《HOST》


 1: Ancients

    ¡°Bullseye,¡± The archer muttered to herself. Just before she released the bowstring to send the arrow on its way, there was a slight golden glint in her right eye. It was signifying the use of her ability, Hawk-eye. She released the bowstring, and the arrow went flying.


    The arrow went flying far and fast; it weaved through the ruins as if someone piloted it. Ultimately it found its target, a shadow wolf, a particular variant of wolf-beast that inhabited the shadowlands. It was twice the size of a normal wolf; its jaw often hung open with an uncountable number of teeth. Its fur was often mangy and black; the beast would drool venom everywhere it went, tainting the lands never to grow life.


    The arrow flew right into the center of its glassy white eye. The shadow wolf whimpered while it was knocked back onto its side.


    The archer pulled her hood down, allowing her to use her peripheral vision once more; her pointed ears peaked from beneath her short blonde hair; she was an elf from the northern tribes.


    ¡°Whew,¡± A male with brown hair and a green cape whistled. ¡°Nice shot, L¡¯aysisa¡­ Although it¡¯s still not as good as what ol¡¯ Bessy could do,¡± he said, leaning a peculiar looking red and blue rifle.


    L¡¯aysisa scoffed and walked towards the still struggling shadow wolf. ¡°That rifle may be good, but it would never beat class and beauty of a true bow.¡± L¡¯aysisa¡¯s thick northern elvish accent was slurring the majority of the words. She reached behind her on her hip, gripping the carving dagger freeing it from the sheath.


    The approached shadow wolf still thrashed about, black blood leaked from its mouth, turning the very ground underneath it barren in a matter of seconds. She pressed the blade into the wolf¡¯s throat. With a quick twist, it stopped moving. She then pulled the arrow out of the eyes socket and cut the wood right beneath the tip.


    The male cringed as he watched her confirm her kill. ¡°It¡¯s also much quicker than that, the poor son of a bitch.¡±


    She stood back up. ¡°Stop being sorry for it; it was a shadow wolf. It was already dead,¡± she snapped.


    ¡°Even still, it probably could still feel pain.¡± The male tried to justify.


    ¡°Good!¡± She yelled as she led the way under an arch with stairs leading downward.


    The male shrugged and followed her down. When the two reached the bottom, they were exposed to a massive room, so large that the ceiling wasn¡¯t even visible; however, they could feel a cold breeze coming from that direction. The two looked on as they passed hundreds, maybe thousands of laid and preserved bodies on the walls.


    ¡°This way, Arthur¡± L¡¯aysisa commanded as she walked through a gap in the burial wall. The hole didn¡¯t look like it was naturally made, but made by an architect; therefore, it had another room connecting it.


    ¡°Slow down; I¡¯m coming, I¡¯m coming¡± Arthur said, following a fair bit away from her. ¡°I¡¯m not as young as you are!¡±


    L¡¯aysisa stopped in the middle of the hall and turned around, staring directly at him with a frown. ¡°I¡¯m three-hundred-forty-six,¡± she stated.


    Arthur finally managed to make his way up to her. ¡°What¡¯s that in human years? It works that way, right?¡±


    L¡¯aysisa turned back around, ¡°Sixty-nine,¡± she muttered.


    ¡°Whoa,¡± he said in surprise. ¡°Nice, grandma.¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± she snarled back at him.


    The two entered the hole; at first, it was like a typical passage, but eventually, the walls became closer and closer together. They went from a fast walk to a slow sidestep with the rocks just barely touching their noses.


    A couple of times Arthur¡¯s rifle had to be readjusted to fit through the small openings, but often L¡¯aysisa got a hold of it and threw it to the next small crevice. Whether or not Arthur objected did not stop her ill-treatment of the weapon.


    After much maneuvering, the two finally came out to the final room, a pair of stairs that, when followed, took them to a platform with only one thing, a skeleton kneeling and chained to the floor by its hands, neck, and legs. Two black horns penetrated the skull¡¯s sides, and two long fangs were replacing the upper canines.


