Finding my Parents in Another World

Zoe was not enjoying the Tal Forest at all. Midir had warned them beforehand that the Tal was a hot and unforgiving place but they had been walking through what seemed like endless samey trees for what seemed like forever.

"Are we even on the right path?" She muttered.

"Don't worry. Midir is the best guide for the Known Region of the Tal." Famina whispered to her. She seemed to be in a better and better mood everyday.

"The Known Region of the Tal doesn't really inspired much confidence does it?"

"That's just how the Tal is." Midir said from in front.

Famina nodded. "The Tal is huge, in fact its size is unknown simply because of the Unknown Region. Some people have estimated that the Unknown Region is five times as big as the Known Region."

"So why has no one mapped the Unknown Region? Why exactly is it Unknown?"

"Many have tried. None have returned." It was Midir who answered.

Zoe sighed. There was another reason for her bad mood. She was not used to wake up this early in the morning and go for long treks through jungles, and when she had woken up this morning she found her black skirt was damp for some reason. Having no other clothes, she was forced to borrow Famina's armored leggings, which were extremely heavy.

I wonder how this child manages to move so quickly.

Zoe looked in awe at Famina who was nonchalantly wearing not just armored leggings but also a breastplate. She had insisted Zoe to wear one too but she had outright refused.

"The only reason I am not wearing the skirt is because it's wet. No way am I going to wear even heavier clothing." She had said.

"You are underestimating the Tal, Zoe. It is not like the forests in your world." Famina had warned.

Zoe however had shrugged. "If I have to wear a breastplate as well, I won't even make it to the Caves. You forget Famina, I am not as young and energetic as you are."

Famina's worries were not assuaged though, and Zoe could see that she was keeping an eye on her from behind.

Such a cute child.

"Keep up. The easiest way to die in the Tal is to get lost." Midir called out from in front. He was wearing just a shirt and trousers, no armor.

"Easy to say for someone with light clothing." Zoe grunted.

They were walking in a single file along a dense part of the jungle. Midir was in front, Zoe in the middle and Famina brought up the rear. Zoe couldn't see any path in the jungle, but evidently Midir could as he kept looking at a map and seemingly randomly changed directions within the jungle. To Zoe all the trees looked exactly the same, if huge. In fact the trees were much much wider and taller than any she had seen back home.

As they walked, Zoe was about to ask Midir how much further the Caves of Bloodfell were when there was a sudden noise piercing the silence of the forest.

Clack Clack Clack

Clack Clack Clack

Midir stopped dead in his tracks. His face seemed to have grown pale. He took out the map and looked at it once more.

"No no no, this is not right." He muttered.

Well this is encouraging.

Clack Clack Clack

The sound again echoed through the forest. Zoe looked back towards Famina who shrugged her shoulders. It seemed she too didn't know what was causing this sound.

"Midir, everything all right?" Zoe called out.

When Midir looked back, his face was ghostly pale. "I am afraid not. We have a difficult choice to make."

.XX.

"Through here is the road we are taking. The Caves of Bloodfell are somewhere here." Midir said pointing to a spot on the map a little away from where they were.

Zoe, Famina and Midir were sitting under a giant banyan tree. The shade of the tree was cool, but Zoe was always afraid of snakes falling down from the treetops.

"I understand. What's the problem?" Famina asked impatiently.

"The problem is the Clackers."

"I'm sorry the Clackers?" Zoe almost laughed out loud but Midir wasn't laughing.

"There shouldn't have been a Clackers nest this far from the Unknown Region, there certainly wasn't one here last month." Midir muttered.

"What exactly is a Clacker?" Famina asked.

"A terrifying creature. They have no eyes, they have no nose and they have no ears. However they are some of the most terrifying creatures that stalk the Known Region of the Tal, even though it is posited that their main home is in the Unknown Region."

"So basically they are monsters? Why are you so afraid of monsters old man?"

"They are not just monsters Famina! They are a pack of hunters. The Unknown Region of the Tal is an area of unimaginable horrors, the Clackers are one of those horrors. It is no normal monster."

It was clear to Zoe that Midir was extremely scared of these monsters, and given what Famina said about Midir's expertise in the Tal she decided that she should take him seriously.

"What's the other option? You mentioned we have to make a tough decision?"

Midir shook his head. "I did say that but the other option is almost impossible. It requires us to go through the Unknown Region of the Tal which will lead us out somewhere behind the Caves." He drew a semi-circle from their position, which cut through the black area of the map marked "Unknown Region" and exited near the Caves.

"But you said no one who entered the Unknown Region came back out?"

"Yes and also the Unknown Region isn't mapped. We would be relying on a general sense of direction to make it back out. And there may be horrors beyond the Clackers."

"Then there is not much of a choice is there? We go through the Clacker nest and kill any of them that approach." Famina said confidently.

As Zoe looked at Midir, she got the sense that he was definitely regretting agreeing to guide them today.

.XX.

"Shh there they are." Midir whispered as he slowly tiptoed forward.

As per their plan, it was decided that they would try to circumvent the Clacker Nest by trying to go around it instead of through it. To do that they had climbed up on a small cliff jutting out above the Nest, to survey how many Clackers there were.

Zoe and Famina came up behind Midir and looked down for their first glimpse at the creature. Both of them immediately recoiled in horror.

"What the fuck is that!?!" Zoe exclaimed.

There were about a dozen of these creatures called the Clackers below in the nest. In human terms a Clacker most resembled a cockroach, except as large as a cow. Their body and wings and small hairy legs were exactly like those of cockroaches. But they had no heads. In fact in place of a head it seemed they had two metal-colored rods that were at right angles to each other and an ever open mouth in between them. The mouth was lined with razor sharp teeth. These two rods frequently banged against each other causing the dreaded noise they were hearing.

