Post by Fears of the dark on Dec 1, 2008 13:53:18 GMT -6
It was a warm night, as most were, and the only sound that could be heard from the dirt path were the chirps of the crickets. Darkness spread itself upon the entire forest, hiding any within its premises with a pure black shade, almost completely shielding them from peeping eyes and hungry, empty stomaches. There was only a single trail that ran through this end of the forest and it was a quiet one. Silently, a young girl made her way down the stretch of path.
Her body moved like liquid as she made her way into the forest just ahead. She appeared to be much less intimidated than she ought to be, walking alone into this end of the forest. The insects owned this portion of land and kept tight locks on it, only allowing certain other beasts into their territory. They didn't often allow humans into their domain, rarely making the exception for them to even enter.
The girl ignored their invisible rule, taking the path in a seemingly blind ingnorance. As she made her way down the dark path, what looked before like trees began to move. Her black eyes waved themselves around, searching for the source of the movement. She didn't stop, though. She trudged on, carrying herself a little faster down the path. Despite the current situation, she still appeared quite calm and collected. Her cool attitude towards her surroundings was shattered the instant her ears picked up a sound that struck her where she stood.
A scream came from deeper within the forest and stole her attention from the shadows lurking just beyond the trees and she stopped. She tested all of her senses for the possible location of the cry which paused abruptly. She yanked her head to the side and pushed her medium pink hair behind her ears. Her body tensed as she waited for the scream to alert once more.
Finally it did, but the scream belonged to someone else this time. This horrific, blood curdling scream belonged to a child.
~~~
A man, woman, and child ran quietly through the woods, hoping to come upon an empty meadow, where they knew the insects of the forest would not follow. They demons followed from the darkness, hunting the small family instinctively as food. They had been watching the family since they first stepped foot into their domain.
The Insect demons analyzed them, deciding that the only defense the family had was in the father. He had a piece of the sacred Rune with him, making him a mage. He wore a pair of brown slacks, tucked underneath his dark boots. Upon his torso was a black long sleeved sweater, and on his neck was a light grey piece of stone fastened to a string of black yarn which wrapped once loosely around his neck. He didn't look like much, but his magic would state fiercely to his enemies that looks can be decieving.
He ran with the woman, carrying the child gently in his strong arms as if he weighed nothing. The boy's face was rocked back and forth sideways as he ran. The mage peered down often at him through the dirty brown threads of hair which dangled at his forehead. The boy's face was painted with tears.
The woman began to slow her stride, finally allowing herself to stop for a moment to catch her breath and feel her aching joints. She was dressed in a baggy brown sweater, and a long black skirt. She reached down to rub her bleeding ankles which had been scratched by the bushes as they ran. She let out a short cry as she felt her bleeding wounds.
"I- I can't!" she cried, allowing the intensity of the situation to roll over her as a wave of pain.
I can't stop..! I have to keep going..! she willed herself to push forward, but the pain continued to course through her. She felt as though her will to continue was spilling out with the blood at her ankles, as though it too would hit the ground soon and she would stammer down with it.
The man stopped when he heard the woman cry. When he turned, he found that she was struggling to keep herself up. He hurried back to her as she slipped down onto the ground. The man set the boy down and began whispering in her right ear. Every one of his encouraging words seemed to help rejuvenate her, give her energy. This was the power of the Rune. The man begged the woman to get up and continue for him, and for their son. For their little family.
From the woman's left side, the boy fell. Both adults yanked their attention from one another to find that he only sat down to get a closer look at the shadow of the small bug that crawled before him.
The woman winced as she forced herself up.
I can't allow my family to be taken from me just because I'm tired! What am I thinking!? We only have a mile to go and we're there.
She smiled down at the man as she began, "I love you, too! ... And, we're gonna make it out of here together! We're gonna to get to that island, find your parents, and raise our son! We owe it to him. All we have to do-"
A scythe like object pierced through her chest as she began her last sentence. Her eyes widened when she saw the bloody object protrude from her body. Her feet dangled lifelessly as the pain in her chest choked away the pain from other parts of her body.
