Y'SHAATI INTO THE DARK LANDS: CHAPTER 7 - THE ARRIVAL PART III

 In just a moment, Y'shaati watched as a gigantic jaw filled with innumerable lines of sharp teeth emerged right in front of her. The Monkey Queen had never seen a creature with a snout of such magnitude in the jungle she lived in. Not even the terrifying and imposing titanic serpent Ma'i D'goa could compare to a beast like this.

As if it were a black abyss approaching quickly towards her, Y'shaati tried to jump as far as possible from the creature to avoid being devoured in a single bite or ending up crushed under its belly, but due to the muddy surface in that she was standing, her movement was clumsy and slow, though effective. She barely managed to dodge and get out of the way of the beast's attack. The great weight and size of the monster caused the mud of the trench to splash in all directions. Y'shaati simply closed her eyes just before a huge wave of mud dragged her through the ditch...

This creature was known in the Darklands as E'zso, the Devil Maggot. One of the many Dark Gods that roam free in this unexplored part of Amazonia. A beast with a covetous spirit that simply wanders in the depths of the earth in search of prey to satisfy its extreme hunger that seems to have no end. The creature had two small limbs very similar to human hands, as if it were an indication that this monster was once a human...

Struggling and kicking in distress to return to the surface, Y'shaati finally managed to get out of the mud and take a deep breath. Her naked body was completely covered in mud, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Desperate to not be able to see anything momentarily, she quickly shook her body and removed all the mud that covered most of her face.

When she could see again, Y'shaati noticed that the monster had disappeared. However, the earth was still trembling...

It was evident that E'zso had submerged himself in the mud again to attack by surprise from below once more. Without wasting more time, the Monkey Queen tried to move towards the edge of the ditch to get out of there. Upon arriving, Y'shaati immediately began to climb. The earth continued to tremble even more and more...

Despite having her legs and feet totally covered in mud, she managed to climb up relatively quickly thanks to the good grip and strength of her skilled toes. However, being only a few more steps away from escaping the trench, the Devil Maggot emerged beneath her once more, and seeing that its prey was about to flee, the creature opened its jaw and stucked out its tongue.

E'zso had a long and powerful tongue that quickly reached Y'shaati, wrapping around her hips. The Monkey Queen fell to the ground and began to be dragged into the grotesque mouth of the maggot. She dug her fingers several times in the creature's muscle to free herself, but this proved useless each time. She had almost no strength left due to her previous battles with the jakare and the living foliages. The only thing that kept her from failing from exhaustion was her will power and unbreakable fighting spirit. She knew it... this couldn't be the end for her. She had to save little I'ppi and his mother to reunite them again. She promised it. That was her mission as the guardian of the jungle...

Being about to be devoured, Y'shaati roared with all her might, causing her body to begin to radiate intensely. The Monkey Queen restrained E'zso's tongue with her hands again, and this time pulled from it with superhuman strength. When he least expected it, E'zso felt a strong pain... as if his tongue was being torn from his palate. Because of this, the monster quickly released Y'shaati to protect his tongue. But now it would be the Monkey Queen who wouldn't let the Devil Maggot escape.

Y'shaati, glowing incandescently and using all of the power bestowed by the Goddess within her, stopped using her hands and used her own mouth, biting savagely E'zso's tongue to pull from it. Y'shaati incrusted her teeth deeply, causing a large amount of dark blood to flow from the organ of the beast. Immediately, the creature roared in pain and agony, as if he were asking the girl turned animal to stop the torture. In that moment, the maggot looked at Y'shaati, feeling a profound fear: her azure eyes glittered intensely. She was staring at him as her mouth was being soaked in blood... the maggot saw the wrath of the Monkey Goddess burning in her face.

Just a second later, Y'shaati turned her body and head with an incredible and devastating strength, completely tearing the tongue from E'zso's muzzle once and for all.

A great stream of blood began to sprout from the monster's mouth as it writhed in pain in the mud, similarly to its severed muscle. After a while, E'zso slowly stopped moving as his body began to sink into a puddle of mud and black blood. It was definitive... E'zso, the legendary Devil Maggot was dead.

Seeing this, Y'shaati, without any more strength left in her body, finally collapsed from fatigue and exertion. The monkey-girl crashed on the mud. However, she also began to sink rapidly. She didn't even have minimum bit of strength to stand up. In a matter of seconds, the mud was already at her neck.

At this rate, the ditch would become her grave as well, just like E'zso. Everything seemed lost...

