'Where! No escape Shakti!'
A death-piercing screech froze the mare in place. No matter how deep Shakti's claws dug into its flanks, it refused to move. The horse collapsed, bleeding out from the claw marks on its neck. Blood spilled from the mare's mouth and nostrils. Eyes looking frantically for nothing in particular
Shakti dismounted to continue on foot. Another howl set the horse in a frenzy as it got up and attempted to flee.
Shakti never ventured through these woods but saw no reason that anything but its prey would make such a noise. Shakti couldn't sense life nearby with its limited vision as it found itself entering a clearing in the woods with nothing but instincts driving it forward.
The cloudy night allowed little to no moonlight to leak into the woods. The occasional roosted bird on a tree and rodent skittering around the ground radiated heat yet no sign of any human life.
Shakti's prey.
The screech came again—just ahead of Shakti—followed by the splintering crack of a tree behind him. His prey was armed. Rushing to where the noise came from caused some dark form to rush towards Shakti as well. Same as the darkness that sat on the hill.
'Shakti find.'
The creature let out another bone chilling screech. Anticipating another projectile Shakti lowered its stance as it estimated the gap between it and its prey. It felt the air move over his back as it approached the source of the screech.
'More close.'
Before Shakti got near enough to thrust its spear into what it assumed was its enemy– the projectiles began to cut the top of its head and arms. The first impact barely registered—a sharp sting, like needles of ice piercing his skin. Then another. Then another. He felt warmth trailing down his arms and scalp. Shakti could feel fresh blood warming up the areas that were hit but couldn't sense anything physical about the damage. This shook shakti for a moment as it decided to weave towards the origin of the attacks.
Excitement swelled up in its chest as its opponent finally reached the range of its spear.
The blow of the spear passed through the darkness with almost no resistance.
No flesh.
No bone.
The only thing that it caught was the fabric of the cloak engulfing the unknown thing. As Shakti tried to pull the spear back for another attack it could feel the spear being pulled in the other direction.
Shakti let out a growl in disbelief at what it was witnessing.
It was being overpowered—for the first time in its life.
Shakti refused to let go and be bested by its prey which proved to be the final mistake it would make in this fight. It was overwhelmed and dragged towards the darkness before being whipped in the neck by the pole of it's spear. It's vision was slowly engulfed in the darkness as the creature hovered above it. This wasn't how the battle was supposed to go.
'Shakit NOT submit! Shakti strongest.'
The creature let out another screech but it felt different. Shakti anticipated another one of those invisible projectiles ending this pathetic fight any second now. The creature became more manic as the screeching turned to yelling.
"AHHHH GET OUT OF MY HEAD!", the creature yelled as the screeching continued behind his voice.
A blob of heat appeared where pure darkness had been. The darkness peeled away, revealing a face—contorted in rage, fear, and grief. Eyes wide, mouth twisting in a silent scream, shifting and warping like something trapped behind glass. The man stared into the troglodyte's soul. The sudden appearance dominated all sense and control that Shakti had over itself.
And for the first time in its life, Shakti understood something unknown to it.
It wasn't pain nor death.
But true fear.