Nemina squinted at him, her face full of confusion. “You’ve been through the forest before?”

  Eliam nodded. “Yeah, and the first time, I barely made it out of there alive. I’m telling you there’s an older looking harpy in there.”

  He had almost told Nemina everything, which would have probably either gotten him labeled as crazy or

  Nemina sighed. “You are odd… but fine, I suppose you wouldn’t have any reason to lie about this. What do you suggest we do then?”

  “Well, it’s either the forest or the fortress. Honestly, I don’t like the idea of having to slay tens of people who were just doing their job,” Eliam said.

  Nemina nodded. “Neither do I… although, I’m not sure if we stand a chance against a Harpy Mother.”

  Nemina glanced toward the forest and slowly started to move in. Eliam followed close behind, holding out his dagger. Hopefully, their odds would be better with the two of them rather than just himself.

  They were doing all of this just to get to Denovere, but Eliam wasn’t even sure if the place would be safe for Frostlight or not. He was purely going off what Nemina had told him. Ultimately, he was still incredibly new to this world. He didn’t know many of its locations, nuances, or cultures.

  “What are you thinking about?” Nemina glanced at him as they walked.

  “Ah, nothing much. Just about how we’re going to take down those harpies,” Eliam said.

  Nemina rolled her eyes. “By hopefully not encountering them, especially that Harpy Mother. If we do, then I guess we just fight and hope for the best. We do have Frostlight on our side.”

  “Frostlight… just how important is it?” Eliam asked.

  Obviously, the katana was incredibly important; Eliam doubted Nemina would treasure it so much. He just didn’t feel like he knew enough about Frostlight or this world.

  Nemina scoffed. “What kind of question is that? It was the hero Sagmin’s weapon. Is that not enough?”

  “No, but is there any other reason Frostlight is to be protected?” Eliam asked.

  Nemina paused. “Um, I don’t think so. At least, I was never told of any other. I mean, it is a very powerful weapon. There are no others that even come close, at least besides the other hero weapons.”

  “There’s four in total, right? A greatsword, a bow, a wand, and then the katana,” Eliam said.

  Nemina nodded. “Yes, four weapons from the four heroes who saved the world.”

  “From Quarlak.”

  “Yes, who else?” Nemina said. “Quarlak wasn’t always here… I have been told that our world was a very different place before his arrival.”

  “How different?” Eliam asked.

  “I don’t know that many details, okay! Just that it was peaceful and stuff. There were no fiends running around trying to kill everyone,” Nemina hissed.

  Eliam was about to continue his questioning, but a shuffle from his right caused him to pause. He glanced at a bushy tree, where the noise originated. It was thick enough for Eliam not to be able to see through it.

  Nemina noticed as well as her hands were already on Frostlight. She inched forward, a slow breath escaping her lungs.

  “Watch my back. These things like to attack from all angles,” she growled.

  Eliam nodded and readied his dagger for the battle ahead of him. In the blink of an eye, a harpy zipped out of the tree and straight toward Nemina.

  With a single swing, she severed one of its wings. It began to screech in pain as Nemina moved to finish it off.

  At the same time, another harpy flew toward her from another tree. Eliam was already prepared.

  He slashed toward the harpy, forcing it into the ground. He jumped on top of it and began to stab it in the back.

  In a matter of moments, both creatures were dead. As it turned out, the harpies weren’t so bad when he wasn’t being swarmed.

  Nemina nodded to Eliam, satisfied with the results of their battle. At least until a familiar singing filled their ears. It was a daunting lullaby, one that spoke of death. Eliam didn’t know how he knew that, but he just did.

  Nemina sharpened her gaze, not daring to talk. She motioned for Eliam to follow her, and he did so without hesitation.

  They dashed through the forest, quietly, but not perfectly silent. Eliam hoped the singing would block out any noise they made.

  “Where are we going?” Eliam whispered.

  “They only sing when they have an ambush prepared or feel comfortable enough to do so. We’re going to try to avoid them there,” Nemina said.

  They rushed around the singing, never quite entering within close vicinity of it. Soon, the lullaby faded into the distance. Just as he began to relax, another song took its place. This time it was a tense, strained song.

  “Shit,” Nemina muttered.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “They know we’re here,” Nemina said as she started to quicken her pace.

  As they ran, they no longer tried to hide the noise they were making. It was a race to the finish. Losing it meant death.

  A flurry of movement sounded behind them as they ran as fast as they could. Eliam knew how much of a disadvantage they were at since flying was typically faster than running. Still, judging by the sound behind them, the number of harpies would be beyond their capabilities to fight.

