"GROOOOAAAAARRRGGGHHH!!!"

"Oh, you have to be seriously kidding us!"

We could hardly believe it, and in fact, we didn't want to believe it. We had barely covered any amount of reasonable ground after we left it thrashing in the vines yet this creature was already closing in! How is it so fast with only three working limbs?!

"Gah! Keep running, Sis!"

"Wah!"

With every frantic step we took, the woodland surroundings started warping in on itself. The trees twisted into grotesque, inhumane shapes, as if they had engulfed and took the form of lost travellers. The colours had begun to shift from natural greens and browns to perplexing shades of sickly purple. It was almost as if the woods were coming alive to watch the unforgiving chase unfold before them!

"GRAAAGGGHHH!"

We found ourselves ducking over low-hanging branches and leapt over gnarled roots that seemed to be actively trying to trip us. The air was so thick each gasp I took made me feel as if my lungs were burning as we pushed forward. The beast didn't once lose its focus on us as we turned and changed directions whenever we could. Despite how gnarled its condition looked, it kept on thunderously coming after us.

"Dammit!"

"Huh?--Oh no!"

A dead end loomed before us, a wall of tangled tree bodies blocking our path. We skidded to a halt so hard the build-up of dirt beneath us travelled onto our shoes.

"The gaps are too small to pass through! Argh! There's no way past this!"

"Um ... Hiroshi ..." I trembled with my words "Behind us!"

Seemingly as a form of taunt, or maybe it's how it showed amusement, the beast had stopped with speed and was now closing in with its mouth hanging in a way that appeared to make it smile. Licking its lips like it hadn't eaten or drunk in weeks, and a second later, it lunged with a furious snarl too--

--THUD--

"GRA--?"

--BOOM--

Crashing headfirst into the trees before it.

"Oh man, that was way too close!" Brother went seconds after he pushed us both down onto the ground, causing the beast to sail over us into its concussion-inducing target. Seconds later, we would have been ripped to shreds.

"Too close", I went with panic in my being. "That was... that was too close--"

"Come on!"

Brother urged and hauled me up before we took off again in a random direction. The beast, at that moment, had just shaken off its disorientation. With a moment spared to gather its brings, it immediately resumed its pursuit, its roars reverberating through the forest in such frustration the tree heads above us appeared to tremble as they shook in the overhead gust.

"Brother! It's gaining on us again!"

"Oh, come on! Can it tell we have no wish to be on its menu!"

"I think if it could respond, it wouldn't care!"

"You think?!"

With our feet littering, we dug into the ground with each step we took as we pressed on with everything we had to spare. Eventually, though, exhaustion was setting in, and I couldn't keep my sight from gradually blurring. Curse my body, which is not being made for long-distance running!

"Wah--!!"

--Thud--

My foot caught on something unseen completely unexpectedly, and I tumbled forward, hitting the ground with a jarring impact. It wasn't the first time I've tripped in my life, but boy, was this the first time it hurt this bad.

I thought that was it, that seconds later, I was mincing meat, but Brother had other ideas, and instantly, when he noticed I tripped, he pulled me up before I could even register the pain.

"We can't stop now, Sis!" he panted."Come on! Come on!"

Once again, regardless of fatigue, we ran on, and just a minute into it, fate decided to present how much more it could screw us over when we heard the bushes around us rustling and the sounds of numerous thunderous steps not unlike the one closing in behind us.

"Oh no!"

Our voices spoke in unison, and our hearts sank so deep it felt like they'd never rise again. Why? Cause more of the same beast chasing us started to leap out of the shadows, encircling us with predatory intent.

Same black fur, the same foamy gnarling mouth, and horridly, they were all less wounded, unlike the one who started this whole ordeal, who didn't seem to mind the colony when it joined its comrades as they began to menacingly close in.

Fear gripped me like a vice. Was this really how it would end? After a week of life-risking labour for goblins, this is how we'll die?!

"... Mother ... Father ... Help us..."

Hiroshi pulled me close, his face mirroring my terror as the circle of death became ever so smaller.

"Huff ... Huff ... Huff ... No... No! Not like this ... This isn't how it ends! Amaye!"

"Huh?!"

"Close your eyes!" Brother bellowed, "Close your eyes right now!"

"W-what? W-why?!"

"JUST DO IT!!!"

Stunned by his raised voice, I obeyed without another word. Hearing him yell out the way he did almost knocked some of the fear out of me.

"I'm sorry ... mother, father ..." I heard him say. "I promised you both I wouldn't do it ... but then again, I never was a good listener, was I?!-- Now... DEPLOY!!!!"

Wait?! ... Is he--

--Ka-boom!--

"GRAAGGH!"

Still Clinging tightly to him, I was suddenly overwhelmed by an intense surge of energy emanating from his body. In an instant, a thick, oppressive atmosphere materialized around us--I didn't need my eyes open to know such.

