As I entered the empty pathway of the heavily forested jungle, a harrowing shriek that rustled the leaves entered the corridors of my eardrums. I stood in silence for a moment, hoping that whatever that made that noise did not notice the sounds of my heavy breathing. In that moment, a creature not before seen by the light of day jumped out from the confines of the dark forest, covered in blood, emitting a frightening stench, and stood there right in front of me. There I saw it. In addition to the hideous details of its horrifying appearance, shone the shiniest, most well-polished forehead I had ever seen. There was no mistaking it. It was Yerdua, the demon described only by the whispers in the towns neighboring the forest.

"I AM YERDUA, QUEEN OF THIS FOREST! WHY HAVE YOU STEPPED FORTH UPON MY GROUNDS, HUMAN?!"

She bellowed the words with such force that would frighten the heavens themselves. The demon queen then announced that whoever or whatever steps in this forest were to suffer the same consequences that followed those before me: death by tacky clothing. The worst punishment of all the realms.

With this, I was furious and replied, "O BUT IT IS YOU WHO WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR VICTIMS! PREPARE YOURSELF, DEMON!"

I lunged, pulled out the Sword of a Thousand Designers that was bestowed on me by the Sage of MiKors, and plunged it straight at the demon's throat. Yet Yerdua, the Demon Queen, stood motionless. The sword stopped immediately at contact with her coarse skin. And with a swift swipe of her stainless steel Cartier-ringed hammer, she threw me across the barren field with an enormous boulder the only thing stopping me from the attack. There was no use. Yerdua was immune to my attacks. The Sword of Thousand Designers was of no use to her. It was hopeless.

"PUNY HUMAN, YOU THINK YOU CAN ATTACK ME WITH SUCH DECEITFUL STEELMAKING. THAT FOOL MIKORS NEEDS TO KEEP UP THOSE ABOVE HIM."

I shuddered in quaking fear. How would I defeat such a monster?

Tired of moping around in my own terror, I quickly regained focus. And with all the might taught to me by my father and the fathers before him, I knew this was the only choice I had. I uttered the words, "L-V-U-I-T-T-O-N." And I stood there in silence.

"HA HA HA IS THIS ALL YOU HAVE FOR ME? YOU FOOL! FOR TACKY IS WHAT YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU WILL SPEND AN ETERNITY AS," she announced, with her illustrious forehead so still, not showing a single wrinkle. She ran and lunged forward at me, with the blinding light of her forehead the closest thing I saw that stood between me and death itself.

But then, something happened. The grounds rumbled, and I was levitated up in the air by an uncontrollable force. Within a split second, an immeasurable surge of power went straight through me. I was bestowed with the Pouch of Mortgages! Something I'd only heard about in legends! I knew exactly what I had to do. With the new power and weapon that was bestowed to me, I focused all of my might on where I knew would hurt the demon queen herself. Her beloved forehead.

"O DEMON QUEEN, YOU HAVE NO DEFENSES FOR WHAT I'M SERVING YOU. NEVER WILL YOU SEE LIGHT AGAIN!"

With this, my strike planted right above the crease of her nose, turning her into complete ashes flowing through the breaths of the forests itself. There was calm, again.

_________

Author's Note: This story was created of inspiration from The Ramayana: Viradha, translated by M. N. Dutt. The story followed the plot of Rama's epic battle with the forest demon, known as Viradha, with some alteration in characters and battle details. In the Ramayana, Rama had an altercation with a demon named Viradha, who he eventually vanquished as part of one of his many fights in his adventures. I described the battle to where it emphasized first, the basic description of the characters that is in the duel using as much of the senses as possible. Secondly, I wanted to create some form of dialogue, more so from the antagonist's side where she's dealing blows to the protagonist, but the thoughts are read through the reader's point of view without additional word context. The image that I included in the story sets the setting for for the story, which is a barren stage in an overall leafy environment. This story is dedicated to a dear friend of mine, who is the inspiration behind the naming of the antagonist of this story as she has some expensive taste in her, as shown through the decisive naming of the weapons entailed in the story.