  What was even odder was that despite the number of harpies chasing them, their singing was still continuing. In fact, it was getting louder. Almost as if they were being led to a trap.

  Eliam paled at such a thought. His mind went back to the Harpy Mother. He turned to Nemina, his heart racing.

  “Hey, is the singing getting louder?”

  But it was too late.

  They ran into a clearing, one that was clearly not natural. In it were dozens of harpies, each one staring at them. At the center was the older harpy, a grim smile on her face. It was a trap.

  Nemina froze as soon as she entered, her face agape with horror. She tried to back up, but her eyes rolled into her head, and she collapsed. Eliam knew something was very wrong as Nemina never shied in the face of danger, even in impossible situations.

  He glanced back at the harpies, frozen in place. He knew that he was done. There was nothing he could do.

  The Harpy Mother smiled at him, her eyes twinkling with delight. He glanced back at Nemina, who was still slumped over on the ground. Whatever was about to happen to him, he knew it wouldn’t be good.

  He glanced at his dagger and, without hesitation, slammed it toward his throat. Everything went dark.

  ***

  Eliam gasped as he awoke. The first thing he noticed was the sickening smell. It was of death, rotten and steely. He had failed to kill himself.

  He felt a sickening crunch as he stood up. He looked around to find himself standing over a pile of bones. Many of them looked like they belonged to animals, but some looked rather human.

  He looked around for Nemina, but she was nowhere to be found. Instead, there was nothing but darkness surrounding him.

  He stood there, frozen, unable to comprehend the situation he was in. How had he failed to kill himself? What had caused him to lose consciousness?

  He felt himself begin to panic. What the hell was going to happen to him here? He had become too cocky. Too fearless of death to forget that death wasn’t the true horror. Living through it was.

  A new sound alerted him to something off to his right. A dim light poured into the cell, and a bird-like creature came inside. Eliam felt his chest start to tighten as he tried to back up, only to hit a wall.

  The harpy sank its claws into his left arm and dragged him out of the cell. He began to scream out in pain as he felt his arm splinter under the weight of his entire body.

  The harpy dragged him into a dimly lit cavern, the crunch of bones still evident. Other harpies turned to look at him as he passed, and they shrieked at him. They seemed to be cheering. Eliam didn’t know what for, but it didn’t matter. All he could focus on was the creaks his arm continued to give as he felt it tear apart.

  The layer of bones he was being dragged on began to thicken as the crunching became louder. It only continued to grow until they reached a pit where the bones reached their maximum.

  The harpy tossed him inside, and he landed with a loud crunch. He gasped as his arm flared with even more pain but tried his best to set it aside.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Eliam,” a croak sounded from behind him. “Is that you?”

  He turned slightly, just enough to view the source of the voice. Upon doing so, he gagged.

  It was Nemina, but not as he had ever seen her before. Covering her eyes were dense claw marks, rendering her blind. Her fingernails had been stripped off, blood pouring out of her hands. There was a rag covering her body, barely hiding some of the more gruesome markings she had been left with.

  “Please… kill me. It hurts,” she begged.

  Eliam’s body started to shake as he stumbled backward, falling into a mess of bones. He didn’t speak. He couldn’t even if he tried. This was too much. This world was too much. What the fuck had he gotten himself into. He didn’t deserve this. He was just some kid. Not a monster deserving of hell!

  “Please,” she sobbed.

  A plethora of screeching noises were heard as two harpies jumped into the pit. Nemina’s blank eyes widened, her panic amplifying.

  “Kill me!” she screamed, convulsing on the ground. “Please, Eliam, don’t let them hurt me again. Kill me! Kill me! Kill me…”

  Eliam felt hot tears run down his face as he watched one of the harpies dig its claws into her leg. Her words began to lose clarity and instead morphed into screams. The harpies continued to rip and tear into her until she became silent.

  Satisfied, they squaked and left the pit. Eliam crawled toward Nemina, desperate to see her condition.

  She was lying there, her limbs sprawled out like a doll. Her eyes were wide open, her face twisted into one of fear. Eliam couldn’t tell if she was dead or alive.

  “Why?” she muttered.

  “Huh?” Eliam froze.

  “Why aren’t you killing me… I’m tired of it hurting. It’s so much,” she muttered.

  Eliam wanted to help. He wanted to desperately. He felt a rush of wind from behind him as a rather large harpy smashed into the ground in front of him, on top of Nemina.

  His eyes widened as he watched her head smash in from the claws. It was the Harpy Mother who was on top of her. She wore a sickening grin as she suddenly tossed Nemina’s corpse toward Eliam.

