[b]DAY 21: KAARNE – THEY ARE ON MY TRAIL[/b]

Kaarne had assumed that it had been just an ordinary day. How could he have guessed that it was the day of his own demise? Because everything had been fine at first: weather had been beautiful, warm and sunny and his travel had gone well. He had been in a good mood the whole day and even his companion and mount, Kulo, a rooster that was big enough for Kaarne to ride on it, had seemed to enjoy the day. They came from a land where an eternal night prevailed, so this kind of sunshine was something they hadn't been used to, even though they had been traveling through these foreign lands for a while. But the sunny weather felt pleasant for both of them and they really liked to wander through the pretty scenery while the sun was shining and the world bathed in its golden light.

Kulo had been walking forward with a steady pace while Kaarne had been admiring their surroundings. They had traveled through a patch of woodlands that had felt somewhat enchanted, across fields of flowers where nature's might was growing strong and bypassed a gorgeous waterfall and the droplets from it created small rainbows together with the sun. This land was so beautiful and Kaarne was glad he could experience it. But he did yearn for his home a little as well, mostly because his fiancé was waiting for him. However, he couldn't return until he would find a perfect gift for her. It was a custom of his tribe that the men would go on a journey to find a present to their fiancé, something that truly expressed their feelings. When they would return and give the gift, they would get married if the woman accepted it. Kaarne was still in a lookout for something special for his fiancé, but he also wanted to enjoy his trip as well.

His journey was getting a dark twist. As the hours passed by and evening came around, Kulo started to get nervous. At first Kaarne wasn't worried about it, because maybe there had just been a lone lynx or something like that had bypassed them. But as the light was fading, Kulo started to become increasingly anxious and Kaarne had to acknowledge that something was wrong. They had traveled the whole day, but it seemed like it would be too dangerous to stop, so they kept going.

Eventually the world became dark. There was still some moonlight shedding down to the world, but was it a blessing or a curse, Kaarne couldn't say. Kulo had hurried its steps and Kaarne could understand why: he had started to hear barking in the distance. But it didn't sound natural at all, there was something otherworldly in those voices. He had this terrible feeling in his guts that something wicked was following them.

The voices of hounds were getting closer and closer. Kulo reacted to this by starting to run as fast as it could, it had to get away. And for a moment, Kaarne thought that his mount was too quick for whatever was following them, but to his horror, this wasn't the case. No matter how fast the rooster was going, it seemed like the hounds on their trail were getting faster too. At some point Kaarne glanced back and he could see blazing red eyes glowing in the distance. They were getting closer and closer. He tried to encourage Kulo to go faster, but the poor rooster was already doing its best. Desperation started to fill the hearts of both of them.

When Kaarne had dared to look back again, he noticed that the beasts were right behind them. They were awfully skinny black hounds with horns on their heads. Their red eyes were gleaming with desire to tear apart. Kaarne directed his gaze forward and was preparing himself for the moment when the hounds would sink their fangs in his flesh…

Then the beasts were running right by Kulo's side.

They attacked.

Kaarne fell out of the saddle because of the sudden stop. The hounds had locked their jaws on Kulo's feet, making it fall down very suddenly. Kaarne had landed on his stomach and the air had left his lungs. When he could move again, he looked at the direction of his rooster, which was being mauled by the pack of hounds. Kulo had tried to desperately get back up, but the beasts were biting its feet, crushing the bones in them. Then they sunk their teeth in various parts of its body, tearing out pieces of meat. Kaarne could only watch helplessly at the gruesome sight in front of him and then some of the hounds noted his existence as well.

A couple of the beasts ran to him and began to maul his body. They crushed the bones from his limbs, even tore out one of his arms. Blood was spilling everywhere and Kaarne's screams filled the night air. Then one of the hounds snapped its jaws around his neck and crushed it, ultimately killing him. But even though he had died, the hounds wouldn't leave his body alone, they continued to tear apart parts of him. Some of his flesh got eaten, but the beasts enjoyed to feast more on the flesh of the rooster.

In the end nothing else remained but pieces of their bodies and blood on the ground. The hounds had left before the dawn and as the sun rose to the sky, its light exposed the horrors of the night.

