Meeting A Lord I

"Veltae..."

The repetition of my name continued. It wasn't my birth name it was calling out as it acted similarly to the creature that led me here.

"Who..."

As I attempted to speak my voice trailed off. I felt on my neck stood as a sense of fear enveloped my entire being. It was a feeling that was all too familiar, It felt the same as when I stood before the one that held the elder voice.

Slowly twisting my neck, I failed to notice the disappearance of the whispering voice and turned my head to the only hall connected to this room.

Suddenly it hit me, the feeling of being watched that I felt earlier and a similar predatory gaze to those I felt outside.

Fear entirely took hold of me as I gazed at the now dark hall, the torches extinguished. There was a trail of blue after glowing blue eyes while red dripped from spectral fangs. It was not blood, it was the red energy that often entered my gaze.

I couldn't stop my legs from shaking, I had barely any room to run, and I could probably use the pillars as cover. So, hoping I could survive this beast, I stood still and waited with bated breath as it slowly approached.

It was releasing low and strange wheezing sounds, whatever type of feet it had were slamming onto the floor; I could hear it cracking underneath it.

It soon stepped into the dim-lit from, revealing itself.

Once I saw it, I couldn't help but release an inaudible gasp It was an abomination that could incite nightmares within children.

The creature before me was translucent as Its skeleton was presented for all to see. Its purple translucent body continuously shifted from translucent to nontranslucent as its flesh and fur moved in a grotesque fashion, similar to that of a mound of worms.

I wanted to gag at the sight of it.

Its body upon closer inspection looked similar to a mix of a bear and a wolf. Minus the horns on its head and its floppy ears, along with the protruding bones hoping down its spine.

Its jaw was leaking red as if it had just eaten something bloody, but that red was the same as the energy I was often surprised by.

Parts of its body would fall off before evaporating into red energy that returned to the beast. Every step of it caused the ground to crack.

I stood there in a daze, the coffin behind me was still shaking. I wanted to know what was happening with it but I didn't want to risk my life with this abomination. I needed to escape it.

Could I even escape it?

Even though the beast looked large and sluggish for some reason I couldn't help but think it was the complete opposite, and I'm honestly thinking of trusting my instincts more.

I should have left as soon as I felt eyes on me. Why was this abhorrent thing here in the first place!?

"Ugh."

I couldn't help groaning at the retrospective that I might die here.

"I-I should've g-given her o-one more hug."

Relaying my wish out loud I noticed how the shaking behind me had settled down. The fog that had enveloped the floor was also settling down as the creature continued its path to me.

"Why me..."

How long has this creature been here? Why was it here? No more importantly, why was it coming after me!?

I was mentally freaking out, but I had no time for such a thing. Shaking the thoughts out of my head I noticed how the creature before me had paused and stood still – its glowing eyes were shut along with its open maw.

"Wha?"

I was left speechless. It stopped, it just stopped. What was going on? Why make a creature so terrifying and have it appear in front of me if it is not going to rip my throat off!?

I was freaked out when it was approaching me all for it to stop and sit in silence. It's like my death was just put on hold.

I still couldn't find the will in me to stop shaking but I had calmed down significantly. I watched in silence as I wanted to know what it was doing.

That was when the fog underneath us began to swirl and move towards the beast. The fog was being sucked into its body as It began to glow in a blinding light that lit the room like a flashbang.

"Tsk, what in the."

Covering my eyes I clicked my tongue. It was obvious what was happening right now, the beast was getting stronger, changing. In front of me in fact, it was getting an evolution. Its presence was becoming even more frightening... I'm leaving, I want to leave.

How was this fair at all? This creature was already powerful, its mere presence caused my knees to shake. Even though I was weak and that was common it didn't make it better!

Still covering my eyes I inched over to the side, hiding behind one of the room's large pillars. Uncovering them, I kept my eyes glued to the pillar protecting me – I didn't want to be blinded again.

Moments later, the light calmed down, not knowing whether it was safe or not, I peeked around the corner. I wondered what its sudden glowing was doing.

With my head slightly poking out, I caught a good look at the creature's new appearance. Whereas its previous appearance was grotesque and horrid, this new one was majestic, ethereal even.

It was still flashing between its transparency but it was no longer nauseating to look at, its body was no longer falling apart and the fur and flesh of it no longer moved – not to mention the fact that it no longer had red energy dripping from its less vicious maws.

It had turned into a beautiful bear and wolf chimera with floppy ears. Even though its oppressive and great presence remained it was much more majestic and was easier to stand in front of.

I didn't know whether or not to walk out and approach it. It was still staying in its place, it practically guarded the hall though. I had previously been afraid that it would lunge at me, but that doesn't seem to be the issue.

I was no longer shaking and I could stand up straight. Cat still had me by the tongue, but it would be better to confront this problem than to sit back and allow it to happen. I promised myself that I would never allow that to happen again.

Biting down on my lower lip, I resolved to myself and approached it.

Pat Pat Pat – As I wasn't wearing shoes the patting of my feet remained on my mind, I was focusing on something minor in this tense mind of mine. The only other noise in the room would be the low rumbling escaping the throat of the creature.

Its eyes remained shut, it was huffing out puffs of the red fog as it sat on its hind legs.

As I neared the creature, with each step I was growing ever more nervous and anxious. It wasn't going to eat me right? What was with all these strange creatures in this forest? Though I guess the domain of Tyvetta is bound to have remarkable things.

I wonder what the creatures in the other Lord's domains are like? No, Lulu. This is no time to be speculating about such things.

Shaking my head I found myself a few steps away from the beast, and I choked; It had finally unfolded its eyes.

