“Sorry to bother you, but have you noticed anything odd when your daughter disappeared?” I cautiously asked the woman as she led us down the southern road. 

“There...was an unusually thick fog when I went to search for my daughter,” the woman answered, her voice creaking with sorrow. “My husband tried searching, but he said he heard strange noises while he was searching.”

“Is he alright?” I questioned.

“Yes... he came back and called in a group of watchmen,” she informed me. “But I thought it would be better if we got more people to help out.”

“You’re absolutely correct,” I replied. “Once you lead us there, call for other people.”

The woman nodded silently, her expression still stiff with emotion. However, the presence of thick fog scares me quite a bit. I can only hope that it’s just a natural fog, not one of more magical origin. Because of that possibility, I tapped Sekh on the shoulder and pulled her to the side.

“Sekh, there’s a chance that this could be really bad,” I whispered into her cat ears. “Warn Zeph as well, but make sure the lady doesn’t notice. I don’t want her to be worried.”

Sekh nodded with a serious look before going over to whisper into Zeph’s ear. Fortunately, the woman didn’t notice our little exchange. The road to our destination was quite short, only taking half an hour or so. 

The location that we arrived at appeared to be a large patch of marshland and plains. However, the area was blanketed by a thick fog that stretched as far as the eye could see. In front of us, I could see a group of men huddled by a tree where the fog hadn't encroached.

“What are you doing?” the woman shouted at the men in anger. “Aren’t you supposed to be looking for my daughter?”

“We understand your concern,” one of the men replied with a downcast look. “But when we went to search for her, one of us was snatched away. We couldn’t see anything, we just heard his screams.”

“So you’re just going to sit here?” the woman screamed with tears streaming down her face. 

“We’re sorry, but we have to wait here until our reinforcements come,” the man apologized profusely. “If we go in now, we can’t possibly make it out with your daughter.”

“What if we join you?” Zeph suddenly asked the man. “Those two are veterans from the Stygian campaign and I’m a wind mage.”

The group of five men began to look at us with a mixture of hope and fear. The five all wore padded armor, two even having simple metal helmets. Four had shields and spears, while the last carried a hunting bow. Thus, these men are most likely local militiamen not professional soldiers. However, it would be in my best interest to have them on my side. Well I think it’s a good time to bust out my trusty medallion. 

“I’ll be taking command from here,” I announced to the militiamen as I showed them my war medal. “Tell me everything that you know about the situation. Even the small details count.”

The militiamen nervously glanced at one another upon hearing my declaration. Compared to regular soldiers, they seemed less willing to suddenly accept a change in command. 

“You look rather young to be taking command of us,” one of the men remarked. “Did you really do anything during the war?”

Instead of immediately replying, I went over to my baggage and began to don both my hauberk and cuirass. Since my armor had far more scratches than ornaments, I hoped that they would recognize that I wasn’t some armchair officer. 

“More than I can remember,” I sighed as I strapped my cuirass on. “In fact, I was part of the vanguard that stormed Argopolis. If we work together, I promise that we'll be able to traverse the fog safely. Should we go now, we would also save time that could be crucial to rescuing those that might still be lost in the fog.”

“Fine, but we have no intention of being treated as disposable tools,” another man answered.

“Then we’re of the same mind,” I remarked with gentle grin. “Now tell me what happened in that fog.”

“At first it was just a normal search,” the man began to recall. “We were using the dog over there to track the daughter’s scent. But as we went deeper into the fog, we could hear these guttural howling noises. We were careful to avoid the wildlife in the fog, until… until we heard a horrifying screech and Markos was dragged off by something. We tried to find him, but the howls got louder. From there… we just escaped the fog as fast as we could. It’s a miracle that the rest of us came back in one piece.”

“I see,” I responded. “I think I know what’s going on, but I want to be able to have a better look at the area.”

Immediately after, I made my way to a tall tree and quickly scaled it. From the top of the tree, I was able to get a good view of the area. The marshlands were fairly flat with few trees. However, the most distinct feature was the thick fog that covered the land. With a rough estimate, I would say that the fog covered an area with a diameter of four kilometers. What was more unusual was the distribution of said fog. Some areas were particularly thick, while others were thinner.

“Did you happen to see any humanoid shapes in the fog?” I asked the militiamen when I climbed down from the tree. “Like a bipedal ape with a white mane?”

Everyone began to look at each other nervously. Finally, one of the militiamen spoke up. 

“I’m not sure, but I did see something that looked like a hunched person in the fog when Markos was dragged off,” he told me. “Is that what you’re talking about?”

“Probably foglings then,” I sighed heavily. “During the war, I was part of a group that was sent to deal with these monsters. Since they’re so rare, I thought I would never have to see them again.”

“Foglings?” Zeph wondered with a confused look. “What the hell is that?”

Based on the expression of the others, they had no clue what foglings were either. Even Sekh didn’t seem to know what was going on. 