Kaarne never made it back home.



[b]DAY 22: GREG – VISIONS OF HORROR[/b]

Evening had come. Greg's room was dark, only the occasional lightning strikes outside would illuminate his room for a blink of an eye. The rain was pattering against the window in a rhythmic way and it felt quite calming in Greg's opinion. He was laying on his bed, listening to the sound of rain and had his eyes closed. He was waiting for the sleep to come and it probably wouldn't take for long since the weather outside gave him a relaxed feeling. It was a welcome sensation for him, because he had been in a rather bad mood all day, but maybe he would get some peace for the night.

But before he drifted to the land of dreams, he could hear a sound coming from the ceiling. Something was rustling there and Greg's calm feeling turned sour. He knew what creature had entered his room. It was Isskali, a demonic being that just enjoyed tormenting his mind. Apparently Isskali had had enough fun with the other patients in this ward and had returned to him. Greg wasn't really afraid of the entity anymore; he was irritated by its presence more than anything else. He just turned his back at Isskali and faced the wall. He would most likely see nightmares tonight because Isskali would plant them in his head.

And he was right.

His experience in his dream was painfully realistic, even though he was aware of it at some level that this wasn't real. He suddenly found himself from a wide main street of a city that was rather empty at that moment. There were some ruined cars here and there, but he didn't spot any living beings. Greg looked at the sky and noticed that it had been dyed crimson because of grudge and death. Then he looked more around his surroundings, only to see more destruction everywhere. There probably wasn't even a single building that hadn't suffered some damage. The pavement beneath his feet had cracked and was even burnt from some places. What could have possibly caused such an enormous amount of devastation? Greg didn't know and wasn't sure he would get an answer. But he knew that he had to do something so he began to walk forward.

A wind had started to bewail as Greg walked through the mutilated landscape of the city. He let his gaze wander around, hoping to spot signs of life. But there was just him and the wind. Only charred trees were some sort of indication that there had been something living in this destroyed world. Where had all the people gone? Or at least, where were their remains?

But soon he got the answers – this experience had been quite tame for now, at least when Greg was well aware of what kind of fucked up scenarios Isskali was able to create.

Greg could hear shrieking from above. He directed his gaze into the sky and saw a dragon circling around. And the dragon noticed him as well and it began to fly closer and closer, descending a little bit. Then it opened its maw and sent a blazing inferno at Greg. The man instinctively raised his arms to protect himself, but of course, it didn't help at all against the destructive flames. He could feel his skin burning as soon as the fire touched him and he screamed from the pain as the flames were eating him alive.

At the same time his head was filled with visions of mayhem and death. He could see people running as fast as they could, but in vain. They couldn't get away from the dragon and its deadly flames. They were burned alive, the cursed fire devoured them completely: their skin, flesh, organs and bones, all of them were engulfed by the flames. Nothing remained. The dragon was flying above the city like a dark shadow of death, annihilating everything that was living.

As Greg's body turned to ashes, he was abruptly wrenched out of this land of chaos and woke up in the real world. He opened up his eyes and suddenly lifted the upper part of his body from his bed to sit. He was all sweaty, he could almost still feel how the dragon's fire was scorching him.

“Had a nice dream?” a mocking voice said from the darkness.

Greg did give an annoyed glance at Isskali who was sitting at the corner of his room. The creature's pale green eyes were glowing in the dark. But Greg didn't say anything to him and just decided to lie down again. He could hear the being chuckling a little bit.

The man tried to get back to sleep while Isskali was singing a mocking lullaby. It didn't really help.



[b]DAY 23: SHADE – CHIME OF MADNESS[/b]

A small pack of wolves had been on their journey to find a suitable territory for them for quite some time. It had been weeks – most likely even longer – since they started their travel and had drifted from place to place. Although they hadn't found a perfect place yet, they had stayed positive and knew that eventually their efforts would be rewarded. Keeping hope in their hearts they had continued their journey and at some point their path had led them to this one forest. The forest itself wasn't special, but there lived a mongrel that tended to be troublesome – if you were lucky. He was downright lunatic and often posed danger.