Its eyes were no longer seeping blue energy as they were before. Now they were like the eyes of a rather typical predator with irises the color of mustard yellow. It was looking down on me with an inquisitive gaze.

Even as it stared at me with its question gaze it had yet to speak, leading me to suspect that it could not. Perhaps not all of these beings could speak.

Coming to this conclusion, the beast and I remained in a prolonged staring contest. Both of our gazes contained curiosity yet only one of us expressed an anxiousness on par with it.

"You. C-can you speak?"

I questioned it, cursing my stutter. It always showed up in the worst of times, and my entire time in this forest has been afflicted with it.

The beast growled in response. I didn't know whether or not that could be considered a response, but I took that as a yes. The beast didn't currently display any hostility, so I was relieved with that at least.

As I attempted to leave the room but was stopped at once by one of its legs... I tried the other side – It happened once again...

"... W-what? W-why a-are you keeping m-me h-here for?"

I spoke up in confusion. It wanted to keep me here. Why? I didn't want to be in this room that held a corpse not to mention the fact that its coffin seeped out strange red fog. I wanted no part in this anymore.

I've already been lenient and obedient enough by following the elder creature here and coming into this room, but now it wants me to stay? This is all crazy.

I was already reluctant to come here by myself in the first place, I'm here unwillingly for lord's sake. I could only sigh at my thoughts as I looked up at it.

Even though I had just shared my question with it, the creature didn't even bother to growl this time – instead, it stared me in the eyes before moving them to something behind me.

Following its gaze, It landed on the coffin. It was no longer shaking or releasing the red fog, but it still had an eerie air around it.

"Don't t-tell me– "

My head quickly served back to the beast in front of me. I was hoping it would shake its head and deny all my thoughts, but it nodded.

The sheer thought of what it was insinuating with its gaze frightened me to no end. I didn't want to believe it, no, I didn't want to do it; but it wouldn't let me leave.

Why must I do all this? Was I going to be given something? I hope so, they can't have put me through all this just to not give me anything, well at most I hope they don't give me death.

I hesitantly took a step, then the next and the one after that. My anxiety made what only took a few seconds to feel like hours.

I arrived in front of the coffin and bit on my bottom lip harder than I did before, causing it to bleed. Clenching my fist I waited... Nothing happened.

"D-Don't tell me– "

It wanted me to open the coffin!? This crazy beast! This was not a safe or morally great thing to do, usually opening strange coffins like this leads to me being cursed or releasing an immeasurable evil into the world– Wait.

It's already open.

It was opened when the fog was flooding out of it, so what I was supposed to do was fully open it. I wanted to laugh honestly. Was this supposed to be an auspicious day or something for these strange beasts?

After all, they seemed to have come together to push me into this place and bother the owner of this coffin... which was Tyvetta. Great.

I guess I'm to meet this Lord that I'm the supposed daughter of, yeah, great... When is Karma coming? I'm scared.

"Ugh."

Letting out an exasperated groan I calmed myself down. This was no time for me to start breaking down, I'll do that later when I get home. Let's just get this over and done with.

I shook my wrist and prepped myself. Something was going to happen when this coffin was fully popped open and I had to prepare myself.

Letting out a sigh, with pursed lips I struggled to push the top of the coffin off.

Cough Cough – Even if this coffin looked brand new, it was old and dusty. Not to mention how heavy it was, my arms already felt weak just pushing the top off.

I furrowed my brows and took a multitude of steps back, something was happening in the coffin. I hadn't got a good look at its insides as my instincts forced me to pull away from it, yet what I did catch a glimpse of was spectac– no. I can't describe it, I'm at a loss for words.

Inside the coffin was a swirl of red and blue. I had no chance to see the body, the energy was enough for me, its mere presence alone trumped both the beast behind me and the elder one above put together.

It trumped them but it didn't frighten or oppress me, instead, it was warm, soothing even. It was a welcoming presence that was pulling me in. The feeling it was giving off to me was reminiscent of what I felt when I was within my mother's embrace. A mother's warmth...

I unknowingly took back my steps as I approached the coffin once more.

Until I paused.

A graceful hand stretched out of the coffin, my sight was obscured by the swirls of red and blue that covered the skin on its hands. Grasping the side of the coffin with its hand it used it to raise its body; revealing its upper body.

Sitting in the coffin was a feminine figure, wrapped around her figure was a robe as dark as night along with long flowing hair of a similar shade. Her entire body was obscured by the swirls of red and blue.

It was a sight out of my dreams, Her blue eyes, eyes similar to mine gazed in my direction, her eyes held a sense of warmth as she continued to look at me. That gaze of hers felt familiar to me, almost as if I could hear everything her eyes wished to express.

She had yet to speak to me and I had yet to speak to her yet I yearned to hear her voice. What was this feeling? Why was I feeling like this? I had never felt this before, not with my own family not even with Karma.

My lips were trembled and my lashes fluttered, I wasn't nervous so my ears stayed still as we stared each other in the eyes. I felt the need to speak to her, the need to embrace her. Out of all the things that felt familiar, she was the culmination of all of them and I couldn't help but know why.

"You. You. You are Tyvetta."

I didn't stutter. It was almost as if her presence alone removed everything that ailed me. My throat didn't hurt, my arms didn't hurt, my legs didn't hurt even my back felt perfectly fine.

I knew that the wounds were still there, they weren't healed but being near her felt as if I entered some type of paradise, one that I didn't want to leave.

To my words, she nodded. She stretched out her hands to which I approached her without any hesitation, completely forgetting about the beast that sat behind me.

"Yes, Veltae. My dear child, come to me."

With her sweet, enticing words soothing my mind as they entered my ear – I stepped up to the coffin in fell into her embrace, I never imagined anything like this happening. Never mind it happening with someone I've never met.