05 - Sweet

Linie and Peny entered the bar and settled at one of the tables. The place was old, with wooden tables, yellowed chairs, a counter, and several wooden barrels full of beer. A thin man with a mustache with circular tips was behind the counter, serving some fat men who arrived banging and asking for several glasses of beer. He was distracted, but when he glanced to the side and saw Peny, his hands trembled and he quickly averted his gaze. Linie observed the place closely and asked Peny quietly.

— What are we doing here?

Peny took a silver ball similar to the ones Manahara carried from her umbrella and threw it on the bar floor. Red smoke poured from the ball and filled the entire place. When the smoke dissipated, the men had vanished, replaced by strange creatures. From the waist down, they had multiple spider legs, and from the waist up, they had scaly skin. Linie looked on, surprised and a bit scared.

— What are they? — Linie asked, somewhat frightened.

— They are Ishes, a race of filthy creatures that live in the human world. They are very stupid, which is why they notice almost nothing. But when they are hungry or angry, they can be very dangerous. We need to kill them; they are guarding the passage here.

Linie and Peny stood up and walked to the center of the bar. Linie stood holding her dagger, while Peny climbed onto a table and spoke loudly.

— Hello, darlings. I see you’re having fun. I have a proposal for you.

None of the Ishes paid attention to Peny until they realized she was Peny Burya. Some started walking towards her.

— Wait, let me make my proposal. If I manage to kill all of you, I can use the passage. What do you say?

Some nodded their heads, others pretended not to hear and continued drinking. The bar owner remained still, but he wasn’t an Ishes. Instead of a mustache, he had two snakes, and his skin resembled tree bark. He was observing Peny’s actions and interrupted.

— Miss Burya, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you. Since your sister’s death, you haven’t been around. I believe you have something serious planned, as using the passage requires a lot of responsibility. If you manage to kill them all, I will let you through. What do you say?

The monsters were surprised. The door and the only window in the bar had disappeared. The place was entirely sealed with no exits, and the counter and the bar owner had vanished as well. Only Linie, Peny, and the Ishes remained.

Two of them approached Linie. Peny intervened and struck their throats, causing them to fall to the ground and start agonizing. A strong Ishes with a fierce look and thick legs came at Peny. She performed a somersault over him and struck his back with her scythe, causing him to fall and turn to dust. Linie stealthily approached a table where a monster was sitting, seemingly indifferent. She then plunged her dagger into its neck. Within minutes, they had completely destroyed the bar, leaving only one Ishes. He shot a spider web at Linie, trapping her against the wall for a few seconds. She freed herself and went towards him. Peny threw the scythe at the monster, but he dodged. Linie tried to stab him with her dagger but found him too fast. The Ishes then attacked Peny, throwing an axe that caused her to fall to the other side of the bar. Linie, a bit scared, ran towards the monster. When he thought she was going to attack, she tripped him, passed under his multiple legs, and struck his spider back with her dagger. He fell to the ground and began to scream. Several spiderlings emerged from him and vanished into the sides of the bar.

All were eliminated. Peny was recovering from the blow, and the bar owner was back in his place. The door and window had returned, and the place looked like a normal bar with no customers. Linie and Peny quickly walked to the counter and asked where the passage was. He caressed the snakes in place of his mustache and spoke with an Italian accent.

— Madam, it’s in that door. — He pointed with a wink.

The two headed towards the door that had appeared, opened it, and were sucked into dark mist.

John was exhausted. He had been in the forest for days, completely lost, eating only fruits and drinking from some streams he found. His conversation with Blarest had left him very intrigued. He was thinking a lot about Sarah: what had happened to her? Where was she? Why did she disappear like that? He walked a few meters and saw the figure of a girl with shoulder-length black hair and black clothes, accompanied by a man almost identical to her. It was Manahara and Marc approaching him.

— Hmm, it wasn’t hard to find you. Our mother said your time is almost up. Despite my great desire, I cannot kill you. But did you know that in this forest, your time comes faster?