A dark hand reached out from behind her, grabing her around the waist, then yanked upwards. Each half of her body pulled heavily towards the ground. A gleaming red eye was made visible from the gap in the victim's upper body. The mage watched in horror as the blood sprayed from both halves towards each other, silently colliding and pouring down the middle of the body. He was struck dumb by the image. His heart began filling with hatred for the creature and as his body pumped itself with his own blood, it also filled with rage.
The dark creature threw the woman's corpse at the mage with strength that was absolutely inhuman. The man painfully caught it, and carefully layed it down as quickly as he could. He knew he would have to end this demon as quickly as possible... If he could.
He turned his head from the body to the monster which was now on top of the little boy. The child screamed as loud as his little body could muster, and struggled against its large hands. The boy's attempt to free himself was incredibly pitiful, the monster was much too large, and far too powerful. It tightened its grip on the boy, squeezing him until it drew blood and his flesh began to seep out between the creatures fingers. His cries rang loudly into the forest, but he could not be saved.
The mage leapt forward as soon as he saw the monster take hold of the boy, but by the time he managed to get close enough, the boy was solely attached by bone. His only operating limbs were his head and right arm, which he stopped flailing because of the intense pain throughout his body.The monster lifted the hand in which the boy was in, and slammed it down. The cries of the child finally ended.
The monster opened its mouth and showed the corpse a toothy grin as it prepared itself for a tasty supper. The man summoned a powerful heat that made itself visible only upon impact. Before the demonic creature could take a bite, a burning sensation smashed into its back. The flames hit, flashing a fiery red around the area. The flames quickly dissipated and the monster turned its head slowly. The man's body had been stolen by a widely known emotion called rage. He continued to summon forth powerful spheres of flames to throw at the creature, these ones being visible, but they had no effect.
The monster slammed the body once more onto the ground, letting him go, and was almost instantly on top of the mage. It squeezed his arms with its powerful hands and smiled now at him. The man summoned long shards of white ice, which gave off a bit of fog because of the collision between the temperatures to stab into the monster's back, but when they came down, the monster wasn't there. He rolled quickly to avoid his own attack. When he stopped mid roll and threw himself up, he felt the pain in his right arm. It shot through his body like a jolt of lightning, but he ignored it. The ice in his arm began to melt as his warm blood trickled out of his body and with gravity towards the ground.
He stared into the eyes of the demon for a moment, terror suddenly over-ran the anger, and he was attacked by his own fear. His brain began to throw up in his head, forcing him to remember his past.
That monster... It's no regular fiend... It's so strong... It even has the ability to control my mind..! Well... I won't let it end like this! This trick won't work against me!
Shards of ice formed before him and he hurled them at the creature.
It seemed shocked that the man could still operate under its control, but it dodged most of the ice attack. It was so surprised that its reaction time was cut in half. It couldn't avoid all of the shards and was struck dead center, letting out a loud shriek. The monster's grin twisted into an angry wreck.
The man prepared another barrage of ice attacks, but the monster was too quick to hit. It dodged hundreds of sharp needle-like icicles easily, and gradually made its way to the man. The monster grabbed him again, this time not wasting the opportunity to kill him. The creature quickly leaned forward and jawed his entire head. The crunch was unmistakable.
"What have you done-!?" came a loud feminine voice. It echoed throughout and repeated. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?"
'They were uninvited... As are you.' came a telepathic voice.
The pink haired girl eyed the monstrous fiend's wound. The blood started to come out thicker when the icicle melted, but the creature didn't look tired or injured at all. It showed no signs of pain, and didn't look irritated or miffed, either. The girl walked over to it and demanded its' attention.
"They did nothing to you..." she said, grabbing it by the shoulder and pulling it back.
