The Valley Demon stood tall – an obscene mountain of flesh and bone – its hulking body blotting out what little sunlight filtered through the fog. Its form was massive, almost too big to comprehend at once, limbs rippling with unnatural strength. The mist clung to its skin like smoke over stone, curling around its jagged silhouette.
In one of its massive arms, it raised that twisted, club-like weapon–not forged, but grown–a grotesque, organic mass. It hovered high in the air, every fiber of the Demon's monstrous frame coiled and ready to strike.
Vlad's eyes snapped downward.
Below, barely holding on, Lex was locked in a desperate struggle. One of the fiends had him pinned against a half-toppled trunk, its claws just inches from his throat. Lex's blade trembled in his grip, his boots slipping on the wet earth and scattered leaves.
"LEX! GET OUT OF THERE!" Vlad roared, his voice raw with panic.
Just as he shouted, the massive, club-like appendage swung down from above, crashing through the air with bone-shaking force. The ground trembled, the ground beneath them groaning as if the forest itself was about to give way.
The sound was deafening. The air whooshed with the rush of wind, dirt, and dead foliage scattering in every direction. The fiend, which had been moments from tearing into Lex, was obliterated in an instant. The monstrous appendage smashed through its body with sickening force, splattering it against the ground, the remains flying apart in a gruesome spray of black ichor and mangled flesh.
Lex threw himself to the side, the massive blow missing him by inches.
Barely.
He stumbled, breath ragged, eyes wide with shock, his foot slid on the slick carpet of dead foliage.
He toppled backward with a grunt, lost his footing, and tumbled down the slope, crashing through the underbrush, his sword slicing a chunk of bark from a passing trunk before he vanished into the fog.
A low hiss escaped the Valley Demon–deep, guttural, like steam from a boiling pit–as its massive head turned, its seven eyes locking onto Vlad in eerie unison.
Vlad's pulse hammered in his ears.
"Shit..."
His feet moved before thought could catch up. Instinct screamed louder than reason.
He turned and bolted down the slope before death closed in, heart jackhammering in his chest, hoping to regroup with Lex and the brown-haired girl.
But the soaked, leaf-littered earth betrayed him. His boot slipped on the wet mess of rotting foliage, and he crashed down hard, his ass slamming against the ground.
With a jolt, he slid downhill–arms flailing–leaves and dirt spraying up around him as he careened down the slope like a panicked child on a water slide, but with the roar of a monster behind him instead of laughter.
He tried to look back at the Valley Demon but didn't see anything due to the fog and leaves flying everywhere.
Vlad kept sliding, faster than he could've ever run. He didn't try to slow down–couldn't afford to. His arms blocked dirt, leaves and other debris from hitting his face, boots scraping uselessly against the slick earth. He kept glancing to his right whenever he could–blinking past the blur–desperate to spot Lex through the fog.
He had no idea how far down the slope the others had gone, only that every second counted, and slowing down meant death.
Just then, his legs slammed into something hard.
Huh–
The thought barely formed before his body was airborne. He was flung forward, face-first into the dirt. He hit the ground and rolled–once, twice–before finally coming to a breathless stop. His head spun. The world tilted as he forced himself to his feet, boots unsteady beneath him.
He looked up the hill he'd come down, now nothing but a wall of fog. Thick. Impossibly dense. The slope had vanished behind that gray curtain, as if the earth itself had been swallowed whole.
Then a groan came from his left.
Lex? Vlad turned, still dizzy, shaking his head until his vision began to steady. He blinked, breath ragged, and scanned the trees.
Flat ground... he realized, eyes darting across the mist-shrouded clearing.
Vlad planted his sword into the ground to steady himself. The cold metal hummed beneath his hand.
He opened his mouth to call out but stopped himself.
No… He stared into the fog. I can't see it anymore. Which means it probably can't see me either.
If I just stay quiet… I might be able to get away.
The groans came again but softer now, more distant. Vlad turned toward them, staggering a few steps as pain throbbed through his shins from the impact. His legs threatened to buckle, but he forced himself upright and wiped off the foliage clinging to the blade.
After twenty to thirty seconds of cautious steps, Vlad reached the source of the groans.
The groans indeed came from the green haired man–Lex.
