Mythos: Last Stand

  Chapter 3 — Kumori

  by Caide Fullerton

  DONT FOLLOW

  RUN AWAY

  Those words were etched into the great stone slab propped up at the fork in the road. Before it, the three Humans stood in silence.

  The first to break that silence, kicking into gear, was Jackie.

  Jackie: “Is that his handwriting?”

  They turned to the others with an expecting gaze. It took a moment before Sam fully registered the question, replying with a slight jump,

  Sam: “Oh, r-right! Um… it’s hard to say for sure with a wall carving, but it looks like it was him.”

  Helena: “Not only that…” She walked to one side of the stone wall as she interjected and crouched down, standing back up with a crude rucksack in hand, “His stuff is here, tent and all.”

  Jackie: “He left everything behind?”

  Helena: “Not everything,” she said, sifting through the bag, “None of his knives are in here. They always stay on him.”

  Jackie: “So he kept his weapons, huh…” They muttered as they scanned the scene again, keeping a close eye on their allies all the while.

  Despite her calm disposition, anxiety was clearly visible in Helena’s furrowed brow—not just anxiety, but deliberation. On the other end of the spectrum, Sam wore his emotions on his sleeve; his fear was plastered across his tensed face, yes, but what stood out even more was the earnest look in his eyes.

  Anyone could tell he already intended on suggesting they ignore the warning and help Strade, wherever he was. The only thing holding him back was the worry that Jackie or Helena might refuse.

  Naturally, Jackie wanted to side with him, but they wouldn’t make such a rash decision without properly analyzing the situation first.

  Strade’s warning was very clear—there was danger here. And yet, it was also frustratingly vague. What form of danger? How dangerous? Where exactly was this danger, and where had Strade fled to?

  The mere existence of the warning, and the lack of Strade’s presence, served as effective clues on their own. If he’d simply spotted a danger ahead, he would’ve turned around and met back up with Sam and Helena. The most likely conclusion was—

  Jackie: “He was being chased.”

  And yet, his situation clearly hadn’t been particularly dire in the moment. He deemed it dangerous enough to leave a warning to keep the others away, yet not only did he have time to stop and actually write the warning, he was calm enough to make the conscious decision to leave his supplies behind.

  Following this train of thought, Jackie crouched down to examine what were clearly Strade’s footsteps at the base of the stone slab, the indentations of thick combat boots. After leaving the message, he’d chosen the right path; it didn’t take long at all before he broke into a jog, the prints becoming rougher and spaced further apart.

  His prints alone marked the path.

  That eliminated several of the worst options—a Carrion or Kuzumade would’ve left obvious signs. Then, was it a monster that could fly? One that could survive walking through the brush?

  Jackie: “…no, not chased. Stalked.” They stood, turning to the others as they came to a conclusion with a snap of their fingers.

  Helena: “Stalked?” She asked, narrowing her eyes. “Do you know what it was?”

  Jackie: “A Kumori.”

  Seeing their expressions turn even more grim, they raised a hand, saying “Well, that’s just an educated guess, anyway.”

  Kumori—though not the most powerful of the monstrosities found in the wasteland, they were perhaps one of the most loathed. Possessing both ruthless strength and cunning intelligence, they were said to mimic Humans in both speech and appearance. Old campfire stories claimed they used their own prey as nesting grounds; not even Jackie was sure if that was true or not.

  Sam: “But… why did he leave his supplies behind!? How’s he—”

  Jackie: “Most likely? He thought he was gonna die, so he wanted you two to keep it.”

  Jackie answered bluntly, cutting Sam off. His amber yellow eyes wavered, his expression unchanging as Jackie spoke; he’d already known the answer.

  With that answer in his heart, he looked up with an earnest face, raising a clenched fist to his chest.

  Sam: “We… we have to go help him! We can’t just—”

  Jackie: “I agree.”

  Jackie interrupted once again, this time with an affirmation. Giving Sam a firm nod, they turned to the right path and stepped forward with a confident gait,

  Jackie: “I won’t let someone die before I even get the chance to meet them.”

  ? ? ?

  Jackie did not think of themself as being particularly impressive.

  They knew how to fight, yes, but they were short and slim; they were not blessed with the physical strength or physique of Helena. They also lacked the technical skill to wield a bow like Sam.

  They possessed survival skills—they knew how to cook and track and sew—but they weren’t as good at any of those things as Al once was.

  Alistair: “ You’re a strong kid, and more important than that, you’re smart.”

