She was truly a magnificent creature. Toofy casually took a tour of the stranger’s body, eyeing her from bottom to top. She was indeed beautiful, but something else about her was even more attractive. It was a surreal sort of feeling, almost tangible; something touchable that couldn’t be physically felt, but left an imprint on one’s spirit. Darkness; the essence of it was like a scentless perfume, darker than the very blackness encasing the forest.

The forces of darkness usually derived from one place: Hell; at least, that’s the only dark forces Toofy was aware of. Honestly, Hell fascinated him. At times he dreamed of contacting the afterlife with hopes of forcing Death into taking his soul, or maybe with the power of darkness he’d fine a new meaning for his existence. Either way, he was merely guessing at the woman’s abilities, there was no way to know for sure unless he experienced what she was capable of first hand. If she could do what he thought she could, he’d spare her; but if not, she was expendable.

Toofy’s attention snapped abruptly; something was out of place. He could hear a voice, quiet as it was, he could still hear it as if it were trying to contact the brain he didn’t possess. “If you … able to speak, do ...”

The words were fuzzy, but there was no doubt they were said. It was a form of telepathy, he understood that much, but he had never experienced a mind reading before. He wasn’t sure if they were always so fuzzy, but he guessed it was because he had no brain to make the contact; just the mind and consciousness.

Even as he pondered this, a pale color of tan caught the corner of his vision. What he saw next granted him a double take. The woman, she was suddenly in front of him! He glanced at her, then back to where she was standing mere seconds ago. Somehow she’d appeared before him and was now feeling the front of his fleshless face. There was no telling how long she’d been there; he had no nervous system to pick up on her light touch. How long had it been since a woman had freely brushed his face? The last time was far too long ago, yet how could he forget the face permanently burned into his brainless mind?

He couldn’t be thinking like this, not while he had other plans! This girl possibly had dark powers, and he wanted to know exactly what she was capable of. Already she’d given evidence that she had some sort of unnatural skill, but the nature of it was unknown. He wanted to know more.

Toofy’s eyeless sockets traced the sheathed blade at the lady’s side. “You know how to use that thing, madam?” Toofy asked casually, speaking as kind as his harsh voice allowed him to. “You probably should, a beautiful young lady, such as yourself, should be careful. You never know what you’ll find in a monstrous jungle like this.”

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Tree | Styx