The wolf pack was completely unaware of the existence of this individual – and how could they have known about him? They had entered the forest with high hopes, because there was a possibility that this one could become their home which they have been seeking for. The whole pack had been in a good mood since the day had been a beautiful one, bright and warm. The sunlight created playful shadows through the leaves of the trees and a slight breeze was gently blowing through the forest. The youngest members of the pack were very energetic and they were bouncing around in a lively manner, chasing butterflies and dragonflies. More level-headed members just kept walking forward, but they were wearing smiles on their faces while keeping an eye on the playful ones. The pack was having a good time and no one could have anticipated that trouble would come their way.

They managed to proceed further into the forest before they got an indication that there was something else with them. At first they heard a faint chime of a bell. The pack leader had noted this and looked around for a bit, but didn't think much of it at that time. After some time passed, the chime could be heard again. And after another moment, the chime was heard for the third time, but this time closer. The pack leader stopped and glanced around more, trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from.

“What's wrong?” asked his mate.

“Surely you have heard the strange chimes of a bell”, the leader responded to her and his gaze wandered around. “Something isn't right…”

“Yes, I heard them as well”, his mate spoke again and she looked around too. “It sounded kind of eerie.”

And as if being a confirmation for her words, the bell chimed again, this time even closer. The wolves directed their eyes in front of them, but couldn't see anything out of ordinary – not until they heard a maniacal laughter. A dark figure rose from the ground before their eyes and it took the form of a pretty large dog. He had completely black fur, except for three markings on the back that resembled claws of a devil. He had mismatched eyes and there was a glow of insanity in them. The weirdest part was the fact that there was a blue bell on his neck; not tied to it, it had been attached to his flesh. There was clearly something wrong with this individual so the wolves were wary of him, even the carefree ones that had been bouncing around stopped and hid behind their leader.

The pack leader took a few steps forward and faced the crazed dog with courage. “We are not looking for trouble. Let us pass through.”

The dog tilted his head. “Can't do that! Can't do that!”

“Then we are ready to fight”, the wolf leader said confidently. “But I give you one more chance to step aside. Violence is not needed.”

The leader had thought that this situation would be easy to resolve, there was only one dog, although deranged, and a pack of wolves. It was clear who had the disadvantage here. But he really underestimated their opponent. The dog's laughter echoed in the air as he merged together with the shadows, disappearing from sight. The wolves grouped together in a tight formation, expecting for the dog to appear from any side.

They could hear the bell chime at one spot first, then in another. It was followed by the dog's laughter. The pack leader understood that by locating the sound, they would know the dog's exact location and it wouldn't be able to surprise them. So he listened carefully, trying to understand their foe's pattern. The sounds the dog was producing didn't really make him great with sneak attacks although that was what he was aiming at.

The bell chimed right by the pack leader's left side and that was when the dog decided to materialize again. But the wolf was ready and while the dog was still taking his form, the leader snapped his jaws around the mongrel's neck and tore a fatal wound, shredding his throat. This would be enough to bring down any foe, but to the wolf's horror, it wasn't the case with this dog. The mongrel looked at his heavily bleeding wound, being clearly amused by it. Then he looked at the leader and started to laugh maniacally again. He blended in with the shadows once more, leaving the wolves to nervously think what the hell he was.

And he still couldn't stay silent. But he managed to make one sneak attack as he raised from the ground, directly below the pack, and his teeth sunk in the stomach of one of the wolves. And before the wolf even realized it, her belly had been torn open, spilling her guts to the ground. Then the dog disappeared again.

Horrified by what had happened to one of his pack's members, the leader suddenly commanded: “Run, everyone, get away from here!”

He didn't want to sacrifice more lives so he got everyone moving. They began to run away from the scene, but the chime of the bell and the laughter were still haunting them. It took quite a while of running, but eventually the disturbing noises faded and the rest of the pack seemed to be safe.

Although they managed to get away from the mad dog, the sounds of his bell and laughter would still haunt the wolves that night.



