Lana watched closely, afraid daddy had come back for his son.
The large panteri put his nose to the ground and growled, eyes locked on hers. "Put. My. Son. Down."
Lana immediately did so. Kent promptly wrapped a tentacle around her leg, shaking in fear at the growling monstrosity before him. Kent wasn't even as tall as his father's knee.
"My name is Levalis. I will not have my son raised to be weak. If you don't teach him, I will be forced to keep him with me. Which is it?" he said, rage seething from each word.
"I think that's my issue. I don't know your species to be able to teach him. Is it possible for us to get to know one another? We are heading to the other side of the Purple Forest." Lana cautiously explained.
"Come closer!" He had yet to change his stance, but he did stop growling.
Lana dropped Kyle's hand and approached. Kyle, however, didn't drop hers and went with her. Kent followed close behind with his tail tucked between his legs. He didn't want to be the son of such a panteri. He decided he wanted to be a human son.
"My name is Lana Abel, formerly Lana Plantwell. I wanted to let you know that we will be moving here eventually. You will have contact with your son but you're right. For now, we are tasked with finding out if the enemy of life in our world has found its way to this planet."
"Say now more. It took your mother's life. Why should I allow you to go there?"
Lana gasped and froze. Kyle's grip on her hand tightened. She could feel a rising energy in him and knew she needed to say something. To everyone else, she was simply staring at a beast whose back was as tall as her.
"He said the thing we are looking for killed my mother."
Kyle's gaze hardened, "you trust him?"
Lana smirked sadly, "we're alive, right?"
"The area you seek is not simply just the other side of the Purple Forest. Is this man your mate?"
Lana nodded to Levalis.
Armed with this information, Levalis looked at Kyle with a more critical glare. "You chose a human as your life partner? I must question your judgement."
Lana chuckled, "How about you walk with us through the Purple Forest, and we get to know one another?"
He scoffed, which sounded like an angry snort to much of the party. Several even jumped back in fear. Lana heard her name called from behind her with a twinge of terror. Clearly Dobin wasn't comfortable with her being this close to such a large beast. She could understand. This thing had six legs and two more tentacles than Kent at this point after she evolved him. Levalis was a level 5 beast and Kent was still a baby, albeit a level 4 baby. Lana could tell everything else was the same, but the size was massively different. She realized Kent would be this big one day.
Levalis looked at her critically one more time. He ducked his head down, the front of his body almost laying on the ground. "Climb on my back. I will carry you. The rest will walk. It will make them stronger."
He glanced at the young Prince to make him understand he was included in that. Kent cowered behind Kyle with his front tentacles over his eyes. He'd rather see mom and dad do… that, than have this monstrous panteri look at him that way.
As Lana climbed up with the help of Levalis's tentacles, she informed everyone of their escort. She heard protests and questions on safety, but she didn't entertain them. She was in position and smiled at Kyle as she and her mount turned into the forest. The smile on her face reminded him of a cat in a book he read as a child who befriended a girl named Alice.
"His name is Levalis," his wife's voice carried to him and the others as they all rushed to catch up. The other panteri circled in closer, keeping the group safe. The nervous humans, especially the teachers, didn't know what to think. The sergeants positioned themselves on the outside of the students so they would be ready for anything.
It wasn't long before those who had never been in this forest before were trapped between the emotions of wonder at the beautiful canopy they traversed under and the cold creepy feeling being under the thick ancient branches conjured from their very souls.
Something was wrong in this forest, yet none could pin-point what it was.
"What do you feel in this forest, young Lana?" Levalis decided to initiate conversation.
"It feels creepy here. Why?" Lana responded, keeping her voice calm despite the sensation of her skin crawling.
"This is the of result of the thing you seek. It is strong. You are not strong enough." His tone took on that of a father.
"May I ask why you care? Why trust me with the care of your young Prince?" She noticed the change in his tone and took on a calmer tone.
"You look like her. Not all of us knew her but we were all told what she looked like. We were not to attack her, and she prevented attacks against us. Things are … not well here. If you take care of my son somewhere else, he will be safe until… he's strong enough to return."
