Welcome to Hollow Mortes

NOTE: This is my own original work. I do not consent to or condone my work being distributed for monetary purposes other than my own. I do not consent to or condone my work being used in the training of AI.

They Watch From The Trees

Melissa awoke to the sweet sound of birds. She shifted in her sleeping bag and stretched. She shivered as she sat up and left the cocoon of warmth. She dressed and upon leaving her tent, was met with an early morning forest just waking after a rainy night. There was dew on the grass. The trees were still dripping with rain that had long since ceased. The soil gently crackled as it soaked in the water. The world around her quickly became busy with songbirds and cicadas, dragonflies and bees, squirrels and foxes. Melissa found it an immense privilege to be able to visit this place from time to time. Camping was her escape from the mundane and stress that inhabited her life.
She made herself a breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage, and granola. When finished, she put out her campfire, double checked her supplies, and set out on her day’s hike through the woods. She wanted to get as much walking done as possible since today was the last day before she had to return home. Melissa lived five hours away in the city. It was a packed and busy place; always loud and congested. It had narrow streets and crumbling sidewalks. Trash was always piled up somewhere and there was always the sound of car horns or sirens as emergency services rushed to and fro. People were always shouting and no one was ever listening. Melissa relished the few times a year she could escape to the mountains and breathe in the slowness. There was a deafening peace in the mountains. She dreamed of the day she could afford to move out of the city and into one of the nearby small towns.

The trees rustled as the wind danced by. She watched as a pair of birds flew by chirping and singing. The light crunch of rocks and dirt beneath her feet as she trekked uphill. This was her true home. She was alone with the world and there was no one around to take that from her. She had also left her phone in the car, so no one could reach her. Even though she hardly had a signal this far into the mountains it was still comforting to know her life in the city could not reach her up here even if it tried.

Melissa stopped to rest on a boulder near a cliff. The view was stunning. There were rolling mountains, a small town in the valley below. There were almost no clouds. An eagle flew overhead. The summer sun was still rising, leaving much of the woods shaded and cool. She took off her backpack and pulled out her water bottle and some trail mix. She sat and snacked, watching a small cloud or two lazily roll by.

There was a rustle in the bushes behind her. It was so sudden and loud against the silence it made her jump a little. She looked in the direction of the sound expecting to see a deer or a squirrel. Instead there was a man. While the mountain she was on was well known to have hikers and campers, this man was not dressed for either. Melissa rose from her seat and backed away slowly. The man was dressed as though he was ready for a renaissance fair. He wore a thick red gambeson and steel chest plate.  It had a griffin clutching a rose emblazoned on the front. He had brown trousers and boots on, and a sword sat on his hip. He was an older man, with grey hair slicked back and a matching grey goatee. His eyes were a sharp green and his pale skin showed signs of wrinkles.

There was a pause. Then the man reached into a pouch on his other hip and pulled out a canister. It was a brown and brass tube with a pin in the top. He also pulled out a gasmask! Melissa felt her heart begin to race. She didn’t know what this guy’s deal was but he was scaring her. She grabbed her bag and began to run in the direction she had come in. She heard a clattering sound of the canister as it hit the ground. She watched as it bounced and rolled past her. There was a thick white smoke rushing out of it. It was sickly sweet in scent and Melissa quickly covered her mouth and held her breath. But the damage was done. The world became lopsided and she lost her balance. Her vision blurred and she stumbled, breathing in more of the gas. She looked up to see the man wearing his gasmask, surrounded in the haze of the smoke before she lost all consciousness.

When Melissa awoke she found herself bound and gagged, and slung over the back of a horse; at least she thought it was a horse at first, until she realized the color and size were wrong. She quickly realized she wasn’t on a horse at all! It was some sort of creature she had never seen before. It was a bright seafoam green with pastel blue spots on its hind legs. She couldn’t see its face, but she did see that it had antlers and hooves. She looked around at her surroundings. They weren’t in the mountains anymore. Instead, they were sprinting through an open field of grassy plain. There was only grass and soft hills as far as the eye could see.

She tried to wriggle out of her restraints, which failed to free her but succeeded in getting the man’s attention. It was only momentary though, as he quickly turned his attention back to his steed. She was tied at the waist to the saddle and therefore unable to roll off and try to run, or in this case roll away as her feet were bound. She had no choice but to lay there and take in the world around her as they rode on in silence.

I must be dreaming, she thought, I passed out on the hike. I pushed myself too hard or I tripped and hit my head. I’m just having a really vivid dream!

