RedRavenPoems

Eternal Nightmare : The Rise of Three Chp 2

Garret

Garrett Jaxx was lost. He had been for days now if he was honest, yet pride would keep him from admitting it. Until now he had wandered the same stretch of forest, desperately searching for an avenue of escape. It shouldn’t have been that hard, yet it was.

   A week ago Garrett had set out on a mission of exploration. After all, at fifteen he was a man now in his own right, and more than capable of looking after himself. There would be no danger he could face out here that he couldn’t handle, or so he had believed. 

  But now, with his food supply dwindled to nothing, scavenging any edible plant he could find just to keep his stomach from rumbling unhappily, he was beginning to regret his decision. Both of them in fact. The first led him into exploring, it was a job, and would pay well. The second? Well that was his own idiotic choice. No one else in their right minds would have chosen to explore the Whispering Woods.

  Stories ran amok in the small village that he came from. The Whispering Woods. A place where demons and monsters made their homes. Few who dared to enter past the fringes were seen again. Those who made it back raved of nightmare creatures who stalked the shadows, hungrily searching for the next victim to take into their clutches, never to be seen again.

   Garret Jaxx had not feared these beasts. They were stories. Fakes made up to inspire fear in the locals. Monsters? Demons? Please, don’t make me laugh, he would think to himself. Nothing like that existed here. But still. Something had happened to those wanderers, most likely starvation he assumed. From the looks of things, he would soon be joining the ranks of those hapless adventurers, the ill-prepared and long since decayed.

With a sigh, Garrett strode over to a large outcropping of rocks – one he was sure he had seen at least a dozen times in the last three days alone – and sat down. Off of his shoulder he slid a tattered pack, looking hopefully within for even a hint of food stuffs. A few crusts of bread, and a half filled canteen greeted his inspection. Perfect, it would suffice for the moment he supposed. He chewed slowly on one of the crusts, relishing each and every crumb, and sipped gingerly at the luke warm water within the canteen. Nasty, and not filling at all. Perhaps he should cast about again, maybe there were a few greens here to liven up this meager meal. 

His eyes roved about him. He took in the trees, mammoth in proportion, with their boughs rippling with the wind high above. Even now Garrett Jaxx was in awe of their size. In his little village the trees never reached this size, or even came close to the colors. Rich green filled out each leaf, deep brown flecked with gray green moss decorated the trunks. Grass grew high about the trees, reaching the knees of his shredded pants, flowers bloomed and waved to their own silent dance. The shubs closer to the ground were good for berries, yet he had picked them clean. All in all, this was a serenely beautiful place, yet nothing here was edible to his untrained eye.

IT was during this appraisal that Garrett became aware of the silence. He had not really noticed it before now, or perhaps it had only just begun? Nothing made a sound. Not the whistling wind in the towering trees, nor the forest creatures. The birds and other small animals, not even the insects in fact. There was nothing except the silence, which was oppressive, suffocating even. How odd. He thought, bringing his full attention to the lack of noise. 

Some sixth sense warned him of danger, the same unexplainable feeling he always got before trouble brewed back home. Garrett Jaxx knew enough in his fifteen years of life to listen to that sense, that prickling instict that guided him. He felt chill bumps rise on his arms,the hair on his neck standing at attention. Garrett reached slowly into his vest, a red hand me down he had rescued and repaired, hand closing about the rusted knife that he carried with him. His eyes scanned the area slowly, looking for what had caused him such unease. But nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Still he did not relax. It was time to move again.

Garrett stood slowly, sliding his pack up with one arm, the other never leaving the hilt of his knife. It was rusted almost in two, but still held an edge enough to cause trouble. And Garrett Jaxx knew trouble was coming. He made his way slowly towards the edge of the clearing, seeking whatever caused the feeling of danger, yet seeing nothing. It’s a hunter he thought grimly and i am the prey. Well this prey had a bite, just let something try it.

This had no more than crossed his mind, when the trap was sprung. Out of the shadows before him emerged, well he had no idea, Something. Unlike anything he had ever encountered before, it was vaguely man shaped. Easily dwarfing him, the thing stood on two legs, staring at him through yellow eyes that brimmed with malice. It wore armor, gunmetal grey in color, with crimson skin visible in the uncovered areas. Golden spikes in the shape of flames protruded from the joints of said armor, giving it a fiery appearance. The creatures hair, brilliantly golden mixed with red and white, fluttered around the beings head as if living flames. No 

Garrett realized they are flames. And indeed they were. 

Garrett stepped back a pace, intending to keep a healthy distance from the creature until he knew for sure its intention. Yet that too was part of the trap he found, as a net landed upon, almost as if it materilzed from thin air. An impossibility, yet so too should have been this beast, and yet it was here. Quickly the net was hauled upwards, as more of the creatures emerged from the shadows. Each mirrored the other, minus the golden flames on the armor. Theirs were a deep blue instead. Briefly he wondered at the meaning, yet decided it did not matter. Not when he was now trapped.

The first creatures,with its golden spiked flames approached him. It stood directly before him, eyes roving him, judging him. The one thing he hated, and the one thing he would not stand. Lunging forward in the net to the limit, Garrett struck a heavy blow, with all the strength he had against the beings face. The creatures face whipped to the side with the blow, a sickening snap of force, and Garrett had to stifle a cry of pain. His hand ached as if he had punched a bolder, a molten one at that. Looking at his hand, he saw the skin was blistered, like the time he had touched a red hot coal from the fire.

The other beings murmured them. Gutteral sounds, harsh and cawing. Must be their language he thought to himself. How strange it was. The gold spiked one straightened, wiping away the blood from its jaw, rage simmering within tis serpentine eyes. Rage that promised deep pain, and heavy retribution. Followed by a surely slow and agonizing death. For a long moment it was silent. Then to Garretts surprise, the beast spoke his language. 

“You are strong little human, you will do well in the mines of the Inferns. Take him.”

And just like that, Garrett Jaxx learned what had happened to those who vanished before him. He would soon be joining them it seemed.