The enemy of my enemy

If only she could talk, perhaps she could come to terms with the bizarre creature. Lynn reflected. And, guided by such thoughts, she tried to pronounce a few words without much result. Then, she felt that the sole of her feet touched the ground again, and a halo of light illuminated her spirit. Perhaps the tree woman did not want to kill them. Maybe she and Nana could get out of this situation gracefully. And thinking in such a way, Lynn perked up. However, suddenly, other branches joined the first, making a grip around her entire body.

¡Oh no...! Lynn was lifted twenty feet to the height of the forest woman's enormous eyes.

"Oh well!" Dhajla commented as she examined her. The hug around her neck was less annoying than before, and a pilgrim branch subtly touched Lynn's cheeks, tickling her- "What a strange flower has come to my plot." As Dhajla spoke flowers began to sprout with extraordinary rapidity everywhere. Lynn had no choice but to be fascinated watching such a spectacle. "It's a pity you have to die, little bud." Dhajla suddenly sentenced.

Lynn hadn't had time to take in the words when all the flowers abruptly withered. At the same time, the branches tightened around her, so much so that her clothing cracked to shreds. That was it: she would find death here, away from home and her family. Immediately her mother came to her mind. Lynn imagined her mother snuggled up with Snowin and Joshua next to Seraphin, the family's hound. Lynn was in that place too. She was reading a book and her father was close to her, at the fireplace's side. And now Lynn felt as if she hadn't made the most of her time with them. So, Lynn concentrated on that image, trying to escape reality. However, it was impossible. Her lungs were burning, and her whole body ached. Everything was starting to go black when the ruthless hug loosened.

Lynn immediately gasped for air, and although it burned all its way to her lungs, it was welcome. Then she tried to speak, but the pain slammed into her as a giant hammer. Her head fell back, and Lynn saw Nana.

Nana was looking at her with horror. Nana probably thought she was about to die. From their distance, she saw that her friend started to cry silently. The next thing Lynn knew was that the branches gradually began to lower. The image of Nana, now further away, blurred. And Lynn blinked rapidly, trying to focus.

"There you are, Zhutak." - Suddenly, Dhajla said.

¡Oh, God! Lynn's eyes nearly bugged out of her head as the terrible yet magnificent beast appeared. Lynn also heard a muffled moan from her nanny.

"Very few can feel my presence, Dhajla." The beast said. "I'm impressed."

With this, the monster earned an approving look from the green woman. Gently she tilted her body and smiled widely before answering him.

"Let's say everyone who steps on my plot touches a nerve. ¿What brings you here, Zhutak?"

"I'm here for the young human and the old one." - The dry response of the great being was not long in coming.

That cavernous voice gave her chills, and Lynn tried to shake her body. She would prefer to die by drowning before being devoured by such a creature. However, when she looked at the beast again: Lynn found herself admiring it without choice. Cause in broad daylight, it looked dark and splendid. Strong as a mountain and slender as the most precious of her father's thoroughbreds. Lynn had to close and open her eyes to snap out of her trance.

"Since it's you, I'll let you have the human, but just once I'm done with her. I'd love to see how you rip her, Zhutak. Here" - Dhajla said as the branch that held Nana moved right up to the beast's nose, putting the old woman at its mercy. - "Start with this appetizer while I take away the beauty of this tender bud."

Lynn sobbed. For nothing in the world did she want to see or hear what was coming next for Nana. But again, the hug tightened on her body, and she was somehow grateful to end up like this and not as her friend. With her last breath, Lynn took pity on Nana. Oh, Nana. ¿Is this all my fault? Lynn thought with grief, but she was quick to cut off the ugly feeling of guilt from her thoughts.

"You have not understood, Dhajla. Those are not my intentions. None of the humans can take any damage. Release them now, I beg you."

"¿What do you say?" - The immense Dhajla managed to say with disbelief.

"Give both humans to me Dhajla. I ask you kindly for the last time." The beast said with a steely tone, leaving aside the subtleties.

¿What? There was a heavy silence, and Lynn couldn't be more confused. The beast looked fully alert, while the tree woman seemed as if gauging the great animal's words. Finally, Dhajla seemed to regain her control over herself and raised proudly.

Lynn groaned as the branches tightened again, and again her dress snapped. ¿Or had it been her bones? Lynn no longer knew because her whole body was hurting. As if all her skin was one big open wound. At this rate, she would pass out at any moment.

"This human girl is mine, and she is not getting out of here alive. Oh, brave Zhutak. ¿What are you going to do about it?"

The beast didn't respond but jumped with impossible speed to the branches that held Lynn and snapped them off. This provoked a chilling shriek from the green woman, but Zhutak ignored it as he yelled at Lynn for the first time:

"Get out of here!"

Hearing such an order, Lynn, who had fallen hard to the ground, made an agony sound. She didn't think she would be able to stand up. Immediately, Nana also fell to the ground with a silent scream drawn in her mouth. So, drawing strength from weakness, Lynn reached Nana and lifted her. At that very moment, she saw how the beast intercepted a set of branches, saving the two of them again.

Zhutak shattered the branches with a mighty shake, making his foe shudder. This time Dhajla almost roared.

