Entry 51: Where is my cow?

by Hayley Thomas

Dear Diary,

So, instead of continuing north to Latebra Velora, we veered west the next morning, toward the afflicted villages. Before long, the landscape shifted—rolling fields and pastures stretched before us, dotted with the very livestock we had heard were suffering.

We stopped as soon as we spotted some of the affected animals, eager to take a closer look.

As we approached a small group of grazing cows, something immediately caught my eye—a patch of ground that looked... wrong. The grass was stained dark, and upon closer inspection, it was clear that a significant amount of blood had been spilled here. The cows had been grazing around it, their hooves leaving disturbed impressions in the dirt.

Turning my attention to the animals themselves, I quickly noticed something alarming. Despite standing in the middle of a lush pasture, the cows looked emaciated, as if they were starving. That could only mean one thing—they weren’t digesting their food properly.

I gathered samples from the soil and from one of the cows, intent on analyzing them later for any signs of poison.

Meanwhile, Gael worked his own magic—quite literally—engaging one of the cows in conversation. Though the information was limited, he did learn one troubling detail: one of the herd had been taken by a large flying predator.
That explained the blood.

But was this just an unfortunate accident? Or another one of the cultists’ twisted draconic experiments?

The question hung in the air like a storm waiting to break.

As we wrapped up our investigation—me with my samples, Gael with his casual cow conversation—we realized Alistan had also made a new acquaintance. A young boy had wandered over to him while we were examining the cattle.
That’s when Alistan pointed something out.

The boy had a wound on his arm—small but inflamed—and his skin had the same sickly look as the afflicted livestock.

Liliana wasted no time, kneeling beside him and channeling her healing magic into the wound. The infection retreated almost instantly, but then something truly vile happened.

A dark green larva wriggled free from the wound and dropped to the ground. It curled and twitched for a moment before going still, dead.

Luke’s expression darkened. He studied the creature with wary familiarity before muttering, “Kyuss worms.”

The words alone made my stomach twist.

Undead parasites—tiny horrors that burrow into their host’s flesh, slithering ever deeper until they reach the brain. Once there, they don’t just kill. They turn. Anyone infected long enough is doomed to rise again, another shambling corpse under the worm’s thrall.

Now we knew the what. But the how? The who? Kyuss worms don’t just appear. Someone—or something—had unleashed them.

The boy, once reassured that he was safe, shared what little he knew. He’d likely been infected while helping clean up the dead cows. If he had been infected, others might be as well.

He led us back to the nearby cluster of ranches, where his mother, Kalindra, met us at the gate. Her relief at seeing him unharmed quickly gave way to concern as we explained what we had found.
She had more pieces of the puzzle to offer.

It all started, she said, when a pack of rabid wyverns attacked the herds. They didn’t behave like normal predators—there was no hunting, no feeding. Just senseless bloodshed, as though they had been driven mad.

And after those attacks?

That’s when the sickness began to spread.

With the source of the infection traced back to the rabid wyverns, there was only one path forward: hunt them down.

But before we could do that, we had to contain the situation here.

The infection was spreading, and fast.

Another stableboy had been wounded while dealing with the diseased carcasses, and when we opened the stable where he and the others were staying, we were met with the worst-case scenario—undead.

The stench of decay hit first. Then movement. A shadow lunged from the darkness.

A zombie.

Before we could react, one of the Kyuss larvae launched itself at Liliana, writhing through the air with sickening speed.

I barely had time to think. I just moved.

With a quick, brutal strike, I knocked it away before it could burrow beneath her skin.

Then the second one came. Another stableboy—or what was left of him—rising to join the first.

The fight was over in seconds, but the damage had been done. We had been too late to save these two.

And if they had turned, how many more were already infected?

While Luke and Alistan searched the stables for more clues, Liliana and I turned our attention to the ranchers. We gathered everyone we could find and began the grim process of screening them for infection.
Four had been marked.

It took hours of work—magic alone wasn’t enough. Some had to be treated the hard way. Blades, steady hands, and no small amount of determination. The larvae fought to stay inside, burrowing deeper, resisting every attempt to be cut out.

But we didn’t lose a single one.

By the time we finished, the others had returned with news.

Alistan, Luke, and Gael had found something. Tracks, leading from beneath the barn, winding their way toward the far side of the hamlet.
To a ruined temple.

Gael led us there, and the moment we stepped inside, it was obvious—someone was living here.

The temple itself was shattered, its walls lined with deep cracks, the air thick with the smell of old dust and damp stone.

But the brazier in the center still burned. A table, cluttered with scattered papers, sat beneath its glow.

Whoever had done this—whoever had set this horror in motion—was close.

As soon as Alistan set foot inside the ruined temple, a sickly-looking elf emerged from the shadows of the backroom. Without hesitation, he whispered an incantation, and a wave of necrotic energy swept through the chamber. My friends staggered under the force of it, their skin paling as if death itself had brushed against them.

Then came the hands.

Disembodied, writhing things, they skittered across the floor like a grotesque tide, latching onto Alistan and Gael with unnatural strength. Gael was dragged down, his cries muffled beneath the wriggling swarm. Alistan fought desperately, but the weight of them was overwhelming. Before panic could take hold, Luke acted—hurling a spell that sent searing flames through the crawling mass, freeing Gael from their grasp.

