"The path ahead will be steep," Bjorn said. "But as long as we follow the road, we should be relatively safe from most of those trent's."
Kalika and Donovan became more strained, pulling Bjorn and their supplies up.
"Damn! I wish we had something to get you up faster." Donovan complained.
He glanced at Kalika, seeing that even she was struggling. And she was much stronger than Donovan.
"What if… Umph… We get caught…. Rrr… By some monsters?" Donovan asked.
"As long as I'm around, you have nothing to worry about. My magic allows me to pacify anything around us. The only exception being those damned trees."
Donovan peeked back at Bjorn. "Oh yeah. You did mention that demon power you have. I almost forgot about that."
"It's called blood magic. It's a power that only my kin are capable of. You should remember that well, while you're here in the pit."
"Wait, so can all demons have this blood magic?"
"No, but there are still many that can," Bjorn noted.
"Well, that's somewhat of a relief." Donovan glanced back at Kalika. He could tell that her thoughts were clearly in the clouds as she was muttering the names of other people in her mouth. Seizing the opportunity, he spoke to Kalika.
"Hey, Kalika. Are you alright there?"
Kalika gave a simple glance. "I'm fine.
Despite her sour disposition, Donovan tried to pry further.
"I said I'm fine," Kalika repeated. Not wanting to talk, Kalika started ignoring him. forcing Donovan to back off the subject of conversing with her. He sighed, continuing to pull the steepening path up.
Bjorn hung on tight to the side of the poorly crafted sled as he kept his eyes and ears open. He kept his guard up for any abnormalities that could pop up..
The path slowly became more narrow, and the dirt was slowly being replaced by random patterns of rocks that littered the ground itself. The humidity began to rise the deeper they traveled, and a strange slithering sound started to become audible.
Bjor immediately narrowed his eyes.
Donovan, confused, glanced around at hearing the strange sound. There was a strange, eerie feeling as if they were being watched by something.
Suddenly, Donovan caught a glimpse of a vine on the rock slithering away like a snake. It sent chills down his spine seeing this.
Kalika also caught a glimpse of a similar scene, narrowing her eyes.
Donovan looked around the rocky terrain, now on guard. "Something doesn't feel right." He muttered.
"Bjorn." Kalika spoke. "Are there supposed to be any trees close by?"
"For this path, there shouldn't be any. But it has been over fifteen years since I've been down this path."
"That's not very reassuring, Bjorn," Donovan said.
Just then, they felt a tug from behind.
"Whoa!"
They both turned, finding Bjorn now being held upside down by a black vine!
"Bjorn!" Donovan tossed aside the rope, but was just as quickly pulled to the ground by another vine.
Acting quickly, Kalika conjured her blood blade in hand, slicing off the black root that grabbed her friend. She gave an annoyed glare before turning to dash after Bjorn, who was being dragged off.
Bjorn blasted fire magic, but was continuously rocked around, leaving him to miss his shots.
Donovan stumbled back to his feet and chased after Kalika and Bjorn. He quickly grabbed his broken pipe only to find the wooden handle completely broken.
"Shit."
He glanced back and forth before taking the broken handle and returning to the chase. There was no time to think as he chased Kalika and Bjorn into the forest.
Suddenly, a loud explosion of fire erupted, lighting up the entire forest. A high-pitched cry of pain sounded out, followed by another new explosion of fire.
"
Bjorn freed himself from the vines only to find seven more whipping around to grab him. Sitting up, he moved his hand to blast more fire at the encroaching enemy.
Suddenly, a root erupted from the ground, twisting itself around Bjorn's hips. He winced feeling his blood being sucked from the plant.
He grabbed the root with his tight grip, and a second later, Kalika sliced off the root. She slid in to cover his back, gazing around more seriously as they found themselves instantly surrounded by vines.
Unexpectedly she found faces poking from beneath the bark of the trent's around them. They were the red and blue faces of the unfortunate demons that became their prey. Some of the skin looked like a raisin with wrinkled skin, while others looked bony.
