My little horse stopped just outside a village, spooked by something in the distance.

“Come on! We need to get home.”

I pulled on the reins, trying to get him to move. The horse remained standing in the path. I peered out into the misty morning fog, trying to see why he wouldn’t move. Whatever was there, it was blocking the path to my hometown. I really wanted to go home, but I had three more stops. It was still relatively dark, and a cloud of humidity hung around the trees and fields. I strained my eyes, still trying to get moving. Out of the corner of my eye, a small human hand reached out of a bush. Fear grasped my brain, freezing me in place. 

“Go!” I commanded, pulling on my horse towards the village on my right. As my horse began to move, snapping out of its trance, I looked back at where the hand appeared. Now, a few kids stood by the bush, their inky black eyes and bloody clothes threatening to catch me.

Reaching the village gates, I screamed and yelled as loud as possible. Guards ceased me, pulling off the horse.

“ Ring the bells! Ring them!” I pleaded.

Their fear was immediate. They stayed to apprehend me, while others closed the gates and warned the rest of the village. The children ran to the gates, their cries and screams distorted by an unnatural evil. Two guards pulled me into a nearby building and slammed the door closed. The rest stayed outside to fight off the Zillah. 

“Who are you?” They spoke sharply, tying me to an empty chair by the door.

“A runner! I was about to point to the sealed letter in my bag when they paused. The outside had suddenly gone silent. The guards took off into another room, swearing, leaving me partially bound to the chair. I tugged on the ropes holding my arms to my sides, but couldn’t break free. The ropes burned my wrists. I stopped, not daring to make any sound. Looking around, I saw a little desk, with a few transmitters, but nothing to free me. The silence was broken by a sharp scream. I struggled still, and began scooting towards the desk, hoping there would be something to break free. The chair scraped across the concrete flooring. It was more Zillah screams than human, so I assumed the guards had gotten control over them again. Continuing the agonizingly slow process of moving the chair, I had gotten about halfway to the desk, when my chair hit a worn, crumbling part of the floor, causing it to tip over. I cried out, biting my tongue as I hit the floor. I tasted blood, and the chair landed on my ankle, threatening to crush it.

The two guards from before came rushing in. 

“You said you were a runner right?” He sounded worried.

“Yeah, get me out of this chair.” I spat. 

“Where’s the code? You know what I mean right?”

“In my bag. Untie me, or I will yell so loud the Zillah will come straight for this house.”

One guard looked through my bag, while the other worked on the knots holding me. He looked at me hesitantly before letting the final binding fall.

“I found the letter.” The one stopped digging through my bag and pulled out the letter with a bright red seal on the front.

“Yep. Told you.” I spit the blood from my mouth onto the floor.

“Can you help us with something? We got orders to release you if you were willing.”

“Sure, just don’t tie me back up if I say no.” He gave a nervous laugh.

“ We need you to have the Zillah chase you through town.”

“I’d rather take the chair.” I grabbed my bag and began to walk to the door.”

“Please. The guards are dying right now. We need you to round them up, so we can shoot them.”

“Fine. Where’s my horse?”

“Follow us.”

The guards hurried toward their stables, made of big logs, put together by their working class presumably. I hobbled a bit, my ankle still tender from the blow.

“Here we are.”

My horse stood waiting patiently for me to ride.

“How did you get him over here so fast?”

“He just followed one of our men who was running to get his own horse.”

“Traitor.” I mumbled, climbing on.

The two guards wished me luck and gave me directions on where to go. Going faster than I dared, I arrived at a bloodbath. Dark red mixed with inky black from the Zillah. I sighed out of relief when there was more black than red. I looked around, trying to find the place where the remaining guards had drawn the Zillah too. Riding over a hill, I spotted close to eight guards trying to lure the Zillah out of the village. 

Speeding downwards, I started yelling and making as much noise as possible.

“Line up towards the square! I'll lead the Zillah to you.”

The other guards must have told them what to do, because they ran without hesitation. I assumed backup would be coming from the other side of the village, so I kept going, trying to draw the monsters to me. Slowly, each one locked their gaze onto me. Barreling towards me, the Zillah screamed, piercing my ears with their horrifying shrieks. I made a sharp turn, willing my horse to keep moving, the Zillah followed, trying their best to keep up with me. I needed to stay near the Zillah, making me their main priority. Thundering back up the hill, I turned and looked behind, Close to thirty children shaped monstrosities we're closing in. The fear in my brain crept through me, threatening to lead me straight into the monster’s jaws. 

At last, the town's square came into view, with close to a hundred people with bows and knives on the sides of the streets, ready to go. I pushed on, my horse stumbling and fighting to keep pace. One of the Zillah got too close. It grabbed onto my bag,  weighing me down. I turned to try and push it off and gasped. It was close to three, and was trying it’s best to claw my eyes out. Grabbing it by the arm, I tried to fling it off of me. Instead, I received a large bite into my finger. I grimaced, one hand on the reins, another getting chewed on by the little Zillah. Eventually, I managed to pry it off, throwing it back into the crowd of chasers, but not before it had essentially reduced my hand to a bloody mess. 

Tears crowded my vision, but the village was about 20 feet ahead. Any second, the villagers would attack. All at once, an onslaught of arrows, knives, and rocks cascaded past me, aiming for the horde of Zillah. I gave a quick grin, which was then turned into a grimace, as my hand’s injury came into full effect. Whatever adrenaline I had, was now gone, and the extent of my injuries was weighing down on me. I dared to look behind me, and saw only a few Zillah still chasing me. Out of nowhere, a force hit me from behind, knocking me off. I put my good hand to where I had been hit, and it came away red. My vision faded away, but before, I felt the hands of people rushing to pick me up.

I awoke in a thin, uncomfortable bed. It felt like our house. My head was thundering, and I couldn’t move. 

“Shhh.” I heard from my right. I opened my puffy eyes, trying to see who’s voice had woken me. Two women, one in a rusty brown tunic, the other wearing more formal clothes, stood beside me. A basket of medicine and some water was at my bedside.

“Hello! Nice to see you awake. How do you feel?”

“Sick.” I replied, my throat hoarse.

“Understandable.” She grabbed one of the medicine’s from the basket and poured the powder into the water. Swirling it around a bit, she offered it to me with a smile. I took it and drank greedily. 

“What's your name?”

“Cassius. How long was I sleeping?” I asked in between gulps of water. The medicine tasted terrible.

“ An hour or two. Not too long considering you were hit by a rock.”

“ I need to get back on my route.” I slid off the mattress and tried to stand.

“Nope, you need medical treatment.”

“I'll be late. I need to get home.”

“You can be late. Look at your hand.” The gashes from earlier were an angry red, and it was covered in some sort of slimy salve. It looked like my hand had been eaten and spit out, which it essentially had.

“ I don’t care.” 

“ I'll make you a deal.”

“ Fine.”

“ Me and Inka can give you an escort from village to village to your home.”
“okay, but you have to keep up. I'm not being any later than I already am. The other villages have probably told the Myahan i'm dead.”

“ Ok, give us ten minutes to get your stuff together.”

“Can I send a transmit to the Myahan?”

“Sure.” She handed my backpack over.