The ringing in my ear died down as I opened my eyes to see a sky obscured by grey rain clouds. The strong steady sound of the rain drowned the last of the ringing as I sat up slowly, noticing all of the aches in my body. I sat on a gravelly path surrounded by gnarled leafy trees so dense that I would not be able to see beyond them even if it was sunny weather. I tried to sit up only to immediately find myself dizzy and fell over on the gravel with a small splash, each individual stone bit into my skin, adding to the newly found misery I was in. I grit my teeth and pushed off the ground to see a small puddle pooled together by the rain and darkly reflected my appearance.
I was drenched obviously from the rain, black hair framed the face of a young boy no older than ten summers, with dark eyes that seemed to swallow me as I stared into them. I moved my hands to touch the rippling surface to confirm that it was my own. I traced my hands over my reflection and looked carefully. There was a scar on my lower right cheek, starting near the corner of my lip and going diagonally down the side of my jaw. I took my left hand to feel it gingerly, finding at least one source of the many pains that I have. I squeezed the cut and cried in pain as the blood began to seep out. I then noticed the back of my hand in the reflection and quickly turned it over to see small cuts that were already beginning to scab, ones you get from running too quickly and carelessly through a shrubby forest.
I sat back down and looked at my body. I was wearing dirty brown wool trousers, ripped and tattered near my shins with a matching brown tunic with the sleeves on my left arm ripped off just before my shoulder, and the right sleeves barely hanging on past the elbow. Still dizzy, I looked around me before seeing a long stick that looked sturdy enough for me to lean on. I crawled out of the gravel path and welcomed the soft earth even if the mud clung to my hands and knees. I flopped over onto my side next to the stick and stared at the grey sky. A few raindrops went into my mouth and alerted me at how thirsty I was and greedily drank whatever found itself onto my now wide open maw. The action of drinking tiny drops hurt my throat but I couldn’t be picky with what was given to me.
I put my hands over my chest, feeling the bones of my ribs underneath my skin. I could feel tenderness and bruising around my lower left ribs, with similar ones on the inside of my right arm. My breathing had been shallow all this time and I tried to breathe deeply but coughed as more pain prevented me. I waited for the pain to pass, a full minute or two before I groaned and turned to my front. I grabbed the stick as I used it to prop myself up, a squelching noise could be heard as it sank into the muddy ground. While leaning on the stick, I surveyed my surroundings again but there was nothing that stood out except the gravel path. So I began to step towards it, needing to pull the stick out of the soft ground after each time.
As I finally placed the stick on the gravel, a loud snap echoed as I fell onto the ground bruising my knees and the left side of my body and face. Pain ignited once again around my body and I was forced to scream after it.
It was too much, I curled up into a ball, clutching all of my bruises as the dam inside me broke. A wave of questions and thoughts burst forth — where am I? What happened to me? Am I gonna die? I want to go home. Which way is home? I don’t want to be here. I want to eat. How do I survive? Who… am I ? At the last question, tears escaped my eyes and I gasped, about to bawl but I froze. A sudden fear gripped me from the depths of my psyche worse than the physical pain that I was feeling now.
How dare you cry? An echo in my head admonished me. You can’t be thinking this is enough for anyone to feel bad for you? Its gross. Come on, get up. Go find some shelter, you don’t get to die just yet.
I blinked the tears away and ignored the pain to the best of my ability. Forcing myself to take long deep breaths, I propped myself up with the broken half of the stick. A silver lining that the stick broke at just the right length to make it easier to use. I went a few steps away from the gravel path just so I would land on mud rather than stone if I stumbled again. I looked at the gravel path wondering which way to go. There was no sun to help me find which direction is north, and no landmarks to see in either direction. A strong wind suddenly picked up and blew leaves to the left direction. With no better way to decide on a direction, I lifted my feet and took the first step towards an unknown destination.
It was slow going, my feet and the stick squelched each time I moved forward, making me annoyed at the extra work of getting them unstuck from the mud every now and then. I tried to remember anything about myself or my situation but come up with nothing. I was obviously attacked by something and managed to get away. But other than that my mind was blank, I have no memory or recollection of anything past waking up in this wet forest.
Putting it aside, I have had an uneasy feeling in my stomach ever since waking up. I looked at my surroundings, the gnarled trees with a thick canopy, the seemingly endless pouring rain, and the single gravel path. I could hear nothing but the heavy raindrops and my feet in the mud but after filtering them out there was nothing else. It was quiet, even when I see the branches of the gnarled trees move through the wind no rustling of the leaves or creaking of the wood could be heard. Its possible that the rain is just too loud for me to hear anything else but even then there should be other things besides that I can hear. Finally there was the musty odour that had nestled in my nose. It wasn’t strong enough to bother and make me cover my nose, but it was just lingering and so alien that I can’t ignore it.
