The Dawn of the New World

"HOLD!" Burak swiftly shouted in case any of them were thinking of attacking or retreating.

His heart had long since sunk looking at the scores of four-legged beasts that had surrounded the camp from every side. It looked like every single leaf on each and every tree held at least two or three of them.

They hung from the sides, hugging the trunks like locusts. Just from that fleeting glance it was easy to tell that their numbers were in the hundreds. There were probably even more hiding behind them, those that were not at the forefront.

How many thousands of them would there be in total? Against six barbarians that were tired both mentally and physically after months of constant fighting?

How long would such a battle last? No, it would not even be qualified to be called as such, it would be a massacre at best or an extermination at worst.

Although Burak did not have many decades of fighting experience under his belt, he still wasn't a rookie by any sense of the word. And as a good leader, he did not allow his emotions to dictate his actions.

If it were a lesser man they would have simply given up but he still held hope.

Burak turned his head halfway and glanced at the hollow trunk that housed Hao Xuan. The buzzing and the light was still going strong which meant he still hadn't finished whatever he was doing on the other side.

He then looked at the others around him. Tasgall, Isak, Jarek, Velkjo and Lei, this was all that was left of his company.

More than 10 had already perished and if given the option, he would choose their lives over even his own.

Although halfheartedly, they still acknowledged what needed to be done, the sacrifice some of them would probably have to make in the next few minutes. And they were all ready for it.

Burak looked back at the fog that silently and menacingly surrounded their camp from every side. He needed to buy as much time as possible and for that, he would do anything.

He took a step forward and stood just behind the ring of fire. Looking left and right he waited for a few seconds and when nothing happened, he spoke up.

"I know you are here, old one. Will you not give me the honour of meeting me face to face this one time?"

Just in case it obliged, Burak was primed and ready to jump right at it and detonate all of his internal energy all at once in a bid to kill or at least seriously injure it. Without it to guide them, these creatures were just bone and deformed muscle held together by the most basic of instincts.

Burak as well as all the others held their breaths waiting for it to make a move, but alas, it was far too cunning.

Some thirty seconds later the fog bubbled and a voice came from three different directions at once.

"Honour? Why would I care for such a 'human' design?"

Burak's tense heart eased just a smidgen. At least it was willing to talk. He had always heard that many of its kind loved to talk more than anything else, just like all those other creatures of myth.

"Forget it then," he shook his head pretending to be afraid, "Can you tell me why you want to kill us? We did nothing to you but you still followed us for so long, why?"

"Why? Hehehe, there is no reason, at least not one that you could understand. It is your fate to die here, I am but a mere tool," the laughter continued to echo even after it had stopped talking.

"Are you not afraid? Isn't that why you did all this? Because you were afraid of what we might do? You were so afraid that you did not show yourself even once in all this time, why do you have to lie?"

The forefinger and the middle finger on Burak's left hand repeatedly moved up and down while he was talking. Isak saw this and picked up the message he was trying to deliver. He slowly moved to the side, closer to the ring of fire pretending to get a better view.

The ebony dual swords in his grasp let out a weak cry when he was within five meters of the ring of fire. A tinge of dark purple seeped into the roaring golden flames and started to spread throughout the ring.

This was a part of his abilities. Isak could not only create his own fires, but he could also corrupt the natural flames and make them his own. He was born with this skill which allowed him to have absolute control over the black flames that could not be put out until he so desired.

And while the barbarians were slowly setting their plan in motion, Hao Xuan was still stuck inside the Celestial Webway trying to find his way back.