by Logan Jacobs
The last sentence was a joke, but it didn’t quite land since the warrior had absolutely no idea what the hell a ghost was.
“Ghost,” she said slowly as she tested out the word. “Is that some sort of plant?”
“Nope.” I grinned as a very evil plan formed in my head. “They’re spirits of dead people who come back to haunt those who are still living.”
I put down my empty leaf and tossed away my fish bones as Mira shrank away from me.
“Why would they do that?” she breathed, and her gold eyes were wide.
“Because.” I shrugged and started to crawl over to her in my best attempt to be both sexy and terrifying at the same time. “They’re angry. They want to come back and get revenge on the people who are still alive because they don’t want to be dead. And sometimes, they get their wish!”
I punctuated my words with a quick grab at her waist, and I pinned her down on the sand as she let out a surprised gasp.
“Ben! You are mean!” She giggled and writhed underneath me, but I had her wrists in both my hands, and then I straddled her stomach, so she had absolutely no hope of going anywhere.
“Mean?” I murmured as I lowered my face until our lips were only centimeters apart. “Or right?”
Mira’s breath grew heavy, and her gold eyes flicked between my lips and my own eyes as she tried to fight off her amusement and replace it with indignation.
“I don’t believe such things are real,” she retorted.
“Oh, really?” I asked. “Well, has anything ever moved unexpectedly? Maybe fallen off a shelf when absolutely nobody was around?”
In response, Mira flipped both of us over so quickly I didn’t even have time to react.
Now, she was on top and had me pinned, and I was completely at her mercy as she lowered her lips and pressed a kiss right to my Adam’s apple.
“Of course not,” she murmured. Her soft, warm lips brushed against my skin, and her voice reverberated throughout my being.
I wanted nothing more than to take her, hard and fast, right there on that beach.
But we had a mission to get back to.
Mira knew it, too, because she pressed a soft kiss to my lips and then swung off me.
“Alright,” I chuckled as I sat up, “enough ghost stories. I say we head into the forest and explore a little.”
“Good idea.” She nodded.
The two of us grabbed our weapons, with a bow and quiver each, our swords in hand, and my knife tucked into the waistline of my pants. Then we stood and surveyed the forest for a brief moment as we stared down the foliage.
I’d kind of hoped something might have come out of there at this point. We’d been on the island for a few hours already and had yet to encounter a single inhabitant. I obviously didn’t count the fish that swam in the ocean, but I hadn’t even seen a sand crab or some weird bug on the pristine white sand.
Honestly, I would have thought the island was empty, and that Marella’s vision had been wrong, if I didn’t remember what it was like the first few days I’d been in this world after Jonas had pulled me through the portal. I’d assumed the island I was on was deserted, until Sela had woken me up with the sharp tip of her spear.
So, the two of us carefully stepped into the forest, and in less than five feet, we were blanketed in a calm, cool dimness. It wasn’t super dark, since the sun still poked through the tops of the trees and came in off the beach, but it was definitely noticeably darker once we were inside the shade of the woods.
As we walked, I reached a hand out to touch the red bark of the towering trees. From the looks of it, I’d expected the damp, stringy feel of redwood bark, but to my surprise, my hand was met with a smooth, soft bark that reminded me of a young sapling.
Only, if these thirty-foot-tall trees were saplings, I was desperate to know what they looked like fully grown.
“Think of what we could build with this.” Mira grinned as she, too, ran her fingers over the bark. “What could we make, Ben?”
“Better houses, for sure,” I replied. “Maybe some boats, but that would be really hard. And I don’t have nails or any sort of building supplies. And a lot of other things, too.”
“A boat, like the kind the pirates sail on?” she asked and narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “I’m sure their island has trees like this, instead of the bamboo we have.”
“I hate them,” Mira bristled and scowled, “but they are rather innovative.”
“Yeah, they are,” I growled, but I banished the orcs from my thoughts for now. “Let’s go further in.”
We stepped as silently as we could through the forest, and I kept my eyes peeled for any signs of movement, humanoid or otherwise, but there wasn’t any for about ten minutes. We were only met with trees and dead leaves as we wandered through the trees.
Suddenly, to my right, I heard something rustle in the bushes that grew along the forest floor. The shrubs were about seven feet tall, which meant any number of things could be hidden in their depths.
Mira and I both froze and watched the small, green leaves of the bush shudder and shake as something came through.
And then, out hopped a tiny little bunny, with a bushy tail and strange orange eyes that reminded me of a cat. It froze the moment it saw us, and then it stood up on its hind legs for a moment as we assessed each other.
“What manner of creature is that?” Mira hissed.
“I think it’s just a bunny,” I told her. “They’re totally harmless. Don’t worry.”
I smiled down at the little fluff ball of a creature and took a careful step toward it.
“Hey, there, little fella,” I murmured.
I didn’t get more than two feet away from it, though, when the little bunny’s eyes suddenly grew angry, and it bared two razor sharp fangs at me with a loud, dog-like growl.
“Woah!” Mira gasped.
Oh, fuck. Killer bunnies. Of course.
I was about to backpedal away from the furball when it leapt at me. The thing just sprang up from the ground and five feet into the air without a single preparation step, with its teeth out and aimed for my neck.
