Everything went dark for a moment before Luna was greeted by the sight of a wooden ceiling, walls, and floor.


    Picking herself up, Luna’s mind filled with questions on where she was and what had just happened.


    Regaining her bearings, the young lady’s eyes lock onto an aging wooden table in the center of the room. There were 3 plates and numerous utensils scattered on top with a metal pot being the only one that seemed to be neatly placed in the center. For some odd reason, Luna’s mind fixated on the pot, seemingly acquiring the urge to open the pot’s lid.


    Nervous and with a drop of sweat running down the side of her face, the young lady felt compelled to investigate the pot, as if being led there by some invisible influence.


    She hesitated for a moment as the wooden floor creaked from the weight of her right foot pressing down upon it. The sound causes the young lady to let out a subdued yet clearly audible scream as her body jolts forward.


    “Calm down, Luna…” she muttered while taking deep controlled breaths. “You’re being too jumpy. You’re just inside some old rundown… wooden house . That’s all…”


    Taking about a minute to compose herself, Luna slowly reaches for the lid, her lips quivering throughout. As she wraps her fingers around the lid’s handle, the young lady takes a deep breath before slowly lifting it up, revealing a faint light from inside.


    Luna hesitates for a moment before swallowing her anxiety and continuing. Eventually, her eyes were focused on a somewhat bright yellow orb inside the pot.


    “A-An orb…?” she pondered while taking a step back. “What the hell…”


    Odd as it may be, Luna did not feel like the mysterious orb was dangerous. In fact, seeing the pot’s contents further piqued her curiosity. Though she would have wanted to further ponder the pros and cons of investigating further, the light orb had other plans as the young lady noticed it slowly shining brighter and beginning to float just shy above the pot. Luna could only let out a gasp before instinctively covering her eyes as a sudden blinding flash illuminated the room in an instant before fading away within milliseconds.


    “Huh?” Luna uttered as she slowly put her arms down. The room was back to its original lighting and the orb was nowhere to be found. Perplexed, the young lady scanned her surroundings and patted her waist, back, arms, and legs. “Nothing out of the ordinary… I think…”


    As she takes her first step forward, Luna’s vision suddenly blurred for a second. Instinctively, she held her head for a bit as a headache descended upon her before quickly being replaced by a sense of dread emanating from within her.


    “What’s this feeling?” she wondered as she got a ‘gut feeling’ that something dangerous lurked just behind the wall she was facing. “S-Something there…? Calling out would be a horrible idea… Do I hide or go somewhere safer? But where do I even go?”


    As if responding to her anxious questions, Luna’s ‘gut feeling’ then points her north. “Something there…? Yeah… Something is there. But it’s… not dangerous…? How did I…?”


    Luna hesitated to move for a moment but the sound of some kind of sharp object scraping the wooden walls to her east forced the young lady to take action. She took a deep breath before walking to the wooden front door.


    She crouched and slowly opened the door a third of the way. Peeking from the small opening she made, Luna scans the otherside, seeing more wooden cabins and a paved stone road outside. Feeling that the coast is clear, the young lady emerged from the cabin and crept her way towards her destination, another wooden cabin located just in front of the one she came from.


    As the looming dread from her east gets dangerously closer, Luna quickened her pace, luckily the door was not locked and with shaking hands, she somewhat clumsily opens the door and enters the wooden cabin. She leans against the now closed door and presses her left ear against it, trying to connect a sound to this ‘gut feeling’.


    On the other side, she could hear footsteps though it seemed sporadic, sounding less like someone on patrol and more of something wandering clumsily and aimlessly.


    With a cocktail of adrenaline and anxiety still coursing through her, Luna slowly stepped away from the door while maintaining her crouching position. She jolted upon bumping into someone behind her, mustering all her strength to not scream.


    “Easy. Easy.” A familiar voice whispered. “It’s me”


    “Nathan?!” Luna whispered back with a hint of annoyance. “I almost screamed! Why didn’t you say anything?”


    “And alert whatever’s out there? Besides, even if I did call out, you’d still jump. We both know how easy it is to startle you.”


    “I…!”


    Incensed, Luna grumbled and turned her back on her friend.


