Chapter 33:
Tales from Zemliharos: Night of The Striga
Buka continued to gallop in a frenzy as Peter and Lyana attempted to pinpoint the bird's caws. While they echoed through the forest, and lakes, Peter struggled to make out the birds through the trees around them, only catching hints of them midflight as they barreled closer and closer to the sounds of running water. The dash concluded when they found themselves staring straight ahead at the cave in front of them. Several of the waterfalls flushed down into the shallow body of water surrounding it, with the main one seemingly disguising the mouth of the cave from anyone who’d happen to encounter it, with the flowing foliage only further obscuring any chance visitors. Yet, the ravens flew through the supposed flowing water with ease, not a sign of a droplet on their wings.
Lyana jumped down from Buka, and motioned for Peter to focus on the birds. “The waterfall, it’s an illusion. If we step through, we’ll find the leshy, I’m certain of it.”
Peter looked down at his dampened clothes. While they were finally starting to dry from the gusts of winds that stirred while he was on horseback, he figured it wouldn’t make much of a difference at this point to get them wet again. Lyana stared at him with a mix of what he figured to be concern and amusement. “Have any idea what kind of joke you’ll tell it.”
“Figured I’d make it up as I go.”
She sneered at the thought. “They’re said to be simple creatures. Hopefully you’re as funny as you think you are.”
“I’m funny enough to keep you around.”
“You keep telling yourself that.” Peter stared at the supposedly massive cave and gulped a little. He thought about what he’d tell the leshy to try and get it to laugh, but he knew deep down the thing would probably find him about as funny as a chipped tooth. He hoped a pity chuckle would be enough to suffice, otherwise Tinnie might’ve just led the two of them to their graves.
Peter took a step forward, fully expecting his boots to grow damp as he stepped into the body of water, but despite appearing as if he were wading in the watery surface, they remained as dry as ever. He took another step, then another, but the water remained dry all the same. He even tried putting his head straight into the waterfall once they were supposedly waist deep into the water at the cave’s entrance, but he didn’t feel a drop. Only the cool air that emitted from the mouth of the cave, looming over them as they passed through and into the supposed being’s den.
As they stepped deeper into the oversized cavern, instead of it growing dark, a bright blue bioluminescence surrounded them. Tree vines and roots covered every square inch, and a fungal mold grew on them that seemed to team with some sort of biological or magical vigor, shining every deeper into the heart of the den. He looked over to Lyana, who also seemed to teem with whimsy as he looked into her eyes, seeming uncharacteristically blue under the light. Spore-like particles soon filled the air and Peter had to fight back the tears and sniffing to prevent himself from sneezing and alerting whatever lived in here of their presence.
What Peter didn’t anticipate was the teaming vines to move as if they were on the prowl. Before he could react, the wines suddenly tightened their grip on Peter’s ankles. He attempted to shake them off, but instead they lifted him into the air and hung him upside down from the ceiling. He kicked and writhed under their grasp, only to feel his blood rushing to his head. While he attempted to orient himself as the sensation made him feel as if he were in a plane crash, he could only watch as a giant, looming figure approached him with a slow, methodical pace. The being looked to be over seven feet tall, with long, lengthy limbs that looked as if they had branches of their own. Soon, it came close enough, its own body gleaming with that same sort of moss on him. The leshy was caught somewhere between an old man and a tree, with long, deer-like antlers and what looked to be a giant moose skull on its head. His face was long and thin, with an equally long beard that looked to be made from mold and long vines. Long claws stretched from his hands and his feet looked more like roots than that of a man's. His eyes gleamed a deep golden yellow, as if they were made of tree sap. The creature leered at the two visitors, straining his eyes as he inspected them. “Who disturbs my rest.”
Peter felt a rush of thoughts enter his mind while he stared back at the being. Where should he start? Say or not say? It seemed rational, albeit a bit grumpy. Maybe he could actually talk his way out of this one.
“Well, um, I..I need your help. The Striga, you see, they…”
“-And what do you want with those abominations to nature.”
“If you listened to him speak you might find out.”
The leshy looked at Lyana holding his eye closely to her face. “You fool, you brought one into my home no less.”
