One of my first attempts at writing a fun short story. Please make any comment you feel would help improve this piece.
Maria appreciated the small courtesy the creature showed her. It could have interrupted her tea break, charging into the small clearing she found beside the forest path. Instead, the creature waited until she had finished sipping from the small canteen of brewed tea she had brought with her. As she finished putting the cap back on, she noticed the creature getting ready to pounce.
It was smart enough to come from behind her, so she couldn't see it. The rustle of the bushes, an anomaly among these silent trees, were the signal that told her it was coming. She had only noticed it earlier among the long shadows, which were more numerous than the trees in this forest; a creature that was made blurry and indistinct by those shadows, standing out due to how unnatural its faint features were.
Whatever limbs it had were too jagged and sharp, resembling a broken girder more than anything that belonged in a forest. They added a sharpness to the shadows that kept them from looking natural. From the corner of her eye, when she took a brief look at the shadows the creatures lurked, she also noticed the depth it added. If the shadows were as dark as a black card, this creature had the … no, it was the darkness of an abyssal hole.
A darkness that contained all the fears a person could imagine. The fears which skirted alongside the unimaginable horror which waited.
After noticing all this, Maria continued on in the hope that it would go away. She didn't want to attack it just because it was creepy. While she considered herself educated, she was humble enough to admit that she didn't know much about nature; after years of sleeping through biology and zoology, she had no way of knowing if that creature was just an ugly herbivore or not. If that was the case, then it would only be as dangerous as her Aunt Graciela's little terrier.
Besides, if she tried to charge into the dark trees where it crawled through, she might not have good footing. The ground might be broken, muddy, or have potholes to impede her movements. Her martial instructor had always warned her that one of the key points of fighting was to keep the feet firmly on the ground. With good footing her movements could be more focused, an enemy would have a hard time tripping her, and she wouldn't look like an idiot trying to perform a leaping kick.
Now, as the creature was getting ready to pounce, she got ready to fight off the creature. She didn't know how intelligent it was, so she tried to keep her preparations subtle. Just in case it was smart enough, she didn't want it to figure out she knew it was there.
She checked on the creature's hiding spot with a silver makeup mirror, quickly marking the rustling bushes that showed up in her reflection. She stood up slowly so it wouldn't be shocked by sudden movement, making sure her feet were firmly planted on the ground. Finally, she checked the weapon on her side to make sure it was ready.
Then, in one last attempt to prevent a confrontation, she turned around slowly. Her eyes focused on the rustling bushes, her gaze sharpened, and her stance widened. "Back away," she ordered in a quiet voice as sharp as her weapon. She hoped that making herself seem more threatening would intimidate it.
She briefly considered herself lucky to have taken her dark leather hood and greatcoat on this trip. Not only did they fashionably hold off the forest's chill, they also hid her petite frame and dusky features with their thick material; making herself appear larger and sturdier than she really was.
When something charged out of the bushes at her, Maria dashed to the side towards the forest path. She needed as much room as she could get to fight whatever this was. While she got that room, she tried to figure out just what this creature was.
The thing, not a creature but a thing, that charged out of those bushes was unnatural. Maria's knee-jerk comparison was to an eyeless spider with too many legs. A featureless sphere that projected numerous jagged lines in all directions. It was almost the sort of thing a child could draw on a piece of paper; just put a dark circle on a piece of paper and draw a bunch of scribbles extending from it.
The only thing a child would have trouble drawing was the shine it had. As moonlight filtered through the foliage and fell on this thing, she saw it react to that light. Beneath its' skin, numerous points of light began to shine. The abstract creature began taking on an astral quality; somehow as deep as space, while emanating the awe-inspiring power of the stars.
Maria had hoped she would get through these woods without encountering something like this. A reminder of the foolish wizards who summoned a power from the farthest stars. Details of what exactly they summoned were lost to time. The only thing people knew was that this power's remnants sometimes made dangerous things. Things that waylaid any traveler they found, making the path through these woods rarely traveled.
Facing this bundle of wild lines and starry light, Maria reminded herself that she was not most travelers. She was brave enough to enter these woods, fierce enough to fight for her survival, and had trained enough to be ready for a fight. She also had a weapon which shone under the moonlight.
Her rapier glowed silver under the faint light, emanating a brilliant strength and stability. In a few years, this glow would earn her the name Silverfall in stories. For now, this glow attacked the creature's ethereal light in the shadows of the forest.
She took a few thrusts at it, tentatively probing its defenses. There were too many stories telling the perils of underestimating these things for her to attack it carelessly. She circled it as she thrust, trying to figure out how maneuverable it was.