    “Come on.” Nathan responded. “Are you really gonna pout at a time like this? Look. You can throw a tantrum after we get out of here. There’s a backdoor in this cabin.”


    After another 10 seconds of looking away, Luna finally turned around. “...Fine.”


    Once outside, Nathan leads both of them towards a nearby forested area while utilizing whatever cover they can to hide behind as the sounds of heavy footsteps and deep snarly breaths still echo around the seemingly small village.


    With the need for stealth, the duo were able to, more or less, take in the sights as Luna noticed the dark purple sky that shrouded the village though the place was oddly illuminated by a seemingly invisible moon as that is the only explanation she could come up with to make sense of this dark moonless sky. Thankfully, this light allowed them to see enough of the area to make careful steps forward. Nathan, for his part, noticed the tiny black particles that permeate the air, cosplaying pollen being gracefully carried by the wind. Cautious about this unknown substance, the young man instructed Luna to cover her mouth and nose as they continued their way.


    Luck was seemingly on their side as they had yet to even lay eyes upon the sources of these ghastly sounds. For a moment, I had thought they had experience in stealth maneuvers as they were on the backside of the last wooden cabin before the woods in no time, all that was left was to cross a small open area between the cabin’s edge and the first set of trees. Nathan was about to make the crossing before Luna suddenly grabbed his arm.


    “Wait…!” she whispered. “There’s something around the corner!”


    “What?” the young man responded as he took a peek behind a barrel. His eyes then lock onto a humanoid figure several feet away from him. It was wearing ragged clothes though he couldn’t recognize the design at all, probably because of all the grime covering it.


    “Someone hasn’t done any laundry in a while…” he quietly remarked as the creature turned around, revealing an abnormally large jaw with sharp teeth protruding from the lips and a long tentacle on where its right arm should be. “What the hell…? And shit… it smells like rotten garlic”


    Already unnerved at the ghastly appearance of this humanoid, Nathan felt a chill run down his spine as he stared down the creature’s glowing yellow eyes. The young man couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The creature before him seemed like it came right out of a space-themed horror game he once played.


    “You’re right…” he whispered before turning to Luna. “How’d you know?”


    “Hard to explain…” she replied. “But I can sort of… tell that it was there…”


    Nathan smirked. “You gonna transform like a magical girl soon?”


    “I’m serious!”


    “Yeah. Yeah. I believe you. Anyway, we gotta do something about this guy.”


    “Any ideas?”


    “Let me think…”


    After about a minute of looking around, Nathan wordlessly picked up a small piece of wood on the ground and chucked it over his head. It hit the side of the wooden cabin, attracting the creature’s attention as it twitched and turned to the source of the sound.


    Immediately, the young man signaled Luna who promptly nodded as the two made a break for the woods. With the creatures none the wiser, the two picked up their pace, delving deep into the muddy forest.


    Though the mud reached half past their ankle, the two were more concerned with increasing their distance from the village though, in their haste, they failed to maintain their vigilance as the mud moved and churned with each brisk step they made.


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    A few minutes later, Nathan and Luna stopped under a large tree to catch their breaths.


    “I think we should be far enough…” Nathan said as he took a deep breath. “You alright, Luna?”


    “Yeah… I’m fi-” Luna cut her reply short as she immediately felt a sense of dread fall upon her. In an instant, a hand suddenly emerged from the mud and grabbed the young lady’s right leg. “GAH! No!”


    Luna tried to pull away but whoever grabbed her maintained its tight grip as its face partially emerged from the mud, in a manner that appeared to be right out of a classic zombie movie. The creature’s gruesome face pops out of the ground and loudly snarls before attempting to bite the young lady.


    Thinking fast, Nathan drops his backpack right in front of the creature before it could sink its teeth into Luna. It begins chewing through the bag as the two hurriedly attempt to loosen the creature’s grip on Luna though it was met with limited success as any kick, punch, and pull motion were ineffective against the creature.


    Desperate, Nathan reached into his bag, hoping to find something sharp enough to stab the creature, eventually bringing out a pair of scissors.


    “It’ll have to do!” he said as he stabbed the scissors onto the creature’s arm, loosening its grip enough for Luna to escape. “Are you ok?”