The tree branches started to tighten her grip on her and move their way towards her neck. Peter couldn’t help but scream. “Please, you don’t understand. She won’t turn unless you kill her. You have to help us, please.”
The leshy brought its attention back on to Peter. “You think you can save this one. I’d say it’s funny, but far too many have gotten their hopes up that way.”
Lyana writhed in place. “I assure you there’s nothing funny about these vines, get them off or I’m going to bite my way through.”
Peter laughed, unable to hide his nervousness as the giant creature stared blankly at her. “Don’t mind her. I assure you I’m much funnier.”
The leshy rolled his eyes. “Fine, tell me a joke.”
Peter froze, unsure of what he’d actually say once he got this far. While Lyana seemed to be avoiding the worst of the vice grip, he knew he needed to come up with something, and fast, if he was going to salvage this encounter. Then it dawned on him. “How many heretics does it take to change a candle wick.” The leshy did not respond, unamused. “None, for they dwell in eternal darkness.”
The leshy did not react, instead it glared even more at Peter, feeling as if its golden eyes were staring into his very soul. He then released Peter from his trap of vines, helping him to stand upright while his body adjusted to being back on its feet. “You’re a plump one, take off your clothes.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said take off your clothes, I’ve never seen a fat one of your kind.”
“I swore I’ve lost a good twenty pounds or so on this trip, am I really that fat?”
The leshy seemed to grow giddy with a child-like excitement as it clapped its hands together. “Put them on backwards, put them on backwards.”
“I…I don’t feel comfortable-”
The leshy’s eyes swiftly narrowed and brought its vines around, ready to constrict Peter again if needed. Lyana gasped as the vines tightened around her once more.
“For the Anointed’s sake, I’m not going to see anything I haven’t already, take off your damn clothes.”
The leshy looked back at Lyana, then back at Peter again. It did a double take. “You mean, you two…” It then burst out into laughter.
Peter could feel his blood boiling as this eldritch abomination had the nerve to laugh at him over the fact that Lyana was out of his league. “I fail to see how this is funny.”
The leshy continued to chuckle at himself as he finally released Lyana from his grasp. “Then you do not have eyes. Perhaps you’ll ask for them with your wish. You have earned it.”
Peter was left with no choice but to bow to the creature for accommodating him, despite feeling more inclined to spit on him instead. “My wish is that I wish to master my powers as a krsnik.”
The leshy squatted down so it could see Peter at eye level. Its eyes widened in astonishment. “You really are, aren’t you? This is a complicated wish, for I cannot simply grant it. You must learn to let your instincts guide your thoughts if you wish to succeed.”
“And how do you suggest I go about doing that.”
In a flash, the Leshy transformed as if it were a krsnik itself. Only it took the form of a dire wolf. The newly formed beast lunged at Peter, its eyes gleaming with a raw hunger. Peter then felt himself take his form of the bear. He dodged the wolf’s biting grasp and attempted to strike down at the beast. The wolf sidestepped the blow. Then looked to bit down on one of Peter’s limbs. Before the wolf could finish its blow, a haze suddenly lifted and Peter could feel what he needed to do next. He threw his body weight on the beast. It whimpered as the vines around it slid away to avoid the bludgeoning strike as Peter tackled the creature. With it stunned, Peter then pinned his body over it, grabbing onto its neck and ready to bite down if the wolf didn’t yield in submission.
Peter felt the sensation of tree bark in his mouth as the creature transformed again, staggering him in the process. “You did not need my wish, it was within you all along.”
Peter transformed back, shocked that the typical wooziness did not bring him to his knees. While he felt weakened, it was manageable, as if he had just finished a sprint.
“Then…do I get…another one.”
“No.”
Lyana stepped back towards the cave’s entrance. “Then I think our work is done here. Thank you.”
The leshy looked towards them one last time. “Leave and do not return. Though I do not offer a wish, I do offer advice. Duty comes with sacrifice. If you wish to take responsibility, you must learn to accept fate. It will take you all the same.”
Peter nodded, feeling a deep unease at the creature's foreboding statement. While part of him wanted to get some clarification, he knew some answers were best left unsaid. He waved to the leshy one last time, but it didn’t wave back. Instead it turned its back and licked the moss on the vines and sighed in elation. Another question that Peter figured was best left unanswered.
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