The Faceless: Part One

Evanna leapt forwards from the fallen tree and stumbled into Cilv, who was already on the ground.

"Watch it," Cilv complained as they nearly bumped heads.

Cilv started to wipe the blood from around her mouth, grimacing at the sight of it. Evanna tried not to roll her eyes at her, considering it was this wild female that went on a rampage and ripped an elf's neck apart- not the nicest way to go. She glanced up to the trees around them; the forest appeared to be dead, the sun that shone brightly on the other side was nearly non-existent.

She bit her lip at the thought of them being this side. It saved them from the Flori, but how were they going to escape whatever creatures lay in wait this side?

Evanna turned back around after realising the others had not caught up with them yet, she knew they were quicker than them, but they should have made it across by now. She heard her name being called, so she knew they knew where they went. As she turned in the direction they came from, she only saw more forest.

She turned back around to see if she got the direction wrong, but Cilv came back into view again. A crease formed between her brows as she stood still and turned her head backwards and forwards in both directions, confused by the disappearance of the river. Behind them, there was a mirror image of the forest in front of them.

"Keep doing that, please. It's making my head hurt," Cilv rubbed the sides of her temple as she looked away from the princess.

"Cilv, the river is meant to be there."

**

Ronan jumped down from the fallen tree. 

Where were the girls?

He turned his head back around to call out to Ger and Axel, but as he turned his head, the river and the other two men were gone. A shiver went down his spine as he took a few steps forward, assessing what was in front of him. The forest seemed a lot darker on this side; the dirt was a near-black colour, the trees looked like they were dying, there didn't seem to be any animals or noises, no signs of life at all. There was not even any wind blowing through the trees.

He continued to walk and pulled his sword out; it was far too quiet for his liking, his body stayed tense. Nesrin warned them about this side of the forest, and so he remained alert. As he slowly walked deeper into the woods, he noticed the trees were getting closer together, and the path he was on disappeared ahead of him. A shuffling sound made him spin around and look in that direction. His heart started to beat quicker as dread started to fill him.

He was not alone.

Ronan crept forwards, keeping his footsteps light as his gaze searched around the forest ground, stepping over fallen leaves and twigs, anything that would make a sound to alert whatever was in the forest with him. However, as his eyes were on what could be on the ground, he did not know a looming presence was above him. The sight of the human made it emerge from the shadows.

It started to crawl above him with its numerous legs placed on both sides of the trees from the path to keep itself balanced. Its elongated body began to form a long shadow across Ronan, where it hid the nearly non-existent sun. The creature was three times the size of the human below, but it was just as quiet as the surroundings while it moved closer to him.

Ronan slowed his steps as his eyes caught a slight shadow following him. He turned abruptly around, clutching his sword mightily as he held it out in front of him, ready. But he saw nothing; he narrowed his eyes as he knew there was a shadow. Slowly lifting his gaze, his eyes rounded as his lips parted to take a shaky breath in.

A black creature was above him; its skin was segmented into hard pads covering its skinny, long, horizontal body. Its many legs were on the side of each tree, with its tail swinging from side to side, the pincer at the end clasping open and shut as it rotated.

Suddenly, its head appeared directly in front of him, its neck stretched out like a long branch coming down from its body to be in front of Ronan's face. There was nothing but a pair of black eyes on a white mask type face. It was oddly humanistic minus a nose, mouth and ears. Ronan tried to step back, but the longer he looked into the bottomless pits of its eyes, the less control he had on his body. All at once, black smoke materialised behind his eyes, blurring his vision as he stared into a void of emptiness.

**

Ger arrived at the other end of the tree and jumped down, turning around abruptly as he got his bow and arrow out, ready for the Flori. As he looked ahead of him, the other side of the river looked blurry, almost like his vision had a smudge on it. Axel's huge frame soon appeared in front of him, and Ger watched as he jumped down from the tree, the other side of the river completely disappearing behind him.

His eyes widened as he now stood staring at a forest; blinking, he walked forwards, his hand raised in front of him, he waited for his leg to hit the tree or to nearly fall to his death, but nothing happened. He just continued to walk forwards like there was never a river to begin with, and they were just in a forest.

Turning back around, he glanced at Axel, who tightened his hold on his axes while he stared at the forest in front of him. Axel couldn't understand where the others went. They were just there but mere minutes ago, crossing the same tree. He knew it was a terrible idea to follow across, but what else could they do?

The Flori was following them, and the girls sprinted ahead without them. No, Cilv sprinted ahead, and Evanna tried to stop her. He remembered the princess reaching her hand out for her. He was not sure if he was thankful to Cilv or not.

On the one hand, they were safe from the Flori, and on the other hand, they were now in an unknown area that the fairy told them to avoid because of creatures being kept there for the good of humanity, he supposed. There was a 50/50 chance that they would die by the Flori or die by these so-called creatures. Neither option fit well with him.

"Which way do we go?" Axel queried,

"I normally ask you that", Ger responded.

"I don't think the map will help us this side. You know.. witchy spell and all. Plus, we need to find the others," Axel kept searching the trees for their companions but saw nothing but a dark, eery forest in return.

"Let's go this way. Maybe they stuck to the riverside," Ger suggested.

"The river that is not here anymore.."

"Do you have a better idea?"