  That’s what he’d said—not just on that day, but over and over again. It was something he repeated every single day of their years alone.

  “You’re a smart kid, ya know that?”

  “Boy, I wish I was as smart as ya.”

  “You’re gonna go far with that brain o’ yers, kid.”

  That was the one thing Jackie excelled at. Al said as much, so it had to be true.

  But, what did it mean to be “smart”?

  Did it simply mean “knowing a lot of things”? Jackie had made an effort to obtain knowledge on many aspects of the wasteland, especially its dangers, but there were still numerous things they didn’t know. The Kumori was a perfect example—they’d been lucky enough to never face one in combat, but that left them with a gap in their knowledge.

  Was it something simple, like being able to read and write? Al had a couple of books, things he’d kept after Jackie’s mother—his daughter—died. Jackie had long-since memorized their contents by the time Al died, so they buried them along with him.

  Even so, having only had those couple of examples, there were no doubt many holes in their understanding of language. They’d had even fewer chances to write.

  No, they’d determined that “intelligence” couldn’t possibly be something so concrete or arbitrary. Rather—

  Their red eyes narrowed and slid to the side as they noted the soft sound that came from behind them.

  This was the seventh such sound they’d picked up on since they began tracking down Strade. Every time it had come from the forest off to their left, and every time it seemed to originate roughly 50 meters behind them.

  —This was what Jackie settled on as their singular strength.

  Their perceptiveness. Their ability to pick up on small details, to recognize and analyze patterns. Their ability to learn new things, to intuit information, to solve problems.

  With that strength, they had determined without a shadow of a doubt that they were being followed. The others, even as cautious as they were, had yet to notice.

  But by what? Was it the same threat that Strade warned about? If so, why was it following them instead of hunting for Strade?

  Jackie glanced around at their surroundings as thoughts swam around their head. The rolling hills of the wasteland had flattened as they’d trekked down the right path, being overtaken by a sparse forest of twisted trees. The lack of hills here meant the paths weren’t limited to twisting valleys, instead spreading out in all directions and winding between clusters of trees—no, it would be more accurate to say that the openness of this region resulted in there being no defined paths at all.

  It was an environment Jackie had learned to avoid in the past. While the hilly paths were generally clear of foliage, here there were small patches of poison grass dotted everywhere, even amid the paths—and with that came an increased frequency of the troublesome monsters that could pass through the brush unharmed. The grass did seem to avoid the extensive, twisted roots of the blood-red trees, making the whole region at least theoretically walkable, but it would only take a single tumble for that to backfire; it was a risk Jackie was not intent on taking. The only upside was that the tree cover made for a more pleasant walk.

  Jackie turned discreetly to look at their companions. Should they tell them they were being followed?

  The fact their pursuer hadn’t attacked immediately meant it had a reason not to, but that could change at any time; if something happened, it would be better for all three of them to be prepared.

  At the same time, there was a chance informing them would backfire. What if they lost their composure, alerting the monster that it’d been spotted, or worse, inciting it to attack? Alternatively, what if they wasted precious time questioning Jackie on how they’d detected the monster?

  As they were thinking this, Sam came to an abrupt stop beside them.

  Sam: “His tracks stopped…”

  Looking down, they could indeed see that the bootprints they’d been following until now cut off, as though Strade had been whisked away mid-step. Jackie crouched down to take a better look.

  Jackie: “Based on the spacing between them, it also looks like he slowed down a few paces before this… Ah, here.” They gestured to a point on the ground and stood, “You can see some bits of raised mud here. From here on, he started covering his tracks. Follow me.”

  The others nodded, Helena doing so with a bit of hesitation, letting Jackie take the lead as Strade’s tracks, mostly covered in a rush, veered sharply to the right.

  This revelation painted a clearer picture of the situation. If Jackie’s guesses were correct, the Kumori was intelligent enough to follow Strade’s footprints, but hadn’t been able to recognize the covered tracks.

  Most likely, it had seen the warning he left behind—or it had watched as he carved it. Jackie wasn’t sure if Kumori could read, or if they even understood the speech they mimicked, but it may have recognized it as a message of some sort even if it didn’t understand it.

  Once it lost track of its prey, it returned to the message, hoping more Humans would come along and lead it straight to its original quarry. That was also why it left Strade’s supplies untouched rather than raiding them for food.

  No, its plan may have run even deeper than that. It could have ambushed Strade the moment it saw him, but it chose to stalk him instead. It may have learned there were more Humans around just by seeing him leave the markers they’d followed here.

