Angsty Battles

Since many of us struggle with anxiety, I felt like I had to put a fear-fighting scene in my fantasy series. While I can't share all of it (spoilers abound!), here's a snapshot of the dark ickiness that weighs so many of us down...

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She was pretty sure she’d lost her mind. That was the only reason Mari could fathom why her half-tripping sprint away from her shelter—past the prince and his battle and into the one her friends were losing… and they were losing horribly—was occurring.

Because although they kept up their various attacks—bellowing, water rockets, Maxon acting as bait from above, Rhino Cresida charging, Oakley’s house-sized venus fly trap snapping, Luxia’s lights restraining the dark man’s frame—their foreign foe had the upper hand.

Some weird, thick goo was clinging to the gang’s feet (minus Maxon, since he was floating on Ruah), which weighed them down considerably. And once she got close enough to smell the goo—a horrific blend of rotten eggs and fish—Mari made a b-line for some rocks.

Figuring she should scout things out before running in blind, she scanned: apparently, the awful substance not only clung to her friends, but also the man they were fighting. Their enemy was completely encased in the rotten goo, so much so, that his arms and legs—Mari assumed he had them—were indiscernible. 

Her first thought: no wonder I couldn’t tell who they were fighting! He’s a giant glob of goo! Her second: how can he move in that stuff anyway?

Within a millisecond. Mari got her answer. From her rocky vantage point, she could see that the monster didn’t move his tar-covered limbs; unfortunately, he didn’t need to. The goo carried him like a demented escalator, lifted and lowered him in order to deflect everyone’s attacks.

But if that was his defense, what was his offense? How’d he manage to smother everyone with his disgusting tar if he couldn’t lift his arms to fling it at them?

This answer was more harrowing than the last; the fight against Glob Guy was different from all the others, even the one Nasi was currently struggling to overcome, because the goo monster’s greatest weapon wasn’t from his body, but his voice.

The rotten words that spilled out of his mouth were as cold as ice… and covered, somehow, in the exact same gunk that he was:

“Fear is a weight upon the soul. Hate a wound that never ceases to ache. See her ache, do not wake. Sink down into our sleeping fate.”

(It gives me the creeps having to write his words out. Such a sad turn of events.)

Despite the wind and rain, it was those slick, slippery words oozing out of the monster’s mouth… that made her shiver. After watching a moment longer, Mari learned that those words repeated—what a sickly metronome for her poor pals to dance to—and each time Glob Guy spoke them, little flecks of dark, rotten spittle landed on her racing-around-like-mad friends.

It wasn’t normal to see them so freaked out during a fight, but then again…

The devious spittle flecks were growing, multiplying like a nasty fungus; it was freaky to watch, so she had no doubt it was freaky for them to experience.

In mere seconds, the spot on Dixina’s arm spread all the way to her shoulder, the blackness on Belo’s nose expanded to cover his eyes, Rhino Cresida’s hide became so spotted she could’ve passed as a cow, and the lights Luxia was trying to shoot out of her hands became clogged by black tar. Even her brother had a couple bits on him now, although not as many, since he was above most

of the spittle’s range. 

As Mari watched her friends’ tar-covered feet get stuck and stay stuck this time—again, minus Maxon since he was still high in the sky—she knew she couldn’t wait any longer. Dixina’s arms were useless and Belo was blind and…

Realization settled deep within her bones. She could do this. She had to do this.

It was time to join the fight.

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Fight the fear, friends. With the Lord by our side, we can be victorious.