by Eric Vall
“O-Okay,” the blonde relented. “I guess we can try one time.”
I wasn’t sure why she was so hesitant, but part of me thought she knew if she felt the spark, it would really mean I was the true hero. And if the true hero had arrived, that would mean it was time for the bonding ceremony. Maybe she was just afraid of commitment, and that was something I could relate to.
I reached out a hand, and Cienna slipped her tiny palm into it gently. Again, I felt the brief spark, but this time she didn’t jump away. Then I saw the look of concentration on her face, and our palms stayed locked together.
Suddenly, for just a moment, everything went silent. I couldn’t hear the rushing of the water, the birds, or anything except my own breathing.
But as soon as it had stopped, all the sound was back.
“What happened?” Jessamine asked as she looked between us. “I know time stopped for me for a second. Did it work for you guys, too?”
“Worked for me,” I confirmed with a nod.
“Oh, Cienna, do you see what this means?” Jessamine cried out. “If you were able to stop time for both me and Joe, his powers did make yours stronger. I told you he’s the hero of legend! Do you see now?”
“I… I suppose so,” Princess Cienna stammered, and I wasn’t sure she had actually thought it was going to work.
The princesses continued to practice throughout the day, and I could see their magic growing stronger and lasting longer. Sometimes I helped, and sometimes I didn’t. I thought I started to see a more trusting look in Cienna’s eyes, though, but she still seemed somewhat reluctant to accept my assistance.
As night fell, they decided it was time to rest, so we sat around the fire and shared one of the remaining bottles of ale. The beer quickly hit my bladder, and I stepped away from the princesses to relieve myself. As I peed, I could hear them giggling again and wondered what they were up to this time.
When I walked back to the fire, I burst out laughing. Instead of one Jessamine, two Princess Jessamines now sat in front of the fire and giggled hysterically as tears ran down their faces.
My brain immediately sprung to a twin fantasy.
“Which one of us is the real Jessamine?” one of the princesses asked as she stood up and caressed my arm.
“Yeah, Joe, who is it?” the other woman giggled and stood on her tiptoes to suck on my earlobe.
“Now, that has to be the real Jessamine,” I guessed, and I could feel my blood warm almost immediately.
“Are you sure?” the other woman whispered into my other ear.
Unfortunately, the last woman to whisper started to turn back into Cienna, so I’d guessed correctly which princess was which. I was sad, though, because this could have been an amazing night.
“Seriously, Jessamine, that was incredible,” I told the real princess as I shook my head. “You actually made Cienna into the image of yourself for a minute or two, and you said that was the hardest thing to do. Great job!”
“Thanks,” Jessamine replied, and she was still flushed with laughter. “I was pretty happy with the illusion myself. Joe, you should have seen the look on your face!”
The black-haired princess sat down and pulled me next to her. We sat cross-legged on the ground, and she ran her hand down my thigh, dangerously close to my crotch.
Cienna sat on the other side of the fire and sipped from the bottle of ale.
“Hey, pass that bottle over to me,” I called out with a smile on my face.
“Here you go, Joe.” The blonde woman leaned over to hand me the bottle, and my whole body felt like it had started to melt into the ground.
It was nice to be able to relax again.
Except suddenly, I heard a loud cracking sound. It was louder than the normal rustling we’d been hearing from the woods, and I was immediately on high alert.
“What was that?” Jessamine asked as her eyes went wide.
“Not sure,” I replied, and I stood up and grabbed Genie’s Wrath and my flashlight. “Let me go check it out.”
I shone the light out into the darkness around us, but I couldn’t see anything. There were only the dark trees and the shadows of early evening.
“Joe, I think it’s coming from the other side of the creek,” Cienna informed me, and her voice was high and tight.
I shone the flashlight across the creek, and then I saw it.
One of Jamar’s undead minions stood on the other side of the water, and its bright red eyes gleamed in the flashlight’s beam. Its face was rotten, with half of a skull exposed.
