"I was filled with horror. Not only had the 'villagers' attempted to summon some demon - no, they had even failed at it and were ruthlessly destroyed by some other creature - they were also on the verge of trying again. I realized this as they started murmuring the name again shortly after the eyes disappeared, as if they were in a trance.
'Bogandural.'
This time the earth trembled. It may have been due to the giants of 'villagers' jumping around wildly. Either way...
I had enough and just wanted to go home. So, I made my way from the clearing into the thickets of the forest.
That was when I realized that I had lost all my weapons.
'Oh, crap,' I thought to myself as I searched my entire body, naively hoping that my weapons had somehow gotten tangled up with my body. This was not the case, as I quickly realized with disappointment.
"Quickly come into the forest. Hehe."
I heard an artificially high voice from the woods.
"I won't bite. Hehe."
It seemed obvious to me that whoever this voice belonged to would bite me. Therefore, I took a few steps back, turned around, and as I continued to hear the 'villagers' calling the name, I realized why I was pretty much screwed."
"Shit. What should I do now? Should I go back to the crazies or into the forest to an obvious trap setter?" I thought to myself and couldn't find an answer.
While I stood there like a fool thinking, I heard two familiar voices. They were Kael and Milo, and I couldn't remember the name of the third person who was with Kael - it didn't seem important to me.
"Let us come with you," they called out, as if we were best friends on our way to an adventure. Milo was even dressed like an elf, which caused me great unease given the body structure and overall appearance of a "villager." And in contrast, Kael was now dressed like someone who wanted to sell you their junk. "We'll be good."
I didn't believe their innocent-looking eyes for a second.
"No," I answered bluntly and went into the forest.
"Hehe."
I stopped.
"Oh crap!" I thought again when I heard the artificially high voice again.
I was surrounded by - as I found out - idiots!
"Leave me alone!" I growled at the voice from the forest and continued into the woods, bumping into a stranger who was standing in the shadows - a Suhnshi, like me.
"Hehe. There you are," the Suhnshi whispered and smiled at me, but his eyes were empty. And I don't mean emotionless, no, his eye sockets were empty. There was no eyeball in them. In general, the guy didn't look very healthy.
Startled by the sight, I took a few steps back. I heard rustling behind me.
"Hehe. You don't have to be afraid, I come here often and the Sykrolans love me," the Suhnshi tried to reassure me, his smile turning into a grin. His lazy breath reached me.
I wasn't afraid, but that didn't mean I didn't feel some fear at the sight.
"Hehe. I have a name, and it is..."
I didn't hear his name because his introduction was interrupted by Kael's voice.
"There you are. We were supposed to go on an adventure trip!"
'I never agreed to that,' I thought to myself, but was grateful that the two of them had apparently, maybe obviously, followed me.
"Ah, yes. Nice to see you guys here," I spoke to the two of them and then turned back to the Suhnshi. "But I have to go now. Bye."
With that, everything was said, and I thought I could leave.
I was wrong.
"Borgandural?" Kael and Milo asked in disbelief at the same time, staring at the Suhnshi.
"Hehe. Yes." The "yes" from his mouth had taken on a horrifying tone, and the forest canopy opened up, shining light directly on Borgandural. That's when I saw the rotting flesh for what it was, and how he grew ten times his size. "Hehe. Hihihihiihihihihihihihijh"
His grin widened and took on unnatural features.
"We worship you, oh Bogandural!" Kael and Milo fell to their knees. Bogandural began drooling and approached Milo, bending down to him. Then he grabbed Milo's leg with two claws, squeezed tightly, ripped it out and put it in his mouth, chewing on it. But Milo didn't scream in pain, instead he laughed and shouted even louder:
"I WORSHIP YOU, OH BOGANDURAL!"
I shouted at Milo, "What's wrong with you?" But Milo only had eyes for Bogandural. And Bogandural tilted his head 180 degrees downward and spoke to me with blood-dripping lips:
"Hihi. You'll be next." Then he tore piece after piece from Milo.
Meanwhile, I tried to flee, but it was as if I was under a spell. I trembled all over, and if I had had a little more to drink that day, I would have wet myself for sure.
(Adán had forgotten that he had been swimming in a stream before the same day and had enjoyed drinking the water there.)
Kael whispered to me. I looked at him questioningly. He made a twitching motion with his head towards the west, and his questioning gaze met mine. I nodded cautiously. I thought Kael and I wanted to quickly flee to the west, but before I could do anything, Kael screamed, "A bird!" and pointed to the west.
What did I expect from such an idiot? Bogandural was busy with Milo's head when he suddenly perked up, first at Kael, then at me, and then stared towards the west. Six exoskeletal legs sprouted from his back, and an impossibly long tongue shot out of his mouth towards the west. Within seconds, eight birds were caught in his mouth and were being crunched to bits.
I started to run. I just wanted to leave this place behind me and hoped Bogandural wouldn't follow me. But he didn't have to. When I found myself back in the village, all the "villagers" - the Sykrolans as Bogandural called them - had become copies of Bogandural.
A voice came from the Copies that shook me to the bone. "I told you, you're next."