Fairy Bread and Giant Cats

"There's the big oak tree. That means the valley is ahead. I think he wants us to go left and—" Sani muttered directions to himself.

The Jeep sputtered on a narrow road covered in dead autumn leaves. They were going deeper into the eerie forest. Hyeon surveyed their surroundings for any sign of life. It was brighter as lunchtime approached, but the tunneling canopy blocked most of the light. The ground had grey mist that scattered in the air from the vehicle disturbing it. This place was perfect for Slenderman.

Sani gave the map to Hyeon in a huff. "I'm about to turn the damned car around from this sad excuse for instructions. We've already passed 75% since I know the landmarks, but I have to go a certain way onwards that's unfamiliar. For me to concentrate on the road, you'll have to tell me what to look for."

He took the drawing. It was a preschooler's attempt at a pirate treasure map. A dotted line looped and encircled small pictures of geographical features such as canyons, distinctive hills, lakes, etc. At the end of the line was a black X where the demon supposedly dwelled. Artistic skills were not Fenrir's strong suit.

"What's the last picture you passed?"

"The pile of silver boulders."

Hyeon analyzed the kiddie chart. "Looks like a waterfall, followed by turning right to find a willow tree. How do we know if we have the right one? It's a common plant."

"We won't know until I can sense the demon. Do you see why I can be gone for long periods to find them? Today is one of the shortest hunts I've had in decades."

They continued on the main trail for another hour. To combat the silence, they switched to a radio station with various international music. At the moment, Hungry Like the Wolf by Duran Duran blared through the cheap-quality speakers.

Sani had prepared fairy bread, a popular snack for kids in Australia. It was the first time Hyeon saw this fun meal. Rainbow sprinkles and butter coated thin slices of triangle-shaped bread. Nammi nibbled on some sprinkles, causing her tongue to get into the Pride spirit.

They zoomed by a rocky ledge with water cascading into a river below.

"Oh! We passed the waterfall," Hyeon exclaimed. "I think we veer onto a path not far up."

"I'm glad you can read his ineligible sketches," Sani commended.

Eventually, a narrower path forked out. Sani paused the car to peer down the darker route with overgrown shrubs and weeds. It was obvious that he rarely, if ever, drove that way.

Sani pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "It's going to get bumpy. Hold on to your cat's butt." He switched off the music.

Pressing on the gas pedal gently, the Jeep could finally do what it was built to do. It crawled over rocks and climbed on slopes. His head hurt from getting jumbled around. No wonder this was the type of vehicle chosen to do this job.

If he thought the forest was crowded at the start of their journey, that was nothing compared to this trail. The Freddy Krueger knife branches stretched out to scratch the green paint. White, flaking sycamore trees condensed together. The air became warmer and stickier.

This place was too ominous. Nammi, who was tranquil throughout the entire morning, fidgeted in his arms.

Sani breaked when reaching a small clearing. He looked out of Hyeon's window with intensity. His black pupils shrunk to zoom in on a target.

"What is it?" Hyeon asked with concern.

"Shh."

His rusty red coyote ears faced forward. "We're here."

"B-but we didn't pass the willow tree."

"You're right, but it's somewhere nonetheless. Now that I can fathom what we're dealing with, I think it's best if you don't aid me with this capture," Sani said seriously.

In the distance, there was a SNAP of a breaking twig.

Sani gave him the key. Hyeon accepted it. "Sometimes when I'm in a scuffle, I drop and misplace it. Next time, you should ask a particular skunk spirit how I had to haul him back without transportation."

*That must've sucked.*

"Your insignia should mostly conceal your soul from dangers nearby. Since I don't have a mark, I'm more like a beacon than you are. But if anything happens, use Miss Kitty."

Miss Kitty? "You mean Nammi?"

"No, Miss Kitty is the flashlight cat on the keychain."

Confused as to how he could use a toy figurine for protection, Sani stepped out of the car. Instead of slamming the door, he gently pushed his body against it to click it shut. Was he trying to prevent any unnecessary sounds? He looked in the same direction as before and walked soundlessly away, leaving him alone.

It wasn't so bad when he had company, but Hyeon became scared in the pit of his stomach. He snuggled his pet tighter for comfort.

