Staring at the strange creature, still posing, Ray couldn't bring himself to utter a word.
'Haha...a Spirit...and some Woods...
IS THIS DAY NEVER GONNA END?!'
"Hohoo. Hume, are you so impressed you can't say anything?
Understandable, Understandable...No being cannot be awed, faced with this Spirit. But do not ogle too much, this one's Minions don't like that.
And do not look at me with those hollow eyes, one may think this one did something to you."
Still disturbed over the weird display he just witnessed, Ray resolved never to question any more happenings this world would throw at him. For the sake of his own mental health.
He stood up, dusted himself off and attempted to hold a proper conversation with the self-proclaimed Spirit.
"Sorry, I-"
"You are excused! This Spirit is quite magnanimous, isn't it?"
"?"
Raising its chin, the Spirit seemed pleased with itself for forgiving Ray, which only confused him in turn. The odd style of conversing and abrupt interruption wasn't something he was used to, but since he made up his mind to get some information out of this curiosity, he steeled himself not to get angry no matter what it says or does and continued.
"Sure...anyways, my name is Ray, and you said these are the Woods of Aloray? Could you tell me more?"
As Ray spoke, the Spirits face quickly became red. It put its hands on its hips and shouted.
"ALQUORAI, WOODS OF ALQUORAI! And what is there to tell? The Woods are the Woods; everyone knows that?"
'This won't get me anywhere...I better change the subject.'
"So are there any other Spirits here? You said you have Minions, right?"
"Huhuhu, of course, of course. Someone as great as me obviously has his followers. Come out!"
"!"
The trees shaking and bushes rattling, more and more people showed themselves, all around the two. Unlike the spirit, these people were, without exception, tall, lean and muscular. This overly similar creepy physique knew no gender bounds, as even the women looked almost identical to the men, with only their privates differentiating them.
None of them had any facial expression, looking stiff and unnaturally placid. Their long and pointy ears gave away that they were not human..or at least not of a race Ray knew of. The most noticeable feature of them though was the eyes which, much like the Spirits, didn't have any iris or pupil, being entirely white.
'F*ck! I've been played!'
"HAHAHA, You didn't notice anything, did you?!
This Spirit knows EVERYTHING that happens in this part of the forest, so when you ran into my territory like a madman this one's Minions were already following you! But don't be afraid little Hume, this one won't hurt you.
You will have the privilege of becoming part of my Lõtv, just like them, be honored! "
As soon as these words dropped, all the Lõtv leaped forward with astonishing speed. Ray had almost no time to prepare himself for the assault when the first one was already near him.
Not wanting to get imprisoned for a second time, he threw a straight punch, thinking he'd get entangled in a dogfight. Unexpectedly the blow connected and the Lõtv went down, without standing up again.
'What?! So easily?'
Anticipating an entirely different outcome, Ray was taken aback for a short moment but came back to reality as the next Lõtv tried to take him down from behind.
Kicking it in the gut, he realized, that he wasn't made out to be a fighter. The aching pain in his limbs was already distorting his face, but he had to persevere. Else he would be, once again, at someone's mercy.
His inability to properly fight didn't seem to be much of a problem in this case, since none of the Lõtv could take more than one hit without slumping over. As if cut from a string they stopped moving, eyes still open, face unaffected and calm.
He fought with everything he had, punching, kicking, biting and scratching, as long as it brought these eerie beings down, but the sheer number of them took its toll on Ray's stamina. He knew he couldn't sustain his struggle much longer and looked for a better way out, than beating them all to the ground.
After a quick search, his eyes fixated on the Spirit, who was cheering and rooting with big movements on top of the stone.
'That's it!'
Having decided his course of action, Ray charged ahead, straight through anything that stood in his way. The Lõtv clawed and beat him, but ultimately couldn't stop the man driven into a corner. Drawing closer with every step he took, Ray could already imagine himself holding the small Spirit hostage, thus escape from these lunatics. But the nearer he came, the fiercer the attacks of the Lõtv became, ultimately leading to them latch onto his legs and hips, slowing Ray's advance to a snail's pace.
He gnashed his teeth, strained every muscle in his body and tried to shake them off, progress just one step further, closer to the Spirit...closer to his freedom.
Eventually, every Lõtv still standing was grabbing directly onto him or another one that did. Ray knew it was impossible to move even one more meter in the direction of the Spirit, but couldn't bring himself to give up. All the bottled up emotions, he accumulated over this long day, exploded, making him more stubborn and determined than he had ever been.
"F*CK, F*CK, F*CK!!! WHY DO AS*HOLES LIKE YOU KEEP POPPING UP THIS WHOLE GODDAMN DAY?!
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS WORLD?!"
At that moment all the Lõtv together with the Spirit stopped moving. The smile it wore since the beginning vanished, turning into pure indifference.
"The World? You think the WORLD is at fault?! Hume, have you ever thought about what makes this World like it is? Why you are being preyed upon and why you can never win, no matter how much you struggle?"
"It is because you are WEAK! You have no power, no authority, nothing that could stop any common beggar to stomp on you and end your pathetic life!
Not the World is at fault for being cruel! No, it's your sin for being powerless!"
Having said so far the Spirit got down from the rock and approached Ray until he was just a hairs length away from him. His expression returned to what it was before, only with a vicious undertone within.
"So Hume, let this one give you a choice. Become willingly one of my Lõtv, and no one shall ever again trample over your pride...or risk another vain attempt defying the inevitable to satisfy your petty ego. It's your decision."
Ray looked into the Spirits eyes, not knowing how many seconds or even minutes passed. He realized, giving in to it was the only way to live and resisting wouldn't do him any good, but seeing the smug grin, this fairy prick had, the anger that exploded just a moment ago came to the forefront again.
"Hehehe, you see, I may not look like it, but my petty ego is quite big, so....no thanks!"
Without any prior indication, Ray stretched his neck as much as he could and bit straight into the Spirits neck. Everything seemed to go red as blood spurted all around, its iron heavy taste filling his mouth, streaming down his throat.
"AAAHHHH! HOW DARE YOU LOWLY HUME!
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR! GET HIM OFF ME!"
The Lõtv who clang to him tried to pull him off the Spirit with the others going around attempting to separate them with everything they had.
Ray, however, was adamant and didn't budge one bit. With every tug he bit harder, ripping into the tender flesh of the Spirit like a wild beast.
The Spirit seemed to get more desperate with every passing moment, his screaming louder and more crazed. Oddly enough the Lõtv got weaker, instead of the Spirit whose blood flooded the ground. Ray noticed this phenomenon and steeled his resolve to see this through.
Distracted by such thoughts, he missed to detect the roots and vegetation around them slowly creeping up on him. The Spirit, on the other hand, flashed a savage smile when the plants coiled around Ray's legs. It stopped fighting against him, relaxed its body and awaited the soon to come payback.