NOVEL WEB End of Book 1: Haunted Road.
The winds ruffled the fur of the Tauros. His black hair ruffled as he snorted. The path was well treaded but it was still an uncomfortable journey just on nerve alone. A wide expanse of grass and a scarcity of trees. The sky and the horizon seemed to extend into infinity with no end in sight. So much freedom without the bonds of the more settled land.
“Enough to make a Mon go crazy,” thought Rivera. For many a Tauros, this would be prime stomping grounds. A nice place to graze and go wild, even if the lack of rough terrain would breed weak spawn. Though that would be for his retirement age. For now, he had to
“Bull, how long until we reach the Passage’s End?”
It had taken all he had to not throw his passengers off board. A couple of Pokemon from a no-name guild that had decided to go against the common sense of their guildmates. Anyone else would’ve denied the request but those who played loose with their health similarly played loose with their money. A Heatmor, A Makuhita, A Murkrow, and a Ducklett. A merry band of arrogant…
Rivera stopped his thought process. These were customers, and even if they had some foolhardy ideas and idiotic expectations, they already paid and needed to be treated as such. Besides, once he was done, he could relax from the contract work a bit. A nice stay near Almas or somewhere more tropical would be a lovely way to spend a vacation.
“Not too far now,” Rivera shouted. “ Shouldn’t be an hour or so before we reach the entrance.”
The Murkrow yawned from the back of the carriage. “Arc, what the hell is taking you so long?”
Rivera recited the statement like he had a million times over this journey. “As I stated the day before you purchased my services and multiple times after, this journey
Rivera stopped.
Murkrow continued with his rant. “Well maybe if you actually put your big behind into something other than grazing we wouldn’t be-”
The Heatmor flicked her tongue. “Shut up. Something’s wrong.”
Heatmor glanced to her left. The grass seemed to wave in the air a bit slower as though it was in slow motion. She slowly dropped a pebble to her right and it fell as though it came from several feet up. Her eyes widened as she realized the only possible reason for this inversion in the natural order.
“Trick Room! Ambush!”
The Pokemon spilled out of the cart and encircled it. They too could feel the sudden sluggishness on their limbs and the semi corporeal squares that seemed to glimmer overhead. They couldn’t even see it coming but they were trapped.
“What now,” cried the Ducklett
The Makuhita looked back at her incredulously. “What do you mean, what now? Now we get our souls taken!”
“Both of you quiet the hell down!” Look, it might take time but we should be able to just bust out of here brute force style.” Heatmor took in some air through her tail. The scent of ghastly things was apparent but it didn’t seem as strong as a properly made ambush should be. That was good in her book. It meant she still had time to get everyone out of there. She turned towards the bull. “Rivera, can you bust through?”
The bull in question was slumped over, asleep and snoring with the tendrils of whatever caused it slinking back into the darkness. Suddenly the air felt much heavier as the remaining Pokemon began to release their panic.
“Shit. Ok, Janice start firing off-”
Heatmor began to rattle off orders but soon realized something.
They were singled out.
Anyone who wasn’t already asleep was being dragged off into the dark. With the only signs of light being the glowing green spirals in the distance, the Heatmor fired off a few flames to gain some distance before jumping over the unconscious body of her transport to use as cover.
“C’mon, you big lug, wake up!”
Despite the heat spilling off in a panic, they still had to keep calm. Several Ghost types, the Tauros was a fighting type so whatever ghost type moves they had were basically null while she kept her distance. It was gonna be a fight, but for the honor of the Colas guild, they weren’t going to fall.
When she gathered the spirit to follow through with the first part of their plan, they were greeted with two eyes. Glowing stars in a ghastly dimension send them straight to sleep. As her body became heavy and she found the ground as her pillow, she could see nebulas with a wicked smile surrounding her and a turquoise flame overseeing it all.