    “I-I’m alright” the young lady answered as more of those zombie-like creatures popped out of the ground. “Oh God…”


    “Time to go!” Nathan exclaimed as he grabbed the young lady’s arm and booked it deeper into the forest.


    The two sprinted for a good five minutes before their route was cut-off by more of those creatures popping from the ground. They immediately tried to circle back as even more popped out, cutting off their escape. Surrounded, Nathan instinctively motions Luna to get behind him as he brandished his scissors.


    “What do we do?” Luna asked as the creatures crept closer.


    “We fight our way through” Nathan said as he took a deep breath.


    The young man was ready to lunge at these creatures with nothing but his scissors and experience in VR games. A noble and courageous feat but ultimately futile as mere scissors would only deal the equivalent of a bee sting to these creatures. It will be painful for them but it will not stop them.


    Normally, I wouldn’t intervene in such matters especially considering the circumstances but a thought quickly raced through my head and allowed me to articulate a loophole that would allow me to intervene without going against my prior covenant.


    With that, and while imperceptible to all, I whispered in the young man’s ear, utilizing the mysterious ghostly tones I saw in one of those horror movies. “Those scissors will do little to save you. Believe in your imagination and conjure a flame strong enough to force these creatures of the dark back.”


    “What?!” the young man exclaimed as he quickly looked around him.


    “Nathan?!” Luna said. “Wh-What is it?”


    “Did you hear that just now?”


    “Hear what?”


    “Someone whispering in my ear…”


    “H-Hey! W-We have bigger problems to worry about than some nonexistent ghost!”


    “I’m serious! I really… argh!”


    In hindsight, maybe the tone and style of my delivery were too much as the young man seemed to be more focused on it than what I said for a few seconds. Luckily, the creatures’ snarling noises reminded him of where his priorities should lie.


    “Believe in my imagination?” he muttered as he kept his eyes trained on the creatures around them. “What does that mean…?”


    I wonder if I had been too cryptic in my dialogue with the young man. It’s a bit of a, supposedly, bad habit I acquired over the years but I’d argue that spoon feeding information discourages critical thinking and removes a person’s agency in the matter. Besides, if the young man could not figure out the answer to such a trivial puzzle, then those two would have had no hope of getting out of that domain alive.


    Luckily for them, Nathan has quite the critical imagination. Though he did take about a minute of pondering as the creatures slowly crept closer and Luna panicked throughout the ordeal as a result.


    “I think I got it!” Nathan exclaimed.


    “GOT WHAT?!” Luna shouted.


    Without so much as a single word, the young man closed his eyes, switched his scissors to his left hand, and clenched his right hand.


    “Nathan? Wh-What are you doing?”


    The young man did not respond as he continued his current course, his right hand shaking throughout.


    “Nathan!”


    The moment Luna shouted his name, one of the creatures lunged towards the young man, ready to swipe him with its sharpened right claw. In a split second, Nathan opened his eyes and with sheer confidence, he opened his right hand as a fireball formed just above the palm. It was small at first but it grew into the size of a basketball within around ten seconds. Once fully formed, he quickly threw it, hitting the creature in its face. The attack sent the creature back a few feet.


    “Whoah…” Nathan said as he looked at his right hand with astonishment.


    “H-Huh?!” Luna uttered with her eyes wide open. “Wh-What just happened…?”


    “I have no idea… But I found a way to defend ourselves!”


    One again utilizing whatever technique he used to fuel his imagination, Nathan’s right hand shook as he conjured another fireball to which he threw at the next creature that approached.


    Although these mindless monsters are beyond cognitive help, even they could see how much of a threat this young man had become. As such, they were much more wary of approaching with reckless abandon though they still continued to surround the duo.


    “Come on!” Nathan shouted as he brandished the floating fireball at the creatures. “You freaks want some more?!”


    The creatures maintained their distance but still continued to surround the duo, snarling at them throughout. Any that got too close were immediately hit with a fireball to their face. This tactic was enough to keep the creatures at bay for about a minute before they realized that getting closer one at a time was not the optimal way to get their prey.


