'Prepare for a fight' weren't words which you wanted to hear at any time of day, unless it's the middle of winter and you're throwing snowballs at each other. In this case, it was nearly as cold as winter, but there was no snow in sight. Our surroundings had changed suddenly, and I was under the impression that there was some kind of illusion magic put into place. It wasn't possible for the land to transform from bright and wide, friendly-looking paths to the return of dark and dense trees.

It was even worse when we didn't get any kind of attention from the wildlife or potential monsters who lived in the woods. Senka had made me extremely tense, wondering what was going to attack us and why we needed our weapons. I was so tense that every sound made me move my dagger in that direction. I'd been tempted to get my guitar out and try to sing our way through the strange forest, but I was sure that it wasn't considered 'sane'.

But I didn't like the word 'sane' very much, and so I did get my guitar out. Senka took one look at me and grinned, shaking her head and continuing her path through the forest with her very intricately designed and intimidating sword.

"Who're you planning to fight? Prin's dad?" Sarphi asked with a small huff. She wasn't too pleased about the fact Senka couldn't summon or duplicate a weapon for Prin. I felt sorry for the girl, as her hand was probably bruised by Sarphi's grasp. "You're not going to do much damage with your guitar."

"And deities help us if you break that," Aknon groaned. "That would be part of our income gone, and you will be more insufferable than you already are."

I pouted and shook my head. "It's fine, it'll be fine," I tried to reassure them. "Nothing will happen to my guitar. If anything happens whilst I have it out, I'll stay behind you guys."

It was a response which I'm sure they were used to by now. It was rare we talked seriously, and I would be the first one to throw myself in front of them if anything like that happened. Well, actually we'd probably cause more harm trying to get in front of each other than anything else.

"Besides, if anyone sees Prin's father, they'll be the first one going in for the kill," I added on. I really hated that man, even more so when I had gotten to know Prin and what he'd done to her.

"You got that right," Sarphi muttered in agreement.

The path grew darker, and it felt incredibly stuffy. It was as though we were walking through a room full of smoke, navigating through the rather thin path. Senka didn't seem to have any trouble figuring out where we were headed, eyes not even looking at the ground. Though it was still rather difficult for me to consider her Senka.

Onyx was sniffing the ground again. He seemed a little upset, as he kept whining and whimpering each time he moved towards Senka. Maybe he had the same thoughts that I did. But I did remember the fact that Senka never liked Onyx really, which meant they probably knew each other. That was other than Senka being in the same box as Sarphi's baby rattle.

"So, who put you in the box and sent you here?" I raised an eyebrow, the strumming on my guitar increasing in speed as our pace sped up. "Because I don't think it's that easy to seal up a box from the inside and get yourself to a carrier."

Senka shook her head. "You're going to meet them."

I was getting rather fed up with her answers which weren't really answers. She was avoiding being truthful, something which got under my skin and made me grit my teeth. Maybe she had no other choice, and maybe she had to pretend like she knew nothing, or like there was a spell over her which prevented her from saying the name of her creator and employer. But I didn't like the idea of facing someone who had the power and ability to make a living person. Well, I assume that we're not meeting her father, in the biological sense anyway. That would make things a lot weirder.

"Can't wait," Sarphi said weakly.

The atmosphere got colder and more claustrophobic, the trees getting thicker and closer together. I didn't want my guitar out by the time we were three miles along the path. It felt like I was going to taint it with the negative energy which surrounded us,

I was thinking this as I walked silently, something uncommon for us, but what appeared to be a much more frequent occurrence.

Onyx barked loudly, a sharp sound which cut through the silence almost violently.

Then something clawed at my back, sharp nails digging into the soft flesh. My tail was on end and quickly swiped the being away as I turned, letting out a loud gasp. I felt my tail slice through something which felt like jelly, which worried me as it told me that the being wasn't human.

"What's that?" Sarphi asked, bringing her dagger up. "Oh, what in the name of darkness is that?"

