CHAPTER 63: THE UNWANTED PAIR

[2 hours Later—]

The forest swallowed the echoes of the horn. Mist drifted low along the ground, twisting between roots and stones like breath made visible. Shadows moved with every step, faint whispers hiding in the leaves.

Jasmine walked ahead, her arms folded tight across her chest, every movement screaming irritation. Punch trailed a few steps behind, the crunch of twigs under his boots...the only sound between them.

Jasmine’s boots crunched softly against the dirt path, with her arms folded tight across her chest. The silence between them was sharp enough to cut through the heavy mist curling around the trees.

Then it happened— his foot slid on a patch of wet leaves, and he stumbled forward. Squish.

His boot landed squarely on Jasmine’s.

A sharp inhale ripped through her. She froze mid-step, her jaw tightening. Slowly, her head turned, one eye twitching as she looked down at her muddied shoe— then up at him.

Punch froze too, eyes widening. "Ah...my bad, I didn’t mean..."

Her voice came out slow and dangerous, each word wrapped in steel.

"If you don’t move that foot in the next two seconds, I’ll break your nose so bad, it’ll heal backward."

He jerked his foot back immediately, hands raised in surrender. "Relax, Jazzyboy. It was an accident."

Her eyes snapped up like fire meeting oil. "What did you just call me?"

Punch gave a nervous laugh, shrugging one shoulder. "Hey, you heard me. Don’t act brand new now."

"Keep testing me," she said, her voice low and seething, "and you’ll find out exactly how wrong that was." she turned forward as she continued her journey in frustration. Then—

—Snap.

Another stick cracked underfoot, and Jasmine shot him a glare, sharp enough to slice. She stopped instantly and turned her head.

"Can you walk quietly for once?" she hissed, not bothering to hide her disgust. "You’re making enough noise to wake the dead."

Punch didn’t look at her. His jaw tightened, but his voice was calm. "Maybe the dead should be scared of me... If I walk loudly it will give them more time to pray upon my arrival..."

She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You mean they’ll have time to beat your ass... pathetic" she hissed.

He let out a low chuckle. "You talk too much for someone who’s scared of being teamed up with me..."

That hit her nerve. Jasmine stopped again, spinning around, Her wings flared slightly behind her, catching bits of light filtering through the trees...She found it funny and pretty bold considering she whooped his fat ass on the stance trail the other day.

"Scared? Oh please. The last time we fought, I beat you the fuck up, I walked you like a dog you are, remember?"

His lips twitched. "You mean that time you got lucky."

Jasmine stopped abruptly, turning on her boot. Her wings rustled slightly behind her, catching the light like faint silver glass.

"Lucky?" she repeated, stepping closer. "You’re calling that luck?"

Punch finally met her gaze, unflinching. "Yeah. You hit hard, I’ll give you that. But it takes more than a strong punch to win a real fight."

"Then maybe next time," she said, voice low, "I’ll hit even harder."

He smirked. "Oh yeah? Try me."

"Why wait for next time then? We could do this right here and now..." Jasmine said, cracking her fist like she was ready to son some grown men. She was about to reply further when it happened.

A faint crunch echoed— different this time. It was heavier and rhythmic...Not from them. But somewhere unexpected.

They both froze.

The forest went still. Even the wind seemed to stop breathing. The air between them burned with unspoken hostility. And then...

Rrrrraaaaahhhh!

A low, guttural snarl rolled through the trees.

The ground trembled beneath them, soft at first, then violently— like the forest itself was shuddering awake.

Jasmine’s fists clenched. And Punch’s eyes narrowed, as they both positioned their selves for some action.

Branches cracked, and from the fog ahead, shadowed shapes began to emerge in gray, disjointed, and wrong form, structure and color. Their eyes glowed faint blue. Their mouths twitched open, spilling a dry hiss.

ZOMBIES. [Darren’s illusion Spell]

"Guess the fun’s starting," Punch said, stepping forward. His axe shimmered into existence with a deep, metallic wooomph.

Jasmine’s lips curved in irritation. "Stay out of my way. Let me show you how big boss’s move"

"I was about to say the same." He echoed. They braced as the first wave charged—

Rrraaaaghhh!

Jasmine shot forward, wings slicing air. WHOOSH! She drove her fist into the ground with explosive force...THUUUUM!— sending three zombies flying back into the trees.

Punch swung his axe in a wide arc— SHHHK!...severing another in half.

"Nice trick," he said, grinning.

"Boy please, it’s still better than yours," she shot back, leaping again, her boots slamming into a zombie’s chest with a CRACK!

But as they fought, it was chaos— no rhythm, no coordination. Jasmine’s punches nearly hit Punch twice, and his axe came within inches of cutting her wing.

"Watch it bozo!" she yelled.

"Maybe if you stopped running into my swings!" he snapped.

"I move faster than your brain! And I think faster than you, don’t get it fucked up." Jasime said while exchanging punches to the zombies approaching her.

"Then use it to get out of my way!"

BOOM! THUNK! RRAAAHH!

The forest shook under their argument and the pounding of the undead.

A zombie tackled Jasmine from behind— she spun and elbowed it in the jaw...but another slammed her sideways into a tree.

"Argh, Damn it!" she spat, shaking her head.

Punch turned to help but was caught off guard— a zombie lunged and clawed at his shoulder, another grabbed his arm, and in seconds, three were on him.

He tried to shift or perhaps turn himself into something smaller so he could escape the trap, his power flickered, his body rippling halfway into a stone form— but one zombie’s blow broke his focus. His axe fell with a heavy THUD! into the dirt and vanished.

"Punch!" Jasmine shouted, diving toward him. But she was hit mid-flight by another zombie, its claw raking across her shoulder.

She hit the ground hard...THUMP!— and before she could rise, cold hands grabbed her wings, pinning her down.

"Let go of me!" she growled, but her strength was waning fast.

The undead were stronger than they looked— Darren’s illusions had grown darker and more physical. Their grip felt real and their weight crushing.

Punch’s eyes burned with a wild light as the undead closed in, their groans echoing through the mist. "Alright then," he growled, taking a firm position to the ground, With a flash of crimson energy, his form began to distort...bones cracking, muscles swelling, his skin darkening. CRRRK-THUD! [The sound of his transformation]

Within seconds, a massive bull erupted where he stood [Punch had used his transformation abilities to turn into a bull], steam flaring from his nostrils.

The ground quaked beneath his hooves as he charged through the horde. BOOM! Bodies flew. Bones shattered. Each strike of his horns split zombies like brittle glass.

But they kept coming, clawing and climbing...until one leapt from behind, catching his flank. Another. Then another.

The bull [Punch] roared, thrashing violently, before the swarm finally forced him to his knees. Slowly he bagen to transform back into his normal self after they threw him hard towards a tree.

Punch’s head slammed against a tree trunk as he struggled, breath ragged. "Jasmine...get up!"

"Wait, you just called me by my name?" she yelled, trying to blast the ground again—

She managed to crush at least three zombies with her mighty fist, but they kept coming back to life, it was not enough to hold them down. On top...Her energy was already slipping.

"Now is not the time, you won the stance trial right? DO SOMETHING..." He screamed, but his screams weren’t doing any favors, ’cause jasmine was already close to passing out.

They both fought until their limbs went heavy, until the forest was full of the sound of struggle....

CRACK!

GRUNT!

THUD!

RRAAAAGHHH!

—and then silence...When the mist cleared, the zombies stood victorious.

Jasmine and Punch were bound back-to-back against the thick trunk of an ancient tree, their wrists wrapped in dark, glowing vines that pulsed faintly like veins of shadow.