SUDDEN ATTACK
Huff! Huff! Huff!
Kreek!
Legs, not too long and not too short, not too weak and yet not too strong, were running from a blood-curdling scream behind.
The twelve years old boy raced in the path of the forest near his village. His goal was to reach his home safely.
The terrifying shriek stretched into a heart-wrenching scream behind him as if something smelled his fear.
Dry branches scratched his skinny legs, drawing out blood. Nevertheless, he didn’t care. He ran with his life in his hands.
He was strong for his age, but not strong enough. His speed was decreasing gradually.
He lost one of his sandals on the mossy green carpet. However, he didn’t have the courage to look back.
His heart was thumping like a drum. His throat was dry. He was sweating profusely. His heart was beating so fast that he thought that his heart was going to burst out of his ribcage.
All of a sudden, something caught on his throat and wrapped around his nape. It was round and long like a rope but rather slimy. Then, it pulled him strongly.
“Ahh!” The teenager shouted, frightened witlessly.
Something warm covered his mouth.
“Shh! Don’t move,” a male voice whispered next to his ear.
The boy froze before relaxing after he recognized the voice. It was his father’s voice.
The father and the son stayed on the high tree branch, immobile.
The forest was frighteningly quiet. Even the gnats weren’t making any sounds. The winds dropped. The leaves didn’t dare to make rustling sounds.
A few moments later, some kind of oddly shaped thing came into their view. It stopped right under the tree they were sitting on. It looked like it was looking for something.
Maybe for not seeing the boy anymore, it seemed disappointed. It growled angrily.
The boy trembled as he looked down. He dared not to breathe in case he alerted the crazy-looking thing.
The huge thing scoffed but it was followed by a vivid crunching sound. Something was in its mouth. As it moved its face, something broke inside its mouth.
The father-son duo heard a groan come from its mouth.
A human’s cry.
A human was inside that vicious thing’s mouth.
The monster moved away and the boy got the chance to have a glimpse of its mouth.
The oddly being’s mouth was all bloody. A human arm was sticking out of its mouth.
The boy couldn’t handle it and opened his mouth. His eyes widened in horror.
Somehow his father realized what he was about to do, he covered his mouth instantly.
The boy trembled. He couldn’t take his eyes off the human arm.
His father was securely holding his son’s mouth. While doing that, he realized that the boy’s temperature was gradually increasing.
Worried, he touched his son’s back. He felt cold sweats drenching the teen’s back.
‘His sweats were turning his body cold. Why?’ he wondered but couldn’t come up with the answer.
His eyes were fixed on the giant thing that he had never seen before. The bloody hand in between its mouth was too horrifying to watch. However, his eyes were glued to it.
He knew that he was going to have nightmares about it for a long long time. Even so, he couldn’t take his eyes off it. It was like… that bloody hand was attracting him.
The oddly shaped being lurked around for some time while munching on the human body. It scanned the whole area to find its prey. After some time, it couldn’t find anything.
Grrr!
It groaned slightly to express its dissatisfaction and then went back to the same place it came from.
The teenager’s father waited till the human-eater left the area. When he could no longer hear any sound, he sighed in relief.
“All right, let’s get away from here as soon as possible,” he whispered.
His son could barely walk. He was beyond terrified. He had never seen something so vicious like that before.
He then carried his son off the tree and then ran toward the village with all his might.
‘The people who had gone missing were actually killed by those man-eaters! I need to tell the village chief about this. God help us!’
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The Royal Palace of Corinthia
The capital city of Lunas Mirith
“The Director of the Ministry of Magic has arrived,” the royal guard announced.
The tall man entered the throne room. He was wearing a green uniform with golden designs. His long blonde hair was tied with a long golden lace. He scanned the room through his gold-framed spectacles.
The thirty-five-year-old Director of the Ministry of Magic stopped in front of the stairs of the throne. He bowed while stating, “You have summoned me, Your Majesty.”
King Jervas V stared at the famous Director of the Ministry of Magic with a grim expression. The forty-year-old king had dark circles under his eyes. It didn’t look like he had been sleeping well in the past few days.
“Urgent news has arrived. I called for you the moment I heard the news.”
Upon hearing his words, the pair of blue eyes of the Director of the Ministry of Magic glinted. “It seems to me that Your Majesty has heard grave news.”
“You are not wrong.” King Jervas stroked his forehead. He signaled the man beside him to explain the rest.
The man beside him was wearing a long blue attire. All Royal staff wear this uniform. Only top-ranking officers have golden-colored badges and so did he.
The man got the king’s signal and narrated shortly, “Villagers in several villages had gone missing. They went to the forest to cut wood and gather food but never returned. Later, it was found that some vicious creatures entered their territory and started killing the villagers. These creatures are lurking in the forest and hunting down the villagers. The villagers have become their food.”
The Director of the Ministry of Magic Tower quietly listened.
The throne room was deadly silent. No guards were present. Only a few high-ranking officials like the Archbishop, High Chancellor, Prime Minister, General, Strategist, and High Admiral were accompanying King Jervas V.
‘Very few people are present here. It only means they are trying to keep it a secret so that the rumors don’t spread. It might create panic among the citizens. Since the king summoned me, someone from the Ministry of Magic, I’m sure there is something he wants from me.’
As the Director of the Ministry of Magic understood the king’s plan to bring him here, he asked, “What can I do for Your Majesty?”