  The weight of it forced him downward, pinched between her and bones. An enormous weight pressed down, forcing him into the layers of bones. He felt himself being buried under her body, pressed into the bones.

  He tried to breathe but found that he couldn’t. The air wasn’t entering his lungs. A sharp bone stabbed into his shoulder as he felt himself choke on his own tears.

  A cackle could be heard above him as he was jerked back up and tossed into the air. A harpy flew into the air and caught him, tearing into his body with its claws. He felt himself scream, but nothing came out.

  He was tossed to another Harpy, which caught him, digging its own claws into his flesh. They continued to play catch with him as if he were a toy. A single bark from the Harpy Mother, and he felt himself being tossed back into the pit.

  A plethora of screeches sounded out, and the Harpy Mother turned to the forest with a screech of her own. She flew out urgently, as if distracted with something.

  This left Eliam on his own, stranded in the pile of bones. He tried crawling back to Nemina and checking on her, but she was gone. Her body was a mess of broken limbs, blood, and flesh.

  He felt fresh tears run down his face as he pressed his fists into her. This world was a cruel place. Far crueler than anything he had ever experienced on earth. He had once thought his abusive father to be bad, but he was wrong. That was practically a retreat compared to this!

  Time passed, and the harpies didn’t return. Eliam hoped for them to be dead, slain by someone there to save him. Of course, that would not come to be.

  The screeching returned, and along with it, the Harpy Mother. She flew in, carrying a few people.

  She tossed two of them into the pit with Eliam and took the other away.

  The two people that landed near him were a man and a woman. They both had blonde hair and tight faces. What really caught Eliam’s attention was their ears. They were pointy, just like an elf’s would be from the fiction of Earth.

  The man glanced at him, wide-eyed. “You! Who are you? And where the hell are we?”

  Eliam gave him a blank stare. Did he really not realize that? They were in hell. He provided them with no response and let them continue to scream at him. He didn’t listen to their words but to the flurry of wings. It signaled the harpies' return.

  The man gaped as one of them flew into the pit. It screeched at them and picked up the elven woman from the ground. She began to scream as the man shouted for her. With a loud crack, the woman went limp, and the man fell to his knees.

  The Harpy Mother appeared in a flash and pummeled the other harpy into the ground. It began to croak out in desperation as its head was snapped. Apparently, it had done something wrong.

  The Harpy Mother moved to the elf woman’s body and played around with it before annoyingly tossing it off to the side. Eliam began to understand why it killed its own brethren. They weren’t supposed to kill the prey that easily.

  It flew out of the pit, and everything became eerily silent. Eliam glanced toward the elven man. He was still on his knees, tears running down his face. Some entered his mouth, which was wide open from panic.

  Finally, Eliam spoke, “I’m sorry.”

  The elf turned toward him, his face filled with sorrow. Such emotions quickly morphed into rage as he rocketed toward Eliam. Eliam didn’t even try to fight back. He was thrown to the ground, and the elf started to pummel him in the face. Minutes turned into hours as his punches lost their weight and slowed.

  “Why didn’t you help!” the elf finally spoke.

  “What was I to do?” Eliam said. “Dying was a blessing for her. Do you know what happens the longer you stay alive here?”

  The elf paled. “What do you mean a blessing! I…”

  He took a look around, spotting the rotting, broken corpse that was once Nemina. His eyes widened as he turned back to look at Eliam’s dull eyes.

  “Did you know her?” he whispered.

  “Yes.”

  “I… I am deeply sorry…”

  They stood there for a few moments, letting silence fill the atmosphere.

  “Are we to die?” the elf asked.

  “Probably,” Eliam muttered.

  The elf nodded, seemingly finally beginning to understand the hopelessness of this place. They sat there for the next hour, both not daring to speak.

  The flapping of wings filled the air as the harpies returned. Singing and screeches sounded as a multitude of the horrid creatures came into view.

  Eliam took a deep breath, preparing himself for the torture that awaited him. The elf looked toward him, a look of fear in his eyes.

  ***

  The elf was alive still, but barely. He was sporting large gashes all over his frame, some barely missing his vitals. Eliam was in an even worse state. Though, somehow, neither of them were dead.

  In fact, Eliam had a slight fire in his eyes. One that was sparked by the sight of Frostlight. He had seen the hero’s weapon carelessly lying around one of the times he had been tossed out of the pit. It was just sitting there, untouched.