And it was about to head right in our direction.
Chapter 12
The zombie moaned from just a few feet away, but he seemed to be stymied by the stream in between us. His bare feet didn’t seem to feel the sharp sticks on the forest floor, his torn clothes were similar to those of the peasants we’d seen, and the bones in his limbs poked through rotten skin.
Then I gasped as I realized there was an actual hole through one of his eye sockets, and I could see through the back of his head.
“Fuck… ” Cienna breathed, and I realized this was the first time she’d seen one of the zombies.
“Oh, no!” Jessamine cried out as she scooted closer to me. “I thought we were safe here.”
“Me, too,” I grunted and set my jaw. Luckily, there only seemed to be one of the wraiths in our immediate vicinity, but if there was one, there had to be more around somewhere.
So, I gripped Genie’s Wrath and mentally prepared myself to wade into the creek and go on the offensive.
“What are we going to do?” Cienna asked as her face paled.
“I’ll take care of it,” I assured the princesses. “You both stay here, but keep an eye out for any more of these bastards.”
“Yes, Joe.” Jessamine nodded firmly, and she stooped to pull her scimitars from our belongings while Cienna grabbed her spear. “Please, be careful.”
“I’ll do my best,” I muttered, and my boots splashed into the cold creek as the zombie clawed into the night with his skeletal hands.
I strode forward and stood in the stream just outside his reach, because he still hadn’t been able to figure out that he could just walk into the water. Then I jabbed out with my golden sword to try to stab him through the chest, but to my surprise, he reached out and grabbed the blade with both hands.
Unfortunately for him, the edges of the sword sliced through both of his palms like a knife through butter, and I gagged as a stream of rancid goo emerged from the wounds. I watched as pieces of flesh fell with the splash into the water, and I wondered if it would be possible to get through a single fight with a zombie without random body parts flying around.
His mangled hands scraped the air and tried desperately to reach me, but I snapped out my leg and gave him a hard kick to the chest. Jamar’s undead minion went flying backward into a thorny bush, and I sprung forward and stabbed him downward through the chest to release more sticky green jelly.
I realized I was panting as I turned, and then I noticed the princesses were both directly behind me and standing calf-deep in the stream with their weapons in their hands.
“I thought I said to stay back?”
“We wanted to be ready in case you needed help,” Cienna murmured, but her eyes were locked on the zombie’s corpse.
“I’m perfectly fine, as you can see,” I assured them as I wiped my sword off on the undead minion’s tattered tunic.
“I knew you would take care of it, hero, but this is bad,” Jessamine sighed. “I thought we would at least get a little break.”
“I know what you mean,” I told her. “I really wasn’t ready to see these assholes again.”
“That was… something else,” Cienna breathed as she tore her wide-eyed gaze from the zombie and looked up at me. “I have never seen anything like that before, and I hope it’s the last time.”
“I don’t think we are going to be that lucky,” I informed her, and my lips turned down into a frown. I was happy
to have the two princesses with me, especially now that Cienna had started to get stronger, but stabbing zombies was just pretty gross. I wouldn’t have minded getting more practice sword fighting, but these kinds of battles seemed pretty pointless.
“Joe, do you think we should get out of here?” Jessamine asked in a worried tone. “I know it’s dark out, but I’m not sure we’re safe anymore.”
“Well, hiking at night would be really hard, and I wouldn’t want anyone to fall off a cliff,” I mused as I considered the princess’ words. “But I don’t think we’re going to get a good night of sleep.”
“I have an idea,” Jessamine said. “What if we sleep in shifts for the rest of the night and head off in the morning? Do you two feel comfortable pulling guard duty tonight?”
“I can do it,” Cienna told me with a firm look in her eyes. “I could definitely spear a zombie if it came down to it. I wish I had my sword back, but this weapon is going to have to do for now.”
