Myriad Istoria

Jien'kla

"Oh no, no, no, no!" Boyd yelled. I heard his boots thump as he ran towards me in the slow fog. Stumbling over the tiny pebbles that lined the muddy ground, he rushed at me with terror on his face. "The Cobblers! The Cobblers are after us! Run to the shelter, hurry!" He yanked my arm and pulled me so I ran beside my brother, confused and flustered. "Cobblers? How the hell are they here?" I asked, taking my gleaming sword out of its sheath and holding it at the ready. I had to grip it tight to make sure that I didn't drop it while dashing home.

The terrible monsters lived in caves and rarely surfaced, hardly ever to hunt. They wore carefully crafted leather boots which drowned the noise of their claws on stone, and had basic knowledge of human language. The green beings walked upright, carrying large rocks in their leather bags, which they used skillfully as weapons. Their claws could shred if we got close enough, and a hard covering armoured their chests. They were fierce fighters and hard to kill without ranged weapons, and it seemed like Boyd had lost his bow somewhere.

Still running frantically, Boyd nodded. "They followed me out of the cave. Their boots don't make any noise, so I didn't hear th—unghh," he tripped on a rock and fell to his face, taking me down with him. "Argh! Get up, Boyd. Let's move it! The shelter isn't too far away," I tried to lift him to his feet, but he wouldn't get up. I tugged and pulled at his arm, wondering why he refused to move when the horrific Cobblers were after us. I couldn't hear them, nor see their tall bulky figures in the fog... had they stopped following us? Whether or not they had, we couldn't let our guard down. I turned the man over and saw that his eyes were closed. "Damn it. I hope he didn't pass out," I knelt down — and slapped him hard across the face. The muffled echo of the slap was all I could hear as I got up and looked to our north, where the shelter was supposed to be.

If it was as close as I had thought, the lanterns outside would shine even through the thick air. But I couldn't see anything, and that was concerning. We never went too far without bows, and this had just been a simple resource-gathering mission. Even more confused now, I turned around — and noticed something that sent a chill down my spine. A large mossy boulder stuck out of the damp ground. A single word was carved into it - "Jien'kla."

It meant Forest. But not in our language.

This was not where our home was. The shelter was in the complete opposite direction. Boyd had led us the wrong way in his frenzy. But this was... weird. We both knew our way home very well, and there should never have been a mistake. Besides, this forest was the home of the Seers, the deadly shapeshifters. They could easily shift into people and mimic them with perfect accuracy, often leading them to their bases as prey.

Wait, what?

I slowly turned around to face Boyd again. He was still on the ground, eyes closed. I picked up my sword and held it up, ready for anything.

"Aster!"

I jumped at the loud voice that echoed slowly from the other side. It was my brother.

"Aster! Where are you?!" the voice continued, growing slightly louder. Just as I was about to yell in answer, I turned to the Seer in front of me, expecting him to still be out cold.

But he was on his side, grinning a twisted grin with Boyd's mouth. His eyes were wide open, a pool of flaming red, glowing evil in the semi-darkness. His teeth were razor-sharp, elegant fingers ending in claws. His legs were unnaturally long, and his hair floated in the damp air. He opened his mouth and licked his stained teeth with a thin, purple tongue.

I stood there, watching as a deep snarl rocked his throat. Eyes wide with terror, I took a step back, my left sword arm trembling.

It leaped. I screamed and shoved the flat of the blade into it, throwing it back with its own momentum. As it shook its head and got up again, I rushed at it, sword raised. I brought the edge down, slashing off one of its fingers and spewing hot liquid onto my muddied pants. It howled in pain and grabbed my arm, digging into my flesh and drawing blood. I snarled and yanked myself out of its grip, causing the claws to form deep gashes. Glancing in horror at my wound, I steadied myself as the Seer stood upright and came at me. Holding my sword in front of me, I ducked and pushed the guard into its gut, stalling the spitting creature. It hissed and slashed at me again, but I dodged and shoved the blade in its abdomen. The sword cut deep into its side and it fell thrashing to the dirty ground.

But just as it landed, it hooked a leg behind my hip and brought me into it as well, catching me off-guard. I landed flat on its front and began to fend off its claws with my trusty sword, trying to get swings at it too.

However, using its arms as a defense, it kicked me hard in the stomach and sent me flying into the boulder. My vision blanked out for a second upon impact, and the sword fell out of my hand. I slid to the floor, head fogging with pain. I could only watch in terror as the Seer crawled towards me, grinning and licking its lips. With a horrifying screech it leapt at me once more and I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the end.

But the claws never came. Its scream ended in a grunt mid-way as it fell to the ground, landing with a thump at my feet. I opened my eyes again to see an arrow sticking out of the side of its head, and dark violet blood gushed out of the wound. One of the red eyes flickered and lost its glow as I reached out for my sword. I heard pebbles crunching and glanced at Boyd, tall and lean, as he jogged towards us. I raised the sword above the Seer's head and brought it down upon its neck, flinching as the blade cut through the throat in one fell swoop.

Both eyes went black as I turned to Boyd and smiled slowly. His ebony bow stuck out from behind his back, rippling muscles rocking with his heavy breath. I tossed the bloody blade aside and wrapped my arms around my brother, crying in pain and relief. The gashes stung and stained his shirt, but neither of us cared. He placed a palm on my back, caressing me. "I never go anywhere without my bow, Aster. Remember that. If you see me without one, rush home and don't look back."

I grinned into his shirt and let out a long sigh. Standing there, out in the open with silence around us, we closed our eyes, blissfully oblivious to the glowing red orbs staring us down from all sides.

-- Anonymous