The Forest of Phantasms

The forest around us grows darker yet darker, as we head deeper into the unknown depths. Fog envelopes itself around the trunks of the surrounding trees and it gradually impairs the vision of both me and Aki. From the depths behind me, I hear a faint yet eerie howl. The ghostly sound of running wolves haunts us as we make our way deeper into the forest.

Suddenly I feel Aki's hand slip out of mine and I find myself lost. The howls have died down, but the fog continues to grow thicker and even denser making it nearly impossible to see. I hear a couple of footsteps behind me and at first, I am startled, but I am sure it is Aki.

"Aki? Is that you," I asked but I am answered with a horrifyingly eerie silence which puts even a pack of hungry wolves at unease, "Aki? Hello, is that you?" I repeat, sensing my voice losing confidence. The footsteps resume, and I can tell they are getting closer.

In the distance, I can see a very faint figure deep in the fog, but they appear to be limp and hunch-backed. My blood freezes in horror as the figure limps closer. Suddenly the figure vanishes for a split second and then I feel a presence behind me, I twist my head to see what it is.

The face is unrecognizable, blood streaks out of empty eye sockets. His grin is twisted and cruel yet it is one of a corpse. Blood drips from the corners of his mouth and the left side of his face is rotten. I nearly vomit and then he screams at me like a dying horse. I trip backward trying to evade his deathly grasp.

I reach for my sword but I don't have it on me, fuck I never have my sword when I need it. The decomposing creature limps towards me and opens his half-rotted jaw and snaps at me. He follows this up with a lazy swipe with his left arm and despite me expecting it he scratches my right arm.

Suddenly, an aura of weakness washes over me claiming my consciousness and drawing me into a deep deep slumber. I wake up to find myself in a very fancy yet seemingly eerie ballroom, pretty sure I am in an old castle, but how did I get here? I stand in the center of the room and look around, and gradually I start to feel the walls crumble. It is an odd feeling I don't see the walls collapsing but I can feel it and I am not even remotely close to the walls themselves.

Then, I feel my conscience start to blur, and details slowly become fragmented, the once graceful ballroom starts to deteriorate. Then something in my mind snaps and all the details come back to me vividly, but the ballroom isn't fancy anymore, it is now destroyed. I hear a step behind me, and I turn and see the decaying beast from before, and due to involuntary instincts, I look at my right arm only to notice it isn't injured anymore.

The living corpse looks at me affectionately? I nearly gag at the assumption, a monster like him has no emotions, and I slowly retreat a few steps. The creature, seeming to notice my intention of running away, tilts his head in a betrayed manner and then pounces at me. I begin to reach for my sword but decide against it because it is never there when I need it. I twist o the left, and send the beast to the ground.

He throws himself back onto his feet and continues to launch himself towards me, and every time I dodge and send him flying, although the living corpse never tires. Evident that the fight will end in the monster's favor while the current method continues, I decide to switch my tactics a little. I look around me for anything I could use as a weapon. I see a tree branch on the floor of the ruined ballroom I roll to pick it up and before I know it the undead person is on top of me, The unsightly creature, gagged by the branch I just grabbed, viciously thrashes at me and I can feel the strength of my already exhausted limbs draining rapidly.

In a swift move, I twist the branch that I have the monster gagged with, seeming to break its neck with an unsettling snap, and I roll out from underneath it and start to retreat, but notice that everything around me has yet again changed. I stand there in the newfound forest looking around me when I feel a small drop of water drop onto my hand, at least I thought it was water at first, when I look at my hand I notice it isn't a clear liquid like water, but a dark red, like blood. I look up and the horror settles in instantaneously, above me hangs hundreds, no thousands of corpses, all of them at varying stages of decomposition, and all with their throats torn open, and guts hanging out.

I suddenly hear a manically sinister laugh burst out from behind me, and in a deathly slurred tone, someone speaks, and I turn to see who it is.

"Oh my, little girl, I assume I must've underestimated you," the very same undead person, who I very recently snapped the neck of, states with utter disapproval, "That hurt ya know, I guess I have to punish you." That is when he draws a sword made of the darkest shade of iron, and then he throws himself at me. Positive this is my end I let my instincts kick in, and within a second I have his blade parried and I am holding the very 'reliable' black sword. "My, my this will not do," He states with blood-boiling hatred, "Children are not supposed to have weapons." He twirls his sword, and mine goes flying deep into the forest.