They rode for some time before they stopped. The man dismounted before helping her off the steed. He ungagged her and untied her restraints. She was frozen with indecision. Should she run? But where to? There was nothing as far as the eye could see. How far would she get before this man caught up to her, tackled her and bound her again? Or worse? Or did she stay and try to understand her captor’s motives. Maybe she could persuade him to let her go.

“We’ll rest here for a bit,” he said flatly. He turned to his saddle and opened the pack hanging on the side. He pulled out a canteen and took a drink before handing it to Melissa. She eyed it suspiciously. “It’s not poison,” she assured her. She reached out and took the canteen. The water was cool and refreshing.

“Where are we,” she had so many questions she restrained herself from asking all of them at once. The steed made a yawning noise before it lazily lowered itself to sit in the grass. The man joined his companion. It was then that she got a better look at the beast. It was built like a horse, but had the ears and antlers of a deer, and the face of a wolf. It panted lightly as it looked at her with steel blue eyes. She looked at the man in utter confusion.

“What is it?” she pointed to the steed.

“He,” said the man nodding in the direction of his companion, is a wolfstag. He’s a type of chimera. And this place we are in is called Hollow Mortes. It is the world of monsters.”

“What do you mean monsters?” Melissa’s blood ran cold at the word.

“Exactly what I said,” he answered, “Hollow Mortes is the world of monsters. At least your world would see it as such. I may be human but I am in the minority. Your world is familiar with them in fairytales and children’s stories. Vampires, werewolves, fairies, demons, witches, and the rest all live here. They all have their own lives and cultures. Some are more secluded than others. Some have made huge cities, while others live deep in the mountains or forest.”

“You’re joking,” Melissa scoffed. He sounded insane.

“Beleave me or not it doesn’t matter,” the man took another sip of his canteen, “You’re here now. And there’s no going back.”

“What do you mean no going back,” she took a step closer to him, a spark of anger flaring in her.

“Well,” he looked in the direction they had come from, “We’re miles from the Bridge to your world at this point. I have no intention of taking you back and you have no idea what it looks like. Your only option is to stick with me to our destination.”

“And what destination is that? Why did you kidnap me?”

The man just leaned his head back against his steed and stared at the passing clouds. There was a pause before he suddenly stood up, “We should get going. We have a lot of ground to cover before dark.”

He packed away his canteen and helped her onto the wolfstag. They took off across the open field. Melissa searched the horizon for signs of life. Something, anything that was out there that would tell her that she had a chance of escape. The man just looked straight ahead.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“Sir Amberson.”

“Why do you dress like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re a knight at a Renn Faire.”

“I don’t know what a Renn Faire is,” he said. “But I am a knight. It’s like I said. This isn’t your world. This world is vastly different. There are kingdoms with kings, queens, and of course knights.”

“Are you taking me to your kingdom? What would you king or queen need from a random woman from another planet?”

“No, I’m not taking you to my Queen,” he said, glancing at her before returning his attention to the view ahead, “But you have been chosen to help with my quest.”

Melissa rolled her eyes, “Oh really. And what quest might that be? Searching for the Holy Grail?” Amberson said nothing. She tried to get more information out of him but he continued to stare ahead in silence. They rode on for several more hours before stopping near a thin patch of trees. They dismounted and the wolfstag walked over to the nearby pond for a drink.

“We’ll rest here tonight,” It was the first thing Amberson had said in hours, “We have a week’s journey left. You’ll need your rest.” Melissa was taken aback.

“A week? That’s a lot longer than I thought.”

Amberson walked over to his pack on the wolfstag and pulled out a spool of string and a hook. He walked over to a nearby tree and broke off a branch. Melissa watched as he made a simple fishing rod.

“I’ll catch some dinner. You make the fire.” Melissa wasn’t going to argue with those instructions. She was starving and tired. She also sucked at fishing. She had no problem eating fish, but she was terrible at catching them. The last time she went fishing was with her dad on a boat they had rented when they vacationed in Florida a few years ago. She had no luck catching anything larger than her hand, and even then she only caught one fish. Meanwhile her dad caught several massive catfish. She almost caught one herself, but it pulled too hard on the line and she fell in the water. She was so terrified from the experience she stayed away from large bodies of water ever since.

The pond was large enough for a thin but healthy amount of trees and grasses to sprout up around it. She rummaged around and made several trips back to their camping spot with twigs, sticks, and logs. Amberson gave her a small shovel from her pack he had brought with them and she set out to dig the hole needed for the fire. After lining the hole with rocks and filling it with kindling, she set out to make the fire. She drilled a stick into a flat piece of wood with her hands several times before the first wisps of smoke began to drift upward. Gingerly, she moved the smoking kindling to the hole and blew on it gently. Soon she had a solid flame dancing and crackling.