And suddenly, the Monkey Queen felt something or someone taking her hand and pulling her out of the mud trench. When she opened her eyes, she saw who it was: a gigantic monkey, very similar to I'ppi's mother, was carrying her in one of its arms. After leaving the ditch, the huge monkey laid her on the firm jungle soil. At last, she could see with little more clarity. She noted that, not only one, but several giant monkeys were gathered around her, watching her intrigued...

The monkeys got to see the way in which she killed E'zso, a creature feared by them. A Goddess of the jungle slaying one of the Dark Gods. They thought this young human female was certainly special, without a doubt. They considered her worthy of being called Queen of the Monkeys right away.

Y'shaati's sight became more and more blurred, but just before she passed out, she saw a small silhouette on the shoulder of one of the great monkeys: Little I'ppi was there. The baby monkey managed to escape from the swamp to bring help and save her.

Y'shaati simply smiled before closing her eyes and fall in a deep sleep...

Y'SHAATI INTO THE DARK LANDS: CHAPTER 6 - THE ARRIVAL PART II

 The sensation of her body being dragged through the humid and dirty soil caused Y'shaati to slowly begin to open her beautiful azure eyes. Her sight was clouded due to the ivy leaves covering much of her head. As she regained consciousness, the monkey-girl could see that the soothing sunlight was still not penetrating the dense fog that covered the place. Instead, the jungle was just getting darker and darker...

When she finally managed to completely awaken in her five senses, Y'shaati realized the precarious situation: she was captured. Her whole body was wrapped with thick vines coming from her captor's arms. Then, she saw them... the living foliage, marching into an unknown place hidden in the depths of the Darklands. She couldn't help feeling a bit frightened to see a group of creatures that she had never seen in her life before...

Trying to look around, she managed to observe a large number of logs and fallen trees in the path that were slowly sinking into mud puddles and thick water. Undoubtedly, she knew they were getting close to a swamp. While she continued struggling to free her arms and legs, she saw something that immediately triggered her rage and instincts: little I'ppi was also captive, tangled inside the entrails of one of the monsters. The monkey pup was unconscious... he probably fell exhausted from screaming, crying and begging for Y'shaati's help. Suddenly, her breathing began to stir. The Monkey Queen's body and eyes began to glow with great intensity...

With superhuman strength, Y'shaati howled with all her might and broke the vines that covered her upper body. With two of her limbs free, she was finally able to shake off the tangle of ivy that covered her legs... she was finally free.

The living bushes immediately realized that their prey had been released, so they abruptly stopped their march and turned their bodies towards Y'shaati. The Queen of Monkeys, ready to fight to free I'ppi from the strange creatures, stood up and furiously beated her chest like a wild ape while launching a powerful battlecry.

Y'shaati planted her knuckles firmly on the ground, and in less than a second, she charged at full speed to attack the monsters. Y'shaati took a big leap to pounce one of the creatures... her great power and strength would surely demolish them in one fell swoop... however...

Just before she could collide with the strange monsters, a disturbing, ear-piercing sound left Y'shaati completely stunned, causing her to crash into the ground instead.

As she quickly tried get up, she began to hear those sounds inside her head... the human voices were invading Y'shaati's mind once more... but this time, it was more than just whispers. It was worse... now she heard screams... horrible cries of pain, agony and suffering...

Screaming and whimpering in the ground due to the dreadful sounds, Y'shaati put her hands on her ears and began to wildly shake her head in a desperate attempt to somehow stop the pain. It was so strong that even tears began to flow from her pretty eyes. Then, she looked up to glare at the monsters. The living bushes were motionless. They didn't have eyes, but it seemed that they were staring directly at Y'shaati's soul. She began to understand: it was the creatures that were mentally creating the horrible screams inside her head.

As the monkey-girl's radiance and strength started to fade away, one of the monsters took Y'shaati by her neck with one of his long, dried arms. It seemed that the creature intended to strangle her to death this time...

Her vision started to become blurry again... but this time, it would be forever...

Her life was about to come to an end...

The jungle fell into a deep silence... everything was about to fade to black...

Suddenly, a powerful and guttural roar shook the place. Startled, the living foliages turned to look at their surrounding. They knew something was approaching...

Just in that moment, a giant monkey jumped out of the foliage of the jungle and began to tear the monsters apart with an uncontrollable rage. Y'shaati fell to the ground. The wild monkey smashed the living bushes with its fists, crushing their bodies as if they were simple sticks.

While Y'shaati tried to catch her breath back, she realized that the voices in her head had stopped... she could feel her strength returning to her body, little by little. When she finally got up from the floor, she contemplated the massacre...