The monster was forced to spin around and meet her gaze. It stared at her for a moment.
'You're quite powerful... But, have you a quarrel with me? I already finished with these people... They are dead. What would you gain from them by killing me now?' the creature inquired.
The girl thought about the question and decided that killing him now wouldn't save them. She turned on her heel, looking away from the bodies. She sighed at herself, disapointed in herself. Had she been there even a moment or two ago, these people would probably have made it.
"You're..."
'I am the demon known as Umbra. I am a shadow of one who once was in this world. One who came long before the dark lord, and one who can have anything it desires.'
"Hmph... Why don't you desire all of the humans dead..?"
'Because they are weak creatures. They bare me no ill will, nor do they wish to disturb me. I hunt only what I need to survive from them. That is all. I need only feed once every twelve months, and desire only a human slave to keep me company.' the creature tilted its head in the direction of its young slave girl. The girl was kneeling silently beside a tree with a look of horror etched onto her face. She had long blond hair and wore a short black dress. Her crystal blue eyes made out what little of the scene a human could in the shade of the trees, but it wasn't much. Whether or not she could see was irrelevant. She had listened silently as the family died one by one.
'Her name is Isolia... She is my current human companion...'
"You mean pet? And, what happens when you get tired of her..?"
'What happens when you run out of questions to ask..?' the creature was already tired of the interrogation and retorted with a question of its own.
"...I leave. But, I'm not finished with you y-"
'I'm flattered, demon. But, in all due respect, I'm busy right now. If you want a bite, feel free, and if you want to continue this conversation, go ahead, but if you aren't going to ask questions relevant to my direct interests, I implore you, please leave. I hate when my blood coagulates-' the monster paused.
'... I sense a ninja in these woods! I can feel her power... Smell her blood... Taste her fear...' the demonic creature turned back and continued filling his empty stomache. Isolia winced at every crunch, squeezing the tears from her eyes.
The pink haired woman tilted her head up and waited for the scent to make its way to her nose as well. Ninja were humans, not as pleasant, but humans nonetheless. She felt as though it was her duty to keep them safe and protect them from hungry monsters like Umbra. She only hoped she wouldn't be too late to save this one, too.
Her body moved like liquid as she made her way into the forest just ahead. She appeared to be much less intimidated than she ought to be, walking alone into this end of the forest. The insects owned this portion of land and kept tight locks on it, only allowing certain other beasts into their territory. They didn't often allow humans into their domain, rarely making the exception for them to even enter.
The girl ignored their invisible rule, taking the path in a seemingly blind ingnorance. As she made her way down the dark path, what looked before like trees began to move. Her black eyes waved themselves around, searching for the source of the movement. She didn't stop, though. She trudged on, carrying herself a little faster down the path. Despite the current situation, she still appeared quite calm and collected. Her cool attitude towards her surroundings was shattered the instant her ears picked up a sound that struck her where she stood.
A scream came from deeper within the forest and stole her attention from the shadows lurking just beyond the trees and she stopped. She tested all of her senses for the possible location of the cry which paused abruptly. She yanked her head to the side and pushed her medium pink hair behind her ears. Her body tensed as she waited for the scream to alert once more.
Finally it did, but the scream belonged to someone else this time. This horrific, blood curdling scream belonged to a child.
~~~
A man, woman, and child ran quietly through the woods, hoping to come upon an empty meadow, where they knew the insects of the forest would not follow. They demons followed from the darkness, hunting the small family instinctively as food. They had been watching the family since they first stepped foot into their domain.
The Insect demons analyzed them, deciding that the only defense the family had was in the father. He had a piece of the sacred Rune with him, making him a mage. He wore a pair of brown slacks, tucked underneath his dark boots. Upon his torso was a black long sleeved sweater, and on his neck was a light grey piece of stone fastened to a string of black yarn which wrapped once loosely around his neck. He didn't look like much, but his magic would state fiercely to his enemies that looks can be decieving.