I don’t know how long I walked for but eventually the trees started becoming sparser, letting me know that I was at least going somewhere. The gravel path became thinner as well, mixing more with dirt rather than a uniform stone and as I stepped out of the last of the gnarled trees, I found myself at the top of a slope that went down towards a vast lake that stretched out closer to me on the left where as it curved farther out on the right. On its beach and shallow parts were shrubberies that I didn’t know the name of with glowing lights that flittered here and there. Dragonflies, I thought. The image of tiny insects with a long body and thin wings came to my mind. Insects… quickly, I tried to remember what other animals there were — frogs, cats, dogs, bears, grasshoppers, worms, hares. Lynx. A sharp pain shot through my head as I clutched it, dropping my stick. I managed to stay upright as images of a burning village, a boy running, a woman in blue. And then a forest clearing in winter, leafless trees surrounding it and a single grey lynx stood at the center, staring at me.
I gasped as the visions stopped, my hands heavy on my knees and struggling to stay standing. Then I heard something crash from behind me. I spun my head quickly just in time to see one of the gnarled trees away from the path fall forward towards me with a large silhouette of a man standing over it. It was hard to see the man and I stepped back further into the slope to crouch low to the ground and keep myself hidden, all the while trying to keep my eyes on the faraway figure.
The man bent downwards slowly, their head low to the ground and started moving — crawling, on all fours. It would creep a few steps forward, stop, raise its head to look around, and then go back to the ground. They stopped in front of another gnarled tree and put their hands on it, stood up while hunched slightly and placed their hands on the trunk before pushing on it. It was too far to hear and I could only imagine what sort of creaks and groans the tree would give but it was clear for me to see that the tree was being uprooted followed by a second resounding crash.
To my surprise something small jumped at the strong man’s face out of the fallen tree’s roots. Then another and another. Tiny fat grubby things crawled all over the man and I saw them roll on the ground in panic. They grabbed one of the things and tossed it away with tremendous force, splatting on the trunk of some other tree. Another one was thrown in an arc landing who knows where, and then a third was tossed in my direction. It sailed through the air and landed a few feet in front of me allowing me to see more details under what little light went through the clouds. It was worm like, but not long, fatter and more oval… like maggots. Yes, I remembered. Like maggots, if maggots could reach the size of a fist.
The impact on the ground made it skid across some dirt, smearing a sickly white pus that I hoped was quickly being washed away by the rain but instead creating a pool of frothy milky substance. Then it twitched, turned and faced me. It’s head was bulbous with the protrusion seeming to sag with fat that partially covered one side of its eye. It blinked and tilted its head and froze, the cycloptic maggot slowly reared back, eyes narrowing. I gripped the twig I had as a chill ran down my spine as the maggot prepared to jump at me. It was fast, the large body sprung like a frog and I could see a slit on its underbelly and I stumbled back in fear, stumbling down the slope and inadvertently dodging it.
Both the maggot and I tumbled down the sloped beach separately, nearing the lake. I managed to get up first and orient myself once again finding myself only a few feet away from it. Strike it. You are lower than a worm, but you can still kill it. The same echo degraded me once more and with anger I readjusted my grip before swinging it down on the maggot with a yell. More white frothy pus burst out of it like juices from a berry, the body twitched wildly and I swung for a second and a third, each one accompanied by another scream from me.
That’s right, beat the maggot. It is nothing, just like you. You give it comfort in its death. As disgusting as it is now, in death it is able to become something other than the filth it was born as. A mercy, that you do not deserve. At the final echoing thought, I dropped the twig and fell to my knees throat ragged from screaming with each hit. I tried to scream again but this time it was different. This time no voice came out for my sadness. I was angry at the echo in my mind and my heart allowed my body to scream but self-pity for me was barred.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
I stared at the beaten maggot, its body had been smashed into fleshy bits, the eyeball popped out and deformed while the pus it gushed out was being washed away towards the lake. The adrenaline I had started to leave my body and soon I felt the exhaustion come over me. But then I heard heavy footsteps squelching on the mud coming towards me. I was so tired and I didn’t want to find out what that man-thing would do to me.
I looked around and saw a thick shrub, big enough to hide me even if it was painful. But something stopped me, a thought, my own and not the echo’s. Can’t I just let go? Take my chances with the man-thing. If it could help me, I’m saved, if not… I stared at the maggot again, imagining my body mangled in the same way and it soothed my tiredness. You don’t deserve it. My body went against my wishes as I crawled slowly towards the bush but no, I wish for it to end. I bit my arm and focused on the pain, allowing myself to lie down and look into the grey sky.
