The forest was still.
Orion stood over the dead gryphon, breath ragged, the whisper of the blade still resonating in his mind. Then he heard it again.
A sound
Footsteps.
Heavy. Wrong.
He turned around, looking in every direction, eyes darting, searching for any movement in the shadows between the trees. He hid behind a thick tree trunk, pressing his back to the bark, trying to calm his breath.
Then came a voice.
"You've already been seen, little hunter. No point in hiding."
Orion's body went cold.
From the darkness, something leapt out - fast and twisted. He rolled out just in time, dirt scraping his arms as claws raked the trees behind him.
He stood up to his feet.
The creature was hunched, its limbs unnaturally long, its black nails were jagged and curved like sickles. Its skin was greyish-purple, leathery and stretched tight over sharp bones. Its face was the worst part, long and sunken. Its eyes were yellow and glowed faintly in the dark. Its hair was wet and tangled, sliding to its scalp like seaweed. It reeked of rot, smoke, and something worse-something that reeked of nightmare.
It let out a cracking giggle and crawled closer, joints cracking backwards.
Orion's heart dropped.
A night hag.
He remembered it from the stories- twisted crates from old nightmares, said to ease sleeping souls and wear the skins of its victims.
Orion raised his sword. His arms were trembling. Every part of him screamed to rest. But the Hag didn't care. It pounced again
He blocked the first slash, steel meeting claw. The force almost knocked him back.
The second attack came faster- he dodged, barely.
They clashed again and again, Orion gritting his teeth, swinging wide, trying to drive the monster back. But he was slowing down. His legs burned
Still, the Hag was relentless.
It lashed out, cutting across his shoulder- she hissed, stumbling back. Blood was drawn down his arm.
"No rest," the hag hissed. "Keep resisting it. You'll taste good"
Orion snarled and lunged, slashing wildly. He clipped her side, she shrieked, flailing away- but only for a moment.
He ran. Not out of fear-but to draw her in.
Through the trees, deeper into the forest. To where the trees opened and the road came into view again.
The edge.
"Just a bit more."
He could hear her behind him. Laughing.
The twisted cackle bounced off the trees, mocking him.
"You'll break soon, little star," she rasped."They all do eventually."
He stumbled into a shallow ravine, catching himself on a root. The forest was denser here, the vines tangled like ropes and roots erupting from the ground like veins. He spun around, blade out, but the hag wasn't in sight.
Then she dropped from above.
He barely reacted in time, throwing himself backwards as her claws ripped through the space where his head had been. He rolled, kicking upwards, planting his boot into her chest. She shrieked with fury.
She was fast, but Orion could tell that her rage was making her sloppy
Orion rose to one knee, swiped the sweat from his brow, and lunged. He stuck her shoulder, but he dodged, twisting low, swiping at his legs. HE jumped, barely, and swung his sword down in a wild arc.
The blade grazed her scalp.
"your not trained," she hissed, blood dripping from her matted hair. "You're just lucky"
"Guess I'll have to keep being lucky, then." Orion spat.
She leapt again, jaw wide like a wolf's. Orion dropped, catching her under the chin with the hilt of his sword. She reeled back. He used that moment to run, not to escape, but to reposition. Up a narrow slope, between two stones.
She chased-gibbering, taunting, clawing like a spider over the rocks.
Orion grabbed a branch above him, and he swung around it for momentum. And kicked her square in the face. IT left like hitting stone, but it bought him a second. He dove to the side, grabbed a rock, and launched it into her eye.
She screamed- part rage, part pain- and flailed wildly, slashing trees and tearing dirt. One claw grazed his arm, hot pain eating through him.
He shouted but remained standing.
Blood soaked his sleeve.
"No time. Don't stop."
Orion stepped forward, slashing her thigh. She ducked and grabbed his wrist- her grip was ice and iron. He screamed and slammed his forehead into her, enough to make her loosen her grip. He writhed away, but she tackled him, sending both of them rolling down a slope.
They hit the clearing near the edge of the forest with a sticking crunch.
Orion's vision blurred. His sword fell out of reach
The hag got up first, limping, face twisted in glee and fury. "All that fight. All that noise. Still just a child."
HE tried to crawl, but his limbs her giving out.
The hag raised her claw-
Then came the whistle.
A blur passed in front of him and split the air with sound like a whip crack.
The hag stopped mid-motion.
Something impaled her- long, golden and shimmering.
A red-and-gold staff, taller than any human, protruded through her chest. Pinning her to the road like an insect.
She gagged, sputterd-black ichor pouring from her mouth.
Wukong stood a few feet ahead, yawning.
"Seriously?" he muttered. "I take one nap..."
He waved his hand. The staff vanished from the hag's chest and returned to his hand in a swirl of energy.
The hag writhed in pain on the ground, shrieking like a banshee. Her eyes locked onto Wukong's.
"You… You—You're the—"
"The Walking calamity," Wukong said, casually adjusting his cuffs."Yeah, yeah. I've heard it."
The hag snarled."I only want the foolish human who dared to attack me."
"Uh-huh," Wukong muttered.
"He flicked the staff.
The hag exploded, scattering into black mist that burned away before it touched the ground.
Orion coughed."... was that necessary?"
Wukong looked back and grinned."nah. But it was fun."
He walked over and held out his hand. Orion grabbed it, breathing heavily
"Though you said 'try not to die', don't go wrestle demon grandmothers in the woods."
Wukong shrugged." Take it as another lesson: no one will wait for you to recover."
He patted Orion on the back, then nodded towards the temple.
"Come on. Are you still alive? That means you can train."
AS they walked, Orion looked back at the mark left behind on the road.
He didn't know what was coming next.
But if this was just the start...
He knew he had a very long road ahead of him.