Horror.
Scared villagers running. Hiding. Weeping.
Villagers finding refuge in nearby huts. Others hiding in the surrounding bushes. Villagers taking their children and gathering in the war shelter beneath the old woman’s hut. The shelter. An underground sanctuary with no visible entrance, which only those who know the village’s secret paths and tunnels can find.
She is there already... waiting to hide them from the demon. Several villagers are already with her. Some of the younger ones are giving each other weapons, anything they can find in the war shelter. They want to go out and fight. They want to save their village.
Their mothers kiss them as they prepare. Whisper prayers on their foreheads. That is all the old woman’s ears can hear as she watches the young ones. Whispering, and weeping. No sounds beyond the shelter. No screams... as of yet.
Don’t. She suddenly says to the young ones. That... that child... is not like anything that has threatened us before. My brave ones, this... thing will kill you all if you go. Each and every one of you. We must send for the Lotus Clan, then wait. Hide. In silence. You are all being brave, and you are all throwing your lives away.
The young ones smile at their Elder Mother. Many still leave. They know they might die. They go to fight anyway. A courage their village has always been proud to have. Courage no matter the terror that comes.
As the young ones leave, noon-day sunlight glimmers through the foliage camouflaging the doors of the shelter. Such a beautiful day, the old woman thinks. Maybe it will help them see the demon child coming. A fighting chance for the young ones, perhaps?
Four more villagers are sent out of the shelter, under the old woman’s orders. Split up, she tells them. Take different paths in case one of you is caught. Keep moving until you reach the Metal Tree. Slide the Bronze handle around its trunk at least three times. It will begin humming, calling to the Lotus rings. That will bring the Lotus Warriors directly to us. The humming will not stop... that is how you will know it worked. Each of you, hurry back as soon as you see that the tree is awakened and sounding the alarm. Do not let the possessed one see you, or hear you.
The old woman and the villagers wait in silence. No sound of villagers above. No more running, or weeping. No sound of the young ones who went back out with weapons, trying to stop the creature from killing anyone else in their village. Those brave young warriors. Whose mothers had kissed prayers unto their foreheads. No sound of the four - split up and sent to the Metal Tree to sound the alarm to the Lotus Clan.
A villager breaks the silence. How can this be? A demon of the pit? Here? On our island?
It’s the end for us! Another whispers, anguished terror choking her words.
We’ve all heard what’s been happening on the main lands! These... things... demons of the pit... roaming the surface again. Possessing us. Using our flesh to twist their hate into terrible power. Murdering us with nothing and no one to challenge them. They are too powerful to be held back in the pit like they used to be before -
But we have the Lotus Clan! Surely they can fight them off-
Ssshhhhh! The old woman hisses suddenly. Hold your tongues!
Right on cue. A sickening laugh. Sliding, shuffling feet. Much too quick to be human. It... was in the old woman’s hut. It was above them.
No entrances from the hut led to their hidden shelter directly, but if it knew they were hiding beneath it, a creature of that power could easily punch through the ground and make its own entrance. And kill them all.
A voice suddenly interrupts the unholy chuckling.
Mother?
Mother, where are you?
Several people in the shelter gasp.
Oh the poor little one! A woman begins to whisper -
Hush! The old woman hisses, her heart thumping in her chest.
More sliding sounds above. Then silence. As if it was listening. Waiting.
Then more chuckling. Then the voice again.
I’m so lonely. Mother won’t you come out?
They understand. Voice and laughter are from the same intruder. It was speaking like a boy, and laughing like a madman.
The villagers are too disturbed to even breathe. The boy the demon possessed has been an orphan for many years. A happy, helpful boy who lost his parents at an age too young to truly remember them. When his parents died, the entire village took it upon themselves to care for him and love him, and raise him like he was one of their own children.
This demon clearly doesn't know the truth of the life its vassal had lived, the old woman thinks to herself. It must not be able to read the mind of the victim it possesses. Does that mean it doesn't know the truth about this shelter? Or about us hiding right under its feet?
Mother? Mother please come out. Come... come and comfort me!! The voice. So merry, yet so ominous. Whimsical. Yet horrific. The demon boy laughs again. I need you mother. I need you so badly!!!
Full blown laughter. I’m... I'm lonely! Total madness.
The sound of holes being punched through the walls above can be heard. Large objects seem to be getting pushed aside like feather weights. The voice continues to laugh, to speak, but never pretends to hide it’s malice. Its cry for the orphan’s “Mother” always just as disturbing, just as terrifying, as its mirth.
NOW! A new voice suddenly calls above them. At once, several shouts of battle erupt above. Sounds of feet running and jumping. The... the Lotus - ?!! Two women cry out. No!... Our... young warriors! An older man begins to say. They must have followed it and tried to set an ambush - He stops suddenly, the old woman silencing him with a grim look.
