Ch 33: A monster.

Drip, drip.

The sound of dripping was resounding across this place, the dripping sound continued rhythmically in a bone chilling manner, where was this sound coming from?

When I think of that, suddenly, my body starts moving, it was moving in a very strange way, I wasn't moving it but nothing was moving it too, it was as if it was being pulled, upon moving I start seeing and hearing more around me, the scenery had disfigured into an open clear blue sky, with several floating platforms around, looking at those platforms made me see several sights, one of them was of someone celebrating a birthday, another of a forest scene and one of them was of a school too, but none of these mattered, as I was starting to hear a strange noise with the dripping, it was one of sobbing, the sound was getting louder and louder and the platforms were carrying more and more frightening stuff on them, one of a demonic looking hornet creature, a shadowy man smiling with a huge silhouette looming behind him and 4 people crying.

Eventually, I find the source of the sound of crying, it was a young boy, he looked slightly malnourished and unkempt but all of these were amplified by his heavy crying, each time one of his tears reached the floor the dripping sound appeared once more, my body carried me towards the boy, I knew what I had to do.

"Why are you crying?"

"Oh... because there's a scary monster nearby."

"A monster? But I've seen nothing around here."

"The monster's getting stronger, last time he appeared he was small, but now, he is super big and scary."

"Don't worry, I'll protect you from any monster."

I try to hold the boy to comfort him, but I didn't even know what my body was like, nevertheless I somehow hold him, and my body continues on moving us.

"Hey boy, what are all these platforms?"

"I don't know, I just know that they carry important stuff on them, and that the more of the scary ones appear, the stronger the monster gets."

When we continue going on, we see more of those platforms, a house, papers and two people appear on one of them, I see 2 creatures begging to be set free and I see one person trying to protect something with his life.

Eventually these platforms start to fizzle out and the clear sky disappears, leaving an empty void with us, darkness spread all around us, suddenly the boy I was carrying starts shivering.

"What's wrong?"

"It's here, the monster is here." He said in a quiet small voice, but his eyes showed his fear.

When I hear him tell me that, a booming loud voice comes from the void.

"So you've come here, I've been expecting you, although you brought that brat with you."

"Who are you?! Show yourself now!"

"Easy, easy, you treat me so harshly even though I was here with you from the start."

Suddenly from the void appears one creature, the darkness of the void made it stand out even more, what was truly frightening about it is that it looked like...

"Me?"

"Bingo! That's right it's me!"

But that was impossible it couldn't have been me, after all I don't remember having such a monstrous appearance, I don't remember having such savage looking claws and fangs, nor do I remember being covered in mud and blood, and especially those eyes, the kind that was filled with anger.

"Are you so foolish to say that I am not you? At least I'm closer to you than that pathetic little boy."

I try to hold the boy closer to me, but there was nothing there.

"Boy! Where are you boy!"

"Hmph, the coward ran back to his nice little memories, ran off back to his dear mummy and daddy." The voice was sneering at him.

"But my main purpose is with you, I wanted to thank you." The voice continued on.

"Huh? Thank me? What did I ever do to someone like you?"

"You've done more to me than you can even imagine, all the carnage and bloodshed you've caused has molded me into what I am now, and what a fantastic show you've put, let me show you my favorite one!"

Suddenly the darkness changes, it kept changing until the scenery was that of a road on the plains, I knew this place.

"Stop it!"

But it did not stop, I appear on the road, and 4 people appear, the people were slaughtered one by one by me, until I stood there alone, covered in blood, the darkness swallows the scenery and the black scenery returns.

"Wowie! What a carnage, you really were a monster out there, and don't you remember the exhilarating feeling we got after killing one of them, it's enough to make me giddy!"

"Shut up! I did it because I had to, it was necessary for survival."

"Survival indeed, paint it however way you want, it doesn't change the fact that you by your own will killed all of them."

"I-"

"Oh right! Silly me, I've forgot to ask, would you mind letting me drive around for a while? It's only fair after all you've been hogging it all for yourself!"

When he says that, my body starts to change to become like his, I was scared, I resist and slowly, it stops becoming like him, and returns to the form of my own, I can then hear his angry and irritated voice, completely unlike his previous tone.

"Eventually, you'll be the one here me! And when I'm the one in control, I'll rampage around as my heart desires, we'll get so strong once I take control."

After telling that to me, the darkness starts to close in on me, I could hear the crying intensifying once more, the darkness was about to swallow me when...

"Rai! What's the matter with you?!"

I was woken up by Nozomi, in front of me was a fireball that was getting bigger.

"Quickly Nozomi, isolate it with wind!"

She creates a barrier of wind around the fireball, the fireball burns all of the oxygen inside so it burns out and fizzles out of existence, I sigh in relief, this could have been bad.

"What are you doing Rai! Are you trying to get us killed?!"

She was very angry at me, I apologize to her for doing that and promise not to do it again, she looked a little overwhelmed as she just wanted to vent out and felt a little guilty for scolding me.

Looking around I see that the sky was lightening and that the sun was about to rise, seeing as how we were awake, I decide to talk to her about where we should go.

"Nozomi, I think we should go to the kingdom of Almot."

"Huh? Why so suddenly? And do you even know where it is?"

"Well, we should go because we might find that man there, and when we do that we'd find our parents, so we can release them from being undead."

"You're talking about the directions we got from the Redhawk? Yeah, I've figured as much, well Rai, we will always stick together, and I too want to free them, so we'll find it and get to them."

We have decided to go over there by crossing the forest of Naher, but firstly we were gonna have to find it.

The problem was, we were completely clueless about where we were let alone where that forest was located at, the only way we could find our way was if we could find a map, or get some directions, but both required interacting with humans and I wasn't about to do that, and so we decide to cross the forest we were in when we had been found by the Redhawk.

*POV Leven*

A day has passed now, and the adventurers did not come back, that meant only one thing.

"Damn it! That monster killed them!"

These adventurers could not come home anymore, I offer these poor adventurers my prayers after their death.

"Commander Leven, it looks like I'll set off myself to capture that spirivulpes, there is no need to set a request for the adventurers or the slayers guild."

"Baron Alvey Ledal, you can not leave the city unattended while you go on a hunt like that." A man suddenly appears and stops the baron from leaving, that man was the advisor of the baron

"Alright then, you're in charge until I return." He tells the advisor before running off, it was already too late and there was no stopping him.

We stand there and watch the baron vanish off into the distance, the advisor returned to tend to the city and leaves me with the knights here.

I hope that the baron would be able to avenge these adventurers, we remove the anti energy field and return the cages where they were, and so we returned to the knight dormitory.