The gigantic monkey had reduced all the monsters to pieces. All except for one... the one that had I'ppi trapped inside its body. The monkey tore the creature's head with a powerful bite and managed to get the little monkey out of its entrails.

Finally, all the creatures had been vanquished...

Delicately, the giant monkey took I'ppi on its arms and held it close to its chest in a gentle and loving way... all this while Y'shaati watched, completely shocked...

She knew what was happening, but she didn't want to believe it: That huge monkey was I'ppi's mother...

It was incredible, I'ppi's mother was several times the size and volume of Y'shaati. She was much larger than a Tahuayo, who was believed to be the largest apes in Amazonia. While Y'shaati looked puzzled, the huge monkey slowly approached towards her. She started sniffing her until she noticed the green glow that produced her white-skinned body. I'ppi's mother immediately understood that the girl was a guardian of the jungle, and that she was the one who brought her little baby back to her. I'ppi's mother bowed to her, as a sign of her gratitude.

Y'shaati still didn't know how to react to this situation. She was too shocked to even think on something. In that moment, I'ppi finally woke up from his deep sleep and immediately realized that his mother was finally at his side. The little baby was so happy and excited that he couldn't help but jump in joy on his mother's arms. Then, he turned to see Y'shaati.

The little monkey jumped onto the monkey-girl to happily hug her until he noticed a sad expression on her face...

Y'shaati knew that this was the moment to say farewell...

Y'shaati, sheding a tear, took the little monkey in her arms and hugged him with all the love and tenderness of a mother's... I'ppi's mother allowed this gesture, for she couldn't be more grateful with the girl for her aid. Still holding the baby in her arms, Y'shaati looked into her eyes, and with a friendly smile, both females expressed the same thing without pronouncing a single sound:

..."Thank you"...

Before the little monkey could return to his true mother's arms, a large number of living foliages jumped from out of nowhere and pounced directly on I'ppi's mother...

The creatures surrounded the giant monkey and immediately began to release a soporific gas from their heads. The dense, brown cloud began to envelop the giant monkey's whole body. She couldn't help breathing the gas while trying to get rid of the monsters on her back. She quickly started to feel numb until she collapsed in just a matter of seconds.

Y'shaati, without thinking twice, took the little monkey with her left arm and quickly climbed the nearest tree to avoid being reached by the poisonous cloud. Little I'ppi launched a cry of despair for his mother, but Y'shaati didn't look back and started to swing through the trees. The baby monkey implored Y'shaati to return to help his mother, but the monkey-girl was determined: she wouldn't risk losing I'ppi this day. She knew that these creatures were extremely dangerous and she wasn't going to be able to defeat them all by herself. She would find a way to help her mother in another moment... now, it was the time to escape.

Completely angered and frustrated for the Monkey Queen's decision, I'ppi bit Y'shaati's arm with his sharp fangs, freeing himself from her grasp. The monkey pup jumped to grab a vine and swing back to where his mother was. Startled, Y'shaati took a half turn in mid air and began to follow I'ppi as she hooted for him to return.

The little monkey continued swinging, ignoring Y'shaati's howls. He was determined to return to help his mother by himself. However, due to his small size, I'ppi failed to grab the next vine and suddenly began to fall.

Seeing little I'ppi falling to a certain death, the monkey-girl also dropped down to save him. Miraculously, while both continued to fall, Y'shaati managed to catch I'ppi. With incredible agility, she managed to grab the monkey pup by his paws with her skilled toes. At the same time, Y'shaati managed to hold on to a vine close to her and avoid falling into the void with the baby monkey.

When both finally stopped, Y'shaati noticed that they were just a few meters from hitting the floor... but there was no earth on the floor, but water... she realized they were at the swamp...

While the Monkey Queen tried to climb up through the vine, I'ppi climbed up through her lower body until he reached her head and firmly grabbed the vine. However, while this happened, a big shadow appeared in the water below them... and was getting bigger each time. Y'shaati stopped, alerted by what was about to happen.

From one moment to another, the shadow finally emerged from the water to reveal its identity: a huge Jakare, a prehistoric crocodile jumped out of the water, hitting Y'shaati with its tail and causing her to fall into the water.

The little monkey, terrified, saw how both fell into the swamp, losing sight of them just a moment later.

Spinning inside the thick water, Y'shaati tried to keep her posture and swim as far from the crocodile to avoid being devoured. However, she didn't notice that a second jakare right in front of her launched a powerful bite that went close to end her life.

