Goan. The Transferred Power. Vol 1.

Chapter 4. A Mysterious Encounter.

In the forest, on the outskirts of Valle Roble.

Luespo was running at the front of the group with his agile feline movements. He was followed by the recently enlarged dog, Mity, who carried Leiza on his back as they moved through the forest trees. The three continued their escape from the King's guards and the colossus that emerged from the wreckage of their former home. They went deeper into the area to seek safety, stopping their march once they reached a section where a river completely cut off the path. Leiza asked the dog and the cat to stop running, both obeyed the instruction without objection, never demanding a hierarchical rearrangement regarding who would be the head of the household now that they were noticeably larger than a common human. Nothing changed in their eyes and she remained the provider, which was a fortune for Leiza, but also a threat. She wondered how she would be able to control two animals of such dimensions. Living with them would invariably represent risk at all times, yet she could not abandon them because they were all the company she had. She sat down on the grass to analyze her new reality, as Mity and Luespo drank water from the river as if it was their old bowl at home. Within seconds, Mity stopped sipping to start barking and growling in his new, menacing deep voice coming from his enlarged vocal cords. He ran hard towards Leiza's sitting place, stopping a couple of meters before completely running her over. Leiza panicked and tried to stand up quickly, but halfway through her movement she could see a wild bear charging at her from behind, which saw her as its dinner for the day. Mity came to her defense and jumped over the forest animal that looked small compared to the white dog's size. The bear's aggressions were harmless against Mity's new body and it ended up subdued with extreme ease, suffering severe damage from the pressure exerted by all the dog's weight leaning on it. Although lacking a killer instinct, Mity was on the verge of taking the bear's life with his excessive strength. That image was hard to see for an animal lover like Leiza, who was willing to save the bear, but at the same time knew that the latter came close to eating her. She incessantly shouted her dog's name, but even she was not sure with what intention she was doing it, as she did not know if it was better that Mity stopped or not with his attack. Leiza's screams were slashed to the ground when she saw a slender silhouette fall from the sky and knock Mity down with one blow, thus freeing the bear. The wounded wild animal fled as fast as its diminished physical condition allowed it, leaving only an incredibly strange being in front of Leiza and Mity's eyes.

It was a skeletal creature full of marks and wounds, its bald head seemed to have been burned and its skin melted, just a green toned eye partially peeked out of one of its sockets. An exposed hole was in the place where the nose once stood, and there were few teeth left inside its mouth. Its back was hunched over and the only way it could stand was in a squatting position. Both Leiza and Mity were frightened to see this being in front of them, the dog sensed Leiza's terror and became brave enough to try to save her. He pounced on the rickety individual in front of them in an attempt to chase it away, but was easily dodged and kicked to the ground. The being jumped on Mity, subduing the enormous dog of about four meters, which surprisingly could not get rid of a skeleton of less than fifty kilograms. The aggressor raised itself as much as its curved spine allowed it and rested its arms on its thighs, planted its feet on the dog's chest and they started radiating the reddish color of the Goan. Mity's barks changed from threatening noises to signs of uneasiness and fear.

Suddenly, Luespo the cat stopped drinking water and became interested in meddling in the conflict. With his natural agility he reached the invader with speed and fatal intentions, emitting a loud growl that indicated that he was not there to play. The edge of his claws was going to make contact with the skin of the being that remained static, but the whole contour of its body was illuminated in red and did not allow the attack to enter. Then the reddish aura grew in size and seemed to mold itself to concentrate on a spot that exploded in Luespo's face, throwing him several meters back. The cat could not get up again after that impact and Leiza was left alone against that creepy creature.