I was faster than the crazy bunny, though, and I impaled it on my sword just inches away from my face. It let out one last little whimper before its form went limp, and dark blue blood dripped down my arm.
“Gross.” I pulled the furry creature off my blade and shook my arm out to try and rid myself of the sticky blood.
“What happened to totally harmless?” Mira snickered beside me.
“Well, the ones back in my world were,” I muttered. “They were fluffy and cute and good as pets. Or meat.”
“Do you think this one is edible?” Mira asked as she gestured to the limp body in my grasp.
“Worth a shot.” I shrugged.
So, I gutted and skinned the bunny while Mira held it up, and then we dropped the raw meat into the sack that had held our weapons. We could cook it after our little forest exploration was finished.
We spent another hour or so in the woods, and we paced around as we looked for any signs of life. We found none, though, not even another evil bunny, so we decided to head back to the beach, where we could make a fire without fear of burning down the entire forest.
Surprisingly, it turned out the fanged rabbit was an absolutely delicious meal. It didn’t have the dense texture of any rabbit I’d ever eaten, and was instead light and easily chewed, more akin to pork than a rodent. Once it had been roasted, the meat had a deliciously smoky taste that kind of reminded me of a well-cured bacon, and for that, I was very happy.
Cause it just didn’t get any better than bacon.
By the time we’d finished our second meal of the day, the sun was ready to set below the horizon. The fire was low, but it still gave off enough heat to keep Mira and I warm throughout the night.
“I think we should venture deeper into the forest in the morning and try to see if we can find anyone,” I informed the warr
ior. “We can make camp in the clearings.”
“Good idea.” She nodded. “What happens if we don’t find anyone?”
“I have to believe we will,” I replied. “Jonas and Marella foresaw it. I think we just have to look a little harder.”
We were soon exhausted from our day of exploration, so Mira and I went to bed wrapped comfortably together, with her head on my chest and my arm around her shoulders.
Admittedly, I did find it a little strange we’d seen nothing but a weird little rabbit. I’d figured I’d step onto the island and almost immediately find these long-legged women. I hadn’t thought I might need to search for them deep inside the forest.
Mira’s question stayed with me for a little while after she’d drifted off to sleep. I wasn’t sure what I would do if we didn’t find the women I wanted to. I knew we would stay until I’d walked every single inch of the island, though, so I forced myself to put that worry out of my mind.
The next morning, we woke up to the sun again and repeated our breakfast of freshly caught fish and water from the giant leaves. Mira and I both clambered up into the trees this time, and I made an attempt to see through the foliage and try to scout out any villages or dwellings down below, but the leaves, branches, and bushes were much too thick for me to find anything. After a few minutes, I gave up and plucked a welled leaf with a good amount of water from the tree.
After breakfast, Mira and I had barely killed the fire when the air was suddenly pierced by a shrill, terrified scream.
It went on for a few seconds, and Mira and I each shared a wild look.
“It’s coming from the forest!” she announced and gestured toward the tree line.
Both of us ran into the thicket of trees and looked around fearfully, but we could see nothing.
“Get away from me!” the same voice suddenly shrieked.
I turned my head in the direction from which the cry had come and peered into the gloom that swallowed the rest of the forest from sight.
“Where are you?” I shouted into its depths, in the hopes that whoever had screamed would hear me.
“Noo!” the voice called instantly. “Stay away!”
That was when I saw her.
A beautiful, tall woman with legs a mile long and auburn hair ran straight at me from the darkness of the forest, with a look of terror in her bright chartreuse eyes. She didn’t seem to see me, though, and she dashed through the trees, ducking and dodging, as she outran whatever was behind her.
“Here!” I shouted and waved my arms to get her attention.
The moment she saw me, though, she diverted her path and tried to run away from both me and whatever was chasing her.
“No, wait!” Mira shouted.
Both of us instantly took off as the woman headed for the beach, only to nearly stop short when we saw why she ran.
Coming through the trees was the most grotesque creature I’d ever seen. It looked like a wolf, but on two legs, with arms so long it was able to swing from them the way a monkey does. It had coal black eyes that glittered with malice, and a long, twisted snout, from which hung a row of sharp, yellowed fangs.
And it was after the auburn-haired woman.
Chapter Two
It took only one, terror filled second for me to shake myself out of the shock of seeing this strange, grotesque creature that looked like a cross between the werewolves in Harry Potter and a monster that invaded a child’s nightmares.
It bounded through the trees after the woman, and with a roar, it lashed out with one arm to try and swipe her up in its grasp. She managed to dodge the attack, but just barely, though. The monster’s claws cut into her thin upper bicep and left three long, bloody claw marks in their wake.
They were both impossibly fast, and I knew Mira and I would never be able to catch up if we ran directly after them.
“Head for the beach!” I shouted at the warrior.
Mira nodded, and the two of us took off toward the beach as we tried to cut off the path of the monster.
As soon as we were out in the sun, I got a better view of the creature and where it was headed. The woman was just about to come out of the forest about ten feet away from us, with the monster hot on her heels, so Mira and I dashed forward to intercept its path.
