A Demon's Tale

Chapter Seven

- The Land Of Shadows -

I was kneeled down with one knee on the ground and my demon arm pressed down into it. My sword was laying down in front of me. Most of the blood-like liquid from the bug-creature had seemed to evaporate into a black smoke which had hurled up towards the clouds as if contributing to the already dark sky of black clouds. All that was left were the two separate body parts that had seemed to harden with its frozen limbs curled up to its center.

I stood up again. My senses had calmed down again and my blue flame was moving slower. I picked up my sword from the ground. It quickly transformed into an amulet again. I moved it towards my chest and the chains attached behind my neck like a necklace. I looked around, but before I could begin thinking about where to go next, something terror-inducing caught my attention.

I heard a beastly roar from somewhere in the forest far away. It was the strangest sound I had ever heard. It sounded like a wolf, a bear, a human, and a pig, shouting all at the same time, but yet, I could tell, that it was definitely not a sound produced by any creature from the world I used to know. It was completely demonic. The sound echoed. It was a very unpleasant noise. Every hair on my body raised. The sound alone was enough to evoke feelings of terror inside me, even though it seemed to come from very far away. Whatever creature could have produced such a sound, there was no doubt, the creatures I had just killed truly ought to have been just a couple of bugs in comparison. It caused me to raise my head at the same rate as my hairs on my body rose.

Small glimpses of the moon-like object in the sky peeked through the dark clouds. To my concern, the roar seemed to have come from the same direction. I swallowed a gulp afraid to move my hand away from my amulet thinking; 'what in the unholy hell was that?'.

I stood still and listened as the echo faded out. I still had to keep going. I straightened my posture and tightened my muscles as if to remind myself that I was strong and capable. I took a deep and determined breath and carefully proceeded in the direction of the light.

I walked slowly but determinedly towards the moon. The forest was shifting between endless valleys of gigantic iron pines, to other dark groves with more varying terrain and vegetation. The emptiness somehow became more and more 'ample' to the point of no longer seeming empty. In a strange way, the forest began seeming more 'active' and 'louder'.

I walked on a path that seemed to have been shaped by many small tectonic plates pushed together where the ground was slightly more elevated compared to the rest. It was not very straight or easy to follow, but I preferred being a bit higher up where I could see more of my surroundings. I did not dare to move too fast like the way I had before, as I was afraid of running into 'something'. I began feeling more and more paranoid as I cautiously made my way through the forest.

I thought I saw shadows move, and hear sounds in the distance. There was this strange interaction between the black smoke and the white haze. They tumbled and spiraled around as they came in contact with one another, creating mesmerizing patterns and shapes, and combined with the low light it was extra scary as I could not make out whether I was looking at movement from solid physical objects or just loose dust particles dancing around. The branches of the trees were swaying, I could hear bushes rattle. I could see the ground vibrate and crack as if there was something underneath the surface moving around underground. I could hear dull scratches and strange tearing sounds. Every now and then, I thought I heard distant screams.

Before, I had had to focus very hard on the dangerous aspects of just the physical environment itself, but now I knew I had to also be on the lookout for whatever 'beings' this world contained as well.

I had been walking around for a while, trying to follow the moon, occasionally ending up at the same places I had already visited. Either because I was too disoriented to walk straight, or because this world seemed to tangle in on itself. But nevertheless, I was set to follow the moon, as it was my only sense of direction.