Vermin and doves.

I wonder what the marshes are like thought Gem. They couldn't be anything like the valleys, to wet... i wonder if the marshes are anything like the sea? I suppose i'll just have to find out...

She had been walking a good time now, and was well away from the town, and she was getting bored of it.

Perhaps i should rest now. She thought, and sat down with a sigh. She hadn't thought to bring shelter with her. 

I'll just sleep a little and then get going again. She decided.

________________________

She went on like this for several days without any trouble.

Then she got trouble.

As she was walking she heard a yell a little ways ahead, and ahead she saw a strange beast,

Its head was like a rat, cat fur covered its torso, it had leathery wings, its lower body was like a lion with a horse tail.

To Gems horror it came towards her and spoke with a hoarse voice in a strange tongue. 

"Eat ib tib? A little cirl ab coue to ulay? GRAAAWK!" 

It opened wide its wings as if in embrace, walking forward till it was towering above her.

She would have disappeared into those batwings, had it not been for the stranger.

The thing began to slowly close its wings around her, when he appeared, as if from thin air, brandishing a long sword, he rushed at the thing and struck it three times, and it turned to ash without ever seeing its killer.

Gem looked at her savior, He had silver hair and golden eyes.

"Don't want some child getting caught in a demon trap now." said the man. "You going somewhere?" he asked. "Yes, to a place called kove, may i ask who you are?" answered gem.

"Call me Plain-Walker" he said.

For a while they both stared at each other, as if they were unsure of what to think of the other, till Plain-Walker spoke up "Perhaps you'd like a guide to kove?"

Gem, after a little bit of thought accepted.

A duel for magecraft.

Birch was busy sorting herbs when the attack began, and was as confused as everyone else when he heard the screams of the first victims, but he would know soon enough.

He went out to see what was happening, what he saw brought horror, disgust, and momentary fear...

It also brought seething anger.

He went back inside to bring back memories from his days of youth, before going back out.

______________________

He joined battle with a burst of flames, turning five of the monsters to ash. he then summoned holy light and struck out at several Brain-Eaters, who collapsed, the Dream-Flayers within purged.

He continued on like this for a time, until he noticed one of the Brain-Eaters, he at first didn't know what made him notice it, with all the other Brain-Eaters around, but then he realized why it stood out from the others.

It looked just like how Gem had described the man from her dream named Logar after he became a monster.

He also knew it was no normal Brain-Eater.

He hid himself till the Thing was nearly alone, and then he let it see him. It noticed him nearly at once, and Birch knew that the thing hated him.

Then it charged at him, as expected, and Birch stood still, waiting for the right moment, at the last second he moved, throwing the evil thing off guard. "Uaralioe" he muttered, and instantly the evil thing stopped moving, powerless against the magic.

Then Birch summoned his greatest magic, holy flame and started towards the creature.

He would stop it before it could gain full power.

Then he was attacked from behind. And he knew he would die.

unless he did something quick.

He spoke words of magic that would make it seem as if he were dead. "fae ui deat, bale ten uae noe uore uy btrife"

And then he was unconscious.

A duel for undeath.

"ureuare for te carce." said the thing of evil, in the language of the ancients, it was preparing to drink the blood of innocents tonight, and it could not contain its glee. "Ee ball feab on boulb and te slood of innocentb boon!" It said as it unsheathed it claws. The Brain-Eaters were restless, and the thing was happy to let them join the slaughter. Many of them were from the town he attained his shell in, but some were from this town's graveyard, all held the same mindless lust.

It pointed at the buildings surrounding them and shrieked with glee, a battle cry of sorts.

Then the Brain-Eaters charged.

It was a little while before the people realized what had happened, but once they did, there was chaos, humans running everywhere in fear, wonderful fear!

As it joined the blood-spilling it went into a trance, time slowed around it, and he wandered everywhere, bringing death to all it saw.

Then the old man appeared.

As it saw him, it went out of the trance, and fury took its place. What was a wizard doing there?

The thing charged the old man but the man dodged it at the last second, sending the thing off balance, the man muttered a few words and the thing became powerless, it couldn't move.

The man then conjured a flame of terrible divinity, and the thing was afraid.

But it was lucky, as the man was about to touch it, a Brain-Eater with a hole in its chest attacked the man, and killed him, and it could move again.

Then it turned its attention back to the humans. They would all die before the night was done.

Insects of the land: Tribe Attah

Tribe Attah is a species of ants. And are capable of creating colonies of one million ants.

Diet:

Leaves.

Fungus.

Ranks:

Queen(Matriarch, controls all other ants in the colony) 

Prime male(Queens mate)

Soldiers(Defenders)

Foragers(Gather leaves for the colony, excavate new chambers)

Nest specialists(Dispose waste, care for larva, care for the queen)

Nurses(Care for the fungi gardens and larva)

Males(mates)

Rooms within the hill:

Leaf-storage room(Numerous)

Fungus gardens(Several large gardens)

Waste chambers(Several rooms)

Queens nest(One, houses the queen)

Hatchery(Many)

Nest chambers(Many, houses all adult ants except for the queen)

The start of an adventure.

"The marshes? Aren't they far?" Asked Gem.

"Yes, but that dream could be important, and if it is we'll need it to know what is important about it." Replied Birch. "Here, Gem! This map shows the way to a port town near the edge of the swamp called Kove. You should be able to find a guide there."

"Thanks Birch!" Gem said, and she took the map.

Thus began a journey far greater then she could have guessed.

___________________________

That night, after she left, a thing of evil came out of the alley of the town, surrounded by invisible creatures of unspeakable evil...

The Dream-Flayers.

The thing had come a week ago, not long after it had gained a shell for the spirit-thing that was all that remained of the ancient thing of evil.

Now it was ready for building up its army once more.

In shorter words, it was ready to kill.

Insects of the land: Anorcetus Ants

The Anorcetus Ants are predators. They live in tropical areas of the land, and build giant colonies given time and room.

Diet:

The Anorcetus Ants are predators, but have a very flexible diet. When a colony is small, it will feed upon rival colony's and their eggs, but once they grow in numbers large enough, they will swarm, and in most cases, take down any mammal that is unlucky enough to come across them while they are in need of food.

Ranks:

Anorcetus Ants have a number of ranks within their colonies. Here they will be listed:

Queen(The matriarch of the colony, overall commander)

Greater female(The heir of the queen)

Lesser females(Will become queens in a new colony when their queen dies)

Caretakers(Female ants that care for the grubs) 

Greater males(The mates of the queen)

Queens guard(Protect the queen)

Hunters(Protect the nest, hunt for food, fighters)

Worker ants(Build nests, feed grubs, laborers)

Drones(Used as mates)

Color: Red, one black stripe near the end of the body.