’s body or what I would guess is his body. That is still linked to its original death.”

  “Do you think Neil is still in there?”

  “I think it’s been a very long time, Nathen, I don’t think he can help us out that much. Not like Fodor.”

  Amber is searching for her friends. “Guys, guys!”

  “Thank the stars!” Harley embraces her quickly. “That’s three. Where is Vics?”

  “Charles told me she’s ducking through the grounds, trying to distract it.”

  “How on earth is she staying ahead of that thing?” Nathen asks. “That thing can move.”

  -

  Amber screams out. “Vukosava, Harley, Nathen, John, James!”

  “You will find them, Amber, do not worry. The way has now been opened.”

  “Why is this happening, Charles? What caused all of this?”