The Forest Beast

The monster growled and roared as it looked down upon Tyra and Syren.

"Don't go anywhere, Syren," Tyra said as she charged in.

"I won't," Syren said before he turned the pages of his black tome. He chanted to himself quietly once he reached a spell that he wanted.

Tyra dodged and weaved around the creature's flailing intestines and arms. It had tough skin, and she could only get a couple of cuts in as she made sure not to get hit.

Syren's shadow began to morph until it became tendrils with hands at each ends of them. They reached out towards the beast swiftly and held the creature down. As it tried to escape, Tyra sliced at the back of the creature's knees. Blood spurted out onto Tyra's armor, but she could hardly care for the wellbeing of another monster. As the beast fell to its knees, Tyra climbed up and cut the beast's neck. Blood poured out of it until there was almost nothing left. It weakened further until it was left lying on the ground. And Tyra stabbed it once in the head to finish it off.

It was over. The beast of the forest was quickly dispatched.

Syren said, "Great job, Tyra."

"You, too," Tyra said as she looked down on the creature with hateful eyes.

Syren looked back at Whisper and asked quietly, "So, you really think she'll slow us down?"

"Yes," Whisper replied, "She's not your ally. She is your warden."

"Hmph. Maybe. But I don't care. All I care about it fixing this eclipse. If getting killed by the end of it is punishment, then so be it. I won't do what you suggest," he replied.

Whisper was quiet and pointed in a direction that was complete opposite towards where we were originally heading. "The closest demon is that way. We should get going."

Whisper took one step and paused for a moment. "No. Not that way. The closest one is... that way," he said as he pointed in the direction that we were originally going.

"Are you sure?" Syren asked.

"Yes. It was... nothing. Probably just the wind playing tricks or something."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

Tyra came over to Syren and said, "Let's get going. I'm not familiar with whatever we fought. Let's try to get to the next city over. You'll be able to relax there."

Whisper said, "That should be fine. I think the road we're taking leads into the city anyways."

"Alright, Tyra. Let's get going," Syren said.

But as soon as they were about to go, more trees began to get displaced. More creatures came out of the forest similar to what they fought. There were hordes of them. Some were as large as the trees, but others were just the size of a regular human. These ape-like creatures with hundreds of eyes stared back at them. The mouths salivated as well as their intestines. The small ones carried man-made weapons - axes and swords made of bronze, bows and arrows. It was as if they were a primitive tribe.

And once Whisper saw this, he wondered even more about where these monsters came from.

"Looks like we're going to have to fight our way through," Syren said.

"I can see that," Tyra replied.

They muttered guttural noises and surrounded them, but neither of them were afraid of death nor did they plan on it. Tyra gripped her blade. Syren conjured his sword from his own shadows after quickly chanting the words he needed. He didn't even need to look at the book to remember what he needed to say. And the two of them were ready to face the oncoming storm of demonic beasts.