“As the name suggests, a fogling is a sort of monster that creates fog,” I informed them. “Like other greater monsters, it has a primitive ability to use magic, which is how the fog is created. It uses that fog to ambush its prey, since they hunt using sound instead of sight.”

“A greater monster?” one of the man almost screamed, fear emanating from his voice. 

“That just means that it can use magic,” I assured him. “It doesn’t mean it’s more physically powerful than the average monster. As for foglings, they’re nowhere near the threat of a dragon. If we move carefully, they won’t be able to pose too much of a threat to us.” 

“Are you sure?” the militaman asked me nervously. 

“I’m certain,” I said firmly. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ll take up the vanguard position of our party.”

“Please do,” he replied anxiously. 

The rest of the militiamen nodded in agreement, their fears appearing somewhat relieved. 

“Now that we’re on the same page, I’ll tell you the plan,” I announced. “Our main priority is to find the missing girl, since we don’t know if she’s been attacked. We’ll move on foot as an entire group of eight. I’ll be in the front, the two archers will be behind me. To the side of each archer must be a shieldbearer. That means the last person will serve as a rearguard. Additionally, the archer behind me will be the one with the guide dog. That dog is pretty much our only way to find anyone, so protect it at all cost.”

“As for how we’re going to find our way back,” I continued when everyone understood the plan. “The person in the rear will be responsible for laying a trail. If we have anything that we can continuously drop as markers, then use it. Otherwise, just use a tool to make large indents in the ground. Lastly, limit your noise as much as possible, since foglings hunt using sound. Use hand signals to communicate or whisper if you have to. Don't worry, small noises won't attract them unless they're already close. ”

“Who’s taking the rear then?” one of the men asked. “Apart from the vanguard, that will be the most dangerous position.”

“I’ll do it,” Sekh suddenly spoke up. “I should be the most agile one in the group, so I’ll be the best person for the job.”

When I looked around at everyone, they appeared to be in agreement with Sekh. Personally, I didn’t want Sekh to be taking such a position. Even if she might be the best fighter apart from me, the rearguard is still a considerably dangerous position.

“Alright then,” I finally conceded. “Sekh will take the rear. However, I want Zeph to be next to her in order to shield her with wind magic. Sekh, I want you to use my cuirass as well.”

“Understood,” Sekh replied.

“But what about you, Iblis?” Zeph asked. “Without me in the second position, I won’t be able to easily help you with wind magic. On top of that, you’ll be wearing less armor.”

“It’s fine,” I assured her. “I can handle myself without any issue.”

“Your choice,” she replied with a shrug. “Oh, and should I use my magic to clear the fog?”

“I recommend against that,” I answered. “The fog is magical in nature and harder to dispel, so you’d end up exhausted in no time. However, I’ll let you know when to use your wind magic if we need to. If that’s all, then let’s get going.”

Once we had gathered the necessary supplies for our rescue mission, the eight of us shuffled along into formation. Our horses remained with the woman who led us there, who was now leading them back to her home. 

With the dog leading the way, the eight of us plunged into the fog filled marsh. Each breath I took felt stiff, the water laced air sliding its way into my lungs. My eyes weren’t faring much better, the misty air limiting my field of vision to around twenty meters in front of me. 

As I walked, all I could hear was the soft padding of our boots on the moist ground and the nervous breathing of those around me. Every now and then, I would turn around and check on my party, changing my pace if necessary. However, what worried me the most were the expressions on their faces. Three of the five militiamen couldn’t even hide their fear, while the rest had simply draped a thin cover over their emotions. Even Sekh and Zeph looked terrified. 

For what felt like half an hour, our group slowly followed our guide dog as it sniffed the air in search of the missing girl. Since we had a dog guiding us, our pathfinding was quite good, only going off course once. Yet as we delved deeper into the white clouds, a familiar noise began to permeate the air. Said noise could be best described as a somewhat throaty growl. Worse, the first set of grunts was followed by two other distinct sources.  

Just like I expected, foglings were the cause of our problems. When I peeked behind me, I could see that everyone had become wide eyed with worry. I tried to give them a reassuring look, but I felt that my appearance was a bit too murderous for comfort. 

We continued to tread onwards despite the sound, though our pace had begun to slow once more. With each step we took, the growls in the air grew ever louder. I can only hope that the missing girl is alright, or at least recognizable. 

But I was soon greeted by a gruesome sight. On the ground in front of me was a thick line of dried blood, the trail disappearing off in the distance. Immediately, I turned around and raised my hand to tell my party to halt. The moment they stopped, I raised a finger to my mouth to signal for silence. 

Right after, I pointed towards the trail of blood on the ground. Everyone went wide-eyed with fear, and a few sucked in their breaths. Still, I was glad that no one had panicked. Once my party looked somewhat recollected, I bent down and gestured for our dog to continue following the scent. 

Fortunately, the path that the dog took diverged from the trail of blood. But as we were walking, I felt a nervous tap on my left shoulder. When I looked back, the man left of the archer was leaning towards my ear. 

