"LILY"
The soft clopping of a horse’s hooves echoes throughout the silent, damp, forgotten forest. A brown stallion with crisp black hair makes its way slowly through the twilight lit forest. Riding on top of the large animal is a thin, mocha skinned woman. Her ruffled, dirty hair covers part of her face, and her cold eyes are fixated on the infant in her arms.
A chubby, small infant sleeps in the woman’s folded red scarf. A cool breeze blows through the lush, green forest. Static dances across the various bushes and leaves within the forest.
“Normally a woman being on top of me with this splendid lighting would be a momentous occasion,” the horse snickers. “But the baby is kind of cramping my style.”
“Go blow yourself, you no good ass,” the woman replies, the horse’s satchel rattling when she lightly kicks him. “Rocky, when will you learn that your womanizing is what cursed you?”
“Lily,” neighs Rocky, “I’m not an idiot. I’m fully aware of why I was cursed. Quite frankly, I’ll never change. Plus now I’m packing more heat!”
“Good luck with that,” Lily snaps. “All that matters is getting the baby to the rendezvous point.”
Rocky moves into an open clearing within the forest. The open space surrounded by tall, thick threes almost feels like an arena.
“Nice to see you taking this mission seriously Miss, ‘I’m chilled and laid back-’
Rocky snarls, cut off mid rant when Lily raises a finger to her lips, her wide eyes scanning the forest.
“You feel that?” she whispers.
“Yeah,” Rocky snorts. “Demons.”
Gently placing the baby on Rocky’s firm back, Lily hops off the stallion. Lily’s black robe flutters in the cool forest breeze, revealing orange light body armor adorning her body. Lily grabs the infant, still wrapped in her red scarf and places it on the ground before Rocky’s face. A twig snaps in the distance.
“Please keep the baby safe.” Lily locks eyes with Rocky.
“Of course,” Rocky neighs. “I’m a proud stallion, not a jackass.”
“That’s debatable.”
Turning away from the two, Lily walks a few steps and then stands silently. Her eyes dart about the forest following faint sounds, light twitches of static within the forest. A loud ruffle breaks the peace as a shadow zooms toward Lily. With a mighty howl, the shadow leaps through the air, a burned, decayed, and mindless hyena, turned demon.
Its mouth, open and salivating, signals its intent. It’s here to feed.
“Sorry buddy.” Lily smiles as she pulls out a red and black custom made M1911 pistol. Her finger presses down on the trigger. “No babies on the menu today.”
With a thunderous bang the hyena flies through the air and slams into a tree. Static rattles the tree for a second as the demon’s blood spills from its bullet wound. The infant wails loudly and in response, Rocky edges closer to cover it. Reaching into her robe, Lily pulls out another modified M1911 pistol, a green and black one.
Twirling them around with a smile on her face, she suddenly stops and inhales deeply.
“Well, come on boys.” Lily licks her lips. “I like it rough!”
Howls fill the forest as hordes of demonic hyenas converge upon the three. With elegance, Lily dances about the forest clearing, blasting the feral creatures. Amidst the chaos, a hyena closes in on Lily and leaps through the air. The creature’s maw wide open, and ready to chomp down.
With a snicker, Lily ducks as the wild beast soars above her. Bang! The monster howls as it flutters in the air for a moment then crashes into the ground. Another dashes for the black-haired beauty, who responds in kind with her boot to its face.
Lily unloads a round on the downed beast, then with a twirl she open fires on a pack of hyenas approaching Rocky and the infant. With greater speed, several hyenas surround Lily and leap toward her. With a commanding smile, Lily drops her pistols and kneels down. The hyenas smash into each other as an owl shoots upward into the sky.
“Who!“ Lily cackles. “Didn’t expect me to transform into an owl, did ya boys?”
The hyenas compose themselves then snarl and roar as they chase after the airborne Lily. Lily leads the remaining pack away from Rocky and the infant. With some distance between the pack and her friends Lily then turns sharply and zooms back toward her companions. Lily darts for her grounded guns and as the demons realize their deception, the black hair beauty descends and rolls back into human form.