Using all the strength and power left in her, Y'shaati managed to stop the crocodile, putting both hands on its gigantic snout. Meanwhile, the first jakare came back to try to eat Y'shaati again with a single bite. It was the perfect chance for the beast...

Seeing the other crocodile approaching at full speed, Y'shaati made use of her outstanding flexibility, and in a incredible way, she managed to turn around and stop the beast's bite with her feet. With great precision, she planted the soles of her feet between the crocodile's fangs to keep it from closing its jaws. Due to the heavy force of the impact, Y'shaati and the two jakare emerged from the water directly to the surface.

At that moment, I'ppi, still hanging in the vine, saw Y'shaati again. The monkey pup couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing... the Monkey Goddess was stopping the bites of both crocodiles at the same time with incredible endurance.

Making another superhuman effort to keep the two jakare in that same position, Y'shaati could see I'ppi hanging in the vine. She yelled at him, telling him to go away. She would reunite with him as soon as she finished battling with the two giant beasts.

Without wasting time, I'ppi obeyed Y'shaati this time and quickly left that place swinging out of the swamp.

Y'shaati's body began to glow intensely... she was ready to end this fight.

With extraordinary power, and screaming with all her strength, Y'shaati managed to open even more the muzzles of both beasts, to the point where their snouts completely dislocated from their jaws.

The crocodiles, seriously injured, began to sink into the depths of the swamp.

Y'shaati quickly began to swim to the edge of the swamp to search for I'ppi as soon as possible.

However, just as she was about to get out of the water, a third jakare, relatively smaller than the others, jumped out of the water, trying to rip Y'shaati's arm off.

She nimbly dodged the attack and placed herself on the back of the crocodile, holding on tightly to him. Both came out of the swamp's water while the crocodile spinned on its own body to get rid of the monkey-girl.

She punched the beast's eyes to deprive it of its sight and thereby effectively defeat it. However, the jakare did too many spins that he didn't see the gulch near there. Then, both began to fall downhill into a deep mud trench.

Y'shaati and the crocodile went round and round until they reached the bottom of the ditch. A little dizzy, Y'shaati quickly shook the mud from her body and then watched the jakare doing the same thing. Apparently, the beast wasn't close to giving up at anytime...

Squatting in the mud, Y'shaati howled again like a wild ape to fight once more with the crocodile. The beast gave a powerful roar, and in the same way, was ready to launch an attack.

However... just a second before he could charge against the Monkey Queen, the jakare suddenly began to sink into the mud. The animal screeched in despair at the feeling that something was dragging it from its tail... and in just a few seconds, the crocodile completely disappeared...

Y'shaati approached slowly to see what had happened. The ground was soft, but not enough to sink on its own... definitely someone or "something" had dragged the jakare to its death.

And just then, the ground began to rumble right in front of her... her deduction had been correct: something buried in the mud was just about to emerge.

Y'shaati was ready to face anything... but she would never have imagined the magnitude of what was about to appear before her eyes...

Y'SHAATI INTO THE DARK LANDS: CHAPTER 5 - THE ARRIVAL PART I

 Hidden in the darkness of the night, Y'shaati and I'ppi were eating the meat that both managed to get a few hours earlier in that human village. The little monkey happily tasted the big, juicy boar leg. The monkey-girl, on the other hand, wasn't enjoying her dinner very much. However, she couldn't deny that the piece of meat she held in her hands was the most delicious she had ever tasted.

For some reason, the red flower had the property of making the meat taste better and have a better smell. It was very different from when she hunted and killed a living prey.

But what baffled the monkey-girl the most was the ease with which humans allowed them to escape from the settlement. Both were practically surrounded and at the mercy of the humans... why they changed their minds so suddenly? Questions continued to surge, and she was still far from finding answers...

At that moment, I'ppi said something that left Y'shaati surprised: the little monkey mentioned that he couldn't help noticing her resemblance to humans. The shape of her body, her height, her fur on her head and other details were suspiciously similar. For a brief moment, I'ppi was afraid to think that his new mother wasn't what she really believed. Seeing his anguish, Y'shaati dropped her piece of meat and squatted next to the little baby and spoke directly to his eyes to regain his confidence:

"Y'shaati may be human, but no like them. Y'shaati be monkey... monkey of heart."

Two days after that incident...

As Y'shaati and I'ppi got farther and farther from the Amazon rainforest, the Monkey Queen could notice that the jungle was beginning to lose its beautiful color, turning into a lifeless shape of gray. Looking at the sky, she saw that Father Sun's presence had vanished, and a dense fog prevented her from seeing beyond a couple of trees in front of her. Little by little, the jungle was falling into perpetual darkness.

