9 Chapter Three || Forest Guardians

The unlikely duo meandered their way through the forest in search of food. It was a plentiful forest untouched by humans or elementals. And with Akari's guidance, Essairyn distinguished the edible from the inedible. Berries and other greens soon filled the cloth bag, enough for several servings.

"Hey," piped Akari, "Do you know how to store items in the magic cache?" She pointed a paw at the bag Essairyn held.

"No, what's that?" Essairyn replied curiously.

"Heh, of course not. Should've guessed when you made a box for that beast demon claw," Akari lightly scoffed, making the girl roll her eyes in mild amusement.

"It's how you can store items without having to physically carry them. It's like an invisible inventory. Look," Akari directed, pointing at the air in front of Essairyn, "Try imagining a wall of compartments and reach out."

Though skeptical, Essairyn did as she was told, and to her amazement, wooden-like boxes with missing front sides appeared less than two feet away.

"Wha-" Essairyn uttered in surprise, "It's really like a game inventory!"

The fox now rolled her eyes, remarking, "I've got a game fanatic on my paws."

"How does it work?" Essairyn asked excitedly, "Do I just put whatever in there and make it close with my hand or something?"

The fox gave the girl an unamused, amused look.

"Yeah basically, I guess that's the gist of it really."

With eyes sparkling, Essairyn eagerly placed the bag into a square compartment. Then, she waved her hand in front of the compartment shelves, willing it to disappear. And sure enough, they did.

"Amazing!" Essairyn exclaimed.

"It's just how adventurers get by. Do you think we'd hike around with luggage and expect to fight properly in a battle? Or have ourselves get robbed in our sleep?"

"Still, I'm glad. This is really useful!" the girl beamed.

The fox chuckled, "You really are a traveler."

"Speaking of which," Essairyn thoughtfully began, "I'd like to explore the forest for a bit. Come on!"

Akari grinned and the two set off. As they delved deeper into the depths of the Spirit and Demon Forest, the sounds of the day gently subsided into the stirrings of the night, and fairylike wraiths materialized in the cascading twilight. They dusted the forest floor with fallings wisps while flitting around like fireflies. Their speckled glow faintly illuminated the understory.

Intrigued, Essairyn outstretched a hand toward the ethereal creatures, and they daintily danced upon her hand in mirth. Their giggles whispered throughout the air, and their smiles radiated in the coming night.

"Ts' rien," they murmured, causing Essairyn to knit her eyebrows in confusion at the foreign language.

"What're they saying?" she asked Akari who was attentively looking at the creatures.

The fox turned her gaze away and seemed to shrug before beginning to walk again. "Who knows," she replied disinterestedly.

As dusk finally descended, more creatures of the night arose from their slumber. Soon, the forest was a hushed frenzy of activity, and Essairyn was astounded once again by the beauty of these otherworldly spirits and demons.

While gazing at the mysterious splendor of the night, Essairyn noticed some light-footed animals streaking through the brush. They were traveling so swiftly that they could only be discerned by a soft phantom glow that smudged the air behind them. She wondered how and why they were moving so fast. She squinted her eyes in concentration, trying to pick out their features as they passed.

To her surprise, her vision sharpened automatically, and she could distinguish their forms and colors. With their slender bodies and spindly limbs, they looked similar to greyhounds; except, their coats were a mystical silvern that luminesced the air around; their backs were dappled and streaked in platinum, and their paws were dipped in sateen sable.

Their ears, as well, were peculiar and looked more akin to rabbits. And their tails too were remarkably long and splayed out at the end like a feathered fin.

But the strangest features had to be the two elongated appendages that arose next to the backs of each ear and billowed behind them as they ran.

Just as her thoughts wrapped itself around that last feature, the animals suddenly stopped their frenzied dash and turned their eyes toward Essairyn.

A flash of anxiety surfaced in her middle as she returned their glassy gazes. They slowly patrolled around her a few meters away, and she looked to Akari for explanation. The fox merely watched them with indifference as she stood at an angle two feet away from the girl.

After several bewildering seconds, one of the larger animals stepped forward in front of Essairyn, and Akari's ears twitched in mild interest.

No longer running, the animal's two strange appendages looped around its ears and floated airily at the sides of the face. It appeared that this one was the leader of the pack. And as it studied the girl, its inquisitive eyes seemed to whisper arcane words of reassurance and salutation.

Somehow, Essairyn knew that these animals weren't a threat. This moment of inexplicable understanding between the girl and the pack leader was then abruptly ended by the crashing of scattered thicket in the direction that the animals had been running toward.

In the near distance, a gigantic, ghastly beast had manifested itself from the gloom.

Essairyn watched with amazed horror as the grim, humanoid giant languidly slogged through the canopy. Its arms and legs were gangly; its blackened bones were visible underneath its stretched sooty skin, and its head hung under the apparent weight of its two horns.

Rising loftily above its skeletal figure, the horns curved toward one another in an ellipse, creating what Essairyn envisioned to be an almost full moon. As it moved, strands of earthen masses swung from its center.

"A nightstalker," Akari murmured with diligent eyes as the the phantom greyhounds began running again.

Essairyn repeated the creature's name under her breath. This monster was like one straight out of a nightmare, and yet the greyhounds were racing straight toward it. For what reason were they running so desperately?

She looked over at Akari who, sensing her gaze, immediately jumped up on the magic circle Essairyn had generated. She climbed up the girl's outstretched arm, and together they rushed through the forest along with the phantom pack.

With the greyhounds running below, Essairyn nodded in their direction and asked Akari, "What are they?"

Akari's eyes glimmered as she glanced at the animals before returning to the nightstalker. "Solh'vunds. Spirit hounds. One of the guardian animals of the forest," she answered.

"Spirit.. animals?" Essairyn.

"Yes," confirmed Akari, "They're just like any other animals; except, they're of the spirit species and belong under the spirit gods. Kind of like how the elementals have their gods.

"Demons on the other hand are called beast demons. But, the two are essentially equivalent. The main difference is that beast demons can transform into pure demon while spirit animals can't transform into 'pure spirit'.

"They live and die like any other animal, although, with longer lifespans. Guardian animals, however, are actually stronger than normal spirit animals or beast demons."

"So are nightstalkers beast demons?"

Akari narrowed her eyes slightly before answering, "Technically.. But they seemed to have evolved differently. I've never actually seen them rampage like typical beast demons do when morphing into their demon form. Apparently their collection of souls prevents them from transforming."

"Collection of souls?" Essairyn exclaimed.

"Yeah they eat souls," Akari responded a matter-of-factly.