There wasn't a single movement for 20 minutes. To make time go by a little faster, he switched on the vintage radio again. "Run" by South Korean K-pop group, EXO, was playing. Coincidentally, the next song by BTS was also titled "Run."

Perhaps he should listen to the messages behind broadcasted songs. The Duran Duran song was a coincidence, but two tracks in a row about running surely wasn't.

Yellow appendages blasted through his window. Shards of glass exploded inward, landing in his hair and the floor. Nammi yowled and jumped off his lap from the dynamited glass.

In a flurry, the dozen or so mustard-colored legs stuck to Master Fenrir's coat and drug him through the shattered window. He got a mouthful of moist dirt since the legs were spinning him around the ground. They got ahold of his ankle and held him up in the air upside down. He felt trickles of blood seeping from his face and neck after being dragged over thorns and rocks.

"Isn't this a great feast? Are you glad I caught it?" someone happily chippered.

Sani was right. This thing was way out of his league.

The demon appeared mostly human. He wore tattered gym shorts and a grey t-shirt spotted with holes. His hair was sandy yellow that touched his shoulders and not-all-there chocolate brown eyes.

The tail was the most notable since it would make anyone get the heebie-jeebies. Attached above his coccyx bone was an extended black tail with hard segments. The yellow legs wiggled on the side.

*It's a centipede!*

The demon was smiling excitedly at his caught prey. "Should I eat it now before it finds us?" he asked the other end of his tail.

Who is he talking to?

Hyeon's eyes followed the segments to where it gripped his foot.

Instead of the butt-end of a bug's tail, there was a ketchup-red head. He saw his reflection in the centipede's beady black eyes. A pair of curling antennas slithered. Forcipule pinchers used to inject venom poked at his Converse.

"Can I play with it first?"

The other of his tail didn't respond verbally. It could be an inner communication. Or just insane.

"I guess. The dog will come soon, you say? We've seen it before many times, yes?"

No answer.

"Can we also eat the black furry animal?"

*Nammi...*

"NO!" Hyeon yelled. He started thrashing, trying to get this guy to let go.

"It talks!" he cheerfully responded. "I'd ask for your name, but I always tell myself not to ask such stupid questions."

"I don't care! You're not going to touch my cat." He punched at nothing.

"Don't be sad. You won't have to watch since you'll be dead."

He had to do something. His hands fumbled around his pockets for anything to use as a weapon. Miss Kitty keychain!

Hyeon clicked the 'on' button and flung it at the ghoulish, pretty boy. It screeched an unholy sound from its tiny plastic body. He didn't know what his enemy could hear, but the attacker released his ankle to cover his bleeding ears and screamed.

Plummeting to the wet ground roughly, he tried his best to crawl to safety.

"I don't think so," the arthropod angrily said. It re-grabbed Hyeon, but his razor pincers clamped onto the skin of his exposed calf. Boiling venom discharged into his veins.

Hyeon shouted loudly from the stinging burn. He's been through some painful misfortunes in his life, but this one easily rose to the top. Tears dripped down.

"Do NOT play with me. I've consumed souls that only your nightmares can think of. I'm going easy on you since you're a rare delicacy." He calmed down. "Did you know adrenaline from pain improves meat quality?"

Hyeon couldn't comprehend a word.

"Oh? What's this? Come to daddy."

He glanced sideways and was horrified. Nammi was rubbing her body along the demon's bare feet. It was the same display of affection when she was hungry.

Centipede man plucked her up. He stroked her head and coddled in a baby voice, "I'm gonna gobble you up after I eat your friend, okay?"

Returning his attention to the nearly dead human, he continued saying, "Do you want to hear what I've eaten? Let's see..."

*It was a mistake to bring her. She's just a weak—*

His cat began to change. Her size gradually grew and her face was like an evil Cheshire Cat.

The centipede noticed when she was the size of a small-medium dog breed. Flabbergasted, he dropped both of them. Hyeon was unable to move since his lower half was numb.

Nammi kept getting larger. She now resembled a cat on steroids and lost her feline dwarfism traits. Her rows of teeth and extended claws glistened. She was now the size of an SUV, but would soon bypass a semi-truck.

The demon moved back. His centipede tail-head thing hissed and bared its pinchers.

Within moments, her ears jabbed the forest top. She was finally done growing and stood at the same height as a two-story building.