The air grew quickly heavy and clouded with a foggy haze. As his voice rang out, the murky cloud expanded rapidly, engulfing our surroundings in its dense, swirling embrace. The sheer force of it pressed against my skin and sent alarm bells in all corners of my inner fibres. Yet, regardless, I didn't submit to the influence it would make anyone within it receive... however--

"Gragh! GRAAGH!! RROUUGHHH!"

--For these furry nuisances, that was a totally different story. The beasts all began to howl and cry in confusion and pain as if sharing our torment. Some of them even began, in their agony, flailing at one another. I guess it can't be helped; unlike myself, they've never felt the effects of brother's fog-dispersed magic--it's more or less like if your nerves were on fire, and your interstice were turning in on themselves and having the worst headache imaginable plus whatever other form mental stress going in a never-ending circle.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

I was bedridden for days the first time I was in it myself... brother more so after he released accidentally that day, which reminds me --

"Brother, you shouldn't have-- I spoke in horror.

"KEEP ... SHUT ... EYES!" he coughed out in a distorted, bellowing voice.

I can feel his pain; I mean, anyone could with how much he's tensing his body and whimpering. So, summoning all my willpower, I called upon as many thorny vines as I could muster from beneath the ground. They shot up wildly once more, lashing at the creatures with the viscous intent they once displayed.

"Huh? ... This feeling ... the fog is--"

I'm not as educated as I would wish, but I think my vines shooting out the way they did either dispersed the fog by themselves or their combined lashing with the beast's current movements doing the job. It didn't matter; the fog was thinning enough for me to regain clarity, and no sooner did it do so was I taking my brother's hand, leading him out of the ensuing chaos.

It took a while, though, with Brother's current condition, but eventually, we managed enough ground to lose them all.

"Oh ... Finally ... time to breathe .... Ugh, but seriously, Hiroshi, you used your reckless spell!"

He managed a breathless chuckle amidst his panting. "Well… you know me… always and acting man before thinking boy."

"Honestly, I 'm surprised you lasted as long as you after casting it and were still on your feet!"

"Heh, heh ... better late than ever to spill but ... I've been secretly training that spell ever since I first used it that day..."

" ... Excuse me?"

"Remember, I was poorly one weekend.... and mother and father thought it was a stomach bug--"

"I fed you breakfast, lunch and dinner and did your chores for you out of the kindness of my heart!"

"And for that ... you've solidified why I adore you, Sis..."

This damn dumbnut!

"Hiroshi, yoooouuuu--"

We can argue later," he interrupted my fuming self as he took the lead again. "Let's just get somewhere safe first."

"Ugh ... this isn't over..."

-~-

Sometime later ...

"I never imagined—" Hiroshi began, his voice trailing off, "—that we would stumble upon a place like this, of all things, a forest."

"The world is full of surprises," I replied, glancing around in awe. "It feels as if we've stepped into an entirely different realm."

After what felt like an eternity of navigating through more of the dense woods, we finally emerged from the suffocating canopy of trees. The relief was palpable; it was refreshing not to see the same monotonous scenery surrounding us for once. Though, saying that came with a fistful of irony, as jagged rocks and craggy stones dominated our new view at every turn.

It seemed we had entered a rugged, rocky terrain that, honestly, neither of us even knew was in this forest.

"Damn those beasts! They chased us deeper into the woods than ever!" I spat in frustration, bubbling up inside me.

"Oh, for the love of—Can our luck possibly get any worse?!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

"Grrrrr!"

"?!"

We both froze, dread creeping over us so much that our faces went pale as we slowly turned around. Eyes widened in horror with what we saw.

The first Feral Beast, the one that had pursued from the start, was closing in on us on a limp, far more battered and bloodied than before. It was missing its left paw—the one it had once held aloft.

"Why did I have to open my mouth?!" Brother cursed under his breath.

"GRAAAAAAGGGGHHH!!"

Exhausted and breathless, our bodies ached for rest, yet we sprinted again.

The beast was slower now, but its fury radiated with an intensity that made it feel it was inches away from catching up. There were no other paths we could take off to lose it except forward, which is where we forced our aching bodies to move through, but we found it to be all for nought.

"Oh, no, no- This can't be true!"

We had reached a dead end. We had skidded to a halt before an unforgiving stone wall.

There was no underpass to slip through, no ledges to climb—nothing but tall solid rock that might as well have had a sign saying "Luck's run out" carved on it in big, bold letters.

We turned around and saw the beast closing in. Its mouth hung and dripped with saliva in a way that made it seem it was giggling with glee, praising how it was now all over--Its party had no more of a way to lose it, to run from it. The chase had ended.

And we were trapped.

"No! No! No! No!" I began to panic, my mind unable to comprehend the reality. "This can't be how it ends! After what we promised them, after everything we've been through! Hiroshi, what do we—"

-Thud-

Hiroshi? Hiroshi?!"

