Skyborne Raider

“What is that?” Astrid points her finger at something hanging high on a very tall tree. “Is that a branch?”

I jog past her, knee-deep in the river, sharpening my sight to assess what I'm looking at. Due to the dimness of the forest, I can only make out the silhouette.

“A log, tied to a rope?”

“Either way, we need to explore and level up,” Mike says, making an excuse. He flips his wet black hair back over his head and wades through the river.

Astrid and I simply follow, less afraid after all the events that have happened.

Nothing can surprise me, I tell myself.

“Let’s place a bet. I say… a large snake, maybe dropped by an eagle!” I suggest, trying to lighten the mood.

“It’s just a tree. Maybe the top got severed by lightning, and that burnt log is left hanging,” Mike adds calmly.

“I don’t want to play. I think it's something different,” Astrid says.

“What do you have in mind?” we ask.

“Someone hanged himself…”

We fall silent for a few seconds and continue walking closer.

“Oh boy,” Mike scoffs.

“What are we looking at?” I ask, tilting my head to the side.

“It looks like a corpse indeed, but weird and deformed,” I say after a brief analysis in the dim light. Astrid freezes and stops moving.

Mike and I continue, loudly describing what we see.

“The neck is very long, maybe ten times longer than a normal human neck.”

“What is this? An animal or an alien?” Mike stops, gazing at what seems to be a human torso with a neck as long as the rest of the body.

“Listen.” I turn back slightly, glancing quickly at Astrid.

“One friend of mine once told me a story. His uncle was a firefighter and claimed he heard adults talking about his job. They regularly go and cut down hangmen. But one time, there was this man that nobody was looking for. They found him after WEEKS, and somehow his spine disconnected, so his neck didn’t tear off but instead stretched to almost three times or more its normal length.” I whisper to Mike.

He seems quite frightened by the look in his eyes, yet he’s trying to handle it.

“So what is it?” Astrid asks from a distance, taking one step closer. We exchange worried glances.

“Astrid, stay where you are,” Mike tells her.

“She doesn’t need to see this up close,” he whispers back to me.

As we approach it slowly and steadily, we recognize the same pattern. There are more of them, farther away from the one we’re examining. Those aren’t just peculiar trees in the distance. The dark forest is full of these same figures hanging at various heights.

The hangmen. Dead humanoid creatures, possibly real humans, with obscenely long necks. Hanged by someone or by themselves.

I look at Mike with a worried expression.

“Do we really want to take a closer look at one?” he asks, a bit frightened.

“What if these things come to life at some point? Taking down humanoid foes... I don’t think I’m ready for that,” he admits.

“I’m all in for hunting more nutrias and preparing them for lunch, but since we’re this close, it’s hard for me to walk away. We’ll eventually return for more water. It’d be good to know if there’s a threat or not,” I explain, hungry for answers—and some roasted nutria meat. My mouth waters just thinking about it.

“Hey! So what are you two chatting about so much? What is it?” Astrid takes a few more steps.

Mike turns back to Astrid. “Stay back!”

But it’s too late. She has already crossed the river quietly, barefoot.

“Oh. My. God,” she whispers, stunned.

“I was right after all.”

“We’re debating whether to shoot one down or not,” Mike explains to her.

“We need to know what we’re dealing with. It could be a threat to us sooner or later,” I reason.

*Fwoosh!*

A curved shot hits the body without making much noise. The figure wobbles for a moment until the momentum stops.

*Fwoosh!*

The second arrow hits the target, and the corpse falls to the ground with a surprisingly soft thud. By the sound, it seems dry. I feel relieved; this means one thing—it’s been here for a long time, drying out, and is probably harmless.

“See, the health bar would’ve appeared by now. It’s safe,” I suggest.

“Astrid, stay back; we’ll investigate first,” Mike says, taking his first steps while drawing his sabre. I follow swiftly, holding my hammer tight.

Every step closer reveals more of the gruesome scene.

A bald human with a slight stubble in a peasant-like dirty linen shirt. Its eyes are closed, and its hands are tied with a weathered rope.

The horrifyingly long neck, almost as long as its torso, is thick and veiny, swirling like a snake. The neck is pale, with the veins prominently visible.

I stare at it with morbid curiosity, disgusted yet baffled by the surreal sight in front of us.

“Disgusting and horrifying,” says Astrid, approaching cautiously with a loaded arrow, gazing at what was once supposed to be a man with visible disgust.

I lean a bit closer, grab the nearest stick, and poke it slightly.

"Tied hands. This is not a suicide."

*The body twitches.*

“Aargh!” I yell, almost falling back. Astrid reflexively releases her arrow, pinning the body to the ground.

Mike doesn’t strike as I expected; he simply observes.

*Another twitch.*

“Aargh!” Now Astrid screams in her pitched voice.

*Smack!*

I impulsively bash my hammer against its chest, probably breaking some bones.

A gurgling, vomiting sound follows as the neck moves snake-like on the ground. The arrow keeps it pinned down.

We all step back, avoiding any contact with it. The head drags through the soil, leaves, and exposed roots, scratching itself.

The corpse suddenly opens its dead, empty eyes.

A long health bar appears above its head with the name Jonathan, level 12.

Astrid fires another arrow at the head, but it misses and buries itself deeply in the loose soil. Losing four arrows is a big deal for her. We don’t dare retrieve any, but at this rate, she won’t be able to help much longer.

Mike reacts fast, slashing furiously at the neck. His sabre cuts deep, making wide slits in the dried flesh, but no blood or fluid flows from the wounds.

The most concerning part is that the health bar doesn’t budge—not even a fraction.

Astrid carefully tracks the writhing creature and takes aim.

*Whoosh.*

She finally hits the head, pinning it to the ground. The body thrashes like a dying animal, but the health bar remains untouched.

I stand ready with my hammer, watching for an opening to land a solid hit.

Mike keeps slashing at the neck, trying to sever the head.

“This isn’t working! Stop it!” Astrid yells.

*Crack.*

The arrow breaks in half as the head is freed from the pin.

*Bang.*

My hammer lands with a deep thud, bruising and denting the already sliced neck as I aim for the head but miss.

The creature opens its mouth as if trying to scream, but the arrow through its vocal cords makes it difficult. It gurgles and hisses.

Mike, trying to decapitate it, finally strikes the deep slit he made earlier but is stopped by the spine.

“What the fuck! So they have a spine after all?”

*Bang.*

I slam the exposed spine with all my strength, shattering the vertebrae.

The head finally separates from the neck. The full health bar still shines above the body as it tries to stand up headless.

Astrid fires another arrow, this time hitting its leg. I bash its kneecaps, and the cracking sound is unsettling.

Mike stabs the torso with his sabre, burying it in the ground.

“Just die already! What the fuck!” he shouts.

But there’s no change in the health bar.

“Is this some kind of bug with the health bar?” I wonder, smashing its elbows to pieces. The creature wobbles but can’t get up due to the broken bones. Yet, even the severed head still seems alive.

“What if we chop him into the smallest pieces?” Mike suggests.

“No need to dull our weapons. I have a better idea,” Astrid says.