[b]DAY 24: THE MOTHER – NO BIRTH, NO DEATH[/b]

This place was a nightmare, hell even. The woman had seen some really messed up things, such as a talking decapitated head, a butchered body with all limbs cut off and guts spilled out that was still doing fine and she had seen how someone got buried alive. She learned rather quickly that this place had different rules than her world. It seemed like it was impossible to die and it was such an absurd thought that the woman couldn't really internalize it, it was against common sense. But the key to surviving in this bizarre land was to accept this and stay vigilant. She had no means to defend herself if needed so she had to be mindful of her surroundings.

Though this changed after some days.

She did get a little bit of peace of mind after she managed to find an axe from a ramshackle shed. It became her friend right away and although she was still afraid of the monsters of this world, at least now she was armed. She still had her guard up, it was better to blend in with the shadows and stay out of sight. According to the rules of this cursed land, she wouldn't be able to kill anyone either, even if she wanted to.

The woman learned later on that the danger seemed to lurk in the settlements, which did make sense. So when she one day found herself from woodlands, she felt a little bit more safe. Of course something could easily hide in there and attack from the darkness, so she didn't let her guard down as she was walking among the trees. They had had some leaves when she had entered the woods, but as she kept going further, into the heart of the woodlands, they gradually became more and more bare until there were no leaves at all anywhere. The trunks also started to eerily resemble twisted bodies. A little bit of mist had appeared, making the whole area seem unnerving. The woman was holding her axe, thinking that maybe it had been a mistake to enter the forest. But she was here now and could only press forward.

The sky had darkened, popping up the question whether an evening had arrived or was that an omen of something sinister. The woman didn't know and felt increasingly anxious, being watchful of the shadows. She was almost sure that something – or someone – was keeping an eye on her. It was a really uncomfortable feeling.

Eventually she found her way to the border of the woods. She was looking at the back of a mansion, which was standing tall by a hill. The mist was uncannily surrounding the dark building and the woman had a feeling that she should stay away from that building. But she wanted to move past it and started to run, just so she could leave it behind.

She had been confident that if she moved fast enough, nothing bad would happen, but it turned out it was false hope. When she had managed to sneak around a corner, she came to a courtyard, and there was someone.

A huge figure of a woman was positioned in the middle of the courtyard. She was so big that her head was at the same level as the mansion's roof. She had no legs but instead large tentacles were waving in the air. Even though she had a white dress on, her stomach was exposed and she clearly was pregnant. But the disturbing part was that her belly was transparent and a rotten fetus could be seen inside. It was truly a sickening sight.

The giant lady noticed the wandering woman. She was holding her axe like her life depended on it. She knew that she had to flee, there was no way she would pick a fight with an opponent this big. So she began to run, going as fast as she could. One of the tentacles got near her and she swung her axe with all her might and the tip of the tentacle got cut off, spilling black blood. She repeated this move a few times while running and for a moment she thought that she would make it. Just a little bit more…

Then one of the tentacles caused her to trip and she fell to the ground on her stomach, the air escaped her lungs. Before she was able to get up, a tentacle wrapped around her and raised her from the ground. The giant lady brought her near her face and she looked at her with her red eyes. They reflected nothing but hatred. With immense strength, the lady crushed her bones and organs, she couldn't even scream. A disgusting crunching sound was heard and then the tentacle threw her away. Her crushed body flew across the air for a long distance, all the way near the border of the woodlands. She was in such agonizing pain, her whole body was mashed. She couldn't move at all, she could only lay there and suffer.

Tears formed in her eyes and made her vision blur. Would she ever get out of there, she didn't know. What was the rule for getting severely injured, would her body ever get repaired or was she doomed to lay there, her insides crushed? She didn't know and she was afraid of the answer.

But she wasn't the only one in pain. From the distance she could hear loud wailing, filled with an enormous amount of sorrow. It was the giant woman, crying for the baby that would never get born.

At that moment a great anguish was something they both shared.



