What Lurks Behind The Trees

Breathe

Gregor heaved loudly, he thought he might merge with the tree from how hard he was backing up against it. The red eyes came closer and Gregor's hair was being blown back by the wind, no not the wind, by something breathing in front of him, the owner of the red eyes.

Gregor squinted his eyes, trying to see what this creature was and why its breath was blowing him away. He could make out its silhouette and it was huge, larger than the cabin he used to live in, round-shaped, unlike the Vonks, it was growling deeply and Gregor was not ready. Then the realisation hit him, this was a Dethien, like Illyria had mentioned in the map, but when did they reach the last fraction?

He slid down slowly, picked up a stone from the grass and tossed at the Dethien and Gregor felt the breath hit him harder. Maybe that wasn't a good idea.

He couldn't even tell if the Dethien was moving, his sense of perception was hazy because of the fog, the thought that maybe he was hallucinating again crossed his mind, but he could see the two red circles very clearly.

Gregor thought he might as well get closer to it, so he took cautious steps towards it and transformed his arm. He reached down to his belt and gripped his dagger, getting ready to attack if needed.

As he got closer, the puzzle in front of him started to form and his eyes widened at the horror. He made a bad choice, he should've just stabbed himself instead of facing something so monstrous. Now he knew why Illyria seemed so frightened to even mention their names, these Dethiens.

Large and round, Vegetation growing all over its back as if it was part of the land. It didn't only have two red eyes, but many other small black eyes scattered all over its flat and wide face. Can you even call it a face? Its mouth was open, revealing the most terrifying curtain of baleen-like teeth that could probably shred a human to bits. Its front jaw was touching the ground and protruding further than its top jaw. Its red eyes bore holes into Gregor's as he stood there in shock, his jaw falling open.

Gregor saw no sign of arms or legs, but he knew that he had to be hiding them somewhere, maybe underneath his body. Gregor stood there, for what felt like years, staring at the creature and the creature staring back at him, the fog twisting around their bodies and the forest so quiet he could hear his own heartbeat. He was taking everything in, trying to convince himself that if he moved away quietly, he wouldn't get noticed.

He tried, shifting his feet to the side slowly, using all his self-control to not just sprint, because he knows that won't be good. The Dethien's eyes follow his every move and Gregor was aware because sweat was dripping down his forehead now.

When the Dethien saw that Gregor was moving from its field of vision, it inhaled deeply, making Gregor hold his breath and then the Dethien let out the loudest growl and that's when Gregor knew that he had to run.

He ran, legs shaking beneath him uncontrollably, as he mentally screamed. The Dethien growled again, this time behind Gregor, so he crouched down on the ground and covered his ears before they could bleed and shut his eyes tightly. No, no, no, this can't be happening, I'm going to die. His thoughts weren't helping him either.

When the Dethien stopped growling, Gregor felt himself being lifted off the ground, he opened his eyes and gasped. The Dethien had branch-like tentacle structures protruding out of its sides and Gregor had lost it. Gregor was being lifted by one of the branches to the waiting mouth of the Dethien, but Gregor just started, at the dark abyss that awaited him beyond the Dethien's teeth. Just one more fraction, one more fraction, but life was cruel and there was no way he could survive this.

"Greg! Snap out of it!"

Gregor snapped his head up and saw Alan jumping on to the Dethien's large back and digging his long sword into it. Gregor was seconds away from touching those needle-like teeth, he dug his slayer arm into the Dethien's branch arm, causing it to throw him to the ground. Few broken ribs, yes.