    ¡°L¡¯aysisa?¡± Arthur called out while scanning the room. With his eyes stopping on the female, he held the rifle in a low ready position. ¡°Where¡¯s the treasure?¡±


    L¡¯aysisa, with the carving blade in her hand, slit her left wrist.


    ¡°L¡¯aysisa¡­¡± Arthur called out to her. The rifle transformed parts of it levitated inches above the main body; lights illuminated throughout the barrel, indicating his mana pouring in.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    L¡¯aysisa dropped to her knees as the blood gushed from her veins forming tiny pools underneath. In seconds the blood began to move on its own, snaking its way to the skeleton as fast as it could.


    The moment the blood touched the skeleton, it began twitching to life, the body started to form muscles, organs, two beating hearts. The room dropped in temperature so fast and so low that the two¡¯s breaths could be seen.


    Arthur strafed around her and began taking shots at the skeleton; chunks of flesh exploded from the simple magic bursts from the rifle, but halted mid-air and reformed on the body. Arthur was running out of time quickly; the dark skin was being formed, starting with the legs and promptly racing upward.


    He aimed his rifle at L¡¯aysisa, ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have been so naive.¡± He pulled the trigger sending a magic burst into her stomach.


    ¡°Gah,¡± she grunted. Her entire midsection was now a gaping wound. Her organs were frying in place and exposing her ribs; however, everything was repairing at an alarming rate. The blood she lost only aided in the regeneration of what was behind her.


    Arthur dropped his weapon and went to his knees, defeated. There was no chance he would ever be able to win in this situation. All around the room was a mysterious chant; it was deep and throaty.


    The corpse was almost completely done with its healing; the body, muscular and demonic, just had the head to regenerate, and it¡¯d be over.


    The demonic singing was revealed that it was coming from imps climbing from the walls; the language was nothing Arthur had ever heard in his life. Steadily the number of imps increased alongside the volume.


    L¡¯aysisa nearly fainted, finishing the ritual. She dropped to the side on her hands and knees. Her eyes were the same as the imps around, entirely black with a pinprick red dot for the pupil.


    ¡°This was a set-up,¡± Arthur stated. ¡°How could I have been so dumb?¡± Shortly after thousands of cackling could be heard, one very distinctive one came from the now fully regenerated devil.


    ¡°Right you are!¡± the devil laughed. He looked down to find L¡¯aysisa at his clawed feet. He picked her up from the ground by her head; she gripped his massive arms to try and let go. ¡°Ah! You¡¯ve sold your spirit as well, delicious¡­¡± His mood went instantly sour, and he dropped her. ¡°What do you want?¡±


    L¡¯aysisa did not hesitate, ¡°My tribe¡­ My parents, I want them to come back.¡±


    The devil was watching her in silence for a few seconds; it was studying her will before saying anything. He pressed his fingers into her forehead, so hard she began drawing blood. A thick black trail reached the tip of her nose. ¡°Done.¡± L¡¯aysisa fell to the ground and began seizing, white foam leaked from the corners of her mouth, eventually she remained motionless in the spot she fell.


    The devil turned his attention to the male. He waved his finger, and like an invisible rope, Arthur was dragged closer to him. ¡°You tried to stop my rebirth.¡±


    Arthur managed to choke out an ¡°S-sorry,¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like that,¡± admitted the devil. The devil then began walking away and sat down on the nearest podium it could find. ¡°Who¡¯s hungry!?¡± The devil announced to the room. The thousands of imps screamed and cheered in the ancient tongues, half of them looked malnourished, their stomachs were hollow, and their ribs were showing. ¡°Well, dig in!¡± The devil yelled. On command, they started to pile in; they were ravenous and unrelenting, imps clawed over one another to get a taste of meat.


    Arthur grabbed his rifle and immediately started to blast the creatures, ¡°Not today!¡± He shouted. He might¡¯ve felt hopeless against the devil, but the little bastards would have to work for a slice of his aged tender meat.


    Imp head after head erupted, sending skull fragments and brain matter flying, he rolled under their claws, sidestepped their lunges. His skill as a gunner was very apparent.


    The devil watched unamused. It started to cough and cough again. It gradually got worse until the sound was booming and raspy. It broke the podium by accidentally banging its skull. It dropped to its knees and gripped the stone ground forming craters.