"Levalis, I know you commented about me marrying a human but he's strong. He killed a Walker when he was a child," Lana explained, hoping to alleviate the emotions she could feel oozing from him. It made her even more uncomfortable than the forest.
"My Lady, this thing is more sinister than a Walker. We have no name for it. We simply call it The Corruption."
Lana audibly gasped. "What does it look like?" She asked out loud in her shock.
"I don't know. I have never been able to get passed the feeling to get close enough to lay eyes on it. As I approached, I felt ill and the contents of my stomach felt like they wanted to become one with the ground. I got closer than the rest of my people."
Lana nodded, lost in thought, not even thinking about the fact the father panteri couldn't see her.
"What have we here, a sweet little dear?" a high-pitched, cackling voice reverberated off the trees.
Lana's head went dizzy then suddenly she was toppling backwards, hitting the ground with a painful thud. The ground was hard, not covered with twigs as she heard Levalis snapping with his large, clawed paws while he walked. This was hard, like compacted earth.
"Fight me if you can. Can you even stand?" the reverberating, cackling voice said mockingly.
"How can I fight you if I can't see you. Show yourself!" she said to the open, empty air. The space felt endless.
"Show yourself little welp!" The cackling grew maniacal.
Lana heard a thud behind her. She quickly turned and brought out a climbing rose whip, ready to take on whatever chose to appear. As she turned, she realized Levalis wasn't there. Neither were Kyle, Kent or any of the others. The forest was gone. At the edge of the field she found herself in was a cold, damp mist.
As she observed the area where the thud came from, she saw a short man, no taller than two feet. He was thin and spry. He was still cackling, fist pounding on the ground as if he had heard the funniest joke.
"Mortimer has a toy, Mortimer's little joy!" He threw his head back and a laugh escaped his throat that made Lana's blood run cold. The sounded started as guttural and slowly became shrill.
"Fight me, Girl. Make my World!"
Without giving her the time to think, he raced 20 feet, closing the distance in a near instant. He punched her in the knee before she could blink. She started to drop to the ground but caught herself by shifting her weight. She jumped in the air, swinging her whip, catching nothing but air as the little man had moved again.
She backflipped while in the air. The little man was gone again, simply vanished in an instant.
She felt her feet contact something unseen as they came close to the ground. The contact lasted only a moment then there was nothing but the ground.
Whatever her foot contacted with simply vanished from the spot, never coming within view.
Frustration spread across her face, "where are you little toad! Fight me like a man!"
Where it went was anyone's guess. Her senses were strange. Sounds echoed but she couldn't smell the normal scents associated with nature. The dirt had no scent, only texture.
"Nothing but net my little pet."
This thing was annoying her and she grit her teeth. She tried to focus on anything her senses could pick up. Somehow, she was kicked in the back without her seeing or hearing anything.
A flicker from the corner of her eye. Brown with small twigs? A flash of green. The hair that topped the man's head.
Then it was gone.
Did she even see him?
Her back hurt but not enough to make her budge from her spot. She went to turn around and felt a tiny fist impact with her throat.
Did he jump that high?
Without a sound?
How is he so fast and quiet?
Now she was angry. That one hurt.
Next thing Lana knew, the area seemed vastly bigger, and she was floating above the ground. She heard the humming of wings but still couldn't see her assailant. She wildly turned and realized she was spinning at a speed that was unnatural. She had no landmarks, but she grew dizzy and wanted to double over.
How long ago was lunch?
It didn't matter.
Who wanted food when the tummy felt like this?
She heard the cackling again, this time there was joy mixed in with the sense of insanity his laughter brought to mind. He was clapping and jumping up and down while singing his rhymes and clapping.
"Sister child had gone wild. Lost within the veil. Will she prevail?"
Suddenly the space felt… empty… somehow.
The little man was gone. Somehow, she simply knew that even though nothing in her senses changed.
There was nothing. No sound, no sensation.
She flew around the area trying to understand. She reached a handout and touched the mist. It was cold but felt solid. She was unable to push her hand into it. She realized she was no longer even hearing the buzzing sound of wings.
She stopped and dropped to the ground. She put her nose near the ground. The rich earth smell she had spent all her years being familiar with simply wasn't there…
"Mortimer…"