Suddenly, all their eyes opened with smiles being formed on their faces. Laughter sprang forth from their mouths as even more vines whipped to entangle around both Kalika and Bjorn.
They fought back hard. cutting, slicing, and burning their way through the trent's. Just as it seemed they couldn't be touched by vines above. A root from below ensnared Kalika's leg. She moved to slice at it, but instead her dagger-equipped hand was caught and dragged away.
Bjorn was caught in the neck but quickly tore away from it using his hands. He quickly shot off the vine with conjured earth, spiked, but it was too late as Kalika was dragged to the mouth of a trent. Its middle section opened up like a mouth with sharp, jagged teeth. Within lay its last victim still fresh with blood and a rot that stench of death.
Kalika became paler and shuddered with a familiar yet alien feeling. Her breathing hastened, and panic started to set in.
Within the mouth, as she got closer, she saw who seemed to be a maid. But not any maid. "R…Rhonda…?" staring back at her from within the jaws of the tree. She shuddered and began to feel even more queasy.
"LET HER GO!!!" Suddenly, Donovan smacked the trent with his wooden handle. Acting fast, he channeled fire magic in his hands, blasting it into the mouth of the nightmarish creature!
A high-pitched screech was released, and the vine entangling Kalika let go. She landed straight in front of the burning trent , but quickly found herself being pulled away by Donovan to a safer distance.
They reconvened with Bjorn, who sighed in relief. "Good. You're okay."
Bjorn blasted another large torrent of fire, this time burning a trent. "There weren't this many last time I was here. They must've grown in numbers these last twenty, thirty years in secret."
"We have to get out of here." Donovan swung the broken wooden handle like a club. He pinned one of the vines down and blasted it with fire from his hands.
On closer inspection, Bjorn noticed that Donovan was clutching onto a magic crystal. He then glanced at Kalika, seeing her in a surprising, panicked state, trying to recover from the sudden incident of almost being eaten.
Donovan blasted another vine with fire, then another that slithered towards Kalika. "Damn it, these things don't give up!"
Bjorn looked around for any possible escape routes. But all he could see were more trent's. "Tch!"
Kalika began to speak up. "I… I don't like it here. I want to leave."
Donovan could tell that Kalika was still a little shaken. He even noticed how her eyes were completely unsteady as they shook. Somehow, her aloof attitude was shattered. It was like she saw a ghost.
Bjorn growled. "The only explanation for these trent's is that a new mother trent has been born!"
"Mother tree?" Donovan quickly dodged and smacked down another vine, trying to focus on surviving.
"It's essentially like that big tree we've seen before, only much more vicious. If we kill that tree, the rest will fall asleep. Albeit very temporarily. Since I can barely move around, you and Kalika will have to deal with it somehow."
"Huh!? You gotta be kidding me! We can't do that!" Donovan said. He quickly blocked another vine that attacked, interlocking with it before throwing it to the side.
Another Vine grabbed Kalika, her body stiffened in an instant. Noticing the danger, Donovan quickly blasted it with fire.
"It's not a matter of if you can or can't. You have to. If it's this bad here, further up the path will be a lot worse than it is down here." Bjorn grimaced. "I can only imagine their victims they've been sharing amongst each other, these damn things."
"But what about you!? We can't leave you here."
Bjorn scoffed. "How foolish. Did you already forget who I am?" Bjorn channeled immense fire magic within the palm of his hand. It slowly became even more extreme and hot as the second passed by.
"I recommend you both leave or find cover… Unless you plan on dying…"
"Cover? What cover!?" Donovan frantically searched their surroundings. Every possible path seemed to be covered by the trent's. The only area that seemed plausible was a steep hill that went up. But even that was crawling with some of those trent's.
"Damn it! What other choice do we have!?" Without a second thought, Donovan grabbed Kalika by the hand, pulling her and jolting her from her stupor.