"Get out of here, now!" The beast snapped, so Lynn yanked Nana. Both had advanced about ten meters when the beast howled. Lynn turned towards the creature and saw that a thorny branch had hit its side, causing quite a bit of damage. Seeing that, Lynn grabbed Nana, who was limping, harder; and redoubled her run.

Lynn felt she could lose her strength from one moment to another. Nevertheless, she didn't give up as she towed Nana away. Finally, she could catch some breath as she and Nana were about to reach the road. But then, Lynn heard a howl. Oh god, what should I do... She couldn't stop thinking their savior was getting hurt. How twisted things were now. Lynn wanted to wake up from such a nightmare. Oh, if everything were to be a dream.

Finally, Lynn reached the other side of the road and gently deposited her nanny on the ground. After a glance, she noticed the place had changed subtly. The trees were different; even the rocks' color was surprisingly not the same. She would probably be safe there.

"Stay here, Nana. I'll be right back."

The nanny didn't even answer, only vaguely nodded her head. I can't believe I'm doing this. Thinking like that, Lynn prepared to return to the battlefield.

She had managed to get a good seventy meters away from the green witch. Now, as she got closer, Lynn assessed the situation. The sight was horrible. And indeed, as she had thought: the outcome did not look good for the beast. Actually, at that rate, they might end up killing each other.

Contemplating such a sight, she froze in place for a few seconds. The truth was that even wounded: the beast seemed unstoppable. The site was a wreck, but the more branches Zhutak smashed, the more came out of the ground. Lynn noticed the beast was trying to stand but couldn't do it. On the other hand, the animal hadn't once gone for the opponent's head or throat. Zhutak certainly didn't seem to want to attack seriously. Then Dhajla lassoed Zhutak's neck. Though both opponents looked exhausted, now the wild woman had the advantage.

"This is where you end, Zhutak. I have no strength to use my thorns and give you a quick death. So, you will die by my embrace."

But Zhutak didn't give up and began to break the branches while trembling frantically.

Dhajla threw more sprouts at the beast; however, the new branches were too slow. Also, her rival was doing a good job avoiding them. However, as things were: the beast was not going to get out of that one.

The beast had saved her and Nana. Lynn felt indebted. Had the beast not intervened, they both would be already dead. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Thinking this, convinced that the beast did not want to harm her, Lynn got ready to help Zhutak. Then she spotted a severed branch full of thorns that had dried out. Without a second thought, Lynn yanked a tremendous thorn. Cautiously Lynn checked its solidity, and it turned out to be as strong as steel. In her hands, the thorn looked like a dagger. She tucked it into her robes and walked carefully past the bellowing beast. Lynn realized when the witch became aware of her presence, so she ran.

This time Lynn could fend off Dhajla's branches due to their slowness and lack of strength. She sometimes dodged them and sometimes rejected them with her hands until she reached the trunk of the elm tree. By then, Zhutak was already giving in to the hug.

Considering Lynn harmless, Dhajla stopped paying attention to her and focused on the beast. There were unmistakable signs of satisfaction on her face as she watched the beast lose strength.

So, without wasting more time, Lynn pulled the thorn out of her skirt and buried it as deep as she could into Dhajla's trunk.

Dhajla's scream almost deafened Lynn. However, just as Lynn saw the beast free itself from the branches imprisoning it, a massive root hit her squarely with horrible force. Lynn lost consciousness even before being thrown into the air.

Seeing the young human take a blow to the stomach, cursing loudly, Zhutak jumped up and clawed Dhajla full in the face. The woman screamed like never before, and both: the ground and the nearby trees shook. Taking advantage of this, mentally berating himself for not splitting Dhajla in two, Zhutak gently took the human between his jaws and ran.

Zhutak continued his run while listening to Dhajla's unpleasant shrieks.

He was now following the other woman's scent, and it didn't take him long to find her. The woman had passed out.

Taking a quick look at her, Zhutak knew she was not injured. The human lady was clever enough: she had left her friend out of Dhajla's reach.

That young human had managed to surprise him. After all, she had come back to help him. Although, she most likely had done it in a fit of madness. Without wasting time, Zhutak grabbed the old lady in his jaws, accommodating both humans in his massive mouth.

As he carried both women without difficulty, Zhutak smiled wickedly to himself, thinking that if one of them woke up, she would probably pass out again from sheer terror.

Three minutes later, such hilarious thoughts stopped once he realized his wound was strangely not healing. Also, he had lost too much blood. His beastly body had a large cut on one of its hind legs and a long puncture wound on the right flank. Zhutak had closed his mind to the pain. Nevertheless, the loss of blood was weakening him. He was already quite close to the castle. Zhutak thought. He had to bring back the humans before Rigel returned. Perhaps, that way, the lord's anger would be less.

Zhutak was speculating on the magnitude of the lord's anger when a dizzy spell came over him. After this, he only advanced about twenty feet before he ran out of strength. He had to be some poison. Damned Dhajla.

Calmly assessing the situation, Zhutak trusted his blood would dissolve the poison. However, that would probably take some time. In that case: the humans will be left unprotected in the middle of the forest.

The beast cursed after dropping the humans on the soft forest floor. Thereupon, Zhutak fell heavily on his hind legs to get some rest. But as soon as he did that, he lost consciousness and collapsed heavily.