He tried to breathe, he tried to kick, and he tried to scream. Nothing worked out for him, it only seemed to steal more of his oxygen.
The ugly creatures around him continued to bellow, although it sounded as if they were cheering about him dying. The ones that had them raised their torches into the air in excitement and jumped around wildly, waving the fire like flags.
"What's going on here?" I asked Darwin.
"This is the hanging tree. They must be hanging another human," he said.
"A human?!" I exclaimed.
"Yes. The creatures of this forest aren't very fond of newcomers, especially humans. They despise them the most. So, if any of them get their hands on one wandering in here, they either kill them instantly or bring them to the hanging tree to show off their discovery. The others find it entertaining to watch and it's the one moment where all the creatures get along. That is... until the hanging is over. Nothing here is allied with the other, they're all enemies. So traditionally, fights break out afterward."
"If it's so dangerous, why do they come together?" Odis asked. Darwin looked at him and frowned.
"That's how much they hate humans. They're willing to gather and tear each other apart just to watch them die," he answered.
"What did he do?" I asked. Darwin didn't answer for awhile. It was like he knew I didn't want to know, and when his brown eyes widened and he looked at me seriously, I knew I probably didn't want to hear his response either.
"Nothing," he said. "They never do."
I became so angry that my cheeks most likely turned noticeably red. These creatures were obviously nuts, especially if this was how they acted toward a simple, innocent human.
"That's so stupid! He didn't bother them so why should he have to suffer?" I snapped. The goblin stayed silent for another long moment.
"He's already dead, Lady Bella. But there are three others in line," he eventually mumbled. I followed his gaze to realize that the once struggling man was now lifeless and limp, hanging from his neck with his chin to his chest and his arms at his sides.
Next to the tree were two more men and a woman, dressed properly for an outside occasion, though I was sure this was not what they were expecting. They shook violently and stared out at the mob, tears streaming down their dirty and bloody faces. Their hands were tied at the front with thick rope, and they were guarded by two human-looking supernatural men who continued to scowl and snap at them.
I literally started to get jittery because I was so mad. "We have to stop this!" I barked. When I tried to shove into the crowd, Kade pulled my back to his chest and kept me there by wrapping his arm securely around my shoulders.
"That would probably be the dumbest thing you ever did. Do you know how many of these creatures would tear into you if you interrupted their little party?" he scolded in my ear. When I didn't answer, he pointed at the tree again and told me to look.
I audibly gasped when I saw some creature clinging to the hanging man, ripping into his shoulder and pulling away chunks of meat. It was skinny, bones digging so far into the thing's pasty white skin, I was surprised they hadn't torn through yet. It had long arms and legs like a human, except for the long claws equipped on the fingers and toes. Its head was round, white, cloudy eyes bulging from the skull and a huge set of razor sharp teeth taking up the lower half of its face. There were no lips to cover them, though I'm sure there was no possible way to do so.
When I trembled while watching the blood drip from its mouth, Kade tightened his arm around me. "That's a wendigo, a deranged creature that feeds on flesh, whether it be human or supernatural. I'm not gonna lose you to that thing so I suggest you hold off on the heroic rescue."
"He's right, milady. There are witches, wolves, vampires, hybrids... and so many other horrid things in that crowd that aren't known for fun tea parties. They will rip you to shreds if you interfere," Darwin added.
There was a sudden screech, like that of a bird, coming from the sky. A giant black bird, trailed by mysterious black and grey mist, and glowing red eyes perched on a nearby branch and watched over the mob. Following it was a black panther that jumped out from a bush, also having red eyes and trailed by a strange mist.
Kade's arm loosened slightly as he fell against me and groaned in my ear. I caught him before he collapsed completely and turned to find him glaring at the two.
"Demon animals, literally possessed by a demon's magic. They're not very rare around these parts," Darwin informed us. "They are some of the most dangerous creatures of all." That explained why Kade just grew so weak all of a sudden. It wasn't the first time he had been affected by demon magic. He recovered himself quickly, though, and finally released me.
"Bella, don't do anything stupid," he said.
"Kade, you don't understand. I once thought I was human and a part of me is still clinging to that even though I know otherwise. I can't just stand here and watch those innocent people be killed!" I exclaimed.
"Look over there, Bella," Odis said as he pointed at a man with bluish skin infested with black mystical markings. His eyes glowed a brighter blue and he was completely bald, covered in nothing but a large black robe and a pair of sandals. "He's a jinn, a being so mighty that everything here won't even touch him. Although he's not as powerful as you, he can still do some serious damage."
"Look, there's already a reaper here to collect the souls," Kade pointed out. He motioned towards a dark shadow at the back, standing amongst the trees where it'd be alone. It wore a large black robe too, and had the hood pulled so far over its head that its face wasn't even visible. In fact, it just looked empty on the inside. The sleeves were pulled together as the thing clasped its hands over its stomach, hiding them perfectly. To be specific, there were no body parts to be seen at all, the robe hid the entire body and even trailed behind the thing... reaper, apparently.
