“Over here!” Someone shouted from the beach. “Woody!” The group I lost sight of was waving at us from the beach.

“Come on, it’s shallow enough to walk here.” Woody huffed as he let go of my shirt.

“How is this shallow?!” I was tiptoeing to keep my head above the surface.

“Jump forwards, until you can naturally walk.” He replied as he started to move to the beach.

“Fu-” I slipped on something and my head went under. “Ah!” I plant my feet on the bottom and jump like he told me. After moments of struggling, the water was only up to my shoulders. “Never let me go in the water again!” I yelled out as I started wading to the shore.

“Woody! Don’t let go of him!” Tara shouted from the shore.

“What, why?” He looks at her confused, before turning towards me. “Oh shit!” He rushes back out to me.

“What’s wrong?” I ask. “Shit!” I yell out as something grabs hold of the back of my shirt again. I watch as the shoreline starts to shrink as if something is yanking me out to sea. “Help me!” I desperately shout.

“Calm down!” Woody shouts right in my ear. “Stop struggling!” A strong muscular arm wraps around my neck and pulls me faster backwards.

“Woody?! How? Bring me back to land! Please!” All my emotions break as I start to sob. “I don’t want to die at sea!” I fail my limbs around, trying to break free, but a stronger force grips my body and holds me down.

“Close your eyes, now!” Woody shouts in my ear. “Now tell me, why were you trying to run back into the water?” He asks angrily.

“What are you talking about? Something grabbed me! Please don’t let me drown!” I am pinned down, and something scratchy is itching my face.

“We grabbed you, you fool! You tried to run back into the water!” Ivy shouted from above me.

“Guys?! Where were you? You left me behind!” My tears wouldn’t stop.

“No sonny, you ran away from us. We had just climbed the broken stairs from the beach, only to see you take off and climb up a sheer cliff face.” Heather didn’t sound too happy.

“What stairs, we were running through a weird unnatural forest. Then those thugs found me and that demon chased me!” I yelled out, my memory feeling hazy.

“Demon? What are you talking about!” I could feel Woody’s face was inches from my own.

“The leader thug, he had some weird black and red glow around him. Can I open my eyes?” I sniff, feeling a little better.

“Not yet. Keep him pinned Troy.” Woody replied with a sigh. “What happened Heather?” He asked for confirmation.

“After exiting the cave, we climbed up the broken steps of Windswept Castle, but this one jumped from the square and started scaling the walls like a damn Lifmunk. He didn’t respond to us as he disappeared around the corner. So we raced up to the Plateau to try and find him, but there was a group of thugs, you know the rest.” Heather retold the events to Woody.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“And you are claiming you were running through a forest?” Woody directed the question to me.

“Yeah, we entered the forest after talking in front of the cave for a bit. Then y’all started to run ahead really quickly. I did everything I could to keep up. It felt like I was running uphill but the ground was flat.” I informed him of what happened.

“Hmmm, what color is Woody’s hair?” Yavis spoke up.

“What? I don’t understand.” I was caught off guard by that question.

“What about his eyes? His skin tone?” Yavis just asked more questions.

“Is that really important, Yavis?” Woody asks him skeptically.

“Yes, I think he is being corrupted. He saw a demon-like aura, or so he says.” Yavis pointed out, causing Woody to inhale as some realization strikes him.

“Troy, lift him up.” Woody orders. I am lifted into the air. “Open your eyes, and tell me what color my eyes, hair, or skin are.” He orders me this time.

“Uh, why are you so clo-” I blink to adjust to the light as I notice his face is a bit too close for my comfort.

“What. Color.” He gets closer, I can feel the seriousness from his words.

“Uh, normal colored?” My heart starts racing as my anxiety starts to spike.

“Specific colors, please.” Yavis chips in from behind Woody.

“Dark brown? Black-ish? Tan skin?” My eyesight starts swimming, I am having trouble focusing on his face. “My head hurts.” I close my eyes as a massive headache pounds at my skull.

“Shit!” Woody steps away as he yells out in anger. “We need to hurry, if his corruption gets worse…” He takes some deep breaths to calm himself. “Troy, carry him until we can cleanse him!”

“Yes sir.” Troy’s grip on my body tightens up.

“Let’s hope we aren’t too late. Cover his eyes Ivy.” Woody lets out a large sigh.

“With pleasure.” Ivy ties a cloth around my head, blocking out my sight.

“What’s going on?” I ask from my captive position. “Am I sick?” My overthinking mind is making me think of worst case scenarios.

“The calamity is corrupting your soul, right now it’s only your vision, but it could easily take you over entirely.” Yavis sounds a bit too happy, like he is enjoying this. “I have never witnessed a wrecker become so corrupted so quickly, it usually takes a week at least.” It sounds like he was just thinking out loud.

“How do you know I’m being corrupted?” I ask, trying to make sense of this situation.

“Simple, your description of Woody is way off.” Ivy answers me.

“What, is he blonde hair and blue eyed?” I ask while Troy carries me.

“Only wreckers have brown or black hair, before it changes color due to the island’s influence.” Yavis informed me. “The most worrying thing is that you didn’t realize his skin tone is blueish. Most wreckers freak out at the ‘unnatural’ colors of us natives.” His words confuse me even more.

“Wait, his skin is blue?” I struggle with my memory, trying to remember exactly what Woody looked like.

“My brother’s skin is lighter than mine, so it’s more of a teal color.” Ivy said.

“You have blue skin?!” I shouted, my memory of her is so fuzzy, I can’t recall what she even looked like.

“You didn’t know?” Ivy sounded surprised.

“Seems the corruption messed with his mind, before attacking his sight. We had better hurry.” Heather calls out to the group.

“Are we on land?” I ask, not sure how I got out of the water. “I really am messed up, huh?” I ask no one in particular.

“His eyes are oozing black goo!” Troy shouts out.

“Faster!” Woody yells as the group races somewhere.