“Are we going on an adventure?” shouts Punkin as she runs towards the house where Cer stands in the doorway.

“Hey Pupu, I have to go out to deliver some honey. Baba will stay with you and take care of you for a while.” Cer says while squatting down to pat Punkin on her head.

“No, I wanna go on an adventure witchu,” Punkin shouts and stomps as tears begin to form in her eyes.

“It’s a boring trip. You’ll have more fun with Baba while I work. Do you want to work?” Cer asks while wiping away Punkin’s tears and placing the tears in a tear vial.

Punkin looks down and says “No I wanna play. You can stay and play with me and she can go take the honey on her loud bike”

Letting out a loud but warm laugh, Cer brushes off Punkin’s response, “You are too smart for your own good. Baba’s bike needs to be fixed and she just got back. I don’t think she’ll want to leave again for awhile Punkin. She misses you as much as I will miss you. And remember, if I ever visit any place without you, what do I do?”

Welling with excitement, Punkin squeals, “Will I get a surprise? Like a pet or a candy or a big surprise?”

“I sure will! I’ll bring back something for you. Maybe some dirt or a fart” laughs Cer.

“You‘re silly. I don’t wanna fart! You stink like a poo-poo anyway,” Punkin laughs while knocking Cer over with the full weight of her body as she jumps onto and hugs Cer.

Chuckling, Cer reassures Punkin, “I am not gone yet and I already miss you”

Looking puzzled, Punkin asks “How can you miss me? I’m here?”

Cer pats Punkin on her head and smiles “Sometimes we miss the things that are right in front of us”

Punkin smiles showing off her sharp fangs, “Then maybe you needa spend more time with me so you don’t miss me.”

With another warm chuckle, Cer looks off towards the Western Woods and says, “ If it were only that easy. You can spend time with people and still miss them. You can hold hands, eat with them, play tag with them, and still miss them when they spend all their days with you. Nothing lasts forever, and we miss the feeling of even the things we see everyday. That feeling of missing something and wanting it, even when it is right in front of you, is a feeling called longing.”

Losing interest, Punkin turns away from Cer, “You’re boring now. Can I go play with Baba?”

Sighing with defeat, Cer responds, “Yes, as soon as she gets back from her chores AND we have finished our lunch. Go wash your hands for lunch.”

Looking to the East, Cer examines the silhouette of Kala sitting on the hill, while Punkin runs into the house.

Cer waves to Kala to see if her energy and aura change, but her energy remains calm and curious.

Unbothered, Cer enters the house to wash up, eat lunch with Punkin and change into clean clothes for the trip.

-break-

Sitting on the hill, relaxed with one knee folded under her and the other knee propped up allowing her arm to rest on it, Kala watches the trees fall in the distance, deep in the Western Woods. Raising her eyebrows with curiosity, Kala wonders with amusement at what could be taking place where the trees are seen falling. Could that be a demon or monster incursion? Within the wall of Haeven?

Thinking aloud, Kala stands up and squints her eyes to see what is going on in the forest to the West, “This will be interesting. Somebody needs to head to the Western Woods.”

-break-

Not too far off, but still deep in the Western Woods, a Monster walks through the forest knocking down any trees in its path. The Monster, having several arms, grabs any living creature it can reach and devours it whole. Crunching on the bones and tearing the flesh and skin of anything it chews.

Smelling the air cautiously, scanning for threats, the Monster frantically continues to devour animals near it as it warily notices something awry. Something is wrong. Something is off. Something is near.

Slowing its path, the Monster looks past the immediate trees and stops devouring animals. Startled, the Monster growls as a cloud of bees appears and a silhouette of a figure walks out among the bees with a broomstick.

Stepping forward, the figure wears a hooded cloak with the demon shriver sigil on its back. Resting over the heart on the front of the figure’s cloak, is a small embroidered insignia of a pink bear.

Seeing the various arms and dark tentacles of the Monster, the hooded figure stands casually and takes a deep breath as it takes note of the Monster. Damn. A legion of Morrighan!

Finally breaking the brief silence, the hooded figure announces, “This is my sisters’ house! You do not belong here. How did you get in here?”

Growling in a low voice that slashes the air like glass cutting through flesh, the Monster responds, “I can taste it in the air. You are a witch!!! Your tears will be mine! I will devour your soul!”