Just looking at it gave me the creeps.
"Reapers don't like you interfering with their soul collecting... and their anger isn't very pretty," Kade whispered in my ear.
"Might as well point out another predator," Darwin said, pointing a green finger at his target. I reluctantly looked at the creature with a blackish skin tone, almost pale enough to be grey. It had a very obvious hunch back and was almost as bony as the wendigo, though its body was painted with bulging veins. It had long claws on its hand and a pointy chin dripping with blood. Like the wendigo, it was bald, but its body was a bit more humanlike. I immediately took notice to its flat nose and pure white eyes, then its enormous sets of teeth that also weren't covered by lips.
I couldn't tell which one was scarier: it or the wendigo. It was way larger than the wendigo, though.
"That's a ghoul," Darwin said as he also watched with horror. "Just as dangerous as the wendigo, if not more. They'll both eat you down to your bones."
"You see, Bella? You can't save everybody," Kade insisted.
I was terrified out of my mind but something in me was snapping. "I don't care," I said suddenly, shocked to even hear it come out of my mouth. "These creatures can kiss my ass. I have innocents to save."
I started walking again when Kade snatched me by the arm. "No you don't! This is suicide, woman. I'm not letting you go!" he barked.
"I think Bella's right," Maeve, who hadn't spoken this whole time, timidly inputed. She stepped forward and titled her head back properly as she stared at the boys. "These people shouldn't die. Now, we're all powerful supernaturals so why don't we prove it?"
"Lady Maeve, my men can't fight a crowd this big!" Darwin said, panicking as he motioned towards the large group of goblins trailing us.
"Then you all stay here. Bella and I will do this ourselves if we have to," she insisted. I liked how confidently she spoke and tried to hold the same posture as her.
"Maeve... you're not serious?" Odis said.
"Of course I am," she responded and latched onto my arm. "Let's go, honey. It's obvious we have the bigger hearts here." She started dragging me towards the tree and then the outer edge of the crowd where we could easily maneuver to the line of guarded humans. I started getting sick when I saw the wendigo still feasting on the man and heard the crowd cheering it on.
When we were a safe distance away and the guards couldn't see us, we crouched down behind a bush as Maeve leaned close enough to whisper something. "One's a shapeshifter and the other is a warlock," she said.
"Like Kade?" I asked. She shook her head.
"No. Based on the frost covering his fingertips, I would say he deals more with ice." I followed her eyes and realized he did have frost on his fingers, little blue particles that were surprisingly noticeable.
"This won't be easy. Warlocks and shapeshifters are shockingly powerful," she then added.
"Which is why you'll be needing us," I heard Kade's deep voice say from behind. We both turned to find him and Odis crouched with us, staring off at our targets. They weren't smiling, but I didn't really blame them.
"What about Darwin and his men?" I asked.
"Waiting for a signal," Odis said exasperatedly. I was starting to like the plan, but I was also starting to panic. What if this whole thing failed and we all ended up dying?
"Oh! Odis are you going to do the thing?!" Maeve whispered yelled with excitement. He rolled his eyes and reluctantly stepped feet away from us. Then, without smoke or anything to hide it, his body started to morph and shift, growing fur and producing the claws, ears, and other body parts of a wolf. Eventually the animal stood before us. He was way larger than any normal wolf, and coated in a mixture of black and dark brown fur. His bright amber eyes stared us down, watching and waiting for the next move.
If Kade were to stand, wolf Odis would almost be up to his shoulders.
"That's so cool," Maeve whispered in my ear. She wasn't wrong. It was freaking awesome.
"Odis, you and Kade distract the guards and Bella and I will try to untie the humans," Maeve planned. "You guys have it easier when it comes to quick attacks."
Odis already started heading towards a shady spot but Kade didn't follow. He stared at me with so much worry, I started to crumble inside. All of a sudden, he cupped my cheeks in his hands and placed a strong kiss on my lips. I gripped his wrists and nearly collapsed against him when he pulled me closer by snaking an arm around my waist.
When he pulled back, there wasn't one hint of a smile on his face. "You better not die," he whispered seriously.
"Same to you," was all I could say. Without saying anything else, he left with Odis and they disappeared behind a cluster of trees.
Now he had me extremely worried.
Maeve and I stayed crouched behind the bush and waited for about ten seconds before a noise came from the boys' direction. Surprisingly, it actually caught the attention of the guards. They stared that way for the longest time, then left the humans unguarded.
Wow... amateurs.
We quickly rushed over to our mortified targets, startling them half to death when we said nothing about what we were doing.
"Who are you?" The woman, who I was untying, barked as tears streamed down her beaten face. I held a finger to my lips and shushed her.
"We're the good guys," I whispered. "And we're gonna get you out of here." She clamped her mouth shut after that and desperately watched as I untied her and helped Maeve with the others. Once we were finished, we gathered them up as Maeve leaned over to whisper something in my ear.
