Chapter Two - The Bejeweled Beast

Evermore

Elswyth Forest.

Snapping of twigs, low snarls of beasts, bushes shaking. Nothing but darkness surrounds me. I could feel the chains of life tighten around me as I stumble through some bushes. Twigs, and mud covering me as I hide from the beasts hunting me. My tiny fingers dig into the mud as I force myself to stand up and force myself to continue running. My body is weak and shaking from the cold as I try to navigate my way through the large forest.

Why? Why am I fighting to live still? I accepted that I am going to die, but something in me is keeping me fighting, keeping me surviving. I don’t know how long I’ve been on the run, but I know I didn’t make it far because of my small body. My eyes scan every inch of the darkness, searching for the mysterious beast that could either help or kill me. A misty breeze blew through my short hair, causing goosebumps along my exposed skin.

I can feel tears burning my eyes as I push past a few bushes. I didn't touch it! I didn't make a selection, so how did the quest activate on its own? What even is happening? I can hear them; I can tell these monsters are close. But something inside of me keeps pushing me to run, run somewhere far, far away. Away from these beasts, away from this forest. I push some branches out of my way before stopping near a large tree. I breathe heavily, my chest burning with a need for proper air. 

Stop running, just accept your death. I place my hand against the tree trunk as I glance around some more, trying to see where those beasts are. I wince in pain as a sharp sting spreads across my chest. I took a step forward only to fall to the muddy floor, face first. This time I didn’t get up; I couldn’t bring myself to stand up. 

I don’t want to be here; I don’t want to continue to fight to survive. Tears drip down, mixing with mud across my cheeks. Sobs choke their way up my throat as I begin to wail like a child again. That’s all I am. A child in this strange forest—or world. This has to be some kind of dream or nightmare.

But, what if this is something more? It feels too real to be a dream or a nightmare. What if those silly little stories are true. Reincarnation.

A low growl startles me from my thoughts, and I stop breathing. Slowly, I lift my head from the ground just in time to see a monstrous beast emerging from the bushes ahead of me. It resembles a wolf, with dark black and blue fur covering its entire form, except its head. Its skull is on display—no meat or fur, just bones. Two large horns protrude from the top of its skull, and two smaller horns protrude from where its nose is supposed to be. 

Its ears are long, just like the horns on its head, and covered with a lighter shade of blue fur. It stares at me with empty eye sockets, except for two red dots that look like it is floating in the sockets. As it opens, it bares two large teeth—like a sabertooth cat. As it growls, liquid drips down the two fangs, and as it lands on the ground, it fizzles like water being dropped in hot oil. 

Poison? No, it's more like acid.

I want to scream; I want to burst into tears, but I’m frozen, unable to even move. My hands curl into a fist as I watch the beast step out from the bushes, revealing its full form to me. Its tail is like a skeleton with sharp bones jetted along the top. It swings around behind it like a weapon, and I watch as it cuts a tree clean in half with one swing.

The beast lowers its head to sniff the ground, and I can feel my heart beating wildly. The childish instinct inside me swirls with fear, and I clam up, unable to do anything except watch. The bushes behind the creature shake, and three more emerge. They are smaller than the first one, a lot smaller, but they are still terrifying. The biggest one lifts its head, and a snarl hisses its way up its throat, causing the three small ones to back up a bit. 

Alpha? Is it the leader? They look like wolves—minus a few obvious traits. But their behaviour resembles that of a wolf pack. Two red dots met my gaze, and the curiosity turns back to fear as the big wolf creature stalks toward me. 

I push myself up so I’m kneeling on the muddy ground, and tears fall again as I watch the creature get closer and closer. A childish wail leaves me, and I try to crawl backwards, but my back presses against the roots of the large tree I tripped over. Trapping me. 

My small hands grip the roots of the tree as I push myself back more, trying to create some distance from the beasts. Fear and pain—the emotions of the child side of me. But the real side of me has accepted the fact that I will die. The real side of me begged to die. To break free from these chains binding me to life, to erase the pain that’s been carved into me since birth. 

Please, just destroy my soul instead of reincarnating it. Or whatever this is.

The jaws of the creature open widely, revealing a dark void, and I brace for my second death. Suddenly something slides across my hand and a bright light bursts in front of me, blinding me. I cover my eyes with my arm as I close my eyes in an attempt to protect myself from the brightness. I could hear yelps and snarls as the light glows brighter. 

In a matter of seconds, the snarls and yelps faded and the blinding light dims. Moving my arm, I open my eyes just a bit, and I notice that those beasts are no longer there, except for one whose corpse was burning a few yards away from me. 

What was that? I lower my arm and look around before my eyes land on a glowing ball on the ground in front of me.