Queen Of Monsters

Ru Naya clenched her hands, and her nails dug in her palms, drawing blood.

Witches, she hated the witches with passion.

Though she had been fortunate enough to never meet one, she had heard about them from the hunters. From those hush conversations she had figured out that there were two different kind of stray witches that lived in the forest. One that had been exiled from the witch's court for their heinous crimes or the other one that left Karasi on their own to hunt humans. These sadistic witches adored killing and torturing, and was the reason why most of the hunters that had ever stepped in the forest had brutally died. Regardless, she hoped that this one was not one of the exiled ones, not that it mattered. It was a witch, and it had all the power to kill her.

The witch had a tattered black cloak on, and would occasionally cackle as she circled Zan Mei's sleeping body. She would stop and stare for a while before starting to laugh again.

To hear such evil sounds made Ru Naya's blood roil and she gritted her teeth in frustration.

She could see that Zan Mei was still breathing, and the pallor of her skin was still healthy. She was probably bewitched, thus Ru Naya could still save her, but how?

The witch began to incant and then she raised her arms, causing the robes to fall back and expose her pale arms. Ru Naya realized that the same symbols carved in the trees were branded on her arms, and the deep scars on the skin was a horrifying sight.

She desperately tried to think up of something. She had finally found Zan Mei and she couldn't let her die now. She had come too far to fail now.

The witch's movements were abrupt and jerky. Her ghoulish cackle got louder as she began to encircle Zan Mei's body faster.

Ru Naya watched the symbols on her sallow arms as they began to glow. It didn't take a smart person to figure out that if Ru Naya didn't stop the witch right then, then she would seriously hurt Zan Mei.

However, Ru Naya was at a loss as to how to disrupt the witch's spell. She wasn't strong enough to fight the witch, so the only way to save Zan Mei was to distract her.

So Ru Naya screamed as loudly as she could, knowing full well that the lyren bird would be alerted as well. She screamed obscenities, taunts and threats but the witch wasn't distracted. She continued to whirl around Zan Mei in a sinister frenzy as the symbols got brighter and brighter.

Her throat was hoarse from the screaming at the witch but there was no indication that she had even heard her. Ru Naya finally stopped when she lost her voice from all the yelling, yet the witch continued her manic dance.

She watched the witch in horror, when a flapping noise joined the cacophony of mad noises.

Oh no, Ru Naya panicked, the lyren bird is here.

In a perfect world the lyren bird would have swooped in and chased the incanting witch, but a predator would always go for the weakest target to hunt. In this case it would be Zan Mei so Ru Naya had to hurry and divert the witch's attention before the lyren bird could catch up to them.

Panicking, she did something stupid. She took out her hunting knife, and with a deadly accuracy threw it at the witch.

The witch was gibbering when the knife sailed past her and impaled itself in one pallid arm, causing the rusty blade to snap from the sudden impact. The broken knife clanked at the witch's feet and bounced away, disappearing in the dark jungle forever.

Ru Naya was mournful for the loss of the knife but she didn't dare to look where the knife went. She stared at the witch who turned to look at her arm where the blade had pierced her. She stopped mid dance as c.o.c.ked her head at the sight of her disfigured arm.

The symbols on her arms dimmed as the witch poked at the jutting blade for what seemed like an eternity. It was making Ru Naya antsy because the flapping sound was growing nearer and she was running out of time. In her frustration she snapped a nearby twig and it caught the witch's attention.

Ru Naya gasped when she finally saw the face of the dancing witch.

The witch's face was grotesque looking: her flesh was rotting and it was filled with lacerations that was leaking putrid pus. As if that wasn't enough, Ru Naya felt a chill run down her spine when her eyes met the hollow eye sockets of the witch. Though there was emptiness instead of eyes, she could still feel the malevolent gaze on her.

The witch gave her a toothy smile and chortled, "bad child."

Then the witch lunged towards her with an unnatural agility and Ru Naya bolted away quickly. She desperately hoped that the lyren bird chasing her would not target Zan Mei as she ran for her life. She could hear the loud cackles of the witch as she chased Ru Naya. The woman was too nimble, Ru Naya realized and her heart sank, what was she supposed to do now? how was she supposed to get the witch away from her?

She remembered her previous plan of running towards the lake and she decided to do that. That way she would be back near the edge and the path. If she could do that then she would use the path and run towards Bon Sicini, and maybe make it out alive.

"Aha!" The witch shrieked and Ru Naya felt pain in her arm. She didn't dare to look down as she knew that she would lose her footing if she did. So she endured the pain and dashed forwards. Other than the witch's constant shrieking, she heard the lyren bird's piercing scream as well. She was now being chased by two of them simultaneously. At this point it was a miracle that Ru Naya was still alive.

