Leshy

“Three worlds?” Milena raised her eyebrows. “I thought it only connected the world of living with the world of the dead.”

“It was thought so for as long as humankind can remember. But the earliest known bohatiers proved you could get to Prav through this forest.”

“So this is where we slay the gods!”

“Zduhach, why do you want to slay them?” Milena asked.

“After everything you’ve seen, do you really need a reason to slay those bastards?” Dragomir said, almost mockingly.

“I’m just honoring my mother’s dying wish!” he said, lifting his chin as though addressing the heavens. “She said I should slay all of them except one! And I bet that meant she wants me to become a god!”

Milena and Dragomir exchanged concerned looks.

“Zduhach.” Dragomir turned to him. “I don’t have a problem with your goals. But make sure you never go astray.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s go.”

With that, Dragomir entered the forest.

The other two followed.

“Stay close to me. This guy is a prankster.”

“’This guy’?” Zduhach’s eyes wandered among the trees. Birds flew overhead.

Wind rustled through the leaves, sending a few of them drifting to the ground.

“Leshy. People call him the Forest Spirit. But that’s incorrect. Leshy is the forest.”

“Stop sounding so cryptic!” Milena punched him in the shoulder.

“Ouch!” Dragomir winced, clutching it.

Milena covered her mouth with both hands. “I’m so sorry!” She hadn’t realized he was still healing from where Poludnica had stabbed him.

“It’s okay… I’ve suffered worse.” He winked at her, earning a disgusted look in return.

“Ew. Is this what the forest does to people? It brings out their sleaziness?”

“No, no! I’m sorry. Anyway, to put it simply, the moment we entered this forest…”

A fox elegantly approached them. It sat before the trio and smiled.

“…Leshy has gobbled us up.”

“What?! We’re inside of a spirit’s stomach?!” Zduhach grabbed Dragomir by his shoulders.

“Calm down.” He pushed Zduhach’s hands away. “It just means it’s somewhat difficult to go back.”

“You’re not helping, hero.” Milena crouched beside the fox and stroked its head as it leaned closer for more scratches.

“But it’s fine,” the fox suddenly said. “Because you never intended to go back. You want to go forward.”

Milena flinched and fell back on the ground. “I-it spoke!”

“Is this your reaction, Milena?” A deer nearby lowered its head to graze.

Milena’s eyes darted toward it. Zduhach reached for his bow. Only Dragomir sighed, as though this were nothing more than routine.

“How do you know my name?!” Milena scrambled backward.

“We know everything about those we eat.” A squirrel scurried up a tree.

“For we are Leshy.” A wolf approached from another direction, a bloodied rabbit hanging from its jaws.

But the rabbit lifted its head. “We feed on your memories. And desires.”

A small sparrow fluttered around Milena’s head. “Do you remember that day you played with a dog in the village?”

Then the bark of a nearby tree split into a mouth. “You said, ‘Just say something. I’ll never tell a soul you can talk.’”

“Hey, that’s personal!” Milena furrowed her brows.

The animals scattered. Farther into the forest, the children’s cries grew louder again.

“I can hear them clearly,” Dragomir said. “But I don’t remember anything like this.”

“So what we’re hearing isn’t Leshy?” Zduhach put his bow away.

“Probably not. But we don’t have time to find out. Let’s just move.”

Milena got to her feet and followed the others, her breathing still uneven. She kept glancing around and over her shoulder. “I think I heard somewhere that Leshy is this skeleton-like demon who makes people lose their way in the forest.”

“Nobody knows what the real Leshy looks like. And as for losing your way…” Dragomir glanced around. “You just have to keep thinking about happy times. Don’t let negative feelings wander into your minds and you’ll be good.”

“Whatever you say, I won’t question you anymore, boss.” Milena quickened her pace so she wouldn’t fall behind.

After a few more encounters with talking grass, rats, and even the ground beneath their feet, Zduhach and Milena eventually got used to it.

But the cries never stopped.

SKREEEE!

“Aaaaaaaa!” Milena screamed as something shrieked directly into her ear. Blood trickled from it as she collapsed to the ground, dizzy.

Zduhach and Dragomir dropped to their knees as well, clutching their ears.

“What’s going on?!” Zduhach yelled.

“I don’t know!” Dragomir shouted back over the deafening screech.

Then they realized they were surrounded by a dozen small creatures.

Their legs resembled those of newborn babies, smooth skin continuing over where their genitals should have been. The farther up their bodies went, the hairier they became. Their unnaturally long necks struggled to support oversized, hairy heads crowned with two small horns.

“What are those things?!” Milena pressed a hand against her injured ear, blood seeping between her fingers.

“I have no idea!” Dragomir grabbed the Little Table and held it like a shield as he stepped in front of her.

Zduhach readied his bow. “So much for you being the boss! I’m taking over the leadership of this party!”

One of the creatures suddenly leapt at them. It drew in a deep breath, seemingly preparing to unleash another unbearable screech.

“No, you don’t!” Zduhach released an arrow that pierced straight through its mouth.

The creature hit the ground, only to yank the arrow out and toss it aside.

“Damn, I can slow them down but-” Before Zduhach could finish, two more creatures leapt over him.

Dragomir swung the Little Table into both of them and pinned them to the ground. “We have to run!”

Zduhach was about to sprint toward the arrow he had fired, but Dragomir grabbed him.

“Leave it!”

“But my arrow!”

As they dashed away, fallen leaves rustled beneath their feet, shrieks erupting behind them as though the sound itself were chasing them.

“If only the pocket watch would work again!” Milena grumbled.

Forest animals watched the three of them flee and laughed.

“I can see why you don’t have children if they scare you this much,” a bear remarked as they ran past.

“Stupid gods!” Dragomir yelled. “If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t have to come here in the first place!” As he ran, the screams gradually faded. But beneath the desperate screeches, he could now make out words.

“Please help us.”

When he finally stopped to catch his breath, he slumped against the Little Table.

“Damn, running with this thing isn’t ideal…” He patted the table. “But thanks for being so sturdy.” He took another breath. “Everybody good?”

Dragomir waited for a response which never came. He straightened and looked around.

“Oh crap…”

He had lost both of them.

When he tried to retrace his steps, he realized the trees, and even the forest road, were gone.

Instead, a lively town stretched before him in the middle of a festival.

People prayed to the gods and danced around blazing fires.

Steam rose from grilled meat, carrying its delicious aroma through the streets.

Where am I?

Dragomir walked among the festivalgoers. Most of them carried bows and arrows.

He wandered slowly past the stalls. It almost felt like a marketplace. One merchant beckoned people over to play suspicious-looking games, promising an entire cow’s worth of meat to the winner.

Dragomir eyed the meat and licked his lips.

It did look pretty tasty.

But he continued farther into the festival, where he noticed a small booth run by a young woman.

She sat behind a table, her fingers working steadily as she wove thin strips of leather into a fine vest. Similar pieces filled the booth, all marked for sale.

Then Dragomir noticed a leather quiver.

He narrowed his eyes and reached toward it.

“That one's not for sale!” The woman shouted. “I’m saving it for someone special!”

Chapter 14: END