The footsteps grew louder and my heart pumped faster as it approached. Then I saw the chin of a horse appear past the cliff. A horse, there was no mistaking it, a memory of a saddled horse flashed in my mind. It was grey, just like the sky, the head moved to look around the lake, and I waited for it to see me. Then a brief flash of light lit everything up, I looked around and saw just in time for another flash to come from past the lake. The horse neighed, bringing back my attention to it, and it turned as its full body came into view.
A disgusting merge of horse and man. It had the huge and lanky body of a man, the arms reaching down to past its knees with equally spindly fingers and long sharp nails to match it. The legs were quite muscular and more horse-like, a grey coat that matched the horse head covered it from the waist down to its hooves. The eyes were big and round and it had long hair that draped across the horse head. A third flash of light appeared and it briefly allowed me to see its milky eyes without an iris. Then it smiled, a huge toothy grin that didn’t belong to a horse. Its teeth were more human but the horse’s long face gave it a longer row.
It crept to go around the lake, staying on top of the slope and I realized it never saw me even. Too interested in what created that flash across the lake. I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or disappointed, but it meant that I lived for just a bit longer. After waiting a few minutes to make sure the horsehead didn’t return, I finally sat up again and wondered what I should do next. The encounter I just had told me a few things, that there are what I can only call monsters here. Even with my shoddy memory, I knew that both the maggot and the horsehead were not normal.
I need to get out of here, who knows what else is lurking in this grey forest? I picked up my stick, the puss already washed away by the rain that only left a dark wet stain. I steadied my breathing, as most of the pain that I felt in the beginning subsided a bit and stood up. Scared, wet, and hungry, I began to walk around the lake towards the flash. The horsehead seemed to head in the same direction. Facing the lake, it went towards the left side and broader end. But from what I saw, the flash seemed closer to the right. If there are any other monsters in this place they might just gather towards the flash as well but I had no other idea on where to go.
If there’s a possibility that a human created that flash, then I have a bit of hope to survive. The walk around the lake was thankfully uneventful and by the time I reached a point that seemed to finally curve and started to close around the lake, I saw another flash that was much closer, just inside the forest tree line and maybe a mile from where I was. I picked up my pace, just barely faster as the bruises I had were becoming more of an annoying sting every time I took a step.
As I got closer, I could hear grunting in the distance followed by the sound of an explosion. I hurried past the tree line just in time to see a group of deer. Deer with missing patches of fur, with elongated gaunt and humped bodies, two extra pair of hind legs to compensate for the new length. Each deer had varying sizes of antlers but all of them had strands of long and red things tangled on them. Some of it were long enough that it went down to their necks, covering one eye and hung listlessly right by their mouth as they moved. And oh, how they moved terribly, in a jerking gait that resembled more like an insect.
Then I heard them grunt and bleat making me shiver in fear. Their grunts had a slight delayed echo that was more a human that tried to mimic the deer’s sound. I watched, frozen in fear behind a tree, as three of these things advanced towards two people with their backs against the trees while another stayed back.
The two people were backing away slowly, the larger figure who looked to be a man with black short cropped hair, was wielding a longsword defensively with two hands and wore a short blue cloak with what looked to be golden embroidery. The smaller one was leaning on a long staff that twisted near the top with a grey band wound around it and wore a similar but longer cloak with their hood up. I could see the smaller figure’s body breathe heavily as if exhausted. It was difficult to see their face as I was slightly behind them and to their left.
Suddenly, two deer moved attacked the sword wielder, the one on the right charged with its weird gait while the one in the middle jumped. With practiced ease, the large figure slashed at the charging deer on the right, the blade slicing from the nose bridge down, lopping off the entire front of it as the deer released a shrill cry of pain mixed with the reverberating human echo. At the same time, the deer that jumped was blown away by a flaming explosion that manifested from the hooded figure. The explosion bathed the area in a warm vibrant glow that disappeared as soon as it came. The wind that generated from it was strong enough to blow her hood back, revealing long flowing platinum blonde hair.
It seemed perfect at first, the swordsman taking care of the front while the mage took care of his back. But the mage already looked tired and that display of power took out even more. I watched as the last deer took the chance to bound around the swordsman while he was busy.
“Watch out!” Before I could process it, I shouted while I stepped out from behind the tree sand threw my stick at the deer. It flew and bounced off harmlessly off one of its legs, grabbing everyone’s attention, both the deer and humans shocked at my sudden presence. This gave enough time for the swordsman to kick the deer away from the mage, taunting it with a scream.