"No, no, I just want it to be on you if we get eaten.." Axel shook his head and gestured his axe forwards for Ger to lead the way.

They launched into a brisk jog; their eyes and ears stayed ever so vigilant as the trees swept past them. They searched for their friends and remained wary of any threats that could be about in the forest. A warning from a 120-year-old fairy was enough to keep them spooked along with the quiet atmosphere that crawled up their spines.

Ger stopped abruptly, causing Axel to halt. Both became tense and held their weapons ready. Ger maniacally searched the trees around them, an arrow already aiming out in front of him as he spun. After minutes of tense stillness, Axel finally spoke up,

"Ger, what is it?"

Fear was still laced in his voice as he questioned his friend.

"Do you not hear it?"

"Hear what?"

"The whispers."

Axel frowned at his reply; he slowed his breathing down, calming his racing heart and strained his ears to listen intently to what Ger could hear.

~ Axel… ~

He gasped; a whisper floated in the air around him, wrapping him up in a tight warm blanket. All at once, more and more whispers echoed across different parts of the forest. Axel started to relax his hold on his axes, his muscles began to loosen, he felt warm and safe.

~ You are safe, Axel.. ~

Why was he so worried? The forest is not scary. In fact, he should just sit down and enjoy the view. Axel's thoughts led him to sit up against a tree with a soppy smile on his face.

Ger, none the wiser, was still assessing the area. Fighting against the whispers, telling them to bugger off. Were they witches? Evanna said she heard a singing voice, but that was a different situation. He spun slowly on his heel and became nervous when he couldn't see the giant tree of a man by his side.

"Axel!" He shouted after him desperately.

~ No need to shout ~

The whisper wriggled under his skin, making him feel nauseous; gritting his teeth, he forced himself to ignore them again. He turned again and had to do a double-take when he realised Axel was sitting on the ground playing with the black dirt as though he were a toddler playing in a puddle of water. When Axel looked up, Ger took an instinctive step back. 

Axel's eyes were pitch black.

Ger's heart picked up its pace at the sight of his friend. Before he could help snap his friend out of the weird demonic or childlike daze he was in. A rattling noise from the leaves behind him caught his attention. He turned abruptly and released his arrow.

**

Evanna and Cilv surveyed their surroundings and began walking tentatively, their eyes flickering at any slight sound.

"Something is not right.." Evanna's voice trailed off, her eyes zoned in on some dried blood on one of the trees. Her body became tense at the sight, and a cold shiver went down her spine as a twig snapped in the distance.

"We aren't the only ones here.." Cilv whispered; her nails elongated, and her eyes flickered back to the ones of a cat.

Evanna grabbed her swords, eyeing the rest of the trees as she did so. She felt an almost immediate pull forwards, her senses putting her on edge. Cilv walked ahead of her while she tried to make sense of where she sensed the danger was coming from. It lessened when she stepped forward, and when she stepped back, it was stronger. Her heart began to pound in her chest while she glanced behind her; slowly, she looked up, and her eyes went wide at what she saw crawling down towards her.

A black monster was crawling down the trees and only stopped at a small distance away from her pointed swords. Evanna could not make out how it looked. It appeared to be upside down, its countless legs clung onto the trees, its tail flopped down with its pincer rotating. Evanna eyed the pincer, her swords ready to cut it.

However, her attention went back to the rest of the monster's body; as its neck elongated down, she could not see a face. It appeared to be a slimy black head with nothing else on it. No mouth or eyes, but the closer it came to her face, the more it morphed into a white mask, with only black eyes staring at her, and it appeared to be upside down.

The white mask rotated, so it was upright. Evanna swung her sword forwards, warning it to back off.

"It seems you are not affected. What strong resistance your mind holds, human."

The monster spoke as its mouth suddenly appeared, 

"Unless you are an elf? How interesssssting, elvessss don't visit us anymore…" As it spoke, she could see sharp jagged fangs rowed across its mouth.

Evanna suddenly felt something pull away her hair from her ears. The monster's tail had swept her hair out of the way as its head came closer to her; she heard it inhale as though it was smelling her. She swung her swords again, and its tail retreated. Glancing to the side, she noticed Cilv sitting on the floor, another creature gripping her in its tail. Its face close to hers.

"What have you done with my friend? With all of them?!"

"Ah, it speaks. Zaza is seeing what she most desires or whom they desire. Sometimes they see a loved one, a dead family member, a beautiful woman or a man. The list is endless, or she could be in a nightmare. It depends on how we feel.."

Evanna began to feel sick, "What are you?"

The monster twisted and jumped down from the tree, its tail whipped back and placed the pincer on its 'face'.

"Issisiahh.. The humans used to call us the faceless. Very creative.."

The Faceless.

Evanna read from her book on Direwood about a creature called the faceless. Though she did not pay great attention to it, there were so many creatures listed in the book, she merely skimmed across the details. Although, it was fascinating.

She remembered reading the basics; the creatures fed on humans after seeing every detail of their life from their mind. The human could be controlled while the creature drained them of their life and memories. 

"As much as this has been nicccce interacting, I am…famished."

The faceless creature slowly began to stalk towards her, its tail swung behind while it brought its two sharp front legs forwards, ready to swipe at Evanna. She braced herself, swords ready as she looked up at the immense creature before her.