Shortly after, Amberson returned with several strings of fish, eels, and several more in a net he had fashioned out of more of the spool of string. The wolfstag sniffed the air and twitched its ears. It turned its attention to the direction they had come from and bent down low, using the tall grass as cover. Melissa turned to see what it was looking at. She spotted an animal in the distance. It was a jack rabbit of some kind. Its tall ears stood high in the air above the grass. Its head was barely visible. Melissa could just barely see the length of it through the grass. The wolfstag began to creep closer. She looked at Amberson to gauge his reaction. He had made himself comfortable on the ground and was busy skinning and gutting fish and eels. Melissa turned her attention back to the wolfstag. It kept moving closer and closer. The jack rabbit must have sensed it and took off like a rocket. Melissa watched with amazement as the true scale of the prey was revealed. In all fours it was just past her waist in height, not accounting for the head and ears. The wolfstag took off after it and a moment later there was a loud pitiful squeak before the wolfstag came trotting back with its prize in its mouth.

Amberson handed Melissa a knife and a string of fish, “Do you know how to gut a fish?”

“Of course.” They set to work scaling, gutting, and setting the fish and eels on sharpened sticks and hot rocks to cook.

“So tell me more about this quest,” Melissa broke the silence between them, “I think you owe me that much.” Amberson was silent for a moment. Then he spoke.

“My Queen is on a mission,” he said “To unite this world under one ruler. It hasn’t been done since before the war.”

“What war?”

“It is known as the Six Realm War, or the War of Six Realms. It was a dark time in this world’s history. Millions on all sides perished. Our god, known as Kurbis, and his wife were among the casualties. Since then Hollow Mortes has been divided into kingdoms and city states. Some are more isolated than others. Some are more technologically advanced with engines and industry. Almost no one travels outside the realm as I did to retrieve you. Very few even know that the bridges still exist or where to find them. But they still exist.”

“Why does your Queen want to rule the world?”

“She fears there is a great evil approaching, and that in order to survive we must unite. Of course, few believe her or are strong enough to put differences aside to unite. This has made the quest more challenging.”

Amberson adjusted an eel he had on a spike over the fire and tossed another small log into the flame.

“So where do I come into this?”

“Kurbis and his wife Lilia had a daughter, named Magnolia,” he explained, “Her fate was never discovered. But it is rumored that she escaped to your realm and lived out her life in exile. My Queen is searching for her descendant.” There was a pause. Then the realization struck her.

“You can’t be serious,” she scoffed, “You think I’m some sort of demigod. That’s THE most insane thing I’ve heard so far.”

The wolfstag raised his head from his meal, ears twitching. Melissa continued, “What exactly does your Queen expect from me?”

“Like I said, I don’t know the specifics. All I know is what I have told you. We are to meet up with another party at a rendezvous in one week’s time.” The wolfstag stood and stared at the pond. Amberson and Melissa watched it. Amberson stood and gripped his sword. Melissa watched the pair as they approached the pond. The wolfstag growled. There was an odd stillness to the water. There was an eerie softness to it in the light of the setting sun. The water began to darken as day turned to dusk. The pale green grass of the meadow greyed, and shadow grew from under the tree’s shade. Tiny blue lightning bugs began to awaken and flutter about the place. Amberson drew his sword and time seemed to stop for a moment.

The pond exploded with the force of a wrecking ball. A massive creature sprang from the water and let out a ghoulish war cry. It was deep and raspy, like a goat gargling gravel. Its tale lashed the water. Melissa looked at it in astonishment. The thing was a giant salamander, with glossy dark skin and huge coal black eyes bulging on top of its head. Its battle cry reveals several rows of tiny jagged teeth, and its drool was relentless. Melissa scuttled backward, putting the fire between her and the beast. She grabbed a stick with an eel spiked on it and rammed it into the flame, setting it on fire. She held it up in defence.

The wolfstag barked and showed its teeth before charging alongside Amberson. It bit into the monster’s neck, and the thing attempted to swat the wolfstag off. Amberson took advantage of the distraction and attacked the thing’s other arm. He cut deep into the monster’s flesh and deep red blood poured from the wound. The wolfstag ripped out a chunk of its neck and backed away. The thing flailed and cried out. It charged the wolfstag and swatted at it again, this time, slamming the steed to the ground. The wolfstag let out a whimper. The salamander noticed Melissa and began to approach. She swung the flaming stick rapidly, then held out her arms and began yelling at the beast. This tactic made the monster pause. That pause was all Amberson needed. He brought his sword down hard on the beast’s tail, slicing it clean off. The salamander screamed in pain and turned from Melissa. It ran past Amberson and back into the water.

