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Sothoryos (III)
Jon's eyes were intently watching a group of large, furry, black animals. Standing behind a tree, he looked carefully, not wanting to get closer. It was the first time he had seen them, but after reading the book on animals, he knew what they were. Gorillas, large and strong. There were some sitting, others walking and seeming to be playing with some smaller ones.
Jon knew they could be dangerous, but compared to other animals, these could be the least aggressive that exist in Sothoryos. Between poisonous, blood-drinking spiders, snakes capable of swallowing a grown man, bipedal lizards with scythes for claws, and carnivorous fish, these gorillas could actually be considered friendly. Of course, Jon had no intention of attacking them or getting close. Walking carefully to make as little noise as possible, he deviated from his path to pass by the sides of what looked like the home of that group of gorillas.
And as he headed south, Jon felt the weight on his shoulders lessen. Yeen, the ruined city created from that black, oily stone, really did feel evil to him. There were times when he felt suffocated, even spied on. But, as the place no one and nothing seemed to approach, it turned out to be the safest place to rest.
Jon didn't know much about Sothoryos. And that bit of information came from the thin book he got as a reward for one of his quests. There were several places described in the book, Yeen being just one of them. Further south, where he was headed, was the Green Hell, a part of Sothoryos, where the worst and most dangerous creatures were found: white vampire bats, tattooed lizards with large claws, which he had already encountered, much larger anacondas, even Wyverns.
But he had a reason to travel south, since far below in the world, there was what the book mentioned as a safe land: The lands of eternal spring, where beasts and plagues never touched anything. Although, to achieve that, he would also have to pass through a place called Ah'Kizin.
With his sword in hand and prepared to reach safe land, Jon moved forward at a faster pace. The jungle, with all its obstacles, was no longer so difficult for Jon. He had to remain aware of the dangers around him, but he walked with greater confidence. And although sweat began to rise from his body and fill his body. Despite feeling thirsty, he did not drink from the water he had in his storage. He tried to save as much of the water he had gained from his camping pack from the adventurer that came along with the food, because drinking from the rivers was a death sentence.
And for that reason, he had to hurry. Quests did not appear every day. And he did not know when he would be able to have food and water once again. But the deeper he went, the more he advanced and traveled through the day, the environment began to change. The jungle, thick, dangerous and untamed, was still the same. But, the feeling was not. The sounds began to fade away, almost as if every animal and insect did not exist.
The shadows that created the sunset seemed to lengthen and move on their own, as if they were alive. Then, out of nowhere, without warning, rain fell from the sky. With his eyes wide open, Jon looked up, seeing that there were a bunch of clouds blocking the sky.
"When...?" Jon was speechless. He didn't understand how the sky had filled with clouds so quickly. It didn't make sense. Not to him. That's when he ran, trying to find something where he could hide from the rain, but as he ran a smell hit his nose.
Jon hunched over, almost as if he had been hit in the stomach. His mouth opened wide and he vomited hard. A mixture of food and bile had been expelled as a putrid smell reached him.
Blood, rot, death, ash and fire. It had all been felt by Jon as his eyes filled with tears, as he vomited once more and fell to one knee on the wet ground.
"W- What the hell...? How can something like that exist? Not even rotten meat can smell like that," Jon said, getting up from the ground as he tried to grip his sword tightly. And that was what saved him, as a shadow jumped at him. If he hadn't gotten up, he would have been thrown hard to the ground, but he had managed to move when he saw something in the side of his vision. And out of pure fear and instinct, he moved his sword, feeling it cut into something heavy and large.
Jon's head snapped to his right as he turned his body a little, now looking at what could have killed him. It was a huge cat, but not quite. Its size was similar to a wolf, but a little longer and black in color. The animal had a large cut on one of its sides.
Jon took a step back as the animal screamed and jumped.
This time, Jon didn't dodge, but slashed straight ahead. His sword cut off the animal's head, but the claws still moved, cutting into its shoulders. The leather parts of his gear tore, leaving marks as they were stained with blood.
"Agh!" Jon screamed and immediately backed away, staring in disbelief at the thing still not dying. The head had an obvious wound, revealing the skull. Its eyes had swerved and nearly popped out of their sockets, as blood poured out.
A scream was heard, followed by another, for a third to echo a second later. Jon's eyes bulged as he moved to the other side, looking at what looked like three tall men running towards him.
Once again, that putrid smell hit Jon's nose.
"Who are they? Why are they attacking me?!"
All he got in response were screams and words that made no sense. To Jon, it sounded like a bunch of jumbled, meaningless letters.
Gripping his sword tightly, using both hands, Jon looked at the appearances of these men. Jon realized when he looked closer, they didn't look like normal people, they were more like half-pig, half-human creatures. Large, muscular bones, not men, with long arms, sloping foreheads, huge square teeth, heavy jaws, coarse black hair, flat noses that look like snouts, and thick skins mottled in brown and white patterns.
All three wore what looked like worn, dirty, old leather skirts. They had necklaces of bones; teeth, more specifically. One of them was even wearing a head of the same animal he just fought, as if it were a hat. This one was holding a staff of bones, with a red skull on the top end.
Jon slowly backed away, noticing that these were the reason for the smell. Standing in front of the trio, it made him feel sick. He wanted to vomit. He needed to wash his face to try and get the smell out.
That same man with the staff, shouted something, causing another of the shoulders to kneel. What the apparent leader did, shocked, angered and terrified Jon. Taking his staff, he slammed hard on his companion's head, breaking his head in one attempt.
Jon was about to scream, forgetting for a moment that they didn't understand each other. But even remembering that a second later, what made his mouth close, was seeing the blood spilled on the ground, moving as if it had life. The huge, dark cat; the beast he fought for a few seconds, roared as blood entered its wounds. Blood all over the ground, from the animal itself and from the recently dead man, entered its wounds. His eyes turned red, scarlet, like two rubies, beautiful and terrifying. But still, his wounds did not heal, he still looked half dead.
"By all the gods..." Jon muttered, frightened by what was happening.
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