Darvin huffed and panted as he sprinted towards the forest with the red glistening iron bow that he kept holding in his hands, and he kept cursing under his breath as the forest ahead grew tall with his approach. But he braked his feet when he noticed that the Fire Meanian and his companion were gone.
Darvin stomped and shrieked, "that's even worse!"
"Where are you going?" a voice asked calmly.
Darvin spun around to see the caller, and he let out a sigh of relief.
"Kyvan! Thank the Mighty Kings you're here!" Darvin exhaled as he went up to him.
"You seem to be worried, what's wrong?" Kyvan showed the same concern as Darvin.
"Fearian and I were taking Gholt on his first hunt until those Meanains told us they're investigating the forest for a dark entity, Fearian refused and--"
"Is he being a Naught again?" Kyvan sighed.
"What's worse is that he took Gholt and Bryan with him! And there's a dark entity in there!"
Kyvan's eyes widened suddenly.
"He went too far! And he's going to be in a lot of trouble for this!" Kyvan pushed past Darvin and took off quickly towards the forest while Darvin followed at his heels.
~~~
"Listen carefully," Gholt whispered as he crept slowly and scanned his surrounding.
"And?" Fearian spoke as he followed him with Bryan on his back.
"Concentrate," Gholt said. "and stay low when I spot it," he added quickly.
"Good." Fearian nodded while Bryan kept holding on to his father tightly.
They'd been walking around the forest for almost an hour, and they were still searching for a rabbit to feast on even though there was none to be seen. This season was supposed to be fine, and the animals would've been wandering anywhere in this forest, except that they weren't here for some reason.
All they saw and heard were birds chirping and sitting in their nests.
Strange Fearian thought as he looked around, the animals' disappearance baffled him a little, yet that summoned a hint of concern in his chest.
As they were searching, they also avoided the Fire Meanian's sight whenever he was nearby. They either snuck out of the area he was in or gave him a diversion by throwing rocks at certain places for him to look at.
These were the easy steps that Gholt had managed to achieve, but the difficult steps were yet about to come sooner or later from that entity. Fearian wanted to teach Gholt how to prepare and defend himself from these kinds of danger. However, he was worried that his brother might not make it.
Because the entities that came to the Meanian Kingdom were known for their wild and deadly behaviour and high speed, just in case Gholt couldn't dodge in time, Fearian was ready to summon his sword.
"It's kinda strange," Gholt said. "we're supposed to see the rabbits hopping by now," he added.
"Agreed." Fearian looked behind.
"Where are the bunnies?" Bryan whined a little.
Suddenly, Fearian felt the sickening feeling that clutched his stomach. It was the sick feeling of strong dread that slowed his pacing and muffled the sounds around him. His eyes widened as his vision turned a little dark, and his heart hardened and sunk.
"What if they were hiding from something?" Gholt's voice seemed distant and echoing even though Fearian was right at his heels.
Gholt's voice, Bryan's whining and the Fire Meanian's heavy footsteps weren't the only ones that could be heard. Something else was emitting a heavy wave of dark energy throughout the forest; Fearian was the first to feel it.
"Gholt... Grab my hand." Fearian never looked away from his surrounding as he reached out his hand to Gholt.
"Why?" Gholt looked up at him.
"Just do it... Now!" Fearian tried not to raise his voice and grab unwanted attention.
Upon hearing the tone of his voice, Gholt immediately obeyed and hid behind him. After a few moments in silence, Fearian and Gholt finally heard what sounded like deep moaning and growls in the distance; the sound of it already sent chills down their spines.
And there it was, hovering slowly ahead in the form of tall vertical black mist.
Shit, it's here Fearian cursed in his thought once he realised that the entity wasn't that far off as it passed.
As Gholt and Bryan watched the way it moved, the horror easily took over the boys at the sight of it, which then caused them to whimper in fear.
"Shh! Don't be afraid!" Fearian whispered.
"B-B-But i-i-it's--"
"Gholt listen to me if you don't stop fearing it, it'll come! Because they can detect your fear!" Fearian warned him as he kept watching the entity.
"F-Fearian... I don't think I can kill that thing!" Gholt shrieked as he began to let his tears out.
"D-Daddy?" Bryan squeaked.
Before Fearian could respond to the weeping children, the entity suddenly stopped moving for a moment; Fearian then knew it was the worst moment.
Immediately the entity turned towards Fearian with blazing red eyes and a deafening shriek as it suddenly charged at him at incredible speed.
"GO GO!" Fearian yelled as he quickly grabbed Gholt's arm and took off as fast as he could while the boys screamed.
Fearian didn't run far because the entity reached his heels, so he dodged away while the entity missed as it flew past him.
Fearian quickly pulled Bryan off his back and gave him to Gholt to hold. "Hold Bryan and stay inside the shield!" Fearian told him and summoned a black barrier over the boys with his shadow magic. He didn't let Gholt have enough time to speak.
Fearian then turned towards the entity as he summoned his orange sword, built of solid Harcrian crystal with a shadowy mist flowing around the long blade.
"Hey! Over here!" Fearian called out to the entity as it spun around and spotted him. It let out its shriek again.
This time the black mist blew away from the entity's body as it lunged at him.
It first revealed the row of dirty, yellow, sharp teeth on its short snarling snout, while its pale grey skin was hugging tight on its bare body, to the point it explicitly showed its rib cage and hips.
The long arms with long skinny fingers and sharp claws reached its skinny knees and legs that made the beast tall. Finally, anger was wrinkled on its bald head and brows, followed by its docked pointy ears.
"Now you're forming?" Fearian scoffed as he positioned himself into a fighting stance, gripping the sword handle with both hands.
Fearian pulled his sword up to the side as the monster quickly approached and gathered his energy before he stroke on cue. Then in slow motion, once its head almost touched Fearian's, he swung with all his might.
Fearian easily sliced the upper chunk of its face, and instead of blood rushing out of the open wound, the monster's entire body poofed into smoke and reappeared behind him. However, its head had somehow re-attached back to its body.
