Jasmine's crushed body hung limp between the Valley Demon's fingers. Her arms dangled uselessly, swaying in the rising wind. Her torso was caved in, ribs jutting through her ruined green shirt like snapped branches. Her head lolled back at a grotesque angle, neck half-severed, eyes glazed and staring into nothing.
Vlad's heart hammered. His breath caught. The fog curled around his legs, cold and wet, as if the air itself recoiled in fear.
The demon raised Jasmine's corpse slowly to its monstrous face. The fog clung to its frame, thickening around its head like a death shroud. Then its mouth opened with a slow, creaking peel like wet bark being torn from a tree. Rows of jagged fangs flexed outward, shifting like insect mandibles slick with rot.
A sickening wet crunch echoed through the fog as Jasmine's broken body was shoved inside.
Flesh tore. Bone snapped.
The sounds were muffled by the mist, but somehow sharper for it. Each rip and crack hit Vlad's ears like they came from inside his skull.
He staggered back a step, breath caught in his throat. His knees weakened. His pulse thundered like a war drum, not just in his ears but behind his eyes. Cold sweat broke across his back and dripped down his temple. His hands, wrapped in soaked wool, went limp at his sides. For a moment he couldn't feel the hilt of his blade.
His whole body trembled. Chest tight. Stomach twisting.
"She's not real," he muttered to himself, voice cracking. I'm real!
Then, from the side, a flicker of movement in the fog snapped him out of his daze.
Tori dropped from her perch on the tree like a shadow, landing silently among the brittle leaves with an unnatural grace. The dim orange light of her torch wavered as she descended, casting warped, twitching shapes across the trunks around her. Wind stirred the mist in thin spirals, making her silhouette ripple as if she were melting into the woods.
Without hesitation, she turned and ran, vanishing between the twisted trees, her outline dissolving into the fog like she had never been there at all.
The Valley Demon didn't even flinch. Its seven eyes remained fixed on the wreckage, glinting through the mist. It didn't turn. It didn't move.
The wind whispered around Vlad, threading through the broken timbers and dead branches, tugging at his clothes like unseen fingers.
His mind reeled.
"What the fuck is going on…"
His fingers tightened around the hilt of his blade, the wool of his gloves wet and cold as the fog closed in.
Just then, a shrill cacophony of scraping, groans, and shrieks filled the air, followed by the unmistakable sound of steel clashing.
Two figures emerged from the fog, their presence towering over Lex. Their limbs were elongated and unnatural, bending too far at the joints, their skeletal frames barely concealed by pale, taut skin. The waxy flesh clung to their twisted muscle, stark ridges of bone visible beneath. Unlike the previous creatures, they were devoid of fur, their skin like brittle parchment.
Their arms hung low, swinging with unnatural fluidity like pendulums, ending in jagged claws that scraped against the ground with each step, a chilling sound that echoed in the stillness as they stalked toward Lex.
Lex stood in front of the fiends planted like a wall – sword raised, feet wide, his breath coming in sharp clouds that quickly vanished into the cold.
The fiends snarled, their claws scraping against the frozen earth, dragging through the dead foliage. The sound was like nails on stone, sharp and unnerving. Then, with an explosive motion, they lunged.
Lex moved fast – almost fast enough.
Steel met claws with a shrill, metallic cry, ringing through the cold air. He slashed across one fiend's chest, dark ichor splattering in a wet arc. The stench of decay filled the air, acrid and suffocating.
But the other fiend was faster. It ducked low, its skeletal limbs moving in unnatural angles, and raked its claws across Lex's stomach. The sound was a sickening rip of flesh, followed by the wet slap of blood spilling from the wound.
Lex staggered back, his feet slipping slightly on the wet leaves beneath him, the slick earth pulling at his boots making him drop his torch. He gritted his teeth, clutching his gut, blood seeping into his gloves and dripping in dark streams.
The fiend took a step forward, claws glinting like cruel hooks in the dim light, ready to tear him open. But before it could strike, Vlad slammed into its side, his body colliding like a meteor. His blade drove in – not as deep into the fiend's ribs as he'd hoped – but it hit. Black ichor burst out in a wet, splattering spray.
Damn… Vlad pushed with all his might.
His weight knocked the fiend off balance, its gurgling scream filling the air as it flailed back. Its claws scraped against the wet leaves, sending a chilling sound through the forest. Vlad ripped his weapon free, the blade dragging with a sickening wet sound.
The fiend collapsed, black ichor spurting from its side. It let out a wet, gurgling rasp and twitched – claws scrabbling weakly at the ground, gills twitching.
It tried to rise but collapsed again, limbs trembling, breath rattling in its throat.
Had he hit a weak spot?
There was no time to check. Vlad turned quickly, grabbing Lex with one hand.
"Hold on!"
Don't fucking die!
Lex gritted his teeth, blood still flowing. "Behind you!"
The other fiend – dark blood dripping from its chest – barreled toward them, its sharp claws slicing the air. Vlad barely had time to react before it slammed into his side, sending him rolling several feet across the wet, leaf-littered ground. The sting of the cold dirt and splintered wood scraped at his skin as he came to a stop.
It hissed, its jagged claws scraping against the earth as it went after Lex.
Lex, barely able to stand, pulled his sword from the ground with a strained breath and raised it just in time as the fiend lunged. Steel clashed against bone, a horrible shriek filling the air as the creature's claws scraped across Lex's blade.
Vlad pushed himself to his feet, a sharp pain flaring across his side, breath ragged in the frigid air.
Then it hit him, The noise.
Where's the Valley Demon?!
Panic bloomed in his chest. He started to turn, eyes snapping toward the wreckage, just then, a loud crack echoed from behind him. Something heavy, like wood or stone, falling and rolling.
Vlad's head snapped back, Did she fall?
No, that was too loud.
Just then…
THUD!
A deep, solid impact slammed through the air like it had landed right beside his ear.
Every hair on his body stood on end. A cold shiver ran down his spine, sharp and electric.
He turned around and froze.
His eyes bulged. Cold sweat ran down his temple. His jaw hung open, breath caught in his throat – dry, frozen.