Worm

The last voice sounded strange, like a cry of desperation, but I ignored it, focusing on the path ahead. Mary shifted in my arms, her playful demeanor from earlier fading as she tugged lightly on my shirt.

"I want to go down," she said quietly, her usual teasing tone absent.

I glanced at her, a little concerned. "Are you sure? You were pretty comfortable being carried around like royalty."

"Can't I get tired?" She pouted.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Tired? You've been riding around like a princess for the past hour. I'm the one doing all the heavy lifting here."

Mary stuck her tongue out but didn't argue. Instead, she carefully slipped out of my arms and landed on the cracked ground with a soft thud. She dusted off her skirt and stretched, her usual energy feeling subdued. Something was off, and it wasn't just the eerie voices in the air. "We are being followed again, but they are just humans but slightly stronger."

"so are they dangerous" I asked tensing up a bit. She held my hand and didn't seem concerned.

"No, I could easily get rid of them with my lambs, they have been hungry so I'll just let them out into the field to eat some grass" She said with a silent hum.

"That is concerning." I said as she held my hand tighter. the sheep which was moving beside us seemed to hiss at a certain direction. Mary hummed swinging her crook with delight.

"hey I may be a bit cryptic with my words but atleast you're the only one i consider a companion" I stared at her blankly and decided to ignore her, she says that as if she didn't enjoy me holding her a moment ago.

I sighed and looked at the sheep's direction. They weren't that far, they seemed hostile and were actually holding guns. They were a group of five.

One of them without saying any words raised the gun and then shot at me, at that moment I couldn't even discern how fast it was, the projectile went through my head but I felt nothing, honestly there was no pain.

"Well that wasn't nice at all, are you ok James" Mary asked me in worry, her expression being a little upset.

"Yeah but is there a hole on my head" I answered unconsciously.

Mary paused for a moment then answered. "No but your wound burned by the green flame healed, anyway's let's get rid of these disgusting bugs"

I actually felt angry about that attack but I was calm, the person who shot the gun became confused as to why his weapon failed to work on me. "Sigh, do i really have bad luck"

As I was about to move and meet the group, the ground under them shook and a giant maw appeared and erupted out of the ground and into the sky. A fleshy mass of…well rotten flesh that looked like faces constantly screaming ate them.

"apparently yes you do" Mary said not bothered bothered by the strange thing in the distance.

They were weak I guess. Mary seemed to get a hint of my analysis. "They aren't weak, rather that thing isn't even that strong at most they would come out a the end of the day through the behind of it"

She said as she dragged my hand forward, i followed her lead as we continued walking through the wastelands. She wasn't worried about the thing. "How do you know that?"

"Well it depends on how much pressure a soul gives off, but it's soul is just big and lifeless, it's like a bunch of other souls came together and created that leading to their eternal suffering" She answered with a finger near her lips. The faces in on the worm were lost souls who stayed for too long and were unconsciously pulled together as a last yield to be tethered on the world and then transformed into a monster or monsters. I speculate that the worm wouldn't attack us unless we step into one of its traps.

I never really mentioned this but ever since I came out of the blood river, my vision would register beings with souls to be burning in a specific place. I guessed it to be life force, there was also the fact my body temperature was higher than a normal humans, it felt like a weak open fire.

Mary too had that flame when she came out of the river, she seemed happy in her new body even tho she looks cute and terrifying at the same time. she then turned to look at me.

"Are you thinking something bad about me" She asked with an apparent pout. I chuckled at her expression but kept silent with a small smile on my face, seeing that i didn't answer she huffed and continued walking.

After walking for a few hours, night finally arrived, cloaking the wasteland in a thick, oppressive darkness. The twisted landscape around us felt even more alien under the starless sky, but oddly, I could still see clearly. My vision pierced through the gloom, revealing every crack and jagged rock as though it were broad daylight.

"Guess there are perks to being… whatever I am now," I muttered to myself, glancing down at my hand. The faint green glow of my inner flame pulsed softly beneath my skin, a constant reminder of how much I had changed. I no longer felt entirely human, but that didn't disturb me as much as it should have.

Mary hummed beside me, clearly in good spirits despite the eerie silence around us. Her hand still gripped mine, her small fingers surprisingly warm for someone who had just come out of a river of blood. I stole a glance at her. She looked calm too calm, considering the creatures we had just left behind.

"You're awfully quiet," I said, breaking the silence.

Mary tilted her head toward me, her eyes shimmering faintly in the dark. "Just enjoying the night. And your company," she added with a mischievous smile.

I raised an eyebrow. "Right, because watching a bunch of lost souls get swallowed by a massive worm is your idea of a good time."

She giggled. "Well, it's better than some of the other things I've seen in this world. Well I have heard about from some undeserving people, also they attacked first so don't feel pity for them"

"Yeah yeah where are we going anyway" i asked looking around the wastelands again.