"Run, little girl! I want to chase you!" The witch tittered and Ru Naya sobbed. The witch was far too powerful for her to handle and the damn thing knew it as well. Ru Naya realized that she was being used as an entertainment source for the woman, as only vile creatures like them would find hunting terrified humans so delightful. Damn the witches, she spat at them.

But she did what the witch asked her to by running faster and harder. However, her body was at the limit's end now. Thus, she felt herself slowing down despite her efforts since she was just too tired from today.

What should she do now? she thought frantically.

Ru Naya blinked as she realized what she was looking at. It was the symbol that acted as the camp's landmark! She had made it back! Ru Naya had no time to rejoice as she careened to the left and ran straight for the camp. If she was lucky then Yan Lin and the others would probably be back and she would be saved finally!

But the camp was still the same way she had left in the morning: empty. Ru Naya despaired as she realized that she had just led the lyren bird and the witch right to the campground.

How stupid was that decision?

However, not all hope was lost. Ru Naya spotted the fire and lurched forward to take a burning stick from the pile. She didn't even care if her hands burned from the heat as she was already in so much pain. She turned around and threw the stick at the grinning witch.

The witch hadn't expected a weak Ru Naya to fight back and so she stopped abruptly from the sudden action. Ru Naya took advantage of the distraction and put some distance between them by running towards the lake. She hoped that she would fool the witch by submerging herself in the water as she had no other place to hide. If this didn't work then she would die for sure.

The lake still looked as it did in the morning: deathly still. Ru Naya didn't waste any time,

she held her breath in and then dove in the water.

Her luck had been rotten today yet she prayed that the lake didn't contain any predators. Under the cool waters it was oddly tranquil, the rays of the sun that had managed to pierce the water illuminated the area for her to be able to look around. She saw that there was emptiness and below her was pure darkness. If she squinted she could see some movement in the murky depths, and she desperately hoped that whatever was down there didn't bother her.

She tried to stop the air from leaving her mouth but some bubbles still escaped. She prayed that no one had witnessed the ripples on the surface of the water when the bubbles popped.

A soothing voice in her mind told her to let go.

Let go...

She used her last drop of energy to claw her throat when the rest of the air left her lungs, leaving behind burning in her c.h.e.s.t. Her eyes glazed as she watched the silhouette of the lyren bird fly over the lake and she didn't even have the strength to be glad that she had finally managed to outwit the damn bird.

After all, she was going to die anyways, what was the point of being happy now?

She had finally given up. Just when she thought she was going to faint, she saw a hand reach out to her.

The hand gently grasped Ru Naya's arm and pulled her up. The strength of the person was extraordinary as Ru Naya was dragged up like she was just a doll. She broke through the water's surface and gasped as the sweet fresh air entered her body. The person hauled Ru Naya to the embankment and laid her down.

"Tha-thank." She stuttered hoarsely.

"Don't thank me," the voice giggled, "if you would have died, then how could I have killed you slowly? That's no fun!"

The voice made Ru Naya's eyes widen.

The insane witch chortled, "I saw you submerge yourself, little girl. I was going to let you suffer longer but you were so quick to drown. How boring!"

Ru Naya lay there, unable to cry. She felt her last hope waning as she stared at the evil face of the witch. The witch had let her stay in the water, thinking that she might make it. Now the lyren bird was gone as well and there was nothing that could distract the witch anymore. She could stay there and torture Ru Naya to death as long as she wanted.

The witch sauntered towards her, and her body convulsed harder. She sat down on Ru Naya's c.h.e.s.t and held her arm out. The jutted blade was still stuck in her arm and the witch pulled it out without flinching. Lumps of blood seeped through the cut and the blobs fell on Ru Naya's body. It mixed with her own blood and the pus that dripped over her body as the witch leaned closer. She took the broken blade and she pushed the knife down Ru Naya's throat. Ru Naya gurgled but had no strength to fight anymore.

Yan Lin, Zan Mei, I am sorry, she thought sadly as the pain began to take over her.

"Oh, cry out little girl! I want to hear you scream for someone to save you. I want your eyes to despair when no one comes for you!" the witch slapped Ru Naya, and the nails scr.a.p.ed her bloodied cheeks.

"Oh, but I did come for her." A powerful voice rang out around them.

That sinister aura.. it was the same one Ru Naya had felt earlier when she was trying to ditch the lyren bird.

Even the witch paled considerably at the voice. She stood up abruptly, but before she could even turn around a spear stopped her by impaling her throat; the witch's screams echoed as she fell to the ground. In daze at the sudden turn of events, Ru Naya turned her head weakly at the murdered witch. Then, she tried to turn her face to look at her saviour when she remembered the aura from before. The source of that mighty voice had just killed a witch in one strike, so she knew she wasn't wrong about thinking that it was her most dangerous adversity yet.

But she had no strength to look at them as footsteps approached her.

"Please don't hurt me," she croaked before the darkness finally took over.