He ran with the woman, carrying the child gently in his strong arms as if he weighed nothing. The boy's face was rocked back and forth sideways as he ran. The mage peered down often at him through the dirty brown threads of hair which dangled at his forehead. The boy's face was painted with tears.
The woman began to slow her stride, finally allowing herself to stop for a moment to catch her breath and feel her aching joints. She was dressed in a baggy brown sweater, and a long black skirt. She reached down to rub her bleeding ankles which had been scratched by the bushes as they ran. She let out a short cry as she felt her bleeding wounds.
"I- I can't!" she cried, allowing the intensity of the situation to roll over her as a wave of pain.
I can't stop..! I have to keep going..! she willed herself to push forward, but the pain continued to course through her. She felt as though her will to continue was spilling out with the blood at her ankles, as though it too would hit the ground soon and she would stammer down with it.
The man stopped when he heard the woman cry. When he turned, he found that she was struggling to keep herself up. He hurried back to her as she slipped down onto the ground. The man set the boy down and began whispering in her right ear. Every one of his encouraging words seemed to help rejuvenate her, give her energy. This was the power of the Rune. The man begged the woman to get up and continue for him, and for their son. For their little family.
From the woman's left side, the boy fell. Both adults yanked their attention from one another to find that he only sat down to get a closer look at the shadow of the small bug that crawled before him.
The woman winced as she forced herself up.
I can't allow my family to be taken from me just because I'm tired! What am I thinking!? We only have a mile to go and we're there.
She smiled down at the man as she began, "I love you, too! ... And, we're gonna make it out of here together! We're gonna to get to that island, find your parents, and raise our son! We owe it to him. All we have to do-"
A scythe like object pierced through her chest as she began her last sentence. Her eyes widened when she saw the bloody object protrude from her body. Her feet dangled lifelessly as the pain in her chest choked away the pain from other parts of her body.
A dark hand reached out from behind her, grabing her around the waist, then yanked upwards. Each half of her body pulled heavily towards the ground. A gleaming red eye was made visible from the gap in the victim's upper body. The mage watched in horror as the blood sprayed from both halves towards each other, silently colliding and pouring down the middle of the body. He was struck dumb by the image. His heart began filling with hatred for the creature and as his body pumped itself with his own blood, it also filled with rage.
The dark creature threw the woman's corpse at the mage with strength that was absolutely inhuman. The man painfully caught it, and carefully layed it down as quickly as he could. He knew he would have to end this demon as quickly as possible... If he could.
He turned his head from the body to the monster which was now on top of the little boy. The child screamed as loud as his little body could muster, and struggled against its large hands. The boy's attempt to free himself was incredibly pitiful, the monster was much too large, and far too powerful. It tightened its grip on the boy, squeezing him until it drew blood and his flesh began to seep out between the creatures fingers. His cries rang loudly into the forest, but he could not be saved.
The mage leapt forward as soon as he saw the monster take hold of the boy, but by the time he managed to get close enough, the boy was solely attached by bone. His only operating limbs were his head and right arm, which he stopped flailing because of the intense pain throughout his body.The monster lifted the hand in which the boy was in, and slammed it down. The cries of the child finally ended.
The monster opened its mouth and showed the corpse a toothy grin as it prepared itself for a tasty supper. The man summoned a powerful heat that made itself visible only upon impact. Before the demonic creature could take a bite, a burning sensation smashed into its back. The flames hit, flashing a fiery red around the area. The flames quickly dissipated and the monster turned its head slowly. The man's body had been stolen by a widely known emotion called rage. He continued to summon forth powerful spheres of flames to throw at the creature, these ones being visible, but they had no effect.