"I don't really know, I go where my instincts take me of course" She answered not really giving me vague answer, and I know when the night is quiet like this something bad is about to happen.

The oppressive silence of the wasteland was thickening with every step, as if the air itself was holding back something dreadful. My senses were on high alert, despite Mary's casual demeanor. She had a way of dismissing danger with a shrug and a smile, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. The night felt alive, like it was watching us, waiting for the right moment to strike.

As if on cue, the ground beneath us gave a faint tremor—just enough to make me stop in my tracks.

"Did you feel that?" I asked, scanning the horizon.

Mary glanced down, unconcerned. "Another one of the creatures lurking below, no doubt. They like to dig around this time of night. They're harmless unless we step into their lair."

"Comforting," I muttered, but kept walking. Something about her confidence was reassuring, even if it didn't calm my nerves completely.

The night continued to stretch out endlessly, but it wasn't the same as before. The shadows seemed to writhe, moving unnaturally, but when I focused on them, they were still. My skin prickled, like something was crawling just beneath the surface. The green flame in my hand flickered, a subconscious reaction to the tension in the air.

Suddenly the ground shaked and the next thing I know is I was falling in a fleshy place. "Did we just get swallowed by one of those things?" I asked, my voice echoing in the suffocating space. The air was thick with the stench of decay, and the walls around us seemed to pulse, alive with grotesque movements.

Mary landed beside me gracefully, her crook in hand, unfazed as usual. She glanced around the fleshy chamber with mild curiosity, tapping her foot on the soft, pulsing floor. "Seems like we did."

I struggled to my feet, feeling the walls shift around me. "And you're not concerned?"

Mary shrugged, her eyes scanning the grotesque surroundings. "Not really. We can just walk out. These things aren't smart; they're just… remnants. They don't even have enough sense to digest us properly."

I raised an eyebrow. "That's oddly specific. And also disgusting."

She giggled, waving her crook toward the walls. The lambs that had been trotting alongside her seemed to appear out of nowhere, their pale, ethereal forms glowing softly in the dim light. They immediately started nibbling at the fleshy walls, tearing away chunks with surprising ease.

"I told you they were hungry," Mary said with a grin.

As the lambs gnawed away, the walls trembled and began to peel back, revealing a tunnel that led upward. I watched in disbelief as they casually devoured the creature from the inside, creating a path for us to escape.

"You're really just going to let them eat our way out?" I asked.

"Why not?" Mary replied with a smirk. "They need to eat, and I'm not in the mood to be trapped in here. Plus, it's quicker than fighting our way out."

"What do you mean fighting our way out" i asked suddenly getting a bad feeling.

Mary chuckled. "Think about it, Big worm equals smaller creatures, it probably devoured a lot of other things and some of them probably survived and reproduced"

That is a terrifying speculation, and you know what's more terrifying, in the dark tunnel in front of us, two big glowing red eyes silently stared at us. "…hmm, expected, whatever you are, i am pretty sure you can't scare me more than I already am traumatized these past days"

The beast growled as if it was confused by my reaction. "Yeah I get it, other people usually cry themselves while observing something like you, but honestly you don't scare me and neither am I going to do anything"

"…"

"Why are you suddenly quiet for, I mean shouldn't mindless beasts like you, I don't know, attack" i joked trying to cope I guess.

"Cough?!, ok kid, what the hell is wrong with you?" The deep, gravelly voice that responded caught me off guard. I blinked, momentarily speechless as the glowing red eyes narrowed, almost like they were sizing me up. Did… did the giant beast just cough?

"Did you just cough?" I asked, utterly bewildered. Mary tilted her head, amused but not surprised.

"Yeah, and I also talk, kid. You got a problem with that?" the creature growled, though it sounded more annoyed than threatening.

I shook my head, trying to process what was happening. "I—no. I just wasn't expecting… conversation."

The red eyes blinked slowly, and then the creature stepped forward, emerging from the shadows. Its massive, hulking body was covered in matted fur, with spikes protruding from its back. It resembled a twisted version of some prehistoric beast, but the way it moved had a strange grace, despite its size. And yet, it stood still, watching us with an almost human-like intelligence.

"You're not afraid of me, are you?" the creature asked, voice rough but curious.

I exchanged a glance with Mary, who was still casually twirling her crook. "Honestly? After everything I've been through lately, you're not the scariest thing I've seen. Plus, I kind of have this weird green flame healing me when I get shot in the head, so… yeah, fear isn't really the issue."

The creature snorted, clearly amused. "Huh. You're either brave or stupid. Probably both."

"Definitely both," Mary interjected with a giggle, finally speaking up. She stepped forward, eyeing the creature with a mischievous glint in her eye. "But you're right he doesn't scare easy. So, what do you want, beast? If you're just here to chat, that's fine, but we do have somewhere to be."

The beast let out a rumbling laugh, though it sounded more like rocks grinding together. "I'm no 'beast.' My name is Borak"