The one deer that stayed back, I realized was much larger than the other three and it tilted its head at me before its lips parted baring its teeth with fangs. Adrenaline rushed through me as I turned in panic, tripping over a raised root quickly. I turned to look back and see the deer already almost halfway, the strands hanging off its antlers shook about wildly as its hooves kicking up muddy dirt as it bounded towards me.
I quickly got back up and ran as fast as my sore body could, trying to push off of each tree that I ran by, hoping that maybe I could trick the deer to fall into the lake. I heard a shrill cry behind me and I turned just in time to force my body to dive away to the right as the deer soared through the air and slammed its antlers down into the roots, entangling it. With my route to the lake blocked, I backed away slowly, watching it struggle to break free. I could hear the creaking of the roots as it threatened to snap as well as another cracking sound that I couldn’t quite place.
A strand on its antler landed by its mouth and paused its struggling before it began to eat it. As it ate, it pulled on the strand. I followed it from where it was being chewed and towards the loop on its antlers which began to unravel, revealing fresh white bone covered in a thin pinkish sheen on it. The strand is fleshy skin that covered its antler bone and as the deer ate it, it peeled away, fresh blood dripping down the antlers. My knees wobbled as I leaned on a tree, heaving at the disgusting sight. The sound of distress I made seemed to make the deer remember that it was chasing me, its dark oval pupils narrowing at its prey. The legs braced itself as it pushed off against the ground trying to break free. More creaking and cracking snaps could be heard in the air as it finally broke parts of the roots, freeing one of its antlers while the other antler split, spraying bit of blood as the deer’s head swung upwards, fully free.
I ran away once again, hurrying to figure out anything, something that I could do to get away from the monstrous deer. Another shrill cry pierced the air from behind me before I spotted an uprooted tree up ahead. I beelined to it, slamming into the roots as I could barely stop myself in my frantic sprint. I shook it, hoping that my plan would work just in time for the deer to rush at me. It swung its head down and I dodged to the left, its antlers barely cutting the skin on my forearm. As its antlers slammed onto the tree roots however, the maggots that I hoped were there all skittered out and leaped at the deer which surprised it.
Tens of maggots swarmed on the deer and it bucked wildly trying to shake all of them off. Each maggot nibbled on the deer, trying to burrow into the skinny flesh. A few went near the mouth of the deer which it instantly bit and devoured, the neck muscles spasming as white puss squished and spurt out of its mouth. The maggots it managed to shake off were trampled by its six hooves but a few still stayed on and bit into the deer’s flesh. One of them was on its right eye and I could see it wiggle and burrow in as the deer shrieked in pain. It shuddered erratically, its body turned away from me and stamped its hooves on the ground. Then the stamping died down to twitching and the deer stopped shrieking, it now only swayed on the spot.
I took deep heavy breathes, perhaps the maggots had killed it after all?
Then the deer slowly turned its head around, first seeing the left side of its face, the deer’s eyes locked on to me before fully turning its head, mouth open. What I saw was an empty right eye socket, crying tears of blood. The head twitched and then the head of a maggot, with its one bulging eye settled nicely outside it, the eyeball looking around in circles before it settled on me. More maggots popped out of the little burrows in the deer’s body their cyclopean eyes swirling around. The open mouth released short rhythmic sounds as if it was laughing. It tried to move and instantly fell to the ground. With wobbly legs it got up again and tried to move, like it was a newborn fawn.
Once it felt satisfied, it began to move towards me. It wasn’t dead, and it was coming towards me. I was too tired to run away now as I slowly sank to my knees. All I could do was watch in petrified fear. The deer’s open mouth drooled with blood, puss, and saliva all mixed together. It was right in front of me now, and the mouth gaped bigger and bigger, lowering it around my head. The mouth had completely swallowed me and the smallest bit of light allowed me to see the rows of teeth and the disgusting pink flesh of its mouth. Further in the back of the throat I saw something wiggle. The eye of a maggot.
“No!” I heard a man’s voice shout right before I could see the red eye widen in surprise as my head touched the roof of the deer’s mouth, thinking that it was finally taking a bite. But no, while the upper mouth was heavy, the lower mouth didn’t close and soon it was thrown off of me. The swordsman towered over me with worry on his face before it turned to one of relief. He pulled me back behind him by the collar of my neck, putting himself between me and the deer.
“Just stay back kid,” his voice was deep with strong resolve as he faced the headless deer. It swayed unsteadily and the neck spilled blood onto the ground but it never went down. My vision darkened and the world began to tilt as I saw the maggots that burrowed into the deer all look at me and the swordsman before finally passing out.