The Tiger Bulls pulled the carriage with everything they had and sped along the dark road in the heavy rain. The pitter-patter of the rain hitting against the carriage roof sounded like panicked knocking which made everyone very uncomfortable.

They had been on the road for about two hours now. Jacob was still the one driving while the boys kept an eye out on each side for anything strange.

After about another 30 minutes the carriage came to a sudden stop.

"Honey, What's wrong?

" Sophia's voice came from the carriage, waking up the dazed Jacob.

"N-Nothing, just some debris,

" he shouted back and turned the carriage towards a dirt road on the left side. Because in front of him was a raging river that seemed to be alive. It's waters splashed against the riverbank, causing small pieces of earth to break off and get carried away with it.

"Boys, keep your eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. Tell me as soon as you see anything at all,

" he said once again and passed a sword to Reece who happily accepted it.

"Dad! Why him? This idiot has a better chance of cutting his own hand off,

" Miles protested seeing his father hand the responsibility of standing guard to his idiotic brother.

"Quiet! You boys have to work together because no else in this life will ever look out for you other than family. Blood is thicker than water. Why are you guys so immature? When will you understand? I have....

" Sophia's lecture completely dispelled the previously eerie atmosphere and all the boys sat in their seats with heads down.

Sophia was extremely strict with her sons but somehow that only made them act out more. She disciplined them every way she knew but they would still pull off stupid stunts and then be punished for them later while shouting about unfairness.

The carriage hastily proceeded up a rough mountain path while leaving very obvious tracks behind it. The rainwater was also flowing down the mountain, making many muddy areas soft.

But contrary to the unnatural silence outside, the carriage hadn't been quiet for even a second. If it wasn't Sophia's lecturing, it would be one of the boys making a stupid remark and then getting chastised or mocked by others, making the atmosphere very relaxed.

But Jacob's expression kept getting worse as time passed. This mountain should have been full of small animals and beasts but he had seen nothing ever since they got on it. Although Jacob wasn't an experienced cultivator himself, he had been on enough hunts to know when something was off, and this place shouted danger.

Still, what could he do? The entire village had abandoned them and there was an evacuation order out so holding up in their homes wasn't an option either. The only path forward was through the unknown mountains. This wasn't a place for mere mortals like him but for his family he had to go against every voice of reason in his head telling him to turn around.

"How could those people be so heartless? Kids make mistakes. Just because of a few simple pranks they ostracized us?

" he muttered angrily while whipping the bulls once again. The Tiger bulls had extremely tough hide so normal whips could only tickle them at best.

After another hour and a half, they finally reached the top of the mountain and started descending from the other side. The journey down was much faster and in less than thirty minutes they had already passed the halfway mark.

Jacob was ecstatic seeing the white stones on the side of the road and wanted to let the family know but as he was about to turn around, he saw something from the corner of his eye.

Up ahead on the side of the road was an old lady walking along casually in the heavy rain. Upon hearing the carriage approach she slowly turned and waved at Jacob with an expression of relief.

Jacobs' heart started pounding like a hammer and instead of slowing down he whipped the bulls as hard as he could and increased the speed even more, passing by the old woman like a storm.

"Jacob, what happened?

" Sophia inquired after feeling the speed increase for no reason. They were on a slippery road going down so this was very dangerous.

"There was an old woman looking for a lift,

" he somberly replied.

"WHAT?!

" Sophia's head popped out from the front of the wagon but they had already passed the old lady.

"I-It's fine, we are alr-

" Jacob tried to explain and but stopped mid-sentence seeing the same old woman looking at them from the front with a sinister smile.

"Get back inside, quick!

" he shouted and looked away from the old woman, focusing on the road.

Sophia sat down and hugged Damien tightly.

A few more minutes passed and Reece who was looking out the back of carriage spoke up,

"Mom there's someone following us,

" he pointed behind them.

Sophia's eyes constricted as she leaned over and saw the same old woman smiling at them from ear to ear.

"Come here, don't look at it!

" she grabbed Miles and Reece and pulled them close to her as well.