Laughing, the hooded figure nudges their broomstick in the Monster’s direction and asks “How many souls do you have in there anyway?”

“Not enough! I want yours! I can smell it and I can taste it. It’s so heavy. There’s so much blood and tears. You will be my biggest feast yet, and with you I’ll have even greater feasts!” growls the Monster as more arms and tentacles begin emerging from its body.

Pointing their broomstick at the Monster, the figure denounces, “You’ve come to feast at the wrong home! You are not welcome here. I will preserve this place and all who dwell in it in memory of my brothers and sisters! Now you must rid yourself from Haeven.”

Letting go of their broomstick, which now floats on its own in the air, the hooded figure performs hand seals, ending the seals in the shape of a hand triangle.

A triangle of mystic light and cryptic seals appears in the air before the figure. Flying out of the triangle, countless bubbles whiz towards the Monster and pop on contact, covering the Monster in a thick gold-tinted liquid.

Swinging its arms and tentacles, the Monster inadvertently pops the bubbles, further covering the Monster in the thick liquid.

Feeling heavy and weighed down from the liquid, the Monster cries, “What is this? Who are you? Are you.. the … th…THE DEMON SHRIVER?”

Smirking from the ridiculous question, the hooded figure responds, “I am not THE Demon Shriver. You do not need to know who I am- you will be forgotten and unable to speak my name… it is I who will DEVOUR YOU!”

Screaming and growling, the Monster attempts to form a concentration of energy in its mouth to attack the figure.

Just as the energy forms in the Monster’s mouth, a large bubble grows from the mystic triangle and engulfs the Monster.

In a last ditch effort to break free, the Monster releases the beam of energy from its mouth. Gasping with surprise, the Monster realizes the beam of energy is being absorbed into the bubble the Monster is engulfed in.

Raising their left fist, revealing a prayer bead bracelet around their wrist, the hooded figure grins and threatens the Monster, “Usually we send you home, but you have no home. So you will become part of our history and resolve…”

Suddenly the floating broomstick begins to shake with the intensity of the hooded figure’s focus, “Your end with me is a flourishing beginning for others- be free trapped souls!!!!”

With great speed, the broomstick darts forward towards the Monster!

“N… n... no!!...BABA YAGA!!!!!” screams the Monster as the broomstick pops the bubble containing it.

The Monster begins to disintegrate and thousands of souls are released, flying out and wailing from their freedom.

As the souls try to fly away, they get sucked into a black mirror that appears nearby, while the energy of the Monster and its mystical essence gets sucked into the hooded figure’s prayer bead bracelet.

Sighing with relief, the hooded figure lets out an exasperated breath, “I usually get paid to clean out trash like you, but you entered my home and I maintain this place for free.”

The hooded figure smirks as they remove their hood, revealing that it is Kala.

As the last bit of energy from the Monster absorbs into her bracelet, Kala thinks to herself, Delicious! Guess I will only have to cook for Pupu tonight.

Approaching within a bubble floating towards Kala, an image of another figure in a hooded cloak appears on the bubbles surface. The vision of the hooded figure in the bubble dons the same pink bear insignia on its chest by the heart. Smiling from the bubble, the hooded figure speaks to Kala, “She is always welcome to come eat with me, Kala.”

“Thank you sister, but you have no time. Besides, you will have another visitor soon. You should get going. Thank you for the assistance…” responds Kala with a bit of annoyed appreciation. “Though…I could have finished it myself too, by the way.”

“Don’t thank or blame me. Cherub smelt you and left me to see what you were up to. He is the one that opened that gate for those souls; I just had to follow him to see what he was up to” says the figure through the bubble.

Responding with annoyance, Kala asks, “Why does everyone keep saying they smell me? Do I smell funny?”

Giggling, the hooded figure fades as the bubble shrinks and dissipates, allowing Kala to catch only a portion of their response, “You have always smelled like honey and camphor”

“Wai… what? Are you saying I smell like old….” Snarls Kala as she stutters and quickly realizes her guest is already gone.

Walking off back through the forest and towards Cer and Punkin’s house, Kala exhales with relief, “Now is the time to spend with my little witch. So much for me to do; and so much for her to learn.”