The monster slammed the body once more onto the ground, letting him go, and was almost instantly on top of the mage. It squeezed his arms with its powerful hands and smiled now at him. The man summoned long shards of white ice, which gave off a bit of fog because of the collision between the temperatures to stab into the monster's back, but when they came down, the monster wasn't there. He rolled quickly to avoid his own attack. When he stopped mid roll and threw himself up, he felt the pain in his right arm. It shot through his body like a jolt of lightning, but he ignored it. The ice in his arm began to melt as his warm blood trickled out of his body and with gravity towards the ground.
He stared into the eyes of the demon for a moment, terror suddenly over-ran the anger, and he was attacked by his own fear. His brain began to throw up in his head, forcing him to remember his past.
That monster... It's no regular fiend... It's so strong... It even has the ability to control my mind..! Well... I won't let it end like this! This trick won't work against me!
Shards of ice formed before him and he hurled them at the creature.
It seemed shocked that the man could still operate under its control, but it dodged most of the ice attack. It was so surprised that its reaction time was cut in half. It couldn't avoid all of the shards and was struck dead center, letting out a loud shriek. The monster's grin twisted into an angry wreck.
The man prepared another barrage of ice attacks, but the monster was too quick to hit. It dodged hundreds of sharp needle-like icicles easily, and gradually made its way to the man. The monster grabbed him again, this time not wasting the opportunity to kill him. The creature quickly leaned forward and jawed his entire head. The crunch was unmistakable.
"What have you done-!?" came a loud feminine voice. It echoed throughout and repeated. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?"
'They were uninvited... As are you.' came a telepathic voice.
The pink haired girl eyed the monstrous fiend's wound. The blood started to come out thicker when the icicle melted, but the creature didn't look tired or injured at all. It showed no signs of pain, and didn't look irritated or miffed, either. The girl walked over to it and demanded its' attention.
"They did nothing to you..." she said, grabbing it by the shoulder and pulling it back.
The monster was forced to spin around and meet her gaze. It stared at her for a moment.
'You're quite powerful... But, have you a quarrel with me? I already finished with these people... They are dead. What would you gain from them by killing me now?' the creature inquired.
The girl thought about the question and decided that killing him now wouldn't save them. She turned on her heel, looking away from the bodies. She sighed at herself, disapointed in herself. Had she been there even a moment or two ago, these people would probably have made it.
"You're..."
'I am the demon known as Umbra. I am a shadow of one who once was in this world. One who came long before the dark lord, and one who can have anything it desires.'
"Hmph... Why don't you desire all of the humans dead..?"
'Because they are weak creatures. They bare me no ill will, nor do they wish to disturb me. I hunt only what I need to survive from them. That is all. I need only feed once every twelve months, and desire only a human slave to keep me company.' the creature tilted its head in the direction of its young slave girl. The girl was kneeling silently beside a tree with a look of horror etched onto her face. She had long blond hair and wore a short black dress. Her crystal blue eyes made out what little of the scene a human could in the shade of the trees, but it wasn't much. Whether or not she could see was irrelevant. She had listened silently as the family died one by one.
'Her name is Isolia... She is my current human companion...'
"You mean pet? And, what happens when you get tired of her..?"
'What happens when you run out of questions to ask..?' the creature was already tired of the interrogation and retorted with a question of its own.
"...I leave. But, I'm not finished with you y-"
'I'm flattered, demon. But, in all due respect, I'm busy right now. If you want a bite, feel free, and if you want to continue this conversation, go ahead, but if you aren't going to ask questions relevant to my direct interests, I implore you, please leave. I hate when my blood coagulates-' the monster paused.
'... I sense a ninja in these woods! I can feel her power... Smell her blood... Taste her fear...' the demonic creature turned back and continued filling his empty stomache. Isolia winced at every crunch, squeezing the tears from her eyes.
The pink haired woman tilted her head up and waited for the scent to make its way to her nose as well. Ninja were humans, not as pleasant, but humans nonetheless. She felt as though it was her duty to keep them safe and protect them from hungry monsters like Umbra. She only hoped she wouldn't be too late to save this one, too.
