Fear the monster

In a castle, near a little town, in the south of the Deflo continent, an important meeting had began between the king, his daughter and his most beloved advisors. The throne room, however sumptuously decorated, didn’t seem to reflect the slightest ounce of beauty that it should. The atmosphere was heavy, as if the world would take an important turn at the end of the conversation.

“My king, it is in my immeasurable regret that I’m here to announce its return.” Said one of the advisors, who was standing in front of the throne, with four of his colleagues.

The king took a deep breath as he was measuring the weight of the words that were pronounced.

“Father, what is he talking about? Who has returned? An ally? Are we going to take back what the Stuts kingdom robbed from us? Tell me father! Why are you looking at me with such pity in your eyes?”

The princess Saya was shocked. Her father never lend such a look on her. She fell silent and stepped back behind everyone. She thought that she should have not opened her mouth.

“It’s a problem. I thought that it was killed long ago. It’s been fifty years since my late father took the life of that creature. Where is it now?”

The king kept his calm while pronouncing this words. He didn't want to let his fear and worry about the situation show. A king should be brave, not a limp fleeing with his tail between his legs.

Rufus, king’s closest advisor, came forward to answer. His trembling voice and what he said left everyone speechless for a moment.

“I, my king, am the only one to know his real position. As soon as he returned, I felt it deep in my bones. The flow of Firia was disrupted by its arrival. So I followed the path to it and he was there…”

“Where!?” All the advisors couldn’t wait much longer and screamed at him to know.

“The creature is here. It is on our territory, our kingdom, my lord. More precisely, he’s in the forest near the city of Taranios. It seems that life began deserting the place because of the fear it inspire.”

“We can’t let it bring chaos once again. It don’t seems to have used his power yet. Maybe it lost his memory. It may be a chance if so. If it uses them, we won't have what it takes to stop it this time. We need to send someone to meet him to see if we can negotiate, or perhaps turn the situation to our advantage, as he may have lost his memory.” The king was looking at his advisors. His eyes showed that he was desperate.

Suddenly, he stopped his gaze on someone. He was laughing as if he had the idea of a lifetime.

“Saya! Come here! You! You will meet him and be the one to change our destiny!”

Obviously, the king didn’t believe it would work. He knew what he was really doing. He was sending his daughter as a sacrifice for the creature. Maybe his kingdom and himself would be spared.

He laughed inwardly. He knew what the creature was able of and hearing it had return made his brain go insane. He sank into madness during the conversation, little by little.

“I accept the mission father and I promise that I will come back in no time.” Said Saya without knowing the real intentions of her own father.

“I can’t have another life, but I can have another kids. It’s for my own good.” Thought the king.

******************************

In a dark forest, a strange monster slept. It usually fell asleep inside an old tree trunk. Its sleep seemed peaceful, and a wicked smile played on its face. No other animals wandered nearby. It was the only one here, the only one who brought a little light... or darkness to the forest. When midnight struck, it opened its eyes and yawned in a long roar.

“I can’t stop this smile. It’s against my will. Because of that, all the animals are gone. The silence is making me crazy.” 

Iwao, now in the skin of the one he hates, stood up and started walking towards the entry of the forest. The loneliness was slowly killing his mind. His appearance didn’t help with the fact that no one would wanted to be near him. But something was tugging at him even more. 

“I’m hungry.”

Even with the fact that with what he looked like now he had an enormous power and was incredibly fast, he couldn’t bring himself to kill what he needed to eat. Some spinning cows or jumping goats passed by sometimes but he could just look at them, not doing anything.

He arrived at the edge of the forest. While looking down to a path near there, he noticed that a group of people was walking, lanterns in their hand. Iwao tried to call them. He wanted to explain what he has gone through and found a solution.

As his voice arrived to the ears of the walkers, one of them turned around and looked Iwao in the eye. He stopped right in the spot. The others continued walking like nothing happened but the one that stopped started yelling. Iwao didn’t understand, and from where he was, he directed his hand towards the man.

“Are you alr-” He didn’t have the time to finish his sentence that a throbbing pain took place in his arm. He screamed so loud that the few birds in the trees flew away. He closed his eyes. He didn’t hear any sound during this brief moment.

When he opened them back, the man, who was yelling seconds ago, was on the ground. The other men were already around him, trying to reanimate him. They were all crying and screaming. Iwao’s big ears were much more sensitive than his human ears. The power of the screams was increased tenfold. 

Something hot was in his hand. He looked once. Twice. And that’s only at the third time that, in shock, he realized that what was on his hand was the heart of the man. It was still beating. He put in on the ground and looked at his hands covered in blood.

“What have I done? It’s its fault, not mine. It’s his powers. I didn’t choose to have them. By my fault, somebody just died and I had no control on it… I’m the worst… I’m hungry… Food… Aliments… Need… Now!” Iwao was losing his mind. His hunger took over what he had done. 

He didn’t have time to think as the group of men was preparing something. All in a circle, hands in the air, like a prayer. Something seemed to escape from their hands. It formed a gigantic ball above their head. Iwao screamed as he looked over them.

“Fireball!?” 

A fireball was coming at him. He ran away without any further thinking.

“So I was right for the magic! Even the humans here can use it, not just the animals. I wonder if I’m able to do so. After all, I have this body so this could do the job.” 

When he returned in the middle of the forest, he sat down near a tree. He heard the wizards coming. It wasn’t the end. 

But something appealed his eyes. At his right was something strange. A unicorn? No. It looked like a horse but it wasn’t. Iwao tried to bring this thing closer to everything that came from his world. It had the eight legs of a spider, the body of a horse and the head of a cat. This chimera made Iwao terrified and he threw up. But as he did that, one man of the group of wizards heard him and started approaching. The smell of toxic gas reached his nostrils. He knew that it was the magic of one of them. He was sure but didn’t know how. He had the feeling that something had changed in the ambient air and that a spell had been cast.

“Wait! What is this chimera wearing? Is that a rope?” Iwao was contemplating the object that was attached to the horse-like animal. 

He approached as the wizards were just a few meters near him. He grabbed the rope by instinct, he didn’t know why. 

Ffffffsssshhhhh

“Where is this demon? He killed Mero, my brother! We need to kill him” Shouted one of the wizards as he arrived at the tree trunk where the creature was resting earlier. 

Another wizard came to prevent him from doing something foolish. He used a very calm voice, but it felt like determination, strength and rage were behind every words.

“Calm down Lupo. He doesn’t seem to be here. Continue the research. We will teach him that the Believers is not a troupe you can mess with. He ripped the heart of Mero off his chest. He must suffer the same fate!” 

They all pursued the research, using different spells to cut down trees and clear the way for a better view. But nothing. The creature had disappear.

******************************

With the rope in his hand, he was now in a desert. The chimera was crying just at his feet.

“Did I teleport? What a useful power for once, you have your utility, creature. Time to go back where life is. I’m hungry. If I don’t eat now I will for sure die!”

He ran towards a direction without knowing if it was north or south, he just wanted to go.

He suddenly hurt an invisible wall. “Why is this here, I can’t go through…”

He came back to the chimera and bend down to it. As he was scrutinizing it, a voice whispered to his ears.

“Hey Iwao, I have a secret to tell you. You are in what you like the most. Welcome to the world of nightmares!”

The voice of the creature. He searched around him but there was nothing. Suddenly, the sky began to darken. The desert was shaking.

“How do I get out of here? Am I really in the nightmare of this chimera?”

He was indeed.