[b]DAY 25: SERPENTIMUS – DEVOURER OF SOULS[/b]

Everybody had their own story. But most people didn't really care about the tale of the ones you meet briefly in the streets. And why would they? They didn't belong to their lives. However there were also those who were hiding in the shadows, observing others. They would watch carefully everyone's every single move and stare right into their souls. Demons were usually the ones doing this and low was the quantity of others that would do the same. But there was one, the great shaman Serpentimus, who happened to be on a lookout for souls that night. This wasn't unusual for him, though, for he was a devourer of souls.

Serpentimus preferred strong souls since they gave more strength. So he was hiding in a dark alley, watching the people pass him by. He was in no rush and he stayed in his position for hours. No one bothered him and so kept sitting there, his staff on his shoulder, his glazed eyes looking right in front of him. He was so still and blended with shadows that nobody noticed his presence. He was like a predator, waiting for a perfect prey to come by, being patient like a snake.

There had still been a bit of daylight remaining when he had appeared in the alley. But as time forcefully progressed, the light faded and soon the town was enveloped in darkness. It gave a better hideout for Serpentimus as well and the shroud of darkness made him almost invisible. The townsfolk tried to battle against the dark veil with their street lights, but even though they were shedding their artificial light, Serpentimus remained hidden from sight. He was becoming more vigilant as the darkness came, because he could more likely find souls that suited his tastes. The weaklings would disappear soon and the ones with stained souls were about to dominate the streets. He just had to be a little more patient.

The town became more silent, until the moment when the loud and obnoxious gangs began to roam around. One of such groups passed Serpentimus. While they surely hold more interesting souls than what the common townsfolks possessed, they still weren't quite what he was looking for. He let the noisy gang go past him, because as long as they didn't bother him, he wouldn't bother them. Eventually their annoying voices faded away and Serpentimus was once again sitting alone in silence.

A couple of more people bypassed his hideout. One of them was a woman who seemed to be a thief. She would linger around different bars and get her targets drunk and while they were heavily intoxicated, she would take their most prized possessions. But this didn't interest Serpentimus that much. The next one he saw was a drug dealer, who was in a hurry to meet up with his regular clients. This didn't draw Serpentimus' attention that much, either. He was still waiting for something more. He noticed a violent man as well, and was almost going to settle for him, but decided to still wait for something else.

And in the end, his patience was rewarded. Somebody was coming his way, somebody with a dark soul. An abomination, a person with both human and demon blood in his veins. He was a wretch with a rough life, mostly because of his mixed race, and he had chosen the path of violence. He was a man who wasn't afraid of taking someone else's life. And so he probably thought that Serpentimus was no match for him.

The man didn't notice Serpentimus until he was almost right in front of him, Serpentimus had blended so well with the darkness around him. The man looked irritated for a bit as he noted that Serpentimus was staring at him. He was about to open his mouth to say something, but as he took a better glance at the man hiding in the shadows, his expression changed. Serpentimus wasn't an ordinary-looking individual. He had bluish skin, glazed eyes of a dead man and his mouth was sewn shut. The man knew immediately that he wasn't dealing with a regular person.

“What the heck are you…?” he mumbled to himself, as he was well aware that Serpentimus couldn't answer.

Serpentimus straightened his body and slowly stood up. The man sensed that he was a threat and took out his gun. Without a warning he pulled the trigger and tried to shoot Serpentimus, but the bullet deflected from an invisible shield and bounced back at the man. The bullet hit him in the shoulder and he groaned from pain and instinctively his hand got drawn to his injury. This was enough time for Serpentimus to make his move and he charged forward with his staff and impaled the man's chest. The man could only watch, stunned, how this long object had gone through his body. Serpentimus came closer and reached with his hand at the hole he had made with the staff. He sunk his hand inside the man and pulled out something: a dark grey wisp.

As soon as Serpentimus took this out, the man fell on his knees and after Serpentimus pulled his staff out of him, his body hit the pavement and a pool of blood began to form under him. Serpentimus looked at his soul and was feeling very much pleased; this is what he had been waiting for all evening. He brought the soul near his face and took a deep breath. He inhaled the wisp, eating it through his nostrils, and then it was gone.

Serpentimus was satisfied with this. He started to walk away from the dark alley, leaving behind the corpse of the man, abandoned in the puddle of his own blood.