    The imps instantly stopped attacking to look at their leader. One imp¡¯s head still exploded after the cease.


    The devil beat on it¡¯s chest violently; whatever was going on was causing it great pain and distress. Black blood began pouring out with each violent heave.


    The devil hunched forward slowly, an orb-like flesh sac was forcing its way up, The sac being too large to exit, so it broke the devil¡¯s jaw. Several tentacles pushed the mouth apart further until the top of the skull was barely hanging on. The orb plopped onto the cold ground in a puddle of black blood.


    The devil slumped over by the weight of its skull and laid motionless.


    The room was silent, and all eyes were on the flesh sac. The sides parted trailing mucus and blood and unfurled, forming membrane-like wings, the head poked out from underneath, a smooth pink eye-less creature, tiny spikes rode down the back of its neck and onto the tail, two scythe-like appendages revealed to be the only limbs the rest of the body was snake-like, however, just like the devil it had horns curved down and out.


    The creature barked several times before it went into a full-on squeaky roar. Like a tidal wave, there an almost visible force being generated. The wave was so powerful some of the imps were flung from the platform. The imps scattered, a few brave unholy souls dared to charge at the creature. However, the closer they got, the harder it was to move; every step was like gravity was becoming heavier. Arthur saw this as an opportunity and grabbed the elf and bailed, heading back the way they came.


    The creature barked again to a roar. The imps caught in the blast radius this time screeched and grabbed their heads; moments later, they were beating each other to death, clawing out eyes, gnawing on their arteries. When the last one remained, the creature sent another wave, the imp broke its arm, and clawed the flesh open to reveal the bone underneath; it twisted the broken arm and stabbed itself through the throat with an exposed radius.


    The tiny creature, bathed in demonic blood, let out another roar as it slithered to the slumped over the devil; The jaw was already trying to fix itself and revive the devil, but the creature immediately broke through the skull and started feasting on the brain. Gulping down large quantities of meat.


    With L¡¯aysisa on his back, Arthur turned back around to see a massive storm forming above the ruins and nowhere else. Fear had never felt so ripe than at this moment; he ran.

 2: Lies

    Two imps fought to the death; their make-shift swords made of bone and leather clashed together. The creature was perching on an overlooking position of the make-shift arena. As time went on the more it was maturing, its skin darkened to a gray, the spikes darkened and more rock-like in appearance, The wings were more stable and less see-through, it watched on as the two imps against their will went for vital points, even when their bodies wanted to give up they forced to dance, like puppets.


    The creature let out a loud screech as one imp stabbed through another¡¯s heart. The monster jumped down, not having mastered flight, it flapped frantically but ended up plummeting downward and landing in the arena, sizing up to the still alive imp it was probably around twice the height. In a fraction of a second, a massive tube was forced from its mouth and encapsulated the entire of imp¡¯s head, thousands of barbs inside peeled the head like a grape palpating the brain and slurping it down its gullet.


    The imp dropped out of the creature¡¯s mouth, the face was shredded, and the top of the head looked like it was melting. The corpse was left in the dirt as the creature climbed the walls to its perch.


    Moments after, hungry imps came and started tearing away the skin eating handfuls of imp-meat. The creature watched them cannibalize their own kind with a certain amount of joy only it could understand.


    <hr>


    ¡°...¡± A monster with an ever-shifting face continued to mouth words in front of L¡¯aysisa. The faces kept distorting, blurring with every change, the eyes were sunken and blackened, the mouth extended far beyond anything humanly possible.


    L¡¯aysisa stared back at the monster. Dark circles developed underneath her eyes from the lack of sleep. As the monster continued to move and change its expressions, she was staying silent. She tried to readjust her arms, but the straightjacket was preventing her.


    ¡°... I¡¯m tired,¡± she mentioned to the monster.


    Her actual words incited a specific reaction as two more monsters walked in from the open door in front of her. They took her by the arms and hoisted her up to her feet. L¡¯aysisa followed her escorts to a room with nothing but a bed, sink, and toilet. From there, she was released from the staff¡¯s care, and the restrictive jacket was removed. The first thing she did was look at herself.


