Little Ikem's hair stuck to his face; soaking wet from sweat.
He was visibly running low on energy, and his quick run was slowly turning into a trot.
He knew he couldn't keep running for ever.
And if the situation carried on as it was, it wouldn't be long till those things caught up with him.
He dreaded to think of what would happen if so.
The clutters from the branches of the Oak trees, seemed to grow louder and more consistent, as the inhumane cackles drew closer.
There wasn't much time to think, and there was truly very little as to what his young mind thought of.
Unknowingly, he had began thinking of death and the way it would feel.
"You know.. you cannot.. escape.. us.. we .. the inevitable"
A third voice added.
The pursuers, whatever they were seemed to take turns speaking, and their voice was loud with hunger.
"Leave me alone!" Young Ikem screamed a reply, "Please?" he added gently.
He was slowing down, and it was easily noticeable, his current speed was nothing near his previous pace as the pursuers where quickly gaining up.
Unluckily, luck itself seemed almost to oppose his chances of living.
As he ran, he stepped beneath an exposed root; tripping.
He fell with a loud growl.
Picking his battered self up from the ground took time, and was strenuous for him, his young muscles protested in pain.
He chose to give up.
Crawling to rest against the tree.
He drew his legs closer, as he hugged them against himself.
He felt the pain and fear welling up inside of him, not able to control them, he started crying.
His sobs were like a stormy sea, echoing through the breezy silence of the forest. Like the cry of a sad nightingale,
He sat alone, and there was no one to comfort him.
The wind blew harder, shaking up leaves and felling them down.
The leaves fell gently on his body, as the cold wind massaged his tired body.
'I am going to die.'
Yet though he tried, accepting that fact was hard.
The wind blew stronger as the cackles grew in sound.
The pursuers, three of them were close, they had seen their prey pause its movements from afar, and their mouths watered in heavy anticipation.
Their lightless eyes gleaming with an unnatural hunger, a twisted instinct that drove them to pursue their prey.
The first, with dry scaly skin, wrinkled like tree barks and a head that seemed to be carved by demons, similar to a tortoise's, stuck out a tongue.
It tasted the air.
It's forked tongue flailing In the air with an unnerving slowness, like a snake searching for it's prey.
"So close.. little demigod..close"
It hissed, eyeing the curled up body of the scared demigod from afar.
Suddenly, without warning, it sped up, moving in a bee line towards Ikem, as if teleguided.
It's crooked fangs, glinted sadistically under the moon's pale light, as if taunting.
Ikem looked up, his vision groggy from tears.
His breathe was trapped in his throat as he caught sight of the approaching entity.
Strangely though, his eyes could follow it's movements, as it smashed through trees, on its way too him.
The trees immediately gave way, as if they were smashed away by a bulldozer.
The wind howled wildly, the wave of air generated by the first pursuer as it approached was immense.
Heavily so.
But the others, it's siblings, were not to be outdone.
With an equal amount of hunger and fervor, they rushed towards their tasty prey.
Thirsty for the blood of a godspawn, they smashed through the dense Oak trees to have their way.
They cackled more malevolently as they approached.
However, the second pursuer, resembling the first but with an unsettling head of a rat, paused slightly, a glint of awareness flashing throw it's beady eyes, it called onto it's sisters, while staring at Ikem.
"Sisters.. wait.. do not.. touch.. him"
The others slowly stopped, but frowns of discontent could be glimpsed from their facial features.
That was if one stared had enough though...
"What is it.. second?.. we divide.. him.. like we did.. the others"
The one with the head of a tortoise said, it's speech was slowly becoming more coherent the longer it lived, it was a mystery the young Ikem had pondered consistently upon.
The third pursuer nodded in affirmation, it's abyssal goat head swaying.
"Yes.. First.. right"
The second pursuer shook her head vehemently, remaining silent for a bit before it chose to speak.
Speech had always been quite hard for her and Third.
She turned to First.
"Remember.. what..we..saw.. in memory of.. former food"
She pointed at Third.
First narrowed her large eyes, displaying signs of deep thoughts, it nodded, slowly coming to realization.
"Yes"
Third felt confused and left out.
"What?", it asked.
The food Second had talked about was her, she had transformed into the Abyssal spawn recently, just after Second and First sucked out the soul's essence from their previous prey.
She had been manifested from the soulless body of that prey.
A rotting husk.
Indeed, third was Nkem.
At least had been. Now she was a hallow husk, compelled only by the need to feed.
Second nodded, seeing that first had understood.
"We.. cannot.. touch.. the boy"
First's expression turned solemn.
Again, that was if one tried searching extensively on her facials.
She understood the repercussions, knowing that the boy, even without his knowledge, was dangerous.
"What.. do we.. do.. Sister?"
Second asked eying Ikem warily, yet, traces of hunger could still be found in those eyes.
Ikem sat quietly, not making a peep as he watched his three pursuers.
They were things that he would only have seen in nightmares and it made his blood curl in terror.
But, ever since he had descended into this jungle, creatures such as these had been after him and his sister.
Well, now they were only after him.
The young Ikem understood the reason for his pursuer's wariness, how could he not, it was the very reason those people had thrown him out instead of killing him.
That reason was why he was still alive up to this day.