He was lying on what looked like a bed of wet leaves, the sheer amount clinging to and scattered around him making it clear he'd dragged most of them down with him during his fall. His back was flat against the ground, legs still angled uphill, twisted slightly at the knees, boots half-buried in the forest debris.
His chest rose and fell in ragged gasps, each breath sharp and uneven. His left hand was pressed tightly to his abdomen, dark blood seeping into his black gloves and running down his side in sluggish lines. The red soaked into the folds of his shirt and pooled beneath him.
At the crunch of leaves beneath Vlad's boots, Lex turned his head slowly, eyes glassy with pain but narrowing slightly in recognition.
Water droplets still clung to Vlad's chin, and a beige bottle was clutched in his ungloved hand as he walked over, dropped to a crouch beside Lex and whispered, "Get up. We need to get as far away from here as possible."
He grabbed Lex by the upper arms and steadied him, feeling the tremble in the man's frame as he pulled him upright.
Lex barely managed to stand. His knees shook, and his body hunched with pain, one hand still pressed to his side.
"Water?" Vlad extended the water bottle.
Lex's face twitched from the pain as he met Vlad's gaze and gave a single nod, whispering, "Yeah."
He's quick to catch on, Vlad thought, putting his glove back on, eyes flicking toward the fog-drenched slope behind them then back to him. It was good to choose you from the start.
He didn't show his thoughts on his face.
Lex gulped down the water and washed away the filth on his face.
"It's cold–"
Right then a scream ripped through the fog. Shrill, panicked, and close. A woman's voice!
Vlad's head snapped toward the sound.
The woman?!
He bit his lips, pulse spiking. Should we just…
But before the thought could settle, Lex caught his eyes. He hissed, panicked, "Shit! She has no way of defending herself!" as he sprinted toward the source of the scream, his footing unsure but determined, throwing leaves in the air.
"Damn it," Vlad hissed.
He followed, hesitation dropping from his steps like dead weight. I swear, if we get into danger because of this…
But he overtook Lex quickly–his companion slowed by the deep wound in his side–as another scream tore through the woods again, even more desperate than before:
"HELP! PLEASE!"
It came from just downhill, somewhere beyond the bushes and the crooked stones. The kind of scream that didn't leave room for doubt. She was terrified!
They rushed downhill, boots thudding over the damp earth, leaves crunching and scattering beneath every frantic step. The cold bit at their skins as the slope steepened. Branches came clawing at them from both sides like the forest itself wanted them to turn back.
Suddenly, from the thick fog ahead, a low-hanging branch lashed into Vlad's path. He ducked just in time–bark grazing his hair as it whipped past.
Out of the corner of his eye, something shifted in the mist. Fast. Wrong.
There.
His body reacted before his mind did. He dragged his heel hard into the ground, stopping his slide in a burst of wet leaves. The momentum nearly sent him forward, but he planted his sword deep into the dirt with a grunt, steadying himself just short of a roll.
He hissed under his breath, "This way."
Lex mirrored him a heartbeat later, skidding to a stop beside him.
A scream erupted from the exact direction the figure had vanished, confirming his sight.
Vlad's boots struck flat ground for the second time. The sudden stop jolted through his legs, and he recoiled from the inertia, stumbling a step before straightening himself.
He lifted his head and his eyes flew open.
Something flew through the fog.
A head.
It spun through the air, flung like trash, its face twisted in frozen terror with deep claw marks carved across the cheeks, mouth open in a final scream.
Brown hair matted with blood.
His chest locked up.
No–
It was her.
The brown-haired woman...
Vlad's heart stopped as his gaze locked with the lifeless eyes mid-air. For one suspended moment, the world held its breath.
Then the head hit the ground with a soft, wet thud, rolled once, then came to a dead stop on the leaf-littered earth.
Behind him, Lex came barreling out of the fog. He dropped low, catching himself by a low-hanging branch, his body swinging slightly as momentum fought to throw him forward.
His breath caught in his throat before he could say a word. His eyes bulged as they took in the scene in front.
Thud!
The body landed just behind it, crashing into the leaves with enough force to send them bursting into the air like scattered ash. Blood gushed from the ragged stump where her neck had once been, soaking the ground in a spreading pool of red.
The fog swirled gently around them. Quiet, cold, and suffocating.
Just the sound of blood dripping into dead leaves reached their ears.