Dawn- An age of Darkness
Chapter 84 - Awesome, More Bugs

My conquest to the third region of the island was underway and within moments halted. My path was obstructed by bunnies: yes, the lovely creatures of my dream.

Yet again I felt guilty for hitting them with my stick. But there was no helping it. This region was relatively open. There were very few trees and the whole area was covered in grass. So running around was easier. All I had to do was dodge and block. And sometimes hit them. I didn't really hurt them and they didn't get the chance to get near me. SO maybe it wasn't that bad.

I moved fast and reached the next region. Without any incidents, I managed to move on to the next region- though that wasn't totally accurate as there were plenty of incidents, mostly bunny-related.

The forest got dense very fast. The trees were closely packed and there were vines everywhere. The ground was covered with moss rather than grass. But, the problem was, there were bugs in every corner. I didn't hate bugs but I wasn't a fan of them either. If they were ordinary then it might not have been any problems but these little or rather big critters were special. They were much bigger than your average joe. And they were crawling everywhere too. Then there were finch sized mosquitoes.

Should I be disgusted or scared?

I chose the latter and started running like I meant business, which I did. The dense forest wasn't of concern anymore. Who cared if the forest was packed with stuff, all I needed was to get out of here, as soon as possible, and away from the bugs. The forest was getting relatively open again. This might be the third region. At least there are no goblins here.

I finally made it to the open area. I let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't dense but this part was darker than the rest of the forest. It was evening and the smell of this place reminded me of all my bad times. Why does my back itch?

But before I could worry about my situation, something else grabbed my attention. There was something on my back: something big. It was heavy and my back was itching. I removed my shirt and saw it. My eyes opened wide. There was not one but two leeches on my back. They were as big as my hand. Calm down, calm down.

I didn't panic- at least think I didn't. My heart beats were audible even to me. There were salt in my back pack. The old man insisted I take some- now I knew why.

But putting salt on those things might complicate things even further. Giving these things salt could make them vomit all the blood back into my system. But since they had all sorts of bad things in their body it wasn't an option.

If they were normal sized then it wouldn't have been an issue, but these were definitely something I didn't want to leave alone either. Otherwise they'd suck me to death. And I wanted to avoid that kind of death.

There was a small stick nearby. I picked it up and located the head of the first leech. In the meanwhile I was being surrounded by small undead bunnies: the sun had set. Their eyes were red, some had small amount of flesh and some were just bones. Yet again I was faced with the question of whether to be disgusted or face fear. Without a doubt, this time the former reigned supreme.

With the head detached I successfully removed the first one. But the 2nd one was a little further down and I couldn't locate the head. I took a gamble and removed it anyway. Unfortunately for me it wasn't the head and it ended up screwing the wound. Immediately I took some herbs and shoved them in both of my wounds and used the stick with the other hand to fight off the rabbits. I squished the leeches with my foot. My body burned: I lost so much blood that I felt faint.

I had to tear my shirt again but it was worth it. After tying the shirt over the herbs I double checked my body, especially the groin area. At least you're safe. I let out another sigh of relief.

Meanwhile the bunnies grew impatient and jumped on top of me one by one. But the little critters weren't strong enough to make me fall over. However their bites were as prominent as ever.

The stick wasn't even the least effective, but there wasn't much I could do either. I had to individually pick every single bunny on top of me and throw them around, only to have them come back straight at me. They broke down, got revived and came back for more. These things were really just plain trouble.

I was bleeding and it hurt like hell. I felt like running back but then I remembered the old man's lustrous laugh and kept at it. If I'd gone back he'd surely laugh at me for days to come. And I didn't like that. Even I had an ego to content with.

Although undead, these things still had their sharp teeth. I loved them yet I couldn't help but hate them.

Time slowed down and I could feel every passing second: the feeling, not so pleasant. All the suffering lasted till midnight: but to me it was an eternity. I was on the very verge of collapse. If it weren't for the curse, I'd be dead a long time ago. But my body was beyond its capacity, so I wouldn't have been surprised if I ended up dead anyway.

But it all changed at midnight. In an instant, the bunnies stopped and so did the pain. A familiar melody swayed with the air. It was comforting and my pain had eased up. I've felt this before.

I couldn't think straight. The bunnies left me and moved towards the sound: I followed suit. Within a few moments, we reached the shore. It was beautiful. The stars were very pretty but not as much as the ocean. The stars glittered in the sea and welcomed me. The light was very, very welcoming. The song was exceptionally beautiful as well. I wanted to dive in the water.

When I almost reached the water, the bunnies in front of me jumped around in joy and were eaten.

My trance was broken. There was a Siren in front of me. But unlike the first one I had encountered, this one's colors were pale. I could see a glimpse of its flesh, declaring its former glory. And the eyes were red. Why is everything in this region undead? No one answered me. So the undead eat each other? Yet again, no one answered me.

After eating the bunny it looked at me. Most of my body was already covered in herbs yet I felt faint.. There goes all my herbs.