Her words were rather accurate, as the being seemed to be made out of darkness, just like Senka was. The c creature had a long tongue and sharp teeth, looking like a big black bubble.

"Oh, I hate these things," Senka said with a groan as she moved from foot to foot, just like she did in her doll form. She swiftly moved in front of me and slit the creature in two with her sword. The thing slowly sank to the floor, making gurgling noises. "They're just pests."

"They're cute pests," Prin commented quietly, which made me turn to her slowly.

"Cute?" I repeated, pointing to my back. "I don't see them as cute." I turned my head and tried to see the damage done to my back, which was a long scratch, like a papercut. But everybody knew that papercuts were the worst kind of torture. I didn't know if that kind of cut would actually kill someone, but it went through my coat and shirt, so it must be pretty powerful. Maybe it could cause some kind of infection which could kill the enemy, but that would be very slow.

"They don't die either," Senka said in a slightly whining voice. "They just reform after a certain amount of time, depending on the damage." She paused for a second. "Which is probably why they don't like me."

"Because you keep cutting them in half?" Aknon asked with a huff. But as soon as he turned around, he was immediately faced with a strange shadow ball of his own. "Haven't we fought something like this before?" His dagger sliced right through it, not before it scratched his cheek.

"Yes," Sarphi replied. Her hand was still holding onto Prin's for dear life, pulling the poor girl with her as she looked frantically forms side to side.

Another shadow blob came from behind me, causing me to duck under Senka's sword, and grab my own dagger. They were right that my guitar wouldn't be much good, so I set it carefully on the ground in a place where it couldn't get damaged.

"How many are there?" Aknon asked, as I felt the beginning of a swarm approaching. "This is the second time we've been attacked by sentient blob things."

"You've been attacked by these before?" Senka asked, her tone full of disbelief and horror as she danced in the air, skilfully destroying more pests. "Because I don't think you have."

"We have," Sarphi argued. "Though they were green. Were they even blobs? I thought they were squares?"

"These are spheres," Aknon commented, only to get ignored.

"I swear they were blobs," I replied to Sarphi. "They're not as bad as these ones, how many are there?" I was a little frustrated that I didn't get an answer earlier.

"Let's just ignore them and try to make a run for it," Senka said with a shake of her head. "We're not going to get anywhere if we keep fighting, they'll just regenerate, or more will come."

"So, to the path?" Aknon asked. As soon as the question was out of his mouth, a yell came from him, along with a noise which no musician wants to hear.

"My guitar!" I screeched, looking at the smashed instrument in horror, whilst Aknon was leaning against a tree, slashing against another blob. "Not my guitar." I felt like my heart was breaking as I stared at the broken pieces of wood in front of me.

"Your guitar or your neck," Sarphi commented as she shoved me out of the way, stabbing a blob which had come up behind me. "Concentrate, Acer." I don't know why she was telling me this, I was terrible at concentrating.

But I shook my head and adjusted my grip on my dagger. "Path, right."

The six of us began to run down the path once again, Senka leading the way. Aknon and I stayed near the back to fight off any unwelcome blobs of darkness. Onyx also joined in, but he didn't seem to be that effective against the shadow blobs. It made me wonder how Senka was helpful, and he wasn't, but I didn't have time to ask.

"How come those things have nails?" I asked, figuring that was a better question to ask. "They don't even have hands."

"Yes, they do," Senka denied as she slashed some very thick tree branches, causing them to fall at our feet. "You just can't see them because you're not used to them."

"Used to them? What?" Aknon asked, but the blobs must've caught on that we were going quicker away from them and decided to increase their own speed.

"They change when you're used to them," Senka said, once again pulling out her sword and slashing through some which appeared on our left. It was like a tsunami of darkness following us, even the floor shook, which made no sense as they didn't seem to have feet.

They chased us like that human-eating rhino did, and I hoped there was no waterfall or cliff we could fall down this time.