She skidded to a halt like an ice hockey player would, and a small wave of sand kicked up from her feet. Then she gasped at us wide eyed and backpedaled away like she thought we were after her.
“Get out of the way!” I ordered as I leapt past her and right into the path of the oncoming monster.
It seemed just as surprised to see me as she had been, and the creature pulled to a dead stop on the sand and assessed me for a moment.
Mira and I did the same. We knew it would be stupid to try and slice it up with a few haymakers before we really knew what it could do.
The thing was even more horrifying up close. It was about six feet tall, just a few inches shorter than I was, and had bulky muscles that rippled throughout its hairy body. The dog-like beast wore a loincloth around its waist, which told me two things.
First, this creature probably had an ugly dick.
But, more importantly, the clothes also told me this monster had some level of brain capacity above that of a monkey.
My theory was only proven correct when a twisted smile curled its features, and then the thing spoke.
“What are you?” the beast asked as it stared me up and down with those beady eyes.
The creature had a raspy voice, almost the way I would have expected a dog’s voice to sound if it could talk, like the voice box wasn’t totally formed just yet.
Honestly, the talking thing gave me the creeps. It made me feel like this monster was some sort of science experiment gone wrong.
No wonder we hadn’t seen anyone since we’d landed on the island. These creatures had probably tried to kill every living thing they could.
“A Dragon King,” I replied, and my voice was strong. “And what are you?”
I wanted as much information about this thing as possible, but beside me, I saw Mira grip her sword tighter, like she was ready to just kill this thing and get it over with.
I started to slowly step back toward the beach, and I glanced at Mira so she’d know to stay put. My plan was to lure this thing after me, so Mira would have a clear shot at its back.
“I am a warg,” the monster snarled, and it took a single, lumbering step after me.
Mira shuffled a little on the sand as she readied herself to stab it in the back, but then, the beast suddenly whipped around and lashed out at the warrior with one of its long, clawed limbs.
“Fucker of mothers!” Mira exclaimed as she dodged the strike.
Shit.
I leapt forward with my sword and tried to stab it in the heart, but the warg was too fast. No sooner had I taken a step did it spin around and send a swift, hard kick right to my side.
The kick alone sent me flying a few feet, and I slammed into the sand with a grunt.
Fuck, this thing was strong.
But so was I.
I leapt back up to my feet and shook my head as I held my sword at the ready.
Mira was locked in a battle with the creature now, and it had started to force her back toward the forest.
I swiftly snatched my bow off my back and nocked an arrow. I tried to aim at the creature, but the battle between him and Mira was way too swift. They danced around each other, kicked, and swiped so quickly I was afraid my arrows would accidentally hit the warrior instead of the monster, and I knew I could never live with myself if I hurt her.
So, with a growl, I abandoned the bow and arrows, and I instead leapt back into the fray with my own sword.
The warg was fast, though. Its four limbs worked in unison as it kicked, punched, and clawed at us with a terrifyingly human-like ability.
Every swing of my sword was easily dodged, as was Mira’s, but then one of the warg’s haymaker punches collided with Mira, and I heard her scream
out in agony as its claws tore through her shirt and sank into the skin of her stomach.
“Mira!” I shouted.
The moment I saw red blood drip from her open wound, a fire lit up inside me, and all of a sudden, it was like I had the power of a hundred warriors within me.
With a yell, I dodged the warg’s limbs and leapt up onto its back, sword in hand. But I didn’t even need to use the weapon. I twisted my left hand around its gross, dry face and then snapped its head to the right with all of my might.
The warg’s neck broke with a sickening crack, and the beast’s movement ceased as it twisted and fell to the ground.
Then all was silent.
I sucked in a few breaths as I dismounted the corpse.
“Damn,” Mira breathed from the sand.
I hurriedly ran over to her and assessed the wound on her stomach.
“Thank the gods,” I breathed when I saw it was nothing more than a surface cut. Painful and unpleasant, but not at all deadly.
“It’s just a scratch, Ben.” The warrior shrugged with a light laugh. “Nothing I haven’t endured before. Just not at the hands of such an awful creature.”
“Tell me about it,” I murmured as I glanced at the dead body. “That thing was creepy.”
“As creepy as those ghosts you mentioned?” Mira teased.
“Creepier,” I told her.
Mira sat up slowly and with a grimace, but then I heard a loud gasp.
I glanced back over the sand to see the auburn-haired woman had all but collapsed on it. She was seated in a bit of a tangled pile, with her knees to her chest as she stared at the corpse. Her lips moved, but from where we were, I couldn’t make out what she said.
Her eyes were wide and terrified, but I had to admit, she was beyond gorgeous. Her eyes were a strange green that looked like when the sun hit the shallow ocean, or maybe the spark of electricity from a lightning storm. Her auburn hair was thick and shiny and trailed down past her waist and into the sand. Her skin was pale and perfect, without a single flaw to be seen, save for the red marks where the warg had struck her. She wore a green shirt that resembled a tank top, and looked to be made from the fibers of plants, and brown shorts. The clothing was skimpy enough that it left very little to be desired, and I was granted a perfect view of her voluptuous breasts.