“It’s been fun boys, really but…” Lily grabs her weapons and aims for the approaching pack. “I like my men with more beef on them.”
With a deafening roar, Lily rains bullets onto the pack, the hailstorm of lead tearing through the hyenas’ flesh. Their blood spews about as they crash onto the once green ground below. Red mist lingers in the air, the infant’s cries echoing throughout the ravaged forest. Lily sighs as she runs her right hand through her wet hair.
“Good job,” neighs Rocky. “You made the baby cry.”
“Thank you for the commentary, Mr. Ed,” scoffs Lily. “But that was to be expected-”
The forest shakes violently, causing the infant to cry more, and Lily and Rocky to sigh.
“A giant demon?” Lily slumps over. “Please tell me you got a beer left Rocky?”
“I think I got one in my satchel,” says Rocky.
“Fine, I’ll take it,” says Lily.
Rocky lets out a snort. “Was there ever any doubt?”
“Shut it!” Lily reaches into her robe and pulls out a scapular. Lily clutches the religious icon and closes her eyes. She whispers a soft prayer.
As the forest continues to rumble, a humongous shadow blocks out the dim twilight and parts the trees. A grinning, salivating, gigantic hyena with crazed eyes leers at the ant like Lily. Lily opens her eyes and glares back at the towering giant.
“Hi, big boy!” Lily smiles. “Took the beefy boy comment a little too seriously I see. Also, you may want to brace yourself.”
A massive fist slams into the towering demon and sends it zooming above the forest and crashing into a nearby mountain. The dim twilight shines for a mere second, then disappears behind a gigantic humanoid cat. The creature leans closer toward Lily. Its large green eyes dictate both power and kindness.
“Took ya long enough.” Lily smiles as the giant rests its hand upon the ground.
Hopping onto the giant’s hand, the creature lifts itself and Lily up, high into the air. The white cat stands upright like a human, draped in a black and red breast plate that covers its entire upper body. Black joggers with grey stripes running down them cover its massive legs, while a huge gold pool cue lies strapped across its back. The feline stands 100 meters tall and brings its paw-like hand toward its chest.
Praying again into the scapular, a bright gold light engulfs Lily. Inside, the giant Lily floats in a tranquil, ocean like void. Lily bites her lower lip as she jerks upright. Her face is red, as she delights in the arousal.
“You really know how to make a lady feel good don’t ya, Tofri?” Lily jerks again. “Ok, let’s take this oversized mutt down.”
With a violent roar, the gigantic hyena breaks free from its mountain made bed and lunges at Tofri. Locked, the two equal giants struggle to overpower each other, static sizzling about the area. The land shakes and crumbles as the two proceed to strike each other with their fist like claws. Down below, Rocky races through the crumbling forest, the bundled infant hanging from its mouth.
The gigantic hyena attempts to clamp down on the giant Tofri, but the giant feline uses its long tail to slap the creature away.
“Let’s end this,” Lily says, extending her right arm.
A solid, straight beam of energy materializes before Lily. Grabbing a hold of it, the dark haired beauty twirls it around before striking a pool-shooting pose. Tofri flexes its massive muscles before reaching for the pool cue on its back, then mimics Lily’s pose. Undeterred, the titanic hyena dashes for the giant cat man.
The hyena lets loose a haunting roar as hundreds upon thousands of spikes protrude from its body. With a second mighty roar the spikes rocket into the air and curve; their destination, Tofri. The cat man’s eye glow bright red as it extends its right arm. A hologram of a pool table encompasses the hyena and its spikes.
Holographic billiard balls appear and Tofri aims its pool cue. With a devious smile, Lily winks playfully.
“Eight-ball corner pocket.”