    Her short blonde hair was kept even shorter than it usually was; the months of getting an hour of sleep every day was taking a toll on her natural elven beauty. She touched her forehead, a scar one in the shape of a tiny black frilly diamond. The devil did its job. She was able to see her tribe again, but the unseen catch was that she acted as a beacon for them; whenever she¡¯d look at another person, the spirits would latch on, distorting her perception.


    ¡°You¡¯re a dumb bitch,¡± she confessed to her mirrored self. She walked over to the bed to lie down. She didn¡¯t even bother with the sheets. Despite being put on at least six different sleep medications, none made her any more tired. She¡¯d lay there with her eyes fixated on the same square on the ceiling day after day. However, today was different. She was able to close her eyes and slowly felt herself drifting. A sudden image flashed in her head, something she quite didn¡¯t understand or make out what it was just that it came with the feeling of dread, anguish, and disgust. She shot up from her bed, nauseated. She sprinted to the toilet and began evacuating the contents of her stomach. She violently heaved and gagged to the point even her bile was coming up alongside. Eventually, she did stop throwing up long enough to see inside the bowl. It was black, pitch black. The consistency was almost like tar; it bubbled and pulsated every few seconds.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± L¡¯aysisa shouted and leaned up against her privacy wall.


    ¡°Are you okay, Lisa!?¡± A woman with jet black hair and wearing white scrubs shouted. She busted through the door with two other humans; both of them were highly muscular and bald. ¡°I was walking by and-¡± She stopped and smelled the air, she instantly recoiled and gripped her nose. There was an almost miasmatic effect emanating from the toilet. ¡°Gruuh,¡± the woman heaved audibly. ¡°This smell!¡±If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°It¡¯s pronounced Lah-ay-sis-ah, not Lisa,¡± L¡¯aysisa said, ignoring the woman¡¯s disgust. Gripping her stomach, L¡¯aysisa climbed up the wall for support.


    For a second, the woman didn¡¯t know what to say. But she was positively surprised. She leaned over and whispered in the ears of two males; they both nodded while she left the room.


    L¡¯aysisa stared wide-eyed at the two men; it was the first time she could see their faces not being distorted by some parasitic spirit.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the woman to return with a straight jacket. ¡°Would you mind¡­ its procedure considering your history.¡±


    L¡¯aysisa sighed and groaned, ¡°Just get it over with.¡± She allowed the men to put the jacket on her.


    <hr>


    The creature sensed a feeling, one that felt both far and close at the same time. Something that only it could experience, a purely mental link. It picked its eyeless head up, looking in the same direction it felt the feeling.


    It climbed down the side of the perch, slithering into the center of the make-shift arena. It roared, sending another giant invisible pulse. The wave became so concentrated that the very foundations it stood on had scrape marks. The crypt vibrated and threatened to cause a cave-in.


    Seconds later, every imp; small, red, big, hungry came out of their hiding holes; they had no choice¡ªhundreds of them all congregating around the creature. The creature roared, and each imp broke out in a sprint towards the nearest exit, which just so happened to be the same small hole that Arthur used to escape.


    The imps plowed into the rocks; they smashed their skulls in, fainted and died, tore at the walls until their fingers bled, and their claws were ripping off. But they chipped away, making the hole just big enough for the creature. When it approached, every imp stepped to the side, pulling the corpses to the sides for maximized space.


    Using its snake-like anatomy, it squeezed through with very little resistance; the imps followed behind but switched off leading the way to the surface, as they were the ones who knew the ruins. The creature slithered its way up the steps and immediately greeted an intense storm.


    The rain was falling at an impossible rate; a few imps that traveled too far from the creature tried to run away but failed. They got stuck in the mud, and with so much rain and wind, they began drowning. The Imps that stayed close-fought against the angry gales of wind and dug their claws into the ground.


    Lightning struck several times all around the ruins and hit the ground. The creature looked up to the clouds despite not seeing it knew just what and where the storm was. It roared once more. The influence was spherical and only stretched out a quarter of a mile. The clouds above it parted, creating a storm eye where no rain dared even to enter. The creature flapped its fleshy wings, sending the moisture on its skin flying in all directions¡ªthe creature then began slithering to the north, the city of Algihani.


