Wisteria Eyed

14

Even though the dark did not seem to scare me, the forest at night sure did.

It was like something sinister lurked there, and maybe it was just the basic embedded fear in me speaking, but I would rather avoid it just in case.

The most unfortunate thing was that my aura sensing highly diminished during the night— in fact, my whole body kind of felt... numb. As I trained more and more, it was apparent that my overall performance somehow felt duller in night in comparison to the day.

'Maybe because I'm tired?' I mused, making my way through the forest. The temple was on the other side of the hill, making the journey over a good mile long. And even though it may not sound much to some, my little body was yet to get used to the amount of exertion this hike demanded.

I heaved a sigh in relief as soon as the temple came into my view. The Sun was almost down and even the sky was turning into a shade of obsidian. The stars hidden during the morning came into view, twinkling merrily.

I was almost by the gate of the temple when I felt it— a heavy, almost smothering aura.

No, it was not just an ordinary aura.
It was way heavier— almost like a... like a hole. Too concentrated; it was way too concentrated to be like any normal—

"MIYASHA!" My body was jerked out of the way, the sudden motion surprising me.

"W-What—?!" I was tossed again; the small hands on my stomach gripped me tightly. By the time my mind came to it, I barely noticed whose arm I was in— no, the creature in front of me took most of my attention to itself.

And even though its ashen skin and slender frame was not familiar to anything I had acquainted before, its strange inhumane-ss and smell of death did remind me of its kind.

"De-Demon...?" my voice quivered, barely above a whisper.

The arms around me dragged me along itself— relocating us to a safer distance as another body attacked the demon.

I felt a shiver down my spine as I felt its aura flair— it was as if the already concentrated aura further densened. The arms wrapped around my stomach tightened almost smothering me into its sheltering embrace.

"It's okay, it's okay, don't worry Miyasha..." the voice soothed, making me realize how boyish it sounded and how small the arms around my waist were.

"Hi-Hi—"

"Hiroshi." He answered, whispering in a voice which sounded too stable to be of a child. "And don't worry, Hitoshi and ojisan will handle it. Just stay hidden here with me."

The sound of growling snatched my attention, making me focus on the fight going on before us.

The bush behind which we were hidden was one of the larger ones in the yard of the temple, hiding the both of us perfectly. Hiroshi's grip on my waist tightened further as the fight in front of us turned more intense.

The demon was rather lanky; looking as slender as an unnatural paper doll. Its mossy hair though was the one that made him look more inhumane— especially when it enlarged and started producing vines as extensions.

Though, one may even compare those to tentacles and not get it wrong, as those moved and behaved as sloppily yet efficiently as a pair of tentacles. Which was worrying because Hitoshi was gradually slowing down as the speed of those vine-like extensions increased.

The mossy extensions attacked Hitoshi from every direction, engulfing him slowly while closing all his possible escape routes. But Hitoshi looked confident— even his panting didn't seemed to deter his strange enthusiasm as he yelled out a war cry and slashed all the vines collectively in an impressive amount of speed.