A Gourd Problem to Have

The thicket of late fall overgrowth rustled, a wide metallic blade slashed down, leaves and branches falling to the ground. Out followed a being in torn link armor with a plain dull helmet covering the head. The form walked into a clearing of knee high grass. An arm slammed the sword into the ground and gloved fingers pulled the helmet off. Long blond hair rolled out, a breeze coasting across feminine features. She sighed out, a foggy puff whispering near her mouth.

She looked from one side of the clearing to the other. From all the descriptions and books she found, this seemed to be a candidate for her bounty, a wild bee pumpkin. That damnable frog wanted the insides of a fresh one, untouched by human hands. That ruled out the farmer's market quickly. But given the successful domestic growth, it's been generations since a wild patch has been seen in the region. All the experts could do was point her to scrolls in the library. Lord Gleem, what the oversized piglet of a frog wanted to be called, insisted that they existed. If Lyna was going to finally escape her ancestor binding, "The bzzzing pumpkin will grant your wish" it had said.

"How?" she said. The frog was heavy on her chest, she could barely breathe under the bedding as it looked into her eyes. The rest of her body could not move, from her eyelids to her toes. The smell of the creature, a combination of mold and mildew with decaying cedar logs along a creek-bed, burned her nostrils, searing in the memory. It waddled around in place and angled towards the open window. With muscular hind legs, it lept out. For a moment the moonlight shaded it a ghostly white before it fell to the ground.

The memory still felt like a dream to Lyna. And also all of it felt real. So much so that she found herself here now in a clearing on a cool late fall afternoon after years of dogged research, dead ends, and slipped hope. She breathed in and pulled the sword out of the ground. She walked forward, eyes open for the clues so many sources had mentioned. The grass brushed past her leather leggings, soundless to her ears. The ground had the consistency written about, soft dirt with pebbles of varying sizes. It hadn't rained for several days but it didn't seem dry here. Musky earthy notes filled the air.

She headed to the closest bare area of grass. With the flat of her blade, she parted the grass around it. Her heart lept. On the ground was a half devoured hull of a red orange bee pumpkin. She fell down to her knees, picking up the leftovers. She turned it around in her hand. The bite marks were fresh. Peering inside, the prize she was looking for was gone. She let the carcass fall to the ground.

With the tip of her sword, she pushed and prodded the ground around where the gourd was found. Quickly, she found the vine it grew on. She pulled it up just enough off the ground, eyeing the direction. There was another bare area in the grass nearby. She sprung up off the ground, feeling the end of her quest was close. Lyna launched into a quick pace.

Just as she approached the bare area, the twang of a bow string echoed, followed by whistling. Years of training rushed up. Lyna crouched to the ground, bringing her sword up in defense, hoping it wasn't too late. The smooth shaft of an arrow fletched with an iridescence blue hue stuck in the ground with a thunk, an arm length away in front of her.

"I need you to stay right where you are."

Lyna lifted her head up, scanning for the source of the deep voice. The sun was setting, casting too many shadows into the forest around the clearing.

"Look, brigand. I have nothing of value…"

"You humans always assume everything is about yourself."

Off a little to her left, on the far side of the clearing, an emptiness, darker than everything around began to approach. Tendrils of shadowy vapor disappearing into tiny whirlpools trailed behind the mass. She got into a crouch, right leg out in front, right hand holding her sword diagonally across her chest.

"I've search too far and too wide only to have your kind snatch it from me. You are always taking from us!" The words were not shouted across the clearing, but loud and powerful in her ear. If she wasn't looking directly at the darkness, she would think for sure that presence was right next to her.

"I…I…" she stumbled over what the entity was looking for. Here in a clearing in the middle of an ancient forest. With nothing more than what might have been a gourd patch. A gust of wind gently waved the grass ahead of her, unveiling a fully intact bee pumpkin laying on the ground. "The gods…" she whispered. There it was. Her blood started making victory laps as the end of her quest was within sight. She reached our her left arm, her sweat and tears starting to blend, obscuring her vision. Another arrow thunked next to her, much closer. Her arm froze.

"The pumpkin?" she said under her breath, confusion over the words that came from her own mouth.

"Wait, wait, wait." Lyna raised both her arms up. "That pumpkin? You're here for that fucking pumpkin? My pumpkin!" A third arrow landed a foot's length from her boot planted in the ground.

An upright figure clad in a dark blue rivaling the sea emerged out of the swirling mist. A bow of ornate designs, curved at the top and bottom, with an arrow pointed directly at Lyna. A black mask covered the face. Unmistakably grayish horns spiraled out of back of the head. A Yoaphaal demon folk. She didn't realize they came this far west of the scar on their own.