Amberson sheathed his sword and caught his breath. Melissa was shaking from the experience. She’d chased off bears before, but nothing like that. Amberson rushed to his steed, who was still on the ground. It was coughing and whimpering. Amberson knelt beside it and examined it. He looked up at Melissa, “The beast must have been poisonous. Argon must have ingested some of its blood when he bit into it. Here, go in my pack,” he nodded toward the pack that fell off of Argon when he hit the ground.

“Inside you’ll see a small blue bag. Open it and hand me its contents. Do it now!” Melissa was still shaking from what she’d witnessed. It took her a second to snap out of her shock. Amberson yelled at her again, “The pack, quick girl, hurry!”

Melissa dropped the stick in the fire and did as instructed. She found the blue bag and opened it. Inside were several pieces of charcoal. She handed them to Amberson, who snatched them, and , with one hand keeping his steed’s mouth open, he shoved the charcoal down Argon’s throat and held his mouth shut. The steed wriggled and moaned. A moment later he released his steed as argon unloaded the contents of his stomach into the grass. The beast wretched for a long moment before slumping into Amberson’s lap like a sick puppy. Amberson brushed his steed’s head and neck, assessing the situation before taking a sigh of relief.

“Argon you reckless fool,” he breathed, “You have antlers and claws. Yet you choose to bite the highly poisonous monster instead.” He let out a chicken and patted the wolfstag on the head, who gave a light tail wag and smile in response. Amberson rose, letting his companion rest in the cool grass, and sat back down to enjoy the fully cooked fish. Melissa’s heart finally began to calm.

“What was that thing?”

“What did it look like? It was a giant salamander. You often see them more in rivers and marshes. But this one was hiding out at the bottom of the pond. It’s very poisonous. Not the most difficult thing to fight though. Here, eat up.” He handed her a cooked fish. She absentmindedly took the fish and devoured it. She was incredibly hungry. The fish was tender and refreshing. She ate four fish the size of her hand before she spoke again.

“Will we see more of those things?”

“Maybe. We’ll be avoiding all towns and villages on our journey. I expect we’ll see a handful of beasts that either need scaring off or fighting.”

“Your wolfstag, will he be okay?”

“Argon has had worse. He should be fine by morning. We purged the poison just in time.” Melissa surprised herself with relief at the assurance.

“You know,” he said between mouthfuls of food, “I expected you to either run or cower behind a tree. That was a brave thing you did, standing up to the beast.”

“Camping is a passion of mine. I’ve had to scare off bears a few times. But that thing was something different.”

“Still, it was brave. I commend you for that.”

She couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride in herself at his words. They finished their dinner and finished off the water from their canteens. Amberson filled them with water from the pond, making sure to leave the large metal canteen by the fire to cook off impurities. He hung the remaining fish from a branch above the fire in order to protect it and to smoke it. They settled in for the night under the tree. Amberson gave Melissa a thick blanket to sleep on as she didn’t have her sleeping bag with her at the time of her capture. The cold night air nipped at her nose and she wrapped herself in the blanket, staying close to the fire for warmth. But it only bothered her a little before she surrendered to exhaustion.

Melissa awoke the next morning to the smell of bacon and eggs. For a moment she thought she was back in her little apartment. Her boyfriend in the kitchen cooking her a surprise breakfast on a Saturday. But when she opened her eyes her heart sank. She remembered that her boyfriend had dumped her weeks ago. She wasn’t home, she had been kidnapped. Either that or she had gone insane and was living in a delusion. Maybe she had hit her head and fallen into a coma and was living out this fantasy traveling a strange new land and fighting monsters to help a knight on a noble quest. Whatever the case may be, she was cold, hungry, and miserable. Amberson was tending to breakfast.

“Morning,” he piped, “Argon caught us another jack rabbit this morning. And I found some bird eggs nearby, and the bird that laid them. How do you like your eggs?”

“Scrambled. But if sunny side up is easier, that’s fine. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Here, I found these large smooth stones we can use as plates.” He handed her the stone slab with three eggs and a handful of giant jack rabbit. To her surprise it tasted pretty good. She devoured her breakfast and washed it down with water. Melissa was also happy to see that Argon was on his feet again. He rolled around in the long grass scratching his back. They collected their belongings and previsions before setting out on another long day of travel.

