118 CXVIII. The Mutant Beas (1/2)

”Karl! Wake up! I'm Dag!” he continued.

Karl opened his eyes wide, screaming: ”aaagh! Aaaagh! Where is it?! Where's that thing?!”

”Sshhh! Silence!” said Dag, as he continued to approach his friend.

”Dag, Reidar! A huge flying being brought me up here! I couldn't see much, it grabbed me by the legs and lifted me off the ground! I think I banged my head and lost consciousness...” continued Karl, as he squirmed, trying to free himself.

Dag finally reached the top, when the trunk to which the grappling hook was hooked began to make less reassuring sounds.

”Hurry up, Dag! That trunk won't hold your weight for much longer!” said Karl.

Dag pulled out his hammer and began hitting the logs that kept Karl imprisoned, trying to break them without hurting his friend.

With difficulty, he managed to break them all and when Karl broke away from the ceiling, he clung to Dag, so as not to fall.

The stone trunk shattered and Dag and Karl fell back to the ground.

”Ouch!”

”Aagh!”

They both complained, writhing on the ground in pain.

”Why did you fucking cling to me like that... are you dumb?!” said Dag, trying to recover.

”I thought your rope held us! And then... you served me to cushion the blow” chuckled Karl, happy to see his friends again.

”Thank you for saving me. I thought you'd never be able to find me in this place, more like a labyrinth than a forest” he continued, rising from the ground.

”If anything had happened to you, I would never have forgiven myself, brother. I'm glad you're safe” said Dag, who hugged Karl.

”I don't want to interrupt you, but... I think something's coming towards us... that way!” said Reidar, pointing an arrow at him.

Dag pulled out the hammer and Karl ran to his horse, taking the shield and tomahawk from a bag.

From the darkness, a being walked slowly toward them: the torch that Reidar had wedged in the tree began to illuminate part of its body.

Two narrow, long hand-shaped paws held a pair of large featherless wings, red as blood. The lower legs came out right after, much larger and more imposing, although the steps of that abomination were unnaturally silent.

Then the torch also illuminated its chest, which seemed to be dug inwards, albeit of a humanoid form.

A large hairy mane stretched from the animal's back to above the head, where its gigantic pointed, upward-stretched ears moved to one side and the other, picking up all kinds of sounds.

When the animal raised its face towards Dag and his companions, they shuddered: a giant bat, just over two meters high, was staring at them, with its small, bright black eyes.

It had black fur, like the sky at midnight and its wings as red as blood.

The large flattened nose was similar to that of a pig: when it was close enough to smell human beings, it turned its head towards Dag and opened its mouth, showing its thin tusks, long and sharp as razors.

It uttered an inhumane verse, a screech that forced Dag and the others to cover their ears with their hands.