The tide of battle began to shift. The elf, undeterred, snarled another incantation, but I saw the opening we needed. With a well-placed strike, I staggered him—just enough for Luke to unleash a fireball into the room. The explosion engulfed the chamber in searing heat and, when the flames cleared, the elf lay crumpled on the floor, his breath shallow. His lips curled into a final, eerie smile as he exhaled his last words:

"For the Old Mother."

Then, he was gone.

Even in victory, we were left battered. Gael, Dadroz, and Liliana sat nursing their wounds, their faces grim. The fight had been brief, but brutal.

Luke and I turned to the table littered with parchment, our fingers sifting through pages filled with dark knowledge. The notes were disturbing—detailed research on necromancy, the construction of the disease, and, most horrifying of all, the instructions for creating the undead larvae. The precision of it all sent a chill through me.

Then we found the map.

Carefully drawn routes traced the flight patterns of the wyverns and the grazing locations of livestock, evidence of a calculated, methodical plan. This wasn’t random. It wasn’t an accident. Someone had orchestrated this down to the finest detail.
And then, beneath a small statue of a winged woman, we found the final clue.

A single, yellowed page, inscribed with a passage about the Old Mother. My stomach twisted at the sight of it. I had seen this before—heard it whispered in the markets of Keralon, sung in the eerie voices of children.
This wasn’t just an isolated act of necromantic cruelty.

This was a pattern. And the Old Mother was at the heart of it.

“Deep in the Lorewood, where shadows creep,
The Old Mother has finally stirred from sleep.
With bony hands and maw so wide,
She’ll come for you, don’t try to hide.

Through twisted trees, her steps to fall.
Her voice a distant, eerie call.
She seeks the lost, the wandering soul,
To snap their necks and eat them whole.

Beware when evening’s chill winds blow,
For she is out there, and you should know.
If you hear her voice, don’t turn around,
Or in the woods, your bones will be found.”

By the time we returned to the hamlet, the farmers had all returned from the fields. The infection could have spread to any of them, so Liliana and I spent the rest of the evening examining each person, cutting out larvae where necessary. The work was grueling, but by the end, we had ensured no more victims would rise as undead.

With the immediate threat contained, we turned to the livestock. We convinced the farmers that every infected cow had to be culled and burned—there was no other way to stop the spread. It wasn’t an easy decision for them, but we made sure they wouldn’t suffer the loss alone. We paid for every animal they had to put down.

Only two were saved, our last reserves of magic spent to purge the infection from them.

So, I suppose I own a cow now.

Continue reading...

Entry one: The trials

Entry two: The bramble

Entry 3: Rosebloom

Entry 4: Hearts and Dreams

Entry 5: of ghosts and wolves

Entry 6: Hillfield and Deals with Fae

Entry 7: mysteries and pastries

Entry 8: The scarecrow ruse
6th of Lug, 121 Year of the Tree

Entry 9: A betrayal of satyrs
7th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Entry 10: The fate of twins
8th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Entry 11: Cursed twins
10th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Entry 12: Loss and despair
11th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Hayley's rules to being a Witch

Entry 13: the price of safety
12th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Entry 14: A golden cage and fiery tower
13th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Entry 15: A trial by fire
14th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Entry 16: Keralon
15th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Letter to Luke 1

Letter to Luke 2

Letter to Luke 3

Letter to Luke 4

Letter to Luke 5

Letter to Luke 6

Entry 17: I shall wear midnight
1st of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 18: peace in our time
2nd of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 19: Caern Fussil falls
3rd of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 20: I see fire
4th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 21: Cultists twarted
10th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 22: Ravensfield
14th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 23: The Hollow Hill Horror
15th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 24: Burn your village
16th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 25: Ravensfield burns
17th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 26: There will be blood!
21st of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 27: A happy reunion
22nd of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 28: The embassy ball
23rd of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 29: The fate of Robert Talespinner
24th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 30: A royal summons
28th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 31: of Dogville and Geese
29th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 32: A boggle named Pim
30th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 33: A deal broken
1st of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 34: The cost of doing what is right
2nd of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 35: A dish best served cold
9th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

entry 36: Cornu returns?
10th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 37: A letter from Amarra
11th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 38: The case of the (not) missing villagers
14th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 39: A curse broken
15th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 40: Into the Lorewood
18th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 41: Cabin in the Woods
19th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 42: Myrdin and Anaya
20th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 43: Into the Immerglade
21st of Aran, 127 Era of the Tree

Entry 44: A tale as old as time
22nd of Aran, 127 Era of the Tree

Entry 45: The truth
23rd of Aran, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 46: Luke's Ordeal
24th of Aran, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 47: The festival
26th of Aran, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 48: Trouble at the Cathedral
2nd of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 49: Quinn's court
4th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 50: onwards to Latebra Velora
5th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 51: Where is my cow?
6th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 52: Here be dragons
7th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 53: Dragon hoard with a side of scarabs
8th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 54: Leave the basilisks alone
9th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 55: Return to Ravensfield
10th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 56: The needs of the many...
11th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 57: Dreams of Sister Willow
12th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 58: wetlands be wet
13th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 59: Baron Perenolde
14th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 60: Talebra Velora and the lady Morenthene
15th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 61: Cypria
16th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 62: Dragon takes Knight
17th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 63: Return to Talebra Velora
18th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 64: Your presence is “requested”
19th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 65: I stand alone
20th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 66: A day of normalcy
21th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 67: Into the Neverhold
22nd of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 68: The Warg King

Entry 69: Chased by birds

Entry 51: Where is my cow?

Continue reading...

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