Occult Awakening: From Commoner to Archmage

"HELP!"

"Do you hear that?" Thomas darted to his feet. Almost at the same time, his hunting dog shot to attention, sniffing the ground.

"Hear what? I can't hear a thing!" Baron Tolkien said, putting on an ignorant expression.

"That sounded like Luca just now, and it looks like he's used the signal I gave him. We have to go help him."

Tolkien hissed at him. "Are you crazy? Haven't you been hearing those strange rumbles coming from the forest? There's obviously trouble in that direction, and I don't want any part of it!"

"You need to stop being such a wimp, Alan. Luca might be in serious trouble now. And those noises we heard before are only proof we need to go find him."

For the past five minutes after they'd sent Luca and the two men off, strange noises and rumbles had begun to emerge from the forests. There were even some scream-like sounds, but they never lasted long.

Thalia assured him it was probably the sound of some exotic bird, but now, he wasn't so sure.

"I agree with Thomas," her voice called out from the side. "We need to make sure Luca, Vito, and Jonny are okay!"

His eyes narrowed at the woman. Something was off about her. He always got a strange feeling from people ever since a weird dream he had. Whenever he was with Thalia, that feeling multiplied, but he shrugged it off. Luca was one of the few people who didn't give him such feelings, which was why he enjoyed conversing with the boy.

"Do that if you must, but I'm not taking any part in this. I am leaving, Thomas!"

Tolkien threw the rifle to the ground and began riding away back to where they had set up camp at the front of the forest. His stewards and attendants followed dutifully behind. The two others trailed after Baron Tolkien with short, hesitant glances.

Thomas waved them off and picked up the fallen rifle. He swung it over his shoulder and steadied the one in his other hand.

Truthfully, he had no large impression of those two and only invited them to be polite. They handed their rifles to his steward, who took them without speaking.

"Leave one horse, and take the others and the rifles back to the carriage. Ready the driver in case we have any injured."

The young man nodded and began acting out the instructions immediately.

Meanwhile, his dog's mouth foamed. It was ready to go out and find the scent, but Thomas held it carefully by a leash.

"Are you coming?" he asked, staring at Thalia.

She nodded, her wide purple eyes never betraying any emotion other than worry for Luca.

He looked away from her and loosened the leash on the dog a little. It sprinted forward with little patience left, red eyes darting around. It sniffed the ground and the air, heading in what seemed to be the direction of the scent signal.

The hunting dog was an Astorian breed called the Augustine Bloodhound. They were large but lithe and had sleek black fur. Their paws were coarse and specially adapted to traversing the forest ground quickly.

Thomas had to slow it down, making sure it didn't outpace Thalia or himself.

BARK!

It let out a low, guttural bark a few minutes in.

"We're almost close. Stay on your guard."

The sun cast a harsh glare on their gazes, but it didn't stop the trip from feeling eerie. There was nothing but the low sounds of wildlife and the crunches their boots made against the ground.

SNAP.

'What was that?'

Thomas held the rifle forward and swiveled to the side where the most grotesque creature he had ever seen in his life stood a few metres away.

It was a stag two times a man's height, facing away from him, next to a massive tree with a gaping hole carved in its trunk.

The stag's horns curled out wildly, ending in multiple sharp spikes. Large portions of its flesh were rotting and falling off, showing nothing but bones underneath.

"Thomas, help!" Luca's voice cut through the delicate silence.

"It's Luca!" he yelled out unconsciously.

The yell directed the creature's attention toward Thomas, and it turned around. Its eyes were hollow, but two red glows floated around in the sockets, watching him carefully. Then it charged.

BANG.

Its hooves slammed against the ground as it accelerated in a straight line toward Thomas, intending to impale him.

"Quick, get behind me!" He pushed both Thalia and the hunting dog back before the stag even started charging.

Thomas steadied the rifle in front of him and wrapped his finger around the trigger. Despite how powerful the rifles were, he only had one chance for this. If he shot too early or too late, he would be dead before he could even react.

One.

It got closer and closer to where he stood. But no, not yet. He wasn't in shooting range.

Two.

The creature's heavy steps didn't stop for a single second. Branches and shrubs snapped under its weight. Still not yet.

Three.

Now! Thomas pulled the trigger on the rifle. In the fraction of a second where the stag was already in front of him, he saw his whole life flash before his eyes, and all that happened was the same dream haunting him over and over again.

BANG!

He was sent back a metre or two as the bullet flew out of the chamber. A loud explosion accompanied the bullet's exit from the barrel. It felt like time itself slowed down and he could see the flight path.

It was a thin line of air around the bullet that only stopped when it landed squarely in between the head of the creature.

Thud.

It fell to the ground weakly, legs twitching, then the lights in its eyes faded completely. Three seconds. All it took was three seconds, and he wasn't even able to process how he managed to do just that.

Thomas stared between his trembling hands and the undead's corpse.

"Huff… huff…"

He took two deep breaths. The rifle clattered to the ground and his arms fell to the side. However, none of this was enough to make him forget why exactly he came here in the first place.

Thomas broke into a quick jog and finally got to Luca in the tree. The baron stretched out a now steady hand and smiled.

"Hey, are you okay?"