“I’m up for it, too,” Jessamine agreed, and she sounded excited now. “These things are pretty slow, so I think if we hear anything, it will be easy enough to wake everyone up to fight.”
“Alright, sounds like a plan,” I replied as I nodded my head. “I’ll take the first shift.”
I agreed because I didn’t want to rain on Jessamine’s parade, even though I didn’t really want to relinquish guard duty to the women. Cienna had been ill recently, so I thought I could just stay up as long as I could, and maybe I’d make it through the whole night. The ale wasn’t going to help, though, and I really, really wished I had my phone or literally anything else to do but just sit there and wait.
The princesses crossed the stream and headed inside the shelter as I trailed behind them, and I looked over at Starlight.
“Do you like me now?” I asked the horse, who seemed to be appraising me with her thoughtful brown eyes. “Quiet, huh? Just like your owner.”
Starlight sighed gently and nuzzled me, and I thought it was a step in the right direction.
I sat down and leaned against a tree. My head still spun a little from the strong ale and the unexpected fight, and I knew it would be a long night. So, I set Genie’s Wrath by my side and started to think about the twin Jessamines again. Cienna had been so much more relaxed today, and it had been fun…
Suddenly, my head jolted up with a snap. Oops. I hadn’t meant to drift off, and now I thought I’d heard something. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and realized the fire was only embers now. It was that strange hour right before it started to get light out, and the forest seemed to glow.
Wait… Was it my imagination, or was the forest actually glowing a little more than usual?
I looked around, and I started to see very faint, crackling white energy bouncing around between the trees. I rubbed my eyes again, because maybe I was having some kind of migraine or something, but the effect didn’t go away.
Then, from behind me, Starlight started stomping and neighing furiously. Something had clearly distressed the horse, and I was afraid she would get spooked and bolt again. So, I quickly stood, grabbed her rope, and tied it to a tree, and I was surprised the women still hadn’t woken up from all the commotion.
I dashed over to the shelter, where the princesses laid on the rug. They both still appeared deeply asleep, and Cienna even snored lightly. I hated to wake them, even though they had volunteered for guard duty, but something strange was definitely going on.
“Hey, pssst,” I whispered loudly. “Jessamine, Cienna, wake up! Something is happening outside.”
“Joe?” Cienna mumbled as she sat up first and rubbed her eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“Grab your weapon,” I instructed, “but stay close to me. Jessamine! Wake up!”
Cienna nodded and moved to get up. It took Jessamine a while to stir, but when she sat up, she immediately appeared alert.
“What’s going on?” the dark-haired princess asked, and her eyes were wide with alarm.
“I think something is going on outside,” I informed her. “I need you to get your scimitars and put your armor on. I’m afraid we need to prepare for a fight.”
“Shit,” Cienna cursed as the horse practically screamed, and she scrambled fully to her feet. “What’s wrong with Starlight?”
The blonde prepared to head outside the shelter, but a sudden rush of cold wind blasted through the opening, and she raised her hand to her face to shield herself. The branches that made up the lean-to rattled, and I was surprised it hadn’t fully collapsed.
“Is there a storm coming?” Jessamine asked as she looked up at me with dark eyes.
“Something like that,” I muttered. “I suspect this storm may have more to do with the zombie we saw last night.”
We went outside, and the spooky glow in the air persisted.
“Do you see that?” I questioned the princesses as I pointed at the trees. The white sparking effect had grown stronger, at least to my eyes, and I realized it reminded me of the lightning Jamar had used to split open the sky to rain water down on his burning troops.
“I see it, alright,” Cienna replied in a grim tone. “And I don’t like it.”
I was both relieved I wasn’t hallucinating and slightly terrified that this was actually happening. The wind blew roughly through the trees, and I thought I could hear the moaning of zombies from all around us. The three of us huddled together, and I wasn’t sure what to do next. My fight or flight instinct had kicked in, but it was hard because there wasn’t one specific enemy to attack, at least yet, and it was difficult to run in these woods.