John looked at the two, perplexed, and began to step back with intensity. Then he turned and ran between the trees. Before he could run many meters, Manahara materialized in front of him and laughed. John ran in the other direction, and Marc appeared in front of him and said:

— Man, you are very foolish. You can’t escape from us.

John ran as fast as he could and stopped when he came across a large river. Manahara and Marc were calmly walking towards him. They arrived behind John and whispered in unison in his ear:

— Be careful! Do not fear the unknown. You should fear the one who trusts.

John didn’t quite understand the phrase, but when he turned around, the two were no longer there. The place was calm and silent again, and he was more lost than before. Perhaps it was unsafe to cross the river. He sat on a large rock by the riverbank and took a picture frame from his bag. It showed John and Linie sitting in armchairs with wine glasses in their hands. John’s eyes began to tear up. He put his hands to his face and began to cry. He threw the picture frame into the river, and it began to sink slowly, like a feather.

Suddenly, John saw two glowing forms rising from the river: he and Linie, walking hand in hand. Linie had her head on John’s shoulder and was laughing at what he said. They kissed and sat on a bench. Then the image trembled and vanished. John was confused by it all. It was so unreal, something that shouldn’t exist, something completely outside of reality. He thought about everything that was happening, where was the daughter he had given to Peny. Why had he done that? John fell asleep and had a dream.

He was in a very poor house. A man was sitting next to his wife, both crying over the loss of their daughter, a blonde girl with white, smooth skin. Suddenly, the girl woke up and strangled both of them. The girl seemed to see John and came towards him. She opened her mouth, and all her teeth were sharp. With her claws, she tore off John’s legs.

John woke up very scared. It was dawn, and the forest was still calm. He got up and walked to the river where he had seen that vision of himself and Linie. He crouched to wash his face, and as his face touched the water, dark hands emerged from the river and grabbed his head. John tried to free himself. The hands submerged his head in the water, and he started to cling to the edge. Several images of him appeared in the water: at five years old, ten years old, fifteen years old, the day he met Linie, and others. Then he bit one of the hands, which disintegrated into dust, and managed to free himself, running back to the rock. It was a lot for one night. How could this be happening? He curled up next to the rock and began to sing a song his mother used to sing when he was younger.

— "Beautiful little lamb, with eyes of fire, take this soul and take it far away, I love you my life, but I must depart, go with the little lamb, and you will be happy."

After repeating the song several times, he managed to calm down a bit. He sat still, looking at the river for hours until dawn. The sun seemed weaker in that forest. John got up and went to look for a fruit tree. He still couldn’t get Sarah out of his mind. He was still terrified by what he had seen in the river.

Some people marveled at the river and ended up drowning. It was called the River of Torment.

John was picking some blue berries when he saw a girl’s body floating among the trees twelve meters away. It was Blarest, wandering through her forest. He hid behind a gray bush, hoping not to be caught by her. When he lifted his head to see where she was, she was no longer there.

— It’s very ugly to hide from a poor damsel, you know? — Blarest spoke with an angelic and sweet voice.

John was frightened. The berries fell from his hands, and he, a bit scared, said:

— Sorry, Miss Blarest. I... I didn’t mean to offend your highness.

Blarest landed on the ground and took a flower-shaped brooch, a black flower, from her hair. She placed it in John’s hand and whispered:

— I know you are the chosen one. Please, deliver this. You will know when to deliver it. Do not fear the enemy, for your worst enemy is closer than your soul. It’s the only way to free me.

Blarest vanished into smoke, and John was paralyzed with fear. A strong wind blew towards him, the sky darkened, raindrops began to fall, and the forest turned cold. A big storm was forming, and John needed to find shelter. He ran back to the rock, grabbed his already wet bag, and searched for shelter. He found two large trees with branches full of yellow leaves forming a tent. He heard a feminine scream coming from the forest, it sounded like Sarah’s voice.