Furry Nightmares

There were not many obstacles in his way, speeding through the pastures and grasslands. The figure that was watching from a distance was flying overhead, keeping a close eye on Errit.

He started pouring all his energy into the vehicle's spellwork, but he couldn't outpace the flier. 'fuck fuck fuck.' Errit gripped the wheel tighter and found another path leading away. It was a rough path, rocks were everywhere. He bounced in his seat more than a few times as he was trying to flee.

The figure in the sky didn't come closer, it seemed like they were doing recon or just observing. Errit's actions made him look desperate and it followed from a distance.

'I'm never going to outrun them.' Errit watched the tires spin out, he was stuck on a hill. He got out and stored the cart away and ran up the hill to pull it back out. 'Ugh!' Pulling the Cart back out, he felt a stinging sensation. He felt overtaxed, tired, dizzy. The Chains supported his body while he was entering the drivers seat, he passed out.

"Looks like he's exerted himself too much, lets go take a look." A Second figure arrived near the first. They landed.

Grabbing at his waist, the Chains slapped at his arm. Large gashes appeared on the man's forearm, his scales had been taken. They swirled around the Cart, protecting it like a shield and laid the torn scales in Errit's hand while he slept.

"He has an active defense barrier. Watch out, its strong enough to tear my scales." Joo had been with Fillon for nearly eight years, their teamwork was well coordinated but Fillon had never seen Joo cautious about something that looked so trivial.

"It can't be an active defense barrier, that guy doesn't give off any sort of threatening aura. Also, the things, whatever they are, lets call them chains since they look like it, those things are only blocking his side. I'll just go over the top and take a shot at its source, we just have to destroy whatever talisman he's got going." There was a sinister quality of her voice, she was scheming.

Motioning to hurry up, Joo flew beside Fillon and watched her fly above the chain shield. Fillon charged the weapon in front of her "Dynamo Shot!" It went through cycles and then expelled its blast.

The Chains swept across the top of the Cart and then lunged toward Fillon, stripping her of her weapon, then her clothes, then her skin, muscles and bone. They were separated and laid out on the ground.

Joo watched in horror as she was ripped apart. There was nothing she could have done to stop the chains from killing her, but Joo couldn't even muster a single muscle to fire. The sight of his beloved being torn and disassembled was too much for him, he flew away as fast as he could.

The Suns started to cook the remains while Errit was passed out at the wheel. He didn't wake up for almost six hours, the suns were starting to set. In the twilight, he saw the severed tendons and bones laying in a pile next to a set of clothes and a weapon. In his lap were some scales. He put the skeleton away and looked at the skin. When he noticed it had a face he dropped it.

The naked, scaled skin of a female. It was soft and warm from the heat of the sun. Errit didn't know if he should be mortified or disgusted by the sight of the disassembled body. Her meat sat in a pile, it rotted in the suns. Looking up, he saw small flying creatures converging on his position, interested in the smell of the rotting carcass.

He scooped up the skin, bones, weapon and clothes. Nearby he saw a feather, it was large and didn't match any of the approaching creatures. Errit wondered if maybe it belonged to whatever killed the woman, putting it away he got into the Cart. He was hungry, bitterly so. Looking at the pile of rotting meat, he lost his appetite, stored the cart away and started to walk.

Plants along the mountain path grew to shade him as he stumbled looking for a place to rest. Using a rock as a place of respite, Errit started another fire and pulled out some of the vegetables to fry. He didn't have the strength to continue and his movements were sloppy. He didn't even bother to remove the seeds from some of the fruits. There were currants, lots of them in a bush. They ripened the closer he came.

A Small animal came out of the darkness and started devouring the bush. 'little fucker.' Errit thought about kicking the animal away but gave up and looked back at his frying pan. the vegetables were starting to brown. 'Good,' Hoping that he would have some meat to add to the mixture, he pulled out the spear. Errit wasn't sure if the chains would eat his meal, he did his best to hold them back as he lined up his throw.

The little bastard was hiding with its cheeks full behind another bush. The Mask did a good job of removing blind spots, auras were impossible to completely hide. The small animal noticed Errit's gaze and started to flee. Errit threw the spear, it landed in front of the small animal. It started to scream. The scream pierced the night like a howl, then suddenly hundreds more voices just like it surrounded the camp. Skreiking and screaming.

Its large eyes, small mouth and big ears covered in fur made it look like a plush toy, but it was anything except friendly. Opening its tiny mouth, sharp teeth started to peek through its lips.

Errit stopped worrying about his dinner, stored it away with the pan and threw out the chains in its direction.

The Chains penetrated the body of the small animal, its furry body was unable to withstand the force of the incoming strikes. A hole in the body marked its corpse, and more of them appeared; attracted to the smell of blood, currants and the sounds of shrieking.

They didn't stop their noise until they leapt in his direction, all intending to bite at him. The Chains threw up a wall and blocked several of the creatures from attacking his back, but the animals were torn to pieces, their flesh laid in a pile, bones torn from their bodies and their furs laid in a stack.

'What.. that.. fuck?' Errit noticed the stacks of items on the ground, he wasn't sure what think about the development. 'So the chains did that to the woman?' Errit nearly vomited, there were still tens of tens of animals lurking in his vicinity. Errit grabbed the spear from the ground and went to stab at the next incoming few. They dropped to the ground, frozen, preserved. "This seems like it will work."

After a few dozen of their kin had been slain, the small creatures started to cower back realizing that they had little chance to make a meal out of the beast in front of them.

Errit grabbed the furs and inspected them. They looked like rabbits with antlers. 'fast as fast as can be, you'll never catch me. My ass.' Errit put the Jackalope remains into his ring, some of them looked like they had been stitched together only recently. 'Undead things, great. just what I need. Zombie Rabbit Deer.'

The noises subsided as the last one disappeared into the darkness. The rustling of bushes kept Errit awake the entire night.

In the morning, he saw the bloodstains that marked the campsite.