“What do we do next?” Jessamine murmured and pressed against my side.
“I’m not sure, but I would love to be back on the road right now,” I informed her as I rubbed the back of her shoulder.
The wind continued to whip the trees harder and harder, and a branch suddenly flew down and smacked Cienna directly in the face.
“Ow!” the blonde princess shouted, and she rubbed the red welt on her forehead. “What the fuck is going on?”
“I have no idea, but I really want to run,” Princess Jessamine gulped. “I-I’ve fought the toughest soldiers, a-and zombies, and I didn’t want to tell you guys, but I really, really don’t like the woods. At least right now.”
“Me, neither,” I said grimly. “But we’re here now, and we need to figure out a way to get out. I think our goal should be to get to the road.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Cienna replied. “But how are we going to do that?”
I looked around. The sandy beach that ran alongside the creek bed had seemed like a good place to walk yesterday, but now spiny branches blew down over it and blocked our access. I couldn’t see the trail I’d forged with Genie’s Wrath, either, from when we had hiked down with Starlight and discovered the creek for the first time.
“It looks like we’re not going to have a choice but to slash our way out of here,” I informed the princesses. “And I think it’s going to hurt a little.”
“It’s going to be hard for me to slash branches with a spear,” Cienna grumbled. “You have anything else I can use back there?”
“I do have one more set of scimitars,” Jessamine said with a bright look in her eyes. “It’s what Joe was using before he found that sword.”
“Yeah, I think that will work better for me.” Cienna nodded. “Although, I would really love to get my hands on a proper longsword again.”
Jessamine ran off to grab the scimitars, and I considered what to do with our belongings. It was getting harder to think as the roaring of the wind grew louder and louder, and the strange white lightning was also growing brighter. Maybe I’d started to go insane, but I even thought I heard strange laughter from the trees.
“Let’s pack everything we can carry easily,” I instructed the princesses. I saw the wind blowing around the remaining textiles, and I knew we probably wouldn’t make it out of here with much, if anything, remaining besides the clothes on our backs and the w
eapons in our hands.
Suddenly, I felt a claw run down my back, and I screamed out loud. Then I whirled around to see one of the zombies standing right behind me. The storm had clearly been so loud I hadn’t heard his footsteps. His mouth was open in a silent howl, and I could see the remnants of teeth hanging from gray gums. Greasy strands of hair fell down across his half-exposed skull and partially covered a glowing eye. Then his hands reached out for my throat, and I realized I didn’t have my sword on me.
“Cienna! Quick!” I heard a shout, and before I could blink, the zombie was dead on the ground in front of me, with his throat cut open by the slash from a scimitar.
The blonde princess’ time magic was incredible, but it was a little disconcerting when things happened in a flash like that.
“Joe, there’s another one!” Cienna called out, and I saw the wraith to my left.
Kicking a zombie had worked pretty well earlier, so I decided to try a punch. I took a swing at his face, and my fist connected with what felt like soft cheese. I immediately recoiled and jumped back, but the blow had been enough to send the monster reeling backward and onto the ground.
These zombies didn’t seem too hard to beat when there weren’t a million of them.
“I don’t see any more for the time being, but I know they’re around,” I growled as I wiped my hand off on my pants, and then I grabbed Genie’s Wrath from the spot where I’d slept. “I think we’re going to have to keep moving anyway. I’ll be on zombie watch while you two grab whatever you can.”
The princesses nodded as they scrambled to collect our things, but poor Starlight was terrified. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she pulled at the rope that bound her to the tree as I tried to shush and calm her.
Luckily, Cienna was soon by our sides.
“It’s okay, baby,” she said softly, over and over again, as she stroked the horse’s neck. The great white mare seemed to calm down a little, and Cienna looked at me. “I’m going to have to ride her out of here, but it’s not going to work if she starts to spook.”