The pair continued through the vast meadow, sparsely blotted with trees and the occasional village. Though Amberson made sure they kept their distance from any village they passed. Melissa asked him why but all he would say was “My Queen is not popular here.” They traveled for several days, camping in the open air. They were setting up camp for another night when they were approached by a stranger. Melissa stiffened at the sight of him. He was a creature with a man’s body and a snake’s head. Its neck was long and scaly. It had huge eyes and walked on its hind legs. It wore a dark green tunic with a brown belt and brown trousers. It held a tall walking stick in one hand.

“Greetings,” it said in a friendly yet raspy voice. Melissa noted the slight lisp in his voice.

“Might I join you? I’ve been traveling for weeks and have had little company.” Amberson took a step toward Melissa.

“From where do you journey and what is your destination?”

“I am traveling from Astor to Magnolia. I am a researcher with the Cornucopia Magic Academy. They’ve recently partnered with the Kurbis Academy of Astronomy in Magnolia to discover and study neighboring celestial bodies.” Amberson looked the snake man up and down. Then he stepped toward him and held out his hand. The snake man reached out to shake Amberson’s hand but Amberson grabbed his arm, pulled him close and in the blink of an eye drove a dagger into the man’s chest. The snake man shuttered. His eyes went wide and he gasped for air, then he collapsed to the ground dead.

“What did you do that for?” Amberson ignored her, knelt down, and searched the body. He ripped the man’s tunic to show a strange tattoo with a series of symbols in circles that were all connected with lines.

“This man was neither man nor monster,” he explained, “He was Baalthene. He was once human but used magic to give himself animal features. They are shunned in this world. Seen as less than human. They sometimes travel alone but usually travel in groups.” He stood and began packing up Argon.

“That’s a chance I do not want to take. Come. We’ll ride through the night.” They took off into the night at great speed. It was a jarring experience for Melissa. The world was at times pitch black with only the small blue flicker of light from passing insects. Amberson called them flickerbugs. She could only trust that Amberson knew where he was going. She soon found herself asleep against Amberson’s back. She awoke the next morning to the rising sun. The sky was a beautiful splatter of blues, pinks, purples and oranges. They only stopped for a few moments to eat, drink, and relieve themselves before they took off again. They rode for what felt like hours before they finally stopped to rest.

“Why would a human use magic to change themselves?” She had finally asked once the fire was roaring and they had eaten.

“Humans are a small minority in this world,” he said. “Save for my home of Anthurium, humans are seen as lesser beings. Some cities don’t even allow humans entry, no matter the reason. Centuries ago a group of humans wanted to change that. They thought if they changed their appearance they would be accepted. It backfired. They were shunned by humans and monsters alike. They live in nomadic groups across the continent. Some rarely venture out alone.”

“You didn’t have to kill that man.”

“First, he wasn’t a man anymore. He was Baalthene. Second, we didn’t know if there were others. If there were, we would be easily outnumbered and they would have ransacked our things and probably done terrible things to us. Third, this is a clandestine mission. I can’t have anyone or anything knowing we’re out here or where we’re heading.”

“I don’t even know where we’re heading,” she retorted. Amberson sighed.

“There is a rendezvous in the Great Wood. I am to hand you off to a colleague of mine and he will take you the rest of the way.” He adjusted his sleeping pack and rolled over.

“Get some sleep. We still have a long way to go.”

Their journey continued for weeks. They stayed clear of other camps or villages. They hunted for their food and Amberson told her stories of Hollow Mortes. He told her of the Vampire Barons to the East and the Opal Queen’s domain to the West. The Kingdom of the Thunderbirds beyond Eglantine and the Dragons King in Hellebore. She shared stories in return of her world and how the things he described were myth and fantasy in hers. They became friends and at one point Melissa began to enjoy her adventures and looked forward to what lay ahead of her. She was walking further and further from her home every day and although part of her longed for home, part of her was okay with the new direction her life was taking.

They set off early in the morning and rode for a few hours until finally, after what felt like a lifetime, the pair came to the end of the meadow. Melissa looked out into the horizon. She could see what looked like a treeline. As they came closer Amberson confirmed her suspicion.