    <hr>


    Tryth shivered and put down his drink on the wooden railing, the noise from the bar died down behind him as the wind picked up. He suddenly started to see his breath being carried away in the setting sun. He squinted his eyes at a dark splotch over the horizon, an oncoming storm.


    ¡°Hey, stranger. What¡¯re you doing out here?¡± purred a woman as she wrapped her arms around his waist.


    Tryth turned around to face the woman, she had two golden curly horns on top of her red hair and olive-colored skin, a long red tail gently curled around his leg, she was a demi-dragon.


    ¡°Hey,¡± Trythe smiled, pulling her in for a kiss. He ran his hand through her hair as she accepted his lip. When the two parted seconds later he said, ¡°Had a lot to think about, just came out to breathe a little, sorry.¡±


    He suddenly heard a sharp ringing and it was deafening. The sudden nature of it caused him to drop to his knees and grip at his ears, then it was silent. The demi-dragon screamed, yet he couldn¡¯t hear it. He could see her and tell that she was, but nothing was being processed until he heard a voice calm, smooth, and indescribable say, ¡°Hear my song, dance to my words.¡±


    And just like that, the experience was over.


    ¡°Honey!¡± The demi-dragon shouted. ¡°What¡¯s wrong!?¡± She looked as though she was nearing a panic attack.


    ¡°Yeah, Yeah. I¡¯m fine,¡± Trythe reassured her. ¡°Did you he-¡± He started to say but cut himself off, she was already worried about him suddenly dropping to the ground.


    ¡°Did I what?¡± she repeated while helping him to his feet.


    He hugged her tightly, ¡°Nothing, it¡¯s fine¡­¡± Trythe looked over his shoulder at the splotch in the horizon. The storm was just a little closer, but he could definitely see that it was a violent one.

 3: Whine

    Tryth sat down at the table; the demi-dragon female clung to his hand; he could read that she was worried for him. His thumb rolled over hers several times in an attempt to comfort her. He smiled at her. "I''m fine, love," he said, trying to reassure her.


    She didn''t seem to believe in his words as she was clenching his hand much tighter than before.


    "You ready for the main course!?" shouted a rowdy dem-dragon. His hair was black; his horns were a brilliant gold. Several rings and chains of various precious metals hung from all over the male. His peachy skin looked almost flush, a sure sign he was undoubtedly drunk. "I sure am!"


    "Are you sure you don''t want to see someone?" whispered the female demi-dragon.


    Tryth nodded and ran a hand through the side of her hair. "I told you, I''m okay. That was just some random occurrence; it won''t happen again," he whispered back to her.  She smiled softly, in which he smiled back. "Now watch me kick your brother''s ass." Tryth let go of his woman''s hand and rubbed them together. "You''re going down, Gornhem!"


    A woman approached with a silver tray, covered with a matching silver top; along the lid''s rim was engraved images of angels getting ready to let go of a notched arrow. The waitress, a human woman, placed it in the center of the table. And took two steps back from the table, she held a small booklet with both hands close to the hem of her skirt. "Mister and misses, would you like to have refills on your wine?" The woman asked.


    "Ah, hell yeah!" the male demi-dragon shouted. The tables around him stared with faces of seething anger. "Let''s kill it!" He impatiently reached for the tiny knob placed at the top of the platter. In a swift pull, the lid flew up in the air, and the waitress screamed.


    Gornhem also screamed and dropped the platter lid on the wooden floor. "What the fuck!" he yelled. The corner of his lip twitched in disgust.


    "What''s wrong!?" Tryth asked, still looking at the waitress. She stood defensively; her book was held up to her mouth. He could tell she wanted to run away immediately. The demi-dragon female looked back to the food, finally deducing what might have been the cause. She immediately stood up, the chair falling behind her, causing a thunderous bang. Tryth being the last to look, reacted almost the same way.


