Aye, JWD here. So I decided to make this a weekly thing. Not only will you guys get to read this, but it will motivate me to get these out quicker on Wattpad, so its a win-win. That reminds me, you can also read this on the book/website Wattpad, at @jwd813. I'm a few chapters ahead, and updates come out quicker! Anyways, here's Chapter 3. It's much longer, and the action finally starts. ~If you haven't read any of this yet, read Chapter 1 here: http://itsjerryandharry.com/threads/my-book.90550/ ~If you read Chapter 1, but didn't read Chapter 2, click here: http://itsjerryandharry.com/threads/my-book-prove-it-ch-2.90848/ Anyways, lets get into it. Thanks for reading! Chapter III I looked back at the prison I was just released from. It was quite a big building, but it wasn't very visually appealing. Just a bare gray building. No windows or anything. I wondered how time stopped there. Domum was quite odd. It had some strange magic, and even stranger creatures. And I was going to be facing the most dangerous of them all. The Forest of Malum was the most dangerous part of Domum. Countless monsters and evil lived there. And the Cave of Custos, well, I'd heard of it. I didn't really know what was so special about it. I came up to a shoreline. The sun had just risen, and it made the horizon quite beautiful. In the distance, I saw a dark island, covered by trees. What was strange about it, was that there was no light there. It was like, the sun didn't shine there. That was the Forest of Malum. I didn't know what kind of creatures I would face. All I knew was that this wouldn't be easy. I looked around the shoreline. I didn't see any boat to use, or anything that would bring me to Malum. I walked around the place, trying to find something useful. Nothing. How was I going to get to Malum? I looked at the water. It didn't seem very clean, but it wouldn't kill me. Could I really swim that far though? I didn't see any other option, but by the time I reached Malum, I would be gassed. I would be in no shape to go anywhere. Then again, I didn't see any other way. I jumped in the water and began to swim. Thankfully, I was a pretty athletic guy. I could go long distances without getting tired. I kicked my legs while bringing my arms forward, pulling myself along with each stroke. I lifted my head to the side every now and then, gulped down some air, and continued. After about 30 minutes, I felt my pace slowing. I could hardly kick my legs anymore. My arms felt like the were filled with lead. My entire body was ready to give up. I looked up, still kicking my legs. The island was still far away. I looked behind me, and saw the region of Domum I had left from. They seemed about the same distance away from me, so I was halfway there. "I better have a six-pack by the time I get there..." I muttered to myself as I resumed my journey. I kicked and kicked and kicked. I could hardly move my arms, so I relied on my legs. I used my arms to keep me above water, as that was about all I could do with them. After a while, Malum seemed a lot closer. I estimated I had been swimming for over an hour now. My throat was burning. I could no longer move my arms. My legs were so sore I wanted to scream. Was I really losing before my quest even started? I was getting close when I felt something brush up against my leg. I looked down to see a marine creature I had never seen before. It was about a foot long. It was very thin, and had one long fin running along its back, along with two smaller fins on its side. What was really unique about it, is that it had a scorpion tail. I panicked. I didn't know if the creature was hostile or not. Without thinking, I reached over my back and unsheathed my sword, my legs still kicking to keep me afloat. My sword was now in my hand, when the scorpion-fish jumped out of the water. It leaped about five feet high, hissing. I saw its teeth. They were very sharp, capable of inflicting a nasty wound. A stream of yellow liquid spouted from its tail. Luckily, it's aim wasn't very good, as the acid-like liquid missed me completely. Without thinking, I slashed my sword as the scorpion-fish came back down. I heard a hideous, high pitched noise, and the creature sunk into the water. Moments later, it emerged again. However, it was no longer alive. It was in halves. A nasty yellow liquid was oozing from its body, so I quickly swam away from it, hoping I hadn't been poisoned. That was the first creature that I had slew. (Yes, that is a word) I swam for a couple of minutes, and then I looked up. "Yeeess.." I muttered. I never thought I would be excited about getting to Malum. I mean, I was about fifty times more likely to die there than I was in the water. But at the moment, I would rather be in Malum than do any more swimming. I finally reached the shore, and I collapsed on a beach. Or, at least what I thought was a beach. It was a sand like substance, but it was black. It wasn't soft like sand either. It was sharp, almost like broken glass. I could feel shards poking into my back. Luckily, it didn't cut me. But it was quite an annoyance. I think I knew why. Malum was meant to torture you. It was meant to make you give up. It was meant to drive you insane. It was just as much mental as it was physical. Looking up at the forest, I immediately wanted to go back. It was dark and gloomy. The trees seemed to block out any sunlight. Then again, the whole island seemed to block sunlight. The forest radiated evil, and death. I gulped. For the first time in my life, I was afraid. I looked back. In the distance, I could see faint region of Domum I had left from. There was no going back now. I unsheathed my sword and entered the forest. I was in high alert the whole time. A monster could jump out and attack me at moment. I looked around the place. The trees wood was black, with a red tint to it. The leaves were an arrangement of colors from red to orange to navy blue. Bones littered the forest floor. I occasionally heard a new noise in the distance, like a howling. I was only 20 feet into the forest when I was attacked. They weren't much of a threat, but there was a lot of them. Little bug type creatures, no more than half a centimeter long. There must've been hundreds, maybe thousands of them. They crawled towards me with quite a bit of speed. I swiped my sword at the ground, sending a few of them flying. Eventually, they reached my legs. That's when the biting began. One bite alone didn't hurt at all. You wouldn't even feel it. But when a thousand of them are biting you at the same time, that's when the pain begins. I frantically kicked my legs, sending about 50 bugs flying with each kick. Luckily, they were really weak. Just sending them flying at a terminal velocity was enough to kill them. I looked down at my legs. They were peppered with red dots. The pain wasn't too bad, but it was there. If this was what was in store for me on the quest, I wasn't sure if I was up to the challenge. And that was only the beginning. I walked about another 50 feet in, limping with each step. I heard a growl behind me. I raised my sword in the air, careful not to make any sound. I heard a bush rustle. I whipped around, and saw nothing. That's when I was tackled from behind. I felt claws digging into my back. I let out a yelp. I could tell whatever had pounced on my had dug a deep wound in my back. I felt something, maybe a paw, push on top of my back, effectively pinning my to the ground. I felt another paw grab my arm, claws digging into it. I let our anther tell as I dropped my sword. I still wasn't able to tell what was attacking me. Was this really it? Was it over already? That's when two arrows whizzed above my head, and the creature attacking me fell limp.
You have a real talent here. Absolutely loving this book, keep up the great work! If this was published I would probs buy all of them on the shelf tbh
