Lore/Story Outskirt Of Ragni

Lieutenant Jenprest wrote in her report that inside her camp, she was assigned to the investigation on farmland in the outskirts of Ragni along with two other guards, Nash and Garry. The farmland had been calling out for help for quite some time about something disturbing them during the night .A strange wailing and the sounds of fences breaking and lanterns shattering woke them up from their sleep.


It could not be just a zombie.


Corrupteds are husks with nothing on their mind other than rage, not capable of stalking or lurking within the dark of the night. Despite how often it was to have zombies wandering into the farmland, farmers could have easily dealt with them, but this was not the case. Whatever that was lurking around there was something else.


At least that's what the report said.


The farmland she was in was a pretty decent size for being in the outskirts of Ragni. Inhabited by one old man and his son. Aside from farming, they also profited from gudgeon oil that the son got from fishing from a nearby lake as a side hobby.


Janprest and her team had been stationed at the farm for days with no spotted unusual activity during their stay. The only evidence they could get were drunken, nonsensical rambles from the man who kept insisting that the monster was stalking them from the farm. The son had not believed something was spying on them for quite some time until he was pestered by his father and the constant interrupted sleep to call over the guard. Nash was angered by this seemingly inconsequential issue and ordered the stationed soldiers to return to Ragni first thing the next morning.


If only they had left that farmland earlier.


When the night came, Jenprest woke up to a sound of the same old man wandering in the field, drunk from his whiskey and yelling into the night, or perhaps at someone, now that she managed to get a bit closer. She was about to call him back until she heard a metal screeching sound piercing her mind. She looked around for the source but didn’t find it until a scream from the old man ripped across the field. Before she could catch a glimpse of him, a loud metallic snap similar to that of a bear trap cut the scream short with the sound of flesh being torn. The old man was no longer there. When she finally looked at where he once was, she only saw a large silhouette in the darkness standing and seemingly looking right at her. Her body froze with only the sound of the night echoing around her in contrast to the scream before.


She only gained back her composure when she heard the sound of Garry and Nash running behind her, probably woken up by the scream of the old man, but not before she held out her hand to stop them in their tracks. Garry was confused and irritated, looking around for the old man in a hurry before he finally looked at Jenprest staring into the darkness. Nash brings out her bow and shoots an arrow into the darkness ahead.


An inhuman cry answered back.


That sound was all comfirmation they needed to get back to their camp for the cover. Jenprest caught her breath as the others tried to ask what was out there. Before she could explain, she noticed a shadow cast by the lantern into the tent.

It was there.


Before they could see its massive silhouette clearly, it snarled in repulse and swiped the lantern with its claw and everything went dark. The same, sharp metal screeching noise could be heard again but now - closer than ever. They armed themselves for it to barge into the camp and attack, but the metal screeching suddenly stopped. Everything fell silent with the only sound being all three of them breathing.


Nash gritted her teeth while Garry looked around frantically. It was a long lapse of silence until Jenprest caught their attention and started making hand gestures to communicate with the others to form a plan. However, before the plan could be made, the creature roared out as its sound moved past the tent, soon followed by the scream of the old man’s son from afar.


The farmhouse, it was trying to get into the farmhouse!


Garry suddenly sprinted out of the tent to help while Nash and Jenprest followed soon after, trying to not be separated. By the time they got to the house, they found the door swaying from its hinge as the door frame was destroyed from something massive trying to fit itself in. Garry rushed his way into the house and was followed soon by the others. Jenprest brushed her arms against the broken edge of the door frame by accident and felt something sear her skin like magma. She stepped back and inspected the side of the doorframe.


Blood, boiling blood. Burning away the wood like acid.


Nash grabbed her by the shoulder to get her attention and motioned to her that Garry had already bolted upstairs to go after the creature. They ran to the stair but before they could take a step, they heard his scream- like something had torn it straight from his throat. Jenprest looked up and called out to him in panic, only for another scream to reply back.


But it wasn’t his scream, it was something else. It sounded like a blood curdling cry with a hint of metal screech scrape against the vocal cord. It was enough to give them a headache by listening, as if it was grinding against their brain. A deafening shatter of the window breaking snapped them from the daze, followed by loud thud outside of the house. Jenprest decided to grab Nash by the arm and rushed up the stairs for safety. When they finally reached upstairs, they found a red mess splashing along the wall. They weren't even sure if it was Garry or the son until a blood stained helmet answered their question.


Jenprest wasted no time and readied her weapon towards the stairs and was followed soon by Nash. It was yet another long silence, until that forsaken metal screech was heard yet again shattering their sanity However, this time it was not from below nor the outside at all. Jenprest looked to the son’s bedroom and saw a large silhouette completely blackening the hallway.


It was still in the house.


The creature rushed forward with a blood curdling scream causing even more destruction to the door frame on its way to Jenprest. She readied herself and struck the creature with her spear, but it wasn’t enough to stop it. Its claws dug deep into her arm, giving her a long gash. Nash followed in with a precise strike into its maw, and its boiling blood spilled out with droplets hitting both of the guards. It quickly closed its maw and thrashed the spear along with Nash, knocking Jenprest into the ground in the process.


Her head knocked against the barrel. As she attempted to recover herself, she could hear the ear piercing scream of Nash as her flesh was torn apart by the creature. She opened her eyes to the remains of Nash and the creature turning its head toward her. It started to crawl towards her quickly before she could stand up. She gambled her last ditch effort by giving it a kick, before it caught her leg between its maw and attempted to maul her. She grit her teeth and plunged her spear into its throat, impaling it through its armor. The creature wailed in pain as the spear remained lodged in its throat. It reeled back and prepared to strike her before she rolled over, causing it to smash the barrel instead. A dark liquid came out of the barrel, splashing all over the wall and the creature, with only a droplet landing onto her face.


Gudgeon oil.


She quickly reached over to the still lit lantern on the table and threw it at the creature. The room brightened, blinding her as the creature screamed in pain as its flesh burned from the fire. It writhed and squirmed in pain as it lit other wooden surfaces alight as well. Her regained her composure and limped her way down the stairs quickly so as to not join the flame. The moment she reached the downstairs, the floor of the ceiling broke open and the creature fell down with stakes of wood impaled between its joints. It looked at her with fury and reached for her, but not before the house collapsed onto it, stopping its advance. She finally made her way out of the house as the entire house finally crumbled onto itself. The only thing she heard aside from the burning wood was the ear piercing scream of the creature, as she saw its silhouette still flailing within the burning wreck before she passed out from her injury.


And that was all she could recall from that night as she reported back to Captain Vigil on both the loss of the outskirts farmland and the guards. She still wonders what creature she encountered that night, even after all this time.Was it a man? An animal? Or something else entirely? She walked down the street for her next assignment while overhearing gossip between farmers.


She paused in her steps as she heard the mention of metal screeching at night.


It’s still out there.

-

Writing and art by @Trashiejunkyard
Editing by @heart6008 and Soneone

 

:applause:

great story, thankyou for sharing