    The food, a series of roasted segmented forms of meat all linked together by crispy skin, was covered in tiny white worms. They borrowed in the flesh, surfaced, and went back in. the wriggling mass made up most of the meal. "How could you even serve that!?" Tryth shouted. The meat looked as if it was still alive with how much movement was going on under the skin''s surface.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    The guests all around began to gasp; some began dry-heaving and excused themselves right away. "I saw that personally before I took it out!" the waitress spoke in a panic. "It did not look like that! All our dishes are prepared fresh!"


    "Obviously, you missed something!" Gornhem shouted. "It''s infested!" Gornhem immediately covered his nose the movement he realized it had an odor. "Rotten too!"


    Tryth excused himself and his lady from the table. He could feel vomit racing towards his throat. The moment he reached the street, he threw everything up. A hand-rubbed the back of his spine.


    "Gornhem is dealing with the managers right now."


    "Your brother has some serious guts being able to stay in a room with that," Tryth said, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.


    While Tryth was still trying to stand, a man came barreling through; he collided with Tryth knocking him off balance. "Watch where you''re going, asshole!" The man shouted in anger.


    The demi-dragon jumped to Tryth''s side and held him steady. She turned to face in the direction of the running man and growled. Her eyes turned bright gold, and her wings materialized in a flurry of sparkling light.


    "No, don''t," Tryth said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes flickered back to their usual luminosity and her wings dissipated in the same way they came. "It isn''t worth the trouble," he stated.


    She let out a sigh releasing her pent-up aggression. "Today isn''t a good day for my heart," she admitted.


    Tryth chuckled. "C''mon, let''s go," he said while wrapping an arm around her. She looked back at him and smiled softly.


    A chilly breeze carrying the heavy scent of rain blew through the streets, and the sky had darkened. The storm hadn''t been this close just moments ago.


    "Argh!" He screamed, throwing his hands up. "I just can''t with these people."


    "Why what happened?" His sister asked.


    Gornhem pinched the bridge of his nose. "It''s all rotten!"


    "How is tha-" Tryth started to interject but was interrupted by the droves of people leaving the establishment. They could hear the murmurs of disappointment and anger among the crowds.


    Suddenly, someone threw a punch. It met one face, then another, and another. Before long, the group turned into a pile of rage and blood.


    One instance that the trio noticed was the brutality of an elderly couple. Once the first punch was connected, it was like a drop of blood in a piranha-infested pool. Everyone went after them sensing their fragility.


    The crowd stomped in their teeth, grabbed anything that could be used as a weapon. Planks of wood to break the bones, shards of glass to carve, and filet the skin, nothing was left alone.


    Tryth fell to his knees again, the high-pitch whine was back and felt louder than ever. He screamed as his brain felt like it was boiling. His veins strained underneath his skin until he couldn''t take it any longer. He lost consciousness; the last thing he heard was his woman screaming.

 4. Service

    The storm didn''t let up as the creature perched itself on a nearby building. The storm carried away trash can and tore the leaves off of bushes and trees. People hurried back home, trying to escape the dangerous conditions. In one growl, the air and the raindrops were distorted as a wave rippled its way through. The creature''s body rippled and ungulated as it slithered up a nearby pole, wrapping its lower body so tight the metal creaked.


    The imps down below began hissing and aggressively clawing at anything around them. They were agitated, even though they were already seething with rage, the creature knew it. It took it and amplified it, and then redirected the hatred.


    Any humans caught on the streets meet with an untimely and unfortunate fate. A family of three, just a few blocks away from their home when the imps sprang from the alley, cornering them, the first victim, a little blonde girl no older than seven, was pulled away from the mother''s grasp, the mother screamed as the imps brutally carved their way into her stomach. They tore out her intestines first, fully knowing just how much pain it would cause the child. They paraded with the organ, dancing it out into the streets, while the mother and father could only yell and scream at them. Usually, they would have just done them all at once, but they had an audience that wanted to see a precise display. Making the parents feel despair was one way for them to earn the favor.


    They tore out her least vital organs one by one; at this point, the little girl''s brain couldn''t handle the pain much longer or the heavy blood loss; she went comatose, her teary eyes shut, and that was it for her; she''d never wake up again. The parents were wrecks, crying, angered, resentment. They dropped to their knees as the imps held their arms tightly.