The thing, which she began to call the "star-spider" in her head, whipped a few of its lines at her. As Maria stepped back to evade the attack, she tried to thrust at one of them. As the thin appendages flailed wildly, most of her strikes missed. Her rapier continued trying to reach it, while the star-spider continued to move them through the air like they were a swarm of angry hornets.
Until her rapier stung one of them.
By chance more than by skill, her rapier suddenly struck one of them through the middle. The unfortunate limb broke off, fading away into astral weaves before it touched the ground. Despite its expressionless center, its sudden stillness let her know she hurt it.
The sudden luck brought a smile to Maria. She now knew that the star-spider could be hurt by her rapier; as well as the fact that its limbs were fragile. A useful thing to know considering how it was using most of its lines to walk. If she destroyed a couple more limbs, she would render it incapable of moving and be able to defeat it.
Maria kicked up some dirt towards the star-spider, sending a small cloud of dust towards it. She didn't know if it had eyes, but she guessed that the dust would probably blind it. She quickly made several powerful thrusts through the cloud, taking a few more lines.
When its own lines thrusted back in a clumsy counterattack, she weaved through it and closed in. As she continued her assault, she made a sharp kick at its legs. Instead of tripping it over as she hoped, it only pushed the thing back in a stumble. She briefly wondered what it was made of, since kicking the legs felt like she was attacking a rubbery metal.
That made her glad the creature didn't seem to be a good fighter. She realized that while its arcane appearance was intimidating, it was still a part of reality. In reality, all things can and will end, even if their magical beings from far-off stars.
In the next moment, it reminded her what that really meant.
The star-spider leapt back, landing a few steps away with a thump. It sent up a plume of dirt as it planted all the lines it had remaining into the ground. Maria prepared for a charge, imagining it using all of those lines to run at her. She was ready to finish this with a spectacular stab through its center.
When it didn't do that, she began to wonder if it had retreated inward. The only thing it did was make those spots of light it had brighten a bit more. A few seconds later, that brightness increased sharply. A few days later, Maria would be kicking herself for letting it get ready to attack.
When the brightness had reached its peak, a fusillade of energy shot forth at her. Each missile was a raging blaze of every color a star could have with the force of a meteor behind it. It reminded her of the arcane bolts wizards would sometimes shoot, which made her run.
Ignoring her earlier decision to stay out of the forest, Maria ran to the trees for cover. She was able to dodge a few of the missiles, which shot past her into the dirt. Knowing that wouldn't be enough against all the missiles, she sped up. Diving behind a thick-looking tree, she hoped it would be strong enough to protect her.
The missiles slammed into the forest, tearing apart the trees in their path. The thick foliage of the forest saved Maria, preventing the tree she was using from being completely destroyed by the full force of the combined missiles. The remaining missiles that reached her tree only slammed into it like a giant hammer, toppling the tree and knocking her to the ground.
Getting up off the ground, she looked past the devastation to see the star-spider getting ready for another attack. With a ferocity kindled by her near-death experience, she chose to finish it off before she had to run for another tree.
She didn't decide that. She was too angry to make anything like a rational decision. Throwing away subtlety and restraint, she charged it with a roar; cutting across the ground and reaching it in a few seconds.
With both hands on her rapier, she plunged it through the star-spider's core. Impaled on the rapier, she raised her weapon up and slammed the star-spider into the ground several times. Finally, she shoved the star-spider off her blade, gave it the appropriate farewell kick, and watched the lights it had fade away.
For a few moments, she didn't know how to feel. Adrenaline and shock surged through her, keeping her still as she took in all the details of the scene. A few deep breaths had to be taken to regain some measure of calm.
Then, she realized what she did. She had beaten something mysterious and magical that had come from the stars. The fight was hard, but she had done something she could be proud of. She let a grin pop up as she considered how she beat one of the truly frightening things that lurked in these woods.
After that, she came to a chilling conclusion. This wasn't the only thing of its type that lurked in these woods. Out in the darkness surrounding her could be more such things.
Before she could even imagine a shape for those vague threats, she quickly began to continue down the forest path. Hopefully, she'd be out of this forest in an hour and that much closer to her destination: The Lost City of Yharnam.
It had been several years since that mysterious city, known far and wide for its incredible blood healing, had been heard from. Terrible stories trickled outward slowly. People spoke of monsters, madness, and worse nightmares.
Those stories might be terrible, but they also attracted her. Maria figured that after a couple years, anything in such a dangerous city would have died out by now. Besides, even if there was anything that could still put up a fight, she would enjoy a little tussle.
The thought brought a grin to her face. Under the moonlight, Maria Vitalia strode forth from the scene of her victory.