Yoel moved swiftly through the cover of the night.
Fallen leaves and plants bent under his foot as he ran, sweat running down his face.
At first glance, it would look as if he's running mindlessly, with no objective in sight.
But in reality, he had all the reason to be running this way.
Firstly, he had heard muffled, human voices from that direction.. and secondly..
The clicking noise he heard from earlier was steadily growing louder, and at a threatening pace.
A mile away, perhaps. Maybe two. Yoel estimated.
Outwardly, he seemed calm, way too calm. But deep within, his mind was racing. What could he do, in this situation?
Would it be smart to stop and face whatever it was that was making the clicking noises? Or would he place himself in fate's hand and pray that the group ahead didn't have ill intentions.
Maybe the group ahead was engaged in battle, as well.
To hell with it, damn. Yoel inwardly cursed and halted his run.
He equipped his spear, but left his dagger sheathed on his hip. He wasn't confident in using it, just yet.
As he prepared mentally, the clicking noise grew louder and louder.
500 meters.. 300 meters.. 200.. 100.. 20…
Finally, the cause of the clicking noise had shown itself.
It was not one, but many creatures that were the culprits.
Yoel counted at least a dozen creatures tall enough to reach his knees.
All of them carried a putrid smell, armed with many rows of sharp and deadly teeth.
Yoel flinched upon seeing them for what they were.
Hurriedly, he got into a familiar stance with his spear. He was ready to fight, and die too, probably.
The creatures folded in on themselves, mouths open, clicking noise growing even more louder, now sounding as if they mocked Yoel.
Without wasting even a second, they sprung onto Yoel, with the intention of biting his head off.
Yoel readied his spear with all that he could learn in a span of a month, and as they flung onto him, he skillfully pierced one right at the core of it, its mouth.
It felt weird. There were sharp teeth that met the tip of his spear, and then there was flesh and then something more. After piercing the springy flesh, he felt as if he had pierced something else, an organ, perhaps.
As the spear protruded through the back of the disgusting creature, it covered the spear with dark blue blood.
However, his quick and clean execution did not reward him all that much. There were 11 more bloodthirsty creatures right behind this one.
Without hesitation and without stopping to lose his momentum, he sidestepped onto a patch of grass.
Successfully, he avoided the ferocious lunge of the other creatures.
The wild arrangement of the jungle proved to be quite lethal, however.
An unassuming vine laid in the path of Yoel's foot, and like the God Of Luck had cursed him, he tripped over it and fell backwards, on his behind.
Complaints and curses escaped his mouth.
Just as he had fallen, the worm-like creatures were regaining their balance. Drool escaped their circular mouths, and they folded in on themselves again.
Yoel hurried to regain his balance, his hands still shook from the impact of the fall and the shock of it.
Awkwardly holding his spear, Yoel prepared to take them on again. This time however, the worms had won the benefit of the doubt.
As they sprung into the same lunge as before, the fallen leaves and plants scattered in all directions.
This time, the lunge of the worms seemed.. stronger, faster.
The first worm had only grazed him, managing to redirect its trajectory just in time with the tip of his spear, and in return giving it a somewhat deep cut.
Blood both red and blue spilled, the quantity of the blue blood overwhelming the red, and they continued to fight.
After the first worm, Yoel didn't have time to properly ready his spear for the next and it cost him.
The second worm managed to latch onto his arm and began to bite away at it with new vigor.
Like writhing tentacles, the feeling of panic creeped up Yoel's legs as he struggled against the worm.
The quantity of red blood on the ground was now slowly increasing, threatening to overtake its blue counterpart.
Things were dire, his future seemed uncertain. These critters proved to be a bigger challenge than expected. A fatal miscalculation for Yoel, and maybe even his last one.
I better pull myself together right now, otherwise I'll be ripped apart later.
His expression was grim, his resolve wavering. The parasites readied their attacks once again.
***
A group of four sat around a campfire. They contemplated their plans, while also including small talk here and there.
The group's prime concern, which was to mainly regroup, was all but finished. The only person missing was Yoel.
"If we're being realistic, he's probably dead by now. Nobody can survive in this.. hell alone. The creatures are active at all times, because the thick leaves block all signs of sunlight." Loki exclaimed, slightly irritated.
He bent his body forward, letting the campfire light up the features of his face.
"If it makes such a difference that he's not here, then have at it. I personally don't care if he's here or not." said Vasil, absentmindedly.
He sat somewhere away from the campfire, avoiding the light but also sitting close enough so heat radiated towards him.
"Are we being serious here? Yeah, you guys may be able to keep up by yourselves and whatnot but manpower will always be needed. Besides, what differentiates us from monsters if we decide to abandon our teammate here?"
Cole expressed in a heavy tone, mainly to Loki. It was a dangerous move he was making, yet his wordplay was immaculate.
Loki leaned back, the log which he sat on made it slightly uncomfortable to stay in one position for a long time. He put on a thoughtful expression, as if really considering what Cole had said. It seems that what he said had worked.
At the words of Cole, the only female of the cohort looked at his direction, and spoke.
"I suppose, it would be morally wrong to leave him behind. Besides, he seems like quite the interesting person. He has this.. weird aura around him, and his personality seems as if it's adapting to how we act, I don't know if we should be concerned.. or not."
Cole makes a questioning expression, then thinks to himself.
Now that she brings it up, it always felt as if his eyes were hazy. As if they had no direction. Huh? What a weird thing.
When he realized he had been thinking for too long, he flinched and awkwardly nodded at her.
"Well then, we should rest till day, utilize whatever sunlight we can get, I guess." said Cole.
"Light, huh? There's no need to wait for the sun, then." Lilith spared time for no questions, and stood up.
She began chanting in a language unbeknownst to them. It sounded.. ancient. Alien, even. Whatever she was calling out to seemed to be out of their reach, both in the material and immaterial plane.
Incomprehensible light particles swarmed her body as she chanted, coating her body in a heavenly aura almost.
The same aura that had once coated her pristine white skin, now flew outwards, in front of her.
The mass of yellowish white light particles swirled together. Soon enough, they condensed into each other and formed a single orb of pure light, of pure energy.
The scene was magical, in every way. The members of the cohort turned to stare at her in awe and even Vasil moved his eyes to the strange phenomenon.
So this is.. an Enigma.
The light exuding from the orb did not seem artificial at all, it painted them and their surroundings in a comfortable light.
For a second, it really looked like they stood as witnesses to an angel's ascension to heaven.
Lilith smirked at the stares she was receiving and nodded.
"Well, what are you all waiting for? Let's go."
***
Yoel's condition was growing worse by the minute.
Minute? This felt like hours.
He tiredly swung at one of the parasites, his spear blade managing to land a deep cut on its springy flesh.
Out of the 12, now 8 remained. He had managed to take out four of them, the fourth just now.
However, his winnings did not come without losses. His body was covered in terrible lacerations, what was once pristine was now covered by ugly wounds, red and blue mixed together on his body and dripped onto a puddle which formed under him.
No matter how bloodied he was, he still held onto his spear and he still took the familiar stance of the spear.
He wouldn't let this be the end of him, he couldn't.
The parasites now readied a different attack, an attack that was meant to finish off Yoel for good. The battle was fun, but they were getting hungry.
They would feast on their prey, a feast it shall be.
But then,
A blinding orb of light put a swift end to those thoughts.