“That trail of blood...it’s probably from Markos,” he whispered.

“I promise that I'll recover his body,” I whispered back. “But our goal is to find out what happened to the girl. If she’s alive, we’ll bring her back. If not, we’ll walk back empty handed. The task of recovering the dead will be done when we get reinforcements.”

The man nodded his head in agreement, while the rest of the party began to quietly relay our conversation to those in the back. I doubt that this volume would be enough to attract the foglings, but I  increased my vigilance regardless. 

Still, I knew that foglings had a tendency of announcing their attacks. For some reason, they like to make piercing screeches before launching themselves at their prey. Really cruel that those monsters practice psychological warfare. 

The air continued to stiffen as we continued our search. Apart from me, my entire party was now only capable of rigid movements. I don’t even know how much of a fight they could put up. 

Around an hour into our trek, I glimpsed a noticeable bulge on the path in front of us. Was it a body, a rock, or some other piece of the terrain? However, when we crept up on the shape, its identity soon became apparent.

In front of us lay the shape of a large crocodile, which I had no intentions of fully confirming. Though the creature did seem interested in us, it would be in our best interest to avoid it. 

Despite this, our guide dog seemed quite insistent on traveling towards the overgrown lizard. Perhaps I could just remove the obstacle with brute force, but I feel that I might end up attracting more attention. 

Instead, I picked our dog with one hand and carefully shuffled my way around the mass of scales and teeth. After about five minutes of avoiding the crocodile, we were able to continue on the trail of the missing girl. 

Yet even a small victory like that did not nothing to alleviate our morale problem. Our party had already been slowly worn down by the constant threat of death and the growls of the foglings weren’t improving the situation either. 

However, the more perceptive among us would realize that the sound of the foglings’ howls were actually now decreasing in volume. Still, this might only be a brief respite since the foglings are unlikely to play nice and remain in one spot.

Another period of excruciating walking occurred as we continued our search. As we crept through the misty marsh, I eventually saw the outline of trees in the distance. Additionally, the thicket seemed to fall right along our path. 

When we closed in on the thicket, I could make out the faint whiff of urine. The smell seemed to be human, but I’m anything but knowledgeable in this area. Our dog seemed excited as well, its tail waving vigorously as we neared the thicket. 

Now was the ideal time for Zeph’s magic. I gestured for my party to halt and gave Zeph the predetermined signal to clear the fog. Within seconds, the cloudy air around us parted. 

As the fog dissipated, it revealed a scared looking young woman hiding amongst the trees. She looked straight at us, her eyes showing a mixture of terror and hope. I immediately raised my finger to my mouth to ensure that she wouldn’t scream. 

Silently, our party of eight made our way towards the girl. Each of my companions bore looks of relief, the first time since we had entered the fog. When we neared her, our dog began to eagerly sniff at the young woman, reaffirming our belief. 

“It’s alright now,” I said to the girl in a hushed tone. “We’re here to bring you back to your family. Everything will be alright.”

Tears quickly welled up in her eyes and I noticed that her legs were rather wobbly. Suddenly, Sekh came from behind me and pulled the young girl into an embrace, the girl’s head now resting on Sekh’s chest. 

“There, there,” Sekh quietly crooned to the girl. “You seem exhausted. Are you hungry?”

The girl weakly nodded her head in response. I gestured for one of the militiamen to bring out our pack of rations. Gently, I bent down and handed the young lady a waterskin, some bread, and bits of jerky. 

By that time, the previously displaced fog had already reasserted its presence all around us. Fortunately, Sekh had been periodically digging into the ground with her spear. Still, it would be better to recuperate here before trekking back. I gestured for the rest of the group to huddle around me. 

“We’re going to rest here for an hour or two,” I whispered to the group. “Use that time to relax and eat, since I’ll take care of guard duty. But don’t even think about straying from this thicket, I won’t be able to save you if you do.”

Our group began to cautiously disperse amongst the trees, either resting or eating. Before beginning my patrol, I made my way to Sekh and the young woman.

“Everything alright?” I asked Sekh in a hushed tone.

“Mmhmm,” Sekh replied with a nod. “She’s still shaken, but is fine overall.”

“Thanks,” I whispered back. “I’m really glad to have you here.”

When I tried leave, Sekh quietly grabbed one of my hands and gave it a firm squeeze. Despite the smile on her face, I had the feeling that she was just putting up a front to reassure the young woman. In response, I stroked the top of my head with my other hand, which prompted a faint blush from Sekh. 

After I checked on everyone’s status and position, I made my way to the outskirts of the thicket to begin my patrol. But before I started my watch, I noticed that Zeph was approaching me from behind. Instead of speaking aloud, I just cocked my head to the side. 

“Let me help you patrol,” she whispered when she got close enough to me. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Just let me help you out.”

I just nodded my head in agreement and pointed towards the opposite end of the thicket. Perhaps I came off as rude, but it would allow us to keep a better eye on our surroundings. Based on my estimations, our group should be able to make it out of this place before nightfall.