I yelled out and dropped my dagger. Senka rolled off me and fell to the side whilst both of my hands were around the creature which was attacking me., It was licking me and biting me, leaving pretty large wounds for something which seemed rather small. They were powerful and strong, nimbly avoiding my grip as they aimed for my chest.

"Acer!" Aknon and Sarphi both yelled whilst Senka's tiny body was crawling towards me, wrapping her arms around my ankle. Prin was frozen with her eyes wide, remaining where she was as Sarphi and Aknon rushed towards us. I didn't have time to consider that maybe Prin recognised this creature, and that was why she was standing still.

I tried to keep the creature focused on my shoulder rather than my chest, where more vital organs were located. Turns out that the creature was rather light. It didn't take long for Aknon to tear the creature off me.

It was thrown into the tree behind it, but it quickly got back up and darted back at me. I rolled around on the floor and got into a kneeling position. I ducked quickly as it darted at my head, and I was forced to jump to my feet and spin around.

"What is it?" I asked hurriedly, backing away and into a tree. "It is not friendly or cute. Most furry things are cute."

Sarphi gave a laugh as she sliced at the creature, which had jumped out of the way, aiming for Aknon instead. "I don't think that this is any kind of cute Acer."

"Maybe if it stops trying to kill you!" Senka added, jumping from foot to foot. She couldn't really do much. "Sarphi, use your rattle!"

I wouldn't have bet all the money in the world that I would hear a ragdoll tell my sister to use her baby rattle whilst being attacked by a carnivorous ball of fluff. I wouldn't have bet money on anything that we'd experienced over the past few days.

"My what?" Sarphi asked in shock as she darted forward, slashing at the creature's back.

Prin rushed over to us, making noises of distress as she picked Senka up gently in her hands and cradled her, trying to keep her still due to the tear in her side. She was trying to gesture wildly, trying to tell me something, but I couldn't understand what she was trying to say. I'd rushed over to aid Sarphi get the creature off Aknon, despite the pain growing in my shoulder.

"Just do it," I hissed as I got the creature off Aknon, throwing them into the tree behind me. "She knows what she's talking about." More than we do anyway.

Sarphi looked around the forest floor frantically, and that's when I noticed that her bag wasn't on her shoulder like it usually was.

It was like playing a game of catch with a deadly hairball. As soon as one of us got attacked by the sharp teeth, the other two were there to get it off them. All the while Sarphi was looking for her bag. I also looked, and I'm sure that Aknon and Prin did as well, but I doubted that anyone, but Sarphi could use her rattle for what Senka intended.

After a long while of deadly catch, Prin clapped her hands loudly. The creature got more aggressive as she did this, but she then stomped her feet and made vocalisations. So, it had to be serious.

"My bag!" Sarphi cried out in thanks as she rushed over. But then the shadows near her bag began to move. Another furry creature leaped out, causing her to yelp. The bag was in between her and the other creature. It looked as though they were having some kind of standoff. The tension was thick, as though they were waiting for the other one to leap.

The one which Aknon and I were tackling wasn't losing any energy, whilst we were growing tired. The pain from the bites were slowly increasing to the point of annoyance, and I was beginning to lose my temper. I tried to keep an eye on Sarphi and Prin, but my vision was obscured as the furry creature lunged at my face.

I screamed as I got a mouthful of fur. I coughed and spluttered and was nearly sick to my stomach at the taste of the creature which probably didn't bathe. My distress and desperation at that point gave me strength and I threw it off of me in time to see Prin rushing forward and grabbing Sarphi's bag.

The second furry creature leaped for Sarphi, whilst the first was running at me again. I was still spitting and trying to get the taste of the fur out of my mouth as I simply sprinted away from it.

"Run over here if you're going anywhere!" Sarphi called after me as she tried to keep the second creature off her chest.

Aknon was helping Prin look through Sarphi's bag, which I swore was more organised than something I couldn't even name at this point because I was so distracted with running. In fact, I was so distracted by running that I ran into a tree, shifting quickly around it in hopes the creature would do the same.

"Sarphi!" Aknon yelled as he threw her baby rattle to her.

Sarphi was in no position to be catching flying baby rattles, even if it would save our lives.

I ran back in their direction and grabbed the rattle. Now the two of us were facing two furry creatures.

Senka and Prin were talking to Aknon, but I couldn't hear what they were saying over the gobbling noises of the creatures.

"Here," I said to Sarphi as I noticed one of her hands was free. I handed her the rattle hastily and sputtered once again, cursing as fur met my mouth.

Sarphi shook the rattle whilst also shaking the creature which was attached to her.

The rattle sounded absolutely horrendous. I cringed horribly when the noise reached my ears, because it sounded like some kind of dog whistle mixed in with the regular sound of beads or beans moving around inside of a metal tube.

The furry creatures didn't seem to like it either as the noises they made became louder, their biting and movements became more aggressive and desperate.

I tried to work with Sarphi to get the creature off her whilst Prin and Aknon struggled.

"What did that do?" I asked loudly. "Because to me, it feels as though it's made everything worse." I tried not to be too frustrated or angry, but it was getting more difficult to deal with the balls of fur.

"Trust me!" Senka called. "He's coming."

"He?" I couldn't help but ask in alarm. I was hoping that it wouldn't be another doll, despite how useful Senka was when translating for Prin and giving us cryptic messages. I didn't want to carry another doll around with us, because having the single sentient doll made me feel like a sorcerer who is two steps away from getting arrested for practising voodoo.

But my fears were calmed when I heard growling. Because my fear had turned into utter terror at the noise. It sounded familiar, like something I had heard in my nightmares from when I was a child. It's the kind of noise so utterly terrifying that you think that your brain had imagined it. A sound which brings you chills, like when you hear porcelain being rubbed together.

The creatures seemed to think the same thing as they stopped trying to eat us. They almost looked adorable as they scrambled off Sarphi and Aknon and huddled together quivering. They bounced up and down as they backed away.

I slowly turned around, and my jaw dropped open.

In front of me was a dog which was almost the same height as me, growling and snarling. They were a mass of shadows, but they looked solid enough to tear into flesh. I supposed that the dog was a boy, given the fact that Senka had used the word 'he' when stating someone was coming.

"Good boy," Sarphi said quietly, acting braver than I felt.

I backed away towards the others, with Aknon's hand in mine. I wanted to keep a good hold of him just in case the dog decided to pounce.

The dog then stopped growling. Its expression changed to one of delight as it bounded towards Sarphi happily, causing her to tumble to the ground. The dog was taller than her, and so when he had pounced on her, he quickly covered her completely. His tail was wagging and the noises of him licking her face were sounds I didn't want to hear again.

"I wish I was back in your kingdom," I whispered to Prin as I learned closer to her and carefully took Senka from her.

Prin gave me a look which told me that she didn't believe me, which is fine because I wouldn't believe me either.

Senka pressed herself to my chest, clinging to my ripped coat with all the strength she had in her tiny body. "Oh, why did I tell her to do that?" she whimpered. "Why did I tell her to summon him? Things were going so well. We could've found another way out. There were only two hairballs."

Sarphi was laughing and petting the giant dog behind the ears as she sat up, telling him how he was such a good boy for helping us out. Aknon was just staring with his brows furrowed and arms crossed.

"Who is that?" Aknon spoke up after a while. "Or rather, what is that?"

Senka sighed and gestured to the dog. "Guys, meet your pet. It's been a while since he's seen you, so he's excited. His name is also Onyx, which is so original for an animal made out of shadows." She rolled her eyes, seeming to detest the dog.