    Seemingly, this pleased the creature. It could feel the dread, the total emotional breakdown of the parents, and it was satisfied. It gave the imps their wish, and they rejoiced. They began chewing on the intestines they pulled out, cutting off her skin, shoving as much as the imps could down their gullets, for they may never know when they''ll be fed anything that wasn''t each other.


    The parents, however, didn''t suffer the same fate as their child, they were given a chance, not a good one, as the imps were told to cut a specific artery on each of them, but if they wanted to take revenge for what they lost, they could.


    On the mother, a blonde-haired woman within her thirties, they stabbed her inner thigh. Blood gushed out with no signs of stopping, the father cut both his wrists, and then they let go. The mother almost immediately collapsed after seeing her blood rush out like that. The father, however, had a fighting spirit. The father cursed the imps out in slurred speech; he walked about five to six steps before collapsing to the side facing his daughter. He stared at her face, her untouched face as tears rolled from his eyes. He reached out his hand against the pavement, the blood, and rain mixing underneath.


    The creature rippled the air once more, another command. The imps tore at the back of the father, exposing his muscle and spine; they grabbed handfuls of flesh into their mouths and dined.


    BING, BING, BING. The sound of a nearby bell interrupted the creature''s viewing. It growled in the direction, a church house. The bell continued to sound off. The creature tried to send another wave, but each bang sent the ripple right back.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    The creature flapped its wings and let go of the pole. The destination: the source of the interfering bell.


    It flew between the clouds forcing the rain around it to stop in waves and then continue when it passed.


    The creature approached the large building; the sides were painted a bright white with gold trims and black roofing. It crashed into the tower containing the bell, BANG BANG BANG, and the sound was much louder in there.


    The bell was connected to a simple rope and pulley system, with one swift pull from its scythe-like arms, and the bell immediately fell silent except for the creature roaring out of victory.


    "It''s a pleasure to have you all come in today despite the sudden weather," laughed an old man.


    The creature heard his vibration through the floorboards, and intently it listened in.


    "Welcome, welcome!" He greeted. "We''ll do this service as quickly as possible so that no one has to be out too late!"


    Judging by his voice, he was directly underneath the creature. It snarled but continued to watch him. He greeted every single guest that came in for a few more minutes. His footsteps began changing from the center of the room. The creature followed from above.


    There was a door closing sound, and the footsteps lessened; he must''ve come to a halt.


    The man, bald in his late sixties, loosened his collar; sweat had begun collecting in between his skin and the fabric. The creature jumped once and then crashed down, breaking the flooring to the ceiling and sending itself to the room. The man turned around in horror, sighting the creature.


    He tried to scream, but the creature picked itself up, head first, and faced him. The neck vibrated in a low growl as it hissed. The man shut his mouth, paralyzed. The air in the room was feeling as though it was shaking.


    Minutes later, he emerged. Happier than a whistle, a pep in his step, not a single worry in the world. As he passed the staff of the building, he waved with a permanent smile. He busted through those double doors, greeting a room full of people and two statues of a woman with a white band covering her eyes, idols of their goddess, Hesestria.


    "Everyone, I''ve couldn''t have had a better experience¡­" Here started while walking to the podium. "Our lady Hesestria sent us a gift!"


    The man turned around, facing opposite of the statues towards a pillar that divided the two. "She sent us her trusted messenger!" then the creature ascended from the depths, wrapping itself around the post.


    Hushed voices erupted from the pews; some tried to get up and leave at the sight of a fleshy monster.


    "Do not be afraid!" the man erupted. "It has come bearing the words of our lady!"


    The crowd froze in their places, talking to each other.


    The man cleared his throat, "She says: Our bodies are tainted with sin, we will not be allowed to live with her in the afterlife as we are now!"


    The crowd continued to murmur with low voices, confusion still spreading. The man raised a hand to try and quiet the masses so he could continue. "We must discard our flesh in order to allow the purities to be introduced to us!"


    The creature began vibrating the air once more, no doubt enacting its influence. The crowd stood up, cheering, tears in their faces; they sang words of praise to the creature.