I had been waiting here for so long, the forest making me uneasy. Surrounded by trees, tall as ancient leviathans, their looming presence wasn't the worst of it. It was the silence. No rustling bushes, no shaking leaves, not even the sound of the wind to break the stillness.
A sudden buzz cut into the horrifying quiet.
"Bushan, come in," my commander's voice crackled through the radio. The familiar tone steadied my nerves, if only a little.
"Your orders, sir?" I responded, pausing to steady myself.
"The scout says the supplies are almost at the ambush point. Get off your ass and get ready to pounce."
Ignoring the fact that he somehow always knew I'd be lazing around, I stood and brushed the dirt from my pants.
"Yes, sir."
The radio went silent. It didn't need to buzz again. I knew what was expected.
Before long, I heard it: the cart rattling along the rocky path. The sound was faint, nearly drowned out by the pounding of my own heart.
Through the bushes, I caught sight of the cart being dragged by what looked like a human. But I knew better. The dragging of its feet and the eerie way it carried itself gave it away. It was a calydiptid.
Behind it followed two more, this time in the form of grotesque canine creatures. Their filthy, matted fur was caked in dirt and dust. Their eyes, three sunken amber orbs, darted around constantly, never settling on one spot.
One of the creatures stopped suddenly, lifting its nose to sniff the air. Its hackles raised.
I froze, gripping the hilt of my sword so tightly I could feel the leather straining around my gloves.
For a moment, I was sure it had caught my scent. Then, it lunged into a nearby bush and emerged with a squealing rodent clamped between its jaws.
I let out a silent sigh of relief, my grip loosening ever so slightly.
The humanoid calydiptid said something to the mutt, I couldn't quite make out what they said. Then they continued moving, inching steadily towards the ambush point.
With each passing moment the tension in my bones increased. I closed my eyes and pictured my daughter in my mind, her squishy face filled with delight. Her hair, the colour of yellow sand lining the shore, was scrunched up into a bun on top of her head. Her bright blue eyes, filled with so much childlike happiness, were almost pressed shut from the wide grin on her face.
In times like these, she is what keeps me going.
I felt some of the tension lessen, it was still there, looming over me and threatening to shatter me like so much fragile glass. I wouldn't let it.
The cart was seconds away from the ambush point, I got into position.
A steady breath in.
Go.
I leaped to the ground, a disgusting crunch from below me as I landed on the humanoid plant freak.
I pulled my sword from its hilt and let my body ease into the stance I had put so many years of my life into perfecting. One of the canine creatures lunged at me, taking my sword in it's maw.
I let go of the sword and drove my fist into its too-long skull, a whimpering sound released from the creature and my blade clattered to the ground as its jaw fell slack.
Below me, the humanoid calydiptid shifted, It's body swelled and I lost balance.
Tumbling backwards I caught myself on a low hanging branch.
The once small calydiptid grew threefold, I looked for my blade below but it was lost to the chaos.
The second canine calydiptid pounced towards me, I jumped down to meet it, it's face colliding with my boots. The creature hit the ground with a thump.
I darted towards the cart, it had been thrown to the ground by the battle.
Boxes were scattered around the cart, I caught sight of the one I had been instructed to steal. Rushing towards it I heard the swooshing of something large traveling through the air, looking back I saw the finished shape of the too-large calydiptid.
Part man, part wolf. Full abomination.
Bipedal in nature, but it had four arms covered in grey-black fur. An almost human face was hideously stretched, giving it an an almost canine appearance. These calydiptids truly had no end to their disgusting creativity.
One of the arms drew my attention, it was reeling back and clearly getting ready to strike. I jumped up and latched onto the creatures fur, then I heaved myself up and sat atop the appendage.
Sprinting along the arm, towards the creature's face.
It looked at me with obvious disdain. An unusual display for the commonly emotionless creatures.
I reached the calydiptid's face and jumped up, the jaw snapped, trying to catch me mid leap.
Avoiding the attack I landed on the creatures nose, pulling a concealed dagger from my boot, I launched it at the creature's disgusting purple eye.
All four of the arms came up to try stop the blade, but the size of the creature made it far too slow.
An awful screech shook the trees as the creature wept in pain, I leaped to the ground and found the box of goods again.
Inside were vials of glowing green liquid, whatever these are, I hope they're worth all this effort.
I took as many of the vials as I could carry and I took off, speeding away as fast as my legs could take me.
This forest, once silent, was alive with sound.
A noise like bones collapsing in on themselves rang aloud. I looked back to see the huge form of the calydiptid had dissapeared.
Footsteps echoed around me.
As I turned to meet the approaching threat, my footing faltered, leaving me unable to block in time, the calydiptid now back in human form slashed at me with a blade-like arm.
I slammed into the ground, all of the precious vials shattered.
My entire mission now a wasted endeavour.
Pain rang sharp in my mind, feeling at the area I noticed that a shard of glass had embedded itself into my side.
Ripping the glass out of my side should've hurt a lot, but I felt nothing.
Surprised by the painlessness I felt around the area where the glass pierced, the lack of a cut made me think perhaps I had imagined it, but the blood staining my once white shirt was clear as day.
Somehow the cut had already healed.
I had no time to ponder it as the calydiptid rushed back towards me, it's blade arm ready to cut my head clean off.
My heart pounded in my chest, being sure this was my end, I just wished I could've seen my baby girl one more time, but instead of slicing me, it snapped in half on the hardness of my flesh. Leaving me with not even a scratch. I couldn't believe it, what in the world could've caused this change?
Taking my chance I kicked the calydiptid, it was sent flying deep into the forest, out of sight.
Somewhere deep inside, I felt a heat, a burning strength that was only just beginning to reveal itself.
Lurching, I barely stopped myself from hurling. Growing heat radiated outwards, burning my whole body from the inside.
Pain barely imaginable, my nerves alight with heavenly star-fire. Like the ancient leviathans wriggling inside me. Then the pain faded as quickly as it came.
It was then that I knew my future was forever changed, and many others' by association.