    Damaging as his fireballs were, Nathan needed a few seconds to properly conjure a workable one. These creatures may be blinded by madness but they are not tactically stupid. They started slowly moving forward all at once. The young man responded accordingly but his attacks were seconds apart to which the creatures then sprinted towards the two. A few were hit by the fireballs but enough managed to close the distance.


    One lunged at the two to which Nathan quickly switched targets and hurled his fireball at it. But there was no time for reprieve as another wrapped its tentacle on the young man’s ankle and began to pull him towards it as the others converged on Luna.


    “Not today!” Nathan shouted as he threw a freshly conjured fireball on a creature that was close to mauling the young lady. “Luna! Go!”


    “What?!”


    “Just go! RUN!”


    The young man was then lifted up by the tentacle and slammed his back hard onto the forest floor.


    “GAH!” he exclaimed upon hitting the ground.


    “Nathan!”


    The young man coughs for a moment. “Goddamn it! I said GO!”


    Whether it was fear freezing her in place or her unwillingness to leave a friend behind, Luna stood there, shivering and hyperventilating as several creatures turned to her.


    One creature snarled before proceeding to lunge at the hapless young lady, who instinctively closed her eyes, turned her head away from the creature, and shielded the side of her head with both arms.


    The young lady instinctively braced herself as she felt a gust of wind blew past her but seconds went by and nothing happened. Slowly, she opened her eyes and put her arms down eventually leading to her staring up towards a 6 foot-tall humanoid mystic who had grabbed the creature by the throat. Its features are that of a horse’s head with a muscular human torso, arms, and hands. Interestingly, or rather interesting to people like Luna, the mystic was wearing beige-colored jeans, a chest holster over a sleeveless unbuttoned shirt with a white tank top, bracers on his arms, brass knuckles on his hands, and steel-toed leather shoes.


    “What the…?” she uttered as looks at this mystic. “I-Is that a… tikbalang…?”


    Without a word, the tikbalang crushed the creature’s throat and immediately let go of its grip. As the creature touched the forest floor, the tikbalang cracked its knuckles before charging forward, accompanied by a loud thump with each step.


    One creature attempted to restrain the mystic using its tentacles but the tikbalang swatted them away with its arms before landing a punch straight to the center of the creature’s face, sending it flying several feet before hitting a tree.


    With a bigger threat upon them, the creatures attacked the mystic all at once. The tikbalang crouched down as one of the creatures flew past it. It then switched into a boxer stance and proceeded to perform several punch combos on several creatures at once, all of which ended with a ‘knockout’ hit to their faces.


    Meanwhile, Nathan gripped his scissors tightly and stabbed the tentacle that grabbed him. The unexpected pain caused the creature to recoil a bit and loosened its grip on the young man, who proceeded to throw a fireball at it.


    “Are you ok?” the young man said as he recovered and approached Luna.


    “I-I’m alright…”


    “Good!”


    A demonic-like roar then caught both of their attention as another creature lunged at them. Though Nathan would not be able to conjure a fireball in time, the tikbalang drop kicked the creature out of the way. It then turned to the two.


    “Stay focused!” It said with a deep masculine voice. “These zombies aren’t down yet!”


    “R-Right!” Nathan answered as he conjured another fireball. “Luna get behind me.”


    Luna nods before following. “Wh-What now?”


    “We punch through these things” the tikbalang answered. “I’ll clear the way. Take care of any stragglers with your fire spells!”


    “O-Ok!” Nathan responded before taking a deep breath.


    “Follow my lead!”


    With a sudden burst of speed, the tikbalang sucker punched two creatures in quick succession before stomping its left hoof onto the ground. Upon impact, part of the ground rose up, creating an earthen wall on the left flank.


    The creatures did not let up, though, as one unleashed a jet of fire from its mouth. The mystic quickly gestured its right arm into a rising fist motion, subsequently creating an earthen pillar that protected it from the flame. It then slammed its palm onto the pillar, causing it to slide across the ground and hit the flame spewing creature like a car.


    “There’s no time to gawk!” the tikbalang said, turning to Nathan and Luna. “Come on!”


    “A-Alright!” Nathan hurriedly replied. “Luna! Let’s go!”


    “Yeah!”