Villain's Second Heart: Trapped in A Fantasy Novel (BL)-Chapter 107: Hungry and Homicidal

Ezra heard a scream - a cry, really - and then the pounding at the gate. Whatever that thing was he’d just seen, it was trying to get in.

Adma rushed toward the wall, and he followed instinctively, leaving Oberyn, Rav, and Bree behind. Was this what Adma had been doing here? Defending the wall from... that?

They ran up the battlements and climbed onto the top of the wall, looking down over the edge. From this height, Ezra got a better look at the thing. It looked human - at least, it wore clothes. Blue overalls, shoes. But it was monstrous. Its skin was tight over bone, nearly skeletal.

It let out a hideous noise, a mix of cackling and sobbing, as it beat its arms against the heavy gate to no avail. Its jaw, fully unhinged, reminded Ezra of those lantern fish he’d learned about in school.

And its hands - no, claws. They were twice the size of any human’s, with long, sharp fingers. The better to eat you with, he supposed.

Its head shot up suddenly, staring straight at him. It pointed - right at him - shaking its elongated finger.

Then it screamed. A blood-curdling shriek that hit Ezra so deeply he crouched down, clutching the sides of his head. He was just glad to be out of its direct sight. The thing kept screaming, louder and louder, like the mere sight of him had driven it completely insane.

[It senses your Second Heart.]

The musings of Alcor rattled through his head.

’Is this one of those Encephalim Rav mentioned?’

[Far worse. A human who was cursed by the Harbinger you seek. Now that I’ve seen it through your eyes, I’m certain. A Harbinger is behind this famine.]

"Tough luck, kid. Seems those things don’t like you any more than the Heenas did." Rav landed beside him on the wall platform, stepping off a puff of magical cloud. "Bree did say these fellas were hungry. Hoo boy."

The Sage turned to Adma, clicking his long nails together as he mulled over what to ask.

"Do we kill it, or...?"

Adma peered down at the abomination below. It had worn itself out from screaming and now lay thrashing on the ground, throwing a tantrum.

"We tried detaining them," she said. "They go insane. And if not left in complete isolation, they begin to eat each other."

"Lovely. Cannibal monster humans. And they said I just hadn’t ever met the right humans - some of them are wonderful, my friends tell me."

Rav rolled his eyes as his tail twitched. He leaned in to listen to what Adma had to say next.

"Once they are so far gone, and once their bodies begin to change...I believe they are beyond help. This is the work of the famine."

She shook her head. "Those living in the affected areas must continue eating and eating and eating. If they don’t, this is what they become."

Adma raised her hand and projected it forward in a military signal. Ezra heard the whizz of an arrow from one of the tower marksmen - and then, the creature was no more.

"Hungry homicidal horrors. How lovely," Rav muttered. "Do you have a name for them? Chompers? Crazies?" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"We simply call them The Hungry. When they first began to show up, most were nonviolent. They arrived in droves, hundreds a day. But then the crowds grew larger, full of dissidents. We had to begin restricting passage..."

So that was what happened. Ezra felt like an idiot. When he’d first heard about the crisis, he assumed the people coming from the northern country were just... you know. Hungry. He hadn’t realized they were dealing with an outright invasion of humans-turned monsters.

[This is far worse than I imagined as well.]

"If you truly intend to journey north," Adma said, "You’d best get used to seeing them around. Just remember - if they’re as transformed as this one was, there is no helping them. You must kill them. Or they will kill others."

Ezra shifted his weight uncomfortably. Of course he wanted to help them. Killing one of them would bring no satisfaction. These things were people once. But if they truly were beyond saving...

The gate began to open again. A team rushed out to dispose of the body. As they cleaned up the scene, Bree and Oberyn arrived at the top of the wall.

The blue-feathered Ave noticed the corpse, but didn’t pay it much mind. She knew this might happen - had seen it before.

Rav rushed over to greet her, and Ezra followed. Oberyn lingered nearby - silent, but clearly processing everything.

"Are you okay?" Ezra asked, his fingers curling around Oberyn’s hips as he made eye contact with his Nephilim love.

He couldn’t help but smile, even if only for a second. Ezra noticed and stuck his tongue out at him. "We’re going to be okay, Oby. Don’t stress too much."

Oberyn nodded, still disturbed by what he’d seen. He inched closer to Ezra as Bree began to speak.

"I presume I don’t have to tell you about them," Bree said, gesturing to the body with her wingtips as it was dragged away. "There are more and more every day. The famine is getting worse."

Rav crossed his arms and looked more serious than usual. "Alright, Bree. Where do we begin?"

"The famine can be traced back to one farm not far from here," Bree informed them. "It was the first to be stricken. Others have come and gone, but perhaps we can find a clue there. Come. Follow me."

With that, she rocketed into the air, leaving a flurry of blue feathers in her wake. Rav raised a hand to block the sun, watching her soar north.

"She keeps a good watch from up there," he said. "We won’t have to worry about getting ambushed. Alright, let’s go, boys."

Rav led the way through the gate into a spotty forest. The trees were either out of season or dead - most had no greenery left. Not even the sounds of animals could be heard. The forest was silent, save for the crunch of brittle twigs beneath their boots. The air was thick with brown fog, and it burned in Ezra’s nostrils like acid. The trees grew into the road with gnarled, mad angles - as if even the land had been driven insane.

All the while, a persistent chilly breeze blew through them. The northern land was gripped by the beginning of its long winter.

He looked up, but Bree was nowhere in sight. She was flying high - so high that the sky had swallowed her. Rav seemed to be tracking her just fine, so they kept following him.

They walked the winding path in uneasy silence - until Ezra jumped back, startled by a mound on the side of the road. He thought it was going to attack. But when he looked closer, he realized it was long dead. Another of The Hungry, left behind for the flies.

The buzzing and decay told him it wasn’t fresh. This body had been here for days.

"How horrible," he murmured.

Rav shook his head, staring at the half-eaten corpse. "This is some shit, my guys. Evil, evil magic. Suffering for the sake of suffering. Whoever this Harbinger is..."

He sighed and began walking again. "Come along now. No time to gawk. We should arrive soon."

Oberyn and Ezra exchanged glances, then hurried after him.

This was no place to linger.