  Jackie couldn’t help but admire how well the monster’s plan had worked out. Its choice not to kill Strade immediately had allowed him to escape, but it also ensured he left the trail needed for the others to come after him.

  It was quite a good deal for the Kumori no matter what happened from here. Even if Jackie and company failed to find Strade, it’d still get a hefty dinner.

  That revelation placed them on a timer. Now that they’d found where the tracks ended, the Kumori could pull the trigger at any time if it thought they weren’t going to find Strade.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  With that in mind,

  Jackie: “…both of you, speak quietly and keep calm, okay?”

  Sam and Helena glanced at them with puzzled, slightly concerned expressions. Seeing that, they continued,

  Jackie: “Something’s following us, in the brush. Don’t look back or give any indication we’ve noticed it.”

  Helena: “…it isn’t attacking us?”

  Jackie: “I think it’s hoping we’ll lead it to Strade.”

  Helena’s expression stiffened, but she nodded in understanding.

  Sam: “What’s our plan, then..? We aren’t just gonna do as it wants, are we?”

  Jackie: “If we turn tail or even just take too long to find him, it might decide to attack us.” They breathed an internal sigh of relief at the siblings’ measured reactions. “We can’t fight it, not here—too much brush it can walk over and we can’t. For now, our best bet is still to find Strade.

  “But, there’s a silver lining,” they continued, “The fact it’s using us to find him means Strade did escape—and probably without a fight, at that.”

  Sam seemed visibly relieved to hear this, facing forward with a determined expression. He seemed to have to strain himself to keep from looking back, but after a moment he instead narrowed his eyes to peer forward.

  Sam: “…there’s something ahead. Something, uh… big.”

  * ? *

  Jackie couldn’t help but feel ashamed that Sam had noticed the structure before they had; they’d been too focused on the sounds of the Kumori behind them.

  What Sam had seen was but a distant shadow of the grand structure that now lay before them. It took perhaps another mile of walking to reach it, its stone towers and tiled roofs peeking out above the treetops.

  The land sloped down by a few meters in a wide circle, creating a basin in the midst of the crimson forest. The tainted foliage of the wasteland came to a complete stop at the basin’s edge, and the inside was a sort of bog dotted with large pools of shallow water.

  Standing inside the basin was a massive, sturdy castle.

  Its walls were caked in miscolored ivy; the tops of most of its towers had been lopped off, forming small ruins around its outer edges and a single great hole in one of its sloped tile roofs. Beyond that, the massive structure was in remarkably good shape.

  It resembled a mix between a proper fort and an extravagant palace. Its towering outer walls, grey and cracked with age, bore slit windows and machicolations; the windows on the inner towers were more standard, and a balcony hung over one of several large gates.

  On closer inspection, the castle appeared to be several different buildings closely connected together by courtyards and hanging arches; one of the buildings was leaning away from the others at a slight angle.

  Jackie: “…hell of a hiding spot.” They said, scratching their head.

  Strade’s footprints became entirely untraceable in the wet soil of the basin, but they hardly needed any further confirmation that this was where he’d chosen to hide.

  Indeed, that fact was evident not only to the Humans, but to their stalker as well.

  For what was now the 17th time, a soft sound echoed from about 50 meters behind the group. In the span of a couple seconds the number of sounds rose to 20, 30, 40, and by then the sounds were no longer behind them, rushing past a ways to their left.

  Galloping through the trees and leaping out into the basin, the monster—the Kumori made its presence known, seeming to care little for them. Perhaps it knew they would chase it inside to save Strade, or perhaps it thought it could easily track them down after it dealt with him first.

  In either case, that was more or less as Jackie had expected.

  The monster’s core resembled a Human child, with curly reddish hair, a round face, and a tattered yellow shirt. Nobody who saw it would mistake it for a Human, however, courtesy of its arms. Sprouting from its back, tearing a bloodied hole in its shirt, were eight massive skeletal arms, char-black in color, with bones that were disproportionately long and fists about the size of Jackie’s head.

  It was with these extra appendages that the beast made a mad dash for the base of the structure ahead. Jackie had expected it to scuttle like a spider, but it instead lurched forward in a sort of eight-legged gallop. As it reached the outer wall of the fort, it bent down on all eight of its skeletal arms before launching itself up with a springy jump.