"What are the chances we are both after the last wild specimen? Months of research. Months of searching. Finally this clearing showed itself. With it the smell of rotted human flesh. Out to get what is mine. It's a shame. No, it will be an honor for you to be a witness to my ascension. Actually a very lucky day for us both." It said with a scoff, the deep voice surrounding her.

Lyna should have been by all accounts dead already. The Yoaphaal was missing on purpose given the accuracy of three arrows lodged in the ground before her. She was needed. Was it for that ascension? Was that just eloquent high talk?

"Lyna! Listen up!" A hand slammed down on the shared work table, startling everyone around. The Regional politiks instructor, Scholar Davis, stared down the bridge of his nose, through shimmering panes of corrective rims.

"The Yoaphaal are among the most feared of our neighbors but not for the reasons you think." Scholar Davis said.

"Nothing a swift sword to the midsection couldn't solve."

The scholar spun to face the front of the packed room.

"Class. It seems violence can solve anything." He paused, spun again to face the students. "For the assignment tonight, I want you to read and summarize the the Gal Forstrum Mediation. I believe that's pages 326 to 409."

A collective groan roared out.

"You can thank Miss Lyna for the extended look at diplomacy."

Perhaps that was an assignment she should have done. Sword drills were way too important to miss. It's no matter now. She needed that damn pumpkin.

The forward options included bum rushing for the pumpkin, hoping the Yoaphaal really needed her alive. Give it up, find another one in another three to four years. No, that's out of the question. The pumpkin radiated out the solution to all her problems. All she really needed was the innards. She relaxed her stance.

"Maybe we can strike a deal," she said.

"Yes. The deal is I take it and you get to live."

"I only need some of it. I could hack it in two..."

The bow creaked as it pulled the ready arrow further back. A crooked smile slowly filled in her face. The littlest things led to the answers, her sword master always had said.

"Oh? Betrayed by your bow. You do need it intact. For, what was it, to ascend?" she said. Thoughts the being scowling underneath that mask filled her mind. The Yoaphaal shared similar facial features with humans. The scowl was the same look as Scholar Davis gave after being presented with an excuse for missing class from her father.

"Once every nine years, we get sent out, searching for the one thing divined. I will have my ascension! You will not give me another nine to wait!" it said.

The Yoaphaal crept closer, step by step, and stopped, its head pivoting slightly. Leaves and bushes down to the ground began to rattle. The ground began to pulse, vibrations running into Lyna's legs. The rustling of the forest was all over, hidden birds launched up into the air. Her eyes made quick scans left to right, trying to keep the demon on her line of sight. Then behind her opponent, at the forest line, trees exploded, a thunderous snapping of trees blasted out. Branches, splinters and leaves rained out all over.

The Yoaphaal spun to face the noise, letting loose an arrow landing squarely on the front of a huge charging beast. A roar pierced her ears. The Yoaphaal had no time to pull another, launching its body out of the way as the six legged bear-like creature careened forward. Directly towards her.

"That damn frog!" Lyna yelled.

She dove for the pumpkin, tucking it against her as she hit the ground. She got under her feet, looking for a way out. She readied herself, careful with the pumpkin in her left arm, sword in her right. The beast lowered its bulbous head, six legs sending dirt and grass into the air behind it as it sped onward. Trails of murky froth streamed from its open mouth. At the last second, she dove to her left. The beast rushed by, a train of paws missing her body by inches, her sword slammed out of her hand. The sword become the first casualty, being snapped at the hilt under the mass of feet. Her nose the second with the horrible smell of rotted organic matter emanating from the beast.

She landed hard on her shoulder, a cry bubbled up as out of her mouth as she laid prone on her back. She craned her neck up, saw the pumpkin was still intact, a buzzing vibration against her body. The whole of the ground drummed into her. She looked up, her view of the world upside down. The beast managed to make a quick half circle turn, headed back towards her at fantastic speeds. And this time, she couldn't escape.

Suddenly, a series of deep lyrical harmonics that seemed vaguely recognizable as language resonated into the air. Before her eyes, a vertical spinning disk of light as wide and high as the creature emerged out of no where mere feet from the top of her head. Her eyes were overwhelmed by the bright intensity. The pounding of the ground ceased. Was she dead? Her head smashed into nothing. Was this the light that the gods showed valiant warriors the way home? No, she was a nobody. There would be no reason for her to be out this far from home otherwise.

"MOVE!"

