The creature stepped into the moonlight. It was small, with pointed ears and a mischievous grin. It held Walloughby in its tiny hands, stroking the parrot's feathers.
"Nice parrot you got there," I called out, trying to sound braver than I felt.
The Duende hissed at me, its eyes glowing brighter. Walloughby squawked in alarm.
"Okay, what's the plan?" I whispered to Pororo.
The Duende glared at us, its tiny teeth bared in a snarl. It lunged at me, but Pororo was faster. H transformed into an adult size tiger and he leapt and tackled the creature to the ground. I was stunned to move. I didn't think he could do that.
"Quick, the book!" Pororo shouted, struggling to keep the Duende pinned.
I fumbled with the Eldest Bestiary, my hands shaking as I cast the spiel,"By moon's light and shadows deep, Return to your eternal keep," a beam of light shot out, enveloping the Duende. It writhed and struggled, then vanished into the book with a final, ear-piercing shriek.
We both sat there, panting, the adrenaline still coursing through our veins.
"We did it," I breathed, relief washing over me.
Pororo grinned, still holding the book. "Nice work, kid."
The pets appeared one by one and turned to light orbs shotting from all directions. "What was that?" I asked. "Those are the captured pets returning to their owner," said Pororo. Walloughby still perched on my shoulder, squawking happily.
As we returned home, the city lights flickering around us, I couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. That felt very easy and for some reason, the book did not notify me or anything that a beast has been captured. I shrugged it off as nothing and we headed home.
Walloughby is safely back in his cage. Kanao was ecstatic, petting her parrot. Dad smiled, ruffling my hair.
"Nice work son," he said.
As I collapsed into bed, exhausted, the sense of unease earlier disturbed me so I summoned the book to see if the Duende was really sealed there but what I saw was a blank page. "What the???" I called Pororo when a sudden noise jolted me from where I sat. Pororo was already alert, his ears twitching.
"What was that?" I whispered.
Pororo's eyes narrowed. "I don't know, but it came from outside."
We crept to the window, peering into the darkness. The moonlight cast strange shadows, and the night was eerily silent. Suddenly, a figure darted across the yard.
"Did you see that?" I hissed.
Pororo nodded. "Let's check it out. Be careful."
"The page where the Duende was supposed to have been sealed from earlier remains empty!" I told him.
"What a tricky little guy," he replied.
We slipped outside, moving as quietly as possible. The air was thick with tension. We reached the spot where we had seen the figure, but there was nothing there.
"Maybe it was just a shadow," I suggested, trying to keep the fear out of my voice.
Pororo shook his head. "No, something was here. Stay close."
We continued to search, every rustle of leaves making my heart race and the trail lead us back to the park. Suddenly, we heard a low growl. I turned, and there, standing in the shadows, was the actual body of the beast. It was larger than the mirage that we caught earlier, with glowing red eyes and sharp claws.
"Oh, no! This can't be." Pororo exclaimed.
"What? That's not the Duende anymore, that's a Dwarvin," he continued.
"What is that?" Well, you see, beasts are spiritual creatures. Their form evolves when triggered by a strong emotion, either by love, fear, or anguish.
"That Dwarvin is obviously anguished."
"Huh? But why?"
"Look around you…" I looked around me and all I see was a tree that was cutdown, a mound of anthill beneath it was destroyed. It's home was destroyed, maybe by the recent works of renovating the park.
"Duende's are guardians of nature it's usually not harmful, the feel of it's home destroyed and maybe the strange feeling of being surrounded by noisy automobiles all the time might have triggered it.
"So it did not capture the pets for food?" I quizzed.
"No, Duende might have felt an overwhelming sense of duty to free the caged animals and those that are leashed, typical for a guardian of the forest in the spirit realm."
"So it got culture shock in here, it's what you're saying?"
"You can put it that way or whatever but we have to capture it now, in Dwarvin state, Duende's are aggressive and would not hesitate to harm anyone that goes near it."