"Jólakötturinn," he stuttered. "I-I-I wasn't aware you were back after so long. Are you going to claim this land? You can have this human if you want. My treat! I'll leave you be..."

The demon ran away. The giant cat hustled after him for the chase.

Alone on the ground, his convulsing body felt scalding venom, paralyzed limbs, blurred vision, and more.

He was at death's door. Again.

A scent of Fenrir wafted from the coat. Will Hyeon's soul be sent to human or animal Heaven when he dies? Would they see each other again?

His heartbeat was faint.

And fainter. And fainter.

*But I want to live.*

His upper spine scorched with volcano heat. It was similar to when he confronted Imoogi. There was a surge in his chest.

_______________

[Sani's POV]

There was a scream.

Trees crackled from something huge.

He ran as fast as he could to where the vehicle was. The damned demon had eluded his pursuit. They usually try to avoid him, but not this time. It must've circled a while ago.

*Why fucking today of all days? Was it aware of Hyeon's soul?*

After whipping by the plants, he arrived at the parked car. There was no one inside and the passenger window was smashed. Tyrannosaurus-cat footprints marked the earth.

The car key was in plain sight near the tires.

There were ribbons of thick smoke on the other side of the Jeep. He could tell there was a much stronger entity than the demon they came here to find.

Even he was reluctant to see what it was.

Tiptoeing slowly to the source, Hyeon was lying belly down on the fallen leaves. Black cinders splayed around him.

Approaching, Sani pressed two fingers on his throat to feel a pulse. He was alive, but the demon really did a number. Hyeon was injured with deep scratches. There were two bloodied holes in his swollen leg.

After rolling him over to lift him up, he coughed from the campfire ash.

*Looks like I failed, just like when I tried to find Haruma so long ago. I'm not looking forward to Fenrir's reaction.*

Carrying him to the Jeep and opening the back-latch, he heard Hyeon say, "Sinners. Corruption."

Instincts overwhelmed him when he looked at the pitiful tear and saliva-encrusted face.

There weren't a lot of things Sani was afraid of. Needles were a no-go. Skinwalkers were labeled as a big, fat nope.

But this was a ballgame he didn't want to play.

Hyeon stared back at him with deep purple-blue eyes. A few hair strands had traces of assorted colors, a trait reserved only for a few high-ranking spirits in all religions and beliefs. If he ever had to go back into war, this was an enemy he'd never want to cross paths with.

"Sinners. Corruption. Sinners. Corruption."

Whatever Hyeon was, he was letting his newfound carnal blood possess him. There was murderous intent.

*Shit—*

His intern hurtled a hand to subdue Sani. "You're a sinner."

Of course, being a mighty animal divinity himself, he's fought countless demons, spirits, and other gods with much more battle knowledge. He's seen it all and Hyeon was inexperienced. The fireworks were new, though.

He launched the half-human into the Wrangler's cage. Using shamanism, he mentally ordered Hyeon's soul to enter a state of unconsciousness.

Hyeon counterattacked by shooting blue bottle-rocket flares from his palms. These strange powers were already maturing.

Although he dodged in time to avoid being set on fire, the zooming blaze singed his brand-name suit.

*Sorry, Mr. Falken. It's personal now.*

Sani conjured more witchcraft abilities. His invisible force to relax knocked Hyeon against the titanium bars. It dazed him, making it possible to tie his wrists together with military-grade restraints. The smolders stopped spilling from his body, but his colorful hair and compelling eyes stayed.

Locking the back door, Sani's coyote ears tilted down in defeat. Firing the engine, he turned the car around to retreat back to Festr Castle. The pool of water in the gigantic muddy pawprints jiggled from Jólakötturinn's weight nearby. She was large enough to find her way back without problems.

Amazingly, Hyeon rapidly recovered from the spell. He gave off animalistic growls while biting at his shackles, kicking at the bars, and death glaring at Sani. The bulletproof glass between them could thankfully withstand the colorful sparkler strikes.

It was going to be a long ride back.

Fenrir no doubt knew his little lover had left the property this morning. Sani just wanted to see what could happen.

*He's going to kill me when he sees this.*

To his left, a baby willow tree from the map could be seen through the slivers of space between the sycamores. Both of them had missed it.

*These darned directions.*