Lily thrusts the energy spear forward and Tofri mimics her every move. Bam! With a resounding pop the cue ball slams into the billiard balls and sends them hurtling toward the demon and its flying spikes. The billiard balls crash into the spikes and ricochet about the holographic pool table.
The zooming billiard balls and crashing spikes slap, slam, and ram into the giant demon, who responds with a blood curdling shriek. Its blood falls like rain upon the once green forest, then the downed demon weakly stares upward into the sky. High in the sky hovers Tofri, whose bright gold wings phase in and out of reality behind it. Its pool cue aimed at the cue ball, its target; the demon.
With a mighty thrust Tofri shoots the cue ball at the demon, who can do nothing but roar as the billiard ball rams itself down its throat. With its agonizing death cry, the demon explodes in flames as Tofri descends toward the forest. The green-eyed giant roars in triumph as flames rain down upon the ruined forest. Static flickers in the sky above.
“Crap man,” Lily groans. “I may have overdone it. Oh jeez, Rocky and the baby will be engulfed in the flames. Where are they?”
As a red hue descends upon the forsaken forest, Rocky gallops through the flames with the infant still dangling from his mouth like a pendulum. The flames flare fiercely, destroying trees and ravaging the land. A burning tree falls before the cursed horse and tiny baby, flames cutting off their escape route. The infant wails loudly as he and Rocky are drenched in sweat.
“Damn it! We’re gonna fail the mission.” Rocky places the baby down and gently covers the infant with his body.
The flames swirl and twirl as they creep closer and closer toward the two. Embers caught in the passing breeze fall upon Rocky, burning him. The infant wails louder at Rocky’s pain filled grunts. The flames now tower over the two, tiny sparks continuing to sizzle Rocky’s body.
Static flares up in random spots then. With a whoosh, a tree snaps and falls toward Rocky and the infant.
“Damn it, Lily!”
Bam!
“Are you going to lie there all day?” Lily’s voice echoes from above.
Rocky slowly opens his eyes and looks up. Tofri’s massive hand not only blocked the tree from falling, but is also acting like a dome around the cursed man and infant.
“Simulation terminated.”
Sirens blare as the charred ground below Rocky transforms into a silver, cold plate. Tofri lifts its hand revealing a huge, underground base. The gigantic Tofri and tiny Rocky stand amongst a silver, empty room dotted with rotating, yellow lights. A group of soldiers led by a Staff Sergeant dash toward the three.
Rocky stretches his hind legs before uncurling the infant from the red scarf. Where the baby should be lies a robotic toddler, lifeless and made of metal.
“Listen up newbie’s, these three here are our secret weapons. Make sure to treat them with dignity and respect, understand?” the large African man says, addressing the young, bushy-eyed recruits.
The recruits stare wide eyed at Rocky and Lily being lowered to the ground by Tofri.
“S…Staff Sergeant Jack…” One of the male recruits hesitates. “A…Are you saying that our future lies with a woman who can turn into an owl, a horse, and an Eifel Tower sized cat man thingy?”
“Yes,” Staff Sergeant Daniel Jack says. “Is that a problem Private?”
“Ah… No…No sir,” the recruit replies. Panic sweat falls past the young man’s glasses.
“Good!” replies Staff Sergeant Jack.
“Great!” Smiles Lily. “Now about that beer, Rocky?”
“Here,” says Rocky. “Grab it from my satchel.”
“Oooh!” Lily grins at the green and white beer can. “Anti-Hero, my favorite.”
Popping the can open, Lily takes a long swig as she and Rocky walk past the new recruits. The doubting private stares awestruck at Lily as the mocha skinned beauty passes him. Their eyes meet for a brief second, a second that feels like an eternity.
“Wow… She’s beautiful…” whispers the Private.
The other recruits however, mumble against themselves.
“So did they pass or fail?” one Private asks.
“What about the rendezvous point?” asks another.
Another states, “Is nobody going to ask how the girl changed into an owl?”
“And what is that giant cat thingy?” all the recruits wonder in unison.
The End...?