“This is the Great Wood,” he said, “It’s as ancient as the world. When we enter you need to stay close to me. Many things live here that are far worse than giant salamanders.” Melissa felt a pit grow in her stomach. The trees were unlike anything she had ever seen. They were as tall and thick as skyscrapers. Some were deciduous. Some were evergreen. Some were gnarled and bent while others were straight as a line. Melissa could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

“These woods can be very dangerous,” he warned, “Stay close.” They trekked into the foreboding forest. Upon entering, the world instantly dimmed. The canopy was immense and blocked much of the sun. The further they delved, the more eerie the place became. Mist began to curl around Argon’s hooves. Melissa could feel the unseen dangers lurking all around them. A few times there were a set of eyes blinking from the distant shadows, obscured by the mists. But they never approached, only watched.

After what felt like an eternity, the pair came to a cabin. It was simple and  wooden. Its roaring fireplace glowed through the windows, illuminating the surrounding clearing. Two men in armor similar to Amberson’s sat outside on a pair of logs playing cards. They stood upon their approach. Melissa and Amberson dismounted. Amberson turned Melissa to face him.

“Remember,” he said, a note of desperation in his serious tone, “That what is about to happen is in service of a greater purpose. Your sacrifice is commendable.”

Melissa’s face flashed through a series of emotions; from confused to terrified, then to a semblance of realization and betrayal before switching back to terrified. Amberson nodded to the men and they grabbed her by the arms and pulled her away. She began to kick and scream as they approached the cabin. The door opened and a man in a blue robe stepped out. He gestured for the soldiers to enter and they dragged Melissa in as she pleaded with them, calling for Amberson to help. But he just watched as the blue robbed man closed the door behind him and her screams became muffled by the walls of the house.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He sat down on one of the logs and turned his attention to the sounds of nature around him.

“It’s in the service of a greater purpose,” he told himself, “It’s in service of her greater plan.” He dared not think of what horrors awaited that poor girl, or how he had led her to believe she was some child of destiny dreamt of in children’s fantasies. No, poor Melissa was destined for something far more sinister, if she survived. The Queen needed humans for this experiment, and with so few in Hollow Mortes, they needed to look elsewhere for subjects. Amberson tried not to think of it, because if he did he most likely would not sleep again.

He spent the next three days outside of the house keeping watch. All the while he heard her scream, plead, cry, and be butchered. On the fourth day, her screams became more distorted; raspy and guttural. Amberson and the other soldiers turned their attention to the house as the screams were met by the sound of breaking glass and furniture. Finally, the front door burst open and out a horrendous beast of misshapen proportions. Its head was elongated. Its eyes were small and multitudinous. Massive, drooling mandibles and pincers clattered and clacked. Its arms and legs were twice the length of its torso. Its skin was taut against lean muscle and greyish brown with tiny tufts of hair in random places.

The two soldiers staggered back, but Amberson stood his ground. The beast let out a gurgled scratch before it ran off into the woods. The man in the blue robe emerged from the house exasperated and blood stained.

“You let it escape!”

“I take it you succeeded.” Amberson looked him up and down.

“Yes, yes I was,” the man pulled out a wand from his sleeve and pointed it at his robes. With a flick of his wrist a thin sparkle shot out from the wand and landed on the blood stains, which fizzled and vanished.

“I was hoping to observe her further and make sure it survived more than a day. But this one is stronger than the others. It will be interesting to see what form her body settles on.”

The spellcaster raised his wand. A tiny flame sputtered from it, floating in the air. He moved his wand through the air in quick strokes, making a series of shapes and symbols in the air. Once complete, the image swirled together to create a new image, this time of a goblin.

“Find it and bring it back to me in one piece.”

“How will we know when we find it?” Its voice was high and nasally.

“You’ll know,” and the image fizzled away.

“Well now,” said the spellcaster, “Now we just need to track the bodies and we will have our beast.” Amberson felt more pity for the beast than he did for the goblins they had just sacrificed to it. What the spellcaster had done to the poor girl was unforgivable. But pity would not complete the mission The beast needed to be found, bound, and brought to the Queen.

The Queen hated goblins, so she had no qualms with hiring them for this mission. It wasn’t likely they would survive. This was the third group they had hired. These goblins were small, wiry, and nimble. Their eyes were large and round and yellow. Their spiked ears were so powerful they could hear an ant sneeze a mile away. They were perfect for catching the unnatural creations made by the Opal Queen’s subjects.