"H-huh? W-what's going on?"
"No time, we have to climb up now!"
Despite her initial confusion, Kalika didn't question him further. Bjorn watched as the trent's pursued the two with their vines and roots. Seeing a root encroaching Kalika, he shot off a simple blast of fire, burning their would be attacker.
They both ran up the steep hill as fast as humanly possible, all the while vines and roots continued to erupt from the ground in a vain attempt to ensnare the two.
The vines were numerous, and the roots, even more so. Even the faces in some of the trent's that they passed seemed numerous as they fought their way up. Eventually, bright light peeked from behind them, and before they knew it, a surge of fire rippled around and past them.
At the last moment, Donovan was captured by the root of a trent and dragged.
Reacting quickly, Kalika grabbed his hand and dragged him to the peak of the forest hill. Fire spewed from below them, but by some miracle, they managed to get behind a large rock.
The air was filled with the screeches of dying trent's around them. Each one burned into charred husks of their former prime. Even the roots that clutched Donovan's legs tightly were burned asunder.
Donovan, feeling more exhausted, started breathing more heavily, hearing the final cries of the trents around them. "Thanks Kalika."
"Where's Bjorn?"
"He wanted to stay behind. There's a mother-trent we have to kill if we're going to escape from this forest."
"A mother trent? And where is that?"
" I don't know. But it can't be hard to find… It's a big tree."
Seeing that it was safe, they looked around, finding that the once-tall trent's were all charred and black. Donovan quickly raced to the path they came from. To his shock and relief, Bjorn seemed to be just fine aside from a few scorch marks.
He then glanced around them, finding nothing but rock surrounding them at the top. It seemed like they lucked out in the place they ran to for shelter. From where they were, it was like they could see the entire forest.
It didn't take long for Donovan to see a huge head, not too different from the huge tree they saw before. "There." Donovan pointed. "That must be it."
Kalika joined Donovan and saw the tree in question.
"GO!!" Bjorn yelled. "Find that tree and burn it down!!"
Trent's suddenly erupted from the ground as if reborn. They quickly surrounded Kalika and Donovan, to their shock.
"This part of the dream is annoying!" Kalika's hands shook. She stiffened her resolve and conjured her dagger back in hand.
She slashed vines, defending herself. Donovan followed up with fireballs, burning through the attacking trents.
"So, if we kill this stupid tree, we can leave?" Kalika turned her gaze to the large trent not too far.
"Yes," Donovan affirmed.
Without a second thought, Kalika threw herself down the hill in the direction of the mother trent.
Donovan froze for a second. "W-what the-. Was her eye- NO, no. That's not possible
"Hold on, Kalika! What for me!" Donovan was now forced to chase after her.
Reaching more solid ground, they dashed through the forest, dodging and countering each attack made by vines and roots. It was like all the trent's were all thirsting for vengeance against the two of them alone.
It was like a nightmare come to life. It was like the deeper they entered, the more of these monsters' crimes were being unveiled. The scattered remains of both demons and fauna covered the forest ground, some still fresh with trent's feasting to their hearts' contents.
Eventually, they came across a wide-open space with a singular tree that towered over them.
"So this is it…" Donovan thought. He noticed that the vines from the forest retreated away from them as if Afraid. Glancing back at Kalika, he saw that she was standing tall with her gaze fixed on the huge tree before them.
"So, you're the tree that's behind this stupid part of my dream?" There was a hint of venom within her voice.
Looking at the mother trent, Donovan shook as he saw the faces in the tree wheezing and glaring straight at them. It had the faces of Demons of all creeds and animals of all kinds, trapped within it. It was hard to tell if they were living at all.
Worse yet was the audible crunching coming from within the tree itself, as if snacking on the bones of its victims. It was an unimaginable spine chilling tree, truly deserving of the title of monster.
Several more eyes of its victims opened. They all stared straight at Kalika and Donovan.