A scream. Another scream. Crashing sounds. That ominous laugh returning. Several shouts as their young ones seem to be fighting, determined to overcome the laughing abomination. Suddenly, all voices stop. An awful creaking sound, mixed with inhuman chuckling. A great and terrible crash. Cries of horror, cries of pain. The roof of the shelter shudders from a terrible crushing impact. Dust coats them all, but the roof holds. Still more screaming.
RUN!!! Someone above yells. A family below recognizes the voice at once. A small boy tries to yell “Brother!” But his mother cups her hand quickly over his lips. Sounds of fleeing feet above. A continuous scream of terrible pain. The words “Mama!” mixed into some muffled weeping. Another depraved laugh. Then the screams and weeping are cut off as well. The depraved laughter leaves the hut above as suddenly as it arrived. It seemed to be following the sound of the fleeing footsteps.
The old woman gazes at the villagers around her, holding her finger to her lips... holding back her tears. What she feared... what she knew would come to pass has happened right above their terrified group. The demonic creature is too strong. Too inhuman. No plan apart from summoning the Lotus Clan could have ever overcome it. Silence remains in the shelter under her watchful gaze, but many are weeping again, their hands covering their mouths to muffle their terrified anguish. They know many of their warrior children are dead.
A muffled scream, seemingly much further away now. The sound of youths calling to each other... trying to fight - or trying to evade - the demonic hunter.
They’re all going to die... A woman says, unable to keep silent any longer. Our children!!! She looks at the old lady, ignoring her silent command to hush her mouth. You let our young ones leave to face that... thing....
You’ve killed them!!!
The secret doors to the shelter burst open. Everyone jumps in terror.
Elder Mother!
Three of her four charges to find Metal Tree have returned. The oldest of the three speaks as the others reseal the shelter. Mother! The Tree has begun singing the alarm! The Lotus Clan should be on their way as we speak. The old woman’s heart, nearly petrified from shock, begins to race again. Exhilaration and relief flow through her.
If they can just avoid being caught until the Lotus Warriors come, they are saved!
She looks at the speaker. Your fourth?
Left us. She heard her brother yelling for help as we were running back. She said she would rather die than sit and wait, and that she couldn’t leave her brother to die by the creatures hand. They are fighting it in the square. It doesn’t look good. Many are already... the speaker suddenly feels every eye in the shelter - many belonging to parents of the victims - on him... and holds his tongue.
That brave... idiot girl! The old woman hisses. She’s just as dead as he is -
That’s not all, Elder Mother... we saw... someone else... following her from behind... following her to the Square. Otherwise, we might have tried to catch her and bring her back.
Terror washed through her.
Another demon? The old woman whispers, barely able to breathe.
One possession meant there was a strong chance the Lotus Clan could save them. Two possessions...? With two of those creatures moving around, the hope that they might somehow survive was more foolish than ever.
We don’t know. It was a tall man. A... a dark-skinned man. He dashed out from the trees and headed for the square, staying close behind our fourth. He moved very quickly, but not unnaturally... not like the demon child...
Dark-skinned... Dark-skinned? The old woman repeated, shocked, thinking hard.
Yes Mother! And he had a strange weapon in his right hand... it looked like a dagger but still in its molten form. Like he had just pulled it out of a blacksmith's furnace...
The old woman immediately ran to the shelter door. That’s not a demon. That is a Shaman. One of the Nubian prayer warriors. He’s a demon hunter.
She opened the door, and in an instant, was gone. She moved so quickly many of the villagers barely had time to try and stop her.
Elder Mother!
A Shaman?
A Demon hunter?
Here? How?!?
Many followed her out of the shelter.
Above the shelter’s secret entrance in the thick bush, they now saw that the old woman’s hut was completely destroyed.
Some began to search for bodies of the young warriors. No screaming or moaning could be heard anywhere in the rubble. The rest of the group rushed to catch up with the old woman. She was staying hidden, using the secret trail to get closer to the village square, wanting to get a view of what was happening without losing her cover of foliage. It could be several more minutes before the Lotus Clan arrives. If there is indeed a Shaman in their village, they had a real chance now. And, she hoped, perhaps not all the young warriors would die. So needlessly.
She had to see it for herself. Had to hold on to that hope. The grief on the faces of her people in the shelter was too much. Too bitter an image for her to bear.
She had to.... She needed to....
Replace it.
Elder Mother! A group of villagers whisper as they catch up to her.
Idiots. She thinks in frustration. She turns to them, fingers again on her lips. Yells, crashes, screams, and demonic laughter can now be heard quite clearly, not very far from where they were hiding. They were close to the scene, though little was visible from behind the bush. The old woman carefully begins to peek through the foliage to see the unfolding chaos.
No sight of the Shaman. Or the warrior sons. Or the demon. All the noise belonged to a battle hidden from view.
Then her eyes focus on the square itself...
Comments (0)
See all