The goblins kept to the canopy far out of sight of the beast. One had perched himself on a thick branch and scanned the forest for activity. As he observed he loaded a dart gun. He sniffed the air with its squashed nose and flicked its ears. Then it appeared, if only for a moment. The beast was fast. The goblins launched into action, firing the blow dart, but it missed. He let out a loud skittering sound that reverberated through the canopy. The sound was picked up by the others nearby, He fired another dart at the beast and hit his target. The capsule attached to the dart exploded and an intense blue pigment splattered across its back. A pungent odor accompanied it and fluttered into the air. A moment later the beast was out of sight. The goblin took out a notebook and jotted observations they had made, continuing to observe via binoculars as the beast sprinted further into the woods. The gang of goblins was scattered across the canopy. They spoke across a wide distance with their skittering speech.

“We should track it and observe for now” one said, “Once we know more about it we can set a trap.”

Melissa couldn’t run fast enough. Her heart ached yet she was sprinting a mile a minute. The man in the blue robe had done something to her. He had her strapped to a chair and pumped her full of drugs. He made her eat strange meats and drink awful things. Some of the drugs made her blood burn and others made her convulse. Eventually her body started to change. Her bones broke and expanded. Her muscles tore apart and sewed themselves back together into something bigger and stronger. Her vision was sharper yet different, as though she were looking through a strange fishlense.  She could see much further than before. It was like the world was more in focus but also distorted.

She ran and ran. She didn’t care what was in her way. She was pretty sure she had crushed a few fallen trees and some smaller animals that couldn’t get out of the way fast enough. She finally stopped after what felt like miles of running. Her lungs burned from the experience. She took the moment to examine herself. She did her best not to panic when she saw her reflection in the pond beside her, but with little success. Her face was unrecognizable; it was elongated and taut. She had eight eyes! Her skin was dark and leathery. Her teeth had become razor sharp and her tongue was long and narrow. Her muscles were misshapen. She only had three fingers and they were longer than before, with talons for nails and an extra digit. Her feet hadn’t changed but they had grown bigger. Adrenaline rocketed through her. She was a monster. The fear compelled her to unleash an unholy scream. She swatted at the reflection and lashed out at the world around her.

She felled trees and destroyed surrounding shrubbery. Suddenly her screams were matched by something else. She looked in the direction of the noise and saw a massive wild boar approach. It huffed and stomped the ground before charging. Melissa took the full force of the boar in the stomach. She let out a shrill cry of pain before attempting to swat the boar away. She didn’t realize how strong she had become and when she hit it, the boar went flying, crashing into a nearby tree. She stood there, stunned by what she had just done. But she quickly regained herself and took off in the opposite direction. She kept running until her legs gave out. She collapsed into the dirt. She was about to pass out when she was met by a woman. Melissa thought it was strange to see another human being this deep into the woods. The sight of the woman made her feel uneasy. She was beautiful, with long blonde hair, a red gambeson and silver armor. There was an emblem of a griffin clutching a rose emblazoned on her chestplate.. There was something off about her. She smelled different. The woman approached her but did not touch her. She simply looked Melissa up and down a few times studying her.

“You poor thing” she said, her voice was soft like silk, “It seems they finally succeeded.” She looked into Melissas’ eyes.

“By morning I don’t think there will be a shred of humanity left in you. A perfect beast for what the Opal Queen is planning. If I could help you I would. You have my sympathy child.” She then disappeared in a wisp of mist. Melissa crawled to a nearby tree where she curled into a ball and fell asleep.

The goblins were careful not to make a sound as they crept along the branches, closing the space between them and the beast. They had followed it for a day and night until they found it curled up asleep under a tree. Its path of destruction was easy enough to follow. One of the group stayed perched high and documented what he saw as the others set the trap. They needed to be successful the first time. This beast was stronger and faster than the previous experiments. They split into groups of two and crept along the forest floor. One pair sat on either side of it by the feet, a large net in hand. Another was in the branches above, holding a canister of sleeping gas. Another was several trees away with a rifle, ready to fire should the plan backfire.

The one in the branches above pulled the pin on the canister and dropped it next to the beast. It landed in the leaf litter with a gentle thunk. The beast twitched. The goblins jumped into action. They swung the net over the sleeping monster. The one taking notes stared and gawked as he witnessed something begin to shift within the beast. Its muscles began to spasm and something looked like it was trying to poke through its back. Suddenly, small spikes ripped through the skin of its back. The beast let out a cry of pain. The little goblin scribbled hurriedly, the beast sounded different as well. Its voice was sharper, higher, and reverberated within its throat. Its head was larger now, with a forehead that rose tall like a fan above its eight black eyes. Talon shaped horns decorated the top like a crown. It began to get up; the canister had little to no effect on it. The pairs on the ground jumped back. One of them took out a small controller from its pocket and pressed a button. The next electrified, sparks glowed and currents of electricity sprang to and fro throughout the net. This only seemed to anger the beast even more and it screamed louder and began to thrash from within the net. The spikes on its back tore through the strings and the contraption disintegrated. The one with the rifle took aim and fired a shot at the monsters’ head. It dodged it with ease and thrashed about, swatting at the little goblins on the floor. They scurried away and attempted to climb the trees to safety.

