Attack of the Squirrel

Lyle and Stucker and I hiked for about 30 minutes. The path felt extremely indirect but eventually a village came into view.

I suppose this sort of distance, ironically, wasn’t that far in a world without cars.

The village was encircled by a wooden wall rising up to about 3.5 meters. Torches were dispersed equidistant around the wall. I could see the gate and a few guards stationed near it.

“So, listen, we can’t take you through the front given your appearance.”

“Not that there’s anythin’ wrong with your looks!” Lyle assured me while his eyes flicked discretely toward my chest.

“So, so, we’re going to head in, ‘n we’re gonna let ‘em know we didn’t find nothin’”

“If we go in the front we’re going to get a scoldin’, Stucker!”

Stucker looked at his friend with slight irritation, “It’s unavoidable, we weren’t supposed to be wanderin’ around out here to begin with.”

Stucker looked back at me, “Give us a day, just one day, to make some preparations and we’ll get you into the village.”

It didn’t seem unreasonable considering they just happened upon me a few hours earlier. I was an anomaly here. There was still something off about the way they were acting. Lyle was generally just following Stucker’s lead but they both had been a bit on edge since we started toward the village.

“One day” I needed a connection that could get me into the Mother City though it didn’t necessarily have to be these two or from this village. There had to be others not too far away, “One day. if you don’t return by nightfall tomorrow then I’m leaving.”

“Right.” They both nodded. Stucker started to leave but then thought of something.

“There’s a cave about a mile west of here, bandits hole up in there during the dead of winter but it should be clear now, and if it isn’t…” He didn’t finish that thought, monster attacks were incredibly common here.

“I understand.” They slid down the hill and onto the path leading toward the village gate.

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 Animals and monster were still keeping a watchful distance but they weren’t keeping the extreme perimeter they had been. I’d now gotten a fair amount of information about the world I was in, or at least this particular area.

I zig-zagged through the trees. I’d held back considerably during our fight, yet I was still tired and felt like I’d been up for days even thought that was not the case. On top of that I still felt the pain of my previous injuries as I moved. It gotten somewhat used to it, the sensation was like being pinched by a gloved hand. I still felt the pain of the pinch but the nails never pierced the skin. I’m not sure if that explanation made any sense.

After about 10 minutes of fast walking I saw the cave and immediately took cover. Shadows danced across the cave walls along with the orange pulses of a campfire.

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Gowen tossed a stray twig into the crackling fire. It’d been days since the last hunting party had been sent out. At this point he would have gladly turned himself in but for his pride. Let’s rephrase that. He wasn’t about to go walking down to the village to turn himself in but if he were captured by a hunting party who happened to come across him, it’d be a welcome relief.

He gazed stone-faced into the writhing flames. He himself had been part of a hunting party at one point, every able man had to do their time, food had to be gathered. It was also a way for young men to get a sense of the danger that lurked in the unprotected woods.

His village had been located some 20 miles west. It wasn’t particularly thriving but it – no, any non-aligned village was left to their own devices and was therefore struggling. The village chief, Calvert, refused to wed Madame Stella despite her advances, and by doing so forsook her any insurance we could have had. Chief Willis readily accepted her proposal as did Chief Larue and Chief Vernon.

Gowen understood pride but preservation was much more important. Perhaps if he’d simply bent the knee the village would still be around.

It was about a week ago when the golden star fell over the mountains. The townsfolk gossiped about it for a bit. They wondered what it meant, what sort of omen it might portend to and the like. It was utter nonsense. Of course, considering what would happen only two days later, perhaps not.

A large Black Flying Squirrel with three red eyes appeared. At first we were all curious but then it’s sticky tongue flew out of it’s mouth, grabbed hold of our smallest member and then retracted. Gowen could still remember the sight of the squirrel gnawing on little Tully as though he were an ear of corn. It was a bloody, gruesome sight.

Immediately the party leader ordered someone to run back to the village, but the minute he began sprinting, the Black Squirrel kicked off the ground and glided from tree to tree. One right above the sprinter it unleashed it’s tongue and swallowed him before dropping to the ground and tilting it’s head at us. It seemed to question why we were even bothering to run. It knew we were trapped.

We were a group of six, now down to 4. We knew as well as the creature how hopeless our situation was. It’s tongue snapped out and back in and we were down to 3. Gowen and the other two shook in terror.

Their death’s felt imminent. Suddenly the ground began to shake.

Endless wooden rainbow tendrils arced out of the ground and wrapped themselves around the squirrel. It thrashed for several moments as the branches slowly constricted around the pitiful creature. Mere moments ago the squirrel had been an insurmountable threat yet now it was made helpless as Gowen and the others had been.

A shower off blood and guts signaled the end of the squirrel’s life but not the end of the danger. The forest seemed to be moving, the roots around us slithered restlessly. The third man finally had enough and ran screaming into the depths. It was now just me and the leader. The screaming which had echoed in our ears suddenly cut off.

Gowen wasn’t exactly tough as nails but he was always prepared for the worst case scenario. Not a pessimist mind you, just pragmatic.

“So this is it, huh?” Gowen smirked at his comrade.

His comrade simply fell to his knees. There was no fight left in him.

“Just me then? Well I guess you can’t understand the present until it becomes past.” Gowen readied his hunting knife. Minutes passed. The roots became still. More time passed. Nothing.

After nearly 10 minutes, the leaders eyes finally refocused and he rose to his feet.

“It’s over?!?” He exhaled in relief.

Gowen frowned. Perhaps the squirrel and their comrade were enough to sate the tree monster’s appetite or maybe this was a trap.

“We should wait here a bit longer to be sure.”

“We need to go back to village! I need to get back to the village!” He was desperate to escape, “They need to be alerted to the danger, right now!”

“I agree, but there’s always the chance this is a bluff.” Gowen cautioned.

“We need to move, now!” He wasn’t listening, “I’m leaving with or without you!”

The leader broke into a run back toward the village. Gowen listened to the sound of cracking branches, crunching leaves, and upturned gravel. Soon there was quiet once again.

2 minutes passed then a muffled scream in the distance.

Gowen’s frown deepened. He shook his head. The leader should have listened.

He didn’t know how long he should wait or how to tell if the monster loses interest. Shadow began to lick at his heels as the sun waned in the sky. It would get much more dangerous once night fell. He’d been waiting there for over 3 hours and the creature hadn’t made it’s move. He’d have to take his chances.

He began moving away from his place of safety. 5 steps, 6 steps, 20, 50, 80, 100, 150. He kept walking but the roots remained still, it seemed as though the monster had truly moved on.

He found a cave and ducked inside. The next morning he made it back to village to find it ransacked. Houses destroyed, bodies everywhere. Many of the villagers looked to have been impaled. He knew that root creature did this, there was no doubt, but there was also no way he’d be able to go up against something that could cause devastation on this scale. Maybe one day he’d have an opportunity but for now survival was most important so Gowen retreated back to the cave.

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 I watched the cave for a bit but didn’t see anyone enter or exit. It was fairly quiet but I sensed there was someone inside. I approached the entrance.

“Come to finish the job, have you?” A man’s voice echoed from beyond a bend in the cave.

This sounded like it was going to be a pain.