Confusion in death must be normal. She looked around to see what her new world looked like. It was no good. The brightness of her new situation was still too much. Her arms relaxed, all the tension of her life flitting away. The pumpkin she had been holding rolled off her body onto the ground next to her.

"BY ALL THE CURSED GODS IN YOUR SKY, MOVE!!!!" The deep voice was familiar. It was the being that was after her pumpkin. It was probably normal too to bring what was just before into the next life. The pumpkin she was after all her life. All because a frog told her it would bring her to the next chapter of her suffering life. Thoughts of Lord Gleem, with its glistening slimy body reflecting the moon light as it dropped into nothingness, filled her mind. "Out of the woods," it croaked from the distant bottom.

The ground beneath her became alive again, rapid footfalls got louder in her ears. Fingers wrapped around her ankles. Lyna felt herself get dragged along the same ground she was on previous to her death, dirt and grass and grit getting shoved up underneath her outermost armor layer. Finally, her eyes adjusted just enough to see the dimming sky above her, the Yoaphaal pulling her along the ground with complete disregard by her ankles. And then the six legged beast emerged through the other side of the spinning disk at top speed just where she was a few moments before. Right where her prize rested. The pumpkin disappeared into hundreds of flying chunks as the beast charged back into the clearing. As soon as the whole of the body was out of the disk, the light spun like an out of control water wheel, breaking apart into a fiery pinwheel of molten silver.

The beast slid to a stop and turned its stumpy neck back to where it just came out of. It roared into the air and slowly spun the rest of its body around. Lyna's senses all clicked on at once. She kicked off the Yoaphaal, still pulling her away from an early grave. The Yoaphaal let go, backing up quicker without her weight, bringing the bow stowed on its back into its hand. She twisted on the ground and popped up into a defense stance. Her sword arm, trained over hundreds of hours, reached for a sword that was no longer there. She looked over where it laid in pieces in the dirt.

"Well fuck."

The beast was not charging anymore. The head with a snout closer to a pig huffed the ground. Short brown hair with white striping rippled in a beat to the tune of some unheard sad song, from the head down the its rear. It stopped at where the pumpkin splayed into mush. It kicked at the remains, the nose sniffing hard.

"It was wanting that pumpkin," the Yoaphaal said. "Three of us all wanting the same, and getting nothing." The Yoaphaal dropped the bow and collapsed into a kneeling position. With a quick motion, it took its black mask off, letting it fall to the ground. Sweat poured off its face, its breath came in deep waves.

"I can't return. They will not take me. The failure. My success ripped from my hands."

Lyna kept her eye on the beast as it moved its mouth over the ground, a wide tongue curling around any piece that survived. The smacking of its meaty mouth splashed out into the quiet clearing. It was not a threat anymore. It never was a threat.

"Gods be damned," she said.

She brought her look to the kneeling Yoaphaal. The deep voice matched up with the strong masculine features. A male. A striking male. She has seen a few from a distance and even one up close while on assignment near the scar. An enemy so close to her. And her savior.

"How did you do that? I was sure to be a pile of frecking goo," Lyna said.

"Of limited time and space of which I have options. All I was after was the red gourd. The one my elders strangely foretold would be the key to my path to ascension."

The beast huffed at the spot but there were no more to be found there. The wind briefly pushed a cool breeze across the clearing. It lifted its head up, the snout inhaling the air. With a start, it galloped off.

"Wait. That's where the other pumpkin remains was," Lyna said. She rose up and followed behind.

"There was another?" the Yoaphaal said. He gently arose to his feet and jogged after them.

"There. Yes! It must be able to smell them!" Lyna watched as the mouth opened wide, taking in the bigger morsel. The beast shook its head side to side as it chewed the pumpkin.

"Do you think that monstrous thing could find more?" the Yoaphaal said.

She thought back to all the reading she did and never did she come across anything about any animals who liked this pumpkin. And certainly never run across anything about this beast either.

"Maybe it can." She pause to turn and face him. "Wait, you could have taken it. Could have shot me dead. Why didn't you?"

"As it was, we'd both be dead. You with an arrow through your eye and me trampled into paste. The options were very clear to me in order to take what was mine."

"Look my umm guy? Do you have a name? And you must have seen the fucker in my hands. I got to it first."

"Among your kind, I am known as Relrokuth of…"

"Rel it is. Lyna. Look. I need a pumpkin. You apparently need one to do what your kind does. And this thing," she points at the beast grazing on the remains, "probably can huff them out."

The beast put its snout into the air, vague snorts filled the air. It then turned towards the brush and without any hesitation, it pushed its way through.

"You coming?"