"I can erase their memories and send them running with full adrenaline. But after that... they're on their own," she said. I nodded quickly and she instantly took action. Touching her fingers to each of their foreheads and closing her eyes, she mumbled another one of her foreign chants. She tried to, at least. But then a loud, obnoxious, and deafening screech, almost as horrible as a gargoyle's, pierced my ears and I planted my hands over them to try and block it out. In no time I located the source and nearly collapsed with fear.
It was the wendigo, clinging to the large tree's trunk and glaring at us with its cloudy white eyes. It opened its large mouth full of razor sharp teeth and screeched again, this time attracting the attention of the things around it.
So many eyes, so many teeth, so many growls and cries were directed towards us. Maeve froze and somehow I managed to snap her out of her trance.
"Maeve!" I yelled. "Finish the spell!" She looked at me then back at the people. Before I turned away, I heard her frantically spit out the rest of her chant and watched the three humans, whose eyes became as dead as a corpse's, dart into the woods at an incredible speed, disappearing among the darkness and trees.
The wendigo targeted us instead of its original prey. It jumped at us and extended its arms and claws in a menacingly way, flying through the air so quick I almost didn't dodge in time. Out of nowhere, a second one jumped from the crowd and sprawled towards us. Then a third... and a fourth, a fifth, and finally a ghoul joined the party.
The ghoul leaped at Maeve, a larger and more frightening form than the wendigoes. She was saved, not by her own self-defense but by something tackling the ghoul mid-air. It was something large and coated with fur... Odis. He wrestled the thing to the ground, snarling and revealing his top row of canines in an almost sinister way. His growls were loud and shocking as he struck his claws over the ghoul's face and made it squeal with pain. It shrieked and hollered when he started digging into it and ripping out fleshy parts of its weird, leathery body. I almost couldn't watch the bloodfest and slaughter.
There was another piercing shriek of the wendigoes. They had all stayed back for a few seconds but were now back in the action and seemingly angrier. Three jumped at us just as Odis finished his business. Before anything could land on us and rip into our flesh, though, a line of fire sprouted from the ground and knocked the three back, upsetting them possibly to the max. They cried and threw fits when they couldn't pass the red flames, but it didn't take long for them to start figuring out another way around them.
The other supernatural creatures there weren't trying to attack, but they were furious and cheered on the ones that did try to bring us down.
Someone suddenly grabbed my arm and snatched me away from the commotion. I soon realized it was Kade who stared at the flames with wide eyes. "Those won't hold them long. Come on!"
"What about Darwin and his men?!" I yelled.
"They've already gone! The crowd was too much for them to handle," he said, and nearly dragged me until I started running with him. Maeve and wolf Odis fell into step beside us as we darted into the woods, the screeches of wendigos not too far behind.
I could see the blurry forms of goblins running to our left and right, and I didn't blame them for not trying to attack. They'd lose many numbers doing something so foolish.
We were swift at dodging branches and roots, maneuvering randomly as Delilah appeared and started leading our unknown path. Suddenly she stopped and looked around with wide, frantic eyes. No explanation was offered when we stopped behind her and waited with panic.
Next to us, Odis started to shift until he was standing stiffly as a man again. "What's the hold up?!" he barked. A few goblins peeped out from the surrounding bushes, one of them being Darwin.
"Something's wrong," the little girl whispered.
Kade scoffed next to me like what he heard was ridiculous. "Oh, really? I didn't notice by the five wendigoes chewing on our asses," he said sarcastically.
"She's right. I sense it too. There's something... unsettling lurking around here," Maeve said mysteriously. I was getting frustrated. Why couldn't we have discussion time when we weren't being chased by bloodthirsty creatures?
"Whatever is here... is... is something just waiting for disaster... or waiting to cause it," Delilah whispered. She was getting scared, but I was sure I was more afraid of the wendigoes.
As if on cue, multiple screeches sounded from behind, turning all of us around suddenly. Four wendigoes jumped onto the trees nearest us, staring and growling at us like they were planning something. Their long, bony legs and arms reminded me of a spider... just larger and scarier.
"This is what we get for stopping," Kade grumbled under his breath. I didn't know why none of us moved but it was probably another stupid decision we made as a team. It was like the presence of the creatures made us freeze.
They sat there for the longest time, occasionally screeching as if trying to communicate. If so, whatever they were saying was definitely nothing good.
As I stared at them, something sent a chill down my spine and made me shiver momentarily. There was something different about their group but I couldn't quite lay my finger on it. After a few seconds, though, I heard a rustle to my left and tensed, now realizing the only, most important difference. It's amazing how crazy your mind gets when realization hits. Mine started screaming but my mouth wouldn't join in on the action.
I felt heavy breathing against my cheek and slowly turned my gaze over that way, only to see what I was expecting to be standing there.
Quick correction: there were actually five wendigoes.
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Is "wendigoes" even the plural form of "wendigo"? Ï_Ï