Three of them made it to higher branches. The fourth was snatched by the beast and consumed. Its jaw split down the center, revealing a maw of razors and a long, wiggling tongue that wrapped around the little creatures’ throat. It squirmed and screamed but was powerless against the beast. His comrades watched on in horror. The one with the rifle fired a volley at the beast. Each one doing little or no damage at all as it devoured its meal. Soon it turned its attention to the ones in the trees. It gripped the trunk of the tree and began to pull itself up. Slowly it began to climb toward them. They threw everything they had at it. They pulled out small pistols and fired a barrage of bullets at it, but its hide was thick. Only a few bullets pierced it but that only slowed it down. It growled and hissed as it came closer. They threw down another net in hopes of knocking it down. It succeeded in bringing it back to the ground but it soon shredded the net like the last time.

One of them pulled out a long jagged blade and jumped from the branch. His comrades shouted in disbelief. He raised the blade above his head as he rapidly descended upon the beast. The beast had its back turned to him, he had the upper hand. But as he came within a few feet of the monster it turned and swatted him out of the air. The little goblin went flying into a nearby tree trunk with such force that his eyes popped out of his head, dangling by thin tendrils. A spatter of blood decorated the bark where his head had made impact. The others spoke to each other in their scittered language and turned to run from the scene. The beast enjoyed its second helping of goblin before it sniffed the air and began the hunt for the rest of its meal. It managed to catch them quickly, running on all fours, climbing and leaping from tree branch to tree branch.

The little goblin with the notebook hid in a hollowed trunk and scribbled furiously before he stopped suddenly. He held his breath and listened. There was a crunching rustling sound nearby. There was huff and a high, reverberating growl. He saw a massive talloned foot outside the opening of his hiding place. His heart felt as though it would burst through his chest. The trunk swayed and finally fell as the beast discovered him. It stared him down, opening its maw and letting out a sound that could almost be considered an attempt at a chuckle. The little goblin wanted to run but found that fear had bolted him to the forest floor.

Before the beast could take a bite however, it suddenly went flying across the clearing. The goblin watched as it hit the ground with a thud. He looked around and saw it was his employer, the blue robed spellcaster. The beast rose and shook its head. It looked up and saw the spellcaster. It also noticed that standing in the canopy above there was the woman from before. She said nothing, but only watched. She was surrounded by wisps of mist, which she disappeared into. It huffed and turned to the spellcaster. He had a wand pointed at it. The little goblin had scurried to safety behind Amberson who was flanked by soldiers. The beast felt a bolt of rage fly through it at the sight of the old knight. It opened its maw and let out a screeching roar before it charged the group. The spellcaster flicked his wand and vines and tree roots sprang up to restrain it. It collapsed to the ground inches before him. It wriggled and battled and fought against the restraints. Its eyes filled with hate at the sight of the group. It scratched at the roots and pulled at the vines but they kept multiplying. The spellcaster flicked his wand again and light purple mist surrounded the monster. Its ferocity lightened and it began to quiet. Its eyes grew heavy with sleep as it fell into slumber. The last thing it saw was the melancholic look on Ambersons’ face.

The soldiers breathed a sigh of relief and Amberson loosened the grip on his sword. The spellcaster wrapped the monster up like a birthday present and gestured to the soldiers to carry it away. They heaved and dragged it back to camp. He looked down at the shell shocked goblin and tossed him a bag of coins. He snatched the notebook and walked off.

Amberson was the last to leave the scene. He looked back at the clearing and felt a sudden shiver run down his spine. The blonde warrior woman stood before him, translucent. The air left his lungs as he saw her comrades surrounding her. They stood beside her on the ground and were even perched in the canopy. They said nothing, only watched him and silently judged. Amberson felt his heart sink at the sight of them.

“Dear little Amberson,” she breathed, “What a fool you’ve become.”

Amberson lowered his head and closed his eyes to fight back tears. When he looked up, they were all gone.

“It’s in service of a greater purpose” he whispered. When did not reappear he gritted his teeth and turned his back.

“It’s in service of a greater purpose!”

Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed the story please leave a like. If you would like to give feedback or just tell me what you think, please leave a comment. If you would like to see more of my work, please subscribe.