What the Naka'i elders warned her about, was true... Y'shaati realized that both had finally reached their destination... from there on, she and the monkey pup were inside the Darklands.

The little monkey, still traveling on Y'shaati's left shoulder, told her that they had arrived at his home. Meanwhile, Y'shaati couldn't help feeling a little afraid as she looked around. Everything was so different in this place compared to the jungle she knew. The trees had no fruits or any other type of food hanging from their leaves or branches. An abnormal silence flooded all the corners of the jungle. The monkey-girl had a very good ear, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't manage to hear a single noise... the song of the birds, the sound of water, the very breathing of the great trees... nothing of that existed in the Darklands. The only noise she could hear was the one she made while swinging from vine to vine.

It didn't feel natural... it was disturbing... as if this whole place were sick... or cursed...

I'ppi tried to explain to Y'shaati that this distressing silence was due to the fact that no creatures inhabiting in the Darklands dare to leave their hideouts. Most of the time, the animals of this place remain unseen, but always watching... staying out of reach, either to avoid the terrible predators that lurk around or simply to surprise and kill a distracted prey. All the living beings of the Darklands are carnivorous... even some plants...

As she listened to what the little monkey was telling her, Y'shaati couldn't believe that such a dangerous place could exist. The innocent tone with which I'ppi called this place "home" left her nervous for a long time.

Y'shaati decided to stop on a branch to think about where to go now. The fog was causing her sense of direction to be lost for a brief moment. While she and I'ppi crawled along the thick branch they were, the monkey-girl could see a shadow move quickly beneath them. She and the monkey pup remained quiet for a moment. Trying to identify what that obscure figure was, Y'shaati hung upside down to look at the jungle floor. Then, out of the corner of her eye, Y'shaati saw it again. Another shadow that dissapeared in less than a second. She began to feel observed... something wasn't right.

I'ppi also noticed the presence of something moving quickly from below. Startled, the baby monkey jumped on the monkey-girl's back. Once reincorporating her posture, Y'shaati decided not to stay still in one place for too long and immediately jumped from the branch to pick up the nearest vine to continue making her way through the thick fog.

As she continued swinging, Y'shaati at last began to hear sounds... however, she noticed something disconcerting about this: the noise wasn't coming through her ears... it was inside her head. That weird sounds were whispers...

The Monkey Queen began to hear voices in her mind... voices similar to those produced by humans. Macabre whispers of the two-legged people. And to make things worse, the uncomfortable noise was gradually getting louder and louder. I'ppi, on the other hand, didn't hear anything. Y'shaati suddenly started to feel weak... what was going on? What kind of sinister horror was causing this?

The monkey pup couldn't help but see his mother's face begin to look pale and exhausted in just a matter of seconds. The voices were becoming hellish for her. Y'shaati started to feel dizzy from the vines movement. Her body trembled as she could feel her arms lacking the strength to hold on to it. Even her beautiful azure eyes began to close. This wasn't going to end well.

When she least expected it, Y'shaati unconsciously let go off the vine in which she was traveling, falling directly to the dark jungle floor with I'ppi. Completely terrified, the baby monkey ran straight to the monkey-girl's inert body to try to wake her up as quickly as possible. The exposed position in which they were, could make them be an easy prey for predators. Panicking, I'ppi pulled from Y'shaati's blonde mane with his small hands to wake his mother. However, this was futile.

Suddenly, the monkey pup felt the shadow's presence they had seen minutes ago. It was approaching them. However, great was his terror when he saw not one nor two, but more than five shadows slowly getting close to them. Their silhouettes were strangely similar to those of humans. Two legs, two arms and a head... but, there was a small detail... when I'ppi finally saw them closely, he realized something horrifying: they weren't human...

Their bodies were made of branches, ivy and leaves. And their heads were like bushes. They looked like living foliage, as if a small tree had come alive...

The baby monkey, scared to death, ran away at full speed, leaving Y'shaati behind. However, one of these horrible creatures quickly extended his arm as if it were a vine-made whip, catching I'ppi before he could escape. The little monkey struggled to get free himself from the vine that wrapped his small body without success. When the creature contracted its arm into its own body, the monkey pup ended trapped inside the creature's entrails. After that, the other living bushes began to envelop Y'shaati's unconscious naked body as well. As she was only a little smaller than them, the creatures simply tangled her, dragging her across the ground. I'ppi screeched and cried desperately for Y'shaati, begging her to wake up. Then, the creatures began to slowy walk away, taking their captive preys with them. Soon, the creatures simply disappeared into the dense fog...