  Jackie, Sam, and Helena were not far behind, sprinting for the front entrance of the fort. As the Kumori leapt up, digging its fingers into the stone wall and beginning to climb, Sam slid to a stop, bow in hand. He quickly nocked an arrow, carefully lining it up with the ascending monster.

  Jackie had never had the displeasure of fighting a Kumori before, so their strategy was simple: land a sneak attack while it goes after Strade.

  Sam’s hand shook slightly as he drew back the arrow, but Helena placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He nodded to her and Jackie, stilling his arm as he aimed just above the rising monster. Then he released, the arrow shooting through the air with a sharp whistle.

  Fwik.

  Their eyes widened as the Kumori slowly turned towards them, halting its upward climb. Tears ran down its face as it sobbed, its expression contorting with anger.

  “…why?”

  Just inches in front of the child’s face, Sam’s arrow had been caught by one of the skeletal hands. It threw its arm out to the side, flinging the arrow away as its eyes lit up with rage. It twisted its mouth through an exaggerated array of expressions as it spoke,

  Kumori: “Why..? Why? Why!? Why, why, why, why why why why why why why whywhywhywhywhywhywhy WHYYY!?”

  Starting as a mutter, the child’s voice rose to a shrill, distorted scream as it choked out the same word over and over.

  Watching as it expressed its rage, Jackie turned to run, yanking on Sam’s shirt to drag his eyes away from the scene.

  Jackie: “Move! Time for plan B!”

  It went without saying that plan B was to run, hide, and pray.

  As the trio made a mad dash for the front entrance, the Kumori glared down at them, its skeletal arms carrying it sideways along the outer wall.

  Kumori: “Stupid! In the way! Annoying! Annoying, annoying, annoying annoying annoying annoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingannoying ANNOYIIIIIING!”

  It leapt, blowing up a wave of mud and water as it crashed down and slid across the ground, digging four of its bony hands into the ground to drag itself to a stop. Without pause it began to claw at the mud, its skeletal hands slipping as it dragged its body forward.

  Helena kicked open the front door, ushering Sam and Jackie in after her before slamming it shut. Jackie glanced around at their surroundings, taking in the layout as quickly as possible.

  The inside was dimly lit, rays of sunlight beaming through windows and cracks in the outer walls. While said walls were made of stone, the inner walls were wooden, draped with ancient cloths and tapestries, faded and torn from age. The edges of the floor were stone as well, enclosing wooden panels which formed mosaic patterns.

  The room split in three directions, an open doorway on either side and a wide double door directly in front. Hugging the walls on either side of the door were curved staircases leading up to an internal balcony, an ajar door leading forward on the second floor—a fourth route.

  Jackie: “We’ll lose it upstairs! Let’s—”

  A fist smashed through the door behind them. Its bony fingers curled down against the door, a second hand sliding into the hole to grip the door in the other direction. Both hands pressed down, building pressure until the wood snapped, reduced to splinters as the hands smashed against the top and bottom of the doorframe.

  Two more hands reached forward, grabbing the sides of the doorframe to pull the rest of the monster’s body inside. It sobbed as it swung its head back and forth, eyes focusing on the Humans fleeing up the stairs.

  Stopping halfway up the steps, Sam shot another arrow at the Kumori. It caught it just as it had the first, its skeletal hand snapping the wooden shaft before the monster lurched forward. Helena grabbed her brother by the hood, yanking him up the stairs as the Kumori clawed its way up the steps, its arms split between the wall, floor, and guardrail.

  Reaching the top of the steps first, Jackie kicked one of said guardrail’s wooden posts free, swinging around to chuck it at the Kumori. One of its arms flicked away from the wall in a flash, batting the post away with such force that it crashed into the opposite wall. Now only a few steps from the top of the stairwell, the Kumori glared up at the Humans, tears streaming down its face,

  Kumori: “Stupid! Ugly! Useless! Useless, useless, USELE—”

  A chunk of stone flew at the Kumori’s head. Helena had heaved it up from a pile of debris as the Kumori was momentarily distracted, whirling her whole body in a circle to fling it at the monster.

  The child’s eyes widened for a split second, and several of its hands shot forward, fumbling in an attempt to catch the large rock. The weight of the projectile caused it to fall backwards, losing its grip and tumbling down the stairs in a flailing mess of outstretched limbs.

  The Humans wasted no time watching it fall, instead turning to bolt down the hallway as it tumbled away. It only took a few seconds for it to resume the chase, skipping the stairs and leaping up from the center of the room to the balcony. The guardrail snapped beneath its weight, its skeletal arms crashing through the wooden beam and clawing at the balcony floor to drag itself up.