She held them protectively and started mumbling something under her breath while holding onto her Staurolite necklace with her right hand. It was in a language that none of the boys understood but seeing their brave mothers countenance change so suddenly, they also kept quiet and just sat next to her.

"Honey, please, hurry,

" Sophia yelled with closed eyes.

She was sweating bullets right now and was running out of breath for some strange reason.

Reece stretched out his neck and looked outside and almost had a heart attack. The old woman was less than ten meters away from the moving carriage and seemed to be inching closer by the second.

Her feet weren't visible under the long black dress but her legs didn't appear to be moving. She seemed to be floating just above the ground while etching closer to the carriage, still with the strange smile on her face which looked extremely horrifying in this situation.

"M-Mom th..the old wom..an..

" Reece grabbed his mother's dress trying to tell her but the words simply didn't seem to want to leave his throat.

Sophia opened her eyes suddenly and broke off the necklace around and her neck before throwing it towards the old woman.

The necklace seemed to be pulled to the old lady and connected with her chest as if it was attracted by a strong force.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH

" a horrendous scream came out of the woman's mouth that sounded like an infant crying and a grown man screaming at the same time.

When the scream reached the family, all the children completely froze while Sophia started mumbling louder.

This time her prayer was in the language of the beast world.

"Listen to my prayers oh forgotten spirits. I seek protection from the darkness, from the 'unclean'. From those that walk amongst us without being seen. Protect my family in this time of need and I shall offer you a worthy sacrifice!

"

"HURRY! The Staurolite won't stop it for too long!

" she yelled at Jacob who increased the speed as much as the terrain would allow.

The carriage rushed down the mountain path like it was on fire, sending rocks flying everywhere. Now they were less than 5 kilometers away from the bridge that separated the mountain from the area in front. The river was passing underneath the bridge and could be heard from miles away.

"Almost there!

" Jacob finally smiled looking at the bridge in the distance.

"AAAHH

" the screaming came once again, this time filled with anger.

Sophias' countenance changed as she looked back and saw a creature running towards them on all fours. It had a humanoid figure but the skin was burnt off and more than half of its face was just a huge mouth with rows of giant teeth. (Authors note for pics)

"No!

" Sophia shouted and took the sword from Reece's hand and stood in front of them.

"So close! Hold on honey, we're almost there!

" Jacob's voice came from the front but Sophia was in no condition to reply. She held the sword in front of her and stood facing the horrendous creature with her own legs shaking.

"You will not have my children!

" she shouted and cut her wrist to cover the sword with her blood. Once the blade was covered in it she threw it towards the creature.

The creature seemed like it had seen the most disgusting thing in existence and avoided the sword like it was cursed.

Unfortunately, Sophia was just a normal human being and the sword wasn't really thrown with much power behind it, making it easy for the creature to avoid it.

Tears started streaming down Sophia's face as she looked back at the three boys who were barely able to move right now.

She looked at Miles with a smile,

"You must look after your brothers, they're not as smart as you. Your father is so very naive so make sure he doesn't fall for someone's petty tricks.

"

"Mom what are you-

" Miles tried to speak up but Sophia bent down and kissed his forehead, stopping him.

"My precious boys,

" she smiled at them and turned around to face the creature once again with a hardened expression.

She raised her foot to step out of the moving carriage but a voice echoed in her mind.

"So..Hungry....

"

*BOOOM*

Thunder boomed and a towering figure appeared next to the creature. It was a human but she couldn't see the face clearly because of the heavy rain, only the glowing emerald light from where the eyes should have been.

The man extended his hand like a snake and grabbed the horrendous creature by the neck, stopping it dead in its tracks. He let out a satisfying smile and tightened his grasp around the creature's neck, making it explode with brute physical force.

Blood splashed everywhere.

He then held the creature's corpse above his head and started drinking its putrid blood with a childish grin on his face.

This scene which should have terrified her, only made her think one thing,

"Such madness in those eyes...

"

****

Authors notes:

The old woman, a mix of these two: https:

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