Beings of Aqina

Chapter 1: The Campestres Forest

Tanja's body froze up. The icy wind caused her to shake uncontrollably as she awoke from a dreadful nightmare. For a moment, she stared into the bleak night sky. The ash-grey clouds were drifting ever so slightly. All she could think of right now was eating the leftover noodles she brought over from Chang's – she was weird that way.

She exhaled a soft sigh, thinking it was one of those nights when she would go drunk, irresponsibly dozing off in the city park. She wrestled herself on thick roots. She struggled ungracefully, attempting to get back on her feet. Her pitch-black hair shined bright in the night as the moonlight peered through the foliage of a giant tree.

She was unsettled by the unfamiliar grounds she stood upon, dazzled by a faint blue glow emanating from the tree above her. Tanja's emerald-clear eyes fixated on the moonlight.

Her frown lines were beginning to show, and while she scanned for anyone nearby, seemingly calling for help, there was none. From wandering curiously to anxious trampling, her steps began to pace much faster, passing through the undergrowth of an unknown forest.

She couldn't see a path or a road nearby, no buildings of skyscrapers and residential houses in the distance, none. She halted her march from the forest trails, combed over her silky hair, and tried to remember how she got into this predicament.

"Where's my phone!" she muttered to herself.

She fumbled a bit through her pockets but couldn't find it. Just a piece of gum and some ruffled tissues inside her pants. She glanced around, looking for an industrial light source of some sort. But the only thing that was alit was the moon above her. She feared being kidnapped by a psychopath, playing his game of chase.

She waited for a bit, then traversed further into the woods; it seemed like it went forever. Tired, she approached a clearing, trudging along the forest's borders. The trail was muddy and cold. She moaned as she struggled with the lack of solid land. She peered through wild shrubberies and saw something that caught her eye.

Blood traces splattered around the ground, red, sticky, and thick. To her surprise, a dead animal body was laid nearby – the blood trails leading straight to it. She squinted her eyes and took a closer look. It was a dead squirrel, bloodied and broken. She backed away, disgusted and queasy about the whole thing – the wildlife was still new to her.

A growling noise came just feet apart from where she stood. Like a dog snarling, a low guttural sound came from a nearby bush. She dared not to investigate. Tanja took a step back and tried to escape it, but the beastly figure leapt above her head, turning its body to face her, blocking the route to run.

She stood rigid, and her breath stalled. Astonished by the beast, crouched like a tiger, its fur white, patterns shifting from its silky coat as it moves. Tanja took a deep breath and stepped back, gaining distance.

Her heels caught a tree root, and she staggered and fell. Vulnerable, like a deer with a broken leg.

The beast roared and pounced on her, its dagger-like claws ready to skin her apart. Her life flashed before her eyes as the world around her turned slower.

"Ascufen!" A voice spoke loudly.

Tanja felt a nudge, a sudden gust of wind, like a shockwave. She shrieked as it inched her slightly. The beast flung out from proximity and crash-landed onto a tree trunk, and the creature retreated away.

Cautiously, she looked around. Nothing to see other than a black cat beside her. She stood up and studied the area. There was no one there. She could've sworn she heard a voice.

"I'm right here," the cat said.

Tanja couldn't make of it. Her head was spinning, and her instincts told her to run – she shook her head and took a breather. The ordeal was fictitious, a white beast just tried to eat her, a talking cat in the woods, and she was hungry.