It was too good to be true. Of course, it was, why else would beautiful forest sprites warmly welcome me with food, leisure, medicine, and shelter without a price to pay? I was born to be livestock. I might as well grow feathers and lay eggs or have big fat cow tiddies to produce milk.
"AHHHHH!"
The wrinkled and wretched screeching witches gyrated, using me as their epicenter. I ducked and covered my head as if the pain of getting my liver yanked out of me would lessen.
I was a sitting duck, a deer caught in the headlights, and a sure dead meat. I wonder what I'd taste like if I was used in a hamburger.
Smoyashi and Aki were right even if they couldn't put it into proper words. They knew this world better than I did and if anyone should be trusted, I should have put my faith into them more.
I already guessed what they must have thought while I went with Matina. ''They're going to eat you, you idiot!'
"Smoy smoy!"
Spheres of white light zapped the monsters away from me. Smoyashi and Aki were standing by the entrance. My utter hopelessness transformed into profound hope.
"Meooow!"
Snot trailed down my lips. I scrambled to my knees.
"I—I'm coming!"
Matina and the chieftain chased us out of the house. The heads of the other sprites snapped with a loud crack towards our direction. Their smooth and tender beauty crumpled into desiccated wood with smiles that pulled into a long stretch. Hairy spider legs pierced out from their slender figures, blood gushing out with each limb coming out. Smoyashi kept throwing zaps of light to slow them down.
"You guys came for me, why?"
It wasn't the time to be dramatic; however, I wanted to express my gratitude before we cross the afterlife together. If only I wasn't a vulnerable and desperate moron, they wouldn't have risked themselves to a place they knew was dangerous.
Aki stopped running and closed his eyes.
"Now is not the time to take a dump!" I scolded.
Blue orbs of ghostly light lifted from the soil. Aki's red eyes opened with a blue glint that stayed for a second. The lights slammed against the sprites; the orbs exploded like balloons filled with water. The witches sizzled and wailed as if their bodies were splashed with acid and not water.
The head of the village who was double the size of most of the deteriorated sprites waltzed in and spun, releasing green mossy spores that healed her damaged underlings.
Their starved and twig-like arms outstretched to our group; an orchestra of grating screams pushed and squished the three of us together. A rough hand grabbed me by my neck, my body hung from the ground. Each of us were smothered by intruding hands that wanted to peel us like a banana.
I thrashed my legs, managing to kick the one holding me up. The emaciated arm broke from my squirming; I fell on my buttocks. Another arm swung to get me, but I dodged and threw my head back before a sudden yank to my neck pulled me forward and down to my knees and hands. I was faced with a black ribbon lying on the ground. Grabbing the ribbon, I crawled through the enclosure of spider legs and quickly climbed a rope ladder that led to a tree house.
"Hey, over here!" I shouted at Smoyashi and Aki, who were the juicy apples of the monsters' eyes. All of the corrupted villagers were focused on them. Should I escape? This could be my only chance.
I turned around, staring at the exit of the village. My cold and trembling hands smacked my cheeks. I took several deep breaths to think. I want to live…without the guilt of leaving anyone behind.
I climbed halfway down the rope ladder, swung myself to a nearby tree trunk and twisted around with the ladder to kick myself back to the horde.
"Smoyashi, Aki, I'm coming!"
My entire body swayed with the ladder and collided with a few corrupted sprites. "Grab on–uh oh!"
The branch where the rope was tied snapped. Fate had to balance the amount of bad luck and luck I had. Smoyashi and Aki gave me disappointed looks with a slight wave of their heads.
"I tried, okay?!"
Sharp legs staked both sides of my head. Blood drained from my face. Another limb made its hasty descent to pierce through my thick skull. A scream broke loose from my throat that was followed by a white flash of light that took the monsters and me by surprise. A white bubble isolated the three of us from the monsters. Smoyashi was glowing like a lantern. A resonating wave smote the corrupted villagers into different directions. Aki and I stared at each other, disbelieving what we witnessed. There was a moment of peace. I didn't even realize that the cat responded to my high-five.
"That was awesome, Smoyashi!"
"Meow, meooow!"
"Smoy…smoy…"
Our grins were wiped away when the sprout twirled on its feet and its eyes comically spun. It burst into a thick white smog and a giant mushroom took its place. More villagers came to try their luck in the buffet.
"Now is not the time to be a mushroom!"