"What do we do??" I whispered, my voice trembling. The Dwarvin stared at us with an overwhelming malice, it's red eyes piercing through me. Pororo was right, it did mean to harm us.
"Stay calm," Pororo said.
The creature stepped forward; its eyes fixed on us. It bared its teeth, and I could see the muscles tensing under its fur.
"Pororo, I think it's about to attack," I said, my voice shaking.
"Get ready," Pororo replied. "We might need fire, Dwarvin's are afraid of forest fire, atleast we can somehow use something to ignite fire."
"Great, but we don't have any fire," I replied.
I looked around, desperate for a solution. My eyes landed on the garden shed. "There! Maybe there's something in there!"
We sprinted to the shed; the creature hot on our heels. I yanked the door open, rummaging through the tools and supplies. My hand closed around a can of lighter fluid and a box of matches.
"This'll have to do," I said, grabbing them.
Pororo nodded. "Okay, let's do this."
We turned to face the creature, my hands shaking as I doused a rag with the lighter fluid and held it with a stick. I struck a match, lighting the rag. The creature snarled, hesitating at the sight of the flames.
"Stay back!" I shouted, waving the burning rag.
The creature growled, backing away slowly. Pororo and I advanced, keeping the flames between us and the beast.
"Throw it at the beast now!"
"What??"
"The flaming rags, throw it at its body,"
"But it's gonna burn him?" The beast scowled at the flames whimpering like a scared puppy.
"Well, you have to before it escapes."
"No!" I said," Tossing the stick with the flaming rags on it on the ground. I stumped at it repeatedly until the fire died out.
"What are you doing?" Pororo asked.
"I am going to save it." I slowly walked towards the beast.
slowly. I should have been scared, but somehow, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace and calmness. It was as if I knew exactly how the Dwarvin was feeling at that moment, and we had some sort of connection. Instead of fear, I felt a deep sense of sorrow for the creature. It must have been so agonizing for a forest guardian to wake up in a world where trees were scarce and the air was polluted with the smoke belching from automobiles.
The creature did not harm me. As I approached it, I said softly, "It's okay... There you go..."
To my surprise, the creature squeaked in response. I continued, "This isn't your world. You don't have to feel anguished. There are still trees and animals roaming wild, even in this world. I have to seal you back in the book and then one day, I promise to take you back to your home in the spirit world."
The creature seemed to understand what I was saying. Its red eyes softened, and its sharp claws retracted. Slowly, it began to shrink, its monstrous form transforming into that of a cute little elvin creature with tiny green eyes. It held my pinky finger as if to say thank you, and I knew my task was nearly complete. I didn't have to do anything else but seal it back into the book.
Just then, Pororo who had been watching the whole scene in stunned silence, finally found his voice. "How did you communicate with it?" he asked, his eyes wide with disbelief.
"I just felt its fear and anguish welling in my heart," I replied. "I tried to calm it and reassure it that it wasn't in its home anymore."
Pororo shook his head in amazement. "That's incredible. I never would have thought..."
"Sometimes, you just have to listen," I said, glancing down at the little creature still clinging to my finger.
With a gentle smile, I opened the ancient book and, with a soft whisper of the sealing spell, sealed the creature back inside.
"Phew, that was nice..." he complimented as he shrunk back to his stuff toy size form.
"What was that?" I told him.
"What?" Just now you transformed into a full size tiger.
"Well, that means my powers are slowly going back to me the more beast we catch. I told you, I am a chimera. One of my abilities is that I am able to shape-shift." He answered.
"Well next time, how about consider giving me a heads up so I don't get surprised?" I told him as we walked home.
"Okay fine whatever..."
Book: Congratulations on capturing the beast, a new tool has been added in the inventory: Forest Amulet. This tool lets you use skills such as root burst and vine whip to aid you in capturing more mystical beast. You may start utilizing the tool on your next quest. Good luck!