Clack Clack Clack

Midir nodded sagely as if this was the reaction he had been expecting all along.

"The Clackers are a horror. Now you should understand why I was hesitant to take this path."

"We have no other choice Midir. We need to reach the Caves." Famina said resolutely, even though her voice was still shaky.

"What's the plan?" Zoe asked. She was still scared of the horrors below but at this point they had no other choice.

"Well, Clackers are scared of fire and my magik is fire adjacent, but I can't deal with all of them alone." Midir said.

"You won't have to. I'll help. Famina you should sneak by while we are distracting them." Zoe said.

"No. I will help as well. Three people are better than two." Famina said firmly. Zoe continued to be impressed by the young woman's courage.

"Even ten people might not be enough." Midir responded grimly.

A plan, or rather the beginnings of one, was being formed slowly in Zoe's mind.

Afraid of fire....fire Magik....Famina's magik

"Don't worry, we three will be enough." Zoe said quietly.

.XX.

The Clacker Nest had a stench of rotten eggs coming throughout. As Zoe crouched into the bushes near the nest, she had to control her natural urge to vomit.

Midir and Famina were there in their own positions, waiting for her signal. Midir had been incredibly sceptical of Zoe's plan at first but ,unable to provide any viable alternative, was forced to go along with it for the moment.

Zoe waited patiently. Yes, patience was the key. She needed to wait for one of the Clackers to come right in front of her for her plan to work.

Midir had mentioned that Clackers sense their environments through their clacks, or more specifically through the sound waves generated by them. That meant that they couldn't sense exactly what is was in front of them, they could just guess their appearance and species through how the sound waves interacted with it.

And that was exactly what Zoe was counting on.

Clack Clack

It's here.

One of the Clackers had wandered away from the main group towards Zoe. It didn't seem to have any reason for doing so, just exploring for....something.

Food most likely.

Up close the Clacker's body resembled that of a huge, grotesque cockroach even more. Their stench again made Zoe want to vomit but she couldn't.

Closer, closer

Thankfully as she prayed the Clacker came even closer and finally stood right in front of the bush she was hiding in. At this distance, Zoe could clearly make out the part of their neck from which the two metal rods potruded from.

I wonder how their biology works

But this was not time to think about such things. The time to send a signal was now.

"Sand Prison." Zoe whispered and extended her hand. She didn't achieve her Inito yet, but she was already adept at the basic sand magik Incantations.

As soon as she cast the Incantation, a column of sand erupted around the lone Clacker and surrounded it, eventually capturing it in a globe.

Clack Clack came the frentic noise from the inside as the Clacker bashed against the walls of the sand globe. Hearing it's cries the other Clackers turned their bodies and began running towards the globe. That was the most horrifying sight Zoe had seen of them yet, so much so that she almost forgot about her signal in panic.

She remembered in time though and burst up running towards her right. While running she made a smaller sand afterimage just in front of the Sand Prison.

"NOW!" She shouted at the top of her voice, hoping Midir and Famina could hear her.

While running, she looked behind her to verify and to her relief spotted Midir at the top of the cliff. Just as planned he was waiting for the other Clackers to come closer to the Sand Prison, inside which the trapped Clacker was still frantically and futilely bashing against the walls. Once they reached the Sand Prison, they began stabbing their forelegs into the outside walls, easily creating holes on the Sand Prison exterior.

Unbreakable from inside but extremely easy to break from the outside

Just as the remaining Clackers were rescuing the trapped one, Midir jumped from the cliff top.

"Inito." He whispered in midair, and twirled around. Pitch black wings sprouted from his back and he used those to fly right over the Clackers.

"[[Spirit of the Dragon]]" He said, opening his mouth. A white hot flame burst out from inside his mouth, instantly incinerating all the Clackers close enough to the now destroyed Sand Prison, and inflicting severe burn damage on the few remaining ones that were far enough from it.

Fire adjacent my ass, that has to be one of the strongest fire based magiks to have

Zoe turned around and ran back towards the remaining straggling Clackers. They were furiously clacking away, seemingly more from panic and the pain of being burned. Famina however was already there ready for them.

She crouched down and whispered, "Inito." Spikes came out from her arms and legs and most likely her entire body.

"[[Spirit of the Porcupine]]" She said as sharp spikes shot out of her arms towards the Clackers as fast as a bullet. It went straight into the mouth of one of them, causing instant death while it pierced the other in its body causing it to write in pain. The last remaining Clacker however dodged her spikes and used its wings to fly up in the air.

"Oh no you don't." Zoe grunted and extended her hands once more. "Sand Arms." She changed, as two large columns of sand rose up from the ground below the flying Clacker. Zoe made made a fist and the two arms grabbed hold of the Clacker's wings before it could escape. Then she made a tearing motion and the arms of sand ripped apart the Clacker's wings, causing it to fall to the ground to its death.

Midir descended now, surveying the carnage of the Clacker Nest.

"That should be all of them." He said solemnly.

"I hope it was, I never want to see that monster ever again." Famina grumbled as she brushed off the dirt from her arms.

"Well as long as we have Midir and his fire, we have a trump card against them. I don't know what we would have done without that." Zoe said.

Midir looked at her curiously. "You know, I don't know you too well, but I believe you would find a way. After all if I were alone I would never have risked coming through this Nest, even with my dragon magik."

Famina nodded enthusiastically. "That's why she is the hope for our Goddess."

Zoe flushed a bit, but laughed it away. "Cmon we should hurry along, this Clacker Nest cost us quite a bit of time already."

Famina and Midir both agreed and they made their way gingerly past the corpses of the Clackers. Their rotting bodies seemed to be emitting even more stench than before and Zoe was just glad to go away from this. She found herself echoing Famina's thoughts.

I hope I never have to fight this thing ever again.