  He had limited time to devise a plan while the harpies were gone, doing who the hell knew what. He wasn’t confident he would be able to pull it off. In fact, he knew what he was doing was certain death. Still, the sight of the Harpy Mother left him seething. He couldn’t help but flicker his eyes toward Nemina’s rotting body.

  “I am going to attempt to escape,” Eliam declared.

  The elf glanced at him, his eyes dull. “Huh?”

  “While those overgrown birds were playing catch with me, I spotted my weapon. I plan on claiming it and killing the Harpy Mother,” Eliam explained.

  The elf gaped at him. “Killing it? Are you listening to yourself right now? It’s impossible!”

  “Maybe so, but I have to try. For Nemina,” Eliam said, his voice low.

  At the mention of Nemina, the elf glanced at the elf woman he had come with. A slight frown escaped from his throat. “I’m with you.”

  Eliam nodded, but truthfully, he wasn’t even sure how to counter the Harpy Mother. She had some sort of special magic that rendered him unconscious almost immediately.

  “If you attack, I can provide defense,” the elf added. He flashed Eliam a wand he had hidden away.

  “Defense? Are you actually able to stop the Harpy Mother?” Eliam asked.

  The elf slowly nodded. “Yes, but not for long. Her mind magic is incredibly powerful and empowered by Quarlak.”

  It was mind magic. That was how she had done it. Eliam had never even realized magic such as that could exist. The thought made him shudder. He could always go back in time for physical damage, but what if his mind was destroyed?

  “I don’t need very long,” Eliam growled.

  The cocky shit heads hadn’t even took his cloak off. They must have felt that Nemina was a much more significant danger since she had been using Frostlight and her armor. They were probably just toying with Eliam.

  When one of the harpies tossed him, he would activate unseen. Afterward, he would grab Frostlight and immediately rush the Harpy Mother. He would make that bitch pay.

  “When you hear me say ‘now’ be ready,” Eliam said.

  The elf nodded.

  With the plan devised, all that was left to do was wait. Eliam wasn’t sure how long he had been there, but likely a few days. Thankfully, it seemed that what Nemina had said about food stood. He wasn’t all too hungry despite having eaten.

  Eliam and the elf waited for the next few hours until the harpies came back. As usual, this was signalled by their loud shrieks and singing.

  One of them came over here and started toying with the elf. Eliam watched as it tossed him around and raked its claws all over him. If something happened to the elf here, then his plan would likely be ruined.

  A harpy screeched as it grabbed him and tossed him around the pit. Eliam gritted his teeth through the pain, ignoring the claws that were raking into his body. He was picked up again and this time, thrown outside of the pit. This was his chance.

  “Now!” he shouted as he disappeared.

  The harpy that was toying with him began to shriek, likely for the Harpy Mother. Eliam wasn’t paying attention to that. Instead, he was rushing toward Frostlight.

  He felt an unfamiliar presence surround him. It didn’t feel dangerous, but he couldn’t be sure. He would just have to hope it was something the elf was doing.

  He could see the blue katana in the distance, waiting for him to reclaim it. However, he felt another strange force being directed toward him. They clashed and managed to balance each other out. Whatever it was, it didn’t end with Eliam unconscious, so he considered it a win.

  He grabbed Frostlight and immediately unsheathed the blade. He turned to find the Harpy Mother attacking the elf. He began to rush in, a swarm of harpies surrounding the elf. The Harpy Mother was terrorizing the elf and had her claws halfway into his stomach.

  Eliam narrowed his eyes as he rushed the Harpy Mother and slashed at her from behind. She screeched out in pain as she tried to turn around, but it was too late for her.

  Eliam dodged her slash and carved Frostlight through her neck. She froze for a second before her head fell off her body.

  He felt Frostlight absorb the essence from the fiend, growing quite a bit from the one kill.

  The surrounding harpies began to scream as they quickly dispersed away from Eliam. He had assumed they would kill him, but it seems they became deathly afraid of him instead.

  He glanced down at the elf who had helped him so much. His abdomen was ripped open, and his body was a mess. He was not going to make it.

  “Heh, I’m fucked ain’t I?” the elf muttered.

  Eliam paused, unable to confirm the elf’s beliefs. It just felt wrong to.

  “Thanks… for killing that bitch… I didn’t think it would happen, ya know?” the elf coughed up blood. “By the way… names… Eric Eldrek…”

  That’s right. They had never even exchanged names. “Eliam Edward.”

  “Heh, Eliam… please, go check on Samuel… he’s probably dead, but… please,” Eric croaked.

  He was probably referring to the other person that had come with them and was carried off somewhere else.

  Eliam nodded, his eyes falling as Eric went limp. He had died.