Suddenly it opened its mouth with a loud creak, showing off its jagged teeth made of wood and bark. With a gleeful and creaky deep voice it spoke a single word. "Fooood~."
"H…How are we supposed to kill that!!?" Donovan thought.
Kalika's fists shook, boiling with a rage. "Food? She wasn't food. SHE WAS NEVER FOOD!!" The image of Rhonda within the teeth of these creatures returned, Followed by those terrible demons that cruelly fed her.
She could practically see their faces looking at her from the huge trent itself. She clutched her face, mind now twisting even more as Donovan's voice became even more distant as he called out to her. "It's... It's all your fault." She hissed. "It's all your fault."
A root Suddenly erupted from the ground and slammed down, Kalika dodge. With her dagger at the ready, she raced to the trent, slicing and dodging her way through the attacks.
Like a hydra it kept replacing each sliced vines with several more in an attempt to overwhelm them.
"Damn it, Kalika!" Donovan, frustrated, attempted to back Kalika up, sending fireballs as fast as he could, all of it directed at both the huge trent and the invading vines that were surrounding them. The vines and roots, wriggled, snaked, and shot their way at Kalika and Donovan, each attempt clearly fixed on ensnaring and consuming her.
But as she got even closer, a root suddenly ripped up just beneath her. She was sent flying up into the air. and in another swift motion another root smacked her away from the tree onto the ground below.
"Kalika!"
The root then turned to Donovan who continued to fight against the trent, he burned through as many of the attacking vines as possible. But eventually they overwhelmed him. Finally caught, they pulled him by the leg and dragged straight to the trent.
Undeterred, he kept blasting several balls of fire at the mother trent, eventually making it screech out in pain and releasing Donovan.
Knowing there was no time to waste, he raced over to check on Kalika, but before he could get to her the vine pulled her away. "Oh no you don't!" Donovan shot fireballs at the vines and completely missed his mark. "Damn it!"
Without warning , Another vine whipped around Donovan's neck. He quickly tried ripping it off but another captured his arm, forcing it back. His other arm was just as quickly ensnared and was lifted into the air.
He choked and gasped for air as he was brought before the face in the center of the tree. The face had many sustained scorch marks on it and was licking its lips as if preparing for its newest meal..
Kalika was brought right beside Donovan. She was being hung upside down by the leg and was limp as if dead.
"Foooood~" it said.
Its mouth opened up once again, this time revealing the crushed bones and flesh of its past victims.
"C- Crap!!I can't do anything! I…"
Just then, Kalika opened her eyes. Seeing the situation, her eyes blackened. she conjured her blood blade and cut herself down.
She landed on her feet and snarled at the tree, "You bastard. I'LL KILL YOU!"
Her dagger gains an immense dark aura. She swung hard and left Donovan to witness as the now black bladed, briefly extended are beyond the tree itself. Even the trent itself was left in shock by this sudden and overwhelming attack.
As the dark aura dispersed, the mother trent slowly slid down the slope of the cut Kalika made.
Donovan was quickly released and fell to the ground on his knees. He watched as the trent completely collapsed onto one side. Unexpectedly, many of the trees that surrounded the wide-open space, whittled away like a bunch of dead flowers.
Turning back to Kalika he watched as she kept stabbing the face of the already dead tree. He rushed over to her, trying to restrain. "Kalika stops! It's done! Its' dead now!!"
She ripped away from his grasp and kicked him to the ground. She pointed her knife, breathing more ragefully. Glancing back, that face that she thought belonged to Daji was replaced by some other demon .
Her hand began to shake as her eyes returned to normal. "L-leave me alone. Please."
"Sure... Sure..."
Donovan cautiously picked himself up, holding his hands out as if to calm her. "When you're ready, I-I'll be over there." He pointed to the edge of the forest. He carefully backed away, allowing her some space.
She watched as left her alone. Looking back at the stump of the now dead trent. She saw that the faces of Rhonda were still imprinted on the corpses of the trents victims.
"I hate this dream!." She said to herself.