He had crumpled to the ground. The relentless pursuit and the toll of his earlier spell had proven too much for his battered body. I stared in disbelief at his prone form, my mind struggling to process before me. For a heartbeat, I almost forgot the looming threat of fur and fang drawing ever closer, each deliberate step a cruel taunt.

Reality crashed back upon me, and I found myself slowly sinking to my knees beside him. With trembling hands, I gathered his unconscious form into my arms, cradling him close as if I could shield him from our impending doom. Hot tears spilt down my cheeks, carving paths through the grime and dust on my face like miniature rivers.

"Grrrrrrrr"

This was how our story was destined to conclude, it seemed—alone and cornered, at the mercy of a beast that would forget us as swiftly as it would devour us. It was a petrifying thought ... yet what power do I have to defy it now...

"Goodbye, my dearest brother," I whispered, my lips brushing against Hiroshi's ear. My voice trembled with emotion as I continued, "If Mother's tales of rebirth hold any truth, then I pray I'll be reborn as your sister once more."

Tears welled up, threatening to spill over as I choked out,

"And mother, father... (sniff) I'm so sorry..."

"GRAAAAAA!!!---"

The beast's roar filled the air, as it leapt forward for the kill it had been savouring for so long. I closed my eyes, and braced myself for the inevitable end with one last tight hug over my brother's body

...

...

...

"... H-Hm? ... Huh?"

Is this how death feels? Was our demise that swift? I didn't even feel anything at all. The pain of being torn apart ... The countless stories of nature's brutality I'd read suddenly seemed hollow and misleading.

"W-wait"

With fear of what I may see, I flutter my eyes open to find that ... nothing had changed ... at all. I wa still on my knee's, brother was still unconsoucs and in my embrace ... and there were still rocks everywhere? ... H-Hold on a sec?!

"I-It... it's not ... moving?"

Standing there... just as menacingly as it were when I thought it had leapt for the kill... the beast remained, as still as a statue carved from the very stones that surrounded us.

"UH-- Ack-- AAAAA---"

And then, to my surprise, a guttural, choking sound erupted from the creature's throat ... it was--

"I-is it... is it choking?"

What then happened ext was so ... well I don't even know how to describe it ... but ... After it began to cough and gasp as if it were staved of air the beast's entire furry body began to move in ways that no living thing should. Its three bloody limbs jerked and twisted at impossible angles, the sound of bone rigging through the air as fast as quickly as several twigs crushed by a rock.

And then, afterwards, the beast stopped, now twisted in a position it definitely couldn't make for itself ... beor its muscles rippled and contorted.

"O-oh! Oh my..."

Without a form of warning, a thin, green tendril burst through the creature's hide, followed by another, and another, bursting out of the random area as easily as it would be to pierce butter. My stomach churned as watched to display how the beasts were writhed and multiplied from within, the vines weaving through fur, flesh and organs alike, their progress marked by sickening cracks and squelches as they crushed more bone in their relentless expansion.

"Ah... AAAAAHHHH!!"

The beast's form began to lose all semblance of its original shape, morphing into a grotesque, pulsating mass of vegetation and meat. I wanted to look away, to shield my eyes and revolt as I was rightfully allowed to do so, but I found myself entirely paralyzed I couldn't even blink.

Then, instantly, in a violent convulsion, the mass of vines coalesced, twisting and compressing into a new form, and finally it was over ... yet ... perhaps a way to say that nothing was going to be as it were... where once stood a terrifying close to dead predator, now sat a large, perfectly carved--

"... A... A pump...kin?"

A pumpkin. Where the beast was, now sat, ina pool of meat, fur and blood, was a large pumpkin. Its surface was smooth and unblemished as if lovingly crafted by an expert hand....

What the heck just happened?!

"Marvellous! Simply maaaaarvelous!"

...Eh?

"The thrill for your lives... the terror of inevitable end... odds so not in your favour! Oh, how I just adore reality drama!

Who... who said that?

"I saaaaid that, my deaaaarest daaaaarling,"Wah..."Oh, you two have been amaaaaazing protagonists for this once-in-a-lifetime event I just spectated. Absolute Cinema it was! ... yet ... the only downside... was that it ended. ..Oh well! There will be pleeeeenty of opportunities for a load of sequels, which will surely leave any audience asking for more. For which, I thank you both for proving that I was right, and I welcome you both to the cast!"

T-The ... Cast...?

"We'll discuss details later... Until then!... rest well... you've eaaaarned it."

-SNAP-

"Eh?"As the last words echoed through the air, a wave of nausea crashed over me.

The world began to spin ... colours .... blurring into a dizzying kaleido...scope.

My limbs .... heavy ... as if ... lead.... tired ... very--

-THUD-