  Rows of unevenly-spaced doors passed by as the three Humans ran, Jackie bolting to the front. Up ahead, the hall split into a ‘T’; a portion of the ceiling dipped down where the two halls connected, a wooden support beam bent and cracked from years of pressure. Jackie retrieved one of the javelins from their back, hastened by the sounds of the Kumori closing in behind.

  Momentarily sliding across the veneered floor, they stretched their arm back and threw. The javelin cut clean through part of the rotting support beam, causing it to dip further, buckling under the weight of the ceiling above.

  Jackie slid past as shards of debris rained down, yanking their javelin free from the far wall. Sam was next, crouching down in a panic to rush past the falling beam. Helena came last, placing a hand on the beam as she ducked beneath it and spun around. Once she cleared it, she pulled down with all her strength, the beam cracking further under her grip as the whole ceiling came down before her, burying a portion of the hall they’d just ran down.

  A series of crashes sounded out as a small chain reaction cut into the hall, followed by sharp cracks as the Kumori’s bony fists slammed against the fallen debris. Helena stumbled back as bits of the ceiling flaked down.

  All three of them stood for a moment, breathing as they heard the Kumori wail on the other side of the fallen debris. Jackie blinked away their fatigue, giving Helena a thumbs-up as they started down the intersection, deciding at random to head left.

  Jackie: “Let’s get away, catch our breath before it breaks through.”

  Helena gave their thumbs-up a disapproving glare, but ultimately she relented with a wordless nod. She followed Jackie down the hall, Sam not far behind.

  Passing a few more rooms, they came to a large stone archway built into one of the outer walls of the building. A short stone bridge connected it to another building with an identical arch. As they entered into the new building, the sounds of the Kumori becoming quieter in the distance, their pace slowed.

  Still panting from the sprint, Sam was first to speak up,

  Sam: “So, what’s our plan now..? Do we run away?”

  Jackie shook their head. “We still need to find Strade before that thing does. Besides, if it follows us out into the field, we’re as good as dead.”

  Helena: “Well then, what exactly is your plan?” She asked, eyes narrowing.

  Jackie: “You sound upset, but I do actually have an idea.”

  Helena: “Of course I’m upset! We almost died!” She huffed, crossing her arms, “Your last idea didn’t work. What makes this one different?”

  Jackie: “I told you I’d never fought one before; I didn’t know it could catch arrows. Now I have, and now I do.”

  It was clear from her frown that Helena wasn’t satisfied with that, but she dropped the issue for now.

  Jackie: “Either way, we should pick a room and hide for a moment to safely catch our breath while we figure out a plan.”

  They stopped in front of a door and pressed their ear against it—who knew if there were monsters here already? With the Kumori on the prowl, the last thing they needed was another threat to deal with.

  Not hearing anything, they pushed the door open, revealing a small, empty room with a horizontal slit for a window. It was square in shape, and appeared to lack both furniture and any signs of life.

  Jackie nearly took a step forward before they noticed an additional detail and stopped themself. The floor of the room was coated in a thick layer of dust, as was most everything within the structure. Their eyes caught many shapes where the dust was lighter—bootprints, crisscrossed as though someone had been pacing.

  Jackie: “Something’s inside,” they whispered, “Bootprints.”

  Sam’s gaze snapped to Jackie, his eyes lighting up. “Strade’s?” He barely managed to keep his voice low despite his obvious excitement.

  Jackie looked back to the open door. That was the obvious solution—through sheer luck, they’d happened upon the room he was hiding in. Not many monsters would be walking around wearing boots, even shapeshifters, and on second look the prints did seem to match the tracks they’d followed all this way.

  With that realization, Jackie plastered a smile onto their face and marched right into the room. “Strade, we’re here to—”

  A shadow leapt at them from beside the open door. Before either Sam or Helena could react, Jackie was pinned to the ground, a knife to their throat.

  They tensed, ready to fight back, but their assailant remained still. After a moment he sat up, brushing rust-brown hair out of his face,

  Strade: “You don’t look like a Kumori…” He blinked, eyes snapping to the open doorway. “You two? Fuck’re you doin’ here?”

  Chapter Glossary:

  Kumori - (Pronounced coo-more-ee) An insidious, intelligent monster that lures in prey by pretending to be a sad, helpless child. Mercilessly slaughters everything in sight with its huge, skeletal arms. Seems to be locked in a perpetual temper-tantrum.