"Meow Meow!" Aki second the notion. I grabbed the two of them before we could end up getting surrounded again. The bindle that Smoyashi carried around was outside the village waiting to be retrieved. Its weight didn't matter with the adrenaline that was pumping through my veins.
"Hold on, Aki!"
I stopped and assessed our direction. This wasn't where we came from but if we went back to the first entrance, we were only planning a get-together with Burger meal. At this point, we were merely finding alternative ways to die a little easier.
There was another small crevice like before underneath a huge tree that we could squeeze into. Swiftly sweeping my eyes to see if those things were near us, we dove inside and crouched.
"Aki, shhh, play dead…" I placed my finger against the cat's nose and kept watch.
Smoyashi was unconscious in the small space. It had utilized all its strength and energy to that detonation. We would just have to wait for it to wake up before we could plan our next course of action.
It had progressively become silent. The wood monsters could still be discerned from afar, so I didn't want to take risks. My adrenaline slowly withdrew from my system. My heartbeat slowed down. I was spooked, but the enervation outweighed the constant overthinking. Aki curled and slept beside the sprout. They looked serene and content even if the entire world was out to dip us into Sriracha sauce.
We made a good team. My eyes opened and I smiled when I saw that I was still in one piece even after that nap.
"Let's–"
Aki had eaten Smoyashi. There was not a piece of mushroom left. The last piece was the one the cat was chewing. I slapped myself in hopes that this was a weird nightmare, but it wasn't. The slap hurt. My blood refused to warm me up.
"What have you done?!"
He hissed at me, not being himself again. I attempted to grab the cat but only managed to remove the ribbon that was tied around the bar that struck his chest.
Horrendous faces of the wicked wood monsters all at once plunged at the entrance of the hole. Hysterical wails flooded the hole, and we were plucked like cherry tomatoes.
"Get off of me! Let me go! Help!"
The sprites fought amongst each other on who gets the first bite. While it was a tug-of-war for them it was a life-and-death situation for us.
"Aki! Aki!"
The cat's growl and snarls rolled out like an engine that were interrupted by angry thunderous bolts of feline snarls. The sound grew harsher and stronger and suddenly...he grew silent.
Dead silent.
"Aki...AKI!!! Are you okay?!"
He was dead.
I will be too.
Oh God.
Oh God!
My eyes welled up with tears. The monsters crowded my sight. I didn't have any fight left in me. I lied there with my elbows propping my upper body.
"Meow."
That was not from a cat.
Rays of light erupted from the huddle of kindling monstrosities from where Aki was supposed to be. A tall shadow leaped and flopped to sit on a high tree branch. A white cloak imprinted with blue leaves was covering his head and back. There were red ropes dangling at the corners of the cloak. He held a small string instrument and strummed a very...intense tune. His fingers were fast and precise before he left the instrument to play by itself and jumped down.
He brought out two red fans with his black paws and began to dance. A long stretch of water formed out of nowhere. He fluidly controlled the element and thwacked them. Their bodies released an oozing amount of smoke as they were struck by the nimble and graceful dance. Their bodies dispersed into black and dim bubbles. It was like watching a performance in the festival. The song disappeared with the sprites' vanishing into smoke. The man bent on his four limbs. He stretched and wretched like a cat trying to vomit a hairball.
"Uhh...hello?"
A familiar white limb raised the blanket. A smile smacked on my lips even when I was flabbergasted by whatever was happening. It was useless to question things by now.
"Smoy Smoy!"
I translated its words into 'Ta-dah!' from how proud and smug it appeared from fooling me.
"Who is that Smoyashi?" I pointed at the stranger.
A giant black panther came out of the cloak. My jaw dropped.
"How the heck did you get so big and wait... weren't you a man a few seconds ago?!"
"Meow?"
He didn't sound like a sweet kitten asking for tuna now. He sounded like he would ask for my arm or leg. Aki was approximately two meters tall now. Maybe I was hallucinating about him being a man. He could have been just standing on his hinds. The tip of his tail was lit with blue fire. Smoyashi got on his back; I was invited by the sprout to do the same.
"How did this happen?" I queried, not expecting a proper, logical, and straight answer from the two of them.
"Smoysmoysmoysmosymoysmoy! Smoy smoy smoy! Smoy smoy smoy! Smoy," it explained to me.
"Meow," Aki added.
"Knew it, thanks for trying."