I'm Real Late For This One Sorry!

I'm real late for this one sorry!

Inktober 2: Discovery

A monster. That's what the mob had said. They claimed a witch, a child born to the unholy union of an evil spirit and a mortal lived in these woods. A witch that could transform into a horrible monster had wreaked havoc amongst them and done damage to their homes.

Adelon didn't see any signs of a monster though. It was actually quite peaceful in the night covered woods. The half moon peaked through the canopy, and creatures sang in the darkness.

Striding confidently between trunks and over roots Adelon looked for signs of larger life. He shifted his guitar case on his shoulder as he scanned the area.

"How am I supposed to find someone out in the woods? This place is huge."

He shook his head and carried on with a sigh.

If he had known the price for his drink would be hunting down some monster he would've thought twice about drinking it. Maybe next time he would turn down the drink and the work, they say third time's the charm after all.

The hairs on the back of Adelon's neck stood up. He had caught a scent. Grief, despair, hopelessness drifted through the air. His mouth watered at the smell and he stretched his jaw a little.

Blue light filled his eyes as he leaned into his nightvision. The world became a livid blue color as details sharpened. He inhaled deeply. The despair was still faint, being carried on the wind from a ways off.

A shift of course and a shift in determination.

The scent struck again but stronger this time. Hairs stood on end once more. There was something else in the smell setting off alarms. He tightened his grip around the handle of the guitar case he carried.

Forgoing stealth the steady stride continued. Snapping twigs and rustling leaves accompanied rapid foot steps towards the despair-filled being.

Why would a monster despair this way?

A choked breath preceded a shift in the underbrush. Something was trying to flee. Someone was trying to hide.

"Hello? Whoever you are you can come out!"

A flash of white stood out against the dark blue leaves in the livid light. The smell of anguish left in its wake.

The chase began. Stealth was now adopted as much as possible while keep up with the flashes of skin and clothing. A quiet rush through a now silent forest. The moonbeams now forming a maze of split shadows.

A breath of fresh air struck Adelon, bereft of the scent he had been chasing. His head whipped around and his nostrils flared. He found it again, filtering through a thick clump of brush.

There was a hollow leading under a large tree behind the brush. It reeked of the darker emotions Adelon fed upon. Within pressed into the shadows against the wall was a pale creature with long black hair wearing a tattered graying blue dress.

A slitted pupil stared through the curtain of hair. The creature flashed a pair of lower fangs at the intruder. The low growl of a cornered creature warned against further entry.

Adelon placed the guitar case on the ground in front of him as he stepped through the brush and held his hands up.

"Hi. I was sent to find you, not hurt you. Ok?"

He touched the ceiling of the hollow and twisted from side to side to show he had no concealed weapons, and he pushed the guitar case a little further in with his foot.

The growling subsided and the slitted pupil widened into a more circular shape. The two stared each other down in silence.

The pale creature shifted away from the darkest shadows.

"What are you?"

"We're uh...friends."

"We?"

Adelon opened his mouth to respond but was stopped when he heard the creak of treated wood behind him. He whirled to see a dark figure hiding amongst the trees before he felt a sharp pain pierce his chest. He stumbled from the impact and tripped over the guitar case falling into the hollow.

The growls started again, angry this time. Adelon's eyes met a slitted one.

He cursed at the arrow in his shoulder. Then cursed as his quarry began to shift. Then whistled sharp.

The growling stopped for a second and the slit focused on the source of the high pitched sound, confused. Then black tendrils burst the guitar case and wrapped around the shifting creature pulling it tight and pulling it down. A roar of defiance swelled with the angered creature.

Animalistic growls and roaring static filled the hollow. A pair of arrows bounced off the ivory spine of the shadowy creature that had emerged from the case.

"Keep her down Bell! I'll handle the archers."

The slitted eyes widened as they watched the strange intruder rip the arrow from his chest. Then with a mixture of horror and wonder they watched his face split, his mouth opening wider then it should. A bright blue substance was spit into the night, once then twice. This was followed by yelling and a sickening thud as something fell from height.

The yells of witch, monster, and traitor swelled, as did the the barrage of arrows striking too close for comfort. They had been followed.

Struggle, shift, survive. That was what she knew, so that was what she did.

"Adelon! The orb, get us out of here!"

The shadow monster spoke in the voice of a bell choir through static.

A delicately crafted skeletal hand pulled a glass orb filled with swirling indigo smoke. Adelon took it and stared into its depths.

"Naut! Naut pick up!"

A bright green eye filled the mists. It's cross-hair pupil focusing on the vampire squid spawn.

"Adelon. Have you found her?"

"Yes we found her. But we ran into a-"

His words bled into a yell as another arrow pierced his shoulder. He ripped it out, then turned and fired another glob of bioluminescent goo into the night.

"Hurry up Adelon! I'm losing my grip."

"Are you under attack?"

"Yes! Get us out of here Naut! We got her! Get us out NOW!"

A chant mixed with a low resonating meow echoed from the orb. Light grew in the slits of the cross hair pupil as the echoing sound crescendoed. The orb split, opening a swirling portal that filled the back wall of the hollow.

Pinks, purples, indigos, yellows, oranges, greens, reds. They swirled and dance amongst each other. Neon and matte clashing, mixing, sloshing as the doorway to the In-Between sputtered like an open wound in the fabric of the universe.

"Help me move her!"

"Right! 3...2...1...Jump!"

Adelon and Lucy Bell shoved the shifting, struggling creature they had been sent to retrieve through the portal.

They drifted through the In-Between feeling like they were being pulled apart in every direction while resting in the comfort of lucid imagination. Whether they screamed or sang they knew not, but just as quickly as they entered they fell to a wooden floor.

Lucy Bell unfurled from the large, scaled creature she had contained, swirling herself up into a jaguar-like appearance to return the growls she was receiving from the creature.

Adelon shuffled himself into a chair at a table and collapsed. Applying pressure to his most recent wound as it began to regenerate beneath his palm.

The scaled creatures eyes shifted between the two who had shoved it through the strange portal. Her growl had deepened and warned not to strike. Her rows of sharp teeth bared, her claws rested on the floor, her scales fully emerged to protect her. The hair that had acted as a curtain to hide her had become a thick mane that now stood on end to make her seem bigger.

The shifting, wary gaze fell upon a third creature that stood directly before her. An odd creature; small and furry, with pointed ears and pupils the shape of a four-pointed star. It's two tails swayed back and forth as if it was pleased to see her.

"Hello Lungling. I am Naut, the owner of this fine establishment. Tell me, what is your name?"

I'm Real Late For This One Sorry!

More Posts from Nekko-astrocat